Author Jonathan Butlin
If there is one thing this album demonstrates, is that metal is truly international. When I saw the description of this band and its music, I was intrigued to say the least; Russian Aztec-influenced ethno-doom-death! Even that description fails to… Continue Reading →
France really does seem to be a hotbed of creative, imaginative and intense extreme metal these days; there are so many interesting bands to choose from, it is hard to know where to start. One good place though would be… Continue Reading →
They say never judge a book by its cover (amongst other things). In the case of `Only Hate Left’, the fourth album by French death metal pummelists, any snap judgements you might make on glancing at the cover will only… Continue Reading →
I was genuinely surprised to discover that `Death Hammer’ is actually Flayed Disciple’s first full length album. For a debut, it is incredibly professional, accomplished and polished, as well as visceral and intense. It is also a genuinely authentic-sounding slab… Continue Reading →
Considering the vast amount of death metal bands out there in the world, there are relatively few who capture the true essence of death metal. Of course, this can mean different things to different people, but for those people who… Continue Reading →
It is often a puzzle as to why so many mediocre bands get such a lot of publicity. Look around, there are mundane, mediocre bands everywhere, being rammed down your throat by desperate record labels. Bands with no ideas (except… Continue Reading →
This is Fisthammer’s first official release since their inception in 2008, and they have a fair bit to be proud of. These Pennsylvania face-pounders are not your average death metal band by any means, and have a few extra elements… Continue Reading →
Well, this is intriguing stuff indeed. Very rarely do I venture into the world of experimental grind, but if this is what it has to offer, I am likely to be coming back for more. For a start, this two-piece… Continue Reading →
It is an old cliché – never judge a book by its cover. I am of course, old enough to know better, but I still assumed, picking up the delightfully-named Fuckhammer’s EP, that it would be awfully-produced death/grind. The cover… Continue Reading →
The extreme Italian metal scene has thrown up quite a flurry of talented, interesting and crushingly heavy bands in the last few years. Gory Blister are one such band, although they are still relatively unknown compared to the likes of… Continue Reading →
This unusual and mysterious band seem to have courted controversy since their inception, espousing a highly unique and slightly impenetrable philosophy in which God, nature, animals, good and evil seem to be the same thing (although I may have misunderstood… Continue Reading →
Never has a name suited a band so much. For those of you not familiar with this bombastic crew from the Netherlands, they have been variously described as `symphonic metal’, `gothic metal’ and various other sub-genres, none of which quite… Continue Reading →