Reviews Archive
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Killswitch Engage
Incarnate
By Simon Milburn | 26 April, 2016
I’m sure many of you remember the “New Wave of American Heavy Metal” trend. There was a plethora of bands pushing that barrow including Lamb of God, Unearth, Shadows Fall and of course, Killswitch Engage. Now, it’s probably...
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Sourvein
Aquatic Occult
By Chris Gibbs | 26 April, 2016
Guitarist/vocalist T-Roy of Cape Fear, North Carolina fuzz driven sludge doom rockers Sourvein has been through a lot in the last 20 years. He’s kicked the bottle, twice, lost friends and family along the way, bounced from label to label, sp...
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Artillery
Penalty by Perception
By Simon Crawley | 26 April, 2016
A band significant enough for its role played in the early days of thrash metal, Artillery is still around and has also survived two significant break-ups. The Danish thrashers unleash their seventh full-length studio album and fourth since their ...
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Rapheumets Well
The Exile
By Rod Whitfield | 06 April, 2016
I’m a massive fan of bands that combine bombastic orchestral flourishes with heavy music, whether it be the female fronted gothic wonder of Nightwish or Epica, the blackened extremities of Dimmu Borgir or Cradle of Filth, or the sheer brutal...
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Gadget
The Great Destroyer
By Chris Gibbs | 30 March, 2016
Gavle, Sweden grindcore troupe Gadget has just released their third full length record, aptly titled The Great Destroyer. Their 2004 debut Remote was a modern slab of grind for the new millennium, as was its excellent successor, ...
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Caliban
Gravity
By Chris Gibbs | 29 March, 2016
German metalcore act Caliban has been belting out records since 1999. Personally, if I had to choose to listen to a band of this particular sound, I have always preferred their native peers Heaven Shall Burn. They’re heavier, more creative, ...
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Amon Amarth
Jomsviking
By Peter Zischke | 25 March, 2016
There are some bands which are synonymous with a particular genre of music. In the case of what could be called “Viking Metal” - a combination of melodic death metal focussed largely on tales of Norse war, warriors and Gods - Swe...
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Karma to Burn
Mountain Czar
By Simon Milburn | 22 March, 2016
I’m old enough to remember when “stoner rock” was a new thing. I’m talking about being there when Kyuss released album after amazing album and being lucky enough to see them in concert support Metallica on their 1993 &ldquo...
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Miasmal
Tides of Omniscience
By Chris Gibbs | 16 March, 2016
Solid, quality, old school classic sounding death metal is hard to come by these days. With the exception of physically reaching for the Tampa classics in Death and Obituary, or that petrol fume drenched, chainsaw guitar sound of such Gothenburg l...
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Spiritual Beggars
Sunrise to Sundown
By Chris Gibbs | 15 March, 2016
Guitarist extraordinaire Michael Amott (Arch Enemy, ex-Carcass, ex-Carnage) is one busy man, that’s for sure. The fiery redhead’s long standing, '70s influenced classic rock supergroup, Spiritual Beggars, have just released their ninth...
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Bushwhacker
The False Dilemma
By Simon Crawley | 10 March, 2016
While I’m not quite sure what’s in the name, as a bushwhacker links to the American Civil War and these chaps are from Canada; one thing I did come to understand about The False Dilemma is that it requires a few listens to beg...
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Prong
X - No Absolutes
By Simon Milburn | 08 March, 2016
Whilst some acts such as Metallica feel the need to take their time when it comes to writing and releasing albums these days, others such as Revocation and Prong churn them out in almost rapid fire succession. The native New Yorkers, since 2012, h...
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Wolvserpent
Aporia:Kala:Ananta
By Michael O'Brien | 03 March, 2016
It’s funny how a band’s name can predispose you to an assumption about what they’ll sound like even before you’ve heard a single note. In the case of Boise, Idaho’s two-piece act, Wolvserpent, I’m not really sur...
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Spirit Adrift
Behind - Beyond
By Chris Gibbs | 01 March, 2016
Spirit Adrift plays a form of desert wandering, psychedelic, and melodic doom that is I suppose at times reminiscent of the excellent Pallbearer, but nowhere near as good. I will of course cut them some serious slack as we’re talking about a...
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Oceans of Slumber
Winter
By Chris Gibbs | 29 February, 2016
2016 has already delivered some cracking releases by well-established bands in just barely two months, but I’m here to tell you about a less established band, and one that is unlike any I have heard before. Oceans of Slumber, a sextet from H...
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Anthrax
For All Kings
By Simon Milburn | 26 February, 2016
I must admit I’ve been sitting on this album for some time now. For All Kings, studio album number eleven for this long standing New York (U.S.A.) metal act, honestly didn’t sit well with me for the first little while. Of cour...
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Black Cobra
Imperium Simulacra
By Simon Crawley | 25 February, 2016
There is plenty of down-tuned, steamroller riffage and heaving tempo to soak up with Black Cobra, but also a significant hardcore thread running through the band’s sound. The inherent changeability of sludge metal and the way it can chaotica...
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Entombed A.D.
Dead Dawn
By Michael O'Brien | 23 February, 2016
You’d have to think that there’s a fair bit riding on the success of Dead Dawn, the second full-length album from En...
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Obscura
Akróasis
By Chris Gibbs | 22 February, 2016
After the success of their mind-blowing and brilliant third record, 2011’s Omnivium, German technical death metal masters Obscura, led by founder and now sole original member vocalist/guitarist Steffen Kummerer, had to face some unf...
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Megadeth
Dystopia
By Simon Milburn | 11 February, 2016
It’s funny that Megadeth are still one of those bands that I get excited about when I know there is a new release on the horizon. The rest of the big four as well as any of the other significant others of that ilk bring the same. You k...
