RECENT ALBUM REVIEWS
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WHITESNAKE – Made in Britain/The World Record
I attended the Whitesnake gig at Sentrum Scene in Oslo back in November 2011, and I was totally and utterly blown away by the sheer power, joy, and intensity of the band`s performance that night. They simply rocked my lazy ass off like you wouldn`t believe. "Made in Britain/The World Record" was recorded during that…
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HERETIC – From The Vault…Tortured And Broken (2 CD)
A 28 song, 2 CD set with the early years of Heretic covered on this retrospective. Consisting of the long sought after "Torture Knows No Boundaries" EP from 1986, the "Breaking Point" album of 1988, their "Metal Massacre VII" appearance with the track "Impulse", and a number of live tracks filling out the efforts, this…
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MERCENARY – Through Our Darkest Days
Bassist Rene Pedersen has taken on the dual clean/ harsh vocal role for Danish metal act Mercenary quite comfortably since the departure of both Henrik Andersen (bass/harsh vocals) and Mikkel Sandager (clean vocalist) in 2006 and 2009 respectively. The last studio album "Metamorphosis" probably is the closest the melodic death/thrash band has veered into the…
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WOUND – Inhale The Void
Remember the early days of death metal when artists were adding the raw fury of crust and punk into this faster, brutal sound? Germany’s Wound reverts back to those times with this debut album "Inhale the Void". Receiving much praise from the press worldwide, including a demo of the month award in their domestic metal…
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EXTOL – Extol
Returning to the scene after a 5 year break in 2007, Norway trio Extol continues to lob curve balls at the listeners with their sound on this self-titled fifth full length album. Starting in their early years as a technical death metal band and gradually shifting to a more alternative/ progressive metal landscape, the 10…
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LUNARSEA – Hundred Light Years
The origins of this act start in 2003 out of the remnants of a power progressive band Hollowearth, evolving into the current melodic death metal band Lunarsea. The five-piece now release their third album "Hundred Light Years"- and for the Italians they appear ready to ascend up the ranks with their catchy blend of extreme…
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QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE – …Like Clockwork
The sixth studio album from Queens of the Stone Age, "…Like Clockwork" comes out 6 years after their last effort and appears to be a much more bluesy, laid-back psychedelic rock affair than previous efforts. Vocalist/ guitarist Josh Homme belts out "My God is the Sun" with dark mystery, then follows up with the slower,…
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VENOMOUS MAXIMUS – Beg Upon The Light
A dark heavy metal band from Houston, Texas, the appropriately named Venomous Maximus appear ready to take on the world with their debut full length album "Beg upon the Light". Throwing down an interesting concoction of stoner/doom riffs with a heavy metal tone, the mysterious vocals of guitarist Gregg Higgins capture the sound space right…
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ANTIGAMA – Meteor
‘Meteor’ is the 6th full-length from Polish death grind maniacs Antigama, marking their return to the SMG label. This is death/grind with jazzy sci-fi leanings and the odd progressive touch here and there. The slower parts can really rock at times and there is plenty of speed and brutality and the songs are clever without…
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BLACKMORE’S NIGHT – Dancer and the Moon
Now for the latest from Ritchie Blackmore and partner Candice Night. ‘Dancer and the Moon’ offers up the type of folksy, medieval pop rock you might expect from this act. First off, the production is crystal clear. Those who haven’t checked in on Richie in years will be delighted to hear that not only are…
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TORTURE KILLER – Phobia
Widely known for the erstwhile involvement of DM superstar Chris Barnes, Finland’s Torture Killer have been plying their trade for a little over a decade now. As you can imagine from a band who started out playing Six Feet Under covers, their fourth full length ‘Phobia’ consists of driving, groove-laden mid and slow paced DM.…
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DEATH MECHANISM – Twenty First Century
There’s something primitive about a metal trio that keeps the style honest and sincere. The musicians better know what they are doing, as there isn’t any room for empty space or errors in craft. Italy’s Death Mechanism is another trio pursuing their creative philosophy in the semi-technical speed/thrash ways on this third full length album…
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TWINS CREW – The Northern Crusade
Stockholm, Sweden may be better known for its death metal fertile grounds, but there are still a number of acts who ply their trade in other genres- such as this heavy metal/ power metal sextet Twins Crew. Aptly named due to their guitar duo of David and Dennis Janglov (twin brothers), they’ve been together since…
