Tag: Death Metal

While I’d been hearing their name pop up here and there on the internet, I was fully introduced to Voluntary Mortification’s music when I caught them opening for As Lions and Lambs here in Indianapolis. Shortly after that press manager, Mason Beard got in touch to request an interview. I got the lowdown on all things Voluntary Mortification, including the origins of that interesting band name, when I caught up with guitarist Jacob Kanclerz, and vocalist Conner Luttig. IVM: Tell me a little about the band name.… Continued →

Becoming The Archetype have just dropped their 3rd new single off the upcoming new album “Children of The Great Extinction” due out on 8/26 through Solid State Records. Check out “The Calling” below. What do you think about these first 3 songs?… Continued →

Becoming The Archetype are on a roll. Not only did they just release a music video for the first single “The Lost Colony” but now they have put out single #2 – “The Remnant” through all digital networks and streaming sites. This absolute beast of a new album is shaping up to not only be the band’s best work but quite possibly one of the best METAL albums of 2022 (disclaimer: it’s possible the word ‘best’ could be outweighed by words like ‘insane’, ‘mind blowing’, ‘smashing’, ‘beast mode’, ‘slapping’, ‘award winning’, ‘critically acclaimed’, or an ‘underrated masterpiece’ and we are not responsible for misrepresenting Becoming The Archetype by undercounting the ferocious nature of said “masterpiece”).… Continued →

New Thrash/metal pioneers – Testimony of Apocalypse, that are forging a path all their own with a debut record titled “None Will Escape The Judgement”, will drop said album on September 2nd 2022 through The Charon Collective. A great band with a heavy hitting message and music to match. Check out the teaser below.… Continued →

Encryptor was one of the many projects of the multi-talented Felipe (AKA Phil) Diez, and was one of the first Christian death metal projects from the nation of Panama. Phil later relocated to Rhode Island and carried on his career there with several projects: Sorrowstorm (black metal), Entorn (doom metal), Northern Ash (death metal), and Rehumanize (grindcore). So far, Encryptor is my favorite of the lot, though I confess I haven’t heard all of his projects. The band recorded 2 albums: Drowning in Flesh (on Nascent Frost Productions), and Sermon Decay (on Dysmorphic Records), both of which were available only very sparsely, independent of any substantial distribution.… Continued →

Brace yourself. The Souls Unrest has one of the more complicated histories in all of Christian metal. The roots of the band lie in old school punk band Spudgun, who released one album on Bulletproof Records (a division of Gray Dot). That band got heavier and darker, changing styles so much that a new name was warranted–World Against World. That version of the band also released one album (an amazing album at that) for Bulletproof, before morphing again. A short-lived project called The Orcrist followed, but released no official recordings.… Continued →

A band that seems to be garnering a lot of interest called “Diamonds to Dust“, dropped an EP titled “Decisions” earlier this year and are one we’d like to alert readers to. Check out this most recent song titled “Adventure Time”. It is extremely heavy and sure to get heads banging, and skulls cracking. Check it out below. Find out more info and where to stream/download this ep, right here.… Continued →

New independent metal label The Charon Collective have recently re-issued Pennsylvania band Sacrament’s debut demo Presumed Dead on CD and digital formats. The death/thrash metal band went on release two full-lengths, seminal death metal release Testimony of Apocalypse and technical thrash beast Haunts of Violence. The re-issue is accompanied by the news that former Sacrament members have re-formed as Testimony of Apocalypse, and are writing new material for a future release. Presumed Dead can be ordered from The Charon Collective here: https://thecharoncollective.bandcamp.com/album/presumed-dead-2021-remaster?fbclid=IwAR3RtKoHZ2sSGB2-zSPwhS1tABQrTwI-gVHda1Z19zNFQHrk0SluASZ4XvM… Continued →

One Bad Apple was a short lived death/groove metal/crossover thrash band that released a few indies & full length in the 90s before disbanding, but reuniting & releasing another full length in 2018. I’ve always liked this SOTD & hope you do also. … Continued →

Impending Doom have unleashed absolute chaos through their ferocious blend of heavy metal on their face melting, pummeling new track, “Satanic Panic”. The song appears on the band’s upcoming new EP “Hellbent” which is out January 12th 2022. Pre-order the EP right here via their bandcamp in several different options.… Continued →

