British extremists Akercocke gained a vast amount of respect not only for their diabolic blend of death and black metal, but also their fondness of suits and acting gentlemanly. They’d tell you it was Read more […]
Veterans of the Swedish metal scene hook up for an exercise in epic-tinged metal…that never happens! Alas, it does, this time with Eldkraft, the product of Horde of Hel/ex-In Battle members H. Karlsson Read more […]
The need to continuously redefine the word “weird” carries on. A weird album used to stand for something like Celtic Frost’s Cold Lake, or anything that came from the mouth of Mike Patton, but the Read more […]
Save for a few, unsigned bands in their nascent phase haven’t got it all figured out. They’re almost like teenagers, thinking they know everything, but at least they’re not like Death’s “The Read more […]
Pretty much the “Isis-meets-Deftones” pairing that was envisioned by just about everything but the parties involved, Palms is the retro-fitted combination of Deftones throat Chino Moreno, and three Read more […]
When was the last time you got really dirty? Like covered in bile, mucus, human ash, and rancid blood fucking dirty? Not very recently? Well fear not, my reasonably clean friend! Tokyo’s Coffins’ Read more […]
Returning to Selfmadegod after a two album run on Relapse, Polish grinders Antigama are back with Meteor, a visceral 30-minute grind showcase. The fact the album takes 30-minutes should be one of those Read more […]
Here’s the formula of death circa 2013 for you: Put in as little effort as possible in creating one’s own sound, and have Left Hand Path on disc speed-dial. If The Formulas of Death is a little side jab Read more […]
Really cool name, like swiped from a song by The Cult or something, the U.K.’s Sacred Mother Tongue possess the bare essentials to be on those “straight” metal/rock bands on their Out of the Darkness Read more […]
Lots of love for Orphaned Land, probably because they give so much of it out. If there was a Nobel Peace Prize to be doled out in the metal sector, these guys would win by a mile, for their message of Read more […]
Jill Janus arrived on the metal scene in 2009 and immediately attempted to create a buzz around her feminine mystique as a singer who delved into the occult. The hype seemed to be huge, and the band’s Read more […]
Not what one would call novel, but certainly unique, Taiwanese extreme metallers Chthonic have managed to capture the imagination of the Far East metal scene, which up until a few years ago, was largely Read more […]
Sweden’s Fejd begs the question, “How folk can you go?” Their association with Napalm Records notwithstanding, the Swedes have generated a pretty impressive metal following since their 2001 formation, Read more […]
A largely unknown quantity save for their sole 2008 album, The 8th Plague, Spanish technical grinders Hybrid (thank goodness they’re not called “Hybrid Theory”) have undergone a change in the ranks (read: Read more […]
Amon Amarth is a band that exudes rare strength and power in a way that almost feels tangible and transferable. Similar to the way a fiction reader can transpose himself into the protagonist and live Read more […]
The sole proprietors of Finnish swamp metal, Kalmah has yet to land the properly-timed blow to finally make their mark on this side of the pond. While those early 00’s Century Media days netted the band Read more […]
Parading a style of heavy metal with old-school power tendencies more well-known from German or Greek acts than France, Lonewolf nonetheless has established a decent stockpile of albums since 2002, with The Read more […]
One of those bands that are under the radar, but have no business being as such, the U.K.’s Monsterworks are making inroads at becoming one of cerebral metal’s more interesting bands. And by “cerebral,” Read more […]
[Cue run-on sentence] Recorded as means to commemorate Chicago savages Lair of the Minotaur’s tenth anniversary, the Godslayer EP is a quick two-song free-for-all of bludgeoning, no frills metal that Read more […]
Frankly, “this” version of Queensryche didn’t have to try very hard to better what “that” version (i.e. Geoff Tate’s) put out a few months ago in the form of Frequency Unknown. F.U. (as it has been come Read more […]
Jorn Lande is out, again, and with him goes the unfulfilled promise of a power metal supergroup that has yet to topple the band it was created to take out: Helloween. In light of the undeniable quality Read more […]
These days, a once-inactive black metal band rejoining the metal fray is heck of a lot more interesting than a death metal band doing the same thing. This dead horse we continue to beat is tiresome for Read more […]
We don’t hear much from Erie, PA, the city best known for being smack-dab in the middle of the Snow Belt, along with owning the distinction of having three football teams (Bills, Browns, and Steelers) Read more […]
For as manly power metal tries to make itself out to be, it sure sounds like some bands are playing for the ladies. But hey, most dudes are in a band to score points with the chicks – they just won’t Read more […]
The release of Everblack gives pause to ten years ago when The Black Dahlia Murder were so fresh-faced, unproven, and green, that few gave them a fighting chance of survival. Dismissed because of their Read more […]
Hardly the cleavage-pushing, keyboard-loving, bravado-based band they were when Beyond the Veil was making waves at the dawn of the 00’s, Norway’s Tristania have successfully transitioned into a new Read more […]
Trail of Tears have never been able to keep it together during their 15-year duration as a band. Founding member/male vocalist Ronny Thorsen has seen members come and go on a Mustaine-like level, with Read more […]
Blood Drive, the fifth album from North Carolina’s ASG is the band’s first release for Relapse Records. It’s a sludgy/psychedelic heavy rock affair, finding singer Jason Shi and co. going for big, Read more […]
A study in contrasts, Gravewurm with a “u” is sloppy; sloppy to the point where they have difficulty staying in time. Graveworm with an “o” on the other hand, is a slick, Gothic black metal band whose Read more […]
Unmastered and barebones to an extent, each of the songs on III: Tabula Rasa or Death and the Seven Pillars are still surprisingly robust for what amounts to work-in-progress demos. The use of drum-machine Read more […]
