Metal Music NEWS and interviews

One of a few magazines that helped introduce me to countless underground metal bands was Metal Maniacs. I would make a trip to the bookstore whenever I had the chance just to buy a copy. At a time when there was no internet this publication help expose many unknown death metal acts. If you are a metal music fan, I am sure you probably purchased a copy or knew of the magazine at one point in your life.  Its founder Katherine Ludwig is in need of your support. She has Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma cancer. A Facebook page and Fund raiser page has been set up to help her get through this. You can help by going to these links: facebook-KatherineLudwigLymphomaniac youcaring-medical-fundraiser/lymphomaniac-help-katherine-ludwig Read what other metal supporters have to say about this; angrymetalguy-helping-metal-maniacs-founder-katherine-ludwig-time-need/

Exordium Mors is a five piece band from Auckland, New Zealand. members are Scourge Witchfucker, Santi, Black Mortum, Assailant, and Hades drums. The Apotheosis Of Death album released on June 2014 on Iron Blood Death Corp. They describe themselves as Black, Death,Thrash Metal. After listening to the opening tracks that is spot on. Great production on the album. All instruments are upfront and clear. One of the things I enjoy the most on the album is the guitar arrangements, there is plenty of solos and arpeggios from track to track.  The band list Order From Chaos and Bathory as some of their influences and you can hear that influence in several of the compositions. The band started back in 2004 and have a few other releases, an Ep from 2007 entitled Serva Ad Mors, 7" Verus Hostis A Hymn To Fire and Sacrifice Perish Demise Ep from 2012. They have had several line ups but have maintain their aggression and speed through out.  Some of my favor...

As much as I searched there was very little info on this band other than the vocalist being Devil Lee Rot. Cool name. The album is Doom Devilution released on May 2014. Production quality is not the best but I am sure is not something they are worried about with this style of raw doom metal aspiration. In trying to describe the style. I found difficulty putting my finger on what that would be, there's a good amount of vocals that could be classified as black metal but then the are baritone vocals that remind me of a dark Type of Negative vibe. The drums are subtle and provide a simple rhythm never going into any kind of blast or any complicated beats. Guitars have slight distortion and the compositions are not complex at all. Not sure if I heard any bass lines in the mix but if they are there I had a hard time picking them out. Here are some of the song titles,  Devils Weed,  You Are My Drug (Or a Needle in My Heart), Sadness of the Unlight and many others. The album is...

Under Attack is a four piece band from Falkenberg/Nässjö. High On Metal/The Aftermath released on April 2014. Current members Björn: Guitars, Mattias: Drums, Anders: Bass. The album is a combination of two EPs. After listening to the opening tracks, my impression is the band has very early thrash metal roots with a tinge of melodic hymns. Production on the first five songs lacks punch on the drums, they are there but sound quieter in the mix. You can hear the difference once the second EP starts, the production is much better. The song Wolf has some howling samples which fit the track. Then is followed by Aftermath, this song features a nice solo and some memorable chorus lines. I get the feeling of traveling back the the late eighties with some of these songs. Overall a good effort in capturing the essence of those days of metal. There are some new members involved in this project and they are working on a new album, it will be interesting how they can evolve from this first attempt...

Curvatures In Time album released February 2014 through Blasthead Records. Human Infection is Andrew Brown: Vocals, C.J. Giles: Drums, Hank James: Bass/Vocals, Andrew Mathews: Guitar Death Metal from Roanoke, VA USA. Ten songs that will have you enthralled with brutality. This is the bands second release and features the killer artwork of Mark Cooper on its cover. Dark and atmospheric intro sets the tone for an unsuspecting attack before hitting you with the track Celestial, heavy and devastating from the first riffs. Production quality is good, guitars sound intense and punchy, drums are well balanced and precise in their attack. Vocals are reminiscent of old Nile or Suffocation style but definitely have their own vibe happening. The song Devastation has a cool solo at around the 2:30 mark, very memorable and worth spinning several times. Bass lines are creative and give all the tracks a solid ground for mosh inducing passages. To top of the madness, the guitars do wicked solos on ...

Unsacred Seed is a five piece DM band from London, Ontario. Members are Andrew Murray Stefan Perras, Dee Lyons, John Burden, Eric Gallivan. Genre is described as Death Metal, Black Metal, Groove Metal. Frontiers is their latest album, released on March 29th 2014. The opening track is Higgs Klon Zon, it grabs my attention immediately, sci-fi groove is the mood. Memorable harmonized guitar work. Production sounds great, even guitar tones, solid drum sound and full bass give a huge sound. The title track "Frontiers" storms in with a savage attack. Vocals are mix between high and low growls. Eyes of The Universe is one of my favorites from this album. Low tuned strings at around maybe A or B tuning, heavy sludgy like Meshuggha guitar sound. Along with all this the solos are excellent, well thought out and memorable. The song Temporal Disturbance give us the groove part of the band. Lots of open chords and throaty style vocalization. The Watchers is a monumental song. There is ...

A New Code of Morality album released on April 29th 2014 through Comatose Records. Twitch of The Death Nerve is a band from the UK and consist of Tom Bradfield and Tom Carter from INFECTED DISARRAY and BEEF along with session drums "Lille Gruber". If you want brutal, then this is where you will find it. The album waste no time in bringing the intensity. Great production, solid low tuned guitars with many dis-harmonic passages and devastating double bass kicks to make you want to punch everything in sight. A mix of low growls and pig squeals, almost reminds me a bit of early Brain Drill or Cerebral Bore. Each track is relentless in its delivery, there are moments of slow mosh style beats but only last long enough for you to pick up your brains from the floor before destroying you yet again. "Made Loose, The Bonds of Piety", a great track that gives a good balance of speed and grind. Chunky gritty riffs and pommeling bass are spread about without much discrepancy. T...

Exhumation is a DM band from Yogyakarta Indonesia. Hymn to Your God first r eleased March 5th, 2012. Re-issue via Dunkelheit Produktionen (Ger) Februar y, 2014. Members are: Greg and Unan aka-Bones, Ghoul. Agung. (Additional &  live sessions drums), J. of Headkrusher, additional & live sessions guitars . The band got their start in 2008. This is their debut release and it s huge in terms of sheer brutality and production. The opening track hints  at a Behemoth influence and perfectly leads the listener into a blackened v oid before they unleash the attack. The Apotheosis displays a wide of array  of technical drumming, from solid tactical double bass kicks and creative  tom rolls to some interesting cymbal fills. The production really brings ou t all the instruments in pristine quality. Within the madness and chaos we  also hear choice solos that are placed in key parts of the compositions mak ing them stay interesting and memorable. The level of talen...

Abysmal Dawn releases brand new video in support of their new album 'Obsolescence''. You can pre order the new album at this link  relapse-abysmal-dawn-obsolescence   

Earlier this month Sussex quintet Subservience revealed details surrounding their forthcoming record ‘Upheaval’ set for release on 17th October 2014. Today the band has released a 3 part video series documenting their time at Brighton Electric and the ‘Upheaval’ recording progress          Drawing influence from the classic death metal bands of yesteryear as well as the recent breed of modern greats Subservience have been gathering a great reputation across their native UK and beyond. With their corrosive blend of groove laden extreme metal since forming in 2010 and having already released a demo ‘Blueprint To Chaos’ in 2010, a split with Sa-da-KO in 2011 and two crushing EP’s ‘Dystopia’ and ‘Ripped In Half’ in 2012 and 2013 respectively; Subservience are right on queue and are set to unleash yet another beast of a record.