Category: Reviews

Annihilator – Ballistic, Sadistic Review

The ups and downs of Annihilator’s 35-plus year career are dizzying on every level, from lineup churn, label changes, and good old fashioned album quality. The one consistent, of course, has been mastermind Jeff Waters,

Primeval Mass – Nine Altars Review

Black metal is an abomination and a leech of a genre—an unholy bastard of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal where Venom emerged almost as a joke with over-the-top aesthetics and attempts to be

Blaze Of Perdition – The Harrowing Of Hearts Review

In the deep corners of the dark internet (not the “dark web,” because who even understands what in the hell that is) sit angry, middle-aged men and maligned teenagers championing the cause of trve kvlt

God Dethroned – Illuminati Review

For the most part, melodic death metal and I do not mix. It’s not that I dislike it, per se, but mostly, I just don’t care about it — it so rarely interests me that

Ihsahn – Telemark EP Review

Imagine waking up in the morning and looking in the mirror only to see the face of Vegard Sverre Tveitan looking back at you. Imagine the pressure of knowing that you were responsible for Emperor’s

Dead Kosmonaut – Gravitas Review

Sweden’s Dead Kosmonaut is pretty clearly still feeling out their place in the heavy metal pantheon. On debut full length Expect Nothing and last year’s standout Rekviem EP, they’ve played a mix of smooth trad,

Skumstrike – Execution Void Review

From the cabinets of Caligari Records comes Skumstrike’s Execution Void EP, released only on cassette and limited to a mere 150 copies. The band’s third overall release, Execution Void is a significant improvement over 2018’s

[::] – XIXIX Review

[::] is more interested in exploration than accessibility. Then again, accessibility in metal is often skewed by our place at the extreme end of the spectrum. Not having a singer, writing long songs, and having