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JAMES CHRISTIAN – Lay It All On Me
Once a decade, House Of Lords leader James Christian has been able to release his own solo material in album format. "Lay It All on Me" is the third such venture and first in 9 years, using a series of fine songwriting talent (Jimi Bell, Tommy Denander, Chris Pelcer, and Jeff Kent) and players like…
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AMON AMARTH – Deceiver Of The Gods
When you are one of the leaders of the Viking metal / melodic death metal like Sweden’s Amon Amarth, there are two paths you can take. Deliver more of what you know will appease the masses, or decide that the time is ripe to adjust a few elements in the hopes of keeping things fresh…
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PANZERCHRIST – The 7th Offensive
The Danish blackened death metal quartet Panzerchrist seem to lose no steam despite interchangeable players throughout their 20 year plus existence. With more ex-members than years put in (22 by my count through an internet research expedition), should it be a shock to the system that this seventh studio album features new guitarist Nils Petersen…
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HUNTRESS – Starbound Beast
Jill Janus, lead singer for Huntress, is not your prototypical heavy metal vocalist. She is not afraid to flaunt her sexuality, and at the same time displays a range that fluctuates between normal clean singing and deep extreme growls/ screams- often within the same song. For their second album "Starbound Beast", we have 10 tracks…
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EDVIAN – 2012
A Russian progressive metal quartet, Edvian is the brainchild of two brothers Victor Plitkin-Cherkasov on guitar and Andrew Plitkin on drums, filled out with bassist Ivan Nechaev and vocalist Alexey Serov. "2012" is their debut album, an 8 song effort that features an astute sense of vocal harmonies and a streamlined sense of musicality, keeping…
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HAVOK – Unnatural Selection
Denver baserte Havok er et av de mest spennende av de nyere thrash metal bandene som har dukket opp de siste ti årene. Debutskiva «Burn» var spennende og god, oppfølgeren «Time is Up» var et lite gullkorn og den påfølgende fire-spors EP-en «Point of No Return» ga visse lovnader om at bandet skulle fortsette i…
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GOATESS – Goatess
The art of creating a hypnotic riff: metal has universally lived off its long-standing appeal. The correct semblance of chords that builds into something that reverberates incessantly in your brain- gets you out of bed and simulating its movements spasmodically. Goatess hail from Sweden and would be another four piece taking the doom style to…
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NORDAFROST – Dominus Frigoris (re-release)
Let me start out by saying that Nordafrost, who hail from Germany, are pretty damn underrated in my opinion. This remastered re-release of their first demo-mCD entitled "Dominus Frigoris" is watertight proof that even back in 2002 these guys had something cool to offer the extreme metal underground. What I find even more cool is…
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FANTHRASH – Apocalypse Cyanide
Here is a 3 song EP from the Polish technically sharp thrash meets cyber-like quintet Fanthrash- the follow up to their 2011 album "Duality of Things". One cannot fault the professionalism and work ethic of guitarist Grezegorz Obroslak- the main songwriter, co-producer, cover artist and graphic designer who makes the CD look and sound like…
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BURZUM – Sôl Austan, Mâni Vestan
Let me make on thing clear from the outset: I love and cherish just about the whole Burzum discography, and I won`t deny that "Belus", "Fallen" and "Umskiptar", all of whom are wonderfully atmospheric and evocative from my point of view, made quite an impression on me. Heck, I even dig "Daudi Baldrs" and "Hlidskjalf"…
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THANATOS – Angelic Encounters – re-release
Thanatos are considered the first extreme metal band from Holland with history way back to 1984. They released their debut "Emerging from the Netherworlds" in 1990 and have since then only released four more full-lengths (five in total). They hail from the mighty Netherlands where they paved way for (maybe) more knonw acts like Pestilence,…
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SANKTUARY – Something Fierce
Hailing from the northern Canadian territory of Yukon, here is the debut album from the power thrash quartet Sanktuary. "Something Fierce" possesses that fiery guitar galloping that Iron Maiden and Annihilator made famous- but they also mix up the tempos to be slightly epic in nature a la Metal Church or Canadian compatriots 3 Inches…
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DARK TRANQUILLITY – Construct
When you are a veteran act and one of the pioneers of the melodic death metal movement like Sweden’s Dark Tranquillity, it’s expected to venture into uncharted waters. The side turns that occur can be initially met with resistance or indifference, but overall the injection of gothic strains and left field keyboard parts took albums…