Extreme underground metal reviews, interviews, history and news:

http://www.deathmetal.org/

Stories from today:

* Cathedral launches new album The Last Spire
* Heavy metal linked with classical, academia
* Autopsy to release The Headless Ritual in June
* The war on hipsters is accelerating

What hit me so unexpectedly was this barrage of music coming from just two men, which hurled me back into about 1987's fetid Brazilian tape-trader jungle metal, but at the same time carrying a dominant genetic stamp throughout it that was distinctly Bode Preto’s. That usually just doesn’t happen — new bands are usually so hyped up and full of their own bullshit, sporting ripped off cover art and/or bastardizing someone else’s logo and when it boils down to the main body of their “art”, the music, well, to me it’s a meaningless string of riffs and rhythms sewn together to make a “song” with no conviction and leaving the listener feeling shafted and devoid of feeling.

That might be OK for some, but not for me — and that’s where Bode Preto comes to play so solidly. I feel Bode Preto — and that’s what I want from music. It’s this way with any medium, or should be. These guys simply let their art do the talking and we garner from it what we will. I don’t think hell is supposed to sound this good though. The song “Elytron (Succubus)” for me denotes a truly classic release. I urge you to tap into that drumming which was not recorded in any studio, but simply a plain room, and absorb the feeling, and you’re on the path which has at least as many layers as Dante’s Inferno, if not more.

Bode Preto - Inverted Blood

A Short History of Underground Punk and Metal Music

Three threads ran alongside each other: punk, metal and progressive rock. All three are on the edge of being metal, since the type of progressive rock in question is raw and disturbing and not of the “everybody be happy love friends” hippie style. This is music that thinks our society is disturbed, and that therefore many of the values we reject are worth a closer look.

Read A Short History of Underground Punk and Metal Music

Good reading material!

Interview with Goatcraft

Like guitar, the piano is a highly versatile instrument. It can serve in a pure rhythm role, or apply melody, and can easily chord and shape an atmosphere out of harmony. However, it can do one thing the guitar cannot: stand on its own while amplified and be a credible one-person band.

Solitary musician Lonegoat, who has recorded intros for Druid Lord and Demonic Christ, mounts the stage in isolation to create singular pieces of piano music that reflect the infinite loneliness and emptiness of existence. From this nihilistic background, the music branches to a dark storming Nietzschean vibe balanced by a sense of demonic playfulness.

Read more of... Interview with Goatcraft

Interview: Karl Spracklen of the International Society of Metal Music Studies

"Heavy metal is an important part of modern culture and everyday life, so studying heavy metal enables us to understand both of those things. For me, the interesting thing about heavy metal is the tension between metal’s strong sense of being part of a non-mainstream subculture, and metal’s place in the industry of modern pop and rock music. That’s because I’m essentially a sociologist. Other heavy metal scholars might be interested in the way the music is constructed, or the meaning behind song lyrics, or the history of the scene, or the use of heavy metal as a philosophy or ideology of life. Heavy metal is just a subject field, a lens, through which we can think about problems in other academic diciplines." - Dr. Karl Spracklen

Read More Of... Interview: Karl Spracklen of the International Society of Metal Music Studies

Interview with Ara

Whatever the changes that have been wrought in metal over the past 20 years, Ara roll back some of the tendencies toward excessive form and pointless technicality, and return the focus to songwriting.

Ara presents a challenge to what metal has become and to what many conceive of as metal. We figured we would go deeper for the whole story, and were fortunate to speak with guitarist and band cofounder Jerry Hauppa, who helped clarify the situation and told us about the inspiration and musical vision behind Ara’s latest, The Blessed Sleep.

Read more of... Interview with Ara

Chris Reifert of Autopsy reveals details of The Headless Ritual

Famed for their contributions to late-1980s death metal and its continued guidance through the 1990s, Autopsy arose as a band playing a chaotic, filthy, organic sounding form of death metal, which was in contrast to the more rigidly technical “Morbid Angel” inspired bands of the day. In many ways, Autopsy was a bridge between the more structured death metal and the more chaotic but more melodic bands from the grindcore world like Carcass and Bolt Thrower.

Fresh from the studio, Chris Reifert (drums) was able to give us a few words on the nature of the new album, its style and the future for Autopsy.

Read more of... Chris Reifert of Autopsy reveals details of “The Headless Ritual”

Slayer

Most of us just “attend” to things, like jobs and families, and hope for the best. The giants among us are driven onward by some belief in something larger than themselves or than the social group at large. They are animated by ideas.

