In 2006, the Italian ‘symphonic power metal’ band, Rhapsody, led by Alex Staropoli, changed their name to Rhapsody Of Fire due to trademark issues. Rhapsody was created by Luca Turilli and Staropoli. In 2011, after 18 years as co-leader of the band, Turilli left Rhapsody of Fire, on good terms, …

While the set times for each band will be announced in April, here is the complete band roster for 2014’s installment of the USA’s most brutal metal festival, the Maryland Deathfest. Dubbed MDF by many fans and attendees, this festival draws some of the top names in extreme music year …

Ghost (Ghost B.C in the USA) is a Swedish rock and roll export, who debuted their last full-length effort, Infestissumam, at #1 in their home country. The followup to that album, the EP If You Have Ghost, was produced by the illustrious Dave Grohl. At some point, ‘underground’ or ‘indie’ musicians who …

Jesse Damon is a musician from lovely southern California, USA. He first began recording with his band, Silent Rage. Drawing influence from heavyweights such as Led Zeppelin, Foreigner, and Y & T, he has honed his songwriting craft with band-based as well as solo album material. He recently released an …

Hailing from The Netherlands, reformed modern ‘power thrash metal’ band Mytholic brings us a five-song EP boasting a hard-edged presentation. This record has a crisp, modern production with well thought-out, ‘deep’ layering in the songs. Vocals are a little forward; otherwise each instrument is in balance, drums especially appreciable. The …

Belgium’s Possession have released a four-song EP, His Best Deceit, of extreme madness. After an (1:34) eternity-long intro, the real music gets going. The band channels a deep, ‘fizzy’ production and simplistic song structure in to four intense tunes. Mixing equal parts Bathory, Sodom, Bloodstorm, and maybe a little Morbid …

Zombie Lake is a multi-national band, hailing from both Sweden and the USA. Vocalist Martin Missy and crew deliver a brand of thrash-laced metal fairly close to an old-school Sodom vibe. The ten tracks of Plague Of The Undead are an aural feast, at least instrumentally. Atonal growling vocals are …

Michigan’s General Bastard (a.k.a Dean Carls) released an 11-song album, Revolution Rock, chock full of old-school punk rock attitude. This full-band effort was recorded at a professional sound studio in Michigan and sounds like it, with clear attack, good balance, and good definition between instruments. Songs have that catchy, simplified …

In The Iron Grip Of Steve Asheim Florida death metallers Deicide return to the fray with In The Minds Of Evil, their 11th studio effort, released via Century Media Records. Recorded at AudioHammer Studios in Sanford, Florida with producer Jason Suecof, the album boasts eleven tracks of blistering, blasphemous music, …

Levin Minnemann Rudess is the new power trio studio project featuring instrumental virtuosos Tony Levin (King Crimson, Peter Gabriel), Marco Minnemann (Necrophagist, Paul Gilbert, The Aristocrats), and Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater, solo). On this eponymous 14-track debut opus, released in 2013, you’ll hear ample reason to appreciate the skillful depth …

Asa, the latest studio release from one-man-band Falkenbach, delights us with intense electric guitar, folk elements, abundant melody, varied tempos, and fluent usage of a near-extinct Germanic language. Ranging from the sub drop and blastbeat to the pan flute and acoustic guitar, this ‘Viking metal’ record is packed with consistent, …

“In late August 2007, the rock and metal world witnessed the birth of Eden’s Curse“, quips the band’s official website. The melodic rock and metal act was formed by bassist Paul Logue. Enlisting the help of German guitarist Thorsten Koehne and English drummer Pete Newdeck, the band, accompanied by American …

Emperor Chung‘s eponymous debut, released in 2013, establishes the young British band as a promising, multi-talented act to follow. Musically, the 11-track album spans a variety of influences, from classic rock and elements of jazz fusion, to pop-punk and nu-metal. For a debut, it’s heavy on flash, but none of …

2013’s Volition is layered, melodic, and jam-packed with more riffs, ideas, and flourish then most bands will produce within five albums. Protest The Hero, another glorious Canadian import, released this exhaustive, 11-tune behemoth, sure to please fans of modern, technically-oriented metal. For rock and jazz, there’s fusion: an eclectic genre …

Sawthis, from Italy, presents us with 2013’s Youniverse. The album sounds like modern extreme metal, which touches on industrial, thrash, and progressive elements. Lyrics are screamed in a hatecore style, so the ‘Cookie Monster’ factor is absent. More refreshment is provided in that the drums sound like drums – like …

Tides From Nebula, from Poland, have composed 50-plus minutes of instrumental music “without vocals” for us to enjoy. Eternal Movement‘s songs, mostly in the five-minute length range, tend to vacillate between channeling the high impact of rock with relaxed, mellow ambiance. Unlike instrumental guitar music which emphasizes solo bursts, this …

In the 1990’s, if you were in a death metal band, you were well-off if you could claim Florida, New York, or Chicago as your hometown. Each locale had something distinct to offer – NY had it’s slam “NYDM”, Florida had bands who pushed the genre to greater extremes like …

True underground black metal bands used to pride themselves on a few things: sparse instrumentation, evil vocals, and what used to be termed “basement production”. True to form, but from 2013, we’re introduced to War Iron, a band from Ireland. Their EP, Of Prophecy And Alchemy, plods along in a …

Join the new wave of British Rock. The First, a band from Cambridgeshire, have released Take Courage, their 11-track second album. This is a melodic, hook-laden disc, rich with anthemic, catchy rock tunes. Widely compared to You Me At Six, the band channels influence from classic rock to power pop-punk, …

Ferocity, a Danish death metal band, focuses on truly ferocious vocals, thick buzzsaw stringwork, and solid percussion in a variety of tempos on their second and latest release, The Sovereign. Deep, guttural vocals are “mixed high”, tending to blot out what’s happening underneath. That said, the band seems to have …