Music

A-M - N-Z - Merch

1917 - Neo-Ritual

Dark, melodic Argentinian death metal. Reminds me of a more typically melodic version of early Morbid Angel except with a drum machine and better production. It has cool black metal style vocals and a lot of good, really articulate riffs. Good stuff for an unknown band.

$10

5th Faction - 5th Faction

Short lived metallized hardcore from New York. Managed to turn out this one EP before breaking up while on tour due to financial problems. It's good stuff if you dig the sound of a bunch of New York hardcore kids listening to a lot of Pantera and the like. At least I like it.

$6

A Gruesome Find - Minions Engage

Melodic black/death with a fantasy edge; sort of a good companion for something like Ezurate but more Angelcorpsey. Cool stuff, kind of a chillout listen more than a headbanging listen even though there's a lot of blasting and snarling. Good if you like this sort of thing though not essential.

$10

Aasgard - Nyx

Greek black metal like a blend of Spanish and Hellenic styles with lush, melodic riffing, howling vocals, and intense drums. Low-fi yet not cheap-sounding production brings Transilvanian Hunger to mind. A lot of really good riffing on this CD; hope the band does some more stuff soon. Limited to 500 hand-numbered copies.

$10

Reviews

Aboriorth - Far Away From Hateful Mankind Plague

A strange yet very good combination here: war black metal ala Niden Div. 187 meets epic, melodic, somewhat ambient black metal such as Nihternnes. The result is music that captures both the realistic and romantic essence of war; you can expect lots of fierce blasting and tremolo riffing contrasting with almost Keep Of Kalessin-style upward thrusts into glory. Very nice.

$8

Reviews

Agmen - Damnation

Surprisingly melodic for an album whose booklet has a drawing of a guy fucking a goat in it.

$10

Reviews

Alignak - Mainlining Goats Blood

This is a rare case of the first two albums from a band being equally excellent despite being completely different. While Alignak's second album is a brilliant mix of theatrical black metal and raw death and doom elements, 'Mainlining Goats Blood' is of a more experimental nature, with numerous ambient and ritualistic tracks spread throughout their unique style of music. This is exactly what you wouldn't expect, but exactly what you need to hear.

$8

Reviews

Alignak - Murder, Music, Magik, Medicine, Madness

This is a truly remarkable album from a terribly underrated band. Alignak plays a style of black metal very similar to early Mystifier, with only the slightest additional elements of raw, Nunslaughteresque death metal and Asphyx-breed doom/death. It possesses a theatrical, undeniably dramatic atmosphere without any gothic cheese, and never gets even remotely boring throughout its staggering nearly eighty minute running time. Highly recommended.

$8

Reviews

Altar - In The Name Of The Father

Pretty generic but occasionally surprisingly good death/thrash stuff from Holland. They're one of the better bands who got onto Pavement though that's not saying much. It has a lot of silly strummed galloping riffs like they're trying to convince you that they're REALLY FUCKING TOUGH. It's still kind of cool probably due to rather than in spite of its cheesiness.

$10

Reviews

Ancestral/Wedard - Split

The long-awaited split between these dual titans of suicidal black metal has finally come! Ancestral crafts two tracks of misanthropic, bleak suicidal black metal while Wedard carries three tracks of atmospheric and vast melodic black. Definitely a recommended purchase for any fans of depressive black metal. Released in association with None More Black Records, limited to 1000 copies.

$8

Reviews

Animus - Hallucinations: Ideals Surrounding Water, Sand And Clouds Of Dust

The new Animus album has finally arrived and it's hugely different from the first. While the previous release is well known for its achingly beautiful, ultraminimal fuzzed out black metal, this is a much more experimental release, with a high incorporation of acoustic guitars and a large doom influence. I've got to listen to this one some more before I decide how I feel about it totally, but so far it's quite good and well recommended.

$8

Reviews

Anti (Germany) - The Insignificance Of Life

Quality suicidal black metal from Germany. A fair bit more uptempo than your typical suicidal BM, though not quite to Nyktalgia levels. The riffing and production are typical but solid, and much of the unique appeal to this record is hearing traditional depressive BM jacked up a notch via added aggression. I like it, but those who detest suicidal BM probably won't be interested.

$8

Reviews

Apnea - Tainted Purity

One of those weird death/post-thrash bands in that style which seems to be gripping the underground midwest DM scene as of late. There's parts with blasts but also parts with clean vocals. It's death metal by guys who aren't really sure what death metal is, but executed well.

$10

Reviews

Archaic Winter - The Psychology Of Death

Oldschool death metal in the vein of early Gorguts. This album has a highly varied presentation, with a core of death metal that is also influenced by black and doom. Memorable songwriting and unique lyrics round out the package. An album very worth checking out for all those searching for music in the style of death metal's golden age.

$8

Reviews

Argentum - Lucha Y Memoria

Neoclassical/martial stuff from Argentina that makes you want to do something of a fascist nature. You don't know exactly what it is, but it's definitely fascist. I like it.

$8

Astrum - Icons

Very oldschool, Bathory-style thumping black/thrash. Really weird, borderline spoken-word vocals. Riffs are right out of the Venom playbook. Cool stuff if you're into the really oldschool sound.

$6

Reviews

Atrocious Abnormality - Echoes Of The Rotting

Very straightforward brutal/technical death metal. High/low vocals, all kinds of crazy sweep riffing with a plucky bass, and of course lots of blast beats and the occasional funky little fill section. There's nothing new going on but it's executed well within the confines of the style.

$10

Reviews

Avsky - Mass Destruction

Your fairly typical raw USBM, lurching, menacing Watain riffs, mostly midpaced, pretty good yet abrasive production, and song structure that are clearly riff slideshows made by one guy. It's good for what it is though nothing incredible new, recommended for the Darkthrone circuit who just want riffs that scream BLACK METAL in all caps.

$10

Reviews

Backhoe Butchery - Mailbox Full Of Mousetraps

Ignore the rather silly cover art and other aesthetics and you'll find this to be one of the most hateful, savage crossover releases in years. The look of this album in no way reflects the content, which is easily some of the most brutal and misanthropic thrash releases since Amebix departed us so long ago. This is not happy thrash for Municipal Waste fans: it is instead for those of us who truly want to feel the essence of hate as communicated via choral, percussion, and strings.

