Album Reviews



Review: BLOODGOD – ‘Catharsis’ [Album Stream]

Death metal band Bloodgod has been reigning from Holland since their EP ‘Pseudologia Phantastica’ which came out on the 17th of September 2013. If you want to check it out or buy it, click HERE. I highly recomment you to because it gives you a good feeling of how the band started and what it roots are. A lot of time has passed but finally they created 5 brand new tracks which are known as ‘Catharsis’. This album came out on the 31th of May this year and I’m certain that it will create a legacy for the band. Bloodgod originally started out as a side project back in 2011 featuring former members of bands like Warchitect and Vals. After multiple line-up changes the band got the best fitting members together, Daan (ex-Hymir / Decisive Intrusion) on the guitar and vocals, Frank (Slayer tribute band player / Disquiet) on the bass & vocals and Johnny (ex-Nuestros Derechos / Agents Of Entropy) on the drum. They may be a three piece band but their skill is unlimited.

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Review: HOGAN’S GOAT ‘S/T’ [Song Stream]

Hogan’s Goat is named after a tale from Scottish folklore. The band initially formed in late 2014. As the story goes, a farmer (Hogan) owned a goat rumored to have an odor said to travel miles away. The goat’s been described as having patchy fur, an eye out of socket, and flies abound. For the band, this perfectly symbolized their unorthodox style, that which is anything but unnoticeable. They couldn’t have picked a better fable for their namesake. More like a powerful mountain ram the band roams through various styles of music never staying in one place too long. Their first show (at SXSW, on the rooftop of The Blind Pig) was part of an all Nashville (non-country) showcase. Soon after, Hogan’s Goat returned to Nashville, they competed in BMI’s “Road To Bonnaroo” (winning the fan vote) and played many other shows around the Nashville area. While most people think Nashville is only a country town, there is a vibrant rock and metal scene there as well. Hogan’s Goat has hoofed their way out of sea of country music to spread their music to the masses. While the band is based in Nashville it’s members migrated from all around the country like Billings, Montana, Denton, Texas , Southern Pines, North Carolina as well as Nashville. Like their music their roots run further than the eye can see. In March of 2016, Hogan’s Goat began recording their first LP, ‘Hogan’s Goat’ which is set to release July 18th, 2017. The album was self-produced, mixed by Alex Gilson and Nathan Zensen at Gold Cassette and mastered by Tommy Dorsey. The band looks to tour regionally, nationally, and globally. Continue reading

Review: DYING FETUS – ‘Wrong One To Fuck With’ [Official Music Videos]

There are just death metal bands and there’s DYING FETUS. I still vividly remember listening to DYING FETUS‘s, ‘Killing On Adrenaline‘ for the first time years later, listening on streaming platforms like Mozaart, they have the best songs by the way, after it came out and without missing a beat in utter awe. I went, “How on earth can someone pull that shit off!?“. Fast forward to 2017, after 19 years and six more impaling records , I have failed to stumble upon any satisfactory answers to satiate my thirst. I guess it should be left that way and let music speak for itself. Hailing from Upper Marlboro, Maryland, DYING FETUS has been a constant reckoning brute force ripping out guts and entrails of the listener since 1991. Five years after, ‘Reign Supreme‘, here we are ready for DYING FETUS to dismember our guts into a putrefying pool of gore, as they disgorge yet another sadistic album, ‘Wrong One To Fuck With‘.

Wrong One To Fuck With‘ is the eight in line DYING FETUS has come up with and is all set for a release on June 23rd, 2017 out via Relapse Records. Continue reading

Review: EIGHTEEN VISIONS – ‘XVIII’ [Official Video]

