Features

Defiance was a band from Oakland, CA that came up in the Bay Area thrash heyday. The band put out three albums on Roadrunner subsidiary Roadracer, then morphed into groups called Inner Threshold and Under before disbanding in 1999. Interviews with the band (available at its well-kept website) offer a great inside look at the […]

My dual review of Norma Jean’s Redeemer and War of Ages’ Pride of the Wicked is now up at Stylus. You can read it here.

Rarely will I post about an album I don’t recommend. However, Jesus Killing Machine has enough historical value to deserve a mention, if not a warning to stay away. The sticker on the front says, “featuring Dave Lombardo (ex-Slayer), Gabby Abularach (ex-Cro-Mags), Phillip Boa, Waldemar Sorychta (Despair, Tiamat), Dave “Taif” Ball (ex-Killing Joke) + special […]

Gorod‘s debut, Neurotripsicks, was absolutely shredding, sounding like if Joe Satriani played lead guitar in Symbolic-era Death, with low death growls for the vocals. However, thin production hobbled the album somewhat. That’s definitely not the case with Leading Vision (on Willowtip), which has a deeper and beefier sound while retaining the clarity typical of Willowtip […]

Here’s footage of Pantera practicing with Kerry King in 1989 at Joe’s Garage in Ft. Worth, TX. At the beginning of the video, Phil Anselmo says, “We’re learning ‘South of Heaven’ for tomorrow.” It seems they’re rehearsing for a show in which King would make a cameo. In Part 1, they run through “South of […]

Another Napalm Death album??? These guys have been ridiculously productive since they left Earache after 1999’s Words from the Exit Wound. Since then, they’ve had a release of some sort each year, including four albums, two Leaders Not Followers covers collections, and the awesome Noise for Music’s Sake compilation. This is almost oversaturation, but Smear […]

Across Tundras sound like if Sonic Youth lived out in the woods and jammed with Neil Young’s Crazy Horse. Some of the thicker distortion does suggest Hum or Neurosis, as the bio states, but the creaky, folksy feel of this Denver band places it closer to Pelican. Why Decibel and freakin’ Blabbermouth are covering this […]

Intronaut review is now up at Stylus.

Cattle Decapitation has gore-grind roots, but over time the band has added sonic variety and song length to the point that it’s basically playing technical death metal (Cephalic Carnage falls into the same “über technical grind” camp). 2004’s Humanure experimented with varied tempos and ambient bits; Karma. Bloody. Karma (on Metal Blade) takes that three […]

Morbid Saint was a thrash band from Sheboygan, WI that released one album, Spectrum of Death. In 1989, a small Mexican label, Avanzada Metallica, put out the album, which Grind Core reissued in 1991. The band also recorded a set of demos called Destruction System, which Keltic packaged together with Spectrum of Death into one […]