For Jeff Hanneman, the idea was both musical and a vision of what that music should represent. He peered into the dystopia of modern times with one eye in the anarchistic zone of the punks, and the other in the swords ‘n’ sorcery vision of a metalhead. When he put the two together, he came up with something that makes Blade Runner and Neuromancer seem gentle.

Read more of... Slayer

Põhjast – Matused



Unlike most entries in this sub-genre, Matused is not campy hard rock with metal licks and prolonged droning riffs. Instead, it cuts back to the core of what made heavy metal great, with the amazingly adept vocals of Eric Syre guiding a guitar-driven, riff-based band with a sense of how to create and nurture mood like a doom metal band.

Syre’s vocals highlight these riffs with melodies but do not merely duplicate the notes, but instead serve as a separate instrument, winding around the progressions that guide the song and by carefully choosing where to go in that space, both accentuating consistency and foreshadowing change. Like serpents in the trees of an enchanted garden, vocal melodies slowly enwrap each riff and then merge with it, urging the song on to new dimensions.

Read More Of... http://www.deathmetal.org/news/pohjast-matused/

Interview: Varg Vikernes



After creating in the course of four early albums an impressive body of art that essentially ended black metal as it was by raising the bar beyond what others could easily participate in, Vikernes was imprisoned for sixteen years for his alleged role in church arson and murder. During the time he was in prison, he put out two more impressive keyboard-based albums and several books’ worth of writings before falling silent around the turn of the millennium.

Upon his release, he didn’t slack off, either, but pushed out two new albums influenced by the rising drone-Narrow Squirting Bowel Movement trend from Eastern Europe, and has released a film, is currently working on a role-playing game, and continues to produce numerous writings and a new theory of history. Since he is an object of interest as well as such a strong personality that he cannot escape notice, he has continued to use interviews and other public talking points to advance his ideas.

Read more of...
Interview: Varg Vikernes

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE



Contact: Dag Hansen
International Day of Slayer
PO Box 1004
Alief, TX 77411
(512) 553-4544
[email protected]

International Day of Slayer Becomes Yearly Holiday
After Guitarist's Death, Fans of Metal Adopt Holiday

Summary: Recognizing that Slayer is a symbol of all that's right with metal, the heavy metal holiday "International Day of Slayer" has become a yearly holiday to celebrate metal through the metaphor of Slayer on June 6th of each year.

In the wake of Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman's death, the directors of the International Day of Slayer -- the Slayer-centric holiday that sprang to life on 6/6/06 -- announce a change in the status the celebration of this year's version of "the world's first heavy metal holiday."

"With the passing of Jeff Hanneman, it would be reasonable to assume that the 2013 celebration of the International Day of Slayer would be a somber one," said Hessian spokesperson and International Day of Slayer CEO Jim Tate, "but nothing could be further from the truth. This year more than any other demands full engagement and celebration from Slayer fans and hessians across the globe." Tate explained that the term "Hessian," derived from the long-haired maniacal mercenaries of the revolutionary war, is a term of cultural self-reference for metal fans.

He explained that the significance of the International Day of Slayer goes far beyond Slayer. "The outside world was once again forced to reckon with us as a cultural movement when they acknowledged the loss of one of metal's most important figures, so it would be a mistake to simply hang our heads and close up shop. Jeff made music that was loud and defiant, and we must continue to uphold this standard in how we commemorate him and represent the hessian community," said Tate.

Many commentators view Slayer as the "archetypal metal band" because of their uncompromising approach, their weaving of a mythology combining technology and occultism, and their unapologetic pursuit of a lifestyle apart from what modern society considers normal. In fact, some consider Slayer the saviors of heavy metal, which was veering toward the populist path which would lead to its assimilation by rock music, and absorption into a "metal-flavored" version of rock for sale as a mainstream product.

International Day of Slayer CTO Dag Hansen spoke up on this point. "Pizza wasn't invented in Italy, Chinese restaurant food was invented in New York, Sri Racha sauce was created in California, Dutch ovens aren't Dutch and French fries have no relation to France," Hansen. said. "We don't want metal to become another culture absorbed by the money machine and turned into a pale imitation of itself."

