It’s been an honor to know music appreciator, journalist, and friend Jeff Wagner since the late teens as we both were contributors to Curious Goods fanzine during the late 80’s/early 90’s. He has Read more […]
The July 2022 edition of Rapid Fires, our short review column, contains a wide array of bands, from blazing Australian death/thrash, symphonic power metal, progressive metal and everything in between. Read more […]
While other parts of the world slowly lost interest in catchy, melodic heavy metal that intertwines 80’s influences from the AOR/Sunset Strip world, Scandinavian territories grabbed the mantle to produce Read more […]
Thirty-two years together as brothers (actual siblings, not figuratively speaking), Brazilian extreme death metal act Krisiun haven’t let a pandemic slow down the speedy brand of music that has been Read more […]
First popping onto the radar with their No Victim EP back in 2015, it’s been seven years since we’ve heard anything from the international death metal act Castrator. A few line-up changes along the way Read more […]
Finnish metal encompasses a wide array of influences – the common thread throughout most of the bands is this purity and sensibility regarding the channeling of emotions through musical passages that Read more […]
Can’t really be surprised these days that the fusion of sci-fi, horror, and progressive thrash are colliding to make for intriguing collaborations. Greek duo Venus takes all these aspects to heart in Read more […]
Celebrating their 25th anniversary as a group, Witchery never wavered from a sound that has been a culmination of blackened thrash with speedy, punk, and primitive inflections. When other artists may refine, Read more […]
Continuing to grow and build upon each release, Red Handed Denial have returned for their follow up to 2019’s excellent Redeemer with a new full-length effort in I’d Rather Be Asleep. With an established Read more […]
Many listeners within the melodic death metal community desire new blood to push the scene forward. For those who love a classic mix of the 1990’s early days with the finesse and energy of the present, Read more […]
Not very often you hear a US metal act from Indiana that intertwines influences from power metal, thrash, neoclassical and traditional spectrums while also incorporating specific aspects of 90’s progressive Read more […]
Anyone remember the band Swarmageddon and their stunning 2020 debut, Inhuman? If not, the first order of business is to do that, as its one of the strongest hidden gems in melodic death metal that has Read more […]
In the last few years, modern metal has reveled in trying new things and combining different sources in order to have a fresh sound that feels metallic, yet isn’t afraid of crossing over and dabbling in Read more […]
Many artists remember their final gigs before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the entertainment industry. In the case of heavy/thrash metal act Denied, they would play one show in March 2020 three months Read more […]
Today’s marketplace makes it difficult to stand out in the heavy metal landscape – especially if you are fresh to the scene. Quality often wins out in the end – and that’s the case here for Michigan Read more […]
Previously coming on this scribe’s listening radar through their Rage n’ Fever debut album a few years back, Argentina’s Raptore have had a few lineup changes (plus moving to Spain) which explains Read more […]
What happens when you take a band that’s already noted for being bleak and gloomy and have them record during a global pandemic? The answer is clearly not sunshine and rainbows with a title like Grey Read more […]
The brainchild of guitarist Richard Clark, Among These Ashes is a five-piece outfit from the Detroit area featuring notable musicians with ties to acts like Battlecross, Traveler, and Finality among others. Read more […]
Proving that quality melodic hard rock and heavy metal doesn’t have any expiration date, H.E.A.T. are one of the premiere artists resurrecting the love of these styles over the past couple of decades. Read more […]
Too many cooks spoil the broth? In the case of NY/NJ’s six-hydra-headed Reeking Aura, twelve hands only turned the soup into a festering concoction of death metal goodness. Conceived around 2019 with the Read more […]
Sweden’s Darkane has always been caught in the margins: Not melodic enough for the In Flames and Dark Tranquillity crowd and not breaching the technical walls to run with Meshuggah’s forever swelling Read more […]
Aiming to bring a mixture of alternative/90’s-oriented metal influences to a modern audience while also throwing a few outside brash (and thrash) elements to the table, Farewell to Fear have been making Read more […]
Producing a cross-pollination of styles across the hard rock/metal spectrum that have influences that are old school as well as modern, Farewell to Fear draw upon their decades of experience as musicians Read more […]
Rarely in today’s metal landscape do you find a melodic death metal act with three brothers together – but that’s the case here for German quartet Source of Rage. Guitarist Oliver Roffmann is the Read more […]
Not many bands can say they have a forty-year recording history – well, that’s the case now for German heavy metal act Sinner through this latest record Brotherhood. The 18th studio album, bassist/vocalist Read more […]
The evolution of projects has multiplied exponentially due to musicians possessing the tools at their own disposal to create music remotely, piece things together, and come off sounding as professional Read more […]
Finding a way of developing one’s own style can be an ever-evolving process. With experience and confidence, Texas act Oceans of Slumber continue to march to their own creative muse – incorporating Read more […]
Having released their debut album Memories in early April, Infinity Dream may appear as relative newcomers on the scene, however the band was formed in 2019 and features established heavy metal veterans Read more […]
Now establishing a proven formula without the ‘Zetro’ affiliation when Cody Souza took over on vocals for his father for the last Hatriot album From Days unto Darkness, the quartet now feels intent Read more […]
Masters at their brand of technical, extreme death metal, Origin show no signs of relenting in their quest to appease their faithful global following through the release of Chaosmos, the eighth and latest Read more […]
Seattle’s blackened death metal outfit Hissing is back with their sophomore LP Hypervirulence Architecture, and sure enough, it’s twice as pissed, twice as claustrophobic, and twice as mind-numbing and Read more […]
