Give Into The Depression Dec. 19, 2016

Eskapisten
by Eskapisten

The Pitch: One man atmospheric black metal project from Sweden releasesdebut EP. What I Like: If you like depressive black metal, this will certainly put you in a dark mood. The guitars achieve asorrowful wall of sound, and the underproduction of the drums makes for a nice effect. The vocals are fi...

Is Gudatall Good At All? Dec. 16, 2016

Gudatall
by Murg

The Pitch: One of the finest new black metal bands to hit the scenein the classic sound returns with the anticipated sophomorefollow-up to Varg and Bjrn. What I Like: In terms of presence and production, these guys hit the nail on the head. The vocals, guitar tone, reverb levels, and general presen...

Throbbing Doom Dec. 15, 2016

III
by Herem

The Pitch: 5 piece doom band from Finland sounds a bit like Trapped Within Burning Machinery with some Sabbath overtones. What I Like: "Earworm" is certainly the key word here. Pretty much any doom band that catches my ear has a strong handle on crafting some infectious melodies into their sound. H...

Raw Death Metal Dec. 15, 2016

At the Onset of Extinction
by Sepulchral Curse

The Pitch: Finnish brutal old school death metal group with members of Solothus. What I Like: This album is just so uncompramisingly raw. The gutteral vocals and more grindcore screeches are extreme metal to the core. D-beats and melding of simple chord progressions with melodic tremolo lines fuse ...

Serpents Crawl Stealthy Dec. 14, 2016

Primordial Subjugation
by Necroven

The Pitch: Band from Spain mixing old school with blackened death metal for fans of Morbid Angel, Incantation, Immolation, etc. What I Like: Necroven manage to navigate quite smoothly between death and doom extremes. They can rage with ferocious drumming or shift gears (see "The Pyre Cycle") for a ...

Glass Shrine Dec. 14, 2016

Lapidary
by Glass Shrine

The Pitch: New label Night Rhythms Recordings (Texas) puts out their first official release from Americanpost-black metal band Glass Shrine. "An ongoing study of beauty within decay." What I Like: This is a pretty unique fusion of black metal with bright, upbeat surfer rock. On some levels it remin...

Instrumental Tech Death? Dec. 13, 2016

Magnitude of Thoughts
by Teramobil

The Pitch: Montreal "instrumental tech death" for fans of Animals As Leaders, Scale The Summit, Archspire. What I Like: This is just plain madness. I was skeptical of the whole "instrumental tech death thing." My thinking was "wouldn't that just be progressive metal?" Nope, this is about asheavy as...

Stocking Stuffer Dec. 13, 2016

Astrophobia
by Youdash

The Pitch: Polish progressive, technical death metal with the mind-bending chaos of Gigan, Gorguts, and Mr. Bungle. What I Like: EVERYTHING. It's like Deformeathing Production wanted to give me one last Christmas present before the year was done. These compositions are biz-onkers. Not only do the t...

Good Thrash Dec. 12, 2016

Demon
by Maligner

The Pitch: Sweden-based, Latin American death thrash trio channels Slayer and other old school influences on their latest tape release. What I Like: The racing riffs channel elements of both Kerry King and Anders Bjrler; with a similar melding of American and German thrash groups with Swedish death...

The Next Gojira Dec. 12, 2016

Talks to Innerself
by Karma Rassa

The Pitch: Russian prog band Karma Rossa channel Tool, Gojira, and others on Talks To Innerself What I Like: These compositions are gorgeous. There are so many great hooks and killer drum patterns that if you blink you might miss one. This album isvaliantly true to the prog label in that they don't...

The Most Beautiful Suicide Dec. 12, 2016

Empire of Nothing
by La Fin

The Pitch: Italian band combines elements of post-metal, post-hardcore, sludge, and black metal to create some crushing and compelling compositions inspired by by the famous picture of Evelyn McHale after she leapt from the Empire State Building. What I Like: That first track hits like a ton of bri...

Ungodly Old School Dec. 9, 2016

Ungodly Forms
by Sentient Horror

The Pitch: New Jersey old school death metalmastered by Swedish mastermind Dan Swan (ex-Edge of Sanity, ex-Bloodbath, Witherscape) and mixed by Damian Herring (Horrendous). What I Like: Ripping solos, wicked hooks, dominating vocals. Everything you could want for a release in this style is represen...

Oslo: Now with 100% More Hardcore Dec. 9, 2016

Sibiir
by Sibiir

The Pitch: Dark and decrepit hardcore from the black metal capital of Oslo, Norway. What I Like: I really love how hardcore bands from this region have achieved new levels of darkness in their atmosphere. They have in essence started with the benchmark set by Botch and culturally infused that alrea...

Weight On My Shoulders Dec. 9, 2016

Transient
by Through Lucid Eyes

The Pitch: Canadian progressive metalcore band for fans ofERRA, Northlane, Kardashev What I Like: The atmosphere on this album is undeniable. Rather than just going for an emo, sad set of lyrics and hooky guitars; it really emulates the feeling you get whennothing seems to begoing your way.That wei...

Ursus Tempestatem Dec. 8, 2016

Biophobia
by Bearstorm

The Pitch: Virgina band delivers a strange fusion of black metal and psychodelic, progressive sludge on Biophobia. What I Like: What a seemingly mismatched-yet-wonderful combination of sounds. I doubt you have heard this yet in 2016. The raspy,wretched black metal vocals are already delightful on t...

The Ritual Aura Dec. 8, 2016

Taether
by The Ritual Aura

The Pitch: Australian progressive technical death metal band, The Ritual Aura,dial up the weird just a year after earning a spot on my favorite death metal albums of 2015. What I Like: In my previous review I commended this band fortheir experimentation on "Erased in the Purge." I don't know if the...

Shredding Over Substance Dec. 7, 2016

Armorican Deathrites
by Venefixion

The Pitch: Iron Bonehead unleashes blackened thrash and death metal from France filled with cavernous reverb. What I Like: It's righteous to listen to. Plenty of old school nostalgia and thrashy riffage, especially on the first proper track, "An Ankou." For its simplicity, this short release doesn'...

Signals of Greatness Dec. 7, 2016

Escaping Velocity
by Signals of Bedlam

The Pitch: Unsigned New York progressive band (friends of Bangladeafy) inspired by the likes of Karnivool andThe Mars Volta pour their time and resources into a well-produced new record. What I Like: The time and money put into this were worth it. The production is strong and helps highlight the ta...

Happy Music Dec. 7, 2016

May Nothing But Happiness Find You
by Falls Apart

The Pitch: Beatdown hardcore from Cleveland, Ohio fusing elements of 90's metal with groups like Hatebreed and Left Behind. What I Like: Some of the guitar and bass work on this album reminds me a bit of the groove and stop-go dynamics of Helmet's Meantime. All other aspects are more relatable to a...

Nightmare Traveler Dec. 6, 2016

Oneironaut
by Crimson Moon

An Oneironaut is "a person who explores dream worlds, usually associated with lucid dreaming." Here to tackle the subject from W.T.C. Production's ever growing roster of impressive black metal bands (Ascension, True Black Dawn, Shrine Of Insanabilis) is U.S./German project Crimson Moon. Fronted bySc...

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