Back to save America from the pandemic and itself, grindcore faction Alpha-o-MAGA is here with their timely new album Keep America Grinding! In a just world, this album would be played on election day, from all the polling places and all political rallies in the future. You can purchase and stream the album at the link below!
2015 proved to be a productive year for the Russian/Welsh act, Venom Prison when they released not one, but two EPs. Their ambition has continued to grow since then by deftly demonstrating the cunning and extreme of their Modern Death Metal sound. This budding band made noticeable waves in the scene when they released their second full-length, Samsara (Prosthetic Records) last year. Vocalist Larissa Stupar presented this rare rage that she and the whole band developed into a massive, contagious fury. Now, these guys are ready to exhibit how much they’ve grown in the last five years. Primeval (Prosthetic Records) is a compilation of their first two Eps re-recorded and reinvigorated.
Washington D.C.’s Death/Doom band ILSA has announced their new album, Preyer, November 20th on Relapse Records. The band has unveiled their first single, “Poor Devil” which you can see the visualizer of below and hear on all streaming platforms. Pre-orders are also available now!
The first part of a double release (the second half due next year), the latest offering from prolific Californian melodic death metallers DevilDriver finds the band in cathartic form, as each song on the band’s ninth album, Dealing With Demons I (Napalm Records) focuses on a different type of obstacle or demon to be faced and overcome.
Long-stunning Polish Death Metal group Decapitated has resigned to Nuclear Blast and the band is working on new music, which we may hear soon. The band formed in 1996, the bands’ previous deal covered the last 10 years.
Ghost Cult’s Keefy recently caught up with Maurizio Iacono of Kataklysm about their new album Unconquered, out September 25 th via their longtime label Nuclear Blast Records. We chatted about the new record, the longevity of the band, how the band prepared for this new album, making the video for “The Killshot”, working once again with visionary artist Blake Armstrong on the return of the “heart beast” artwork, how the band is dealing without touring, his other projects with new music on the way such as Ex Deo, his growing hot sauce business, and a discussion of Keefy’s favorite live Kataklysm performance, at the Trois Rivieres Metalfest. Purchase Unconquered here and check out our conversation! Continue reading
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Even though the two main members of Anaal Nathrakh – Mick “Irrumator” Kenney, and vocalist Dave “V.I.T.R.I.O.L.” Hunt – haven’t actually recorded in the same studio together for around ten years, the pair have still managed to spew more bitterness and agonized rage than can surely be healthy. With over 5,000 miles between them for latest album Endarkenment (Metal Blade), Kenney pushed buttons and twiddled knobs in his California studio, while Hunt recorded his vocals in far less sunny English climes, cathartically venting his spleen a few rooms down from where an S&M porn film was being shot. Continue reading
I assume it’s easy to look back at the aughts and be dismissive of the entire decade particularly from the perspective of metal or punk fan. Nu-Metal was slowly being phased out as any goodwill from the previous decade had eroded and acts like Simple Plan and Good Charlotte made everyone realize that maybe the idea of Pop-Punk was a mistake. But those who kept their ear close to the ground knew better than to become jaded. Hard rock was alive and well and young bands were doing very exciting things. Young bands like Between the Buried and Me with their seminal Alaska (Victory Records 2005/Craft Recordings 2020).
Kataklysm has proudly been waving the banners of Melodic Death and Death Metal for nearly thirty years. Originally hailing from Canada, this now multinational act has consistently delivered strikingly aggressive music for decades and it has solidified their spot at the Heavy Metal table. It’s only been two years since they released their last record, Meditations (Nuclear Blast). Yet this new full-length, Unconquered (Nuclear Blast) demonstrates how this quartet has a wealth of heaviness still to share.
While the world continues to try and resume some sense of normalcy, the world of extreme music continues to grind through what a terrible year 2020 has become. Gorgatron, deathgrind vets from Fargo (don’t cha know?), have dropped their third grimy release on this Earth in the form of Pathogenic Automation (Self-Released). The record does a great job of smashing your skull into obscurity over a forty-minute period but without overkill causing any harm to itself. Trying to save yourself from blowing your neck out is futile as there are no moments to catch your breath across the entire recording. Continue reading