Metal Blade

The Black Dahlia Murder – Verminous Review

The Black Dahlia Murder – Verminous Review

“Hot on the heels of the fantastic Nightbringers, my hopes for the latest from The Black Dahlia Murder could not have been more detached from reality. Of course, those expectations couldn’t and wouldn’t pan out… but not how you might expect. If Nightbringers saw a wizened The Black Dahlia Murder reflecting on Nocturnal and their launch into outer space, then Verminous ruminates on Deflorate, Ritual, and Everblack, the records that kept them aloft among the stars.” Great expectations, dangerous expectations.

Angry Metal Primer – The Black Dahlia Murder

Angry Metal Primer – The Black Dahlia Murder

The Black Dahlia Murder is poised to drop a new album, which is a big deal around the metal scene. We thought it best to help those unfamiliar with the band’s material by providing this helpful primer fashioned by AMG Himself and Dr. Wvrm. No need to thank us, we’re just metal to the core.

Master Boot Record – Floppy Disk Overdrive Review

Master Boot Record – Floppy Disk Overdrive Review

Master Boot Record first came to my attention a few years ago as a novelty synth-metal nerd music act that made good coding music. After a hard disk full of releases in their first couple of years, Interrupt Request was released in 2017. At that point, I suddenly realized that MBR had privilege escalated from novelty act to serious music. Nothing had changed about the style or the presentation, but after iterative improvements, the quality of the songwriting demanded that they be taken seriously.” Disc blaster.

Neaera – Neaera Review

Neaera – Neaera Review

“No matter how hard you try, you can never really escape your past. By day I’m the kvltest of the kvlt, blasting the blakkened fukkin death while wearing a shirt that depicts Jesus getting flogged by a horde of goat demons. But when I curl up at night with my plesiosaurus plush, I know at heart I’m still the same mid-aughts core kid who got his start in the metal world with Killswitch Engage and their ilk. Even today, when the promo teat runs dry, sometimes I find myself returning to where it all began: core.” Damn core kids!

God Dethroned – Illuminati Review

God Dethroned – Illuminati Review

“The unimpeachable philosophy of famed slam poet Robert Conrad Flynn once posited that “the more things change, the more they stay the same.” If we apply the paradigm to extreme metal, the veracity of the statement becomes rather apparent. All of our favorite genres of metal and, indeed, music are fundamentally stale. This isn’t a bitter take, it’s a fact. While we hungrily await the next morsel of genuine innovation, we sate ourselves with interpretations of reliable constants. Dutchmen God Dethroned have been plying our souls with searing melodic death metal for the best part of thirty years. Their oeuvre consists of scorching blackened passages and an adroit use of melody that never sacrifices suffering for seduction.” When consistency attacks.

Blaze of Perdition – The Harrowing of Hearts Review

Blaze of Perdition – The Harrowing of Hearts Review

“Hack comedians, when they have nothing of value to say, pepper their routine with profanity and musings about their genitalia to shock the audience into laughter. Metal bands have, fortunately and unfortunately, far more options. Behemoth’s #ILYAYD disaster, and to a lesser degree the middling and overrated The Satanist, showed a band with nothing to say except “please listen to us, we’re still here and iconoclastic – also, buy our dog food!” I bring up Behemoth because, as someone who disliked their last two bloated bores of records for the poor implementation (instead of the existence) of rock influences, Blaze of Perdition does a similar thing but, fortunately, does it well.” The Rock of Judgment.

Midnight – Rebirth by Blasphemy Review

Midnight – Rebirth by Blasphemy Review

“Few bands paint a picture quite as Midnight does. But, in this case, it’s no ordinary picture. It’s Hell. Even more than the ancient works of Venom, Midnight paints a blood-red scene of violence on a black canvas. I not only can feel it but I can smell it. The flickering reds and oranges burn to the touch and the air is stifling and uncomfortable. The fragrance is a mix of unwashed crotch and dogshit burning in a paper bag. When you pass through the large, creaking door to the back of this stinking asylum, your sweat solidifies to your face. From red hot to freezing cold, Hell’s non-smoking area in the rear is black and brown, with the stench of wet earth and decomposition. Yet, no matter where you are in this underground venue, the walls reverberate with the black rasps, fiery guitars, rumbling bass, and pounding drums of the lone devil, Athenar.” Welcome home.

Cattle Decapitation – Death Atlas Review

Cattle Decapitation – Death Atlas Review

“The band are an institution and an interesting force in extreme metal for both their singular creativity and unflinchingly progressive politics in a genre dominated by derivation and incoherent edgelord lyricism. As I said in my review of The Anthropocene Extinction, Cattle Decapitation are just fucking cool.” Meat and greet.

Angry Metal Primer – Cattle Decapitation

Angry Metal Primer – Cattle Decapitation

“From their grisly origins in goregrind to their current set of genre-defying extreme albums, Cattle Decapitation have always been both provocative and purposeful. While crusading against the meat industry, animal testing, environmental destruction or transphobia, Travis Ryan’s stomach-turning lyrics often take to extremes of irony to turn abstract, far-away injustice into a personal danger. But the band climbed a long way to the top of their current soapbox.” Shake, cattle and roll.