Reviews Archive
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Withered
Grief Relic
By Chris Gibbs | 08 June, 2016
Six years have passed us by since Atlanta, Georgia’s Withered destroyed our senses, followed swiftly by our minds with their face splitting, thickly dense record Dualitas. They have now come back to obliterate any mental fragments t...
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Dark Funeral
Where Shadows Forever Reign
By Michael O'Brien | 07 June, 2016
With seven years having passed since their last album, Sweden’s self-proclaimed “ineffable kings of darkness”, Dark Funeral, have returned with Where Shadows Forever Reign, marking their sixth full-length relea...
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Katatonia
The Fall of Hearts
By Chris Gibbs | 06 June, 2016
My first exposure to Stockholm, Sweden’s Katatonia came in the form of 2001’s Last Fair Deal Gone Down, and while I became somewhat a follower of the band, I would not say I became a fan. I’ve made a constant effort to e...
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Grand Magus
Sword Songs
By Chris Gibbs | 31 May, 2016
Stockholm, Sweden’s power trio Grand Magus, which is comprised of vocalist/guitarist Janne ‘JB’ Christoffersson, bassist Mats ‘Fox’ Skinner and since 2012, drummer Ludwigg Witt (their third in total) of Spiritual Begg...
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Lacuna Coil
Delirium
By Rod Whitfield | 30 May, 2016
These Italian masters released their absolute classic album Comalies way back in ’02. That album, similar to Nightwish’s Once, is a true seminal moment in the development of the female fronted gothic metal phenomenon....
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Death
Scream Bloody Gore (Deluxe Reissue)
By Simon Milburn | 30 May, 2016
To be fair, Death is one of those bands who need no introduction. There’s nothing I can add that will elaborate on their diverse and highly regarded discography nor enhance the legacy left by mastermind Chuck Schuldiner. But, here I am, and ...
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Mirrors for Psychic Warfare
Mirrors for Psychic Warfare
By Michael O'Brien | 25 May, 2016
When it comes to collaborations between artists I like and respect, I tend to try to temper my expectations as best as I can before hearing the fruits of their work, because the only thing worse than a disappointing release from one such artist is...
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Drown this City
False Idols
By Rod Whitfield | 24 May, 2016
In a heavily crowded post hardcore/melodic metalcore scene veritably bursting at the seams with cookie-cutter bands, this Melbourne-based five piece is poised to take a big step forward and howl ‘look at me!’ at the top of its lungs. A...
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Hatebreed
The Concrete Confessional
By Chris Gibbs | 23 May, 2016
Ahh Hatebreed. Are they not the leading representatives of metallic hardcore in its truest form? I remember working voluntarily in my local independent music store back in '99 and stumbling across Hatebreed's debut record, Satisfaction is the ...
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Devildriver
Trust No One
By Simon Milburn | 20 May, 2016
Hiatus. Ugh. That word… again!! Man, if that ain’t a word that’s thrown around by bands like a hot potato these days, I don’t know what is. A band comes along and releases a series of albums. Suddenly, a “hiatus&rdqu...
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Death Angel
The Evil Divide
By Chris Gibbs | 20 May, 2016
San Francisco, Bay Area thrash metal veterans Death Angel have been on one hell of an upward trajectory in the last eight years. Their hit and miss reunion album The Art of Dying arrived now 12 years ago after a 14 year break up, but its ...
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Apocalypse
Faithless
By Simon Milburn | 18 May, 2016
Well, it goes without saying that Divebomb would complete the mission with respect to Apocalypse reissues and they did just that. The Swiss group’s 1993 sophomore and final album, Faithless, has also been given the limited edition a...
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October Tide
Winged Waltz
By Simon Milburn | 17 May, 2016
October Tide is, for many, probably a band that would go unnoticed. Formed by Katatonia alumi Fredrik Norrman and Jonas Renske in 1994, the band released their first two long players in Rain Without End (1997) and Grey Dawn (1999...
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Infernal Outcry
Mass Extinction Requiem I
By Rod Whitfield | 17 May, 2016
These Tassie devils have obviously taken pretty solid cues from their fellow Taswegians Psycroptic. Such comparisons are inevitable when you play tech death and you hail from the Apple Isle (and this EP was even produced by Psycroptic guitarist Jo...
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Levitation Hex, The
Cohesion
By Rod Whitfield | 13 May, 2016
Just like his former band Alchemist, Adam Agius’s latest project The Levitation Hex is a real enigma wrapped up in a mystery inside a riddle. Firstly, with Agius’s unique voice, guitar playing, and, above all, song-writing style, compa...
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Fallujah
Dreamless
By Chris Gibbs | 13 May, 2016
Fallujah’s take on death metal of the technical and progressive kind took the metal world and keyboard warrior’s safe behind their monitors by storm. The dare I say “controversy” surrounding the band's eye opening sophomore...
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Gorguts
Pleiades' Dust
By Michael O'Brien | 11 May, 2016
Like what I assume to be the case with the vast bulk of the death metal community, I’m a pretty big fan of Canada’s Gorguts. They’re a band that has not only spent their lengthy career pushing themselves creatively, but have also...
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Amenra
Alive
By Michael O'Brien | 06 May, 2016
When I first heard 2012’s Mass V, the fifth full-length album from Belgium’s Amenra, it was love at first listen, but as the years stretched out post-release, I found myself returning to the album less and less. Not because I&...
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Eths
Ankaa
By Rod Whitfield | 03 May, 2016
I must admit I hadn’t heard of this band up until receiving this album for review, despite them having been around for more than a decade and a half. But when I found out that they are: a) French, and b) an ‘experimental modern metal b...
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Apocalypse
Apocalypse (Deluxe Edition)
By Simon Milburn | 27 April, 2016
Taking a step back in time, compilation albums actually meant something. These days, in an era of ‘buy one track here, one track there, and rarely the whole album’, they really offer little value and even then they are nothing more tha...