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
black metal
“Heaven Shall Burn…” is the band’s fourth album, and the one where Marduk perfected its long-desired high-speed black metal sound, and cultivated its corny more-evil-than-thou image. For at least three albums prior they had been vying to be the most blasphemous and evil sounding band in the black metal
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
At the Gates
There was a considerable turnover in the ranks of Cenotaph after “The Gloomy Reflections Of Our Hidden Sorrows” – and as such it isn’t very surprising to note that a change in style would occur reflecting that shift. Where “The Gloomy…” was an occult and dark sounding record in vein
Australia
Of the earlier full-blown death metal acts Mortification from Australia was one of the more interesting outfits. Sounding as a mix between Morbid Angel, Kataklysm and Sinister the lads from down under delivered their ultimate effort with “Scrolls Of the Megilloth”. The band’s second album is a bass-centric slab
Babak Davodian
The second and only widely available Divine Rapture album is the record Morbid Angel should have released when “Heretic” hit the market in 2003. While imitating Morbid Angel had been a practice dating as far back as the 90s, in the early 2000s it came to a peak with bands
Belo Horizonte
Supposedly after the mammoth tour in support of “Arise” Brazilian quartet Sepultura ran out of steam and, well, ideas, really. Lord knows what happened to them on that trek all over the world. Not only did it knock the air of what was formerly the most violent and cutthroat death/
Carpeduke
In the dying years of the ‘90s, just at the dawn of the nu-metal boom, this sound was the most popular thing above and below the mainstream. With illustrious figureheads as Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson and latter-day Type O Negative. It was the sound of the moment. The sound of
female fronted
Gothic metal is a difficult genre to pull off correctly, no matter which subbranch of it a band chooses to specialize in. The genre tends to come in two distinct varieties. The mainstream, less metallic pop brand – of which Nightwish and mid-era Within Temptation are the most identifiable acts, or
Black Sabbath
In the last years there has been an incredible influx of female-fronted psychedelic rock/stoner/doom metal bands. It seems every label is searching far and wide to find its own Jess and The Ancients, Seremonia, High Priest Of Saturn or Jex Thoth. The difference is that Jex Thoth, the
Black Sabbath
In the last five or so years there have been a significant influx of bands aping the one of metal’s earliest known practitioners and its true pillar: Black Sabbath. The practice isn’t new in the slightest, ever since Black Sabbath reared its ugly head all the way back
Amon
The story of Deicide is one of the most banal in metal history. After starting off with the promising self-titled debut, and following it up with the intensely savage, abstractly technical and loosely conceptual “Legion”, the band had delivered two classic death metal albums. It isn’t very surprising that