SEVEN7 Escape Music (2014)Rating: 8/10 UK / South African-based rockers Seven released two major label singles – ‘Inside Love’ and the John Parr co-written ‘Man With A Vision’ – on Polydor Records way back in 1990 before parting ways soon after. But two decades later and the original members of Seven are back with their […]
BLOODREDThe Lost Ones EP Self-released (2014)Rating: 5/10 Having been spewed forth from the shadows that envelope Oberstenfeld, north of Stuttgart in Germany, black metallers Bloodred is the work of one Ron Merz. Merz formed Bloodred back in 2009 and is responsible for almost everything you hear on this two-track composition; all except for the percussion […]
STIGMHATEZodacare Od Zodameranu Bakerteam (2014)Rating: 8/10 Whoa! The scary album introduction evokes images of a clan of tatty witches sat round a boiling cauldron in some dank cave, and I’m already under the spell of Stigmhate’s latest black metal séance. This poisonous quartet has been loitering around Italy’s darkest corners since 1998, and Zodacare Od […]
DARKEST SINS To Record Second Full-Length Album June 18th, 2014 Ålesund, Norway-based heavy metal group Darkest Sins will record its second full-length album in the summer of 2014 at Ocean Sound Recordings in Giske, Norway. Rhapsody Of Fire vocalist Fabio Lione will make a guest appearance on the effort, Darkest Sins having released demo samples […]
FIENDS AT FEAST / TRAGIC DEATHPurgatory Rites (Split Album) Horror Pain Gore Death Productions (2014)Rating: 7/10 I’ve always enjoyed split projects; alongside compilation albums, they are a good way of introducing bands to people. Horror Pain Gore Death Productions presents Purgatory Rites, a seven-track album boasting four numbers from Californian black / death metallers Fiends […]
LECHEROUS GAZEZeta Reticuli Blues Tee Pee (2014)Rating: 8/10 For me the band moniker suggests some type of death metal combo, but in fact, Lecherous Gaze are masters of groove metal which hints at that 70s style of oaken rhythm. The Oakland, California-based band was formed in 2010 and features ex-Annihilation Time members Graham Clise (guitar), […]
BLOODSTRIKE Necrobirth (2014) The hellish Bloodstrike is a Denver, Colorado-based old school sounding death metal band which, believe it or not, is fronted by one of the most frightening female voices I’ve ever heard! Holly Wedel (ex-Nexhymn) puts some male vocalists to shame with her chesty rasps and unholy bellows and she’s the perfect presence […]
GNOSIS OF THE WITCHDauðr Burðr Þrysvar EP Iron Bonehead (2014)Rating: 7/10 Four-track mini-album Dauðr Burðr Þrysvar is the second EP the strangely named United States duo Gnosis Of The Witch has released in 2014, following on from Rún Af Inn Auðr. Vocalist Niðafjöll is quite literally responsible for everything except the percussion, which is handed […]
HEIDRA Release Debut Studio Album ‘Awaiting Dawn’ (June 16th, 2014) Copenhagen, Denmark-based Viking / folk metal band Heidra issued debut full-length studio album Awaiting Dawn in Denmark on June 16th, 2014 through Mighty Music. The label scheduled release in the rest of the world for July 28th. Awaiting Dawn was produced, mixed and mastered by […]
AXEGRESSORLast Listenable (2014)Rating: 8/10 Nothing beats a good, violent chunk of septic thrash metal, and Finland’s Axegressor bring forth the fury in huge doses. Having formed back in 2006, this quintessential thrash quartet pushes all the right buttons when it comes to their brand of fast, furious and deadly metal. Some of us can feel […]
