Metal Review Features and Editorials

Exclusive Stream: Pharaoh's Bury The Light

2012-02-07T21:06:00Z

The headline kinda says it all, does it not? On February 24th, Cruz del Sur Music will release Pharaoh 's Bury the Light to a ravenous throng of knowing diehards. The rest of the public? Well, they have some catching up to do. If you count yourself among this latter segment of the population, here's your chance: Blast Bury the Light before anyone else, exclusively here at MetalReview . This exclusive stream is only available until February 10th, so absorb these most formidable of melodic...(read more)

Titular Homogeneity - Masque of the Red Death

2012-02-05T22:24:00Z

So many horror fiction writers have served to inspire heavy metal music. Lovecraft gets the obvious nod, but the works of Edgar Allan Poe, too, have had a great impact on the genre. He was, after all, America's first Master of the Macabre. A critical aspect of Poe's writing to its enduring appeal was his keen insight to the horrors of his everyday world, mundane realities every bit as frightening as the starker themes of his works. Disease was familiar to Poe, who lived most of his brief...(read more)

Awesome Sloth - The Headless Cross

2012-02-03T11:14:00Z

The Sloth will admit that, for an unduly long time, he ignored Black Sabbath 's post-Dio output, and he will readily concede now that doing so was a mistake. While the Ian Gillan-fronted Born Again sports some good tunes (with a bit of a dated sound these days, and yes, that album art has always been atrocious), the Glenn Hughes-voiced Iommi-solo-effort-turned- Sabbath -album Seventh Star was mostly lackluster. Hughes lost a bar fight to the band's production manager and was unable to tour...(read more)

They Come In Twos: New Ufomammut Releases

2012-02-01T19:38:00Z

Just in case you weren't paying attention, we at MetalReview think Ufomammut is a killer band . Besides the fact that they've received very high scores from our esteemed reviewers, their records were also featured in several year-end lists, thus cementing their status as a band that delivers serious enjoyment. So, this week's good news comes to us from Italy where the hard working ' Mammut s have posted an update on their forthcoming release… and this time, they come in twos...(read more)

Staff Infections - February 2012

2012-02-01T14:08:00Z

In compiling the MR staff playlists for February, two things were readily apparent. First, there was a whole lot of Napalm Death going around, undoubtedly in anticipation of their upcoming Utilitarian warhead . While the crew latched on to a scattershot collection of Napalm albums, the second revelation came in the form of Pharaoh 's yet-to-debut Bury The Light , which easily took the crown as this month's most-rotated album. Bury The Light won't hit US shores until March 3rd (via Cruz...(read more)

Pit Therapy - Kings of Hardcore

2012-01-30T12:35:00Z

It should be no secret that we here at MetalReview want nothing to go undiscovered. Due to the fact that we're faced with sorting through so much music, it's become inevitable that classics might have to wait years before they'll ever become popular even among underground music fans. But what of entire genres that fall by the wayside? Are they meant only to serve nostalgic purposes or is there hope for revival -- and if so are they worth reviving? There are a number of reasons why hardcore...(read more)

RIP Mark Reale of Riot (1955-2012)

2012-01-26T15:46:00Z

On January 25, 2012, Riot founder / guitarist / mastermind Mark Reale tragically lost his lifelong struggle with Crohn's Disease. The band issued the following statement: "To friends and fans of Mark Reale and Riot , We are deeply saddened to confirm that Mark has lost his battle with a lifelong illness. Your thoughts and prayers are appreciated by Mark's family, friends, and bandmates at this difficult time." Reale founded Riot in 1975, and the band debuted two years later with...(read more)

Occupy Awesomeness: Napalm Death Trailer

2012-01-25T18:21:00Z

I've said this about 200 times during the last few years, but nevertheless, the truth warrants repetition: Napalm Death 's last few albums have absolutely been among their best -- just killer collections of destructive death / grind with increasingly common touches of noise and whatever else floats the band's politically charged boat these days. Time Waits For No Slave was (is) nearly perfect, further adding back in some of the experimental components that characterized their underrated...(read more)

Reverend's Bazaar - A Post-Pirate Era?

2012-01-24T18:50:00Z

No, we're not writing a premature obituary for Swashbuckle and Alestorm (or Blackguard , for that matter , but it's not clear if they're supposed to be pirates or gigolos). Although gimmick metal should feel free to take a bath in hydrochloric acid at the nearest opportunity, that's not the matter at hand. Over the course of the past few weeks, the issue of Internet piracy again returned to prominence, as the SOPA and PIPA bills produced by the United States Congress faced intense...(read more)

How to Dismantle an Atomic Covers Album

2012-01-23T17:41:00Z

Who knows what it is about California's Bay Area that graces its musicians with such a fecund environment, so let's just check one off in the "don't know, don't care" column and thank the stars, tides, and whatever else for that West Coast epicenter of experimental and extreme music. Enter the Atomic Bomb Audition , a California sludge/post-rock/cinematic/whatever band that kicked off 2012 in fine fashion by releasing its new album How to Dismantle a U2 on New Year's...(read more)

Coming Back To Shred: New Overkill Album Soon

2012-01-23T17:40:00Z

The massive, thrashtastic Ironbound was my #1 album two years ago (and it remains the only perfect score I've awarded as a reviewer), so this is some seriously good news to kick off my Monday: " Overkill has announced their next full length entitled The Electric Age due out on eOne Music March 27. The pioneering American thrashers will tour the U.S. this spring on their very own Killfest 2 in support... Joining Overkill on Killfest 2 will be Belphegor , Aborted , Blackguard , System Divide...(read more)

Poison Tongues: Pig Destroyer

2012-01-23T08:34:00Z

In this bimonthly column, staff writer Doug Moore takes a very close look at extreme metal lyrics. Some will be serious, some will be silly, but they'll all go under the microscope. Pig Destroyer is one of my favorite bands. I bought Prowler in the Yard when I was fifteen or sixteen years old. It blew my mind—partially because I'd never heard such riff-oriented grindcore, and partially because the lyrics defied my expectations so thoroughly. Prowler in the Yard is a concept album about...(read more)

The Underground Church: Vol. 1

2012-01-18T22:18:00Z

Another year and another whack at a new editorial. Greetings, fellow squirrely metallers. Those of you who knew of or possibly even read the rather short-lived Haunting the Obscure that stretched to an impressive two issues in 2011, I have decided to shut it down, jostle up the menu a bit, and re-open with a slight twist to the formula. I still plan on covering marginally 'under-the-radar' bands/records with the potential of falling through the MR cracks, but I'm opening the door to include...(read more)

On The Horizon: A Look Ahead At 2012

2012-01-18T19:00:00Z

With the last of 2011's year-end wrap-ups all but entirely behind us (and this time we mean it... or do we?), it's time to face the future, folks -- last year was a great year for metal, with some truly stellar releases, and this coming year is gearing up to be every bit as good. Hell, it might be even better... (Of course, we won't know for sure 'til this time in 2013, now will we?) With our eyes looking firmly forward, the MetalReview staff has compiled this brief list of some of...(read more)

Riffology 101: Balls to the Wall

2012-01-18T11:07:00Z

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen to Riffology . In this course we will examine great riffs in metal history and attempt to discern the nature of said greatness. Course requirements include good ears and a strong neck. For our first lesson, I have selected a golden oldie that is dear to my heart, the intro riff of Accept ’s “Ball to the Wall”. The riff in question can be found from 0:00 to 0:33 in the video below. If you have never had the pleasure of hearing this particular gem of...(read more)