From a listener perspective, the most important department at any record label is the A&R department. They’re the folks that sift through demos and pitches from pushy managers and attorneys to decide which acts you can buy at your local Walmart (or wherever you pick up your Krieg records). And while the A&R capacity of…

Super sick gore-obsessed metallers Ghoul just kicked off a tour with Skeletonwitch and Black Anvil in support of the band’s recent limited edition six-song release Hang Ten and the reissue of We Came For the Dead!!! out tomorrow. Or, as guitarist/vocalist Digestor prefers it… Once again GHOUL is coming to your rotten country to murder…

Wolf = heavy metal. Leather, beer, whiskey, spikes, chainsaws, and greasy, long hair. Since the beginning of time Wolf has laid waste to posers (and poseurs) and pretenders, bands and forum-junkies too easy to extol the virtues of some C-level band no one has ever cared about except some A&R guy at CBS who is…

UK time travelers Deconstructing Sequence have recorded a new 2-song EP called Access Code, amounting to more than 16 minutes of new music.  Yeah, that doesn’t really sound like a lot, but the futuristic mech-out violence metes out a very high quality to make up for the relatively low quantity.  They pack as much music…

Looking for some authentic Italian you can’t get at Olive Garden? Try this uber-brutal, churning platter of tech-y death metal courtesy Rome’s Hideous Divinity. Aptly dubbed “Sinister and Demented,” the track is off the band’s upcoming Herzog-inspired sophomore effort Cobra Verde, out next month. (Preorder here.) Bon appétit!

Denmark’s Fossils are another impressive addition to the growing collection of killer two-man bands currently forming in the shadow of the continued absence of Lightning Bolt and the acceptance of the reality that the price of gas is never going to drop below $3 per gallon anywhere other than Indian reservations and south Texas. The…

You may have heard that there’s a new Rosetta EP on the way (that’s the cover up there), but the band also just announced that it will be playing two special record release shows for Flies to Flame. While our hometown favorites are always worth seeing, these gigs have something extra to offer. Not only…

Globalization really has changed everything, not just for business and our sex lives but for music. How else could you explain the fact that dudes in Mumbai are playing expert technical death metal and the crop of black metal bands in Australia? Case in point: the new album from Overcharge. Now, if you listen to…

There are certain bands I’ve only seen in specific settings, and in some cases it’s something where I’d like it to stay that way. I’m sure some readers might relate. For instance, I’ve seen Sodom four times, all on a cruise ship, and it’s gotten to the point now where the notion of seeing the…

Slaughter of the Soul is arguably one of the best death metal records of the modern era. Genuine classics like “Suicide Nation,” “Slaughter of the Soul,” “Blinded by Fear” and “Under a Serpent Sun” call our neck and brain to action.