$8

Reviews

Being Killed - Kill Yourself

I'm really digging this CD, actually; just when you think you know what it's going to do, it throws you a curveball. It does a sort of oldschool death/modern brutal death combination ala bands like Saprogenic but spices it up with chunky groove riffs here and there and strangely droning, maybe double-tracked vocals. Then there's some random melodic tremolo riffs I guess? Anyway I like it a lot.

$10

The Berzerker - The Berzerker

This is really The Berzerker before they knew what the fuck they were doing. It's pretty confusing though it does have quite a few classic tracks on it. Of course then there's the random black metal song and the handful of noise/gabba songs and a bunch of other shit that makes no sense. Still, it's The Berzerker.

$10

Reviews

Beyond Ye Grave - Raping The Creation Of God

Raw and blasting misanthropic black metal somewhere between Dark Funeral and Marduk but with some pronounced melodic overtones which makes it more interesting to listen to than the latter. The cover is pretty offensive.

$8

BK 49 - Join The Dead

Excellent, underrated German music in the vein of 'Eaten Back To Life'-era Cannibal Corpse with a pinch more death and grind. Catchy, brutal, and guttural throughout, this is sure to please any and all fans of gore-soaked and wry death metal. Highly recommended.

$10

Reviews

Black Fire - Between The Eternal Flames Of Black Fire

Blasting, occult Colombian black metal. Employs a drum machine but occasionally slows down into more moody, Satanic, atmospheric sections. Definitely sounds like it comes from South America for some reason; bands from the region seem to have a rather particular style. Anyway, it's pretty cool if nothing very remarkable; I have something of a soft spot for the SA style, and this is a pretty good primer on it. Limited to 500 copies.

$8

Black Hole Generator - Black Karma

This is sort of like if a somewhat less openly bizarre Furze joined up with a mid-era Anaal Nathrakh who was able to put the epic, melodic sections in their music without sounding like a cheap Keep Of Kalessin knock-off and became a single band. There's lots of 1349-esque blasting (but with genuinely memorable riffs) as well as more subtle, intricate mid-paced sections which stand as some of the best I've heard in the style. It's not mind-bendingly unique, but it is almost perfectly executed industrial-influenced black metal.

$8

Reviews

Blakagir - Nostalgia

Medieval neoclassical/ambient from the mastermind behind Hellveto. The simplest way to describe it is really Hellveto excised of the metal, leaving only the purely orchestral compositions behind. If you love Hellveto (like so many of us do) this is just as necessary a purchase. A great listening experience for all those who love medieval atmospheres and layered neoclassical compositions.

$8

Reviews

Blodfest - I Kong Skjolds Navn

Oldschool, atmospheric black metal from Denmark. Very mystical and occult music (not pagan) from times long ago, though the presence of electric guitars, blast beats, and violent vocal performance might detract from the medieval atmosphere slightly. Makes you want to burn a church! Fun for everyone.

*IMPORT ITEM*

$8

Reviews

Blood Cult/Enbilulugugal - Split

Blood Cult plays southern-fried occult black metal and it's pretty sweet; these are unreleased tracks from some old demo-era recordings. Enbilulugugal does shit raw black noise stuff that you'll love if you dig Necro Cult or similar artists. Very good split CD.

$8

Blood Vomit - Up From The Grave

Oldschool brutal death metal that sounds exactly like Bloodsoaked released on the label that was run by the guy from Bloodsoaked called Bloodsoaked Records and this band has Blood in their name. It sounds like Cannibal Corpse with a little bit more brutal DM and a drum machine with a similar riffing style to that band. It's okay though nothing incredible. Vocals have crazy reverb like they were recorded in a fucking cathedral.

$10

Reviews

Bosque/Senthil - Under The Capricorn Sky/Premeditation

Bosque plays ultra-desolate, sparse funeral doom that happens to be some of the best music in the metal scene today due to its incredibly multifaceted delivery and clear emotional connection with the listener. Senthil plays post-Wormphlegm style torture doom, exchanging that band's sense of dark melody for further atonality and shrieking abrasiveness. A good split, though I prefer Bosque's side.

$8

Reviews

Bound And Gagged - Fornicate The Gutted

More than slightly thuggish, mildly technical NY style brutal DM. It's a sort of proto-slam style with a lot of midpaced groove riffs and technical death/grind parts. It's a lot like if Dying Fetus managed to be consistent for more than ten seconds at a time. Sort of a DM curiosity; it's the only thing this band ever did and it's pretty good.

$10

Reviews

Bound In Human Flesh - Sick Lust For Revenge

One-man drum machine black/death metal that sounds like roughly what you would expect from such a thing. Bad digital production and somewhat limited song structures but some pretty good riffs and vocals; fun to listen to sometimes though unessential.

$10

Reviews

Brick Bath - American Currency

Post-thrash stuff here sort of like mid-era Pro-Pain; you know, when they became tolerable to listen to. It's not very unique but the riffs are consistently good and the zero fans of Pantera reading this would be advised to pick it up. At least I like it!

$10

Brobdingnagian/Shores Of Pluto - Split

Very dark, strange dark ambient/noise split. Brobdingnagian typically plays noisy, demented black metal but in this case works with Shores Of Pluto to craft seven tracks total of sinister, minimalist noise/ambient. This has probably the most original layout I've ever seen and anything I say about it wouldn't do it justice. Suffice to say it's awesome and extremely memorable. Pro CDr limited to 73 numberedcopies.

$8

Brobdingnagian - TortureStainedDisaster

The debut mCD from Brobdingnagian is finally here! Four lengthy tracks of nasty black/noise/ambient with a very deranged experimental edge. Extremely unpredictable and erratic music; absolutely great from the first moment to the last. Highly recommended. CD limited to 500 copies.

$8

Burning Inside - The Eve Of The Entities

Very good technical death metal, reminds me of a more brutal death version of Erosion Of Sanity-era Gorguts. Quite varied, some parts are more melodic and considered while others are more blast-heavy and savage, while still others do the Obscura-type weird avant-garde thing. Underrated band.

$10

By The Horns - Destroy The Horizon

Good melodic death/thrash from Florida. This is their debut EP and it's pretty sweet; lots of melodic and catchy riffing, complex drumming, and a particularly ferocious vocal performance make up this release. Nothing incredibly original, but a good listen from a promising band. Limited to 300 copies.