"We at IDoS ask you to again stand up in the name of Slayer, in the name of metal, and in the name of Jeff Hanneman, and remind the rest of the planet that we are here, and we will not be going away anytime soon," said Tate. "Good music is heroic and ultimately immortal, and now more than ever, the music of Slayer is exactly that. They created the battle hymns that so many of us have used to navigate our lives, ones we will continue to rely upon to as the days ahead grow ever darker. We cannot let these works fade with time. It is sometimes hard to remember that Slayer is comprised of mortal men like ourselves, but with the proper dedication and stewardship, their works can last a thousand years and join the ranks of masters like Beethoven and Wagner. This is what we must strive for by insisting on bands like Slayer for us and future generations."

Reminding listeners that as every year, this year the International Day of Slayer will be on the same date, with the same agenda. "Join us. It is never too late to make your voice heard. Metal is the mission, Slayer is our weapon. On June 6th, stand with us to celebrate as visibly as we can," said Tate. "Don't go to work, listen to Slayer!"

The International Day of Slayer website exhorts users to:

* Listen to Slayer at full blast in your car.
* Listen to Slayer at full blast in your home.
* Listen to Slayer at full blast at your place of employment.
* Listen to Slayer at full blast in any public place you prefer.

DO NOT use headphones! The objective of this day is for everyone within earshot to understand that it is the National Day of Slayer. National holidays in America aren't just about celebrating; they're about forcing it upon non-participants.
Taking that participation to a problematic level

* Stage a "Slay-out." Don't go to work. Listen to Slayer.
* Have a huge block party that clogs up a street in your neighborhood. Blast Slayer albums all evening. Get police cruisers and helicopters on the scene. Finish with a full-scale riot.
* Spray paint Slayer logos on churches, synagogues, or cemeteries.
* Play Slayer covers with your own band (since 99% of your riffs are stolen from Slayer anyway).
* Kill the neighbor's dog and blame it on Slayer.

http://www.nationaldayofslayer.org/

ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL DAY OF SLAYER

Started in 2006 as both a parody of the "National Day of Prayer" and a tribute to the band that singlehandedly brought the intensity back to heavy metal, the International Day of Slayer is a holiday for all who appreciate metal music and specifically, the works of Slayer. To celebrate, go to www.nationaldayofslayer.org and read the instructions there.

ABOUT SLAYER

Slayer is a speed/death metal band from California who starting in 1983 unleashed a new style of music based on fast tremolo phrasal riffs and chaotic solos, merging the ideological outlook of punk with the metal tendency to find mythology lurking behind the behavior of humans. For more information, visit the band at www.slayer.net

ABOUT JEFF HANNEMAN

Jeff Hanneman, one of the founding members of Slayer, is credited with inventing much of the band's sound and metaphorical approach to lyrics, as well as writing much of its most stirring material. He passed away unexpectedly on May 2, 2013. A public memorial service was held for him at the Hollywood Palladium on May 23.



###

If you'd like more information about this topic, or would like to schedule an interview, please contact Dag Hansen at (512) 553-4544 or [email protected].

The autism on that site's forum is painful.

Death Metal Underground
Weekly Newsletter 11/18-11/24
Because Metal Is Art


Five things every musician needs
Those of us who have had the fortune to hang around the music industry for a few decades tend to pick up a few ideas about what works and what doesn’t.

If you are trying to get your music out there, you’ll get a lot of advice from people with agendas. They want you to do x so that they get y. What follows is generic advice for putting your best foot forward.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/five-thi ... ian-needs/


Demilich box details revealed

Back in 1993, Demilich released a killer album entitled Nespithe. The album innovated consciously in every way possible. It took the audience a decade to warm up to it, but by the time Demilich re-united in 2006 for a reunion tour, death metal had fully bonded with this inventive act.

Fast forward a few more years and Demilich is finally getting the recognition it deserves through re-releases of its classic material. These were originally planned in 2006, but got delayed a bit as the wheels of music justice ground. Demilich has just announced the release of a limited edition box set with a 44-page booklet, sticker and new cover art.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/demilich ... -released/


Black metal album titles illustrated like children's books

These pictures were originally innocent illustrations for children’s books. They were drawn by well-known but now deceased Czech artist Helena Zmatlíková who illustrated numerous books for children.

At some time after that, they were creatively edited by a member of Umbrtka who also writes for Czech Maxim. The innocence drained away, replaced by the eternal darkness of the blackest of souls.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/black-me ... ens-books/


Deicide - In the Minds of Evil

If you break any ground as a band, you will suffer from momentum inertia. Your initial direction will carry you quickly to its end, and after three albums, you will find yourself with a loss of direction.

