MOTHER OF ALL- Global Parasitic Leviathan

RELEASE YEAR: 2024 BAND URL: https://motherofallofficial.bandcamp.com/ Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy s@#t we don’t need…We’ve all been raised on television to believe that one day we’d all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won’t. And we’re slowly learning that fact. And…

EMPIRE OF DISEASE – Shadows In The Abyss

RELEASE YEAR: 2023 BAND URL: https://empireofdisease.bandcamp.com/ I admit that it’s been a while since I reviewed an Xtreem Music release so I’m starting the righting of the Universe’s balance with the 2nd album from the Spanish melodic groove death metallers Empire Of The Disease, Shadows In The Abyss²⁰²³, released on November 7th two years after…

IRON ALTAR – Promethean

RELEASE YEAR: 2023 BAND URL: https://www.ironaltarband.com/ One of the albums I’ve been meaning to get to reviewing in 2023 but something always got in the way was the 2nd (after the independently released Pillars Of Blood²⁰¹⁸) full length by the Scottish progressive metalcorers Iron Altar, Promethean²⁰²³ released on September 29th via Trepanation Recordings. Despite it’s…

BECOMING THE ARCHETYPE – Children of the Great Extinction

RELEASE YEAR: 2023 BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/becomingthearchetypemusic The Georgian Christian progressive metallers Becoming the Archetype (BtA) may be very well known to Christians who love metal but I suspect they are virtually unknown in the greater heavy metal community, possibly due to Christian lyrics most people who aren’t Christians have no interest in reading much less…

SYLOSIS – A Sign of the Things to Come

RELEASE YEAR: 2023 BAND URL: https://www.sylosis-band.com/ Sylosis is a British metalcore act with some thrash and groove metal influences of which you could not tell that they were British just by listening to their vocalist who sounds so like the New American Heavy Metal screamer I was actually shocked to learn he was not an…

LINUS KLAUSENITZER – Tulpa

RELEASE YEAR: 2023 BAND URL: https://artofpropaganda.bandcamp.com/album/tulpa Linus Klausenitzer is Alkaloid’s powerful bassist and on October 6th last year the man decided to release his solo album Tulpa²⁰²³ via AOP Records. To succeed in this endeavor he had asked many renown contributors to take part in it, among whom are Juggernaut’s Javier Perera Martin on vocals,…

ANGELUS APATRIDA – Aftermath

RELEASE YEAR: 2023 BAND URL: https://facebook.com/angelusapatrida Angelus Apatrida’s eponymous²⁰²¹, which I reviewed here (5.5/6) was a fantastic slab of modern thrash metal with hints of groove and metalcore so, when I saw the Century Media Records alert for the brand new video “Cold” I could hardly wait to sink my ears into it. Indeed, “Cold”…

LOKUST – Infidel

RELEASE YEAR: 2023 BAND URL: https://www.6lokust.com/ Since heavy metal was arguably invented in the United Kingdom, and, specifically in England, it’s been fascinating to watch the Americans “hijack” it and arguably make it better but then observe the Britts emulate that previously emulated music in pursuit of their own sound. This complex conclusion I’ve reached…

AUGUST BURNS RED – Death Below

RELEASE YEAR: 2023 BAND URL: http://www.augustburnsred.com/ Believe it or not, progressive metalcore bands are hardly a dime a dozen these days, especially those worth listening to twice. Arguably Between The Buried And Me were the first band to marry hardcore to progressive metal, what with their chaotic but still quite original self-titled debut²⁰⁰² followed by…

FOLLOWING THE SIGNS – Conflictions

RELEASE YEAR: 2023  BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/FollowingTheSignsCork/ Cork natives Following the Signs released this groove-laden, pummeling offering of theirs just a few days ago, and it turned out to be a rather interesting and cool listen packed to the rafters with juicy riffs, crushing breakdowns, and some inspired vocals. Although it would be easy to compare the…

UTFLOD/SHAVING THE WEREWOLF – Split EP

RELEASE YEAR: 2023BAND URL: https://utflod.bandcamp.com/album/split-ep-utflod-shaving-the-werewolf Fierce, frantic, and utterly intense, this four-track split EP by the two Norwegian outfits named Utflod and Shaving the Werewolf is as hard-hitting as they come. The ferocious musical attack of both bands is almost overwhelming but certainly not without a sick charm, and I find the material quite interesting…

MAN MUST DIE – The Pain Behind It All

RELEASE YEAR: 2023 BAND URL: http://www.facebook.com/ManMustDie Let’s face it: eclecticism is the future of heavy metal. These days it’s becoming harder and harder to find a truly unique sound so modern originality is defined as a combination of wide range of influences into something greater than the sum of its parts. With their first two…

LAMB OF GOD – Omens

RELEASE YEAR: 2022 BAND URL: https://www.lamb-of-god.com/ “You see all these things, don’t you? Truly I say to you, there will absolutely not be one stone on top of another left here that will not be thrown down…And you will hear wars nearby and reports of wars far away…For group will rise against group, and kingdom…

ANTI-CLONE – Human

RELEASE YEAR: 2022BAND URL: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/anticlone/human-2 The darkly intriguing musical crew from the UK named Anti-Clone are about to unleash their inspired new EP titled Human on CD and digitally in September, and if cleverly written metalcore/nu metal gets you excited then this one is certainly worth both your time and money. These four masked musicians…

AMBRIUS – Effigies of Time

RELEASE YEAR: 2022  BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/AmbriusOfficial/ The hard-hitting British metal outfit Ambrius, which includes former members of Oakhaart and Tempestora in its ranks, is about to unleash this exciting 6-track debut of EP of theirs, and if modern melodic metal with a solid dose of aggression is your thing, then you could certainly do worse than…

DVL – Hush

RELEASE YEAR: 2022  BAND URL: https://www.dvlband.com/ Now this was a nice surprise. With the overall theme of this spirited record by the Scottish outfit DVL revolving around mental health and highlighting various issues relating to said issue, this is some explosive, high-octane stuff where classic heavy metal meets 80s-inspired US hard rock and then throws in…

ONCE HUMAN – Scar Weaver

RELEASE YEAR: 2022  BAND URL: https://www.ear-music.net/oncehuman/ The third record by Once Human came out a couple of months and recently found its way to my pile of promo CDs, so let us briefly discuss what the US metallers have in store for us this time around. Once Human’s fiery musical cocktail consists of melodic death metal,…

UTFLOD – Undergang

RELEASE YEAR: 2022  BAND URL: Undergang | Utflod (bandcamp.com) Thanks to a very cool dude named Ronnie, I got my hands on this superb 4-track EP titled “Undergang” by the Norwegian outfit known as Utflod, and I am forever grateful to him for making sure this musical hand grenade ended up in my mailbox. The quintet…

BLOODY FALLS – Burn the Witch

RELEASE YEAR: 2021  BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/BloodyFalls     Finnish act Bloody Falls dabble in groove metal with prominent overtones of thrash metal and melodic death metal to it. Rumbling and aggressive but always with a keen focus on weaving appealing melodies into the mix, this ten-track effort by the Finnish quintet shows potential and hints at…