J. Andrew
Haunting: OSDM-Style Demo Back From the Dead
April 20, 2018 J. Andrew
Check out “Beyond Death,” from the upcoming reissue of Haunting’s 2014 demo. OSDM done the way it should be: great vocals, great riffs, no nonsense.
Panopticon: A Band Where the Epic Riffs Still Play
April 13, 2018 J. Andrew
Austin Lunn has always been bold. On his latest double-album release, Panopticon’s various elements are allowed to truly soar to the heights of their black metal, post-rock, country and folk glory.
Hails From the Thousand Lakes: Vermilia
April 6, 2018 J. Andrew
Check out the lyric-video for “Vedestä Vieraantunut,” from Finland’s own Vermilia.
Eïs: Epic, Atmospheric and Ferocious
March 30, 2018 J. Andrew
There’s a lot of atmospheric black metal out there these days. But Germany’s Eïs rises above glut by retaining the ferocity of the second-wave sound.
Slave to the Grind Director: “This film was done with the support of a community.”
March 23, 2018 J. Andrew
“Slave to the Grind” is a new documentary about grindcore, its history and its place in the wider world of extreme music.
Led Astray in the Forest Dark: Metal and the Familiarity Principle
March 16, 2018 J. Andrew
When people tell you they don’t like metal, they might mean they’re not familiar with it. Here’s a way to think about getting people into music that’s new to them.
New Book Brings “United Forces” Zine Back to Life
March 9, 2018 J. Andrew
United Forces was a zine that ran from 1986-1991 out of Brazil and covered the early development of extreme metal, a new book compiles all the issues so readers can get the whole picture.
Samhain Tribute Track Premiere: Midnight- “Mother of Mercy”
March 2, 2018 J. Andrew
Check out Midnight’s cover of “Mother of Mercy,” from the Samhain tribute album, “We All Want Our Time in Hell.”
Crawl/Leviathan Split: Spilling Tears Into the Forge of Hate
February 23, 2018 J. Andrew
Check out the new split with Crawl and Leviathan for two equally horrifying takes on humanity’s nightmares.
Master’s Hammer Lands a Big Sound on “Fascinator”
February 16, 2018 J. Andrew
The latest from the influential Czech black metal band creates a mysterious and engrossing atmosphere, but still totally rips.
Pass Away Into Cist’s Frozen Casket
February 9, 2018 J. Andrew
Cist has taken the science of scorching vocals, gritty guitars ripping out excellent riffs, and a brutal yet precise rhythm section, and turned it into an art.
Face the North With Alghazanth’s Black Metal Swansong
February 2, 2018 J. Andrew
Alghazanth manages an excellent balance between the raw sounds of the Norwegian second wave and just enough production value to give the music the extra boost it needs to fulfill its theatrical destiny.
Primitive Knot: Dreams of Pagan Soil and Urban Decay
January 26, 2018 J. Andrew
According to Jim, the mastermind behind the spooky UK act Primitive Knot, “what I like to do is create collisions between different genres and approaches, as this creates confusion, creative tensions and new psychic spaces.”
In Contrast of the Storm: Cleveland’s Pillars Gives a Voice to the Abandoned
January 19, 2018 J. Andrew
With their excellent new album, “Abandoned,” Pillärs has made the dark hardcore album to beat in 2018.
Video Premiere: Retortion Terror- “I Wanna Live”
January 12, 2018 J. Andrew
Check out the new video from Retortion Terror, “I Wanna Live,” featuring legendary guitarist Takafumi Matsubara.
Knowing Your Limits: Consistency vs. Experimentation
December 22, 2017 J. Andrew
Watain’s upcoming album, “Trident Wolf Eclipse,” is a fantastic explosion of straightforward blackened death metal. This return to form is a good chance to think about why some bands do better experimenting, whereas others should stick to what they’re good at.
To Mordor and Back: 5 Great Summoning Songs
December 15, 2017 J. Andrew
In anticipation of their latest album, “With Doom We Come,” in 2018, here are 5 great songs to get into Summoning, the masters of Tolkien black metal.
Enter the Blackened Vaults of Leviathan: The First Sublevel of Suicide
December 8, 2017 J. Andrew
Hear the beginnings of Leviathan’s black metal classic with “The First Sublevel of Suicide,” containing demo recording of the legendary full-length debut.
Indulge in Väki’s Satisfyingly Dark Black Metal
December 1, 2017 J. Andrew
You can rely on Finland to consistently deliver on a few things: pine trees, winning gold medals at the winter Olympics and producing excellent metal.
Doom Metal Lexicanum: The Ultimate Book for Riff-Obsessives
November 24, 2017 J. Andrew
Author Aleksey Evdokimov has gathered his doom metal knowledge into a massive 300,000 word monster called Doom Metal Lexicanum, which comes complete with the stories of the bands and select discographies.
10 Great Songs About Eating
November 17, 2017 J. Andrew
Every holiday season has its own hallmarks, the things that you identify with the time to make it complete and recognizable. Valentine’s Day has its ill-advised first dates, Saint Patrick’s day has its ill-advised consumption of Irish Carbombs, Christmas has its ill-advised decision to ever voluntarily listen to Christmas music. Others, like Halloween, are just…
Magic Bullet Reissues Apartment 213’s “Cleveland Power Violence”
November 10, 2017 J. Andrew
Sure, you probably know about Infest, Charles Bronson, Spazz and Despise You, but not everyone is well versed enough to know about Apartment 213 (or wasn’t old enough to be into them when they were putting out material).
Khandra Settles Death In Life on Debut EP
November 3, 2017 J. Andrew
It’s nice to have bands like Khandra around. The Belorussian duo has been quiet on personal details, but loud on creating quality, memorable black metal.
Why You Should Give the New Trivium Album a Chance
October 20, 2017 J. Andrew
If the glorious new track, “Betrayer” is any indication, Trivium’s new album should be a chance for metalheads to revisit Florida’s metal heroes.
Pray to the Black Sun This Fall With Asagraum’s Debut Album
October 6, 2017 J. Andrew
There’s a lot of great music coming out this fall. If you’re into solid, blistering black metal, Asagraum is one band you should not overlook.
Takafumi Matsubara Returns on Retortion Terror/Invidiosus Split
September 29, 2017 J. Andrew
In 2014, Gridlink unleashed one of the most ferocious, innovative and refreshing grindcore albums of all time, Longhena. However, the well-deserved fanfare and critical accolades were severely tempered by the news that guitarist Takafumi Matsubara was suffering from severe inflammation and infection of the brain. This rendered him unable to play guitar, and it seemed…
Dark Ambient: For When You Need to Concentrate…or Meditate on the Nothingness of Existence
September 22, 2017 J. Andrew
While we may not want to admit it to each other when engaged in the fruitless exercise of maintaining our street cred, we metalheads sometimes need to listen to something other than metal. At the same time, however, we may want to maintain a similar mood or feel to our usual death, black and doom…
Bloodstrike’s Holly Wedel on Putting a New Spin on Classic Death Metal
September 15, 2017 J. Andrew
Death metal upstarts Bloodstrike issued an impressive debut. We discuss what to expect on the follow up, Execution of Violence.
Maniac: “Why Not Support Some Good Underground Bands Instead of Just Talking Sh#t?”
September 8, 2017 J. Andrew
Ex-Mayhem vocalist Maniac collaborates with Cult Never Dies’ Dayal Patterson.
Why Metalheads Should Be Excited for Chelsea Wolfe’s Hiss Spun
September 1, 2017 J. Andrew
Chelsea Wolfe is further exploring what it means to be metal on her forthcoming Hiss Spun, out September 22.
