Sumerlands is an American doom/heavy metal band from Pennsylvania. They seem to be heavily influenced by Ozzy Osbourne, Judas Priest and Mercyful Fate, although my favorite on the album "Blind" is almost thrash Megadeth. Sumerlands has good songwriting skills and command of their instruments and tracks such as the opener "Seven Seals", catchy "Timelash" and…
The sophomore outing from Ichabod Krane continues to embrace a lot of 1980’s melodic heavy/power metal themes. "Beyond Eternity" possesses the dark atmosphere and multi-octave singing prowess that put acts like Crimson Glory and Queensrÿche on the map, although the band still struggle in developing great riffs into full, memorable songs. At other times, more…
Hail Spirit Noir is by no means an ordinary band. "Mayhem in Blue" is no ordinary album either. Once in a while, you come across a band that simply blows you away and changes your perspective on what music is and how it can influence and inspire you. This Greek three-piece has released one of…
Da jeg hørte gjennom den første låta på denne fire spors skiva på 35 minutter første gangen, var det to ting som satte seg fast i hjernebarken min. Det første var at vokalen var litt malplassert. Litt pratende mørk og tørr growl som passer bedre som introstemme til grøssere og introer til Destruction konserter. Det…
"Children became kings, kings became gods, gods were worshiped and immortalized by men" The third album from the Greek black/heavy metal band Agatus is a mixed affair. The black metal is scarce (The Invisible, Gods of Fire), the black metal shrieks/growls largely replaced with solid clean vocals throughout and the entire album is more leaning…
Judging from this excellent self-titled opus that will be released by Mighty Music in just a few days (and probably already out by the time you are reading this), the legendary NWOBHM act Tygers of Pan Tang is still very much alive and kicking. The awesome album cover art says it all and tells you…
Vancouver, Canada in the western part of the country may not necessarily get its just rewards for a vibrant music scene as say Toronto or Montreal, but there are a number of impressive metal bands coming from the area these days. Anciients since 2010 are one of the shining new beacons from that area –…
Lurking beneath the shadows in the Teutonic thrash furor that Kreator, Sodom, and Destruction dished out in the 1980’s would be a band like Darkness. They issued a series of demos and three albums during the 1980’s, playing in a raw, speedy manner that held no compromise for the genre – endearing them to the…
The progressive and experimental Norwegian metal outfit known as Madder Mortem is back! It has been seven years since the band released "Eight Ways". Where does the time go? The very first time I experienced the band’s diverse and shape-shifting music was on stage, more specifically when the band performed at the Inferno London Event…
The sinister and ugly Norwegian metal outfit known as Slegest is back on the map with a brand new onslaught of rotten, catchy, and doomy music. This 2016 release, which is entitled "Vidsyn", is without a shadow of doubt the most concise, sharp, and entertaining output by the band yet. Compared to its predecessor, "Vidsyn"…
There’s something blissful about the marriage of gothic and doom when it comes to metal music. Especially if it’s handled in the right way – as Norway band To Cast a Shadow portray on their third full-length "Winter’s Embrace". Launching in 2004, the quartet possess one of those dark, melancholic sounds where the guitars churn…
A one-man death project for Jesper Ekstål, Swedish band Decomposed on the third album "Wither" punish the aural landscape with 9 songs of old school death antics. Those who love early Carnage/ Entombed, Dismember, and a bit of atmosphere in terms of some of the clean guitar elements will dig "Void", the brutal opener "By…
Inspired by the fictional location of a Parisian theatre in which vampires pretend to be mortal actors, Italian gothic metal/ rock band Theatres des Vampires have been together since 1994, as "Candyland" is their tenth studio album. Stylistically transforming themselves from a melodic black metal band in their earliest years, there’s a strong sense of…
Celebrating their twenty-year anniversary as a band, German act Sacred Steel live for the true/traditional metal cause since the very beginning of their career together in 1996. Hoisting shields and swords to the sky, "Heavy Metal Sacrifice" is another record to champion if you desire anthems that keep things as real as possible for the…
The fuck is this, an instrumental djent demo?! The entire duration of this album all I hear is good ideas for actual songs but the prevalent motive seems to be djent. Djent in the morning, djent in the afternoon, djent in the evening. Songs do not much differ from each other and within. Ok, so…
In their own words, PG.Lost is "post rock/indie experimental instrumentalism, orchestra of the heart, a playground for the long lost sporadic thoughts of giving in or getting back, a Swedish band of many directions, but most of all a band throbbing with great melancholy grinding against the precious high hopes of not just individual human…
Dirty, groovy retro-hard rock may be a wieldy description for Pennsylvania’s Crobot, but they are indeed from another time period on this full-length "Welcome to Fat City". Deep swinging riffs, awe-inspiring bluesy vocals, and solid bass/drum interplay creates a bevy of memorable tunes, much like you expect from Led Zeppelin, Kyuss, and Clutch. Hard to…
Together since 2001, Lynam from Alabama have been a part of the retro-metal / hard rock movement that aligns well with the 80’s scene. "Halfway to Hell" is the latest release, a first for European audiences as it contains the previous EP of the same name plus many singles and highlights from their earlier albums.…
The legendary death mongers that we all know and love as Obituary are about to unearth this live album of theirs entitled "Ten Thousand Ways to Die". Actually, it has been referred to as a two-track single containing 11 live cuts as a bonus. To me, it feels more natural to refer to this as…
As far as I’m concerned, Insomnium never released anything that could even remotely be considered crap, although some albums were stronger than others, with a few masterpieces such as "Above The Weeping World" or my favorite album "Across the Dark". On these albums and the subsequent "One for Sorrow" as well as "Shadows of the…