Photo Credit: Travis Shinn

Eighteen Visions formed in Orange County, California in 1995. Despite being half the age of the genre’s most legendary architects, Eighteen Visions is literally in the history book of heavy metal, hard rock, and post-modern heavy music. The band were declared part of “The Future of Metal” by Revolver Magazine during their meteoric rise from proto-deathcore indie band, nurtured by the DIY scene, to major label “next big thing” in active rock. Their debut album ‘Yesterday Is Time Killed’ released in 1999 via Cedargate Records. Eighteen Visions went on to record release an album every year up to 2002’s ‘Vanity’ which was their debut on ‘Trustkill’. Eighteen Visions has inspired various bands, one of which is Motionless In White who named themselves after a track with the same name from the band’s 2001 release ‘The Best Of’. The band continued pumping out amazing records. The next would come in 2002 titled ‘Vanity’ and then quickly moved on to release in my eyes one of their best albums ‘Obsession’ in 2004. The album has a lyric that has stuck with me since its release and is one of the best single verses ever. It comes from the track “Lost In A Dream” saying “Locked in a room, Where all my dreams come true, Scrape my mind off of the walls. Painted pretty blue.” The next album would become Eighteen Visions last album for the next 11 years. The self-titled album released in 2016. Many fans thought this would be the last they would hear from the band they loved so much. Bassist Mike Morris announced on Myspace in 2007, “After several years of touring and quite a few album releases we have decided that it is time to go our separate ways. We have been a band for a very long time and feel good about everything we were able to accomplish. At this point in our lives and our careers we feel its time to move on to something fresh and new. Whether it be music, touring or just being at home to live and enjoy life.” Everything came to a standstill for 18V fans for over a decade. Unbeknownst to the public, the band nearly reunited once before, quietly working on new material in 2012. The process that led to their eventual and perhaps inevitable full reunion in 2017 was as organic as it was trans-formative, as the core members reassembled to put their collective passion back on the record, literally and figuratively. Unfortunately bassist Mick Morris passed away on June 3, 2013 in his sleep due to a pre-existing heart condition. It’s sad that he isn’t a part of this new lineup but the band and its core members: James Hart – lead vocals, Keith Barney – lead guitar, backing vocals, and Trevor Friedrich – drums are currently the lineup for the reunited Eighteen Visions. The new album ‘XVIII‘ was made at home in Orange County, with U.K. transplant and multi-instrumentalist producer Mick Kenney at the helm. The album released on June 2, 2017. It is the first album since 2002’s Vanity to feature movie quotes at the beginning of some songs. It is an amazing comeback from a band that was truly missed in both the genre and music as a whole. Continue reading

Review: AETHERE – ‘Adrift’ [Full Album Stream]

Black metal band Aethere has been under the radar for quite some time but their latest album ‘Adrift’ is going to make a change to that. They formed in 2009 when drummer Josh Slater and former guitarist Garrett Wasson started playing together and recorded a demo with 3 songs on it. Aethere has not been sitting still, they have been touring a lot. If you are from Northern Carolina and you attent local shows you may have already seen this masterpiece of a band perform live. After this they began making new music such as their debut album ‘Wave Existence’. The track ”Oblivion” got released and got 20.000 views just under a month from it’s release date. This album got followed up by the EP ‘Demons’ (2012) that got produced by Bob Swanson. After creating new music the band decided to tour again and play at the local shows. Some time after they decided to release the EP ‘Past And Present’ that got released in 2014. After playing on huge death metal festivals with bands such as Cattle Decapitation, Psycroptic and Fallujah the band finally got the attention it deserved. People started to discover the band and noticed the wide varied of influences Aethere has. This year, 28th of April they came back to release yet another great album called ‘Adrift’ via Tragic Hero Records.

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Review: ANTIDOTE – ‘The Rock Years’

Antidote is part of the first wave of American hardcore, in 1983 they released the iconic ‘Thou Shalt Not Kill’, there are only 1.000 copies of this record so if you have one you should consider yourself lucky. Just 3 years later they stopped being a band but 2 years later they reunited as a full blown hardcore band that consists of vocalist Drew Stone, guitarist Robb Nunzio, bassist Tristan Michael and drummer Rea Lem. About 3 years later, 1991 to be exact, they released their second album which is called ‘Viva Los Pendejos’ Together they make the most noticeble hardcore band this world has seen. After such a song time, and I mean a really long time, they have yet again reunited to create their new compilation album ‘The Rock Years’ that will get released on the 9th of June via Old School Metal Records. If you liked the widely known ‘Thou Shalt Not Kill’ record you will for sure enjoy this compilation album because it has those early hardcore vibes we are all looking for.