$8

Cadacross - So Pale Is The Light

Fucking gay Finnish power/folk crap, way ahead of its time on the queerometer. I don't recommend this at all unless you like to dress up like a fucking druid and jerk off your buddies.

$10

Reviews

Carrion Wraith - Carrion Wraith

This is the Frenchest fucking thing I've ever heard.

$8

Catalepsy - Godless

Phenomenally retarded deathcore. You will lose brain cells while listening to this.

$10

Catastrophic - The Cleansing

Notable for sounding exactly like Obituary and featuring an Obituary member and having apparently released a new album this year which I bet sounds like Obituary. This is good if you like Obituary or Blind Guardian (but mostly Obituary).

$10

Reviews

Chaos Moon - Languor Into Echoes, Beyond

One of Chaos Moon's infamous 2 album simultaneous release stunt from last year. This is my preferred of the two; it's more melodic and traditional than the other, with cleaner production and a generally sleeker sound. I recommend you get both at the same time though; you're kind of missing something with just one.

$8

Reviews

Chaos Moon - Origin Of Apparition

The other Chaos Moon CD. This one is much noisier, tortured, and chaotic, with a lot of highly dissonant riffs and an extremely dark atmosphere. Very brutal and extreme black metal from Wraith Productions. I prefer the other, but this probably appeals to a different crowd.

$10

Reviews

Chaos Moon/Frostmoon Eclipse/Benighted In Sodom

Chaos Moon sounds way more conventionally melodic black metal than on the last two albums. Frostmoon Eclipse still does their Dago cuddleblackmetal with lots of acoustic guitars and Dysrhythmia type passages between the blasting and screaming. Benighted In Sodom sounds hilariously similar to older Chaos Moon. It's pretty good I guess.

$8

Charnel Valley - The Igneous Race

Good raw black metal, varied in tempo, speed, and mood. Has either a really unusual riffing style or a weird guitar tone because everything sound peculiarly layered; maybe it's a delay effect or something. Whatever it is, it makes for a weirdly haunting, otherworldly listen. It got released on Paragon but I promise it's not terrible.

$10

Reviews

Coram Lethe - The Gates Of Oblivion

Proggy melodic death metal and surprisingly good despite the unbelievably queer genre description. Sort of like what Arch Enemy would be like if it were a lot more aggressive and technical and actually decent. Overall the sense of melody is straight out of the Gothenburg playbook but the added aggression makes up for it.

$10

Reviews

Corpulate - Boundless Expansion

God damnit.

$10

Reviews

Codmic Atrophy - Codex Incubo

blah blah abstract death metal blah blah sounds like demilich blah blah rexxz from metal archives blah blah BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH

$8

Reviews

Cryptal Darkness - They Whispered You Had Risen

Very nice gothic doom metal here; I know you probably think that combination is gay but at least this is more earnest than My Dying Bride. Lots of swaying violins over slow, heavy riffs and alternately growling/whispering vocals. This is actually really good if you want to cut yourself.

$8

Reviews

Cryptal Darkness - Chapter II - The Fallen

This showcases the band moving in a more bleak and funereal direction, but sacrificing none of the intense feelings of longing and sorrow that they cultivate so well. Highly recommended and a natural item to get if you like the above album. This will extinguish electric lights in your room and replace them with candles.

$8

Cryptic Tales - Valley Of The Dolls

Strange, hypermodern death/thrash/groove metal with doom elements here and there. The Polish are a very strange people indeed. It's surprisingly good.

$8

Cryptic Throne - Apocalyptic Extermination

Finally released after seemingly endless delay, Apocalyptic Extermination has arrived! The debut full-length from Florida black metal onslaught Cryptic Throne, this album boasts seven tracks of brutal yet melodic black metal with depressive and ambient touches sure to impress any black metal fan. If you like your black metal with razor-sharp riffing and atmospheric production, look no further! Limited to 1000 copies, released in cooperation with Metalbolic Records.

$8

Dagorlad - The End Of The Dark Ages

Essentially very weird Bal-Sagoth worship. Take that band and make it more plodding, with only about a third of the material being metal and the rest medieval ambient and folk. I'm not really into it though it has its moments; it's most comparable to Hrizg of the rest of the stuff in the distro. Probably good for those who get a boner from Tolkien.

$10

Reviews

Dark Messiah - Rise Of Black Dawn

This is kind of like if Marduk listened to a lot of Bathory, so you have pretty brutal and blasty black metal with a really well-articulated melodic sense and occasionaly diversions into almost viking territory. It's rather unique without being obvious about it, which is a combination I enjoy a lot.

$10

Darkflight - Perfectly Calm

Yet another immense, totally mandatory release from Ars Magna Recordings. This little-known Bulgarian outfit plays vast and crushing blackened doom metal. You could compare this to Skepticism, Summoning, Tyranny, and other varied artists such as those. Huge chords merge with soft, epic keyboards and winding lead guitar and reverb-drenched vocals. Simple elements that come together marvelously. HIGHLY recommended.

$8

Reviews

Dead For Days - Creating Murderous Domain

More hardcore-tinged brutal death/grind from New York which kind of sounds like Dying Fetus if they were consistently interesting. I really like the production philosophy of turning everything up really fucking loud so it sounds like the band is punching you in the dick with every note. Actually very good for its style but it's brutal death so what the fuck am I supposed to say about it?

$10

Reviews

Deaden - Hymns Of The Sick

First United Guttural album so it has historical importance but not much else. It's mid-'90s brutal death from the late '90s. A lot of convoluted Suffocation type riffing contrasting with more atmospheric and doomy portions, the latter of which the band should have really focused on. Not terrible but hardly something I adore.

$10

Reviews

Deaden - Feast On The Flesh Of The Dead

This compiles the band's demo of the same name and a handful of live tracks; I actually like this more than their 'real' albums. The production's really claustrophobic and sickening and the songs seem to benefit greatly from it, coming across as much nastier and more deviant, like Carcass on a really fucking bad day but with less blasting.

