Surprised no one has been creative enough to find a tag for Sanford Parker-produced, Chicago-based, sludge metal bands. As if there aren’t enough to begin with, here comes Lord Mantis with their sophomore Read more […]
After a less-than-stellar EP in the form of last year’s Creatures of the Black, Mpire of Evil is hitting us with their milquetoast debut full-length, Hell to the Holy. Guided by former Venom members Read more […]
Epica, Denmark’s premier symphonic power/ gothic metal sextet stride along gallantly with their grandiose balance between epic, theatrical songsand more streamlined, heavier material on this fifth studio Read more […]
By all accounts, no one is going to do a better one-song album and/or EP than Edge of Sanity’s Crimson from 1996. It was an unfettered gem and pure stroke of genius from a band that peaked at just Read more […]
One has to wonder how many wife-beaters New Zealand’s Legacy of Disorder has in their collection. Being that the men’s “under-garment” was the thread of choice for pretty much every 90’s metal Read more […]
Somewhere in Sweden, L.G. Petrov is shouting “Fuck!” Not because he has to rehearse “Out of Hand” with Entombed (which you should look up onYoutube if you are looking for the most fun and raucous Read more […]
Instead of trying to dance around it (which both Indie Recordings and Djerv are doing), it’s prescient to point out that singer Agnete Kjølsrud sounds like Gwen Stefani. You know, the same Gwen Stefani Read more […]
Gaining a huge buzz in the underground for the sextet’s previous work in groups like Amorphis, Moonsorrow, Swallow The Sun, and Kreator among others, this Finnish progressive death metal act return for Read more […]
Prophets Cynic are not, yet they did see the writing on the death metal wall around the mid-90’s, so that counts for something. At that particular point in time, the death metal scene was swelling to Read more […]
There are times when Blistering doesn’t even have to listen to an album in order to review it. Of course, we’d never do such a thing, for journalistic integrity ranks as high on our list as good hygiene Read more […]
A ringing endorsement from In Flames frontman Andres Friden doesn’t carry the weight it once did, but we’ll take it, and so will Norway’s Insense. The Swede has been an ad hoc mentor and quasi PR Read more […]
Probably realizing its core audience has busy lives (i.e. texting, tweeting, web-chatting…basically anything that doesn’t involve in-person interaction), Veil of Maya limited the running time of their Read more […]
A band that has taken a perpetual beating from the metal press, Wykked Wytch have proven equally adept at getting up from the mat and aping Cradle of Filth at the same time. Granted, they are a female Read more […]
Big ‘ole production, concept, musicians…big everything, pretty much. That effectively sums up 1614, the debut effort from Sweden’s Opera Diabolicus. The album follows in the grand (and grandiose) Read more […]
Black metal bands are smarter than we give them credit for. They do a better job of disguising their influences than most; able to mask their variousmusical deficiencies by slapping them together like Read more […]
“Melodic grindcore” isn’t a term we bandy about very often, probably because there’s no precedent for it. Being that most grindcore bands have little or no interest in sounding the slightest bit Read more […]
So venerable Napalm Death is at this juncture of their career, that doing something wrong would be utterly shocking. Unlike some of their death metal peers (i.e. Morbid Angel, Deicide), Napalm has their Read more […]
Never thought you’d be reading a review about a metal band from The Maldives, did you? To be truthful, this writer never once thought about even writing about one. It’s enlightening to see just how Read more […]
The first album by the new band of ex-Hatesphere vocalist Jakob Bredhal, 2010’s Until We Are Outnumbered was a direct and impactful chunk of European thrash. They have returned for a second album, Read more […]
Zombies have long been a point of discussion in metal, often serving as a fail-safe lyrical reference point for bands who aren’t into pouring out their feelings. It’s a very limited subject, of course, Read more […]
An early nod for worst song title of the year goes to Vendetta’s “Ovulation Bitch.” There is no way any of these guys have spouses or girlfriends. Or maybe they do and run for cover when “Mother Read more […]
Not sure if we’ve stumbled across such a unabashed Nightwish clone like Xandria. It’s as if the band studied at the pedestal of Tarja, back when she wore flowing dresses and had a similarly-colored Read more […]
“Meat and potatoes” death metal should have its own category. Seriously, we use the term enough and it applies to such a high volume of bands, that it should be used as frequently as Norwegian black metal Read more […]
As an indication of how deep and expansive Metal Blade’s roster is, this scribe totally forgot who Germany’s Desaster were until The Arts of Destuctionpopped up in our digital promo pool. Understandable, Read more […]
Quite the wonderful world we live in when Alcest and Les Discrets are releasing albums around the same time. The pair have come to define the neo French atmospheric metal sound, with both finding their Read more […]
Fitting that a band with the Pallbearer moniker would create such murky and doomy death marches. Hailing from Arkansas, Pallbearer plays a brand of doom that is totally behind the beat, but hardly lazy, Read more […]
A tough sell Amoral has to now be, considering they’re fronted by a Finnish Idol winner (Ari Koivunen) and had a once-promising melodic death metal career now fully in the rear-view. Beneath is the Read more […]
While trends fluctuate in North America, some styles remain constant in other parts of the world. Grunge may have slowed down the guitar heroes of the 70’s and 80’s during the alternative-minded Read more […]
If 2009’s Crooked Timber was Therapy? putting quiet any talk people may have had about them no longer have anything relevant to say then A Brief Crack Of Light is them reinforcing that. Of course Read more […]
The Black Waltz, eh? You know, Kalmah has an album with the same title, albeit with a far less goofy cover and far more guitar solos. Not like Sweden’s Avatar know or care (they probably shouldn’t), Read more […]
