ALBUM REVIEWS

RECENT ALBUM REVIEWS

  • VOODOO HIGHWAY – Pervert County

    An Italian hard rock band, Voodoo Highway embody a lot of that classic spirit that put bands like Aerosmith, Deep Purple, and Led Zeppelin on the map. "Pervert County" is their latest 3 song EP, a 10- minute blast of adrenaline through bluesy-driven riffing, solid 4/4 grooves and the killer vocal range of Federico Di…

  • ASTRALION – Outlaw

    Celebrating their fifth anniversary as a band, Finnish power metal act Astralion release their second album "Outlaw" – and it’s quite a melodic driven affair to these ears. A delay in the album occurred during 2015 while keyboardist Thomas Henry took care of personal health concerns – probably allowing the quintet a chance to really…

  • DARK FUNERAL – Where Shadows Forever Reign

    Dark Funeral er et sånt band de fleste har et hat/elsk forhold til. Enten liker du dem eller så gjør du det ikke. Det er ytterst få som skiller seg fra disse to gruppene. Årsakene skal jeg ikke legge ut om her og nå, men overdreven bruk av sataniske tegn og figurer på covertart og…

  • GUTTER INSTINCT – Age of the Fanatics

    Back to basics death metal still is a viable trade in this genre. Sweden’s Gutter Instinct, together since 2012, embrace the primal spirit of the movement through their debut full-length "Age of the Fanatics". This is my first exposure to the band, who released a demo "Obedience" in 2013 and "The Insurrection" EP last year…

  • WOLF HOFFMANN – Headbangers Symphony

    Accept guitarist Wolf Hoffmann has had a long running classical bent to his guitar playing – so naturally deciding to tackle 11 classical compositions and give them a heavy metal bent results in "Headbangers Symphony". Layering the material with a proper orchestra isn’t as easy of a task as imagined, and Wolf also decided to…

  • PYROMANCER – Demo MMXV

    The blackened death metal duo named Pyromancer, which hails from the US, released this rather cool and bestial demo (appropriately entitled "Demo MMXV") on tape last year, but, unfortunately for some of you molly-coddlers out there, it was then released on CD by Gods ov War Productions just a few months ago. Primitive, brutal, ugly,…

  • MY SILENT WAKE – Damnatio Memoriae

    The morose death/doom metal outfit from the UK named My Silent Wake took me by surprise not that long ago by means of their wonderfully dreary "Eye of the Needle" album, which was actually more akin to dark ambient and drone than doom metal per se. The latest assault on our puny senses, the 8-song…

  • JORN – Heavy Rock Radio

    The magical voice of Jorn Lande – bluesy, deep, and powerful, it’s one of those deliveries that can carry any style convincingly. So it shouldn’t be that surprising that he decides on this go around to tackle some of the rock radio staples of yesteryear on "Heavy Rock Radio". 12 songs from the 1970’s and…

  • WHITECHAPEL – Mark of the Blade

    Tennessee deathcore act Whitechapel appear with their sixth studio album "Mark of the Blade". Having witnessed their obliteration of audiences at last year’s Mayhem Festival, it’s refreshing to be able to make out more of the low growls vocally from Phil Bozeman on record. Employing three guitarists allows certain melodic/ harmonic aspects to come to…

  • WALDMARK – Alastor

    Alastor is the third full length release from Austrian black metallers Waldmark. The band have been going since the late 90’s and their sound carries echoes of that era – it has a second wave vibe with elements of ‘depressive’ BM creeping in around the edges. Overall, this is quite a consistent effort. The songs…

  • WINTERHORDE – Maestro

    Up next is some symphonic, technical BM from Israeli seven piece (yes – seven!) Winterhorde. When we use the word symphonic, it all too often just means ‘uses keyboards’ but this is the full package – an immersive, dramatic narrative, much in the vein of the incredible Carach Angren. Use of spoken passages, theremin, violin…

  • AUTHOR & PUNISHER – Melk En Honing

    In the world of heavy metal, or extreme metal if you prefer, one seldom comes across a genuinely original and innovative act in this day and age, which is to say the 21st century. How often are ideas not recycled? How often are old themes not rehashed? Luckily for some of us, there is something…

  • FEAR OF DOMINATION – Atlas

    Shouldn’t be surprising that these Finns decide to blend two sub-genres into their own cocktail for "Atlas". Intertwining industrial metal and melodic death, it’s easy to surmise that songs like "Divided" and "Adrenaline" have a lot of Fear Factory cyber-angst meeting Soilwork primal force going on. The band also add in a more modern electro-dance…

  • KING PARROT – Dead Set

    Words such as thundering and blistering come to mind whenever I listen to "Dead Set", the second full-length assault by the Aussie outfit named King Parrot. These guys have definitely evolved since the debut album, which is to say that "Dead Set" is even sharper and more lethal than its predecessor, and that’s saying something.…

  • CHILD BITE – Negative Noise

    Child Bite is an interesting ensemble. A lot of people have labeled them a hardcore band, but as I am sitting here and digesting the latest 12-track effort of theirs entitled "Negative Noise", it occurs to me that these guys are so much more than a hardcore band. Sure, hardcore music looms large in the…