$10

Decieverion - Decieverion

This is quite good, one of those modern black metal releases that came out in the early '00s that managed to be really exciting without really doing anything new. A slightly sleek industrial feel elevated the strong, confident riffing and professional song structures into something greater than just good black metal. I really like this a lot.

$10

Reviews

Defleshed - Fast Forward

Good, fast death/thrash that sounds almost exactly like what would happen if 'Coma Of Souls'-era Kreator listened to a bunch of death metal. I'd imagine that gives at least a few of you out there boners.

$10

Reviews

Defuntos - A Negra Vastidão Das Nossas Almas

Very murky, weird, depressive, lethargic black/doom from Portugal; having a lot of trouble thinking of who these guys sound like. The guitars have barely any distortion on them and it's not very 'metallic' despite being black/doom in essence. This has really rehearsal room production but it's worth a try for an underground doomster. Limited to 500 copies.

$10

Desensitised - Virus Of Violence

Death/thrash/grindy stuff, reminds me a lot of Warface during some of the more subtle moments with little cymbal trills and shit. It's quite good at what it does, I like the shortness of the songs and the generally compact and quickly moving song structures. Nothing new but very solid.

$10

Reviews

Diabolic Intent - Reborn

Traditional Floridian death metal with something of a unique feel; there's midpaced, almost militaristic sections with a lot of rolling tom fills that contrast with the more typical, Monstrosity-derived death metal. Not an essential purchase by any means but has enough unusual about it that it's worth a look from the underground death metal fan.

$8

Diabolical Breed - Compendium Infernus

I can go either way on this; it's pretty generic but it's good at what it does, it's easy to ignore but it's worthwhile if you pay attention. It's easy to dismiss this but it's fun to listen to if you like symphonic black metal. Really, if you're looking for a decent, repeatedly listenable symph black metal album, it's a good choice.

$10

Reviews

Die Saat - Der Schlachten Tribut

Really really really really really fucking good folky black metal that's super heavy on keyboards, epic riffs and being German as fuck. Limited to 1000 copies.

$8

Dispatched - Terrorizer

Good, fast, melodic death/thrash (not melodeath/thrash) with occasional keyboard backing. It's more heavily composed than a lot of other death/thrash which makes this sound more ambitious than most and it mostly succeeds in making something more interesting than the average. I dig it occasionally.

$10

Divine Empire - Redemption

Forgotten classic death/thrash material from a band no one cares about but should. It sounds kind of like Unleashed minus the viking. They sound like they want to punch you in the dick like ten times as hard as they should and then slowly put on some sunglasses. Fuck yeah.

$10

Reviews

Dormant - Beneath The Mighty Oak

Very similar to a more aggressive Agalloch, with more obvious black metal tendencies and less queer. Fans of that band or other newer black/doom/folk bands should try this out, along with fans of some more esoteric, ambient-laced material. There's a lot of sections of drifting flanged guitar, like Great American Desert in the forest. Not bad at all. Comes in a full-size DVD case.

$9

Reviews

DrDoom - DrDoom

Raw and punishing yet surprisingly melodic grindcore, very much like later Nasum. Screeching vocals over furious riffing with lots of blast beats and fills and a dark, apocalyptic atmosphere. Great for fans of Nasum and the like.

$10

Reviews

Drowned In Blood - The Warfare Continues

Cool, kind of grinding Mexican death metal. The riffs are appropriately warlike and the drumming is really fucking fast and intense, which gives the music enough momentum to overcome its weaker moments of songwriting. It's not remarkable as far as uniqueness but it's well executed and each member gives a thousand percent in making it sound really brutal.

$10

Reviews

Drunkard - Hellish Metal Dominate

Speed/thrash stuff that, surprisingly enough, I don't want to throw out the fucking window. It's pretty good; very Kreator derived, as you can expect, and the title is a pretty adequate summation of the music. There's a lot of thrash riffs thrash drums thrash world for you and me.

$10

Reviews

Dyscrasia - Septical Stomach-Pumped Remnants

Very brutal pseudo-slam death metal with some great melodic riffs to go with the grooves. Reminds me of Torsofuck in places. The vocals are fucking ridiculous and probably not made by humans and the guitar tone is super churning like it's a permanent fucking palm mute even during the blast sections. Good stuff.

$10

Reviews

Eld - Primeval Vespers

Traditional Norwegian style that periodically moves in thrashier or more melodic directions. The songs have a sort of sprawling quality to them with more variation than you'd expect from music with a core in a very traditional sound. Not stirringly unique but quite good for what it is; recommended for your average black metal fan looking for a band who goes a bit further with the sound.

$8

Reviews

Enforsaken - Sinner's Intuition

Decent melodic death metal, like newer Dark Tranquillity if they weren't afraid of acting tough like it would drive away their fanbase of 14 year old girls. This actually has a lot of good riffs and a fairly burly production job along with catchy songwriting so maybe it's better than just decent. Good if you're willing to listen to a fairly conventional take on the genre.

$10

Reviews

Enoid - Dodssyklus

VERY brutal and intense, straightforward black metal from Switzerland. Yet another one-man project, but in this case, it focuses on Dark Funeral-style blasting and tremolo riffing over weepy, self-pitying sections. This might cause you to eat babies and vomit ANGER, so listener discretion is most certainly advised.

*IMPORT ITEM*

$8

Reviews

Ensepulchred - Suicide In Winter's Moonlight

A rather strange fusion of black metal and electronics that results in an atmospheric and uncomfortable listen. Misty tremolo riffs drench the background while strange, almost circuit bent electronics dominate the melodic spectrum along with distorted vocals. Seems to inspire reactions of absolute adoration or 'well, it's interesting, I guess...' in its listeners. Kind of like a better version of Echoes Of Silence.

$8

Reviews

Ensepulchred - The Night Our Rituals Blackened The Stars

Pretty much the same thing as the first album, but the songs are a little longer, the production's a little better, and the feel is a bit more relaxed. I think it's a bit better than the first but if you didn't like that one you won't like this because it's just as weird as the first one.

$10

Reviews

Equinox (US) - The Immortal Kind

Speedy, grooving black/death metal like Angelcorpse meets Impaled. Good mix of brutality and melody with a bit more emphasis on the latter; lots of '80s style soloing and double bass. Recommended for any death metal fan, modern or staunchly oldschool. Gets a lot of plays from me; reminds me of Behemoth at points.

