Bewitched – Spiritual Warfare
Over the years throwing Bathory, Celtic Frost, Mercyful Fate and Kreator in a blender along with Motorhead has worked wonders for this Swedish mainstay. Minor lineup changes have had little impact...
View ArticleTrelldom – Til Minne…
Back in 1998 I had no idea who Trelldom was, then Gaahl joined Gorgoroth, impressing me straight away with his dynamic range, so I looked up Til Et Annet… I assumed that Gaahl’s original band was put...
View ArticleGorgoroth – Pentagram, Antichrist, Under the Sign of Hell Re-Issues
Some twenty years ago I was at a Motorhead show when Lemmy stopped the band in the middle of a song. They were playing “Overkill” and had just finished the lengthy opening instrumental part when Lemmy...
View ArticleEndstille – Endstille’s Reich
Despite being formed in 2000 ans this being their 5th album, this is my first exposure to the German black metal war machine known as Endstille, and while a scathing vicious take on razor sharp black...
View ArticleDismember – Dismember
Don’t get me wrong, While I have enjoyed the last two Dismember albums, the fact is both Where Ironcrosses Grow and even the fine The God That Never Was, just seemed a bit forced and too melodic for...
View ArticleNightmare – Genetic Disorder
You may or may not remember French band Nightmare from their moderate success in the 1980s. I don’t, but then I grew up in a rural area where there wasn’t much exposure to the European metal bands of...
View ArticleVader – Lead Us! EP
At the risk of losing what little credibility I have within the metal community, I have a confession to make. I do not own a single Vader release. Not one. In fact the last Vader record I actually...
View ArticleNifelheim – Envoy of Lucifer
Black thrash with a sneer that quickly morphs into a grin. When I want to listen to metal purely for escapist fun, enjoyment that puts a smile on your face kind of metal, I’ll put on Gamma Ray, for a...
View ArticleDeranged – The Red Light Murder Case
I’ll admit for having a bit of a soft spot for Sweden’s Deranged, because their self titled fourth album, was one of my very first reviews for digitalmetal, and I conversed with drummer Richard Wermen...
View ArticleMachinery – The Passing
This sophomore release from Swedish outfit Machinery shows a great deal of promise, even if it’s a bit bipolar. There are really two bands at work here. One is a dark, progressive and interesting...
View ArticleTime Has Come – White Fuzz
As far as spastic, technical metalcore goes, Time Has Come does everything right with White Fuzz. I still can’t help but feel slightly underwhelmed by this record, though. It might be that my tastes...
View ArticleBlackwinds – Flesh Inferno
I had never heard these guys before I got this disc and I am rather mad at myself because of it. This is some really good primal black metal, though it doesn’t sound the least bit primitive. By that I...
View ArticleLord Belial – The Black Curse
Lord Belial assaults or speakers once again, and we all happy for it of course. They continue the trademark blackened death metal stylings that have gotten so much good press over the years. That...
View ArticleRegain Records signs NYHC veterans MERAUDER
Regain Records is very proud to announce the signing of NYHC veterans MERAUDER! Jorge Rosado (vocals) has issued the following statement: “MERAUDER, the metalcore kings and creators, are teaming up...
View ArticleDevil’s Whorehouse – Blood & Ashes
If imitation is truly the sincerest form of flattery, then Glenn Danzig has to feel pretty good about this project from Morgan of Marduk and a few unknown guys. The band began in 2000 as a...
View ArticleNecrophobic – Death to All
Necrophobic’s last album, Hrimthursum, threw me for a loop initially, mainly because of the stylistic expansion from the album before, Bloodhymns, which was one of my favorites from 2002. It wasn’t as...
View ArticleThyrfing – Hels Vite
Viking metal should make you want to load up a Norse ship with muscle-bound heathens and sail to a foreign land to usurp and plunder. Sweden’s Thryfing is one of the exceptions. Whereas their country...
View ArticleUnanimated – In the Light of Darkness
Remember the 90′s when Swedish melodic death metal was kicking our ass? Personally, I was a huge fan of the genre and that is actually where I started my extreme metal listening. Unanimated, who have...
View ArticleMerauder – God is I
For me, Merauder was a lost, lost band for a number of years. 2003s Bluetality was a flat, flaccid record and not representative of one of New York’s hardest bands. What’s more, I saw them at Pressure...
View ArticleMarduk – Wormwood
Three listens back to back to back of Wormwood will leave you laying on the floor in a pool of drool, even if you are up to date on your inoculations. To paraphrase Legion, if you don’t know what...
View ArticleNecrophobic – Satanic Blasphemies
As when I heard the re-issue of Marduk’s Dark Endless last year, I had no idea that the current iteration of one of Sweden’s more respected second tier black/death metal acts, Necrophobic was so...
View ArticleGorgoroth – Quantos Possunt Ad Satanitatem Trahunt
“Rebirth of Gorgorooooooooth!!!!” It’s fitting that after all the legal and personal issues that have plagued this Norwegian stalwart black metal band over the last few years, that the third track has...
View ArticleDark Funeral – Angelus Exuro pro Eternus
The rest of the world got this disc late 2009, those of us in North America had to wait till January 26. The limited edition contains a bonus DVD recorded Live at Peace & Love -festival on June 28,...
View ArticleMarduk – Iron Dawn
The only thing here missing is the logo. Not that the dust had begun to settle on Wormwood―that will take many years―Marduk is back to keep themselves fresh in your mind. The band is cyclical. Many...
View ArticleMustasch – Sounds Like Hell, Looks Like Heaven
Full disclosure: I have never listened to a second of Mustasch until this album fell into my lap. I had heard of them, of course, but they always seemed to fly under my own musical radar. On one hand...
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