RECENT ALBUM REVIEWS
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THOMSEN – Unbroken
German guitarist/ songwriter René Thomsen returns for a second go-around on "Unbroken", flanked by a series of exemplary players across the metal spectrum. David Vincent, Vinny Appice, Udo Dirkschneider, Bobby Jarzombek, Andre Hilgers, Helge Engelke, and Robert Soeterboek among others lend their contributions in the vocal, guitar, bass, and drum departments. These 12 tracks are…
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ISOLE – The Calm Hunter
The sixth studio album from Sweden epic doom metal band Isole comes with a couple of lineup changes – the rhythm section to be exact as we have a new bassist and drummer in Jimmy Mattsson and Victor Parri respectively. Fear not friends, as the despair and melancholic riffing as well as sweeping, lower melodies…
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OTHERWISE – Peace At All Costs
Straddling the fence between modern hard rock and alternative sounds, Las Vegas, Nevada’s Otherwise release a second album that contains a lot of requisite trademarks for major commercial acceptance. Be it through the gritty screams and clean melodic chorus work of singer Adrian Patrick, the easy on the ears rhythmic template set by drummer Corky…
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DOWNFALL OF GAIA – Aeon Unveils the Thrones of Decay
Describing Downfall of Gaia is similar to learning to juggle with your feet. It can be done, but it’s certainly not easy. A literal melting pot of influences, these Germans have been a unique entity from the get-go. There are bits of crust, death, black, doom, post, sludge, atmosphere and a whole bunch more of…
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CRUACHAN – Blood for the Blood God
My first go around for this Celtic/ folk oriented metal band, featuring a lot of extreme, cultural, and black influences. "Blood for the Blood God" is this Irish sextet’s seventh studio album, and appears to be a great fusion of all these swirling sub-genres to engage the ears through 12 dynamic arrangements and almost an…
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DEAD ALONE – Nemesis
Dead Alone, who have been around for over ten years, have yet to cross my listening path until now. Reading their description of being blackened death – a style much loved by yours truly – hopes for "Nemesis" were reasonably optimistic. Diving right in, this is decently written stuff. The variety in the songwriting is…
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ZOM – Flesh Assimilation
Blackened death metal proprietors Zom seem to be a band of which opinions are much divided. Face-ripping destruction, or mind-numbing slop? The hype is there for this Irish trio, and always eager to try new things, this was something of which needed to be given a test run. It ended up being a really long…
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ANGUISH – Mountain
Traditional doom done right is an undeniably enjoyable, downtrodden bit of fun. The sheer amount of Candlemass copycats in recent years, however, has been formidable, to say the least! Not a bad thing, to an extent. Some are laughably bad, while others add their own twists and turns to the tried and true classic sound.…
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TEMPLE OF VOID – Of Terror and the Supernatural
Death and doom metal, when combined right, is a miraculous sound that is difficult to get enough of. Enter USA’s Temple of Void. These guys came right out of nowhere to provide one of the year’s best examples of how to write an album that owns the listener and never quits. "The Embalmer’s Art" begins…
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NAPALM DEATH – Apex Predator – Easy Meat
Grindcore pioneers Napalm Death keep chugging along at blistering speeds that men half their age struggle to muster. "Apex Predator- Easy Meat" delivers another 14 tracks in 40 minutes, keeping all the trademarks such as Barney Greenway’s ferocious bark, Shane Embury’s punk-like bass, and guitarist Mitch Harris ripping his way through the riffs in a…
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LORD DYING – Poisoned Altars
Lord Dying´s second full-lenght "Poisoned Altars" is eight songs of brilliant sludge metal by this US newcomer. Formed back in 2010 and armed only with their debut "Summon the Faithless" from 2013 Lord Dying set out to conquer the world. "Poisoned Altars" is a formidable slap of heavy riffing and a vocal not quite common…
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TEN – Albion
The 11th studio album from UK melodic hard rock band Ten, "Albion" derives its name from the earliest documented name for the collective British Isles from the time of Queen Boadicia. This 10 song effort from the seven-piece is another polished and professional outing for those who love majestic hard rock full of melodic choruses…
