ALBUM REVIEWS

RECENT ALBUM REVIEWS

  • TORMENTER – Phantom Time EP

    Plugging away since 2007 with a series of demo, EP and full length releases, El Monte, California thrash quintet Tormenter return with a new 6 song EP. "Phantom Time" consists of 5 originals plus a bonus track of "Motorbreath" from Metallica’s "Kill ‘Em All" given the Tormenter treatment. The opener "The Continuance" is a 2:13…

  • DEALS DEATH – Point Zero Solution

    The third album from Sweden’s Deals Death is another exercise in melodic death metal, featuring a modest amount of keyboards for haunting effect as well as a vocalist in Olle Ekman that could be a lower register twin to Alexi Laiho of Children of Bodom. There is an interesting use of piano parts for "Facing…

  • EAT THE GUN – Stripped to the Bone

    Eat The Gun is a straight ahead hard rock trio with alternative leanings on their fourth album "Stripped to the Bone". Hailing from Germany, these musicians keep the arrangements lean and mean, the vocals down to earth, and the hooks as strong as a heavyweight fighter’s upper cut. Guitarist Hendrik Wippermann loves ZZ Top and…

  • WHIP – Digitus Impudicus

    Whip er et av Norges best bevarte black thrash hemmeligheter. De har vært på noen musikalske besøk til blant annet trønderhovedstaden, men har ellers holdt seg innenfor og i nærheten av Oslo-området. Musikken har en litt mer pønka stil enn hva sjangerfrendene Aura Noir og Deströyer 666 holder på med i tillegg til at det…

  • BONES – Sons of Sleaze

    A filthy slab of dirty death metal. Chicago based trio Bones follow up on their S/T debut from 2011 with a dark, raw and downright gritty output fittingly branded "Sons of Sleaze". This is not for fans of neat and clean autotuned/triggered death metal because Bones do everything they can to sound just the opposite.…

  • OBLITERATION – Black Death Horizon

    Obliteration er Kolbotns store death metal stolthet. Jeg drister meg til å si at de er Norges stolthet også, for det er i skrivende stund ingen andre norske death metal band som når opp til det nivået OBLITERATION har. Bandet har med sitt nyeste album «Black Death Horizon» bevist at de har evnen til å…

  • DEGRADEAD – The Monster Within

    Many take for granted the importance of a consistent lineup in terms of a band’s ascension up the metal ranks. People lose faith in an act’s reliability if it seems like there is constant fluctuation between who is in and out of a group between records. So it is refreshing to deal with Sweden’s Degradead,…

  • UNTIMELY DEMISE – Systematic Eradication

    Canadian quartet Untimely Demise gains an Italian record deal and issues their second album, the 8 song, 34 minutes and change "Systematic Eradication". Their style crosses the lines of thrash and death- occasionally going for the latter aspect in spurts vocally through guitarist Matt Cuthbertson or some of the riff twists that Matt and fellow…

  • RED FANG – Whales and Leeches

    "Whales and Leeches" is the third album from Portland bruisers Red Fang. Mostly clean vocals and a dose of punky stonerism mixed with classic metal gives rise to something that sounds like Mastodon might if they could get Brann Dailor to calm down for ten minutes. At times the songs are straight-rockin with melodic, anthemic…

  • DAWN HEIST – Catalyst

    Electronic groove metal with D-jent elements, this is a unique breeding ground for Australia’s Dawn Heist on their debut album "Catalyst". Lee and Ellis lay down the herky/jerky guitar riffs that bassist Zee and drummer Allan dance admirably into and around, not going overboard on the wildest time signatures imaginable. The keyboard/ electronic parts offer…

  • MONACHUS – Below

    "Below" is the second full-length from Sweden’s Monachus. For those who haven’t heard this band before, expect stoner tinged post-rock with elements of sludge. In terms of atmosphere, "Below" hits the spot well, dragging the listener through the fuzzy depths. The sound is excellent too, with a warm and easily distinguished bass sound overlaid by…

  • WOMBBATH – Internal Caustic Torments (re-release)

    (Un)holy f**k! This is good death metal! Wombbath´s one and only full-length release "Internal Caustic Torments", originally released back in 1993 is a raw and evil lession in musical violence. These swedes took the best from both the Florida and South American scenes at the time, put it in the blender and smeared it with…

  • SAPIENCY – Tomorrow

    German melodic modern death metal from a six-piece group called Sapiency, "Tomorrow" is the follow up to their 2010 debut "Fate’s End". Good cop/ bad cop vocals, a guitar tone and low groove that would make Slipknot and Coal Chamber fans proud, a synthetic nature to the double bass taps, and exciting harmonic elements means…

  • PESTILENCE – Obsideo

    Pestilence being one of my favorite acts back in the days with excellent releases like "Consuming the Impulse" and "Testemony of the Ancients" (and to some degree "Spheres") really let me down with their comeback album "Resurrecton Macabre" in 2009 (no coment on 2011´s "Doctrine"). The punch and the brilliant song writing was gone and…

  • CRITICAL SOLUTION – Evil Never Dies

    A 14 song concept album as a full length debut can be a feast or famine proposition. For Norway’s heavy/ thrash band Critical Solution, I feel like they may have bit off a little more than they could chew with a fictional tale of assassinating a king, losing your own life, than making a deal…

