Instantly upon gazing at the awesome retro feeling, Repka-looking album art by Dan “Babe Ruth” Goldworthy, I was instantly transported back in time to the death metal heyday of the nineties. Back in those dark days before the internet, we heavily relied on album art alone as we foraged through record bins hoping to discover new brutal artists to add to our ever-growing extreme metal libraries. Continue reading
A night of heavy metal descended upon the intimate Brooklyn venue, Sovereign Smokehouse, as technical death metal five-piece Cognitive kicked off their tour, rolling into town with fellow New Jersey death metallers Hath and two New York City bands, Moniasin, and Torturous Inception.
For millennia, civilizations around the world have passed on the harrowing folklore of mermaids for generations. The chilling tales of these murderous sirens luring unsuspecting sailors to a watery grave with their enchantingly ethereal voices have captivated people across many cultures for centuries. These tales serve as a testament to – not only how powerful a voice can be – but also how important the voice is as an instrument. And if you’re an Abnormality fan, you know this to be very true especially in the case of their new album, Sociopathic Constructs (Metal Blade Records).
A great philosopher of our age often posits a question. It may be a rhetorical question, but one that every fan of heavy music finds themselves asking every day. It is not a question of faith, nor meant to invoke an existential crisis, but one far more important and intrinsic to the makeup of Heavy Metal. “Do you want heavy?”. Well, if the answer is yes – as it always should be – then look no further than Enterprise Earth.Continue reading
An attacked guitar fades in with a straight Rock n’ Roll riff before spacious strings reverberate around the listeners’ skulls. They give way into the abyss as an almighty Sludge riff threatens to swallow the world whole. ‘This Is Fine’ centres on this aforementioned riff and grinds in a cyclical manner around one’s speakers eviscerating the local surroundings. ‘This Is Fine’ is an understatement: as an opener to an EP, it is borderline excellent. Billy Myers III’s shouted vocals have the force necessary to level council flats, and come across as blissfully effortless to listen to.Continue reading
In the early to mid-nineties a particular form of Death Metal emerged. Pioneered by Carcass in the UK, and At The Gates, Dark Tranquillity and In Flames in Sweden, this more melodic style of deathened music was crowned the Gothenburg Metal Scene. Through the advent of the information age, the predominantly Scandinavian style found itself a global influence on the world of underground Metal, and in this school of thought we find fledgling UK act Climate of Fear.Continue reading
Tonight is a busy day for Metal in the Capital, with the dreaded evening of multiple gig clashes, within a few stops of the Northern Line alone. One stop down from tonight’s proceedings in Tufnell Park sees the Cerberus-like bill of Behemoth, At The Gates and Wolves In The Throne Room, whilst Camden Town sees Toundra for those seeking something more mellow, and Obscura for some who, well, aren’t. This goes someway to explaining why The Dome looks tonight to be, at best, around half capacity for much of the night. Not that this seems to dampen anyone’s mood, as all night the crowd are on fine form, showing the bands plenty of love and movement as well as respect to one another. Continue reading
No airs, no graces, no gods, no masters; this is hitting hard, beating down, aggressive music. Armed with their seventh studio album, Total Retaliation (Nuclear Blast/Pure Noise) and bucket load of muscle and testosterone to palm-mute chug into your face, LA five-piece Terror, bastions of traditional Tough-guy Hardcore, bring the chants, the slams, the pit-anthems and the attack in their own inimitable and unmistakable approach.Continue reading
Well, I was certainly not expecting this radical stylistic lane change from Aborted! Twenty-three years into a storied Death Metal career and suddenly they decided to throw out the old recipe book. Who am I fucking kidding? No, Aborted hasn’t decided to abandon what got them to the dance. You want to know what TerrorVision (Century Media) sounds like? Imagine what an Aborted record sounds like in 2018. Done.Continue reading
It may have taken thirteen years to follow-up their sole release, but with a cast that includes Misery Index, Cattle Decapitation and Scour alumni, the trials of time can be forgiven with Cast The Stone, and new EP release Empyrean Atrophy (Agonia) shows that this band has a lot more worth than simply being a side dabbling for them.Continue reading