Avenger – Bohemian Dark Metal Review
I have a shameful confession, dear readers: I was really expecting Bohemian Dark Metal to be mediocre. I had never heard of the band before, and the album just sort of arrived with little fanfare …
Mongrel’s Cross – The Sins Of Aquarius Review
Judged solely on the merits of its black/thrash output, Australia must be a filthy, disgusting, and, well, pretty awesome place. With the likes of Deströyer 666, Assaulter, Bestial Warlust, Razor of Occam, Vomitor, Gospel of …
Baroness – Yellow And Green Review
By now you’ve surely at least heard some rumblings, as early press and publicity onslaught turn the initial trickle of new album chatter into a full-on landslide, that today’s Baroness ain’t exactly the Baroness of …
Gorod – A Perfect Absolution Review
It has often been remarked that technical death metal functions according to the law of diminishing returns. The first arpeggiated sweep? Awesome. The second? Pretty okay. But arpeggiated sweeps three through n? A bit like …
Reverse Polarity – Glassworks
Some of the very finest bands in extreme metal succeed through a strategy of sheer overwhelming force. Volume, speed, weight; louder than loud, faster than hell, heavier than death. The question for any such band, …
Coffin Texts – The Tomb Of Infinite Ritual Review
To get the inevitable out of the way: yes, Coffin Texts is a death metal band with a lyrical and thematic focus on ancient Egypt, so unless you’ve been living under some remarkably insulated rock …
Deadborn – Mayhem Maniac Machine Review
For better or worse, Mayhem Maniac Machine sounds almost exactly like its cover art, which features a human skeleton fused with a vaguely steampunk-looking killing machine: syringes and bolted joints, a finger gear-locked on the …
Panopticon – Kentucky Review
People are not rootless. Even economic migrants, or a generation born in exile, or the war-displaced, or an endless diaspora, or the homeless – all retain a sense of place that shapes their identity, even …