We are excited to bring you the brand new music video from heavy (metal) band, Brotality. This song is heavy, it shreds, and is full of head banging fun. The band mixes up sub genres of METAL while remaining true to themselves and composing a sound all their own. It is an impressive accomplishment especially considering the collective ages of each band member. This band should be commended for their skill and for rising to the top despite their young age which might be a hinderance to other bands of this caliber.… Continued →

Swedish death metallers Pantokrator have released a new video for “We the People.” The song is presumably the lead single from their brand new album Marching out of Babylon, which released just a few weeks ago through Nordic Mission.… Continued →

Swedish Death Metal band, Pantokrator, are back with a brand new song titled “We The People” off the album “Marching Out of Babylon” due out January 29th via Nordic Mission. Pre-Order the album in several different formats including CD, Vinyl, and Tape, right here. This is quality stuff my friends and showcases a band that straddles the line between the brutally heavy and melodic. It’s like a battle between darkness and light but in music format. Check them out.… Continued →

There are so many different types of Living Sacrifice fans. People who started listening from the beginning, and those who joined somewhere along the way. Fans who praise their experimental phase, those who prefer the -core era, and those who swear by the traditional metal era. Heck, I even know one guy who claims they only released one album (he’s a thrash fan), and all the others were recorded by imposters! The band has certainly seen a number of different phases, most easily broken down into two main categories (metal and -core) with a few other splinters.… Continued →

Black/death metal band Since the Death have released a new single, “The Black Must Come Out” in advance of their full-length album by the same name. Label home Vision of God Records is offering the single for free download here: https://visionofgodrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-black-must-come-out?fbclid=IwAR3muBU9kJVcfNZYrU25wu9q_-m-jQToaUVmngyqXhyBw7xh8IZ3UDsHNgw… Continued →

There’s a new brutal slamming death metal band in the works, spearheaded by Grant Mohler (also of Crushing the Deceiver). The studio-only project will be called simply Mohler, and will not interfere with Grant’s other band, as there will be no touring. The heavier-than-thou project will feature a host of big-name guest vocalists as well. More details to come . . .… Continued →

Lovers of traditional, old school death metal will know there is a significant lack of it coming from bands with a Christian worldview. The reasons for this are complex, and we won’t get into them here, except to say that it probably has something to do with the lyrical themes that often accompany their secular counterparts: death, gore, and the occult all being regular topics. Minnesota’s Crimson Thorn have often led the way in Christ-centered brutal death metal. Building on work from predecessors like Australia’s Mortification, CT got even heavier and unlike the boys from down under, Crimson Thorn didn’t dabble in other styles.… Continued →

I’ve reviewed 3 different releases from Shadow Puncher (for 2 different publications), and one of the things I’ve noticed is the diversity of sounds and influences on each project. While the one-man band from Norway functions within the death metal genre, each release has a different feel. The earliest material had a strong thrash influence, then moved into a djent-heavy sound. This EP is the first to utilise keyboards in a prominent way, thus adding a progressive element. After a 1-minute ambient keyboard intro, “One End of Heaven” rips into the speakers with brutal rhythms, blastbeats and plenty of time changes.… Continued →

When Extol’s first album came out in 1998, the Christian hard music scene had been dominated by hardcore and the then-developing metalcore sound. This was being spearheaded prominently by labels like Solid State Records (a division of Tooth & Nail), and Facedown Records. Enter Norway’s Extol. No one quite knew what to do with them. Sure, there was still an active underground metal scene, but Solid State had not signed any heavy metal bands yet–only hardcore bands that dabbled in metal. But Burialwas a full-on heavy metal cacophony, bridging subgenres–progressive, black, thrash and death metal–often within one song.… Continued →

Paramaecium. Legendary. Heavy as a concrete slab, and slower than a slug. The band’s debut, Exhumed of the Earth, shocked metal fans everywhere with slow, heavy riffs, string parts, and death metal vocals that were juxtaposed with occasional operatic female vocals added in for good measure. Their sophomore album Within the Ancient Forest changed styles somewhat by cranking up the folk and classical elements and adding a technical flair. But by the time A Time to Mourn came out, the band had shifted styles again–still within the doom metal category, of course–by adding a touch of groove and including Seventh Angel/Ashen Mortality frontman Ian Arkley (later of My Silent Wake).… Continued →