  • HAMMERCULT – Legends Never Die

    Showcasing what this Israeli born, German-living death/thrash band lives for musically, Hammercult issue a tribute EP "Legends Never Die" which comes in a 5 song format digitally, or 8 songs on CD-digipack and vinyl versions with 3 of their own songs included as a bonus. The choices on tap include "Fast as a Shark" (Accept),…

  • FULGORA – Stratagem

    The progressive US death metal act named Fulgora, which consists of members from Pig Destroyer and Misery Index among others, performs highly intense and insane music that blew me away the first few times that I spun this disc. Heck, it still blows me away even though I must have listened to it 25 times…

  • SUICIDAL ANGELS – Division of Blood

    Even as the touring jaunts increase, Greek thrash band Suicidal Angels regularly crank out a new record every two years like clockwork – as "Division of Blood" is the sixth full-length since 2007, and hot on the heels of their first live album "Conquering Europe" from this spring. Rumbling through another nine songs of mid-paced…

  • INQUISITION – Bloodshed Across the Empyrean Altar Beyond the Celestial Zenith

    I usually love everything by Inquisition. I love the down-tuned otherworldly drone, the hell-frog vocal croak the cosmic abyssal horror and the pure originality of the band. Having said that, this seventh full-length doesn’t do much for me. Yes, it sounds like classic Inquisition but this time the charisma seems to be lacking. The dark…

  • ILLDISPOSED – Grey Sky Over Black Town

    Danish death metal veterans Illdisposed celebrate their 25th anniversary together as a band with their newest studio album, "Grey Sky Over Black Town". Lone original member Bo Summer continues to impress through a maniacal low bark meets deadly roars on the microphone, while new recruit Rasmus Schmidt (coming in 2014) pummels the drums, ramping up…

  • EREVAN – Darkness Epsilon

    I couldn’t really find a whole lot of information relating to the French outfit named Erevan, but the full-length album entitled "Darkness Epsilon" was released just a couple of months ago I think. The album is comprised of nine songs that are all rooted in classic hard rock and heavy metal mixed with somewhat modern…

  • AIRBAG – Disconnected

    The progressive rock gods from Norway known as Airbag, one of those eclectic musical entities that never ceases to amaze me, are back to haunt us once more with their cinematic and visionary soundscapes. "Disconnected" is their fourth album and contains six rather long and sprawling compositions that are both cleverly written and brilliantly arranged.…

  • DEATHSTORM – Blood Beneath the Crypts

    Her kommer ny skive fra Deathstorm fra Østerrike. Dette er et rent gitarkaosspeedmetalhelvete. Som på debuten «As Death Awakes» fra 2013, som du kan lese om her, handler dette om en kjapp krysning mellom thrash og speed metal. Kaos, fart og ville gitarsoloer er hovedingrediensene på ei skive som foreløpig ikke har nådd opp til…

  • VEGA – Who We Are

    "Who We Are" is the fourth studio album from UK melodic hard rock band Vega, striding valiantly into this record with a firm understanding of their 80’s influences and invigorating things through a slightly modern slant. "Every Little Monster" has that catchy vocal melody and proper guitar/keyboard sequence that reminds me of Loverboy meets "Hysteria"…

  • DEATH ANGEL – The Evil Divide

    The old guard like Death Angel continues to teach the newcomers a thing (or ten) about the art of blistering, attacking thrash metal on their latest opus "The Evil Divide". Like a finely tuned axe blade that has been sharpened to the core, this quintet takes their experience and road work and channel the energy…

  • DEATH ANGEL – The Evil Divide

    Bay Area thrasherne i Death Angel bør være kjent nok for de fleste og i stedet for å bruke tid på bandets historie, hopper vi rett på deres nye skive kalt "The Evil Inside". Bandets åttende studioalbum har 10 låter på totalt 45 minutter. En variert og variabel skive. Noe er veldig bra, noe bra…

  • VIRUS – Memento Collider

    The Norwegian three-piece known as Virus has to be one of the most unique and innovative bands to have emerged following the turn of the millennium. The band’s strange and compelling blend of avant-garde rock, progressive rock, psychedelic hard rock, and just about anything else you can possibly think of, is definitely something out of…

  • LONEWOLF – The Heathen Dawn

    In the heavy metal arena, two school of thought exist. One that every recording should be a little bit different, as natural experience and maturation should challenge musicians to become creative in their output. The second school subscribes to tried and true principles: once establishing a foundation stylistically, don’t rock the boat and give the…

  • DEAD COWBOY’S SLUTS – Obedience

    "Obedience" is my first encounter with the French modern sounding thrash metal outfit known as Dead Cowboy’s Sluts. To my rotten ears, these guys incorporate quite a few metalcore influences as well, but mostly they just bring to mind bands such as Machine Head, Pantera, Pissing Razors, and Devildriver. I haven’t listened to the band’s…

  • LACUNA COIL – Delirium

    Since their late 90’s origins, Italy’s Lacuna Coil have been one of the premiere acts in the gothic rock/metal landscape- evolving once successful through 2002’s "Comalies" breakthrough into more of a modern leaning outfit, yet still never forsaking a lot of the heaviness and female/male vocal contrast trademarks. "Delirium" as their eighth studio album introduces…