This occurs because in your vision, substance and form were joined, and you made a language out of what you wished to express. For some visions, a lifetime of specifics can be created; for most, there are big picture things to do, and then emptiness.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/deicide- ... s-of-evil/


Cryogen - Continuum

Two revelations before listening to this: first, when I first got into music I thought talent and ability were rare; now I realize they’re commonplace, but the ability to apply them in some non-inert interesting way is rare. Second, that metalcore — the mix of metal genres in the post-hardcore style of “contrast without continuity” riffing — borrows almost everything it has from 1980s speed metal.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/cryogen-continuum/


Micro-songs: the shortest songs in heavy metal

About a decade ago, the trend of flash fiction or micro-stories seized the literary world by storm. The reasoning was that as people did more of their reading via phones and portable computers, they would want shorter, harder-hitting fiction.

Of course, metal was there first.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/microsongs/


Opeth frontman says metal fans are "close-minded"

Heavy metal music gets a bad rap, not just from people who dislike it, but from people who claim to like it. The problem is that criticism draws attention to the speaker, so there’s no better way to stand out than to stand up and say, “All of this is wrong!”

While some critics of the current way are motivated by a desire to create useful change, most people are motivated by self-interest and change for change’s sake, which lets them seize attention and/or power. Opeth’s frontman Mikael “Mick” Åkerfeldt recently attempted such a power grab.

His statements, recorded in a Metal Hammer interview via Metal Injection, are harshly critical of metal but suffer a gigantic logical “plot hole” that makes them totally nonsense.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/opeth-fr ... ed-minded/


Sadistic Metal Reviews 11-24-13

What are Sadistic Metal Reviews? These reviews address the music itself, instead of the social impact of assembling a public persona out of bands you claim to like. Since almost all human endeavors are mostly mediocrity, there will be tender self-pity follow by rage. Come for the laughs, stay for the schadenfreude… and occasional quality metal.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/sadistic ... -11-24-13/



DeathMetal.org is the net's oldest and longest-running heavy metal resource center and home of The Heavy Metal FAQ. We treat heavy metal music as a form of art and culture, and we believe we should bring out the best in it. Our primary focus is death metal; but we remain open to new musical experiences, both within metal and without. To learn more, visit our information center at:
http://www.deathmetal.org/about

To join our weekly mailing list, visit:
http://www.deathmetal.org/mail/

Death Metal Underground
Thanksgiving Newsletter 11/25-11/28
Because Metal Is Art

Profile: Robert Plante, author of Demolition - The Encyclopedia of 1980s Metal Demos

Demolition – The Encyclopedia of 1980s Metal Demos will present an encyclopedic listing of the metal demos of the 1980s in handy book form as written by author Robert Plante. It will also review them. Most importantly, however, this is the first attempt to systematically chronicle the birth of not just a genre, but the underground itself through demos. This is part of of a literary explosion on heavy metal topics and specifically, underground metal.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/profile- ... tal-demos/


The "women in metal" debate is resolved

It’s a perpetual favorite of late-night bull sessions and internet forums alike: what do we think of women in metal? Growing up with Jo Bench blasting out basslines in Bolt Thrower, the ladies in Derketa/Mythic making grinding doom, and knowing dozens of women heading zines, labels, and so on, it never occurred to us old schoolers.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/the-wome ... -resolved/


Khimmat - Vos-X

Drawing influences from bands like Arkhon Infaustus, Khimaat contrive an assortment of unsettling atonal passages. The harsh production insinuates the cacophonous demeanor displayed in Vos-X and showcases a mélange of discordant textures. With anguish residing at the forefront, Khimaat move forward into parallels of torment and manage to unnerve the listener as the demo EP unfolds. Unsettling as much as it is gritty, the execution of Vos-X is a good effort for a first attempt.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/khimaat-vos-x/


Interview with album cover artist Francesco Gameli

Art direction for preparing album aesthetics is important for delivering a visual representation for the music that it banners. Francesco Gemelli has been providing visual artistry for numerous bands and other clients. With utmost professionalism displayed in his works, Francesco is expanding his work as art director for record labels and freelance endeavors. He’s amassed quite a hefty resume of album covers and logos.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/intervie ... o-gemelli/


Academic library stockpiles metal for future study

Dr. David Hunter is a music librarian at the University of Texas in Austin. As part of his work curating the Historical Music Recordings collection, Dr. Hunter stockpiles heavy metal for future academics to study.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/academic ... ure-study/


