Mark Z.

Wömit seasön!

Urn – Iron Will of Power Review

By Mark Z. on September 16, 2019 in 2019, Black Metal, Finnish Metal, Reviews, Season of Mist, Thrash Metal, Black Metal, Thrash Metal, 38 comments

“Nothing in this world is as good as blackened thrash metal. In the book of Z, it is the pinnacle of not just metal, but music in general. While Australian acts like Gospel of the Horns and the fukkin almighty Deströyer 666 do it best, that doesn’t mean the rest of the world has nothing to offer. Finland’s Urn are one such band who have been reliable in keeping my head banging over the years, even if their straightforward take on blackened thrash was never enough to bring them to the big leagues.” Boo-Urn?

Synteleia – Ending of the Unknown Path Review

By Mark Z. on September 8, 2019 in 2019, Black Metal, Greek Metal, Hells Headbangers Records, Reviews, Black Metal, 16 comments

“In recent years Greek black metal has become one of my favorite strains of the genre. To me, the scene excels because it rejects rote riffing and instead embraces a style that’s at once militant, melodic, and mystical. The Greek sound has existed for a while and often the bands that embody it are either older acts (Rotting Christ, Varathron) or have scene veterans in their ranks (Funeral Storm). In this regard, Synteleia are an anomaly.” Greek freaks.

Alcoholocaust – Necro Apocalipse Bestial Review

By Mark Z. on September 3, 2019 in 2019, Black Metal, Helldprod Records, Portuguese Metal, Reviews, Thrash Metal, Black Metal, Thrash Metal, 22 comments

“It’s Monday. 8:24 A.M. I pull my Toyota into the Magazine Street parking garage, fifth floor, the only spot in the shade that still has cell phone reception. Aura Noir’s Out to Die is blasting on the stereo. I pay the parking fee on my mobile app and sigh as I prepare myself for another day at the office. And then, I stop. What if I don’t go in? I think to myself. What if I just turn the car back on and drive away? What if I forget my job and spend the rest of the summer guzzling booze, getting hairy, and banging my fukkin head for the Master in Hell? It seems radical, but a group of people have actually done it.” Down with adulthood!

Antichrist Siege Machine – Schism Perpetration Review

By Mark Z. on August 25, 2019 in 2019, American Metal, Black Metal, Death Metal, Krucyator Productions, Reviews, Stygian Black Hand, Black Metal, Death Metal, 21 comments

“Do you smell it? A smell like sulfur, sweaty leather, and burning corpses? That’s the smell of blackened fukkin death metal, and boy is it ever in season right now. August alone has seen new releases from Diocletian, Abysmal Lord, and Concrete Winds, with many more no doubt lurking in the darkest corners of Bandcamp and Spotify. Virginia duo Antichrist Siege Machine are the latest to join this infernal party and I’ve been looking forward to their arrival quite a bit.” Hot winds of wengeance.

Abysmal Lord – Exaltation of the Infernal Cabal Review

By Mark Z. on August 16, 2019 in 2019, American Metal, Black Metal, Death Metal, Hells Headbangers Records, Reviews, Black Metal, Death Metal, 10 comments

“Metal reflects its environs. England’s gloomy weather gave birth to the Peaceville Three, the lush forests of the Pacific Northwest gave birth to Cascadian black metal, and the lazy Southern swagger of New Orleans gave birth to sludge. But the sweltering heat of the Big Easy also produced another vile offspring, a hellish bastard child forged by hundred degree summers and humidity high enough to turn your grundle into Lake Pontchartrain. Abysmal Lord is their name and bestial blackened death metal is their game.” Laying cabal.

Here Lies Man – No Ground to Walk Upon Review

By Mark Z. on August 15, 2019 in 2019, American Metal, American Rock, Reviews, RidingEasy Records, 17 comments

“I love imagining new music genres. What if somebody made blackened thrash with cleanly sung choruses? What if somebody made war metal with melodic death metal riffs? What if somebody made music like The Acacia Strain that was actually good? California’s Here Lies Man asked their own version of this question: what if Black Sabbath played Afrobeat?” World music downfall.

Concrete Winds – Primitive Force Review

By Mark Z. on August 10, 2019 in 2019, Black Metal, Death Metal, Finnish Metal, Reviews, Sepulchral Voice Records, Black Metal, Death Metal, 17 comments

“The genre goes by many names—war metal, bestial blackened death metal, Christblasting necroatomik nuclear goat metal—but it always comes across as punishing and masochistic, the musical equivalent of flagellating yourself with a barbed leather whip. AND I FUKKIN LOVE EVERY SECOND OF IT.” Brutalisto masochisto metallico.

Excuse – Prophets from the Occultic Cosmos Review

By Mark Z. on August 7, 2019 in 2019, Finnish Metal, Reviews, Shadow Kingdom Records, Thrash Metal, Thrash Metal, 32 comments

“You’re here for a reason. You’re on a quest. A quest for music to bang your fukkin head to. Sometimes you find the music, sometimes the music finds you. There, buried in a particularly large online order a couple years ago, was a free copy of Excuse’s 2016 EP Goddess Injustice. I slid the vinyl from its sleeve and a spectral form descended from the heavens. “YOU!” It boomed. “Me?” I said. “YOU. You are the chosen one. Drop the needle. Turn up the stereo. And BANG. YOUR. FUKKIN. HEAD.”” Always obey the disembodied voice!

Lord Gore – Scalpels for Blind Surgeons Review

By Mark Z. on August 6, 2019 in 2019, American Metal, Death Metal, Everlasting Spew Records, Reviews, Death Metal, 25 comments

“Scalpels for Blind Surgeons is only the band’s third album and follows their lengthy hiatus from 2006 to 2017. Their 2002 debut The Autophagous Orgy and 2004’s Resickened were burly deathgrind heavily informed by Impetigo, complete with plenty of horror movie samples and thick meaty riffs. Scalpels is a different beast and in some ways even better. Support the differently abled.

Rotten Hate – Stabbing the Masses Review

By Mark Z. on July 24, 2019 in 2019, Australis Records, Chilean Metal, Crust Punk, Death Metal, Reviews, Crust Punk, Death Metal, 15 comments

“If blackened death metal is like a nuclear bomb going off, then crust punk is like getting a nail bomb shoved in your body’s tightest orifice. Add some death metal to the mix and it’s like getting a nail bomb shoved in every orifice. At least, that’s what I hope for when I see these two styles mixed together. And that’s what I hoped for with Rotten Hate, a new Chilean trio formed by members of underground doom acts Ruined and Black Harvest.” Hate is the new love.