$8

Reviews

Esqarial - Inheritance

Proggy melodic death metal, pretty good riffs though prone to wankery at times. Not bad though not as brutal (BRUTAL) as I generally like my DM. There should be a 'u' in their name and I fuck up typing it a lot because of it.

$10

Reviews

Evocation - Evocation

Swedish death metal (Grave style, not At The Gates). This digipak compiles their first two demos from the early '90s but it sounds like a full-length. Good stuff if you enjoy Entomed, Grave, Dismember, the usual suspects. It's one of those releases that floats around in Ebay lots a lot but it's actually worth your time unlike most.

$10

Reviews

Ex Dementia - Thou Shall Repulse

Goofy Razorback type death/thrash so I don't really like it but everyone else does. It's not the worst example of the style but it doesn't make me like it any more. I can listen to it but others would like it more than me. If you own a Ghoul shirt you probably should get this.

$10

Reviews

Ex Dementia - In The Chapters Of Horror

This is distinctly less offensive than the original album and despite embodying all the Razorback conventions it still manages to be pretty good. It's punky death/thrash/grind stuff but it's less good-time than Ghoul and a little bit more genuinely mean-spirited. Pretty good.

$8

Reviews

Execration - A Feast For The Wretched

Pretty fucking cool brutal death here, sounds like if early Kataklysm got teleported to 2009 and played modern brutal death as it has that same super chaotic, swirling intensity to it. I actually like this a lot; it reminds me of Internal Suffering a great deal which is always a good thing. It's definitely not 'songy' brutal death, if you're the sort of person who needs that.

$10

Reviews

Exetheris - Timeless Mysteries

A new entry in the breed of mid to fast-paced, atonal black metal. Strange, textured riffs wobble over a racing drum machine and spitting vocals, occasionally dropping into an ominous groove. Sort of a hyperspeed version of Absonus Noctis; definitely not easy listening material.

$8

Final Breath - Flash-Burnt Crucifixes

Death/thrash that's more thrash than death; sounds mostly like an updated version of 'Seasons In The Abyss' or 'Divine Intervention'-era Slayer with slightly more conventional melody. Okay, good for the Slayer fans. Not amazing but a decent disc.

$10

Fleshgrind - Live In Germany

Don't ask me how I keep getting fucking Fleshgrind CDs. This is Fleshgrind live which means they sound marginally more lively than they do on CD. It's cool to hear them in a different environment even though it won't make any fucking difference to you unless you've listened to 'Destined For Defilement' 80 times like I have.

$10

Reviews

Forests Of Old - Voices From Oblivion

Dark. Mystical. Cold. All terms frequently used to describe black metal but rarely more than words. Forests Of Old changes this by embodying all these elements fully- the band's debut EP is a stunning and multifaceted piece of modern, melodic black metal that is only the first step in what will be hopefully a long and productive career. Initial run limited to 500 copies.

$8

Frightmare - Midnight Murder Mania

Razorback death/grind stuff, and a Maniac Neil project, so you know what you'll get. Throw Blood Freak and Aborted in a blender and this is what you get: guttural but punky death/grind stuff with an obsession with horror. Probably my favorite Maniac Neil project, doesn't really have any of the pitfalls of his others.

$10

Reviews

Frostmoon Eclipse - The Legacy

A collection of this Italian band's rare tracks plus unreleased live tracks in a full-size DVD case. Contains material from several of the band's EPs and splits. For those that aren't in the know, Frostmoon Eclipse is one of Italy's finest current black metal collectives, playing a traditional but extremely well composed style of Norwegian-breed black metal. Recommended for all the BM fans out there.

$9

Funeral Inconscientemente Natural/(((o))) - El Ciclo De La Impotencia De La Conciencia

A collaboration between these two drone/ambient masters results in sixty-five minutes of incredibly heavy, atmospheric, psychedelic soundscapes. Not for the faint of heart; if you see the cover and don't understand immediately, this is not for you. Pro CDr limited to 100 copies. A stunning work.

$6

Funeral Rape - SEXperiment

Good Italian death/goregrind. High/low vocals, stop/start drumming with some gore polka parts (always cool), and Cock And Ball Torture and Carcass inspired riffs. You get the picture. Ladies love it when you put it on with some candles.

$10

Funereal Moon - Beneath The Cursed Light Of A Spectral Moon

Nasty, almost US-style blasting black metal meets dark ambient that seems like a combination of Mortiis and Abruptum. It's melodic without being melodious and brutal without being logical. It's definitely the sort of music that plays by its own set of rules; fortunately, unlike most other black/ambient groups, the band is good at both styles.

$8

Funereal Moon - Taumogenesis

A collection of seventeen of this Mexican groups previously vinyl-only tracks. More ambient than black metal, and what black metal is there is encased in dark, murky production. Perhaps even eerier than that material on 'Beneath...', as there's less actual music and more demented, occult soundscapes. Recommended for fans of Vomit Orchestra or Abruptum.

$8

Reviews

Funeralium - Funeralium

Extreme funeral doom, you know, one of the ex-Comaworx bands that were all the rage a few years ago. It's pretty good if you're into that sound though pretty predictable as to that aesthetic, with those ultra-slow sludgehammer tempos, alternating gurgle/shriek vocals and wandering clean guitar passages. It's pretty brutal.

$10

Reviews

Giamon - The Old Buried Memories

Melodic/epic/folky black metal, good if you like Pagan Hammer/Summoning/Gower kind of stuff with less drone, has some Graveland influence, lot of triumphant viking type riffs but without gay folk instruments, you probably get what this sounds like.

$8

Godless (Puerto Rico) - Church Arsonist

Raw yet epic anti-Judeo-Christian black metal from Puerto Rico. A thick mist of production clings to poisonously melodic riffs and howling vocals, with a sound that is as visceral and hateful as it is sorrowful and beautiful. A very deep and rewarding listen.

$8

Reviews

Gräuen Pestanz/Miasma - Into The Fire Of Isolation

A really weird split. Both bands do a murky breed of black metal mixed with dark ambient and they complement each other so well you almost don't know they're different bands at times. Very ritualistic and occult listening experience and quite inaccessible. Try it out I suppose.

