This is 2010, right? Just checking. This Or the Apocalypse don’t seem to think so and that’s fine – there are hundreds of more worthy bands that are also stuck in a timewarp, but at least they have Read more […]
“Icicle black metal.” Let’s run with it. Sweden’s Istapp (which stands for “icicle” in Swedish) may have one of the more unique names in black metal, yet they’re awfully adept at merging Read more […]
Well, here’s a name we haven’t seen in a while: Darren White. The quasi-legendary first singer of Anathema has kept a low-profile since the demise of his post-Anathema The Blood Divine roughly a decade Read more […]
A compilation which essentially culls Helstar’s A Distant Thunder,Nosferatu, and their live album, Rising from the Grave proves why Texas has always been a hotbed for anything metal related from the Read more […]
Critically important to the American metal scene, Lamb of God are at the present time, the preeminent metal band in North America. They’ve done it the hard way, through relentless touring, raucous live Read more […]
The second installment in a series of four (Blistering also was way into the first go-round), ’96-’00: 20 Years of Century Media tackles the era that catapulted Century Media Records into the upper Read more […]
A Sign of Sublime…where to start. Deva clearly can’t carry an album herself, or she just was dealt some really bad material. It’s quasi Goth/symphonic metal at its most awkward, embellished with Read more […]
A reach by anyone’s low standards, Germany’s Fatal Embrace may embody the raw feeling of mid-80’s thrash, but that doesn’t account for a sloppy, rather unmemorable display of Euro thrash metal. Read more […]
In 2010, record labels are constantly reinventing themselves to keep up with consumer’s tastes. With the power more than ever at the pulse of your keyboard fingertips, the average fan isn’t blindly Read more […]
Inexplicably, we skipped over Lacrimas Profundere’s 2008 effort, Songs For the Last View. Maybe it was because of our undivided attention toward the Summer Olympics of that year. Or not. Either way, Read more […]
Adding Firewind axe-slinger Gus G. to the ranks was probably the smartest thing Ozzy has done since…uh, yeah, scratch that. Ozzy hasn’t done anything smart in a long time, although getting the Greek Read more […]
Caught up in the swirl of Darkane, Meshuggah, and Strapping Young Lad, Canada’s Divinity are one of those bands with zero filter or clue when to lay off. When we say “lay off,” that means pulling Read more […]
Veritable big wheels on the commercial metal scene in their homeland of the Netherlands, Delain is gradually making inroads in North America, with the reissue of their 2006 debut Lucidity following up Read more […]
Soilwork doesn’t have to do much to appease people. Really, just load in some quasi-death metal riffs, make the verses brutal, and drop Speed Strid’s silky-smooth clean vocals into the mix and…there Read more […]
Black metal merged with sludge merged with To Mega Therion-era Celtic Frost…now that’s a concept we haven’t explored. The pair of Ryan Lipynksy (Unearthly Trance) and Tim Call (Aldebaran) do a dutiful, Read more […]
Pretty obvious the era of Bathory Ereb Altor prefers, and it’s not the lo-fi, sword-brandishing era that everyone else seems to fancy. Taking direct cues from Quorthon’s Hammerheart and Twilight Read more […]
Let’s be honest…if this were 2001, Whitechapel would be a nu metal band. They have six members, so the third guitarist would be probably serve as a DJ or second vocalist, plus their riffs (not all, but Read more […]
Who knows where Yakuza fits in with the current metal scene and frankly, an album as strong as Of Seismic Consequence shall permanently place these Chicagoans on the fringe. As it should. More deep and Read more […]
Blistering wonders how Karma to Burn felt about the surge of instrumental rock/metal bands that hit a few years ago…perhaps we should ask. Considering KTB were pretty much the only band out there with Read more […]
We busted out our “Beatdown Detector” for Too Many Humansconsidering well, The Last Felony is a deathcore band. And we scoured and scoured, not coming up with anything of the beatdown-variety, but Read more […]
Word to the wise: Don’t hook up with Manowar. They’re bona-fide career-killers, aside from being the one of the biggest jokes in all of metal. We say this because Rhapsody of Fire willingly put their Read more […]
“Dissection-worship has never sounded so good.” If Blistering were in the press quote business, the above would be the most apt description of Thulcandra’s debut, Fallen Angel’s Dominion. There Read more […]
Had this been five years ago, Blistering would have given this album a 5/10 just on the metalcore merit alone. You see, AILD used to bug the you-know-what out of this scribe, as did just about every metal Read more […]
Here’s a bit of trivia for ya: Slayer’s Diabolus in Musica was originally titled Violent by Design. Not like it mattered, for it’s easily Slayer’s worst album to date, something Kerry King goes Read more […]
This should be the one that pulls Nachtmystium away from USBM altogether. Snippets and shards of black metal coated the band’s excellent 2008 Assassins: Black Meddle Pt 1, but with Addicts, any trace Read more […]
Remember years ago when rarely a female singer cross into metal terrain? Sure, we cherish Doro Pesch and Leather Leone for their escapades, but the mid-to-late 90’s saw an explosion of femme fatale sirens Read more […]
We’ve now hit the point where anything or anyone associated with Mastodon is supposed to be good, exalted, praised, etc. Well, that’s not how it works, as a lot of the bands in line with Mastodon’s Read more […]
One of the acts from Sweden gaining critical acclaim for their brand of traditional power metal with lyrical war themes is Sabaton. Coat of Arms represents their sixth album and biggest label development, Read more […]
One of the rare instances when a pairing does in fact, sound like the sum of its parts, Kingdom of Sorrow return with their second effort, Behind the Blackest Tears. The combo of Jamey Jasta (Hatebreed) Read more […]
Blast you, European releases. Initially released last fall, The Time of No Time Evermore will unfortunately not be a part of this scribe’s Top 10 for 2010, which is a crime – it’s that good. Read more […]
