Death Metal

ZOM – Flesh Assimilation Review

ZOM – Flesh Assimilation Review

“Up until now, there were three things that came to mind when I thought of Ireland; St. Patty’s Day, Guinness and Primordial. It turns out there is now a fourth: ZOM. Now, if you go to their Facebook page, this Irish threesome claims to exist in the “Anti-Matter Universe.” Goofy sounding? It is. But my Aunt has a summer home there and she just loves it. Regardless of where they reside, ZOM are definitely intent on wreaking havoc in this Anti-Anti-Matter Universe of ours.” That’s all well and good, but if they make me spill my Guinness, shit’s going down in all the universes.

Dreamgrave – Presentiment Review

Dreamgrave – Presentiment Review

“Metal has been extremely retro in the last 5 years. From rethrash to retro death metal, the whole scene has crawled into its proverbial ass in order to wallow in the digested remnants of metal music that is just plain better. Rethrash celebrates the 2.5 years when thrash was the heaviest and most exciting music on the planet. Retro death celebrates a time when bands would scrape together their last Swedish kronor to put a record together that would still sound like total shit. All the bands who wish they were Black Sabbath celebrate a time when amplifiers didn’t actually have overdrive. But all of these celebrated sounds appeal to us because they were authentic: times when newness and creativity gave the world something exciting and special. One such scene for me is the melodic death and black metal scenes of the Scandinavian 1990s. It’s an era when metal was heavy, engaging, abstract, and yet melodic—it felt exciting and new. While not all of the best ideas from this era were executed perfectly at the time, it laid the groundwork for the late ’90s and the early aughts when great metal bands produced great music.” What the hell does this have to do with anything? Click and find out!

Skelethal –  Interstellar Knowledge of the Purple Entity Review

Skelethal – Interstellar Knowledge of the Purple Entity Review

“Great Scott! Like stepping into a sepulchral time machine, Skelethal have transported us back to when Sunlight Studios was Mecca, buzz saw guitars sounded like a swarm of bees, and vocals were scraped from the depths of the grimiest gutters of hell.” More retro death arrives, unfazed by the giant shadow of Bloodbath. That’s brave.

Centinex – Redeeming the Filth Review

Centinex – Redeeming the Filth Review

“Without fail, I always seem to come back to my mass of Swedish death metal albums in a given calendar year. During that time, I pass from album to album, band after band of angry-at-the-world vocals, heavy-as-hell riffs, and the bludgeoning anti-Christian, death, and war themes. Much like the thrash movement in the States, there are arguments over the “Big Four” of the genre.” And guess who isn’t getting included in anyone’s list?

Bloodbath – Grand Morbid Funeral Review

Bloodbath – Grand Morbid Funeral Review

“The death metal super group of all death metal super groups is finally back from the grave after six long years moldering in the soil. Bloodbath needs little introduction, as the preeminent standard bearer of all things retro Swedish death this collective composed of members of Opeth, Katatonia and Witchery once included the likes of Dan Swanö and Mikael Akerfeldt, but both have fled to other pursuits, leaving the band’s new era in the hands of Nick Holmes (Paradise Lost) who now handles vocals.” Can Mr. Holmes shed his rave club past and bring his share of gore to the bathtub?

Voices – London Review

Voices – London Review

“If you’re anything like me, you’re super awesome. But more to the point, you would have been saddened by the split of blackened death metal troublemakers Akercocke a couple of years ago. Perhaps the UK’s most consistently entertaining extreme metal act of the last decade, they seemed to improve on every album, reaching a pinnacle on 2007’s Antichrist.” The band is gone, but the legacy lives on in a disturbing new entity.

Carcass – Surgical Remission/Surplus Steel Review

Carcass – Surgical Remission/Surplus Steel Review

“As you might recall, nearly every metal writer’s Top 10 lists last year was dominated by Liverpool’s other Fab Four…that’s right, Carcass. Surgical Steel, their first album in 17 years, was an unfuckwithable slab of near-perfection that easily held its own against their ’90s classics. So when I heard that an EP of outtakes from those sessions was being released, I was justifiably pumped.” New Carcass is like an early Christmas…or is it?

Job for a Cowboy – Sun Eater Review

Job for a Cowboy – Sun Eater Review

“Say what you will about Arizona’s Job for a Cowboy, but the divisive modern death metal unit certainly inspires fierce debate between metalheads on either side of the fence. I haven’t found much reason to form a strong opinion for the band one way or another, aside from their preposterous choice of moniker, and frankly I’ve been fairly nonplussed about their career thus far. Of course, for many they got off on the wrong foot from the beginning with the dreaded deathcore tag hanging heavily over their 2005 debut Doom EP.” God, I hate this band name so damn much.

Just Before Dawn – The Aftermath Review

Just Before Dawn – The Aftermath Review

“The war (metal) goes ever on, from the recent efforts of Finnish death metallers, Decaying, and on to the new album from Just Before Dawn. Originally formed by Anders Biazzi (Blood Mortized, ex-Amon Amarth) and Rogga Johansson (every death metal in Sweden), this Swedish WMD dropped a bombshell of Bolt Thrower-esque battle metal on 2013s Precis Innan Gryningen, which was heavy-as-hell, raw-as-fuck and meaner than a honey badger on blue meth and Taco Bell.” The war has come to your door and this will put a warhead on your forehead.

Necrophagia – WhiteWorm Cathedral Review

Necrophagia – WhiteWorm Cathedral Review

“If you’re a death metal fan and haven’t at least heard the name Necrophagia, you either aren’t much of a fan or you’re deaf, in which case you have a really good excuse and aren’t listening to death metal anyway. Or nu-metal. Or polka.” These fiends have been lurking at the periphery of extreme metal since the 80s and just wont die. Die, monster, die!