The parallels to one of the biggest “Metal” bands these days – named NIGHTWISH – could be a welcomed marketing strategy or just an unwelcomed curse / coincidence. For the Russian ALKONOST the parallels are starting and ending with their female singer Alena. The band – which is one of the oldest Russian Pagan bands […]
Often compared to AGENT STEEL’s debut album, “Skeptics Apocalypse”, 1987’s “Unstoppable Force” revives some elements present on their debut while engaging in some other stylistic maneuvers that bring down the overall effect of the album. Ultimately, “Unstoppable Force” is not imbued with the sort of timelessness that permeates “Skeptics Apocalypse”. The guitars on this album […]
Most who read this review will already have at least some idea of what AGENT STEEL sound like. Los Angeles, California’s AGENT STEEL were among the most compelling Power Thrash bands to emerge in the 1980s. Their first album, “Skeptics Apocalypse”, released in 1985, has long been considered a classic and listening to it again […]
This is (still) a great album! Swedish AGAINST THE PLAGUE spawns their 2010 album “Decoding The Mainframe”. Their debut from 2007 “The Architecture Of Oppression” for some bizarre reason had to be released by the band itself, because most established were too ignorant to pick these guys up and preferred to invest in all sorts […]
It is interesting to note that in the days before every Black Metal band started either playing Death Metal or adopting it’s mannerisms, AETERNUS were sounding a damn sight more deathly than perhaps some give them credit for in light of their current leaning, sans corpse paint they are now more firmly entrenched in the […]
AZARATH’s appropriately titled disc 2003 disc, “Infernal Blasting”, is one of my favorite discs so I’d expect nothing less than pure, brutal Death Metal on “Praise The Beast”, their newest release. After the obligatory sound effects-laden intro, the band blasts off (ha ha) through 40 minutes of blast beat inflicted brutal Death Metal. Everything you […]
Not exactly a new release, as “Demon Seed” came out in 2001, but it is only now that I can review it for you. Oh well, the underground moves very slowly at times anyway, and at least we are not bound by the market laws of surfing on the wave of the day towards the […]
At the outset, I should admit that I have not been an ardent follower of the veteran Finnish Black Metal horde Azaghal. I own none of their records and have heard them only in passing. Furthermore, I have been told that their most recent album, “Omega”, is not necessarily the best entry point into their […]
Holy Fuck! This is one of the heaviest discs I’ve ever heard! AYAT claims to be the first “Anti-Islamic Black Metal Band” according to their page on www.metal-archives.com. While racism is unacceptable in any form, they hail from the unlikely country of Lebanon where this band is clearly a minority to the majority Muslim population […]
I love those Swedes and they really impressed me with their 2 regular CDs “Pure Slaughter” and “Marching Towards Destruction”. “Born For War” is a compilation which includes the 5 tracks of their unreleased “Born For War” EP recorded in 2001, the cover ‘Twisted Mass Of Burnt Decay’ from their “Pure Slaughter” sessions in 2005, […]