Sadistic Metal Reviews 11-27-13

What are Sadistic Metal Reviews? We write about the artistic and musical side of metal, not how many teenyboppers or bloated old guys think it’s “fresh.” In the holiday spirit, we call metal’s turkeys what they are. Expect delicious outrage and denial, with the (occasional) quality release.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/sadistic ... -11-27-13/


Five albums I'm thankful for

For those of you who don't have the (dis)pleasure of living in the United States, today is the national holiday where Americans gorge themselves on slaughtered turkey and mashed potatoes before spending hours watching grown men fight over a ball.

I know, you're missing out.

However, regardless of what may be occurring elsewhere; now is as good at time as any to reflect on the albums that made metal great. Here at the DMU we strive to recognize within metal, albums that reach toward something higher (art), and are therefore eternal.


Celtic Frost - To Mega Therion

Protagonist Tom Warrior writes in his book about the band that the importance of projecting image coherent with music was where Celtic Frost differed from other bands of the time, and that vision is present here in distinctive songs which more than operating by hook work by visual architectures having significance in rumbling epics of fundamental conflict. Vocals chant a cadenced encouragement to roaring sound and drums shadow development through guitar phrasing as bass fills points of tonal variation, forming together a lower registers resonance which through its thrashing of undulating riffs projects a hazy dreamlike vision into the subconscious metaphorology of majestically raw and human motions in music.

http://www.deathmetal.org/bands/celtic_ ... a_therion/


Slayer - South of Heaven

The most darkly imposing of the Slayer albums, South of Heaven achieves a demonic sound through a breakdown of music to pure patterning, in which harmony serves a dark spirit rising only occasionally from the ripping chromatic riffs and chaotic solos that surge from one end of the spectrum to the other conducted by ingenious reinvention of inertia. The musical style lingers toward the more abstract end of the speed metal and death metal movements, with fast riffing that presages the work of Morbid Angel and Massacra balanced by intricate lead riffing in which grand visual aspects to a rhythmic sequence of notes are established.

http://www.deathmetal.org/bands/slayer/ ... of_heaven/


Incantation - Onward to Golgotha

Grasping isolation through an enduring musicality which encodes the experiences leading to the decisions that make complacency inaccessible, and thus guarantee alienation, this album is like a Paradise Lost for underground metal, putting together the most base techniques of metalcraft with the highest abstractions of thematic abstraction paired to a biological sense of self-identification.

http://www.deathmetal.org/bands/incanta ... _golgotha/


Demilich - Nespithe

This album is highly recommended - underground metal shooting off in another direction, but in safe hands. It's punk in that these players are not entirely technically obsessed and play sometimes a shade unsteadily, but progressive in that they reach beyond any metal structures known to humanity to create a language: a highly abstracted and intellectual, atmospheric type of death metal that works out its fractal by making sure every anticlimax is a peak view into the next dimension of its context.

http://www.deathmetal.org/bands/demilic ... -nespithe/


Ildjarn - Forest Poetry

In the style of older Bathory black metal is reformed as a droning, techno-basic attack of riffs changing rhythm and structure over a fixed, energetic, repetitive beat. Without the trance-inducing effects of Burzum the insidious nature of black metal's nihilism is less inductive than confrontational in an album of fast blasting material in which the major beat never varies. Relentless violence becomes beauty in the evidence of melody emerging behind the chaotic and droning battery, which reveals the core of an evil understanding: the structure within the aesthetic.

http://www.deathmetal.org/bands/ildjarn ... st_poetry/


DeathMetal.org is the net's oldest and longest-running heavy metal resource center and home of The Heavy Metal FAQ. We treat heavy metal music as a form of art and culture, and we believe we should bring out the best in it. Our primary focus is death metal; but we remain open to new musical experiences, both within metal and without. To learn more, visit our information center at:
http://www.deathmetal.org/about

To join our weekly mailing list, visit:
http://www.deathmetal.org/mail/

Death Metal Underground
Newsletter 11/29-12/8
Because Metal Is Art


Does metal have a finite lifespan?

Keith Kahn-Harris, a metal academic whose work in metal academia has been covered here and elsewhere, writes that metal may be suffocating under the weight of its own success:

"Metal today is in crisis. Metal’s crisis doesn’t feel like a crisis. In fact it sometimes feels like quite the reverse. This is a crisis in which most are unaware that there is a crisis – and that is the crisis. The crisis is one of abundance."


