SHADOWS FALLFire From The Sky Razor & Tie (2012)Rating: 6/10 When looking back on the discography of Shadows Fall, they appear to have been regressing to the mean for the better part of a decade; two good / promising albums (1997’s Somber Eyes To The Sky and 2000’s Of One Blood), two great albums (2002’s […]

PHILMHarmonic Ipecac (2012)Rating: 6.5/10 Philm is the project from drummer Dave Lombardo (Slayer). It’s a power trio of sorts that also features bassist Pancho Tomaselli (a long-time member of funk rockers War) and singer / guitarist Gerry Nestler (Civil Defiance). Given the membership and the fact that this is billed as a progressive power trio, […]

SHADOWS FALL – Everything Remains Anthony Morgan May 2012 Shadows Fall (l-r): Jonathan Donais, Matt Bachand, Brian Fair, Jason Bittner and Paul Romanko On October 11th, 2011, it was publicly revealed that Springfield, Massachusetts-based metal outfit Shadows Fall had inked a multi-album North American recording contract with Razor & Tie. Previous record labels to issue […]

DANIEL EKEROTH – Under The Influence Of BATHORY Anthony Morgan May 2012 Quorthon Having spent the early 80s as a member of numerous Oi! and punk outfits (including Stridskuk, which translates from Swedish as ‘War Cock’), Tomas ‘Quorthon’ Forsberg launched a music magazine advert in search of a bassist and drummer. Formerly of traditional metal […]

TRIOSCAPES“Separate Realities” Metal Blade (2012)Rating: 7.5/10 Metalheads beware! First things first, this is not a heavy metal album in any shape or form. This is a jazz fusion record and one bereft of vocals. Trioscopes are an American trio (hence the word “trio” in the band name, geddit?!) of instrumentalists, namely Dan Briggs (Between The […]

CATTLE DECAPITATIONMonolith Of Inhumanity Metal Blade (2012)Rating: 8/10 As a huge fan of The Locust, I have been following California’s Cattle Decapitation since one of my writers brought their Three.One.G seven-inch into my office and plopped it down on my desk. Over time though, the band evolved into something more than a seven-inch shock band […]

MOONSPELL – A Grand Stand Anthony Morgan May 2012 Moonspell (l-r): Pedro Paixão, Miguel Gaspar, Fernando Ribeiro (seated), Aires Pereira and Ricardo Amorim Portuguese gothic metallers Moonspell publicly disclosed the fact that they had inked a three album contract with Hanover, Germany-based record label SPV on November 9th, 2005. The relationship lasted for two studio […]

ARCH ENEMY – Under Black Flags They March Anthony Morgan May 2012 Arch Enemy (l-r): Daniel Erlandsson, Nick Cordle, Angela Gossow, Michael Amott and Sharlee D’Angelo It was confirmed on March 5th, 2012 that guitarist Christopher Amott (Armageddon) had amicably parted ways with Swedish / German extreme metallers Arch Enemy, his membership having spanned across […]

MARILYN MANSONBorn Villain Cooking Vinyl (2012)Rating: 8/10 Marilyn Manson stopped being dangerous more than ten years ago. Feared, loathed, and picketed during his heyday in the mid to late 90s, most entertainers in his shoes become caricatures of themselves. Manson continued to remain relevant based on his intelligence, sharp lyricism and keen songwriting. And while […]