Immolation ‒ Acts Of God Review
[Cover artwork by Eliran Kantor] Most Immolation fans would agree that their genre defining classics are behind them, and that’s okay! This is a band whose floor includes very good records that can’t possibly hurt …
Bludgeoned ‒ Summary Execution Review
Bludgeoned is a new brutal death metal band out of Washington State and, wait a sec… The brutal variety of death metal has been around since Suffocation unleashed Human Waste on mankind over 30 years …
Nullification ‒ Kingdoms to Hovel Review
Cover art by Ov Exvn Infërnvz. A lot of metal bands wear their influences on their sleeves, sometimes literally in the form of a long-sleeve t-shirt with 15 logos on each arm. Much rarer are …
Best Of 2021 – Zach Duvall: Rank And Tear Until It Is Done
Uh-oh. Hello. Hello again. I’ve never had as tough a time putting together a snapshot list of heavy metal albums as I did in 2021. Part of that is because I generally spend a lower …
Concrete Winds ‒ Nerve Butcherer Review
Entering “racket” into ye olde Dictionary.com yields several results, with the following coming up under noun definitions: Social excitement, gaiety, or dissipation. Legolas and Gimli took part in the celebratory racket following the victorious battle …
Diamonds & Rust: Enslaved ‒ Mardraum ‒ Beyond the Within
Enslaved’s career is one defined by eras. They started as perhaps the most prodigious band of Norway’s second wave of black metal, releasing their Hordanes Land EP when guitarist Ivar Bjørnson was a mere 15 …
Gaahls Wyrd ‒ The Humming Mountain Review
Gaahl has been around the Norwegian black metal scene a very long time, and for a guy that once fronted among the more stubbornly traditional acts in Gorgoroth, he has shown a notable willingness to …
Upon Stone ‒ Where Wild Sorrows Grow Review
Fast Rites: because sometimes brevity is fundamental. LA’s Upon Stone prefer their melodeath the way it was originally played in Sweden in the early and mid-90s: equal parts classy and brutal, haggard in the vocal …