$10

Haemotodipsomania/Guinea Pig - The Defiling Of Female Orifices

A brand new split of fantastic, sickening gorenoise! If you don't know what gorenoise is, fuck you! This split is like ten Last Days Of Humanitys playing at the same time with bass drums full of ovaries. It's pretty tight. Pro CDr limited to 50 hand-numbered copies!

$6

Harsgathyr/Ysorex - Nordland Krieger

A split between two bands who have pretty much no information on the internet. Both do pagan black metal and both are pretty cool and folky without being Finntrollish. Doesn't really sound like anything else. Pretty interesting CD.

$10

Reviews

Harvist - Lightning Storm In The Veins...

One of the longer-running USBM bands I know of. Sounds a bit like Ezurate minus all the Marduk worship, but has a similar fantasy feel. Occasional acoustic passages keep things varied, which is nice when USBM tends to fall into monotony. A good black metal album.

$10

Reviews

Hazael - Chapel Of Doom/Rehearsal '91

Bad production. First demo is oldschool death/speed/thrash metal with a lot of good riffs and the second sounds like if Godflesh circa 'Streetcleaner' was a death/thrash band. You can imagine how fucking weird this sounds. Comes in a very nice digipak limited to 500 copies.

$10

Heirdrain - Batna

Heirdrain is a rather infamous Canadian project in the vein of Zarach 'Baal' Tharagh's school of huge numbers of demos with very raw production and songs that make little to no sense. I'm surprised the two haven't done a split; Heirdrain's style of black metal is quite similar to ZBT's but with a bit more folk and 'conventionality'. It's still weird as fuck with bizarre drumming and riffs that go everywhere and nowhere at once. I don't hate it as much as many others seem to, might as well give it a try. Pro CDr limited to 66 hand-numbered copies.

$6

Heirdrain - The Death Of Nature

Another bizarre Heirdrain demo. This one seems to show off riffing that makes marginally more sense than Batna, but you're still not going to confuse this band with Immortal anytime soon. Pro CDr limited to 66 hand-numbered copies.

$6

Hellgoat/Legions Of Astaroth - Moonlight Ritual/The Moon Bleeds Red Upon The Earth

Super raw, occult black metal on one side and not quite as raw, thrashy black metal on the other. Pretty cool music if conventional; those who can't stand raw production are advised to stay away. If you like it sounding GRIM and NECRO and involving the MOON you'll probably like this. Limited to 1000 copies.

$8

Reviews

Hellveto - Zemsta

One of Hellveto's earliest major releases, and, as usual for this prolific one-man project, absolutely mandatory to acquire. If you haven't heard Hellveto, you owe it to yourself to at least download some MP3s. Hellveto plays a unique style of pagan metal infused with neoclassical orchestral compositions; it's some of the most layered and complex music in the metal scene today. L.O.N. releases albums at an insane rate, so have fun buying this one and then desperately trying to expand your Hellveto collection; it's like crack.

$8

Reviews

Hellveto/Phorcys/Forestdome - When The River Of Hate Tears Floods

Hellveto does his usual brand of amazing orchestral pagan metal. Phorcys is definitely the weirdest one, playing a variety of ultra-dark, seethingly hateful pagan death metal(?). Forestdome rounds out the pack with nature-infused Spanish black metal. A very good split, and I'm pretty sure it's out of print now.

$10

Reviews

Hellveto - Prelude To Dying

Another Hellveto release, this one several years more recent. The artistic endeavor's usual style of orchestral pagan metal is on this release infused with an extra helping of darkness and aggression; this is perhaps his most ominous and misanthropic release to date. Recommended of course for Hellveto fans, but also for more conventional black metal fans looking to get into this amazing band's work.

$8

Reviews

Hellveto - Zmierzch

The album immediately following 'Prelude To Dying' this is a mixture of that one and 'Klatwa', making for a rhythmic and relatively accessible Hellveto release that serves to sort of summarize the band's career up to this point like the later '966'. Rather middle-of-the-road in quality, which of course means it's mandatory.

$10

Reviews

Highgate - Highgate

Slow. Heavy. One track, over fifty minutes. For fans of Monarch! or Corrupted. Not quite as oppressive as you're thinking but still pretty fucking bleak.

$8

Reviews

Hypnosis - Cyber Death

Pretty much the weirdest goddamn thing that most certainly should not be in the history of metal. It's melodic, industrial death metal combined with early '90s style electronic dance music. I don't even know how to properly describe it. It sounds like if there was a video game made in 1993 and they turned it into a movie this album would be the music in the trailers. It has to be heard to be believed.

$10

Reviews

Illogicist - Subjected

Not quite as out-there as their later works but this is still pretty weird. Technical, melodic death metal kind of like Sceptic but with an extra helping of very weird rhythms and time signatures; not an easy listen and not chillout tech music like Unreal Overflows, but worth the time to explore under some headphones.

$10

Reviews

Impious Havoc - Dawn Of Nothing

A very solid Finnish Gorgoroth clone which emphasizes that Norwegian band's earlier work. It's not QUITE as straight worship as their earlier output which could honestly be confused with Pentagram, as this has something of an epic touch that wasn't present before, but it's still definitely very comparable. Derivative but well-composed music.

$8

Reviews

Imynvokad - Tongues Of Death

Okay I still haven't gotten my new tape deck so I haven't listened to this, but I still want to describe it to you, so I will base it off the cover alone. We're looking at fast, occultish black metal with a bit of a medieval flavor, probably fairly decent production and just the barest hint of Weaklingisms here and there. Also the entire album is about sinister looking lamps.

$6

Reviews

Incarnated - Pleasure Of Consumption

Delightfully sinister and blood-drenched death/grind here; has oldschool riffing with a modern edge of extreme death/goregrind. Something of a niche item; the weird production (especially guitar tone) takes some getting used to, but it'll put a big grin on your face just by how fucking EVIL it sounds.

$10

Reviews

Incestuous - Brass Knuckle Abortion

Something of a classic in the US brutal death scene. It's very brutal and chaotic and the exact opposite of melodic; came out in 2000 but still feels infinitely more brutal than most stuff since. It has a certain animosity to the listener that's hard to describe. Fetuses beware. Fetuses. Fetii. Fetusii?

