death metal
Of all the Dutch death metal bands of the late 1990s Zi Xul was probably the least recognized, and the most underappreciated. Located in Amsterdam, the band independently released a duo of demo tapes in its brief three-year lifespan. The band was centered on Jerry Brouwer (vocals, rhythm guitar)
Agnete Kjølsrud
“Abrahadabra” sees Dimmu Borgir, never the most gifted band to begin with, in the latter stages of creative decay. After acrimoniously splitting with keyboardist Øyvind Sven Mustaparta (Mustis) and bass guitarist/clean vocalist Simen Hestnaes (ICS Vortex) the band reformulated itself as a trio. Where its post-“Spiritual Black Dimensions”
Burton C. Bell
After an interpersonal meltdown led Fear Factory to fracture in two opposing factions, each carried on in their respective projects. Olde Wolbers, and Herrera regrouped with Bell enrolling Canadian bass guitarist Byron Stroud to continue under the Fear Factory brand name. Dino Cazares meanwhile put together Divine Heresy, a melodic
death metal
“The Apostate”, the second of two albums that Luciferion released in its decade-long existence, finally arrived nearly a decade after its awe-inspiring debut. It is more of a glorified EP than an actual genuine full length release. While most of the new material of this record was written
Arielle McCuaig
Calgary, Canada fastcore/powerviolence unit Rape Revenge was only around for a brief three years. In the timespan from 2009 to 2012 they released two albums (which accounted for an EP each), of which “Rape Revenge” was the first. Shunned in their own region because of their outspokenness on a
Alexandra Musielewicz
One of the latest underground hopefuls is Recon By Fire, who formed in Warsaw in 2014, and released a two-track digital demo a year later. Recon by fire, sometimes referred to as speculative fire, is a warfare tactic in which military forces fire on possible enemy positions to prompt
Aurora Borealis
“Worldshapers”, the seventh Aurora Borealis album, is a culmination of the more death metal oriented approach they have been hinting at since “Relinquish”. Stylistically it is similar to its predecessor “Timeline”, both in concept and in design. Being more of a side-story than a direct continuation of the “Timeline”
Centurian
By 1997 lead guitarist Rob Oorthuis had joined Inquisitor, and his unique riffing style called for a vessel all its own. Retaining its anti-Christian sentiment the newly formed Centurian adopted the Chaos theme. Forgoing its thrash metal influences Centurian aimed for a denser and more technical death metal sound.
Armin Heydari
One of the more visible outfits swiftly ascending the international underground is Austrian death metal band Halo Creation. The quartet was formed in Vienna, Austria in 2013 uniting members of several low-key projects into one better formulated entity. “Demo 2014” is the first of its output, and while victim
Chuck Schuldiner
The latest in a line of bands imitating the sound of yore, Gruesome is a California and Florida-based worship act to formative death metal outfit Death, and its pre-“Human” era, specifically the duo of “Scream Bloody Gore” and “Leprosy”. Gruesome consists of stalwarts Matt Harvey (Exhumed), Robin Mazen
death metal
After the stillbirth that was “Death Cult Armageddon” there was no way to go but up for Norwegian symfo metal outfit Dimmu Borgir. Having “removed” Nick Barker from the line-up sometime prior to the recording the band took to it not enrolling anybody within the foreseeable future. “In Sorte
Brad Palmer
“Inbreeding the Anthropophagi”, the second and last record Deeds Of Flesh released through Spanish label Repulse Records, had the band adopting its known dense, atonal and percussive death metal style – even though they lost co-founder Joey Heaslet prior to the session. It is lyrically more mature than “Trading Pieces”