Album Reviews

The challenge in reviewing a demo is that you’re basically trying to evaluate two different bands: the one on the recording itself, and the one that they’ll one day evolve into. Much more so than full-length recordings, demos seem like Polaroids of a [...]

Every time I sit down to try and write about a grindcore record, I find myself butting up against the same basic question: when it comes down to it, what really is the difference between a good and a bad grind record? I mean, it’s not exactly a style of [...]

Ruby the Hatchet is another group often lumped into the doom by way of 70s rock movement. However, Planetary Space Child doesn’t quite fit in with the theatrical singalong groups nor the hustling proto-metal variants. Instead, the album is closer to Uriah [...]

One-man black metal may as well be its own sub-genre by now.  Whether or not one actually plays every instrument or recruits the help of session players or drum programs, there is no shortage of great music coming from the mind of one single individual. [...]

The first sound you’ll hear upon hitting ‘play’ on The Great Tired Ones, the debut EP from Polish blackened doom outfit Loathfinder, is the droning buzz of a swarm of flies. Now if that’s not a mission statement, then I don’t know what is. However, [...]

Goatwhore may as well be synonymous with consistency at this point; while each album released by the NOLA blackened death metal group has it’s own quirks and distinctions, the band has a very specific sound that is rarely deviated from. Vengeful [...]

The most important thing in doom metal is the power of the riff. This is especially true for the bands that abide by the “tune low, play slow” approach, where sound-alike legions all peddling loud amps and buried vocals must be sifted by the memorability [...]

Now, here’s a tantalizing treat for any fan of technical death metal. Afterbirth are an extreme technical slamming death metal band that sound like the mutilated offspring that arose from a horrible orgy consisting of Atheist, Cynic, [...]