ALBUM REVIEWS

RECENT ALBUM REVIEWS

  • INQUISITION – Nefarious Dismal Orations (re-release)

    Up next is a re-release of the fourth album from Inquisition. Once again SoM have upgraded the cover artwork significantly, but other that, there is no difference to tracklisting or mastering and no bonus tracks. I am such a fan of the Inquisition sound that I’m not actually the best person to review their work…

  • SULPHUR AEON – Gateway to the Antisphere

    "Swallowed by the Ocean’s Tide" was a great debut, in retrospect perhaps a little disjointed (never my giving it a 5.5/6 on Imhotep’s site) but back then it seriously moved me. As it is often the case by reason of prolific nature of metal market, I forgot about Sulphur Aeon (SA) so when I had…

  • SULPHUR AEON – Gateway to the Antisphere

    Det tyske death metal bandet Sulphur Aeon satte spor etter seg allerede med sitt debutalbum "Swallowed by the Ocean’s Tide» for to år siden. Mange mente dette var et banebrytende album og selve framtiden for sjangeren. Dermed ble forventningene til andreskiva skrudd til topps. Slikt kan drepe selv den beste, men dette teknisk begavede death…

  • SATHANAS – Worship the Devil

    The US black/death act Sathanas seems to have been around forever as I remember coming across the name in various underground metal publications 14-15 years ago. Time fucking flies. Anyway, it turns out that Sathanas have been lurking in the underground for 25 years now, spreading their raw, dark, vile, and brutal metal to the…

  • WHERE EVIL FOLLOWS – Portable Darkness

    I hadn’t heard of the six -string shredding Tony Knapp before ‘Portable Darkness’ but am happy to know him now. Where Evil Follows is a two man operation based in the US. Musically we are looking at 80’s style speed metal with some slight modern influences, but ultimately fairly old-fashioned soundwise. Which isn’t a bad…

  • DEHUMAN – Graveyard of Eden

    Dehuman er noe så sjeldent som et belgisk death metal band. Kraftfull og god variant av death metal. Mer old school enn nytt. Særpreget er gitarene som titt og ofte «løper litt løpsk» i låtene. Låtene har et godt driv og er varierte. Det er sånn akkurat passe smakfullt brutalt. Minner kanskje litt om polske…

  • THE ATOMIC BITCHWAX – Gravitron

    New Jersey trio The Atomic Bitchwax have been in existence for 22 years, plowing down audiences near and far with their super stoner rock style. "Gravitron" is their sixth and latest studio effort, another 10 song/ 33 minute slice of grooves, bass distortion, and high octane, quick hitting material that coagulates psychedelic and 70’s rock…

  • GRUESOME – Savage Land

    Due to their involvement with the DTA tours over the past couple of years, guitarist/vocalist Matt Harvey (Exhumed) and drummer Gus Rios of Malevolent Creation started jokingly discussing how cool it would be if someone (namely them) wrote and recorded an album based around the idea of sounding like the first couple of Death albums. Before…

  • GRUESOME – Savage Land

    Gruesome. Sorry, what did you say? Is there a band called Gruesome, what kind of metal are they? Death worship at the altar of Chuck. Is it that good? Yes, without any doubt. The new death metal act Gruesome is out with their debut full-length "Savage Land" and what a surprise this was. Pure old-school…

  • GORGOROTH – Instinctus Bestialis

    Fucking finally! I have waited so goddamn long for this album to be released. I thoroughly enjoyed the previous album, «Quantos Possunt ad Satanitatem Trahunt», that came out back in 2009, and albums such as «Pentagram» and «Antichrist» are some of my all-time favorite black metal albums. In other words, I like Gorgoroth an awful…

  • SORCERER – In the Shadow of the Inverted Cross

    Originally together from 1989-1992 and releasing two demos in the process, Sweden’s Sorcerer could not buy a record deal at a time when death metal ruled the underground. Bassist Johnny Hagel left to join Tiamat, and the band would dissolve. Reunion shows started over 5 years ago, leading to a revitalization for the quintet and…

  • NETTLECARRIER – Black Coffin Rites

    ‘Black Coffin Rites’ is the second full-length from Norwegian BM act Nettlecarrier. Containing Dirge Rep on drums, along with other members of Koldbrann/Djevel, Nettlecarrier are something of a second wave supergroup. In terms of style, this is some quite typically grim Norwegian BM with old school leanings but overall nothing new or surprising. In fact…

  • INFERNAL WAR – AXIOM

    Infernal War er et polsk black metal band som på en måte har våket i vannskorpa siden de ga ut sin første demo i 2000. De ble sett på som et kultband fram til de ga ut sin første fullengder «Terrorfront» i 2005 og «Redesekration – The Gospel of Hatred and Apotheosis of Genocide» to…

  • KRATHERION – Mantra Lucifer Flagelantes

    The Chilean black metal machinery known as Kratherion has unleashed a rather chaotic, brutal, and ugly album in the shape of «Mantra Lucifer Flagelantes», which contains 9 blasphemous and Christ-desecrating hymns. There is hardly anything new or original to what the members of Kratherion do, but nevertheless I must say that they do what they…

  • LAY SIEGE – hopeisnowhere

    Developing their hybrid sound since 2010, UK’s Lay Siege are a four-piece band that on their debut album "hopeisnowhere" sit somewhere between post-metal, metalcore, and sludge. Vocals that can be death-oriented one moment, then hardcore the next, as these musicians also fluctuate their riffing and transitions in the same chaotic fashion – depending solely on…

