Say what you will about his personal life, Varg Vikernes has certainly left his mark on the world of black metal, to the point where any depressive black metal gets often labeled as a Burzum ripoff. Many times, this is unfair and a gross oversimplification of the ideas behind the music. For I Shalt Become's album In Falling Snow, however ...Read all

Being fresh out of Helloween, Kai Hansen had one thing in mind: make a tribute band paying homage towards his previous valor. Sadly, this is what Gamma Ray was about when Ralf Scheepers and other goons nobody remembers joined Hansen’s effortless project, essentially resulting in “Heading For Tomorrow” in 1990. Now when I had my first Gamma Ray experience ...Read all

All told, the number of metal bands that hail from Lithuania is remarkably small; I, for one, can think of no major groups that hail from there. This may have something to do with why Speckledy Falcons, the first full-length from one-man Lithuanian group Altar Shadows, failed to make much of an impression within the English language black metal community ...Read all

For some reason Tobias Sammet decided a couple of years ago that his career and Edguy’s career needed a change, a change into a more “Rock Star: Supernova” look and feel; and despite “The Scarecrow” been a highly detailed record, with impeccable production and a absolutely outstanding composition and arrangements, it doesn’t stray away from ...Read all

Frequently, demos are most interesting as something of a historical archive of a band's progress. They provide a look at the elements that formed the band, but from a musical standpoint, they often come across as unpolished and harsh. Not so with the recent collection of rereleased demos from Alcest and Angmar, Tristesse. ...Read all

Long before Glen Benton and headlining tours, Vital Remains proved to be the exact definition of an underground death metal band when they literally were shadowed by Florida’s sudden metal uprising in the early 1990s. Four full-length records emerged before you could find Providence’s finest selling out shows, but sadly, those great releases have suffered repression much ...Read all

Mystic Prophecy has unquestionably exercised an authoritative stance in making the heaviest power metal imaginable since “Vengeance” sprouted in 2001. I mean releases early on in their career let you glide on rainbows while little demons attempted poking your feet, but not one similar instance is present on “Savage Souls” Why, you quietly wonder? Well, magic has ...Read all

Despite having been around since 1996, Mirkvid has kept a remarkably low profile, placing them firmly within the black metal underground. The last new material that the band produced, the album Unser Reich, dates from 2004, and nearly all evidence of its existence has already vanished from the Internet. This past year, though, RuneFire Records re-released ...Read all

Let me be totally honest, I HATE Suicidal Tendencies!!! Yes I know this could be a sin considering the huge contribution they had on modern heavy metal and the whole “crossover” establishment, but I just do! So even knowing that, and hearing some of their influences on Short Sharp Shock, I have to say… I loved this album, just as much as I liked the other ...Read all

Further proving how globalization is continually shaping the world’s musical taste, Korean thrash metal band Mahatma come out with a sophomore release that is well worth the time of anyone into Testament, Metallica, Exodus, Slayer, and Megadeth. Basically the essentials we collectively drew succor from during our musical infancy. Titled ...Read all

Black metal is infamous for its bewildering array of subgenres: symphonic, raw, melodic, pagan, suicidal, depressive and basically almost any adjective conceivable (so long as it has potential for grim kvltness, of course). Given that, you might think it’s virtually impossible to distinguish between three bands grouped under something as specific as folk black metal ...Read all

If you had the chance of listening to Back in the Grave (Orenda’s debut in 2006) you wont find a certain path of progression towards greatness from this Bulgarians, but you will understand that the band is obsesses in developing a dark, melancholic, atmospheric black metal, that deserves attention and patience.
The Funeral is a nice ...Read all

Let’s be honest, the past two Dismember albums created less expectation than a chest championship match in a former soviet country, even thou both were solid records, non of them had any “surprising” ideas or even sufficient rage as for unfamiliar metal fans to look at Dismember for some pure Stockholm death metal (yes there are a couple of so called metalheads ...Read all

Sadly, there is, in fact, such a thing as having an album that is too long. Angmar's Metamorphosis, the group's first and only full length, provides a good example of this very principle.
It's not so much that the sound is bad. I described them previously in my review of the Alcest/Angmar demo split.....Read all

I have always known and recognized that Swedish death metal has the best hooks, melodies and catchiest riffs written in the entire world.
They might not be the best death metal scene, but the way most of their bands handle their melodies and immerse then into brutality while never forgetting the listener’s ear and its search for something.....Read all

