Hatebreed

All Out War – Celestial Rot Review

All Out War – Celestial Rot Review

“One thing I discover in the promo sump every now and then is the longevity of random bands I’ve never heard of. While many one-man black metal projects working out of their respective mom’s basements rear corpse-painted faces, I certainly did not expect a metalcore band to fall into this category. It is a bit of a coincidence to me that Newburgh, New York veterans All Out War comes on the heels of my last 2022 TYMHM, Geneva’s Nostromo, because all the hallmarks are there.” Eternal war (core).

Jungle Rot – A Call to Arms Review

Jungle Rot – A Call to Arms Review

“In the time of caveman death metal, Jungle Rot was a monkey. Since 1995 they’ve continued to bang out the most rudimentary death metal imaginable, perpetually aimed at that sickly sweet spot right between Obituary and meatheaded quasi-hardcore like Pro-Pain and Hatebreed. Eleventh album A Call to Arms is a rallying cry for those yet to see the value in their brand of low-brow, gym-friendly death with an IQ of 13.” Keep on rotting in the tree world.

Lamb of God – Lamb of God Review

Lamb of God – Lamb of God Review

“Through impressive early career highs to the middling mehs of some of their later material, Lamb of God have remained committed to their craft amidst tides of turmoil, persevering through some sizable obstacles. Now following a five-year gap between albums, Lamb of God return with their anticipated eighth LP, a self-titled effort.” Lamb-fisted.

Benighted – Obscene Repressed Review

Benighted – Obscene Repressed Review

“With a career spanning over 20 years, French deathgrind wrecking crew Benighted are very much in the veteran class. This perennial favorite continues delivering top notch material, showing no signs of tempering their gnarled, awesomely potent, and over-the-top formula of brutal deathgrind, replete with oddball treats, technical mastery, gut-busting grooves and tasteful lashings of melody.” Own the Benight!

Obey the Brave – Balance Review

Obey the Brave – Balance Review

“Of all the things I thought I’d be excited about this year, the metalcore side project of Alex Erian from Despised Icon was not one of them. But sometimes life throws you a delightful curveball, giving you lemonade instead of lemons. Here, life also happened to put a generous double shot of vodka into my lemonade. I’m normally a beer guy, but like an unanticipated alcoholic lemonade, Balance is refreshing.” Drink up.

War Curse – Eradication Review

War Curse – Eradication Review

“Now, don’t get me wrong, being the child of the thrash era, I love when a song turns on end and a chugging lick crescendos into a neck-snapping attack. But, I also miss the days when a band could write a thrash classic that wasn’t waiting around for that mid-song savagery. War Curse also remember those good ol’ days. That’s why they gave us Eradication.” War Curse (and Pepperidge Farms remember).

Eye of the Destroyer – Baptized in Pain Review

Eye of the Destroyer – Baptized in Pain Review

“Some people spend their weekend running errands, and I’m no different. This weekend, as I write this review, I’ll be running a fool’s errand and disagreeing with the genre tag of a “deathcore” album. Genre fans and detractors will have the same reaction: “who cares, it’s all about the chugs anyway.” You chug water for different reasons than you chug beer (unless it’s Coors Light, which is both). The Rack chugs and Eternal Nightmare chugs. Disma chugs and Carnifex chugs. All of this is to say, Eye of the Destroyer’s second LP is beatdown, not deathcore.” Advanced pigeonholing.

Through the Noise – Dualism Review

Through the Noise – Dualism Review

“This is sure to come as a surprise, what with the kvlt as fvck album art and all, but Through the Noise are about as trve as Santa. With their accessible angst and envelope-friendly chuggatry, these Swedes crabwalk the thick, downtuned line between nü-metal and metalcore, and by all rights, Dualism should have been inflicted upon a n00b. However, there have been far too many 4.0’s awarded as ov late, and I would be remiss to turn down an opportunity to bring you bastards crashing back down to reality, so we are here.” Punishment is due.

Siege of Power – Warning Blast Review

Siege of Power – Warning Blast Review

Warning Blast was set to be one unstoppable slab of doomy death metal. That is, until it wasn’t. Siege of Power are far more interested in playing some punk infused death-doom, or what it would sound like if death-doom musicians tried to start an old hardcore-adjacent band. Conveniently, this is almost exactly what Warning Blast represents.” Feel the crust.