Ghost Cult Keefy caught up once again with John Henry of Darkest Hour! The bands’ new album Perpetual | Terminal drops on February 23rd, 2024 via MNRK Heavy ! John discussed some of the goings on with the band, a return to their DIY roots, and did a track-by-track breakdown of the new album with a lot of insights to share!Continue reading
Tag Archives: thrash
ALBUM REVIEW: Infected Rain – Time
Breaking away from the pack of Modern Metal bands, Infected Rain is fulfilling their promise as one of the the best underground buzz bands of the new millennium. Their new album Time (Napalm Records) goes super hard, but more importantly, showcases their maturity as writers, riff dealers, and how to make every song stand on its own. It’s rare to get to see a label trust a band to follow their muse and really grow and change from album to album. Continue reading
ALBUM REVIEW: Almost Dead – Destruction Is All We Know
In 2024, opening your album with a song about warheads falling from the sky is not only timely but casts you as the needed herald of this year’s coming apocalypse and Almost Dead proves themselves to be up for the job on the aptly titled, Destruction Is All We Know (Innerstrength Records).
While they mix thrash and hardcore influences, an important detail when you take into consideration the thrash bands whose names stood the test of time, are those that did so by writing songs that were not only memorable, but employed singers whose voices stood out and did not default to having the vocals a mere obligatory afterthought. Something that metal strayed from over the past decade, but Almost Dead don’t fall prey to.Continue reading
Crossover Thrashers BAT Sign with Nuclear Blast Records
Richmond, Virginia metal-punk trio BAT has been delivering their own blood-spattered horror since ascending from the underground a decade ago on a dark, leather-winged trajectory. Today the band forged a new partnership and home at Nuclear Blast Records
ALBUM REVIEW: Cognizance – Phantazein
New year, new label… Following their first two releases under the Prosthetic Records banner, UK-based Death Metallers Cognizance are back with Phantazein, a concept album via Willowtip Records that focuses primarily on “art, obsession, and the profound influence of one’s environment.”
The five-piece outfit surpasses typical Death Metal and on this record introduces elements of Technical Death Metal and thrash. None of this puts a strain on the production value, which is a well-oiled machine – and certainly sounds like it – from start to finish.
CONCERT REVIEW: Midnight 20th Anniversary Show with Nunslaugter and Destructor Live at The Beachland Ballroom
When I heard that Cleveland-based sleaze merchants Midnight were having a 20th-anniversary hometown Halloween show, I knew I had to get my ass there. I live in the Cincinnati area so it was just a quick 4-hour drive and a great excuse to stop by Grandpa’s Cheese Barn along the way.Continue reading
CONCERT REVIEW: CAVALERA – Incite – Recall the Remains Live at KK’s Steel Mill
Another cold night in wintry Wolverhampton beckons but KK’s Steel Mill is always a welcome sight. A former factory building owned by former Judas Priest guitarist KK Downing, the venue, opened in 2018, has already gained a great reputation, landing many top quality metal acts ahead of other local rivals.
EP ALBUM REVIEW: Sodom – 1982
Ah, Sodom. This is a band that any true thrasher that is worth their weight in leather and spikes discovered early in their metal journey when looking outside the “Big Four.” With plenty more ferocity than their U.S. counterparts, Sodom has had a tremendous influence on all forms of extreme metal that would come after. For over 40 years, Germany’s thrash metal kings have consistently kept the fists pounding and the heads banging.
ALBUM REVIEW: Gama Bomb – Bats
Gama Bomb is not just another tribute band to the glory days of Thrash Metal. Bats (Prosthetic Records) does display that while they are students of the era, they are also invested in establishing themselves as a band that walks in the present, while preferring to keep things at a more manic pace.Continue reading
CLASSIC ALBUMS REVISISTED: Life Of Agony’s “River Runs Red” Turns 30
Life Of Agony’s classic debut album River Runs Red was released 30 years ago today, on October 12th, 1993 via Roadrunner Records. Coming out of Brooklyn, New York and produced by Josh Silver (Type O Negative), the album shook the Hardcore and Metal world to its core with its heavy, catchy riff-heavy songs, impassioned vocals, and frank lyrics about suicide, drug addiction, ptsd, and family trauma. The band continues to tour and perform these songs around the globe, and made a sequel album, 2018’s acclaimed The Sound of Scars. Read retrospective we created for the 25th anniversary below, and jam out to some LOA today.