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PAT TRAVERS BAND – Live at the Iridium NYC
Digging back into their 2012 shows in New York City prior to the release of their studio comeback album "Can Do" the following year, the Pat Travers Band is a quintessential axe hero in the hard rock genre. You get a great cross section of his entire discography through this 12 song release – surprisingly…
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THANATOS – Global Purification
Thanatos is consideres the first death metal act from Holland and their 1990 debut "Emerging from the Netherworlds" is considered a death metal classic today.Their brand of death metal is straight forwared semi technical with more focus on brutality and atmosphere than finger trickery (and halleluja to that!).Founder and frontman Stephan Gebedi (who also shreds…
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DOMINANZ – Noxius
Industrial oriented black metal on the second go around for Norway’s Dominanz, "Noxious" showcases a four-piece driven to dominate through solid riffing and repetitive tempos/ vocal elements that can be quite hypnotic. Curveballs come in for the clean Middle Eastern guitar strains before the ominous, slithering arrangement for "Dream of Fire" and slightly progressive electric…
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SAINT REBEL – Saint Rebel
The second album from Copenhagen, Denmark’s Saint Rebel is a self-titled one, a sequel to 2012’s "The Battle of Sinners and Saints" that received award nominations domestically and led to their first tour of North America. My first exposure to the band’s style, Saint Rebel is a quintet that has a lot of that darker…
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BATTLEAXE – Power from the Universe (re-issue)
The second album from NWOBHM act Battleaxe, "Power from the Universe" originally hit the streets in 1984 on Music for Nations, and 30 years later SPV sees fit to re-issue the record for the newer generation to gain historical perspective on the roots of the scene. The original 8 song album appears along with 4…
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TRIOSPHERE – The Heart of the Matter
I must admit that I had never listened to or stumbled on the progressive power metal band named Triosphere until recently, but I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by just how good this Norwegian 4-piece actually is. "The Heart of the Matter" is the band’s third full-length album and contains 12 catchy…
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DOWNFALL OF GAIA – Aeon Unveils the Thrones of Decay
German meets New York quartet Downfall of Gaia are a new discovery for me, although being around since 2008 they aren’t new to most ardent metal followers. "Aeon Unveils the Thrones of Decay" is their third full length, and it’s quite a barnstorm affair in terms of style melding. It’s equally vicious in the fast…
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ZOM – Flesh Assimilation
The three piece Zom hails from Ireland and their brand of blackened death metal is a fresh injection in the somewhat stale genre. "Flesh Assimilation" is the trio´s first full-length and it really makes you want more. The sound and feeling is formidable and the album really sets an haunting atmospere. Musically Zom delivers some…
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GENIUS ULTOR – Selskap: Arachnophobia Records År: 2014
Genius Ultor is a filthy, blasphemous, and foul black metal project vomited forth back in 2008 in Poland by members of the band named Stillborn. "Nic Co Boskie Nie Jest Mi Obce" is Genius Ultor’s second full-length assault following the debut album from 2010, and it contains 7 ugly, raw, and misanthropic tunes that are…
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HAREM SCAREM – Thirteen
The 13th studio album from Canadian melodic hard rock band Harem Scarem represents the vibrancy an act can have when going for the gusto and playing from the heart. What you can expect is a series of songs that contain all the requisite elements for memorable songwriting in this genre- starting with the bigger than…
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AZZIARD – Vésanie
"Vésanie" is the second full-lenth onslaught by the French horde known as Azziard who performs an intense mixture of hateful black metal and brutal death metal. While parallels to bands such as Marduk, Temple of Baal, 1349, and Behemoth can definitely be drawn, I also sense some of that orthodox French black metal sickness in…
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IN MY EMBRACE – Dead to Dust Descend
In My Embrace is a Swedish act who performs melancholic and melodic black metal with slight hints of doom and gothic metal to it. This 25-minute EP entitled "Dead to Dust Descend" contains 6 songs that are all rather somber and morose, and some would probably argue that they lend themselves well to a listening…