Back with their third full-length release, Californian act Witherfall return with prog guns blazing on Curse of Autumn (Century Media). Formed in 2013 by former White Wizzard frontman Joseph Michael, former White Wizzard and former Iced Earth guitarist Jake Dreyer, and the incredibly talented, but former, er… Justin Timberlake bassist Anthony Crawford, the band has produced another seriously heavy record that delivers riffs, hooks, and dazzling technicality. Continue reading
Remember when Roadrunner Records had the hardest hitting metal roster and a slew of death metal classics to back it up? Mortuous remembers. Mortuous remembers it so vividly that they’ve recorded their debut album Through Wilderness (Tankcrimes) and crammed it full of some of those seminal Death Metal sounds. Not unlike Gruesome, Mortuous pays homage and respects its elders, but it never comes across as re-warmed leftovers. Continue reading
Born out of a ferocious love and respect for Death’s early and face-ripping work, Gruesome, the brainchild of Exhumed’s Matt Harvey and Death To All’s Gus Rios are ready to unleash a new full-length onto the world in Twisted Prayers (Relapse). Some may wonder how they’ve stretched out so much from Death’s songbook to cover two LP and a couple of EPs, and the answer is by writing ferocious and infectious Death Metal…
Well into their fourth decade, the history of Bay Area Thrash legends Testament is already a well-documented one. We all know they were originally called Legacy, and that Steve “Zetro” Souza from Exodus used to be their vocalist, and we all know that they are one of a select bunch of bands many Thrash Metal fans would like to have seen included in the so-called “Big Four”. While it looks like we may have a long wait for classics like The Legacy, The New Order, Practice What You Preach and Souls of Black (all Atlantic/Megaforce) to be reissued and/or remastered, Nuclear Blast have done (close to) the next best thing and reissued two live records, a collection of re-recorded tracks, and two studio albums.Continue reading
It’s the hottest day of the year so far in London and before you start imagining a lovely picture of a sundrenched European capital with happy citizens, joyfully going about their business, well, think again. The heat is cloying and claustrophobic; offices without air conditioning units become like bakers ovens. Everyone is sweaty and grumpy. Everyone it seems with the exception of Testament’s lead vocalist and driving force Chuck Billy. Continue reading
Boasting a line-up that features former Judas Priest and Iced Earth vocalist Tim “Ripper” Owens, former Iced Earth drummer Richard Christy, the absolute legend that is Steve DiGiorgio on bass, and Jason Suecof, the producer whose impressive list of work includes Death Angel, Deicide, Kataklysm, and Trivium, on guitar duties, supergroup Charred Walls of the Damned are unashamedly Heavy. Fucking. Metal.Continue reading
Charred Walls of the Damned will be releasing Creatures Watching Over the Dead on September 23rd via Metal Blade Records. Continue reading
Six Feet Under bassist Jeff Hughell has released his new solo album Chaos Labyrinth, available at jeffhughell.com. Guests on this record include Steve DiGiorgio (Testament, Sadus, Death), Alex Webster (Cannibal Corpse), Sean Martinez (Rings Of Saturn) on the title track, as well as Matt Sotelo (Decrepit Birth), Ola Englund (Feared, The Haunted) and Kevin Talley (Black Dahlia Murder, Daath).
Over a decade after Chuck Schuldiner‘s untimely demise by cancer of the brain stem following a long and expensive medical battle, fans worldwide were certainly pleased to hear that past members of the highly influential group would be banding together to reactivate the long dead crew in select cities. The 2012 tour saw some enormous fiscal controversy, what with money being mismanaged, the scope of the tour being underestimated, and of course, the charity aspect making any and all profit almost non-existent to begin with. Not to mention the lack of Chuck Schuldiner himself, due to being inhumed, and the last-minute nature of adding Exhumed‘s Matt Harvey in place of Obscura‘s Stephen Kummerer. It was destined to fail from the beginning, and reviving Death was a huge mistake.Continue reading