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Review: CKY Rise From The Ashes With ‘The Phoenix’

It seems CKY have a knack for delivering raw, authentic material with every release.  Since the early days of their skate-punk upbringing, they have continued to improve and impress with their upcoming album ‘The Phoenix’, set for release June 16, being no exception. CKY have gained quite a bit of notoriety with musical contributions to the CKY video series, as well as the TV show Jackass, launching their musical ventures to new heights.  They’ve grown to be known for their groove-ridden, octave-driven sound that any CKY (or Jackass) fan will immediately recognize.  Continue reading

Review: MUTOID MAN – ‘War Moans’ [Album Stream]

Artwork by Santos Illustration

Just this past Friday, the New York trio of Mutoid Man released their second full length record ‘War Moans’ to shred the faces off of the public. The record was released via Sargent House. It was mixed by Kurt Ballou of Converge and mastered by Brad Boatright. This band has been on my radar since releasing their masterful debut EP in 2013 titled ‘Helium Head’. The technicality, tenaciousness, and epic riffage of Mutoid Man immediately caught my attention. The constant onslaught of mind-boggling song compositions still stand out as much as the first time I heard them. The band continued to grow to be one of my favorite rock bands with their follow up (also their first full length record), ‘Bleeder’. Stephen Brodsky (Cave In) and Ben Koller (Converge) manage to combine their other band’s sounds along with Nick Cageao’s killer bass tone to create something unlike anything else you will here anywhere else. If you haven’t heard about this band, you will soon. You can stream the album below and then buy it here after having your face melted off. Continue reading

Review: FALLING IN REVERSE – ‘Coming Home’ [Album Stream]

Falling In Reverse was formed in 2008, the band was founded by former Escape The Fate lead singer, Ronnie Radke. Since then, the group has produced 3 albums such as ‘The Drug in Me is You’ in 2011, ‘Fashionably Late’ in 2013, and ‘Just Like You’ in 2015. All of the bands albums have been released via Epitaph Records. Fans flock to see Falling In Reverse perform live and they can often be seen gracing the stage at the Vans Warped tour as they have played the festival in 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016 and will be on the lineup again this year. Continue reading

Album Review: ENTRAILS ‘World Inferno’ [Offical Videos]

Entrails are a Swedish death metal band that was formed in 1991. With dreams to follow in the scene around Stockholm they were unsuccessful in recording any satisfactory sessions and in 1994, half the band decided to move onto other things. Jimmy Lundqvist (Guitar) kept writing until 1998 when even he decided to hang it up. Fast forward to 2008, when Entrails was resurrected. Lundqvist dug up some old recordings and decided they needed to be released through modern technology. And with that,  the first ever Entrails demos were finally recorded, ‘Reborn’ and ‘Human Decay’. Jocke Svensson took the helm at vocals in 2009. Following those two demos, they were signed to German label FDA Rekotz. Then Entrails released their debut album ‘Tales From The Morgue’ in 2010. The album featured tracks from both previous demos. Shortly after this release, the band welcomed Adde Mitroulis as their drummer at the time. Their follow up effort was in 2011 with ‘The Tomb Awaits’, which featured the rest of the songs from the demos along with a few older tracks and some new material. That winter they started working on a new deal with several record labels and ended with signing to Metal Blade Records in 2012. They started work in the fall of 2012 on their Metal Blade debut and released ‘Raging Death’ in 2013. This release also marks the departure of  Mathias Nilsson with Pontus Samuelsson replacing him on guitar. A new song was written and released on 7″, in early 2014, called ‘Berzerk‘. The B-side was a cover of Swedish heavy metal legends Heavy Load. Also in 2014, they released their old demos under  ‘Resurrected From The Grave-Demo Collection‘. 2015 saw the release of their 2nd full length under Metal Blade in ‘Obliteration’. After a few shows in 2015, Jocke Svensson (Vocals) and Adde Mitroulis (Drums) both parted ways with the band, on good terms, and were replaced by Tommy Carlsson (Bass/Vocals) and Martin Michaelsson (Drums). In 2016, they began work on their most recent effort ‘World Inferno’ and will be released June 16th, 2017 via Metal Blade Records. Continue reading