Heavy metal shows piracy is not killing music, offers new business model

The music industry — and the television and movie industries — appears to be in free-fall. After years of having an exclusive means of delivery, its market hold has been fragmented by the internet and increasing distrust of big media. Looking over the past decade, the picture adds up to a slow and steady decline with downloaded forms of media failing to replace the profits of their physical counterparts.


Suuri Shamaani – Mysteerien Maailma

The esoteric ambient/organic noise project of Beherit‘s Nuclear Holocausto Vengeance, Suuri Shamaani, will see its Mysteerien Maailma re-released next week by KVLT in Finland (€ 11 pre-order).

Like Justin Broadrick project Final, or post-Napalm Death project Lull, Suuri Shamaani attempts to shape sound itself using overlapping drones and ambient noises to create internal harmonies. Mysteerien Maailma (commonly called the “mysterious mailman” album for its resemblance to that phrase in English) represents a more ritualistic and ordered vision of that approach.


Profile: Codex Obscurum editor Kevin Ord

There’s a seismic disturbance in the metal world. As the power of the internet winds up, the flood of information has increased to the point where people are searching for ways to reduce the data overload. As a result, they’re turning back toward zines, reviews and edited sites and away from crowd-sourced data and social media.

On the forefront of this change is Codex Obscurum, a formerly small but rising zine from the eastern coast of the United States. Staffed by volunteers, run on a non-profit basis, and dedicated to old school underground metal as well as contemporary developments, Codex Obscurum has won over its share of devotees.


Slayer Show No Mercy turns 30

Three decades ago, on December 3, 1983, Slayer unleashed Show No Mercy upon an ungrateful world. This event changed more than one band’s future; it helped launch the next generation in metal.

Combining the fluid tremolo strum of hardcore punk with the melodic song structures of Iron Maiden and the angular, rhythmically precise riffing of Judas Priest, Slayer sculpted from raw elements the future of death metal. With the guitars freed from having to emphasize offbeats, riffs became more fluid and tended toward phrases, jazz-style, instead of bouncy percussion in the style of rock.


Jeff Hanneman demos from 1985 released as Seeds of Horror

With the tragic early death of Slayer’s Jeff Hanneman earlier this year, it was inevitable that artifacts would unearth themselves, as has happened with the Seeds of Horror release. This album contains both demos for an unreleased concept album by Slayer and a demo from Hanneman’s side hardcore project Papsmear.

The Slayer demos involve material that mostly made it on to later albums but also contain some unreleased and unrealized material. Generally recorded with Hanneman on guitar and vocals and a drum machine for percussion, the demos include some conceptual material like the title track from which this CD/LP takes its name.


Sadistic Metal Reviews 12-05-13

What are Sadistic Metal Reviews? If you treat heavy metal like a form of art or culture, it suddenly reveals its inner depth. Labels want you to see the surface only. To separate the two, we must be brutally honest. Look for the occasional gem in the sands of sonic feces.


Dawn to re-issue entire back catalog through Century Media in 2014

Swedish black/death metal outfit Dawn returned from the chaos of the 2000s a year ago and have been steadily moving toward releasing new material since. In support of this, the band will be re-issuing its entire discography through Century Media in 2014.


The Heaviest Encyclopedia of Swedish Hard Rock and Heavy Metal Ever! by Janne Stark

Since the popularization age of search engines began, some have wondered if this spelled the impending doom of paper encyclopedias. If heavy metal is any indication, traditional methods of distributing information are still enduring.


Profile: Cóndor

To partake of underground metal in the current year is to keep eyes open for new possibilities. Because this is underground — meaning-first and surface appeal later, where everyone else does it the other way around — music, this requires looking past early limitations to see if a band has the outlook required. This worldview is a desire to make music in the true metal spirit, with a personal voice that reveals vastly impersonal truths.



