Tag Archives: album review

Right from the outset, this fourth album from Finnish thrash metal five piece Gloria Morti is a bruising, punishing affair, treading a path between thrash and death metal, with elements of BM thrown in for good measure. It’s not that the band can’t make up their mind which sub-genre they …

This fifth album from the Brazilian duo of Mantus and Triumphsword is very much an homage to the traditional values of late ‘80s / early ‘90s black metal.  And it carries no pretensions about being otherwise. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-GRCarR-JE] Each of the 12 tracks (the titular opener is very much a cinematic-style …

Flotsam And Jetsam are stalwarts in the thrash metal sub-genre, having formed under the direction of drummer Kelly David-Smith in the very early 1980’s. These Phoenix ‘bangers hardly need introduction. This was, at one point in time, a crowd-financed album, and the quality of the output seems to be a …

If ever an album title was appropriate, it is this one from this young Dublin hardcore quartet.  Just like the band’s previous EP, ‘Dead Dead Fucking Dead’, the album is somewhat of a cathartic experience, dealing as it does with the band’s recovery after vocalist Aidan Coogan almost died in …

As the world’s economic axis turns in upon itself, switching its power base from the colonialist West to the formerly subjugated and colonialized east, could it be argued that the crux of the metal world is about to shift in the same direction? Over recent years, the encroachment of acts …

Peter Tägtgren‘s Hypocrisy have returned! The stalwart extreme metal band’s twelfth studio release, titled End Of Disclosure, has been released through Nuclear Blast. This album brings fiery new songs to listeners and fans across the globe. Similar to many top-tier rock releases, this melodic extreme metal record has a variety …

In Mortis Veritas is a one-man French black metal project, with the man in question being the extremely mysterious Non Serviam, or The Dark Nazareen. Recorded over a two year period, this debut album is a dark and dense affair, and as mysterious as its creator.  Arising from an ethereal …

A nice review of Alphakill's debut album, Unmitigated Disaster, by Iris North

This ninth album from the Swedish thrash/sleaze mutants sees them abandoning the former and very much planting their feet in the latter camp – a direction they have taken more and more since the recruitment of former Crazy Lixx guitarist Vic Zino six years ago. Following an intro that wouldn’t …

This self-released debut album from Manchester-based four piece The Goddamn Electric – or GDE as they like to be abbreviated to – bears all the hallmarks of a band brimming with confidence, not afraid to take a myriad of influences, from classic metal through southern blues to even sleaze rock …

I’m always fascinated by the etymology of band names, just as I am with that of words in general.  To me, the name ‘Chariots Of The Gods’ immediately takes me back to my teenage years and the works of the madcap Swiss author Erich von Daniken – the person more …

Over the past 25 years or so, Suffocation are one of a handful of bands who have towered over the US death metal scene, producing a handful of classic genre-defining – and, indeed, re-defining – albums, such as iconic debut ‘Effigy Of The Forgotten’, the majestic comeback ‘Souls To Deny’ …

I’ve often accused black metal of being staid and derivative, content to rest on its laurels:  but, part of the excitement which initially drew me to what I regard as real darkened extremism was the way in which BM artists were prepared to experiment and push their boundaries to their …

The third album from Swedish doom crew Kongh is not one which is for the faint-hearted.  For a start, its four tracks clock in at around three-quarters of an hour (give or take a few seconds here or there) long. This is loud, dirty, brutal, bruising doom metal of the …

It’s hard to take Lordi seriously – but, by equal measure, it is hard not to take them seriously. Over the past 21 years – or 11 years in recording terms – Mr Lordi and the various vagabonds with whom he has teamed up on his quest to world domination …

On first listen, you could be forgiven for thinking that Helker are German: in fact, they hail from that renowned hotbed of heavy metal Argentina, with ‘Somewhere In The Circle’ being their fourth album but the first to be both recorded in English and gain an international release, thanks to …

When I think of Polish metal bands, I must admit that I automatically think of internationally acclaimed acts such as Behemoth and Vader. Having recently been subjected to the humiliation of the band self-described as “Poland’s Iron Maiden”, i.e. Turbo, I’m somewhat sceptical about some of the boasts made about …

Us rock journalists are supposed to be reasonably savvy types, keeping our fingers on the pulses and knowing exactly what’s happening on this planet we call mosh, so we can impart our knowledge onto you, our millions of devoted and much lover readers. So, imagine my surprise when, completely unannounced …

If you’ve never heard them before, you would be forgiven for thinking, upon first listen, that there is a very Savatage quality to Circle II Circle’s sound:  it’s a comparison that you would be more than justified making, as CIIC frontman Zak Stevens spent eight years at the helm of …

France’s Idols For Dinner actually trace their roots back more than half a decade, forming as Corpse Division back in 2007 but changing their name a few years later as they felt their original monicker did not reflect the style of music they play:   “it sounded like a brutal death …