netherlands

Stopgap EP’s don’t have to be doorstops. Arch Enemy’s Dead Eyes See No Future and Behemoth’s Ezkaton were fun packages of minutiae (live cuts, covers) to tide over fans between albums. Hail of Bullets‘ Warsaw Rising is another such bundle of joy, with three new studio tracks and three live cuts. The studio tracks are […]

by Cosmo Lee The Devil’s Blood is likely the only entity whose MySpace “Top Friends” include both Roky Erickson and Watain. At first, the Dutch band’s brand of ’70s psychedelic rock seems out of place palling around with black metal terrorists. But as details come into focus, the picture coalesces: (presumably fake) blood-drenched performances; occult-soaked […]

By Cosmo LeePhoto by mithrandir3 It’s funny how metallers can be so godlike onstage and so down-to-earth in real life. Martin Van Drunen is case in point. His roar scorched the first two albums by Pestilence and Asphyx; it returns in fine form on …Of Frost and War (Metal Blade, 2008), the debut by Dutch […]

Illustration by J. JokilehtoClick to enlarge Found, on Hail of Bullets‘ forum, an illustration of drummer Ed Warby exercising his Second Amendment rights (if he were American). It gives a whole new meaning to “blastbeat” and “drum triggers.” The artist is a “J. Jokilehto.” Click on the image to enlarge – it’s a beaut.

I won’t make apologies for Prostitute Disfigurement. Their name is horrible – perhaps it’s good in a metal way – and their oeuvre includes such works as “On Her Guts I Cum” and “Rotting Away Is Better Than Being Gay.” However, they seem to have grown up a little on Descendants of Depravity (Neurotic/Willowtip, 2008). […]

Fight Amp At Pitchfork, I’ve reviewed Fight Amp, a ’90s AmRep throwback whom I suspect has a Danzig fetish. The recording is tough; the guy-girl vocals are tougher. At All Music Guide, I’ve reviewed Avenger of Blood (German thrash from Las Vegas), Barbara (artful Israeli sickness), Bilk (Croatian drum ‘n’ bass ‘n’ rock), Brutus (Caesar-slaying […]

High on Fire When I saw High on Fire recently, I was astounded by the number of females in the crowd. Only Enslaved in Berlin had more girls – go figure. Actually, I kind of get that. Europeans invented metal, so it’s in their blood. There, black metallers actually have Norwegian names, and girls go […]

Slowly regaining my productivity – up at Metal Injection, I have a review of Dutch prog death metallers Obsidian. I think I might like them even more than Meshuggah, their most obvious inspiration. At Stylus, I have reviews of the fantastic Modern Life Is War, Beatallica, 108, and the American Nervoso reissue by Botch. Obsidian […]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhyTr9xKx04] Today is Live Earth Day, which, like the Internet, is evidently another Al Gore invention. The idea is like Live Aid – simultaneous concert festivals in eight cities around the world (New York, London, Johannesburg, Rio de Janeiro, Shanghai, Tokyo, Sydney, and Hamburg) “to trigger a global movement to solve the climate crisis.” I’m […]

In WTF news, Kylesa will be playing select US west coast dates with Lacuna Coil and Within Temptation. This makes no sense other than for the fact that Kylesa happens to have a woman in its lineup also (and that maybe it qualifies as Southern gothic rock). It’s great that the band will reach new […]