Now that we’ve just squeaked past the Judeo-Christian holiday season, it’s time to resume our regularly scheduled blasphemies and blood feasting.  In the interest of not fucking around in any way whatsoever, today we bring your attention to Rochester, NY horror activists Malformed.  Their skull-stabbing death metal should sour all eggnog and extinguish all but…

The lines between Anna Kendrick and Tina Fey are becoming more and more blurred every day. Look to the Cookie, Everyone. Look to the Cookie. This week, instead of watching football at my house in the dark, I went to my aunt’s house to make Christmas cookies with her. As I walked through the door,…

Broken Hope’s Jeremy Wagner sat down with us beginning last week for his four-part shredder’s studio. Here is the second installment from the death metal veteran turned author. We’ll be running the final two takes at a time to be revealed in 2015. — Savatage: Sirens (title track) (1983) The guitar work of Criss Oliva…

Our annual holiday nightmare is almost over. If, like us, you haven’t seen daylight or experienced human contact in months, that might come as something of a surprise. But today is Christmas Eve Eve, so if you want to follow in the footsteps of Tom Cruise and Fake Like You Are Nice and Caring, we…

Welcome to Tales From the Metalnomicon, a column delving into the vast world of heavy metal-tinged/inspired literature and metalhead authors… Good goddamn can Revilement/Sledge City Slashers vocalist J.W. Henley spin a yarn! The Taipei-based death metal vocalist’s excellent debut novel Sons of the Republic is a fascinating study of the intricacies and tensions of the…

The setting: the San Francisco Bay Area. The era: the mid-’90s. The sound: the violent and harried subgenre of powerviolence, going over with the natives like a wet fart in a dry church.

British progressive thrashers Sylosis have been destroying minds for four albums now, and their latest may be their most ambitious yet (10 minute acoustic track!). Produced by guitarist/vocalist Josh Middleton, Dormant Hearts contains some of their most malevolent material to date, containing a full hour of anger. To celebrate the release of the album, we…

** See Armageddon contest info at bottom of post! It’s no secret guitar wiz Christopher Amott is no longer sharing albums and stage with his brother Michael in death metal sensation Arch Enemy. The younger, blonder Amott has moved on to his labor of love called Armageddon (no relation to the ’70s hard rock band…

February’s Napalm Death cover story opens with three full paragraphs pertaining to Barney Greenway’s undergarments. No, we haven’t gone full Maxim (although we know you’re still eagerly anticipating the sequel to the Hottest Doodz in Metal). Napalm, after all, are a band who’s most recent album was called Utilitarian, and writer Justin Norton is merely…

Virginia prog-rock djentlemen Iris Divine are in the progress of releasing their second full-length record, called Karma Sown.  We say “progress” because, while the album was released digitally earlier this month at Bandcamp, the music caught some label attention and is being considered for official release.  We don’t have details for you right now (we…