German Death Metal outfit WOUND formed in 2011 and released one demo, a split and 2 full-length albums. “Serpent Crown” is their third album. The production got me from the start. It’s punchy and massive. There are no harsh high frequencies and the mastering lets a lot of nuances come through. The mix is steady […]
Norway’s WHOREDOM RIFE are a nice change to the typical Black Metal from that area. It’s not to say there’s not a wide array of styles in Norway. There are obviously plenty. But regardless of whether there’s a DARKTHRONE, BURZUM or EMPEROR sound to a band, it still somehow feels like Norway. That’s not the […]
The Greek THYRATHEN don’t make it easy for those who want to listen to their first album “Thanatopsis”, as it starts off with a six minutes long intro piece. Which shouldn’t be a problem, but this one consists of some sparing drumming, flutes and a woman that tells something in the way of a market […]
Here we have a reissue of the well known compilation “In Memoriam” from the German Pagan Black Metal band MAYHEMIC TRUTH. This is a collection of their 1996 demo tape and the “Cyrhraw” EP from 1995. This album was originally released in 1999 by the German label Iron Pegasus Records (and later re-released via Sweden’s […]
These years are for sure a time for bands with secretive members. PAKKT is yet a band where we aren’t informed about how many members there are in the band, who plays what and so on. Back in the good old days, musicians used aliases and often, quite soon, revealed who they were anyways, as […]
During the second half of the 90s Austria was a hotspot of the European Black Metal scene and HEIDENREICH was a side-project by Peter K., most known for his work with ABIGOR. The Ukrainian based label The Devil’s Elixirs, focusing on re-releasing old Black Metal albums, now published the two albums by HEIDENREICH. The present […]
“Quality, not quantity!” always seemed to be the truth concerning releases from Canada in our favourite musical genres over the years. Starting with RUSH, nearly all Metal bands (in the broadest sense) from the land of the maple leaf seemed to be at least good, quite a big lot of them were even excellent. So […]
What do you get when you cross SETHERIAL circa “Nord” or MARDUK circa “Nightwing” with what’s commonly been referred to as raw Scandinavian Black Metal? SCHRAT, and it rules. Compared to its predecessor “Alptraumgänger”, “Seelenfresser” has better songs, riffs, vocals, and production – an improvement on literally every front. That’s not to say “Alptraumgänger” was […]
HYSTE’RIAH were a Thrash Metal band from Sweden whose name may be familiar to old timers who used to buy fanzines. After a couple of demos in the late eighties, in came drummer Tom Hallbäck of GOD B. C., itself a band with a name in the underground (back then released by Wild Rags Records). […]
Mexican based label Iron, Blood And Death Corporation has become one of the top addresses in the last few years when it comes to extreme Heavy Metal. The name guarantees quality, although of course, as always, exceptions confirm the rule. But HUMAN HARVEST are definitely amongst their best releases during the last years. “Flesh Sermons” […]