Reviews

Even for a band with a history of album 'sequels', sticking 'II' on the end of your most celebrated album's title and making that the name of your new record is a bold move.

Nearly a decade ago Tacoma Narrows Bridge Disaster contacted me, requesting I review Exegesis. Back in the day I was a slut and pretty much said "Yes!" to any review request that made its way…

If you thought for a moment that technical death required German precision, or American directness, or Canadian brutality, well, you would be right. However, the creativity of French people is not to be…

This album certainly had a huge influence on black metal to the point that many would even consider it the very first true black metal album - I certainly would - and that album cover has become one of…

If you thought that Paysage d'Hiver couldn't possibly come up with something different after last year's two-hour odyssey that was Im Wald, you wouldn't be completely wrong. Just not…

Mamma mia, this is Italian folk metal (la-la-la-la). As is the case with many parody acts, Nanowar Of Steel's impressive musical talents and versatility often go underappreciated by those who either…

If Caligula was the bloody revenge flick, Dinner Get Ready is the folk horror one. And it can also act as a drinking game where you take a shot every time "Jesus" is mentioned.

"Picture black metal, but with absolutely no discernible melody and the distortion ratcheted up to the highest levels of malfunctioning washing machine. Picture drone, but at a grindcore pace and…

Raw, melodic black metal bands are a dime a dozen, but Dödsrit's versatile blend of hypnotic melancholy and crusty punk swagger makes Mortal Coil a keeper.

You may think that you don't need another album about Lucifer, but you do.

How about some nasty, malevolent, dissonant, and murky death metal? I am talking to you Morbid Angel, Immolation, and Incantation fan; have you not heard Drawn And Quartered yet?…

Before I continue with my review of Lantlôs's new album, Wildhund, I feel it's important to note their previous album, 2014's Melting Sun, is my 2010s album of the decade. So ever…

I think we've underestimated the Swiss. You were supposed to be neutral!

So now the guy behind Kanonenfieber has two great projects!

Much like their namesake phenomenon, Decoherence are equally terrifying and interesting. Existential dread can dance.

Orthrelm are a weird band. Anyone remotely familiar with them will agree on that.

A badass concept that lends scope, mood, heft, and a story to droning riffs, hypnotic tremolos, pulsating noise, and moody synthscapes scratching that Locrian itch. Spaceforming is cinematic and vibrant…

The devouring void is all consuming. And as the meta-physicist of the poor in all of us instinctively knows, void needs matter as sure as bread needs butter. It's just the nature of things folks

A continuation of The Order Of Amenti.

If I can confidently say anything about the 2010s, it is that it was the decade of Icelandic black metal. Mannveira have spent a significant portion of that decade cooking up Vitahríngur.

It's French black metal. What more do you want?

In the time it took Noctambulist to release a second album, they've already gotten some pretenders.

From The Ancient Chaos originates epic thrash metal, speed metal, hardcore punk/crossover, and classic heavy metal. This is a matryoshka doll of an album from Russia's Mystic Storm. The more you open,…

If you like your metal so formless that it's not even metal anymore, you're in luck!

Obsolete's Animate//Isolate is pretty much a thrash metal band playing technical death metal. And they're bold enough to put a bunch of flowers on their cover art.

After how well it worked with I Disagree, I think I'm going to make a habit out of ignoring relevant background information about Poppy when I review her releases. Today, I'll be ignoring "NXT"…

Marching out of time.

Expectations were high for this album. Singer Burton C. Bell, up until now the only consistent member of the band, has quit Fear Factory for the third and presumably final time. While guitarist Dino Cazares…

Savigaila translates to 'self-pity' (just like that, you're on your way to learning Lithuanian); self-pity is a somewhat ugly emotion, and Savigaila matches that with its music.

Dissenting Minds aren't quite flying in the faces of the metal gods with this album, but they have released a very promising debut record.

Despair breeds doom metal. Desperation breeds black metal. Desperation from romantic minds in the Ukraine is bringing us some of the best symphonic black metal of 2021.