Alright kids, time for a truth sandwich: this record is not very enjoyable. Once again, Belphegor is stomping out furious black/death metal aiming to mindlessly destroying everything in sight, yet our prophet of goodness is finding this particular vision a bit redundant, especially considering how it’s exactly what could be expected. Now I have nothing against...Read all

Slow, dark, mysterious, hopeless… this are just a few adjectives that can best describe the type of feelings and music Comatose Vigil displays in their debut album “Not a gleam of Hope” a very accurate title by the way. This Russian band like you might imagine by my short intro have dedicated themselves to pour the most obscure funeral doom metal some of us have heard;....Read all

If you are anything like me (lets hope note since I have some serious mental issues!) and you though “Catch 33” was the worst album Meshuggah ever put out and its importance was totally blown out of proportion by some media outlets… please people that record was one huge monotonous, boring song!
ObZen tries and achieves ...Read all

Despite frequently negative reviews for Striborg’s overwhelming output I decided, why would any label output so many unpopular records unless there was something truly special within them. I am very happy that I took that leap, 2007’s Ghostwoodlands is a terrifying journey through the haunted wilderness of Tasmania....Read all

I have to admit, that it is fairly hard for me to write the most objective review I can when it comes to one of the first bands that answer my 2005 email’s requesting interviews, but I’m going to give it my best shoot at been fair. (2005 was the year Leviatan was borne and it was extremely hard to find bands that will reply to my emails) ...Read all

Shemhamforash can be split in two parts, the first 4 tracks presenting a nice formula of death/blacked metal that uses only a couple of thrash influences and riffs to present us with memorable, fast, evil and very well polished songs; and the remaining 5 songs that fall short, way short in following the ability of their antecessors to keep the listener interested ...Read all

When the topic of experimenting comes into play, most bands usually tap into atypical influences without overriding their natural origins, at least on an instrumental level. Glenn Danzig’s “Black Aria” however, firmly invades something on opposite poles rather than his everyday material: symphonic music. Now I’d be lying if I said there was glory to be expected from such a ...Read all

Uncreation was a good album, to be more precise a great debut for California’s Benedictum; a debut that might not have given then a lot of press and front page magazines but within its sort of obscurity it did help the band build a good solid reputation. So now sticking to their guns this quintet launches their second full length and I for once was expecting ...Read all

In many eyes, Grindcore is like trying to find that special someone: it seems really nice at first, but as more entities are met, you realize it’s all just the same shit; there does come a time, however, when that standout finally enters your presence. In Grindcore, everyone finds their true love to be the twisted side-project of Napalm Death members known as Lock Up, and taking ...Read all

Don’t be afraid by the length of the songs; really don’t be, because in every single one of them there is something special, something heavy, catchy, technical and sort of progressive.
In The Shadow of The Black Palm Tree… Jesus that’s a long name! Maybe as long as most of the tracks in here ...Read all

A warped circus tune played by drunken lunatics overlaid upon a steady martial drumbeat. This is perhaps the best way that I can describe the opening to Peste Noire's Lorraine Rehearsal LP, and, while the rest of the record doesn't quite live up to that level of madness, the introduction definitely sets the proper tone for the ...Read all

“Of Blood and Nobility” is not my first encounter with this American black metal outfit, as a matter of fact I first got a chance to listen to them back in 2005 when “Minions Engage” was released; my impression of that album was quite mediocre, just as the music I heard back then, so was “Of Blood…” a vindication for the band? ...Read all

Usurper is an album that you don’t really need to hear in its entirety; just listen to one song and then picture the same riffs, with more breakdowns and maybe a small lyrical variation not to make it so obvious, for 10 more tracks.
That one song however might interest you, off course you have to be into huge amounts of hardcore ...Read all

When Bring Me the Horizon decides to actually allow a song to grow and develop without the excessive use of breakdowns, they sound pretty good; yes this is deathcore/metalcore/hardcore disguised as metal, well what ever you want to call it; still in all fairness there are some pretty good moments in which it doesn’t matter if you are one of those true kvlt ...Read all

There is a reason why black metal gained in the past, and in the present so many fans around the world; I believe it has more to do with the minimalist and animalistic way in which raw black metal approaches the listener more than the whole satanic attitude; yes is true that every black metal musician that wants to be respected by the underground transforms his attitude ...Read all

When Bring Me the Horizon decides to actually allow a song to grow and develop without the excessive use of breakdowns, they sound pretty good; yes this is deathcore/metalcore/hardcore disguised as metal, well what ever you want to call it; still in all fairness there are some pretty good moments in which it ...Read all