$10

Reviews

Infiinite Hatred - Hateful Spell

South Korean raw black metal with a very atmospheric and misanthropic feel. Pretty sick material, reminds me of a lot of the newer ultra-brutal black metal bands coming out these days. It has a definite atmosphere; sort of swampy and hazy like a lot of Korean BM groups seem to be doing. I dig it a lot.

$8

Reviews

Infector - Insane Deliriums

Brazilian death metal that surprise surprise sounds a lot like Sepultura playing death metal. Seriously is there a fucking Brazilian band that doesn't resemble Sepultura in some way? Yes they were a good band but why do even the fucking doom bands in Brazil resemble Sepultura? Is a copy of 'Arise' stuck in every goddamn CD player sold in that country?

$10

Reviews

Inhuman Hate - Merciless Misanthropic

Quite interesting music: a combination of suicidal black metal and oldschool second wave Norwegian BM, so it sounds like Darkthrone circa 'A Blaze In The Northern Sky' playing Trist songs. Sort of a good combo with the King album below. There's a lot of slowly shifting synths and riffing that alternates between misanthropic Celtic Frost-derived chugging to more typical suicidal strumming. Rather unique.

$8

Reviews

Internal Bleeding - Driven To Conquer

This is where Internal Bleeding started to become a decent band. It's NY style death metal with massive hardcore overtones, especially in the vocal department. Older stuff was pretty generic but this has something of a unique sound. If you're in the mood to thug out, go for it.

$10

Reviews

Kaliban - The Tempest Of Thoughts

Really melodic death/power metal stuff here. Only album they ever did. It's not bad; pretty catchy, good production, but I still can't imagine what fucking bizarro world version of me would actually listen to this.

$10

Kampf - Nothing But Wrath

Warlike Greek black metal with a lot of cool riffs. Has that epic sound that Greek bands are completely unable to avoid. It's in the water or something. I dig it.

$10

Khisanth - Forseen Storms Of The Apocalypse

Totally forgotten black metal band from Mississippi that tried to do the epic/medieval thing on this, their only album. It's not very good. I don't see a point to lying about this stuff since the reviews are right next to my descriptions. It's an interesting curiosity but not something you'd ever listen to a lot even if it has its moments.

$10

Reviews

King (Canada) - Sufferance Obsolescent

Pretty cool stuff here: suicidal black metal riffs over thrashy and grooving bass and drums. It makes for something that kind of sounds like a less pretentious Lifelover at times. It's much faster and more openly melodic than your average depressive black metal, so it's good for Nyktalgia fans. Rather curious and precious but it has a lot of quality music along with the novelty.

$8

Reviews

The Krushers - Omonimo

Real raw, oldschool black/death/thrash/grind stuff from Italy. Influences come from everything from DRI to Napalm Death to Sarcofago to Nunslaughter, but all of it's very primitive and oldschool extreme metal. Good for people who think nothing good came out after '89. The whole album's really sick and I want to hear more from these guys soon.

$8

Reviews

Kythrone - Kult Des Todes

Fast, raw black metal. It does what it does well.

$10

Reviews

The Last Twilight/Profundis Tenebrarum - Hell Bestial Conjuration

The Last Twilight appears in a major step up from their older work, exchanging the scattered ideas of past days in favor of a more focused and traditional demonic black metal sound. Profundis Tenebrarum maintains their standard style of raw yet melodic and nocturnally atmospheric black metal. Good split for fans of either band.

$8

Reviews

Livercage - Burned Alive And Killed...

The re-release of Livercage's second album from 2006 has finally arrived. The material on this disc showcases some of the slowest, most droning and ambient/doomy music I've ever heard from the band, quite removed from the hyperspeed black/electronic material found on later albums. More restrained, but no less dark and claustrophobic than what you've come to expect from these Canadian monsters.

$8

Livercage - Impaled And Forgotten

Did you feel a pang of disappointment when Y2K didn't lead to the apocalypse? If so, you're exactly the sort of person that Livercage is reaching out to with this album. Ugly, raw black metal is fused with industrial, noise, and electronic elements to create an awkward perversion of what music is 'supposed' to sound like in a manner which can only be described as sick, deranged, and uncomfortably satisfying in the darkest hours of the night.

$8

Reviews

Livercage - Pick Up That Axe And Cut Them Down

Perhaps the mighty Cage's most aggressive and traditionally black metal release, this album is full of razor-sharp tremolo riffs and intense machine blasting. It's not a Norwegian ripoff though and has plenty of the band's classic noise, industrial, and ambient touches. Perhaps my favorite album of theirs.

$8

Reviews

Livercage - Lord Of The Bastard

Livercage returns with yet another slab of demented experimental black metal mayhem, and they change their style YET AGAIN! This time you'll get to hear a combination of very noisy, primitive black/industrial and significant militaristic elements. It's like watching a bunch of Italian fascists stab Christians to death with rapiers in the streets. In short, it's awesome.

$8

Reviews

Livercage/Rotting In An Open Field - Split

Livercage's side sounds a lot like a mixture of Lord Of The Bastard and Pick Up That Axe... meaning you get a more riffy and coherent breed of their style but with significant martial and industrial elements. Easily some of their nastiest material to date. Rotting In An Open Field is very cool black metal/experimental ambient, kind of reminding me of Temple Of Azoth in parts. An excellent split, limited to only 50 copies!

$8

Lividity - The Age Of Clitoral Decay

Nasty, midpaced, churning death metal with a real dark atmosphere. As you would expect they're rather sex obsessed. This is when they were closer to doom than insane frantic goregrind like on their newest, but it's still really cool and heavy. I dig this band a lot though no one else cares about them.

$10

Lobotomy - Born In Hell

Very stereotypical Swedish death metal. Not terrible but hardly amazing. If you like the Swedeath sound you'll probably enjoy this.

$10

Reviews

Lord Of Storms - Demo 2007

Really excellent, super oldschool black metal. Huge Bathory influence along with Venom and super early Mayhem. Call it the first and a half wave. The band's first demo and I'm really hoping they'll do some new stuff soon; this material is really sick and great for any oldschool BM fan. CDr limited to 50 hand-numbered copies.

$6

Reviews

Loss - Life Without Hope... Death Without Reason

Really slow, bleak death/doom. It's on the romantic side but with an infusion of Winter to prevent it from turning into My Dying Bride. Good if you want something on the border between romantic and misanthropic styles.

