ALBUM REVIEW: Peeling Flesh – The G Code


One of the most exciting bands in the brutal/slam death metal genre today, Peeling Flesh, continue on their way up from the underground in Oklahoma with their latest release, The G Code (Unique Leader Records). In under a half hour, the slams and rap interludes will have your head spinning out of control, smashing into the walls of your room. What’s more, there are quite a few guests on the record to further cement how far Peeling Flesh have come and how much the scene respects them.Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Hatchend – Summer of ‘69


A new group, known simply as Hatchend, has forcibly hatched its way into existence with members from differing death metal and grindcore bands. The debut album, Summer of ‘69 (Selfmadegod Records) dropped and it goes full throttle for thirty-three minutes. Bringing in their previous influences and dumping them on top of crossover foundations sets up quite the demolition derby of sound.Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Kurokuma – Of Amber and Sand


The dog days of Summer are here in the Northern Hemisphere, meaning the days are slowly getting shorter as Autumn and Winter loom in the shadows. Perfectly timed, Kurokuma has released Of Amber and Sand (Self-Released) which is about the concept of time according to ancient civilizations. The use of Middle Eastern influences as well as a baglama solo bring it all together in this thirty-eight-minute journey through the temporary and the permanent.Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Show Me A Dinosaur – Plantgazer (2024 Reissue)


We are into the second half of 2024 and what a year it has been for new music! Even some of the reissues of older recordings coming out so far have been really good. The latest that deserves attention is the 2020 topical album about isolation and loneliness during the COVID Lockdowns, Show Me A Dinosaur’s Plantgazer (AOP Records). The Saint Petersburg post-Black Metal outfit toys with your emotions for nearly forty-five minutes. All while a “fictitious” man lives out his days in lockdown staring at his home plants, pondering about life under the new normal.Continue reading


SPLIT REVIEW: DISKORD/ATVM – Bipolarities


I’ve been finding lately that splits coming out in the last several years have been reminding everyone why they are a cool, and slightly more affordable, way to showcase music for the masses. DISKORD and ATVM teamed up to put together thirty-five minutes of their brands of death metal on this collective effort, forever known as Bipolarities (Transcending Obscurity Records). Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Amarok – Resilience


Funeral Doom is one of the more difficult subgenres of heavy music to get into. Hell, I am not even sure if I can say I am a fan of the subgenre, moreso some bands or even some albums by said bands. 

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ALBUM REVIEW: Fórn – The Departure of Consciousness


Nothing beats a sunny day, a cold beer, and some sludge and doom blasting over the speakers as I melt in the heat. Just in time for summer, Fórn is reissuing The Departure of Consciousness (Persistent Vision Records) for its ten-year anniversary. The Boston-based funeral doom/sludge outfit made their name in the Boston scene by bringing some of the heaviest, most beefy riffs. Now they grace us with a reissue of their debut full-length where those riffs are as tasty as ever.Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Missing Link – Watch Me Bleed


Sometimes the day presents challenges to us all and we just need to swing haymakers in a pit. For days worse than that, there’s Missing Link. One of the most “unga bunga” ignorant Hardcore bands I’ve ever seen play (American Hardcore Festival 2023). Getting the chance to review their full-length debut, Watch Me Bleed (Triple B Records), is an absolute privilege. Eleven tracks (twelve if you count the hidden track) of unadulterated violence and aggression are going to stampede into your ears and not apologize for the disturbance.Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Thou – Umbilical


As the summer in the Northern Hemisphere approaches, I always find a nice doom or sludge album really sets the mood for a day of yard work, or just sitting on the deck with a cold beer. The new album from Thou, Umbilical (Sacred Bones Records), may not fit that exact moment, but it certainly would fit in for after the sun sets and the flames rise in the firepits and the tips of our joints. Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Dopethrone – Broke Sabbath


It is well-known to not judge a book by its cover. 

However, Canadian sludge titans, Dopethrone, dropped one of the coolest album titles yet, Broke Sabbath (Totem Cat Records). Super descriptive for anyone who has not given these Stoner, Doom-infused sludge gents a shot yet. Seven tracks spanning just shy of forty minutes is the perfect length to see what the group is all about as they drag you through the muddy waters out to a clearing to end you.Continue reading