Category Archives: Record Reviews

Posted on January 18, 2013 by Maz

HOLY GRAIL: RIDE THE VOID

The masses of patch covered heavy metal traditionalists, though often less than visible in your local scene, have been covertly driving the New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal for almost half a decade now. On the heels of Cauldron‘s recent … Read the rest of this entry →

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Posted on January 11, 2013 by Maz

VORUM: POISONED VOID

Åland is an automous Finnish island off the country’s Southern coast. On the shores of Maarianhamina, the island’s largely Swedish-speaking capital, named after Maria Alexandrovna (the Empress consort of reform-minded Russian Tsar Alexander II), is where this gem of a band makes their home. Much … Read the rest of this entry →

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Posted on January 11, 2013 by Maz

SIRENS EP

Here’s the thing about bare bones rhythm based djent, difficult as it may be, it’s about as fun as pinochle with gramma’s friends. On a larger scale, it garners the same kind of respect you give to that bro at the … Read the rest of this entry →

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Posted on January 9, 2013 by Maz

DENOUNCEMENT PYRE: ALMIGHTY ARCANUM

This band’s second LP is the fruit of some considerable labor. Almighty Arcanum is the culmination of ten years’ toil in the Australian underground, hopefully yielding some recognition as well. Denouncement Pyre‘s conscripts have found the time and inspiration to forge an excellent record, … Read the rest of this entry →

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Posted on January 7, 2013 by Maz

HATE: SOLARFLESH

Ah yes, Hate: the band that rounds out Poland’s big four of death metal. Though they’ve always managed to write some great riffs, it’s always been tough to understand what catapulted this band into the starting line up. What was … Read the rest of this entry →

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Posted on December 28, 2012 by Maz

LISTEN TO ANIMIST NOW AND DOWNLOAD THIS FREE DEBUT EP

Animist is from Nyack, NY. As far as I know, the east coast is not known for neopaganism but, hey, we got the awesome Windfaerer from Jersey and Leif Ericson never made it farther South than Newfoundland. Their eccentric mix of various extreme … Read the rest of this entry →

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Posted on December 28, 2012 by Maz

MORS PRINCIPIUM EST: AND DEATH SAID LIVE

I’ve always wanted to start a real seminal and important death metal band where we rarely do any actual work and spend much of the time walking around in towels, hitting on all the new female cadets at the academy. … Read the rest of this entry →

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Posted on December 27, 2012 by Maz

VANDERBUYST: THE FLYING DUTCHMEN

Maybe it’s the nod to former NBA star Rick Smitts, the inconsistent posture of the album cover (one guy is in photoshoot mode, the other looks like he is thinking of ending it all) or the unabashedly happy graphic treatment of the whole thing … Read the rest of this entry →

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Posted on December 19, 2012 by Maz

VOMITOR: THE ESCALATION

Australia is really good at what I called wasteland metal. The kind of black/war/thrash bands it has churned out for decades are the type that emphasize chaos and destruction over every other aesthetic. It wasn’t surprising to see that the members … Read the rest of this entry →

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Posted on November 16, 2012 by Maz

BLACK FRIDAY: SPIRE

 Despite having a hilariously unreadable band logo that looks like an ice cream cone or a prosthetic wazard beard, Australia’s Spire are a serious collective of ambient and experimentally inclined musicians. In my love-hate relationship with experimental music, the tide … Read the rest of this entry →

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Posted on November 2, 2012 by Maz

DARK TRANQUILITY: ZERO DISTANCE EP

Dark Tranquility is back with a fix of five tunes between their 9th and 10th album and, as might be expected after the somewhat ambivalent We Are The Void, these songs have some much needed zest to them. Where In … Read the rest of this entry →

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Posted on October 31, 2012 by WUXTRY

EARLY GRAVES: RED HORSE

Early Graves are a crust/hardpunk/loud band out of San Francisco. Their new album Red Horse is out this week on No Sleep Records. It is the first from the band since the death of lead singer Makh Daniels, in 2010 … Read the rest of this entry →

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Posted on October 24, 2012 by Maz

STREAM/BUY DIS MIDNIGHT REISSUE IMMEDIATELY

The more hooky Superchrist may get the nod over this band for my personal playlists but you just can’t beat Midnight when it’s time to get dirty with some blackened heavy metal. I won’t bore you with a long-winded musing … Read the rest of this entry →

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Posted on October 23, 2012 by Maz

FISTULA: NORTHERN AGGRESSION

Closing your eyes, you can see it. Weaving your way through the grimey sidestreets of the American midwest, steam rising from the sewers, you hear the bludgeoning noise from a nearby DIY venue, the sounds stretching its uninsulated walls. You follow the caustic echos to a … Read the rest of this entry →

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Posted on October 22, 2012 by Chillbro Baggins

HARDCORE REVIEWS BY METAL DUDES: NAILS EDITION

Sometimes a band crushes so hard in the span of 90 seconds that you feel like someone who’s really into The Beatles that just heard The Beatles for the first time. Guess what band I’m talking about… yeah, it’s Nails. … Read the rest of this entry →

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Posted on October 18, 2012 by Maz

SKALMOLD: BORN LOKA

Though most Americans might think the new Skalmold album is a nod to Pitbull –what with the sexy faux-Latin flavor of the album title– it is in fact a hearty, unpretentious trek through the gruffer side of viking metal. The only … Read the rest of this entry →

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Posted on October 17, 2012 by Maz

ANAAL NATHRAKH: VANITAS

There are no shortage of bands out there that defy genre labels. If you’re feeling adventurous, don’t make the mistake of asking for recommendations for such bands. Every fanboy and content-desperate web journo, when given the chance, will have at least a half dozen … Read the rest of this entry →

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Posted on October 7, 2012 by WUXTRY

SWANS: THE SEER

A few days ago I opened my gmail inbox to find a message from my Dad. The message titled “what???”, contained only one sentence “What the hell are those 20 minute songs you have been listening to on Spotify??” He … Read the rest of this entry →

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Posted on September 19, 2012 by Andy

KHORS: WISDOM OF CENTURIES

A few years ago a friend turned me onto Khors, a band that was quickly gaining attention with their 2010 effort, Return to Abandoned. Their uniquely Ukrainian style of melodic/atmospheric pagan black metal infused with just the right amount of … Read the rest of this entry →

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Posted on September 18, 2012 by Maz

EX DEO: CALIGVLA

What does it sound like when Kataklysm decide they want to play Roman-themed symphonic death instead of their usual bludgeoning? Thanks to the larger than life historical themes and modest orchestration, it’s even more massive and emphatic, if you can believe that. … Read the rest of this entry →

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