Hell the Sequel April 19, 2016

Obedience to Authority
by Autokrator

I freaking loved Autokrator's last album. Never before have the worlds of death metal and drone collided so fully, so comprehensively, and so successfully. Autokrator don't make death and drone...they make deathdrone. It's a melting pot of destructive forces that sound like mother earth groaning und...

Fast and Repugnant April 19, 2016

Black Crusades
by Tombstalker

I have to give some credit to Shadow Kingdom Records on this one, because if it weren't for them signing this Kentucky band and promoting thealready-released Black Crusades, I doubt I would have ever heard it. Tombstalker are a wrecking ball of a melodic death metal band.Uniting the tight riffing an...

13 More Bands Poised For The Mainstream April 18, 2016

It's not often that I list a black metal band as a group that could hit the big time, but every so often it happens. Back in the day, we had the exploding careers of Dimmu Borgir and Cradle of Filth, with their somehow more easy to swallow takes on the genre. Now with west coast groups like Deafheav...

The Spice Must Flow April 15, 2016

Sentient
by Nucleus

Oh hai there...another awesome band from my hometown of Chicago, IL. Except this time instead of blackened sludge, it's some highly technical science fiction progressive death metal.Sentient's favorite topics include not mayhem and murder, butIsaac Asimov, Arthur Clarke and Frank Herbert. No complai...

No More! April 15, 2016

Unortheta
by Zhrine

As if I hadn't been swamped enough trying to get out all of thereviews for the amazing April 8th roster, here comes another email thatvery day unleashing Icelandic masters Zhrine. Unortheta had to take the back-burner for a week while I caught my breath, but damn did I ever want to get this one out ...

A More Somber March April 14, 2016

Northen
by SIG:AR:TYR

SIG,AR, andTYRare the names of three letters of the old North European runic alphabet. These runic symbols represent theforces of chaos, balance, and order. SIG:AR:TYR began in 2003 as a one-man project from London, Ontario, Canada dedicated to the mythology of Northern Europe. Northenis its first a...

Crushingly Complacent April 13, 2016

From Nothing Comes Everything
by Torpor

Torpor is a most righteous sludge metal band from London,UK. I want to live inside of this album. I don't really know how I ended up missing this one last year, but luckily their newsplit with countrymen and fellow sludgers, Sonance, brought them to my attention. But this...this is the main event ri...

Lean Machine April 12, 2016

Abuse to Suffer
by Rotten Sound

Rotten Sound from Finland are the nation's most pummeling purveyors of grindcore to date. Abuse to Suffer istheir first album in five years, but these 16 tracks prove that taking half a decade off to hone your craft doesn't have to leave you soft in flabby. Rather, Abuse to Suffer is a vicous, viole...

Genius April 12, 2016

Arktis
by Ihsahn

I've not been a big follower of Ihsahn. Sue me. I mean, I worship the man for what he did for symphonic black metal, particularly on his first two classics; but I just didn't really stick around to see much of the aftermath. I did dabble a bit in his previous and much lauded 'Das Seelenbrecher,' but...

Receive Thy Punishment April 11, 2016

Cursus Impasse: The Pendlomic Vows
by Howls of Ebb

Howls of Ebb is a two-man avantgarde black metal project featuring frontman Zee-Luuuvft-Huund and drummer Roteen' Blisssss. The writing of their latest album, 'Cursus Impasse: The Pendlomic Vows',is described as "chaotic and unpredictable,"but not anarchic. "It is meticulously sculpted and refined, ...

Just Like Christmas April 8, 2016

Mariner
by Cult of Luna/Julie Christmas

Where to even begin? I feel ready to simply gush all over this text, both figuratively and literally.I'll try to restrain myself though. Cult of Luna is a Swedish progressive/post-metal/sludge band that has been making waves for some time with several studio albums already under their belts. Julie C...

No Gore Here April 8, 2016

Gore
by Deftones

Deftones are a band from Sacramento, CA that are making me feel old as I say they have been putting out albums since 1995's 'Adrenaline.' I have a special place in my heart for these purveyors of spacey post-metal and alternative since I was about 15 years old hearing 'White Pony' for the first time...

Suffer for your Art April 8, 2016

The Ladder
by Palace of Worms

I was familiar with related, and far stranger, act Botanist before I had heard of Palace of Worms. This is a more standard black metal project than the plant-obsessed former.Despite my ignorance, The Ladder is actually thethird full-length from one-man super-musician, Balan, under this moniker. It w...

Haunted April 8, 2016

Devoid of Light
by UADA

UADA is latin for "haunted." Despite becoming more and more interested in the West Coast BM scene, I still give thekids a lot of sh#t for where they come from. As someone who now lives in Portland, Ioften get wrapped up in the level of privilege some people seem to carry around here, or a holier-tha...

Super Technical, Super Fun April 7, 2016

Denial of the Scriptures
by Fleshgore

Fleshgore are a brutal death metal band from Ukraine. The group has played tours and festivals in 19 countries over Europe and Australia includingWacken. For fans of groups like Dying Fetus, Suffocation, Wormed and Virulency; Denial of the Scriptures is a wet dream of technical, face pummeling madne...

Another for the Kvlt April 6, 2016

Common Graves
by Nabaath

CommonGraves is the third album from Ukranian black metal band,Nabaath. Their bandcamp page reads: "To the Darkness beyond usual understanding of world and existence,Journey across the Void to the Abyss, All is bounded in Common Graves, infinite, desecrated, doomed, Path will never end, Flowing thro...

Ukranian Folk Metal April 5, 2016

We Are The Titan's Rising Ashes
by Sectorial

Sectorial is yet another in the stream of untapped metal talentfrom the Ukraine. Playing a union of chaotic, thrashy death metal with traditional folk instrumentation, they definitely do things a bit differently then some others I have heard in the style. I do hear some hints of their countrymen, No...

Back in Black April 4, 2016

Jumalten Aika
by Moonsorrow

If you consider yourself a fan of pagan, folk, and/or black metal; Moonsorrow is a group that should require little introduction. This Finnish band helpedto further define the genre back in 2001 with 'Suden Uni,' and then showed how much more it could be by taking a sharp turn at their seminal 'Kive...

Familiar Sounds Rearranged April 1, 2016

Stasis
by Khroma

Stasis is Khromas sophomore album. I've never heard their debut, but this Finland-based group have done plenty to turn my head with this one. Written, produced, engineered and mixed by the band in their Helsinki and Berlin headquarters,Khroma knows what it means to be DIY. And yet the resulting soun...

Mad Max Metal April 1, 2016

Reign of the Unblinking Eye
by The Bendal Interlude

The Bendal Interlude plays a mixture of thrash and sludge "with bits of psychedelia thrown in for good measure." They have been recommended for fans of 16, Rwake, Eyehategod, and Down; and shared the stage with the likes of Sunn O))), COC, Church of Misery, Red Fang and more. As far as my own interp...
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