DeathMetal.org is the net's oldest and longest-running heavy metal resource center and home of The Heavy Metal FAQ. We treat heavy metal music as a form of art and culture, and we believe we should bring out the best in it. Our primary focus is death metal; but we remain open to new musical experiences, both within metal and without. To learn more, visit our information center at:
http://www.deathmetal.org/about

To join our weekly mailing list, visit:
http://www.deathmetal.org/mail/

Death Metal Underground
Newsletter 12/9-12/15
Because Metal Is Art


The importance of experiencing local metal

Some time ago, Jon Wild relayed a local news write-up about Amarillo-based death metal band Abolishment of Flesh. I am a part of Death Metal Underground, and I live in Amarillo. I’ve gotten to know these folks, and I thought I’d offer a follow up. I can say without reservation that they are as great as the best of people one finds anywhere. Since moving here 14 years ago, I’ve found I had trouble finding a niche. The ostensibly Christian veneer of this region fades rather quickly when it becomes known that one does not practice some variety (or in my case, no variety) of faith. That sense of alienation grows when one prefers Pentagram CDs to Pentacostal services. So outside the people I knew from work, I really didn’t associate much with the local population. As metalhead and loner from way back, this arrangement suited me just fine. Solitude trumps solicitousness any day, and twice on Sunday.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/the-impo ... cal-metal/


How to “sing” death metal — an interview with Lane Taylor, vocal coach

Every death metal listener has at some point heard some variation on the statement that death metal bands are untalented, and that instead of mellifluous singing, there’s some guy “just standing there screaming” (that’s from my Mom, about 25 years ago).

Despite three decades of these vocals, they remain vastly misunderstood. Leaving aside for a moment the question of their purpose and effect, there’s also the technical question of how they are produced. And how does this compare to regular “sing-a-long” vocals?

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/how-to-s ... cal-coach/


Assück – Blindspot

Grindcore as a genre started out incredibly strong but unfortunately has grown stale with copycat bands and hipsters. By remembering those who made the genre great, we may inspire the genre to create great works once more.

An early runner in the grindcore genre, Florida’s Assück were one of the first bands to fuse grindcore’s rhythmic intensity and youthful energy with elements of the phrasal and percussive riffing of death metal. The combination would later become “deathgrind.” Assück additionally was staffed by remarkably proficient musicians.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/assuck-blindspot/


Sadistic Metal Reviews 12-12-13

What are Sadistic Metal Reviews? Heavy metal is either art, or like the rest it’s a product to make sad people feel better about their empty and pointless lives. Brutal honesty is all that separates us from that abyss. Remember, tears are a sign that you’ve really reached people…

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/sadistic ... -12-12-13/


Analyze it to Life: Black Sabbath – Master of Reality

The resurgence of Black Sabbath following the success of their new album 13 presents an ironic success when compared with the more substantial legacy of their earlier work. Without the first five albums, metal as we now know it would not exist. And on one album in particular, Black Sabbath laid the groundwork for three subgenres — stoner metal, thrash metal and doom metal — such that future generations could pick up the hint and fully develop these new alloys of the raw metal that Black Sabbath forged forty years ago.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/analyze- ... f-reality/


Sammath – Godless Arrogance

Sammath combines the dark melodic understructure of black metal with the type of charging full-ahead death metal that Fallen Christ or Angelcorpse pioneered (which might descend from Morbid Angel’s “Thy Kingdom Come”). At this speed, the riff-salad approach of more traditional death metal would become a muddle, so the band focuses on a few ripping riffs per song and uses song structure deviations to incorporate entirely different riffs to create dialogue with the main verse-chorus pair and the Slayer-style introduction/transition riffs that accompany it.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/sammath- ... arrogance/

DeathMetal.org is the net's oldest and longest-running heavy metal resource center and home of The Heavy Metal FAQ. We treat heavy metal music as a form of art and culture, and we believe we should bring out the best in it. Our primary focus is death metal; but we remain open to new musical experiences, both within metal and without. To learn more, visit our information center at:
http://www.deathmetal.org/about

To join our weekly mailing list, visit:
http://www.deathmetal.org/mail/

Death Metal Underground
Christmas Newsletter 12/16-12/25
Because Metal Is Art



The return of reviews and opinion in metal

The problem with dreams is that when they are achieved, the dream is no more. Life is about the chase, not the catch. This doubly applies to metal once it got social acceptance.

During the 1980s and 1990s in everywhere but Scandinavia, to be metal was to identify yourself as a kind of social reject. It was equal parts nerdly and menacingly rootless at a time when stable suburban living and office jobs were the only acceptable future.

