“As a reviewer, it always feels good when you correctly identify a band’s influences. Hmm, I thought to myself upon first listening to The Third Kind’s Man vs Earth debut, this kind of sounds like All Out War. It turns out there’s a good reason for that. Formed in 2015, Kind count All Out War guitarist Taras Apuzzo amongst their ranks, along with other members from a slew of New York hardcore bands.” Earth had it coming.
“Fornicus was a name I never expected to see in our promo bin again. Formed in 2012, this Kentucky group first came to my attention with their terrific 2014 debut Storming Heaven, a sweaty and dynamic piece of blackened death metal that at times reminded me of other great American acts like Ares Kingdom and Abominant.” What’s burning? YOU!
“Formed way back in 2006, Hammer feel less like a band that’s been honing their sound and more like one that’s been waiting for the right time to unleash it. This is primitive death metal that’s more abusive than innovative and yet still offers no easy points of comparison. It’s as if the early works of death metal and grindcore were stirred together in a bloody concoction, shoved in the furnace of black metal, and then crystallized in a raw, violent, and merciless final product that feels just as cutthroat as the band name and album title suggest.” Hammer smash!
“It never ceases to amaze me how many metal bands can continue to release high quality material so late in their careers. This year alone has seen terrific releases from both Vulcano and Sinister, for instance, and I’ll now be adding Witches to this list as well. Admittedly, I’d never even heard of this group until AMG Himself recommended I give them a try, a decision I’ve become quite happy with over the past week.” Run for covens.
“I’m always happy to see old school death metal bands that are still around and putting out new music, especially when that music is as good as Sinister’s. Though they formed in 1988, this Dutch group’s 2017 album Syncretism was my first exposure to the band and my neck has never been the same.” Deform the neck bones.
“I love it when a release has riffs and songs I can hum after first listen, but I also love the bludgeoning barbarity of acts like Abominator and Archgoat, where discernible ideas are often sacrificed at the altar of extremity. Hells Headbangers tend to be one of the most reliable peddlers of this sort of stuff, and this once again holds true with Alabama’s Hegemony.” Goats!
“With the members also playing in Nuke, Acid Witch, and Perversion, it seems Shitfucker is intended as their outlet to revel in nastiness while writing snotty little songs that don’t quite fit with their other bands.” The dead never say no.
“It’s funny how time works. One day you’re 16 and listening to HIM’s Razorblade Romance, the next you’re in your 30s and reviewing a band called Blasphamagoatachrist. I suspect my own journey into the Extreme was similar to many others. From the day distorted guitars first graced my ears, I felt a gentle pull towards what I now know of as the Black Hole of Extremity, that invisible eternal force that constantly beckons us to seek out MORE.” Blasphemy goats and goals.
“For such an iconic band, there aren’t many modern groups that sound very much like Death. Sure, Gruesome’s whole schtick is sounding like them and Skeletal Remains have a hearty Death influence, but compared to the legions of bands that mimic Entombed or Incantation, Chuck Schuldiner’s brainchild seems underrepresented. After Live Burial answered the call earlier this month, Atlanta’s Cemetery Filth are here with their Dominion debut to profess their own love of Schuldiner’s work.” I am become Death.
“I’m getting too old for this shit. That was my initial thought after starting my third or fourth listen of Blessed by Embers, the debut album by U.K. black metal band Drakonis. Hailing from Northern Ireland, the group initially had some promising signs that drew me in. The promo blurb told of a band that had captivating live shows, a string of EPs that garnered positive reception, and a style that mixed black and death metal without falling neatly into any one genre (several members are also part of folk metal band Waylander, so they have some experience under their belts as well).” Olde and cranky.
