FRANTIC AMBERBurning Insight Self-released (2014)Rating: 8/10 It’s nice to hear a female-fronted metal band which isn’t on the occult / doom trip – Frantic Amber is a ferocious sounding melodic death metal act hailing from Stockholm. Instead of aping that typical Entombed / Dismember style of juggernaut buzz the quintet choose to play a more […]
CANNIBAL CORPSE – Sadistic Embodiment Anthony Morgan September 2014 Cannibal Corpse (l-r): Alex Webster, Patrick O’Brien, George ‘Corpsegrinder’ Fisher, Rob Barrett and Paul Mazurkiewicz Writing sessions for September 2014’s Evisceration Plague). Those were written in the traditional way, though. I sat down with a guitar, and came up with the riffs and all of the […]
MORTUUSGrape Of The Vine The Ajna Offensive (2014)Rating: 7.5/10 Swedish black metallers Mortuus is a two-piece act hailing from Umeå. The band consists of M. Hinze and J. Kvarnbrink, who both created this manifestation back in 2003. Grape Of The Vine is only the second release from these miserable lunatics, and emerges some seven years […]
REVERORUM IB MALACHTDe Mysteriis Dom Christi The Ajna Offensive (2014)Rating: 8.5/10 There are some very strange noises out in there in the heavy metal realm. One such metallic murmur is created by Reverorum Ib Malacht; a Swedish act consisting of two mysterious members, namely Karl Hieronymus Emil Lundin and Karl Axel Mikael Mårtensson, who between […]
CANNIBAL CORPSEA Skeletal Domain Metal Blade (2014)Rating: 8/10 Believe it or not, I’ve never been the biggest fan of Cannibal Corpse. I’ll happily go on record to state that I preferred their first batch of albums, and then the trail went cold for me. That wasn’t because I fell out of love with them, but […]
DARKENHÖLDCastellum Those Opposed (2014)Rating: 8/10 Every now and then it’s nice to have a break from what could be described a true black metal; y’know, that grim, primitive wail of dissonance that often leaves grit in the ears and silt in the throat. And so we come to French black metallers Darkenhöld, an interesting bunch […]
OBSCURE BURIAL Epiphany (2014) For a truly frightful night in by the fire then you need to check out the latest rough ’n’ ready demo cassette from Finnish mutants Obscure Burial. Most definitely a demo that will take those old enough among you back to the tape trading days, Epiphany is a grim old school […]
SEASea Mighty Music (2014)Rating: 7/10 According to the press release, Sea is “…the new sound of classic heavy rock”. Well, I wouldn’t go as far as that, but Sea is one catchy as hell Danish rock band that are more than happy to conjure up cool, hipster riffs, bringing to mind Corrosion Of Conformity at […]
SOLBRUDJærtegn Mighty Music (2014)Rating: 7.5/10 Jærtegn is the sophomore effort from raging Danish black metallers Solbrud, a quartet which formed in 2009 and features the line-up of Ole Luk (vocals / guitar), Adrian Utzon Dietz (guitar), Tobias Hjorth (bass) and Troels Hjorth (drums). If this sweltering hot follow-up to Solbrud’s 2012 debut self-titled platter is […]
MADROSTInto The Aquatic Sector Self-released (2014)Rating: 8/10 Madrost (pronounced “mud-rost”) hail from Lake Forest, California and formed in 2007, although their debut full-length album Maleficent wasn’t issued until 2012. The band’s line-up for this sophomore opus consists of Tanner Poppitt (vocals / guitar), Alejandro Pelaez (guitar), Richard Orellana (bass) and Cesar Escobar (drums). Now, when […]