  • FLUKT – Holocaust

    Flukt is a Norwegian black metal outfit consisting of two members, namely A.Ø and F.H, and the band was spawned quite recently, which is to say 2014. Musically speaking, there are quite a few parallels to the early wave of Norwegian black metal on this four track EP entitled «Holocaust», and although it can hardly…

  • BABY HEARTLESS – Burning the Ground

    The main problem with this single is that the band is quite talented, but the vocals of the main singer is somewhat weak compared to the rest of the image painted by the band. He isn’t a bad singer, but just not at the level he should be. That said, this is a hell of…

  • SHINING – IX – Everyone, Everything, Everywhere, Ends

    The Swedish king of hateful music is back, and this is just amazing! The opening track of the album is called "Den Påtvingade Tvåsamheten" and starts with some ambient noises before it kicks off with some rather dark musical compositions. It is quite grand and melodic, as well as dark and melancolic. A nearly perfect…

  • UNLEASHED – Dawn of the Nine

    One of the original ‘big four’ of Swedish death metal, Unleashed appears unwavering in their Viking-oriented outlook for their latest studio album "Dawn of the Nine". The quartet live in the comforts of a particular, established style – keeping much of the material mid-tempo and chugging along in a death groove that fuels pit action…

  • BEDEMON – Child of Darkness (reissue)

    Attention all Pentagram fans (fanatics) out there! Relapse is re-releasing the Bedemon "Child of Darkness" compilaton. Bobby´s pre Pentagram outfit will satisfy all your Pentagram needs and then some. This comp was originally released back in 2005 (with little bravour), all songs directly from the original master tapes from early to mid 70´s. Bedemon was…

  • CHUGGER – Human Plague

    Worry creeps in when bands mold two distinct sub-genres of metal, as Sweden’s Chugger choose to do for their debut album "Human Plague". The 11 tracks traverse melodic death and groove lines, making things very meaty at certain times and then very basic and slam oriented at others. Guitarists Fredrik Carlstedt and Robert Bjärmyr lay…

  • SIMPLEFAST – Cursed EP

    This young Greek quintet (age range 18-21) sent me their debut 6 track "Cursed" EP unsolicited to my in box – so kudos for taking the initiative gentlemen. Simplefast play a semi-thrash brand of heavy metal, definitely more so on the melodic and classic side than anything overly speedy. Drummer Stratos Midelias flexes a lot…

  • MINDFLAIR – Scourge of Mindkind

    Sinnataggen har startet nytt band og det heter Mindflair. Pønka grindcore av den kjappe kaotiske varianten med en ufattelig sinna vokalist. På sitt roligste skriker han verre enn de fleste jeg vet om og på sitt verste er det som om mora til satan selv er sluppet løs. Illsint, støggful og krakilsk i femtende potens,…

  • TONY MILLS – Over My Dead Body

    After years in bands like Shy and TNT, UK vocalist Tony Mills felt the time was right to issue another solo offering. "Over My Dead Body" runs the gamut from conventional, melodic hard rock with vocal harmonies straight out of the AOR playbook, and then numbers that are a little more challenging and bordering on…

  • NITROVOLT – Dirty Wings

    German speed rock here – groovy, heavy, and yet very much espousing a punk, throw it all out there ethic on the album "Dirty Wings". 13 tracks in a scant 32 minutes, sometimes only hitting 9 seconds for "Zeke Saturday" or the 1:17 bass propelled follow up "Stuck", you can sense Zeke, Motörhead, and Airbourne…

  • REIGN OF FURY – Death Be Thy Shepherd

    After a struggle for respect in the 1990’s, thrash is not underground anymore – this latest resurgence has moved veterans to small theater headlining status and gaining reasonably top billing at major festivals. Reign of Fury since 2006 has been another contender to supply a steady dose of melodic thrash, and on album number two…

  • KING PARROT – Dead Set

    Hvem skulle tro at denne godbiten av en skjult skatt skulle dukke opp i en e-mail fra det polske plateselskapet Agonia Records? Agonia er et selskap som er mest kjent for black metal, så denne hadde jeg ikke forventet derfra. Og hvorfor? Jo, det skal jeg si deg. Dette er absolutt ikke noe black metal.…

  • WHERE EVIL FOLLOWS – Portable Darkness

    Ex-Onward guitarist Toby Knapp felt the need to work on another power/speed metal outfit, and out of the ashes we have Where Evil Follows and their debut album "Portable Darkness". Vocalist / bassist Dean Sternberg is the other main member, while programmed drums flesh out the sound. The crux of these 8 songs traverse power/speed…

  • GATHERING DARKNESS / TYRANTS BLOOD – The Light Won’t Save You

    Her er en splitskive med spanske Gathering Darkness og kanadiske Tyrants Blood og her er stressfaktoren høy. Det ene bandet mer brutalt enn det andre og også mer kaotisk enn det andre. Førstnevnte band er nok mest brutal og sistnevnte mest kaotisk. Begge er til tider veldig slitsomme å høre på i lengden. En Ekornes…

  • UNDEAD – False Prophecies

    Undead spiller veldig på det ukjente. Ingen av bandlemmene er kjente for offentligheten. Det eneste vi vet er at bandet består av fem personer med den samme death metal visjonen. Og det skal være oldschool. Nuvel. Dette låter veldig hollandsk, spør du meg. Vokalen er veldig Martin van Drunen og musikken ikke ulik Hail of…