Features

My review of the new Black Elk is up at Stylus. It’s a hot, nasty slice of noise rock straight from the ’90s. Over at Metal Injection, I’ve reviewed the new Jotunspor, A.C.T., and Kylesa. Norwegian black metal/dark ambient, Swedish prog rock, and Southern sludge metal – all good stuff. Enjoy!

When I heard that members of Knut and legendary Swiss tech-grinders Nostromo had formed a new band called Mumakil, I knew I had to hear them. And when their label, Overcome, posted clips on its site that scared the shit out of me every time I visited, I had to track them down. And track […]

Nostromo was a Swiss band that formed in the late ’90s and called it quits around 2004. With its odd meters and polyrhythms, the group sounded like if Meshuggah played grindcore. It put out an EP and three full-lengths, including an all-acoustic (!) CD/DVD called Hysteron Proteron. Ecce Lex (on Overcome) came out in 2002 […]

Today marks five years since the passing of Chuck Schuldiner, so I’d like to revisit my favorite Death album, Individual Thought Patterns. ITP came out in 1993, an amazing time for Florida death metal; Cynic’s Focus, Atheist’s Elements, Pestilence’s Spheres, and Morbid Angel’s Covenant all came out that year. Scott Burns produced the album, Death’s […]

I’ve seen “funeral,” “doom,” “depressive,” and “suicidal” (and in various combinations thereof) used to describe the black metal of Elysian Blaze. Such labels don’t particularly interest me, although this interview with this Australian one-man act is provocative with regards to that last label. What interests me is what comes from the speakers, and on Levitating […]

CD reissues are a mixed bag. Sometimes you get true labors of love, with good remastered sound, expanded liner notes, and fancy packaging. Other times you get horribly brickwalled sound, worthless “extras” (screensavers, anyone?), or blatant cash-ins released a year after the original with maybe a bonus track tacked on. I’m not naming any names, […]

My review of the new Killswitch Engage is up at Stylus, as well as an interview I did with Facedown Records artist War of Ages. Over at Metal Injection, I have reviews up of the new Xasthur, Manowar, and Formicide. The “Immortal Edition” of the Manowar EP has one of the most enjoyable metal DVD’s […]

Few female vocalists approach Arch Enemy’s Angela Gossow in brutality. However, Sufferage’s Jasmin Fleiner does, and then some. Without knowing her identity, I would have sworn that the vocals on Bloodspawn (on Remission) came from a man. In real life, that would be bad, but in metal, that’s awesome. Her voice is no joke; I […]

Some time ago on her MySpace blog, Angela Gossow wrote, “I personally believe the last two Arch Enemy albums were too harmless. We got to get the grit, bite, speed and danger back into our music. Less controlled, more riffs, melodies, solos, different parts, breaks, sudden changes.” I couldn’t agree more. What frustrated me about […]

Estradasphere is one of the craziest bands I’ve ever come across. When I hear them, I hear a klezmer band, a bluegrass group, a jazz outfit, a chamber ensemble, a sometimes metal band, and so on. What sets them apart is the depth to which they explore genres. Whereas, say, Mr. Bungle might merely reference […]