Brutal and Consistent June 12, 2015

Woes of Mortal Devotion
by Mefitic

It used to be that if one wanted some cavernous, black-hole of a death metal album, the only real option was Portal. But competition continues to grow stauncher as more and more groups emerge from the depths: Abyssal, Malthusian, Gigan, Ulcerate…and now, Mefitic. From Italy, this is another group ...

Nightmares June 11, 2015

The Dreaming I
by Akhlys

Atmospheric black metal is a bit of a mixed bag in my opinion. While this can be said of most genres, I find there to be a particularly large number of bands that seem to think they can just howl over 3 tremolo notes and a few chords ad nauseum and call it “atmospheric.” If you allow me to get on ...

Grim Grindcore June 10, 2015

Romantic Love
by Dendritic Arbor

Make no mistake, there is nothing romantic about this album. I am still in the process of truly digesting all that is going on. What genre is it? At times I feel like I am listening to a particularly grimy grindcore act, others I am thinking about black and death metal in the vein of Malthusian or P...

Form Voltron June 9, 2015

Barús
by Barús

Ever wonder what would happen if Meshuggah and Nero di Marte had a baby? Just me? Well the answer to my personal fan fiction is Bars. Throw in a dash of Triptykon and perhaps even a touch of Living Sacrifice's The Hammering Process and you have yourself a recipe for some truly unique progressive dea...

Almost Perfect June 7, 2015

Settler
by Vattnet Viskar

Okay, so I’m cheating a little today, as I will occasionally do. Vattnet Viskar may be signed to Century Records, but they are still far from entering the mainstream metal lexicon. But that may change soon, as this group has seen a pretty quick rise to the spotlight. After a brief demo in 2011 an...

And Then There Was One June 5, 2015

Rescue & Restore
by August Burns Red

Writing a review for August Burns Red is a bit of a challenge. It's not so much that their sound is difficult to describe. Rather, the group's extremely consistent output of technically-inclined metalcore lends itself to redundancy from reviewing one album to the next. But while it may not be the ba...

Overcoming Depression...with Depressive Black Metal June 5, 2015

The Promise Of Oblivion
by Deadspace

I'll admit that I initially checked this out because I confused Deadspace with Darkspace. I'm special. Luckily, my herp led to something far more than a derp. Something about this album left me absolutely floored. From those first tortured post-black screams and perfectly implemented keys of the...

The Black and the Brutalful June 4, 2015

Nemesis
by The Hudson Horror

From the opening intro, with the epic guitar leads and pounding drums, I knew I was in for a treat. The instrumentation here is pretty glorious in scope. There is a strong foundation of melodic death metal and thrash metal, but there are brutal and blackened death influences as well. I tend to as...

Slayer Meets Black Flag June 3, 2015

Mvtter Vicivm
by Profanator

Fancy some blackened crust? Mexico has you covered. This is some violent, lo-fi metal that is equal parts Venom, Kreator, and Toxic Narcotic. Like the sample says, "I hate happy music...just shut (TFU)." Profanator have a mission: kill the hippies, shave mohawks on their corpses. I was initia...

The Beautiful Macabre June 2, 2015

In Cauda Venenum
by In Cauda Venenum

Submitted for your approval: In Cauda Venenum. Hailing from France, this act is here to bring “atmospheric black metal inspired by life, art, utopism, fatalism, & inheritance.” There is a superb layering of instrumentation happening here that is full without becoming an amorphous blob. The produc...

Melodeath, plain and simple June 1, 2015

Dysnomia
by Dysnomia

If you're like me, you grew up during the heyday of melodic death metal. From Slaughter of the Soul to Damage Done, I ate that stuff for breakfast. Those albums were probably the defining moment of my transition into the more extreme forms of metal. Sadly, all things must end. After a good decad...

I'll have my Doom heavy on the Death, please May 31, 2015

Wrath Monolith
by Doomed

I have always been quite choosey about my doom metal. Or, as the hardcore doomers might say, I just don't “get it.” I think a lot of it comes down to guitar work. A player myself, this tends to be the first thing that my ears go to. While I agree that I am somewhat missing the point of funeral doom ...

A Fugazi Possessed May 31, 2015

Erasure, I Realized The Fix Was In
by Annakarina

I've had quite a bit of post-black and post-metal offerings with which to whet my beak this year, but not a whole lot of post-hardcore. There is the new Bosse-de-Nage, but more on that another day. In the meantime, I was made aware of creepy-title, creep-artwork Erasure, I Realized The Fix Was In ...

Another Welcome Surprise May 31, 2015

Land of the Grim
by Skydancer

Whether it was intentional or not, Skydancer really suckered me in for a listen with their name. A HUGE Dark Tranquillity fan, my eyes were immediately drawn to the name while visiting the label for an entirely different promo. Fortunately, they can back up the click-bait name with some really exc...

Fuck Yngwie May 31, 2015

Oblivion (Mendel)
by Mendel

Let me start by getting some cursory stuff out of the way: Mendel is a virtuoso for people who dont normally go down for the usual wankery. Sure, you could easily put Oblivion on shuffle with Yngwie, Satriani, and Vai; but I dont even keep those guys in my iTunes. While the hardcore fans of such mon...

Shock and Awe May 31, 2015

Shock/Deny
by Deuil

This morning, I took a bit of a tumble down the rabbit hole. Except instead of finding opium-smoking insects and mentally ill hat proprietors, the charred landscape was filled with perverse creatures beyond comprehension. Thus is the not-so-whimsical world of Deuil, a black metal act out Liege, ...

History Channel Metal May 31, 2015

Blood Sacrifice Shaman
by Tengger Cavalry

History Channel Metal. That is my personal tag for Tengger Cavalry's latest opus. While it is true that Blood Sacrifice Shaman is a reworking of the band's debut, this is anything but a re-record. What the original sports in black metal rawness, this 2015 version counters with a vision of beauty. Go...

Call of the Mongols May 30, 2015

Ancient Call
by Tengger Cavalry

Extreme folk has become a relatively recent passion of mine. As such, there was no lack of content to experience when I began my exploration. I fell hard for everything from the more traditional black stylings of Enslaved and Borknagar to the bombastic and sometimes silly Ensiferum and Equilibrium. ...

Crushing Wave of Sludge May 30, 2015

Saros
by Wovoka

Los Angeles, California. Home to sunshine, beaches, and hundreds of wealthy, beautiful people. Surfing, shopping, smiling people. Wovoka has come to change all of that. They have come to slap the latte out of your hand and break those perfectly capped teeth. Most closely comparable to works fro...

Early Contender: Best of 2015 May 30, 2015

The History Of Death & Burial Rituals part I
by Death Karma

Death Karma is a Czech blackened death metal band, but don't expect to find yourself listening to Behemoth. While there is plenty of death influence in the vocals, I would describe the overall sound as kvlt symphonic black metal a la early Satyricon, Marduk, or Sacramentum. Many words come to mind a...
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