State Of The Art: North Dakota’s FROSTHELM [Album Stream]

*This is part of our State Of The Art series, showcasing bands every week from the featured state. This month’s state is North Dakota.*

Originally formed in 2009 within the dark, icy realms of where thrash and black metal collide emerges Frosthelm. Contributing in no small part to their sound is the extreme cold and bleak environment experienced by band members Dakota Irwin (guitar), Billy Zahn (guitar), Brian Helm (drums), Tyler Pfliger (vocals), and Jimmy Cherry (bass), hailing from the frozen plains of Bismarck, North Dakota. Drawing much inspiration from their surroundings, in 2015 the band released their full-length debut, ‘The Endless Winter,’ which Irwin aptly describes as “bitter, dark, angry, and disgusted.” The LP was critically-acclaimed, landing on numerous “best of 2015” lists, and receiving multiple glowing reviews by respected metal publications. Seeking to top their monumental debut, Frosthelm has just released their second album ‘Pyrrhic’ in March of this year. ‘Pyrrhic,’ defined as “(of a victory) won at too great a cost to have been worthwhile for the victor,” illustrates its bleak theme powerfully through punishing riffage and horrifying vocal imagery. Continue reading

MUNICIPAL WASTE Announce UK/European Tour w/ Toxic Holocaust, Enforcer, Skeletal Remains

Richmond thrashers Municipal Waste have been busy since the release of their sixth album, Slime And Punishment. Since 2017, they have been laying waste to the world sharing the stage with Hatebreed, Cro-Mags, among others in just 2019 alone. Shortly after their upcoming Fall US Tour dates MW will headline a winter UK/European tour with Toxic Holocaust, Enforcer, Skeletal Remains Continue reading

State Of The Art: Oklahoma’s AGGRAVATED NUISANCE [Album Stream]


*This is part of our State Of The Art series, showcasing bands every Monday from the featured state. This month’s state is Oklahoma.*

The best part about this SOTA segment, for me, is the opportunity to discover gems in the world of underground music that I may have never come across otherwise. It’s like the equivalent of going to the record store back in the day and grabbing something purely based on the metalness of its album cover, popping it in the stereo, and then realizing you just randomly stumbled onto the sickest band that none of your friends know about yet – followed by the thrill of bragging about your discovery and blowing their minds with it. In this case, it’s Oklahoma City’s Aggravated Nuisance. Continue reading

JUST IN: Dave Mustaine Of MEGADETH Diagnosed With Throat Cancer

Terrible news just coming in from the MEGADETH camp, where Dave Mustaine just confirmed that he has been diagnosed with throat cancer via his Twitter account. Here is what the official statement from MegaDave on the band’s website looks like,

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DEATH ANGEL, MOTHERSHIP, & BYZANTINE Bring Total Destruction to Huntington, WV’s V Club [REVIEW & PHOTO GALLERY]

Currently on tour supporting their upcoming release ‘Humanicide’, Death Angel are hitting several cities across the country. Last week, the thrash legends stormed through Huntington, WV’s V Club bringing along Dallas, TX intergalactic rock trio Mothership and Charleston, WV’s Byzantine for a night of total destruction and Metal Nexus was there to catch it all! Continue reading

Chicago Open Air Spotlight: ALIEN WEAPONRY

*Every Tuesday from now until Chicago Open Air gets here we will be releasing an article about a band playing the festival to get you familiar with them.*

Today’s artist is Alien Weaponry.

On Sunday, May 19th, the young New Zealand thrashtastic trio in Alien Weaponry brings their immense sound to SeatGeek Stadium for Chicago Open Air. Brothers Henry and Lewis de Jong formed the band back in 2010 before they were even teenagers. The third member is Ethan Trembath. The trio bases a lot of their lyrics off of their Māori ancestry, which all three of them have. Most of their songs are also performed in the native language, te reo Māori. The band really took off last year and saw international success with the release of their debut album, ‘Tū’ via Napalm Records.

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OVERKILL All Set To Embark On US Tour With DEATH ANGEL & ACT OF DEFIANCE!

Legendary New Jersey thrashers OVERKILL are proud to announce ‘The Wings Over USA‘2019 tour. Kicking off on April 25th in Baltimore, the tour will make stops in Pittsburgh, Chicago and Nashville before concluding in Boston on May 11th. Joining the tour are none other than San Francisco Bay Area thrash legends and label mates DEATH ANGEL and ex-members of MEGADETH, SHADOWS FALL and SCAR THE MARTYRACT OF DEFIANCE. Continue reading

OVERKILL’s New Song Proves That They’re The Undisputed Kings Of Thrash

New Jersey heavy weights OVERKILL are just no where even in close proximity being done. They have a lot of unfinished business, and to take care of that the band has already announced its next studio album. The upcoming all new 19th studio record, ‘The Wings Of War is dropping on February 22nd, 2019 via Nuclear Blast. And to get you a first taste of the oncoming thrash attack, Bobby Blitz and co. have their very first single in the form of a lyric video out from the album. It’s called, ‘Last Man Standing‘, and as intimidating as it sounds, it does stand up to its name for it is one hell of a typical thrash, true to its core attack. It’s a riff fiesta accompanied with satisfying fast and ruthless riffs, swift & technical drumming and of course, Bobby’s trademark raspy, awesome vocals.

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State of the Art: Iowa’s BLEEDCHAIN [Track Stream]

Barking vocals, chugging bass and anger. Waterloo, Iowa natives, Bleedchain find balance between new school death metal, old school groove and partying. Keeping the band on tempo, Joe Bartruff on the drums. Scott Carey holds down the low end on bass and vocals. Guitar duo consists of Mike Tucker and Michael Tucker and Lucus Johnston fronts the band.

The band has been around for a little over a decade and have released one demo and two full lengths: 2010’s “Rise of the Goddess” and “Martyrs Throne” from 2016. Bleedchain are hard hitting, fast paced and unforgiving. Experimenting with layered vocals and excessive shredding on top of some NOLA influences, check out the songs, “Viliscas Axe” and “Pile Hammer” Influences from Pantera and DevilDriver are present. Anyone seeking chugging riffs and chugging beer, Bleedchain is the here.

Bleedchain are often playing local gigs in Iowa which can be found on their Facebook page. Listen to their music on ReverbNation.

Review: IMMORTAL SŸNN – ‘Machine Men’ [Album Stream]

Immortal Sÿnn is a five-piece metal band from Denver, Colorado, who claim to be bringing back the old school – and on their latest release ‘Machine Men,’ their follow up to the 2015 EP ‘Barfly,’ they do that claim justice in a variety of ways. Stylistically they bring a plethora of classic heavy metal, thrash, and NWOBHM influences to the table in a seamless fashion that definitely showcases their love for the aforementioned genres. Continue reading