Morgoth – Black Enemy (single)

 I’ll be honest it’s been quite some time since I’ve heard some Morgoth and when I heard that they had released a new single it peaked my metalhead interest. It was released today and it’s already gotten some fans riled up and excited for the band’s next album which will be released some time this year. And I myself am quite excited for the album because this single “Black Enemy” is something of the likes that make your ears prick up and your foot start tapping to the brutal beat. “Black Enemy” tells “that this evil force rests within all … Continue reading Morgoth – Black Enemy (single)

The Dead – Deathsteps to Oblivion

 Yet another fantastic album of last year that had managed to escape my radar has been given to me by the head of the PR company Transcending Obscurity! “Deathsteps to Oblivion” is (as it sounds) a hardcore death metal album that also has black, sludge, and doom metal thrown into the mix to complete an absolute Goliath-like album. I can say for an absolute fact that this was my favorite sludge metal album of last year. I’d say the same for the other genres but other albums still hold the top spots for each other, but I digress. The Dead … Continue reading The Dead – Deathsteps to Oblivion

Znafelriff – Ruin

 Black metal sure does have its moments quite a lot, and some of those moments are more hardcore than others like Znafelriff here. Their newest EP “Ruin” which debuts on January 1st definitely crosses that line of well done black metal brutality in glorious amounts. This EP is 5 minutes but Znafelriff has managed to make these 3-5 minute songs seem much longer and I believe it’s that purely raw sound that just tears at the ears relentlessly for the entire album. The only exception to this rawness is the middle (third) track “Abgrund” (which means abyss in German) is completely instrumental and is … Continue reading Znafelriff – Ruin

War On All Fronts – Let’s Start a War… Vol. 1

 Technically, War On All Fronts isn’t a record label. It’s a fanzine that has just very recently started putting out releases and this fantastic compilation is one of them. “Let’s Start a War… Vol. 1” is an extremely solid compilation of fast paced metal that ranges across the genres of black, thrash, death, and speed metal in its finest moments from the underground metal scene. All of these bands and their songs bring a ferocity to their respective genres and infuse them with lightning speed and each song compliments the previous one and the following song so the flow between … Continue reading War On All Fronts – Let’s Start a War… Vol. 1

Dawn of Ruin – Poço da Infâmia

 Dawn of Ruin’s latest album “Poço da Infâmia” is an album that I personally would not listen to on a regular basis, but it’s one of those albums that is fast, raw, and brutal to the core. This is a mixture of death, thrash, and black metal at some of its most hardcore and I’ve no doubt that those of you out there who are into this kind of hardcore metal will get infinite joy out of this badass piece of work because it comes with 4 normally recorded demo tracks and then another 4 tracks of live performance for … Continue reading Dawn of Ruin – Poço da Infâmia

Stormcast – Frame of Mind

 Tell you what, when a band can get together, “throw” up a debut album, and make it sound badass, I’m one fucking happy metal-head. Stormcast has just released their debut “Frame of Mind” and it is one of those that makes me happy that my top albums of the year list isn’t set in stone yet because now I have to go back and contemplate if this is worthy enough to knock a few off. But that’s later and you’re not even supposed to know about that so shh. “Frame of Mind” is as if someone took melodic death metal … Continue reading Stormcast – Frame of Mind

Kauan – Muistumia

 For those of us who can’t read Russian, “Muistumia” simply means “reminiscences”. And as you’ve probably guessed by now, since the album name is in Russian then the album will be sung in Russian, and you’d be correct. (Hi, it’s future me 3 days after this was published. Turns out the album is sung in Finnish and not Russian. Who knew? Some guy on Facebook and the band apparently, not me. Whatever though! Continue reading). But you know what? I didn’t care because this was a great fucking album that the fact you can’t understand what is being said can be … Continue reading Kauan – Muistumia

Inferion – This Will Decay

 The latest album from Inferion is a death and black metal that is sure to leave those of you who are fans of bands like Behemoth pretty damn satisfied with the brutal feel of “This Will Decay”. The entire album front to back is a massive punch to the face of brutality that is probably some of the most vile underground music I’ve heard in recent months. Everything about all 14 of these tracks is something that I believe all death/black metal bands out there aspire to make in their careers because simply how grand this is as an album … Continue reading Inferion – This Will Decay

Vengeance Within – Deifying the Human Intellect

 What happens when we mix in the same record different styles such as Black, Death and maybe, I would even say, a little bit of Atmospheric essence? It happens that it surprises us. And they, Vengeance Within, have succeeded to create this magic in only one album, called “Deifying the Human Intellect”. A really good CD for any extreme metal music lover, with very good calibration on guitar harmonies, and really elaborated techniques that mix complex riffs with a marked rhythmic base. The velocity of the drums is brutal, and its variations are really good, above all when guitars don’t change their … Continue reading Vengeance Within – Deifying the Human Intellect

Ascension – Deathless Light

 This 2-track 14 minute death-black metal EP is definitely something. “Deathless Light” captures both the hardcore and “softer” ends of this hybrid genre in these 8-minute and then 6-minute songs pretty damn well. Both tracks use their length to their advantage by having enough variety in them to make it seem like there’s multiple songs that have been smashed together into two cohesive pieces that can be listened to easily. And I’ve got a pretty good hunch that death and black metal fans will like this at least a little bit because like I said, “Deathless Light” takes aspects from … Continue reading Ascension – Deathless Light