Allen West
In the early ‘90s things started brewing in the Sunshine State of Florida. Cannibal Corpse had released the critically acclaimed “The Bleeding” and Obituary had just put “The End Complete” on the market, the logical culmination of their earlier sound, on the once-relevant Roadrunner Records. Massacre had already released their
black metal
Portugese black/death metal formation Decayed and myself have somewhat of a long history. I remember first hearing this band, when some kind of obscure label two people heard of re-released their 1996 album “Resurrectiónem Mortuórum”. Since those days I have heard much (but certainly not all) of their discography
death metal
If there is one Mortician album that could be recommended in good conscious to any fanatic of the death metal genre, “Mortal Massacre” would be it. Functioning both as a studio outing and an early live document there’s a simple and brutish charm about this EP. Capturing Mortician in
black metal
Dimmu Borgir, the Norwegian band to name itself after a purported gateway to hell in Northern Iceland, were a pretty stock atmospheric and lightly folk-tinged black metal act with their first two Norwegian-languaged albums “For All Tid” and the hugely atmospheric “Stormblast”. While their skills were never particularly impressive, these
Boudewijn Bonebakker
There comes a moment in every band’s life when they are forced to change either by choice or by circumstance. This is the time when they need to adapt to their surroundings in order to survive. For Dutch band Gorefest that time arrived when they were set to write
Brazil
In the late 1990s a new charge of South American underground bands stormed the world due to the increasing popularity of Brazilian export Krisiun, comprised of the three Kolesne brothers. Every label you could imagine was seeking out their personal Brazilian death metal band, and as such every band that
death metal
After the classic trilogy that ended with “Covenant” Tampa, Florida death metal formation Morbid Angel released the highly divisive “Domination”. Despite adopting a similar format to “Blessed Are the Sick” overall, it was an audience-friendly reinterpretation of its classic sound, but simplified and streamlined for wider appeal. After losing the
death metal
Of all the Polish bands that followed in the wake of Vader’s ongoing conquest of mainland Europe and North America with “Litany”, Yattering was the most technical and also, for lack of a better term, the weirdest. The fact that they named themselves after a demon of an early
Chief Spires
After spending a good five years finding and optimizing their sound South Carolina death metal combo Nile was contracted by American independent record label Relapse Records. For their label debut Nile compiled the best songs of their demo phase, and wrote a handful of new tracks to balance out its
Alex van Schaik
Gorefest was, along with bands as Asphyx, Sinister, Acrostichon, and Thanatos, among the earlier proponents in the Dutch extreme metal scene. While other bands played a good deal faster and more technical, Gorefest always was more like their British peers in Bolt Thrower. Above all else the band concentrated on
Aad Kloosterwaard
The Netherlands has always had a strong if not underappreciated presence in the international metal scene. At the genre’s inception and earlier days Holland had important figures in the likes of Altar, Asphyx, Gorefest, Pestilence and Thanatos – alongside these generally more known outfits were also lesser known entities such
Cenotaph
One of the earliest death metal bands from Mexico was Cenotaph, who formed in 1988 under the moniker Damned Cross. Under their original name they released a demo tape in 1989 called “Excretion Of Infected Corpses”, before abandoning the gore/horror subject matter and transforming into Cenotaph. Despite its musical