Come to Pass is a one-piece lo-fi death metal band from Virginia. The band has recently released an EP through Bearded Dragon Productions, but instead I’ve chosen a track from the “Words of Endurance” compilation on the same label. Raw and heavy stuff. Stream or download the track here: Come to Pass – Confessions of the Cursed… Continued →

This 5-song EP contains 3 songs of melodic death metal (tracks 2-4) sandwiched in between 2 longer, unusual songs that genre-wise feature a hybrid of nu metal, doom metal and some classical instrumentation. Stylistically, the middle 3 tracks are similar to bands like Pantokrator, World to Ashes and similar melodeath bands (or In Flames and At the Gates from a mainstream perspective), but there is not a huge emphasis on the lead guitar. These are the strongest tracks with the most cohesive sound. The first and last tracks are more original, but ironically also weaker.… Continued →

All you metal heads looking for some heavy underground music with a real message of hope, check this new 3 way split out. Featuring the bands TIMORATUS, Symphony of Heaven, and Bismoth. You can listen below via Bandcamp and download there for “name your price”. Support independent music.… Continued →

Press Release – Come to Pass has signed with The Bearded Dragon Productions. Coatesville, Indiana. January 23, 2019. The new, up and coming, death metal act Come to Pass has signed a deal with The Bearded Dragon Productions. “Nick [Wiser] came to me and asked about representation. I told him I would love to make that happen. And once he conferred with his bandmates, everything was set.” Mason Beard stated. The band formed in December 2018. A month after the band formed, they released a lyric video for their single, “Confessions of the Cursed”.… Continued →

While this is being described by the label as “Norwegian death metal”, honestly that is a bit misleading.  To my ears, what we have here is a hybrid form of extreme metal.  For instance, you have some down-tuned nu metal rhythms, but they’re heavier than most.  The drum machine lends itself to an almost industrial-meets-groove-metal feel.  Think somewhere between Lucid and Malformed Earthborn, but lighter on the glitches and samples.  Genre-wise this is either really heavy nu-metal or generically “extreme metal.” The first song (if we don’t include the spoken opening track) has a really annoying “bree bree bree” section that I really hope is a poor attempt at humor, as it really seems to serve no other purpose. … Continued →

Mexican melodic death metal band Lament have been churning out metal for the masses since the 1990s. They have recently announced the issuing of a new album, The Ancient Battle of the Saints, to be released sometime this year. They are also featuring a lyric video from the album’s lead single, Apostle of Hypocrisy. So far, it sounds like a foray into straight-forward old school death metal, having played with some more melodic and slower styles across their existence.… Continued →

Having initially formed in 1992 as simply Outrage, the band released 2 independent releases by 1995 when they sadly broke up. Reuniting as the newly-christened Outrage AD in 2013, the band quickly began work on New Blood. On this debut the Canadian band apportion some classic thrash metal, with touches of crossover and groove metal. The 8-song full-length brings to mind mid-paced thrashers Thresher as well as Overkill, Bloody Cross, Detritus and Ultimatum. Their mostly-shouted vocals (hence the nod to Scott Waters of Ultimatum) occasionally employ a bit of death growls as well.… Continued →

Not Beneath is an exciting new project featuring ex-members of Narcissus, Outcry, North Meadow Park, and Vessel. In 2018 those names might not mean very much but if you were into hardcore/metalcore in the late 90s or early 00s, you’ll recognize them for sure. Memento Mori ventures into new territory though, pushing for a death metal vibe with progressive leanings at times, and occasionally some touches of –core. Having said all that, it’s a very rewarding listen. It caught my ear upon first listen, and almost immediately I wanted to listen again—lots of layers of sound, melodic and harmonic textures, and heavy as crap!… Continued →

You need to check out this amazing band called Not Beneath from Ohio featuring ex-members of Narcissus, Outcry, North Meadow Park, and Vessel. Complex, technical, heartfelt and spiritual heavy metal. This is a band you absolutely need to give a listen to. Check out their debut full length “memento mori” below (or right here on bandcamp). If you are into early Becoming The Archetype you’ll love this. Thanks Marco for the recommendation!… Continued →