Author Frank Allain
I think it’s fair to say that Obscura mainman Stefan Kummerer is something of an enthusiast of the works and approach of the late, great Death mainman Chuck Schuldiner. Much like Schudiner did throughout the 1990s, across the last decade,… Continue Reading →
East Anglian heavyweights The King Is Blind make no secret of their love for the founding fathers of UK extreme metal and with that in mind, its fitting that this Sunday showcase at Camden’s Black Heart venue is redolent of… Continue Reading →
Starless’, it has to be said, has taken me somewhat by surprise. I remember coming across Ketzer several years ago when they played live with Tribulation in which they delivered a suitably raucous, blazing slew of frantic thrashened black metal… Continue Reading →
Lethal Steel are at once both a frustrating and irritating band – frustrating in that they have most of the trappings in place to deliver something truly fist-raising and irritating in that a couple of key ingredients missing from ‘Legion… Continue Reading →
Well, that’s a way to kick off the year. This UK five-piece send the traditional post-Yuletide sluggishness screaming to the hills with a bruising yet razor-sharp attack of utterly bludgeoning material. The band often tag their own sound as ‘Monolothic… Continue Reading →
Death Metal – don’t you just love it? For a genre that seemed to be dead and buried back in the late 90s – drowning in an obsession with sweep-picking, grunting and triggered, plasticky gravity blasts – at the start… Continue Reading →
Prolific label of renowned quality. Prolific band of renowned quality. Seems a match made in heaven (or hell if you prefer). Dark Descent have become one of THE go-to outlets for quality black and death metal, helped in no small… Continue Reading →
Quoting the legendary Talk Talk in your bio is always going to pique my interest, let’s be honest – so it was with some sense of expectation that I plunged Baron into my ears. They’re an intriguing proposition it must… Continue Reading →
Now, before I get stuck into this – and get stuck in I most certainly will – I need to clarify my position. I am no enemy of the avant-garde and the surreal, the abstract and the inaccessible. I have… Continue Reading →
The ever-reliable Eisenwald label delivers the goods here yet again by unearthing a real underground talent. In keeping with the label’s philosophy, this Dutch trio successfully blend soaring melody, palpable aggression and a tangible, arboreal atmosphere on their second full-length… Continue Reading →
Seemingly out of nowhere, this mysterious German act (they don’t even have a Metal Archives page! Gasp!) have unleashed their debut album, carrying with it as it does a real sense of pedigree. The David Glomba artwork is arresting and… Continue Reading →
Sweden’s Nordvis continues to defy convention by releasing an ever-more eclectic roster of musical genres, yet managing to ensure that there is a consistency in tone, ambience and atmosphere – and that atmosphere is always cold. Convincingly, undeniable Scandinavian cold…. Continue Reading →