Metal playlists from the underground
An industrial black metal mindset laden with despair propels the malignant madness audible from Gnaw’s debut nine-track affair THIS FACE. This unconventional quintet (featuring members from avant garde metal troupes Khanate and Burning Witch) unloads an hateful assortment of non-linear noise rock, soul crushing doom, and exploratory electronics to create an eccentric and possessed sonic […]
By Peter O’Brien Last year heavy metal pioneers Iron Maiden set out on the most ambitious tour not only of their career, but the entire history of touring. Challenging every facet of the production, performing 23 shows in 45 days over 50,000 miles in 11 countries on four continents, and that was only the first […]
Dust off your denim jacket and polish up those spiked wristbands thanks to Earache’s latest compilation installment HEAVY METAL KILLERS, a 13-track excursion that spans the globe to unveil a new breed of followers to the New Wave of British Heavy Metal sound. Featuring a multifaceted cross-section of groups (that interestingly enough boasts not one […]
Arizona metal merchants Landmine Marathon hammer out a potent death metal meets grindcore jamboree on the quintet’s most recent effort, the eight-track RUSTED EYES AWAKE. Taking cues from beloved acts of 1990’s extreme metal, this squad lovingly pays homage to the likes of Carcass, Napalm Death, and Bolt Thrower on menacing cuts such as “Certain […]
Sinewy streams of unrelenting funeral doom come courtesy of veteran UK unit Esoteric via their latest offering, a two-disc, over 100 minute affair entitled THE MANIACAL VALE. Adorned with a twisted sense of ambience and an eerie aura that creeps into your head and takes control, this ambitious endeavor’s hypnotic waves of dissonance resonate with […]
By Peter O’Brien Rust In Peace is a pinnacle album not only in the history of Megadeth, but also the speed/thrash metal genre. Certainly a musical achievement for the band, it is a near-flawless album often ranked in the top five of its genre and number one among fans in their discography. It is also […]
Chickenfoot, the supergroup concoction of legendary hard rock frontman Sammy Hagar, guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani, Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony, and Red Hot Chili Peppers’ drummer Chad Smith offer an eleven track self-titled debut that confirms a recent speculative statement — It is now truth that “Satch” is the best guitarist to play alongside Hagar […]
Newbie UK metal mavens Sylosis employ a myriad of modern touches to their latest offering, a disc heavily steeped in thrash metal’s golden era of double-barrel ambushes. CONCLUSION OF AN AGE blends the musicality of Trivium, Strapping Young Lad, Shadows Fall, and Megadeth with a bevy of blistering Exodus-esque solos (“Stained Humanity”), volatile vocals (“Withered”) […]
Necroblaspheme delivers a vicious barrage of muscular death metal intensity and foreboding doom metal juxtaposing on the nine-track DESTINATION: NULLE PART. Chock full of slamming grooves (“Sorry for Us”) and brazen flashes of technicality within a well-structured metallic paradigm (“Descent’s Genesis”), this French outfit’s off-kilter atmosphere stems from the ferocious flurry of tempo changes and […]
Swedish metal squad Closer aren’t ashamed to wear influences on their sleeves, as A DARKER SIDE OF SALVATION purposely plays like an amalgamation of Soilwork and later-day In Flames with dabs of Scar Symmetry and The Haunted strewn in (“Chaos Internal”). Despite this 10-track release containing its fair share of cringe-worthy similarities to the aforementioned […]