Album Review: Utgard by Enslaved (Nuclear Blast, Oct. 2nd)

The term progressive is tossed around the metal world often, an adjective readily applied to bands across the myriad of sub-genres.  Throw “progressive” in front of any standard description and it instantly adds a level of technicality and arrangement not found in the genre as a whole.  Taking it a step further, bands that operate… Continue reading Album Review: Utgard by Enslaved (Nuclear Blast, Oct. 2nd)

Album Review: Necrot’s Mortal (Tankcrimes, August 28th)

The metal world is full of sub-genre categorization.  You can’t swing a dead cat in an online forum without hitting a post debating a band’s placement on the spectrum of brutality.  Is band X brutal death metal?  Blackened death metal?  Viking metal?  Alien-inspired technical death metal with progressive elements?  With their August 28th release, Mortal,… Continue reading Album Review: Necrot’s Mortal (Tankcrimes, August 28th)

Album Review: Desolator’s Sermon of Apathy (Black Lion Records, Sept. 4th)

My first exposure to death metal, in late 1994/early 1995, came via Obituary’s World Demise and Symbolic from Death.  Both albums turned me on to the genre but it wasn’t until I discovered Entombed that it fully clicked.  Left Hand Path changed my outlook on heavy music and I fully bought in to what the… Continue reading Album Review: Desolator’s Sermon of Apathy (Black Lion Records, Sept. 4th)

Album Review: Subterranean Exile by The Wizar’d

Australia’s The Wizar’d have been churning out traditional doom metal since 2004, amassing a solid catalog of four full-length albums and several EPs.  Their most recent long player, Subterranean Exile (released April 24th via Cruz Del Sur) is the work of a band comfortable in its own skin.  Unlike the death metal-tinged war beat of… Continue reading Album Review: Subterranean Exile by The Wizar’d

Album Review: Stygian Crown (s/t, Cruz Del Sur)

Scanning the press release for Stygian Crown’s upcoming, self-titled release, a phrase jumped off my screen: “Candlethrower.”  For the uninitiated, it might seem like an ill-placed promo for the newest Olympic sport.  For the extreme metal fan it immediately brings two bands into play: Candlemass and Bolt Thrower.  Both outfits constitute giants in their respective… Continue reading Album Review: Stygian Crown (s/t, Cruz Del Sur)

Album Review: HORROR by EXHUMED

Many bands go through stylistic changes during their career.  Some are radical changes, such as Celtic Frost [Morbid Tales vs. Cold Lake] or Corrosion of Conformity [early crossover thrash to later Southern rock-tinged boogie].  Many are slight adjustments, adding aspects of another genre or sound to give the material a new edge.  Veteran death grinders… Continue reading Album Review: HORROR by EXHUMED

Album Review: Exhumed’s Death Revenge (Relapse)

Through seven full-length offerings and enough demos and splits to fill a casket, San Jose’s Exhumed have proven to be nothing but reliable.  You see the bloody logo and you know what to expect.  Even as the band as progressed from the early grind ‘n slash offerings to 2013’s melodic death opus Necrocracy, the quality… Continue reading Album Review: Exhumed’s Death Revenge (Relapse)