Hammerheart Records

Exoskelett – Collected Bones Review

Exoskelett – Collected Bones Review

“With debut Collected Bones, Exoskelett produced a record that sounds like what would happen if some kids heard Morbid Tales coming from their older brother’s bedroom and then spent the next three weeks trying to recreate that feeling by jamming on busted pawn shop instruments and guzzling Mountain Dew in their parent’s basement.” Bones, Dew and disharmony.

Ereb Altor – Ulfven Review

Ereb Altor – Ulfven Review

Ereb Altor is a band I’ve reviewed more than almost any other since joining the AMG metal collective in 2010. They’re a prolific bunch and stick to a regular release schedule despite also releasing albums under the moniker Isole, and their material is consistently good if not great. Ulfven is their newest release, following 2016s Blot Ilt Taut which was a series of Bathory covers. This was appropriate as Quorthon has always been the wellspring from which the band draws their inspiration.” Reforge the sword.

Dead Head – Swine Plague Review

Dead Head – Swine Plague Review

“I’ve liked Dead Head for nearly a decade, though I haven’t thought of them in nearly that long. During one youthful torrent rampage, I collected an album for every letter of the alphabet; 2009’s Depression Tank served as the D. Titillated by the delightful mix of Panzer riffs and bullet belts, I patiently anticipated a follow-up, my naive exuberance skating right over Dead Head’s spotty release pattern.” Plagues before Swine.

The Monolith Deathcult – Versvs 1 Review

The Monolith Deathcult – Versvs 1 Review

“Two years ago, I had the pleasure of reviewing The Monolith Deathcult’s 2015 EP Bloodcvlts. And by ‘pleasure,’ I mean something else entirely. The band is everything Leave It to Beaver’s Eddie Haskell would be in reality. At first, the band seems like a serious, straight-laced Dutch death metal group. They seem polite and always outgoing, straight-to-the-point and never misleading. Then you discover the truth: that’s all bullshit.” Bloodcvlts, BS, Beaver.

Dreaming Dead – Funeral Twilight Review

Dreaming Dead – Funeral Twilight Review

“Being at the bridge between traditional and more extreme forms of metal, death-thrash isn’t a style with a lot of clout. There’s nothing inherently wrong with the sub-genre, but its middle ground status means that most peoples’ preferences fall to one side of the genre or the other. While there’s no denying the beauty of heavy metal, readers will recognize that I fall on the brutal side of the scale.” Brutality is a deathstyle choice.

Brutal Unrest – Trinitas Review

Brutal Unrest – Trinitas Review

“Once upon a time, this writer, still a wet-behind-the-ears thrash aficionado, met his first brother-in-metal. He was a lanky fellow who’d rattle his neighbors’ windows with sessions of Cannibal Corpse and hit the pits so hard he’d be out of class for a week. So strong was our bromance that I cut my very first class to hit my first real show with him — I even had a beer (underage!) — what a rebel I was. I owe him, specifically his deification of Glen Benton, for a good portion of my listening habits.” Beers, Benton, bromance, Battlestar Galactica.

SIG:AR:TYR – Northen Review

SIG:AR:TYR – Northen Review

SIG:AR:TYR are one of the most criminally overlooked acts in the Viking/folk/black metal arena and even after three high quality albums they still seem woefully under-appreciated. Taking the best elements of Bathory’s Viking era and fusing them with influences ranging from Immortal, Falkenbach and Primordial, founder and sole member Daemonskald crafted some amazingly epical moments on unsung classics like Beyond the North Winds and 2010’s Godsaga.” Prepare to feel the Hammer o’ the North.

Collision – Satanic Surgery Review

Collision – Satanic Surgery Review

“Sometimes I feel like a wine critic. Not because I spit booze into a bucket like a drunken ibex and pretend it’s a real job when I write about it, but because I’m describing what I hear and then telling you good folks about how my “palate” reacts to it. Although it would be substantially easier to just sniff, taste or write “a bold 90s flavour, Good/5.0” and call it a day, this metal gig actually lets me reference hamburgers, beer, and philosophy at a frankly ludicrous frequency so I can confidently say I made the right choice. With that in mind I’ve taken many sips from the boxed Merlot of Dutch thrashcore merchants Collision’s fifth full-length Satanic Surgery, and much like a baffled wine critic (Diabolus in Vino?) I had one Hell of a time figuring out why it tasted funny.” Time for speed tasting!

Cirith Gorgor – Visions of Exalted Lucifer Review

Cirith Gorgor – Visions of Exalted Lucifer Review

“There’s something to be said for toiling away at your craft for a long period of time, sacrificing goats and virgins your time, energy, and the relationships in your life in order to hit that Holy Grail of recognition and notoriety. Regardless of the degree of success, you can’t deny that a bit of respect is to be had for those who refuse to quit.” Then again, a little self-insight never hurt anybody…

Coffins – Craving to Eternal Slumber Review

Coffins – Craving to Eternal Slumber Review

“Fresh from their evidently finite dormancy, Japan’s popular death-doom export, Coffins, is back with the mini-album Craving to Eternal Slumber. The legend that is Happy Metal Guy favorably reviewed their previous release, and this largely fits into the canon they’ve already established for themselves.” It’s funny you should mention Happy Metal Guy and canon in the same sentence….