$10

Reviews

Lucifugum - Stigma Egoism

One of their more traditionally Ukranian sounding releases, actually quite similar to Dub Buk's Rus Ponad Vse! album in parts with its militaristic, slightly thrashy feel. Good for those looking to get into this band's rather sprawling discography; it doesn't have the insanity or inaccessability of other releases but it's still got good songwriting.

$10

Reviews

Maggots - Dead And Loving It

Really, REALLY brutal death/grind stuff. Take your average death/grind record and kill the families of each member of the band and this is the results. The very clear and abrasive production through most of the tracks definitely helps it. This compiles most of the bands material in one fell swoop, so it's a good way to get into this band.

$10

Reviews

Malevolent Creation - Eternal

Incredibly fucking bro death metal. This is the death metal soundtrack to a game of beer pong, I swear to god. I think you're an honorary member of a fraternity once you hear this album.

$10

Reviews

Malevolent Creation - Envenomed

It's Malevolent Creation, you know what this sounds like, dick. This one isn't as bro as the one above. It actually has blast beats.

$10

Reviews

Malevolent Creation - Retropective

NOW! THAT'S WHAT I CALL MALEVOLENT CREATION. It's a best of comp from the second half of their career.

$6

Malveillance - Just Fuck Off

Ultra-distorted black metal meets d-beat/crust punk! There's exactly two songs on this album that are over two minutes, and that should say everything. Malveillance rips through a collection of brutal, punk-flavored and riff-oriented songs, like newer Darkthrone but with Amebix replacing good spirits. Great music to get drunk and rip the piercings out of some retard to.

*IMPORT ITEM*

$8

Reviews

The Mandrake - The Burning Horizon At The End Of Dawn

Very, very good unknown melodeath that reminds me a LOT of Illdisposed with the gruff vocals, incredibly memorable and intuitive riffing, and fantastic solos. Melodeath that reminds me of Illdisposed makes it essential. It's very riffy and in no way gay; I highly recommend it.

$10

Reviews

Marblebog - Forestheart

Yes, I finally got an album from one of those bands that every black metal kid in the world seems to be simply clamoring over. Fortunately it's pretty decent; somewhat depressive, naturalistic black metal that seems, I guess, like a combination between Wolves In The Throne Room and Alcest minus all the non-metal influences. On a scale of gay with the bottom being Darkthrone and the top being Amesoeurs, this is up there, but it's musically sound.

$8

Reviews

Marks Of The Masochist/Enecare - Split

Marks Of The Masochist does kind of weird, midpaced, rock-influenced suicidal black metal (I mean hard rock, not post-rock) with a psychedelic edge while Enecare does a more conventional breed of midpaced Satanic black metal that reminds me of a more straightforward Chaos Moon. Cool stuff.

$8

Mental Care Foundation - Alcohol Anthems

Your typical post-thrash stuff. Good if you like Pantera or Machine Head. Does nothing new but it's not bad.

$8

Reviews

Mental Funeral - Mental Funeral

Heavily Autopsy influenced but with a fair bit of Razorback style grind as well. The drum machine's a little silly and the vocals take getting used to but I dig this a lot, especially in the slower, more primitive moments. Has a lot of nice, oldschool riffs laced with bizarre pinch harmonics.

$8

Mind Propaganada/Ismark - Naturgewalten

Mind Propaganda does very melodic, synthy black metal like earlier Nokturnal Mortum stuff. Ismark does raw pagan metal with just a pinch of Bloodaxe influence. A very good split CD.

$10

Reviews

Mist Of The Maelstrom - Death Of The Sun

FINALLY back in stock after months and months out, I'm happy to get it back. Mist Of The Maelstrom is one of the best funeral doom acts out there today. The project's first album, Death Of The Sun, is a breed of oldschool funeral doom in the vein of Skepticism's first album meeting Thergothon. The music is grand and desolate yet rich in its individual tones. Unique yet familiar. A beautiful album for all funeral doom fans.

$8

Reviews

Moloch - Cosmic Depression

Surprisingly good drone/ambient here. Slowly shifting, ultra-low walls of synths intersect with gentle field recordings. It's a very relaxing listen and fantastic if you're into drone/ambient; it actually seems composed rather than 'play two keyboard notes for an hour' like most bands like this seem to do.

$8

Reviews

Mortal Decay - Forensic

Do you think they like Carcass? Yeah, they like Carcass. Mortal Decay sounds like Carcass with more death metal and a bit more technicality. It's decent enough if you like Carcass. Carcass.

$10

Mortuary - Eradicate

Very brutal death/thrash material from this French band; it's like they're dead set on punishing anyone that would dare to listen to them. Sort of a common, unappreciated item that floats around a lot but it's very good for what it is. It's not the most original record but it's definitely more savage than usual.

$10

Mortuus Caelum/Winds Of Malice - Split

No, it's not in some weird fucking case, I just couldn't find a better picture. Mortuus Caelum plays relatively typical European blasting black metal with melodic riffs and snarling vocals while Winds Of Malice plays its brand of fast and unpredictable USBM. A good time will be had by all.

$8

Mourning Dawn - Mourning Dawn

A rather strange combination of depressive black metal and more traditional styles, lurching doom metal, and a bit of Katatonia type 'dark metal'. It makes for an odd listening experience, sort of a 'dark music' pot pourri that manages to be surprisingly coherent despite the disparate styles. A good album.

$10

Reviews

Murder Squad - Unsane, Insane And Mentally Deranged

Unbelievably fucking good. Autopsy after Autopsy broke up and somehow even darker than that band. This will make you kill yourself and everyone you love.

$10

Reviews

Myon - Ghost In Paradise

Very gay but surprisingly good prog-laced power metal in the Euro style with the occasional chuggy riff. It's obviously faggy as hell but the vocals and riffs are surprisingly good most of the time.

$10

Mythological Cold Towers - The Vanished Pantheon

Melodic, symphonic black/doom/...power metal? Who the fuck knows, there's a lot going on in this record. This is some vast, ambitious music; reminds me of early Dimmu Borgir with a ton of doom influence and a less cheesy sense of songwriting. I dig it but it's a VERY demanding listen to appreciate fully.

$8