Reviews Archive
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Hammers of Misfortune
Dead Revolution
By Simon Crawley | 15 August, 2016
There are those bands and styles of metal that ooze that sense of ‘epic’, taking the listener on a journey of riffs, melody, hooks, guitar solos, and dramatic vocals all tied to a string of stories or overall theme. Hammers of Misfortu...
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Witherscape
The Northern Sanctuary
By Chris Gibbs | 09 August, 2016
Dan Swanö. The name is royalty amongst the world of the metal elite, and has been at the forefront of Swedish melodic death metal and production for well over two decades. Any self-respecting metal head is aware of the man and his plethora of...
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Revocation
Great is Our Sin
By Chris Gibbs | 09 August, 2016
When I think of Boston, Massachusetts, I think of hardcore and metalcore bands, plenty of them and some rather excellent ones I might add. I most certainly don't think of technical death and thrash metal, that's for sure. That all changed barely t...
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Sanford Parker
Lash Back
By Michael O'Brien | 29 July, 2016
Well, this isn’t what I was expecting to hear at all.
I’ve been a fan of Parker’s work as a musician and a producer for a while now, and especially for his contributions in Minsk and Buried at Sea. His more recent program...
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Defiled
Towards Inevitable Ruin
By Simon Crawley | 21 July, 2016
The Japanese death metal juggernaut that is Defiled has been crushing skulls and taking names for 22 brutal years. Much like their home city of Tokyo, this is metal of monstrous proportions. In the five years since Defiled’s last full-length...
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Despised Icon
Beast
By Chris Gibbs | 21 July, 2016
I am not a fan of deathcore. I am even less a fan of that word being used to describe a sub-genre. I had the same view when the term metalcore first propped up in the late '90s. Yes, the '90s. I don’t care what anyone says as that word was a...
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Vulture
Victim to the Blade
By Simon Milburn | 18 July, 2016
Speed metal is one of those genres that sit in between two other major genres. For example, deathcore sits smack bang in the middle of death metal and hardcore. Speed metal to me sits in the middle of thrash metal and traditional metal. Whilst the...
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Lord of War
Suffer
By Michael O'Brien | 11 July, 2016
Just as there are labels out there like Flenser Records and Blood Music that I tend to be drawn to because of the kind of material they specialise in, there are also labels out there that I shy away from for the very same reason, and Unique Leader...
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H.P. Lovecraft
The Lurking Fear
By Michael O'Brien | 11 July, 2016
While I’m a lover of books, I’ve never really gotten on board with the audiobook format. There’s something about the experience of digesting a story through the written word that isn’t quite the same for me when it’s ...
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Monsterworks
Black Swan Annihilation
By Simon Crawley | 11 July, 2016
There is a striking air of enthusiasm about the UK’s Monsterworks which is also admirable when you think that the band has been around for well over a decade, churning out albums and sticking together as a unit the entire time. The release o...
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Gojira
Magma
By Simon Milburn | 08 July, 2016
Many will say that I’m jaded, old, disconnected from “today’s metal” and a hater. To their credit, there’s some truth in some or all of those things. I’ll leave it for you to figure out. The simple fact is that ...
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Nails
You Will Never Be One of Us
By Simon Milburn | 28 June, 2016
This year has already seen a mountain of albums hit the shelves of your favourite store, be it a bricks and mortar store or one of the many digital options. I think it’s fair to say that one of the most anticipated albums of 2016 is You ...
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Gruesome
Dimensions of Horror
By Simon Milburn | 28 June, 2016
With Relapse records wrapping up their series of deluxe “everything including the kitchen sink” multi-CD and LP Death reissues this month, it seems only fitting that Gruesome also return with a new EP to boot. Titled Dimensions of ...
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Whitechapel
Mark of the Blade
By Chris Gibbs | 28 June, 2016
Knoxville, Tennessee sextet, Whitechapel, have just unleashed what is no doubt going to be one of the biggest cans of worms of not only their career but of 2016 with their sixth record, Mark of the Blade. It’s 2014, Billboard 200 to...
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C.B. Murdoc
Here be Dragons
By Michael O'Brien | 24 June, 2016
There were two things that drew me to this promo from the outset. The first is that the band’s unusual moniker reminded me of the kind of name a character from a Raymond Chandler novel might have, and the second was that the band was formed ...
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Be'lakor
Vessels
By Rod Whitfield | 23 June, 2016
This is one band that has truly improved with every release they’ve put out there, and with Vessels, these Melbourne boys have put themselves fairly and squarely on the world class map.
Vessels is an apt name for thi...
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Six Feet Under
Graveyard Classics IV: The Number of the Priest
By Simon Milburn | 20 June, 2016
There’s no doubt that Six Feet Under have an audience. It might not be a large audience but in this age where genres are so splintered and no one particular style dominates metal or in fact defines metal these days, it must be said that Six ...
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Phobocosm
Bringer of Drought
By Simon Milburn | 14 June, 2016
To most people, Canada means snow, ice hockey, maple leaves, mounties, Nickelback, Alanis Morrisette, and Bryan Adams. To metal heads, all bar the last three items in that list hold true. In addition to that, Canada also means Annihilator, Gorguts...
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Merciless Death
Taken Beyond
By Simon Milburn | 09 June, 2016
I’m never really sure what to make of bands that share their name with a song from another, usually older, metal band. In some cases, things work out OK to varying degrees of success. Just for a minute think about the likes of Deep Purple, O...
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American Head Charge
Tango Umbrella
By Simon Crawley | 08 June, 2016
Drugs, breakups, reunions, and death – all too common a thread of themes in the music business, and Minneapolis’ American Head Charge are another one of those bands. It’s been just over ten years since the band’s last album...
