Despite comprising 20% of Earth’s land mass, Africa is sorely underrepresented in metal and worldwide music. Though subject to centuries of oppression and colonization, the influence can be felt internationally, but its unique cultural voices are sorely lacking. While Egypt is stalwart in its evocative depictions of ancient civilization (Scarab, Lycopolis), you’d be hard-pressed to find the music of Togo without some serious digging. Based in the capital city of Lomé, what seems to be the only Togolese metal band, Arka’n Asrafokor offers its sophomore effort Dzikkuh. Arka’n Asrafokor embodies ..read more

International supergroup Vltimas crashed upon the Earth early in 2015, dropping their well-received debut roughly four years later. Comprised of Morbid Angel‘s very own David Vincent at the mic, Cryptopsy‘s Flo Mounier manning the kit, and Aura Noir‘s Rune “Blasphemer” Eriksen slinging axe, the project deals in grooving, swaggering blackened death metal singing Satan’s praises and glorifying the destruction of all the world. You know, the usual. And while their debut impressed me—bridging the gaps between legacies and heritages held by its constituent members without coming across as a total r ..read more

For centuries, thrash metal outfits have attempted to surprise their fanbase by taking a completely unexpected direction. Sometimes, it’s with great success. Other times, not so much. Metallica and their notorious “black album” alienated many hardcore fans, but no one can argue that Metallica single-handedly brought money and fame to the band. On the other hand, Testament’s attempt at producing radio-friendly songs through Ritual did little to skyrocket sales or bring new fans to the fold. While there are others we can evaluate (in thrash and elsewhere), this introduction aims to set the tone ..read more

I’ve never heard of Almost Dead, despite them releasing material since 2007. And, honestly, some of it is pretty fucking good. Albums like Internal Chaos and Mindfucked are pleasing bits of Pantera-esque thrash and groove. There are also interesting influences sprinkled in, like the cruising, old-school Lamb of God vibes of Mindfucked’s “Dead Enemies” and the Downy clean vocals of “Ignus Fatuus.” But, things began to change when Lay Them Down to Waste came along. The title track, for one, sounds so much like Nirvana’s “Something in the Way” that I see Batman in my peripheral vision. Since then ..read more

In 2013, I attended a concert in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with hopes of seeing Intronaut and Scale the Summit, both having released widely lauded albums Habitual Levitations and The Migration, respectively. However, because I’m a good little Hollow, I decided to stop in for the openers. The youth center in which this was played was scrawled with graffiti in the dim lighting, and the stage was a makeshift affair about a foot or less off the ground, and a row of beaten couches comprised the seating. When I was welcomed into the concert area, Albuquerque quartet (at the time) Distances came up, a ba ..read more

The “for fans of” line in any given promo is a true test of character. While most bands crank out their faves, there are intriguing blends that grab attention. Most of these are disappointments, often running the gamut of extreme metal buzzwords only to be the latest act to sound exactly like In Flames, but there are others whose combinations are pretty accurate, like the tantalizing combination that the California-based Owdwyr boasts in its debut Receptor: from Car Bomb, Human Remains, and Fleshgod Apocalypse to composers like Bach, Allan Holdsworth, and Heitor Villa-Lobos. In essence, Owdwyr ..read more

A dead Borg cube drifts aimlessly across the vast cosmic ocean. Multitudes of drones are left deactivated, decrepit, unclaimed by the hive mind. Left to the stagnant eternity of existence in a spacial sea that so cruelly denies corpses the dignified grace of gradual decay, this abandoned cube and its deceased inhabitants still strike fear in those who stumble upon it. It is a place of terror, of conquering, of relentless and heartless assimilation. Danger lies wherever Borg activity, past or present, resides, but there’s a strange sadness in the sight of a dead cube such as this. The knowledge ..read more

Pastoral pleasures include quaint life activities like chewing on wheat straw, planning the tractor route, taking count of your animal inhabitants, and… well, shoot I don’t know, ask Cherd. Or ask Milking the Goatmachine, whose agrarian ideals include fat riffs, skanky drum beats, and squealing breakdowns. In their efforts to till German soils with groovy death metal and grindcore, this studio duo (and performative quartet) have managed to land on their tenth platter of caprine chaos, simply titled Neue Platte (“new record”). So, as daylight begins to dwindle as we approach the late summer of ..read more

Sweden’s Orbit Culture became a poster child for extreme metal with their 2020 full-length, the formidable Nija. While undeniably heavy in neck-snapping thrash grooves, ferocious roars, and an unforgiving edge of industrial atmospherics, the band showed its roots in the lush forests of melodic death metal. Soaring clean choruses and earworm melodies assemble in the darkness with an often unmatched colossal quality, creating a sound both catchy and devastating. Orbit Culture became the “it” band, not forsaking any of their uniqueness. After 2021’s solid EP Shaman, we are met with 2023’s Descent ..read more

It’s been a hot minute since this blog has beheld Scar Symmetry. Once the golden standard by which all melodic death should be measured alongside acts like Soilwork and Mors Principium Est that dominated the 2000s, Scar Symmetry has largely settled in the rearview in favor of young blood – always there, just rarely making it known. The Singularity (Phase 1: Neohumanity) went by without much notice in 2014, but the Big Man Himself gave 2011’s The Unseen Empire a confused thumbs-up, noting their bulletproof trademark while acknowledging the unnecessariness of the album at large. After a nearly d ..read more