Death

Fleshgod Apocalypse – Labyrinth Review

Fleshgod Apocalypse – Labyrinth Review

Labyrinth is 2013’s incarnation of Fleshgod’s neo-classical death metal. Once again, Labyrinth is not a clone of the band’s previous work, but instead it seems to be Fleshgod’s attempt to reach a happy medium between Agony and Oracles, musically.” Angry Metal Guy weighs in to wordily explain how he feels about the latest slab of orchestral tech death from Italy’s Fleshgod Apocalypse. When we say wordily, we really mean it. Like a thousand freaking words just telling you what he thinks of this album. It’s kind of ridiculous really. No one should spend that much time writing about an album. Who the hell does he think he is?

Autopsy – The Headless Ritual Review

Autopsy – The Headless Ritual Review

“The Gods of crusty, scabby American death are back yet again! Since their grisly and well-received Macabre Eternal comeback, I’ve been chomping at the bit to hear more new material from the reformed Autopsy. With roots running all the way back to the seminal debut by genre creators Death (Chris Reifert played drums thereon), Autopsy has had an up and down career filled with long lay-offs, breakups and resurrections so it’s always a joy to get a new platter of splatter from them (and I always worry it will be their last).” Since you never know when the wheels will come off the Autopsy table, enjoy their brand of dirty, scuzzy death while you still can! Steel Druhm’s been knee deep in it for a week and has some thoughts (and some infections).

Lonewolf – The Fourth and Final Horseman Review

Lonewolf – The Fourth and Final Horseman Review

“It’s unfortunate that French heavy metal band Lonewolf’s sixth studio album had to be next on Happy Metal Guy’s reviewing list right after he reviewed this. But well, it’s too bad—that’s just how life is. When life splashes lemonade on you, use a pail to collect every drop of it dutifully, obtain citric acid crystals from it and use them to produce pesticide.” Well, not every album can be White Wizzard, whatever that means.

Blood Mortized – The Key to a Black Heart Review

Blood Mortized – The Key to a Black Heart Review

Just in time to wash away the bitter taste of Six Feet Under, comes this ridiculously sick death metal masterstroke by Blood Mortized. Taking the vicious old school Swedish death sound from their Bestial EP and improving on it in every way, The Key to a Black Heart is exactly what you want from the style and death metal in general.

Six Feet Under – Undead Review

Six Feet Under – Undead Review

Let’s just be brootally honest for a moment, shall we? Six Feet Under is the worst “big” band in the entire death metal genre. Most of their releases are either below average or simply godawful, and after a seventeen year run, they can only boast two semi-good albums of original material. They’ve spewed platter after platter of groove-based, chuggy, simplistic death that only fellow neanderthal deathers Jungle Rot could fully appreciate (though they probably look down on them a bit too).

Ram – Death Review

Ram – Death Review

You need a certain amount of courage to name your album Death in 2012, don’t you? I mean this is one of, if not the, most used words in the metal world altogether and it usually reminds lots of fans with Chuck Schuldiner’s seminal band with the same name. On the personal level, I still find myself a little baffled by Ram’s title of choice for their third studio album in thirteen years of making heavy metal. Then again, some may ask me “but what’s in a name?” and I find myself remembering some awesome and meaningful titles like Oblivion Beckons by Byzantine, The Atrocity Exhibition: Exhibit A by Exodus or Mumakil’s Behold the Failure and realizing that there’s a lot in a name.

Things You Might Have Missed 2011: Beyond Creation – The Aura

Things You Might Have Missed 2011: Beyond Creation – The Aura

I made comments earlier to the effect of that I’d not heard the 2011 death metal record of the year. Nader Sadek definitely fills in that gap deftly, but Beyond Creation’s 2011 release The Aura from some obscure Canadian Label that is going on a 6 month vacation so you can’t actually order records from […]

Illogicist – The Unconsciousness of Living Review

Illogicist – The Unconsciousness of Living Review

I first became acquainted with Illogicist back in 2007, at the height of the tech-death explosion, via a record called The Insight Eye. What intrigued me about these Italian virtuosos at the time was that, unlike most of the scene they were lumped in with, they leaned less towards “tech” and way more towards “death.” The band was clearly influenced by early 90s progressive death metal like Atheist and late-era Death, a.k.a. shit that I really like. And yet, despite all the potential, the album seemed to be missing something.