Earth have joined up with label mates Wolves in the Throne Room for a week-and-a-half long West Coast tour for this April. The string of dates will also include opening support from instrumentalist Cello performer Lori Goldston, who will also be part of Earth’s live lineup for the tour.
Earth have been finalizing material for their [...]
Chicago’s Lair of the Minotaur’s new album may be called Evil Power, but the sound is more like “raw power.” Combining the ferocity of blackened thrash metal with the grinding style of doom metal, Lair of the Minotaur are really a sound to behold.
Some might see Evil Power as an album that takes queues from [...]
El Monte, California based KenoN is not your stereotypical California band, they aren’t riddled with “core” influences, nor any noticeable amount of thrash metal. KenoN is black metal through and through, and they are actually pretty good at what they do. Unlike many American black metal bands who while good on their own accord, do [...]
Finding surprises in your own backyard kicks ass. No, I don’t mean finding an old Playboy hidden by your older brother 10 years ago behind the dog house, I mean a figurative backyard, in my case, the state of Maine. The reason for my surprise is simple, Maine isn’t known for producing quality metal acts [...]
Bending the conundrum between aggression, darkness and melody is what the very best black metal bands do. The term melodic black metal is a misnomer to me, because unlike melodic death metal, there is no real dividing line between what makes a black metal band want to express melody or flat, raw nihilism. One moment, [...]
Sometimes, I don’t get raw black metal. I feel like bands who fit into that genre try way too hard to be kult and true to what they feel is the ultimate sound of black metal. Recording your albums to create a wall of sound with very little variation from riff to riff, from song [...]
Noctis Imperium. An up and coming band from Venezuela that promises to “unleash it’s disease on humanity,” with their “anti-religious” lyrics and “shear brutality.” Same old song from a different bird some may say, as this band sticks to a very similar formula as most other black metal bands do. A distinct formula of interments [...]
Hungarian black metal. Just writing that makes it sound evil and foreboding doesn’t it? Aetherius Obscuritas have been around since 2002, but Black Medicine is my first exposure to the band, and it’s definitely a well received one.
The vocals of Arkhorrl (who actually also records all the instruments) is the highlight of Black Medicine, they [...]
Following three very special US appearances this summer in Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York (effectively breaking their streak of visa issues), Swedish black metal battalion Marduk will return for a full headlining North American tour this November. The band will be joined by Nachtmystium, Mantic Ritual, Merrimack and Black Anv il (on select dates). An [...]
Skeletonwitch is an American made band that defies stereotypes. Hailing from Ohio, Skeletonwitch has gone on to become a pre-eminent example of modern underground American thrash that doesn’t have to be retro or post thrash. This is a very important aspect of this group for me and other fans of American thrash, because for many [...]
