** Dark Tranquillity have a new album out. It’s called Construct. As one of the many requirements of writing about metal is interviewing bands when they have new albums out. Hence, this feature. Actually, scratch that. I’ve been interviewing Dark Tranquillity for almost 20 years now, since the Skydancer effort, so me and the Gothenburg…

Those who have been following my writings in the pages of the magazine , on here, or on Twitter (@JeffTreppel) will probably have figured out that I’m not the biggest death metal guy. So, for a death metal band to catch my attention, they really have to be something special. Beyond (Germany) fit that criteria….

Axeslasher and Decibel present an exclusive stream of a song off the gore-obsessed thrashers’ upcoming album Anthology of Terror, Vol. 1, due later this year on Antithetic Records. Mixed and mastered at the Filth Chamber in Denver with producer Patrick Bruss (CRYPTICUS, TOMBSTONES), “Woodland Tortuary” is a tongue-in-cheek look at late ’80s sadism, inspired by…

Like his bandmates in Boston death-thrash champs REVOCATION, Dan Gargiulo should have been getting ready for Summer Slaughter 2013. Y’know, there are important duties to be done before hurtling across the country in a van: like filling said vehicle full of diesel, packing a bag, loading his guitar into the van, stockpiling Cheetos and cancelling…

By Jon Leon (White Wizzard) 5. Watchtower’s Control and Resistance (1989) Possibly the most over-the-top falsetto vocals of all time…Mixed with some of the most technically proficient playing I have ever heard. Everyone talks about Voivod, who are great, but I think this album is superior to anything any technical metal band did in the…

Guitarist and vocalist Joe Wood is best known for his time in T.S.O.L., including the classic Change Today? album – a hybrid of punk and blues that I consider one of the best Southern California punk albums in the early-to-mid 80s. The album’s highlight is “Flowers By The Door,” a near-perfect song that is still…

Dan Swanö. The man. The myth. The machine. The dude’s got more bands, projects, one-offs, production credits, and engineering nods than anyone in the so-called ‘biz.’ Well, he’s returned, with buddy and guitarist extraordinaire Ragnar Widerberg in tow, on new outfit Witherscape. Those in the Swanö Swanclub have known about Witherscape for a day or…

Window display at Sonic Boom in Toronto: trying to pelt the glare into submission with invisible oranges. ***As chronicled by Alia O’Brien, singer/flutist/organist for Canada’s finest occult rockers, from their recently completed tour with Kylesa, White Hills, and Lazer/Wulf. Order their phenomenal new LP, The Eldritch Dark, here As we drove away from Calgary, missing…

Yesterday was Canada Day! In order to celebrate that entirely meaningless (to us US-based folk) event, we are pleased to bring you an exclusive full album stream of Toronto-based swamp metal soldiers Pyres’ debut Year of Sleep, courtesy of Granite House Records. Proof positive that you don’t have to be from warm climes to ooze…

We asked Toronto’s premiere purveyors of “true, unadulterated heavy metal” Cauldron to keep tabs on the havoc and devastation left behind in the wake of the band’s epic America’s Lost tour and dudes did not disappoint. (See earlier posts here and here.) We couldn’t resist beginning the third diary entry at Orion Fest before going…