  • SHINING – 8 ½ – Feberdrömmar I Vaket Tillstånd

    "8 ½ – Feberdrömmar I Vaket Tillstånd" is not a typical Shining album, especially if you define Shining based on the material released after the Eerie Cold album. What you get is an insight into the material that became the "Livets Ändhållplats" and "Angst, självdestruktivitetens emissarie" records. To find the origin of this album you have to look back at two bootleg…

  • ETERNAL ROT – Promo Tape 2013

    Eternal Rot is a Polish/British duo consisting of Grindak and Mayer, and these guys perform doomy death metal with a rotten and disgusting vibe to it. The band was spawned last year and this promo tape of theirs, which can be downloaded for free via Bandcamp, is their first ever release as far as I…

  • HAIL OF BULLETS – III: The Rommel Chronicles

    Hollandske Hail of Bullets med den gamle Pestilence vokalisten Martin van Drunen i spissen er for tiden aktuelle med sitt tredje fulle album. «III: The Rommel Chronicles» er tittelen på skiva og den inneholder ti gode death metal låter. Det har vært store forventninger til denne skiva og man kan ikke annet enn å si…

  • TOXIC HOLOCAUST – Chemistry of Consciousness

    Joel Grind is back with Toxic Holocaust´s fifth full-length "Chemistry of Consciousness", the follow up to 2011´s "Conjure and Command". (Toxic splits and EP´s are to many to mention). I had some difficulties getting into TH first time I heard his debut (yes, Joel startet TH as onemanband) back in 2003 but his music grow…

  • TOJA – (Sad) Songs Of Hope

    The fourth album from melodic hard rock/ AOR-oriented German quintet ToJa is a varied affair that can be a roller coaster ride to navigate at times. As great as many of the softer elements, hook-lines, and harmonic elements musically can be in tracks like "Into the Dark" and "Don’t Turn Away" that will be a…

  • EPYSODE – Fantasmagoria

    The second album from the mind and heart of Samuel Arkan, "Fantasmagoria" consists of a new set of vocalists and musicians executing 14 tracks of dark, melodic progressive metal with power overtures. The players at hand include Tom Englund (Evergrey), Henning Basse (Sons Of Seasons), Matt Marinelli (Borealis), Ida Haukland (Triosphere), and Tezzi Persson (Between…

  • KATAKLYSM – Waiting For The End To Come

    11 albums in 22 years- Canadian hyper blast death metal act Kataklysm keep chugging along. "Waiting For the End to Come" sees Oli Beaudoin take over the drum seat for Max Duhamel while he takes care of his personal battles with alcoholism. Through the years the band has varied their attack a touch- no longer…

  • WARMASTER – The End of Humanity

    Imagine Six Feet Under went on tour with Bolt Thrower. Imagine they got so stoned on the bus that they passed out and then that they woke up with their clothes in disarray. Several weeks later, they find their breasts are sore and they feel nauseous in the mornings. Nine months later, the child is…

  • PSALM ZERO – Force My Hand 7′

    The debut 7" from Psalm Zero shows a band with the repetitive industrial edge of Godflesh, but also a hardcore pedigree, as reinforced by the barking vocals. But there is also a post-BM sensibility about some of the picked, discordant guitar lines and the maddening repetition of short phrases. The clean vocals are the strongest…

  • ENDOGENIC – Fireball

    Det trønderske hybrid metal bandet Endogenic er nå klare med sin debut EP de har kalt «Fireball». EP-en inneholder fire låter med en illsint blanding av metalcore, death metal og thrash. Klikkelyden på basstrommene pluss de klinisk tørre riffene dominerer lydbildet der også en god variert vokal gjør seg godt. Produksjonsmessig kan dette minne litt…

  • JACKAL – Cry of the Jackal

    A re-release of this Dutch heavy metal band’s 1989 album, "Cry of the Jackal" in its newest form contains 5 bonus demo tracks from their second demo of 1987 (2 tracks) and a 1991 demo shortly released before their demise. This re-mastered version exists in vinyl format as a limited edition to 250 copies- and…

  • RECKLESS LOVE – Spirit

    Hair metal, glam metal – melodies on high, keyboards on equal footing with the guitars, and this polish production value – welcome to the world of Finnish band Reckless Love. Their third album "Spirit" has a lot of Sunset Strip at heart, and a feel of Poison, Bon Jovi, and Warrant come to mind the…

  • TRAGODIA – Mythmaker

    Based on what I’ve read about this Italian band, their previous albums (2007’s "The Promethean Legacy" and last year’s "Theomachy") were more in a gothic vein compared to what I hear on "Mythmaker". The five-piece have every right to explore new sounds and territories, because in today’s world you only get one chance at life…

  • ZEMIAL – Nykta

    "Nykta" is the latest offering by the long-running Greek black metal band named Zemial. I wasn`t really sure what to expect this time around given that I wasn`t too impressed by their previous album, the one entitled "In Monumentum". Luckily, "Nykta" is pretty good and interesting to listen to most of the time. There are…

  • SORRONIA – Words of Silence

    Female fronted symphonic gothic metal act hailing from Hungary, the five-piece band Sorronia started in 2011 and 2 years later release their debut album "Words of Silence". When taking in this 9 track effort, songs like "Enemy of Yourself" with its subtle but effective guitar break and dramatic "Shattered" bring to mind the best of…