ALBUM REVIEWS

RECENT ALBUM REVIEWS

  • EAR DANGER – Full Blast At Last

    Dutch heavy metal firmly subscribing to the NWOBHM philosophy on this debut album "Full Blast at Last" 30 years plus in the making, as the band originally put out 3 demos between 1982-1983 plus a split band appearance in 1984 on "Metal Power II" before lineup changes continually stalled the band’s efforts. Another demo "Shock…

  • IN VAIN – In Death We Trust

    A major struggle in today’s metal scene is establishing your own name. So many bands these days take inspiration from their favorite band and maybe nick a song title or key phrase here and there to develop their band moniker. In the case of Spain’s In Vain, I’ve seen at least 6 bands using that…

  • VON – Dark Gods: Seven Billion Slaves

    Amerikanske VON må være et kultband å betrakte. De ga ut noen demoer på slutten av 80-tallet og  tidlig på 90-tallet.  De startet og spille lenge før det fantes noen skikkelig black metal-«scene», helt uvitende om hva begrepet «black metal» var. De har vært til stor inspirasjon for en del skandinaviske black metal band tidlig…

  • RUSTED BRAIN – High Voltage Thrash

    Polsk metal begrenser seg i mine øyne og ører til death og black metal. Noe prog metal finnes også, men det er mitt inntrykk av den polske metalscenen. Derfor ble jeg noget overrasket her om dagen da det dukket opp en thrash metal utgivelse fra et band med adresse i Warszawa. Mer overrasket ble jeg…

  • BURN OF BLACK – Danger EP

    The Italian quintet Burn Of Black release a debut 5 song EP with "Danger"- and display an intriguing mix of thrash with modern/ alternative melodic singing and forays into conventional half-time groove breakdowns. A lot of the tight guitar riffing from Alessandro Bassani and Marco Markwild Piva reminds me of Mercenary and Machine Head meets…

  • THY SYMPHONY – A New Beginning

    South America is not just a warmer climate for weather- it’s been a hot bed for metal bands to showcase their talent to. So many times I hear reports about the passionate fans from country to country there- and it is not surprising to have a huge upswing of domestic talent producing original music in…

  • PAGANIZER – World Lobotomy

    In today’s metal scene, rare is the time when original lineups remain together 15 years after their conception. Outside of bassist Dennis Blomberg (who joined in 2012), the other three members of Paganizer on this ninth full length "World Lobotomy" are the same who started during their demo days: vocalist/ guitarist Rogga Johansson, guitarist Andreas…

  • EVIL INVADERS – Evil Invaders

    Dette er belgisk speed metal av den gode gamle varianten. Dessverre er det bare en EP med syv spor, men her får man kose seg med det man får. Hva skal man si om dette da? Produksjonen er ikke av det beste man har hørt og dette lider gitarene mest av. Men, man hører riffene…

  • ALTER SELF – Seven Deadly Blessings

    Greek technical death/ thrash here from this quartet Alter Self- who release their debut album "Seven Deadly Blessings" after a couple of years break due to mandatory military service obligations. Tight stops and starts along with relentless attention to proper riff flow make crushing material such as "Storms Gather", "Netherlight", and doomier, death-oriented "Bleed Through…

  • SODOM – Epitome of Torture

    When it comes to the Teutonic Three of Thrash, there’s Kreator, Destruction, and the band under the microscope for review currently, Sodom. We can debate the best out of the three until the cows come home over their long histories, but when it comes to pure passion for thrash – especially with no chance of…

  • LORD – Digital Lies

    Australia may be remote, the ‘land down under’ as made famous by Men At Work in their 1980’s international hit, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a burgeoning metal scene ready to take the rest of the world by storm. Almost any kind of metal currently popular in Europe and North America can also be…

  • SVART CROWN – Profane

    Franske Svart Crown må sies å gå i fotsporene til sine langt mer kjente landsmenn i Gojira. Ser for meg at det må være vanskelig å hoppe etter Gojira liksom, for det er mange likhetstrekk mellom disse to bandene. Musikalsk er begge bandene innom veldig mye for å få til sitt eget musikalske inntrykk. Svart…

  • HYPOCRISY – End of Disclosure

    Hypocrisy where and still are the brainchild of Peter Tägtgren. He started Hypocrisy in the early 90´s and I must admit I´am still listening to his first albums from time to time. "Penetralia", the debut from 92 are in many fans still their best output and I also fall into that matter of opinion. Their…

  • THE BEYOND – Frostbitepanzerfuck

    The Beyond sies å være et black metal band fra Pennsylvania, USA. Den uttalelsen er jeg ikke helt enig i. Ut i fra denne skiva her kalt «Frostbitepanzerfuck» vil jeg heller si at det er en blanding av crossover, punk, rock’n’roll og litt varierende typer black metal pluss litt til. En herlig og merkelig blanding…

  • THE MODERN AGE SLAVERY – Requiem For Us

    Italiensk metal har jeg for vane å styre unna, men det finnes noen få unntak som for eksempel Bulldozer, Death Mechanism, Hour of Penance og Fleshgod Apocalypse. Dette er band jeg liker og som har en del bra utgivelser på samvittigheten. Jeg er av den oppfatningen at det finnes lite interessant i den italienske metalscenen,…

