Modern metal bands have become so attached at the hip of having their albums “enhanced” by technology, that hearing an LP without such “enhancements” has become rare. (And yeah, cue up the extra Read more […]
Album #2 from the Gregor Mackintosh (Paradise Lost) offshoot, Splinters finds Vallenfyre even more engaged in the feral, uncompromising sphere of crusty death metal. Trace back to Mackintosh’s origins Read more […]
Brief, but fantastic was the career of U.K. extreme sludgesters Iron Monkey, who only have two full-lengths to their credit, the latter (Our Problem) considered a cult classic. The band would fold shop Read more […]
For the non-nerdy types that don’t quickly identify where Ered Wethrin gets their name (it’s Tolkien), the band plays atmospheric black metal with many fantasy references. Ered Wethrin is the solo Read more […]
The “occult metal” of Warpstone is one that pleasantly transcends genre tags (try as we may to compartmentalize). Taking some progressive notes from many different sources with quite a bit of success, Read more […]
With pity, it’s true. We crazy Californians are always taking what we like out of things and nonchalantly meshing it all into some stupid “unique” self-identity. And you know what? It can be really Read more […]
[8.5/10] It comes with little surprise, upon taking a listen to The Great Old Ones – given their left-of-center style of black metal, that France is their country of origin. Indeed, unless you’ve not Read more […]
A comparatively under-the-radar release in what is overall been an obscenely stacked year, Swedish black/pagan metal purists Skogen return with another majestic indulgence with I Döden and 58minutes of Read more […]
Evidently, Psychotic “Garden” would have been too tame, so Psychotic “Gardening” it is. Maniacal green thumbs in the house, eh? Outside of being a killer name, the band has been on the steady as an independent Read more […]
Plenty of groove, plenty of attitude, plenty of rage. There seems to be plenty of everything on Process Pain’s debut album, Outcast of Society, even some serious melodies to be had. Taking a combination Read more […]
Welcome to the nu-metal revival! Well, perhaps a bit heavier than nu-metal but simplistic all the same. Down-tuned power chords and breakdowns galore set the stage for Emmure. Some occasional electronics Read more […]
It was always of amusement and befuddlement (like most things in life) to this scribe that Leprosy was a faster album that its Spiritual Healing successor. Aren’t death metal bands supposed to increase Read more […]
More face-time for the city of Portland, OR, who are gradually becoming the “it” place for hip rock and/or metal. Albeit anything that is hip now won’t necessarily be hip five years from now, but the Read more […]
We truly must be coming towards the end of an era where all of the brutal and “metal” names have been taken. If someone were to come up to you and say, “My favorite band is Question,” would you Read more […]
The tragedy of the overambitious mixed-bag. On the one hand it’s worth applauding a group for reaching for the stars, so to speak. Though on the other despite the perpetual piping of modern Facebook Read more […]
In short, The Serpent & the Sphere delivers everything a fan or casual listener alike could want in an Agalloch release. The extensive use of woodsy themes, acoustics galore (though here often provided Read more […]
Doom is a saturated sphere of competing interests nowadays so it’s always with hesitation that a new album and its often hour+ run time is truly engaged. For Pilgrim and II:Void Worship, fortunately, Read more […]
Sure to be overshadowed by Tim Lambesis’s pending incarceration for the attempted murder of his ex-wife, Triple Brutal, the third Austrian Death Machine salvo is actually quite enjoyable. Not enjoyable Read more […]
Potential is ever the frustrating fellow. Leaving unsatisfied feelings, or the case of the “could have, should have, and would have” notion, can ruin some albums. Sometimes it strikes in a rotten Read more […]
If you like nature-raveled, wintery, mythological, pagan, and/or folkloric black metal, you are bound to dig Daemonheim’s latest album, Tidian. Exploring the roots of their homeland in Harz, Daemonheim Read more […]
Recent releases from Morbus Chron and Vampire seemingly not enough, Century Media continues to extend its grip into the realm of retro-inspired material with Miasmal. Hailing from Gothenburg (though Read more […]
By now, it’s safe to say that we can depend on the Norwegian black metal scene to continually spawn hatred and cast glum shadows across the world. We have 1349, Gorgoroth, Satyricon, Vreid, and many Read more […]
Their popularity currently a question mark on these shores and in Europe, where they’ve been dropped to support status by bands like Behemoth, Cradle of Filth have started to dig through the vaults for Read more […]
The odd, unexpected product of two Spaniards, one of which mans the vocal spot in the most-excellent Wormed (J.L. Rey), Wrong is a black metal project subsisting on the subgenre norms that in this context, Read more […]
First introductions with California’s Kyng more than likely came in the form of their various opening spots for Clutch, In Flames, and Megadeth. The variety of these headline acts suggests that Kyng has Read more […]
The sixth studio album for German symphonic metal act Xandria comes on the heels of more lineup changes, most notably another vocalist swap out, as Dianne van Giersbergen of the Netherlands joins along Read more […]
Somewhere along the way, bands decided to ditch Gothenburg as their prime influence and head back for Stockholm. Although truth be told, there are no blatant “Gothenburg-isms” present in Project Utopia, Read more […]
Cavernous death metal seems to be making its way into the spotlight more and more as of late. That dark, bottom-dwelling, and oppressive tone that just wants to asphyxiate the last breath of life from Read more […]
With the heap of snooze-fest doom bands cropping up everywhere with their rehashed Sabbath riffs and/or ubiquitous female-delivered occult vocals, it is always refreshing to hear a new band playing doom Read more […]
After an uncharacteristically long period of studio dormancy, New York metallic hardcore vets Sworn Enemy are back on the ‘ole horse with Living on Borrowed Time. And yes, lots inferred to the album Read more […]
