self-released

Others have written on these demos, but I’ll revisit them since yesterday’s mixtape had a tune from In on the Kill Taker. Fugazi were somewhat creatures of habit. They jammed at Ian MacKaye’s grandparents’ house in Guilford, CT; they recorded at Don Zientara’s Inner Ear Studios in Arlington, VA (interesting how the various Fugazi albums […]

Yeah! I have not been this excited by a demo in a long, long time. For an extremely young band (their first show was in November), Kowloon Walled City are absolutely killing it (if you don’t know what the band is named after, one of the Earth’s most unique places ever, rectify that here). The […]

Seraphim Slaughter (not to be confused with the Canadian band of the same name) was “founded on the most Satanic holiday of the year, Groundhog’s Day [sic], in 2002.” The band hails from New Jersey, presumably the most Satanic state in America. Its debut, Scum Terror, is out on its own AIDS Needle Records, which […]

Contrary to what its title might suggest, The Great Northern Scenekill (self-released, 2006) has nothing to do with Pantera. It’s modern thrashy melodic death metal, and quite aggressive – think Darkane or Darkest Hour. This Canadian band features Martyr drummer Patrice Hamelin (who’s touring with Despised Icon this year); this record has Threat Signal’s Marco […]

At first Romans’ name had me fearing yet another Botch rip-off. But while math meters and spiraling dissonance are present, the band’s sound also spans melodic post-hardcore and atmospheric metal. The caustic riffs here contrast nicely with dreamy, wide-eyed textures. Romans would be equally at home on Blackmarket Activities, Hydra Head, and Crucial Blast (labels, […]

Arizona’s Age of Evil remind me of Trivium, not in sound (AoE play a blend of thrash and traditional heavy metal) but in precocity. They comprise two pairs of brothers, ranging from 18 down to 15 years old (!), and they exhibit what Trivium had, at least on their first record: jaw-dropping chops, catchy songs, […]

What a debut! Vougan is a Brazilian power metal quintet that impresses mightily on the Silent Souls EP, available as a free download. The EP contains five tracks – an instrumental plus two fast and two slow tunes. The faster numbers have hints of Priest, as well as other unexpected bits. “Behind the Lies” unleashes […]

After enough listens, I like even the ugly-ass artwork of New Knife of the Berserker. It fits the record, which is hairy, lo-fi, and violent. Imagine Fantomas with worse chops and better songs, fuzzing out 14 tracks in 29 minutes. Metal, punk, prog, skronk, and general chaos collide in a grand mal bout of uneasy […]

This is easily the best demo I’ve received to date for review. London’s Scythian rolls out thrashy death metal with Swedish grit and touches of black metal atmosphere. The six songs on Suffering to the Conquered burst with nasty, memorable riffs and lots of little runs and switch-ups. The solos have an awesomely old-school, thin […]

France’s In the Guise of Men features vocalist Heitham Al-Sayed from English rap/metal outfit Senser. Its demo is an intriguing but bumpy ride. The songs are extremely choppy, often stringing riffs together seemingly randomly. Math-y grooves a la Meshuggah butt heads with prog bits and melodic, more traditional metal. The latter is the most successful, […]