  • HEAVEN SHALL BURN – VETO

    Selv om de har 15 år på baken er dette mitt første møte med Tyske Heaven Shall Burn. Etter første gjennomlytting vedvarte min forutinntatte skepsis seg delvis. Med tunge metal core riff og litt typisk tysk thrash vokal fikk jeg ikke helt taket på musikken. Etter hvert har plata vokst på meg. Låtene er svært…

  • TRAIL OF TEARS – Oscillation

    The seventh studio album for Norwegian dark gothic metal band Trail Of Tears comes fresh on the heels of a new label deal with Massacre Records. Beginning their writing sessions in 2011, the quintet would record again in the familiar French Sound Suite Studio with Terje Refsnes behind the boards who they’ve worked with on…

  • DIVIDED MULTITUDE – Feed On Your Misery

    Progressive metal has been one of my favorite genres throughout my life. Even when the scene appeared plagued with Dream Theater, Fates Warning, and Queensryche knock offs throughout the 1990’s, there was hope on the horizon- and I believe Scandinavia comes to mind over the past decade with a boat load of musicians charting their…

  • TRIBULATION – The Formulas of Death

    Tribulation, after their fantastic debut "The Horror" back in 2009 my expectations was put way over the roof when receiving their sophomore release called "The Formulas of Death". To be honest with you, I am dissapointed. This is not the Tribulation that took the swedeath retro vibe to the max four years ago and delivered…

  • JOEL GRIND – The Yellowgoat Sessions

    Joel Grind, the mastermind behind Toxic Holocaust had some spare time and recorded 10 tracks (inc intro/outro) of pure evil old school nostaliga. This is a tribute to Bathory and all that mattered 30 years ago. This is how metal sounded and what was considered extreme. "The Yellowgoat Sessions" is a travel back in time…

  • WHIP – Unholy 7’

    Her kommer den første utgivelsen fra Whip, et såkalt scrap metal band fra Oslo. Jeg kaller det herlig skitten kjapp thrash metal med sjela til satan. Kjapp riffing, god og kjapp tromming og herlig rå vokal, kan ikke bli feil det. Åpningslåta «Uh» har satt seg på hjernen min og har det med å dukke…

  • ONE INCH GIANT – The Great White Beyond

    The second album from Swedish stoner metal band One Inch Giant resides in a low tuned land that’s slightly doomy, kinda rocky- and all about feeling the roots of the genre. There’s no doubt Black Sabbath and Alice In Chains factor into material like "Mountains Will Erode" and "Tell Meteor From Star"- but then they…

  • DEATHCHAIN – Ritual Death Metal

    "Ritual Death Metal" is the sixth full-length from Finnish deathsters Deathchain – and the sixth to have death/dead in the title! Musically we are looking at some dark and hard DM with a slight influence from the early Swedish scene. Not super brutal and not from the techie school either, Deathchain has a blackened feel…

  • ACCUSER – Diabolic

    German thrash band Accuser should be familiar to most in the underground- they’ve been active in one form or another (outside of 4 years from 2004-2008 as Scartribe) since 1986. Back in my in print fanzine journalism days, I reviewed the band’s fifth album "Reflections" in 1994- but can’t really remember much beyond a semi-technical…

  • FREEDOMS REIGN – Freedoms Reign

    When a veteran of the early New England metal scene comes out with a new band, my ears perk up- such is the case with ex-Fates Warning guitarist Victor Arduini. Leaving after "The Spectre Within" release in 1985, he returns in 2011 with this Connecticut based four-piece Freedoms Reign, unleashing a debut 9 song album…

  • SOULHEALER – Chasing The Dream

    Melodic heavy metal is SoulHealer’s calling card for this second album "Chasing the Dream". Some of the drumming triplets and nifty guitar/bass harmonies certainly evoke the 1980’s Iron Maiden era- check out "Don’t Look Back" and the 7 minute plus closer "Smoke & Mirrors" for spirited, stair step riff building. At other times the quintet…

  • HELLBASTARD – Sons of Bitches EP

    20 years plus and crusty crossover merchants Hellbastard are still peddling the same old thrash influenced punk. On the good side, you can hear straight off that this is a mature band who’ve been together for yonks and know their way around their instruments and the studio. There are some cool riffs and some of…

  • LECHEROUS NOCTURNE – Behold Almighty Doctrine

    Lecherous Nocturne er et teknisk brutalt death metal band fra Sør-Carolina. Det er veldig brutalt og det er i tillegg til tider veldig kjapt og kommer med «sliten-i-nakkemusklene» garanti. Deluxeutgaven av skiva burde vært levert med en eske Paracet og fysioterapeut/massøse og det sier vel det meste. Skiva minner meg mye om Hate Eternals «Fury…

  • SPIRITUAL BEGGARS – Earth Blues

    Psychedelic stoner oriented hard rock returns from Arch Enemy’s Michael Amott in the form of his long running side project Spiritual Beggars. "Earth Blues" is the eighth studio album since the band’s start in 1992, and second with ex-Firewind vocalist Apollo Papathanasio helming the microphone. With the current explosion of younger artists reverting back to…

  • BOMBS OF HADES – The Serpents Redemption

    Swedish death metal outfit Bombs of Hades follows up debut "Chambers of Abominations" with both feet in on 2012´s "The Serpents Redemption". A true honour to the old and dirty in extreme metal. Death metal without any fancy smancy triggering or whatnot. Just pure straigthforward in your face without any bull death metal and damn…