Mastermind Arkadius Antonin was never a quitter. After more than 20 years of churning out melodic death with folk elements, putting together killer live shows, and releasing a fair share of fantastic albums…

For the love of me(h)tal.

Songs of loss and (lower your) expectations.

Reviewing a new Darkthrone album can be a bit difficult, considering the duo has tried basically any extreme metal style under the funeral moon sun, yet they still can pull off a few surprises. This is…

Zeuhl sludge metal is now a thing.

I can't say that you can always know how a Withered album will sound like before you hear it, but you can place a safe bet on it being oppressive.

"Since misery has been our partner in crime through all the years, we finally found a suiting title". This is what Birdflesh had to say to promote their latest EP, All The Miseries.

I've been waiting for a while for Teleport to finally drop their debut album. But it could only come under another name.

Trying to pigeon-hole Ungfell as just a "safe" version of Peste Noire is a bit too reductive in expressing just how colorful Es Grauet is.

It's a long way to the top.

Coming off the back of From Beyond, Enforcer were a band very much on the up, reaping the rewards of a slow-burning career up to that point that finally caught aflame and allowed their star to burn bright.

Sunday means going to church. Call Of The Wild marks the return of the German vampire werewolves who worship the unholy cross by drinking the blood of innocents.

Anything that can cause a scar can cause a keloid, they are scars that grow and become much larger. So Boss Keloid is a boss with a lot of BIG scars; it is also a song from the classic sludge album Our…

Yup, this is that album. You know the yearly album that comes out of virtually nowhere to take over the world. 2021 needed this.

Now this is a comeback album.

Pop quiz! Final studio day. Turns out "technical blackened death symphonic power metal" is too long for ID3 tags, after all. Do you... (Χ) scream "less is more!" and get fired?…

The powers that aim to be - by no means bad, but there are other options...

You take a bit of Body Void. You take a bit of Keeper. You get Hellish Form.

I'd like to not think of Seputus as a Pyrrhon-side project, even if every member is also in Pyrrhon, simply because that would be a disservice to how imposing Phantom Indigo is.

An extreme metal legend, his very talented son, and the drummer of one of the most exciting doom metal bands of recent years walk into a bar?

War Is Peace // Peace Is Slavery is brought to you by 71TONMAN, the 6 Million Dollar Man's less illustrious cousin.

Where? A cabin in Germany. Who? A highly unpredictable metal outfit. What? Jamming from scratch. When? Two days before a double album was recorded. How? Beats me.

It's quite tough to be unique in genres with decades upon decades of history. Sometimes, keeping things mostly familiar but consistently threading at borders is a pretty satisfying compromise. This…

I have already stated in this review that extreme progressive metal is stealing the show in 2021. Hannes Grossmann's latest LP further confirms that statement.

Whoever thought that progressive sludge could sound so joyous?

The post-metal summer of 2021 just keeps on giving.

Autopilot activated.

Eternity is a long time indeed.

The god of man is a failure indeed.

Sugary sweet.

Like the phoenix reborn, Hiraes emerges from the ashes of Dawn Of Disease. Under this new name, the German combo have altered their musical direction from less doom-oriented to more melodeath-engineered.

If you're the type of person who's scrolled through historical charts of pre-2k death metal releases and still yearns for more, Cerebral Rot are here for you.

Imagine the void mechanically beating you into submission.

It's hard to believe that Impure Wilhelmina have been around for more than two decades, and that they're only now getting their due.

Moonsor-raw in Gothenburg.

Imagine if Tuomas Saukkonen [Wolfheart, Dawn Of Solace] and Sami Yli-Sirniö [Waltari, Kreator] were to join Mors Principium Est to form a Finnish superband.

Welcome To My Nightmare.

There are few things in life more disappointing than watching a band's potential plummet like a pump-and-dump penny stock.

Naiv set a tough standard for the next Thy Catafalque album to live up to, but coming less than 18 months later, Vadak makes a mockery of that challenge.