Celtic Frost

Kuolemanlaakso – Tulijoutsen Review

Kuolemanlaakso – Tulijoutsen Review

By Steel Druhm on February 19, 2014 in 2014, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Finnish Metal, Reviews, Svart Records, Death Metal, Doom Metal, 9 comments

“The majesty and grandeur of the Finnish wilderness has been source material for a veritable fuckload of metal bands over the years, with Amorphis and Korpiklaani, being the better known examples. Those untamed forests and pristine lakes apparently beckoned to the folks in Kuolemanlaakso as well, since their sophomore album is a loose conceptual piece focused on the Finnish countryside and the national folklore that featured it so prominently.” Nature-themed doom death from Finland seems like an easy sell. Are you buying?

Corpsessed – Abysmal Thresholds Review

Corpsessed – Abysmal Thresholds Review

By Steel Druhm on February 12, 2014 in 2014, Dark Descent Records, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Finnish Metal, Reviews, Death Metal, Doom Metal, 12 comments

“Steel Druhm loves his old school death metal, but I get tired of comparing every band’s sound to Entombed, Dismember and/or Grave. Thankfully, Corpsessed arrived in my queue with a terrific moniker and a sound that doesn’t require the standard comparisons. That’s because these sick Finnish death mongers deliver a crusty, ugly style that sounds like a mix of Demigod, Onward to Golgotha era Incantation, Autopsy, primitive low-fi blackness and sludgy doom.” They say nothing cleans the palate like sewage spewing death metal. Well then, take a big slurp of this nastiness.

Zemial – Nykta Review

Zemial – Nykta Review

By Grymm on November 1, 2013 in 2013, Black Metal, Greek Metal, Hells Headbangers Records, Reviews, Black Metal, 1 comment

“Papa Grymm once told me, when I was just a wee little kvlt tyke, “Son, if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. Also, clean your room. You’re an embarrassment to the Inner Circle.” Archon Vorskaath, mastermind behind the amorphous Greco-German black metal machine Zemial, is the posterchild of the DIY ethos, recording and performing all vocals, instruments, and sound effects, as well as releasing 2006’s In Monumentum, all by his own not-so-little lonesome over the last 20 plus-years, spawning two albums and handful of EPs. Vorskaath’s visionary trek continues with Nykta, Zemial’s third full-length and first for Hells Headbangers Records.” Ah, Greek black metal. So Spartan, so evil. It certainly seems to take Grymm back to his kvlt childhood.

Hail of Bullets – III The Rommel Chronicles Review

Hail of Bullets – III The Rommel Chronicles Review

By Steel Druhm on October 19, 2013 in 2013, Death Metal, Dutch Metal, Metal Blade, Reviews, Death Metal, 8 comments

“While the mighty Bolt Thrower lies in their house at R’lyeh, dead but dreaming, Dutch super group Hail of Bullets have become the undisputed champions of war-themed death metal. Featuring the likes of Ed Warby (The 11th Hour, Demiurg) and the immortal Martin van Drunen (Asphyx, ex-Pestilence, ex-Bolt Thrower), these grizzled veterans have made a name for themselves by adopting a winning Bolt Thrower meets Asphyx meets more Bolt Thrower schtik and they’ve churned out some truly tank-busting, old school death over their short but nasty career. Their albums always feature a fantastic mix of classic death grooves and monstrously oppressive doom riffs (especially on On Divine Winds) and they remind me of long forgotten Winter and the dirgey glory of vintage Celtic Frost and Hellhammer. III The Rommel Chronicles doesn’t upset the ammunition cart and the band delivers another broootal, throwback album with little in the way of finesse.” Old school death metal about war and battle. That shit just sells itself, don’t it? Yes it does!

The Ruins of Beverast – Blood Vaults Review

The Ruins of Beverast – Blood Vaults Review

By Steel Druhm on August 30, 2013 in 2013, 3.0, Black Metal, Doom Metal, German Metal, Reviews, Van Records, Black Metal, Doom Metal, 1 comment

“Here’s something I was really looking forward to! The Ruins of Beverast is a one man solo project from Alexander von Meilenwald, the former drummer of Nagelfar and sometimes drummer in Verdunkeln. Since the Unlock the Shrine debut, Meilenwald has taken his core blackened doom/death sound and increasingly melded it with grim atmospherics, odd, creepy-as-fuck ritual chanting and eerie church music to attain a type of epic horror movie music intended to unsettle and disturb the listener. Each subsequent release dug itself deeper into this construct or terror and unleashed longer, more drawn-out examples of the style, and while the music is the very height of “acquired taste”, it has a terribly compelling power that draws one back.” Do you like really long, creepy blackened doom with tons of occult elements? Who doesn’t, right? Join Steel Druhm as he discusses witches, witch burning, women’s rights and song length.

Primitive Man – Scorn Review

Primitive Man – Scorn Review

By Alex Franquelli on August 24, 2013 in 2013, 4.0, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Hardcore, Relapse, Reviews, Sludge, Hardcore, 3 comments

Oh the pleasure of punishment without guilt, of terror without a motive, of sadistic pain with too much uncontrolled joy and salty drops of unrequited love. Primitive Man call the bluff we all know as life by showing the vulgar side of our existences. Our bodies reek when in fear because the matter doesn’t lie; we do; it doesn’t. If less than 40 minutes of raw, filthy music played without compromises may sound like a sonic déjà-vu, don’t worry: you may be right. Primitive Man’s music is, in fact, an end to itself: an epic journey through punishing dissonances mostly played at an excruciatingly slow tempo. Eyehategod? Maybe. But more than 20 years after an album like In the Name of Suffering graced our ears, the demise of black metal, the growth of drone-based trends and the evolution of what some term ‘extreme music’ all give us an updated version of that masterpiece. It hurt then as it does now and the bleak landscape remains the same. Hate doesn’t evolve; it just gets bigger.” Alex is here to discuss life’s ugliness and pain, glorious pain. Apparantly this album makes him go on like Pinhead in a bondage bar.

Teloch Vovin – I Review

Teloch Vovin – I Review

By Madam X on June 28, 2013 in 2.5, 2013, American Metal, Black Metal, Reviews, Atmospheric Black Metal, Black Metal, 2 comments

“You know that scene in The Midnight Meat Train, just after the butcher’s death, the one where the conductor introduces Leon to those unholy reptilian creatures that live beneath New York City? Or maybe you’ll better remember it as the scene where Leon’s tongue is ripped straight from his mouth and he’s told, you’re it, you’re the next butcher! When I think of Teloch Vovin, that’s the first place my mind travels to. They’re also from the seedy underbelly of New York.” Madam X seems enthralled with New York’s seedy underworld… could it have been the lure of sacrificial blood that drew her, or was Teloch Vovin’s sticky, murky black metal the attraction? Maybe it was the smell of garbage and falafel.

Pest – The Crowning Horror Review

Pest – The Crowning Horror Review

By Madam X on June 14, 2013 in 2.0, 2013, Agonia Records, Black Metal, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Uncategorized, Black Metal, 3 comments

“Bands regularly lay claim to being ‘old school’, to bringing back the ‘glory days’. But from my experience, what they’re REALLY trying to tell you, is that they’re foisting their low budget recording quality onto you and they’re serving you a platter of replica tracks. This was my first thought when I saw that Necro and Equimanthorn’s big selling point on Pest was that their brand of Swedish black metal is ‘played in the old vein, no females or keyboards involved’ naturally I prepared myself for the worst…” Old school Swedish black metal? Isn’t all black metal old school? Regardless, Madam x delves into the latest Pest and tells you if they annoy her.