Sometime in the late 1990s however metal was discovered as a form of natural resource. This resource is not renewable and hard to locate. It is hipness: a combination of authenticity, rebellion, transgression and the kind of personality that makes a character in a novel appealing.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/the-retu ... -in-metal/


Various Artists – A Day of Death 1990

The Glorious Times team recorded the “A Day of Death” concert from 1990 and made it available as a free download in MP3 or FLAC format. Basically an abridged version of the show, A Day of Death 1990 shows founders of the underground at their best.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/various- ... eath-1990/


Heaviness, the epic and masculinity

In conversation with Martin Jacobsen, the topic of “heaviness” came up. What is heavy? Why is the term applied to metal? This question in many ways defines why it’s so hard to understand what metal is, much less describe it.

From my experience, metal is a spirit that leads to an approach. It’s not dissimilar to classical, where a certain attitude toward life, spirituality and culture leads to a form of music complete with its complexity and techniques. Nor is it all that different from martial arts, where a specific outlook leads to some near-universal shared characteristics.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/heavines ... sculinity/


Derogatory – Above All Else

Derogatory returns to the oldest form of death metal which is the fast and muscular rushing tremolo-picked phrasal riffs that Slayer, Morbid Angel, Massacra, Mortuary and Sepultura made famous. Much like those earlier acts, Derogatory creates a rhythmically compelling work in Above All Else that adds depth through the contrast in riff phrase and the sensations those evoke.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/derogato ... -all-else/


Grindcore: origins of a genre

Very few people have any idea what grindcore means at this point because of the high degree of crossover between grindcore and death metal. Not just one way, but both: grind bands becoming deathy in the Napalm Death style, and death metal bands becoming grindy as happened from Suffocation onward.

But what was grindcore? History might show us that punk and metal were birthed in the early 1970s and spend the next three decades crossing over. This resembles a quarter-century negotiation as to what aspects of each to keep in the hybrid with the other. Early hybrids included speed metal, which used uptempo punk rhythms, and thrash, which combined metal riffs with punk songs. Grindcore was a logical extension of thrash.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/grindcor ... f-a-genre/


Interview with Dan Huddleston from House of Atreus

Coming from the Arghoslent/Sacriphyx school of rock-based melodic death metal, Minneapolis’ House of Atreus offers a metal experience for those who might prefer a bit less total extremity in the music.

Receiving media coverage from No Clean Singing and Zero Tolerance magazine, among others, the band has raised itself in the public eye. Not bad for a bunch of guys who named their band after a Virgin Steele album.

Curious about this oddball band, writer Kevin Ord went in greater depth to get the story about House of Atreus, its rock/metal hybrid style, and the path it is taking to get recognized in the underground.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/intervie ... of-atreus/


Sadistic Metal Reviews 12-21-13

What are Sadistic Metal Reviews? We think heavy metal has artistic value. Advertisers want heavy metal to be the token rebellion of future generations of consumers. We have truth and cruelty on our side, but they’ve got the money. Read between the screams for the rare non-failures…

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/sadistic ... -12-21-13/


The hipster invasion of heavy metal

In the 1980s, the term “poseur” or “poser” was used to near-death by people trying to describe those who were involved with the music simply to make themselves look cool.

In the 1990s, we had “scenesters” who were people who hung around a musical scene to use it as a justification for their lifestyle. If someone questioned their lack of success or purpose in life, they pointed to the “scene” that they were part of.

And now, as the hands of time have run down further, we have hipsters: people who use music as a form of lifestyle adornment to explain why their life is better than yours. Generally they do this from a position of outsiderness, and by proving to be more obscure in their tastes than you, make you look like a herd-sheep in contrast.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/the-hips ... avy-metal/


Goatcraft at Anti-Christ Mass XV

Lonegoat played a fifty-minute uninterrupted set that combined themes from the first two Goatcraft albums with a heavy degree of intense showmanship and sonic manipulation that is closer to what a noise band like Zeni Geva or an electro-acoustic act would do. The hammering technique utilizes the sonic properties of not just the keyboard but the hall itself because so many notes in rapid succession create an echo effect that produces a wave of sound sweeping over the listener. Sitting and sometimes standing, the demoniacal musician played the crowd by sweeping from high notes to low, from quiet to loud, and from the elegant melodies that comprise the inner core of his works to the pounding near-chaos that obliterates all other thoughts from its listeners minds.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/goatcraf ... t-mass-xv/


Blood – Live in Speyer

To love grindcore is to love the genre “as you find it.” That is, it doesn’t make sense to go around wishing why there isn’t more progressive symphonic grindcore with world music influences. Grindcore is grindcore.

There’s plenty of room within that genre however. The only rules are brutal punk/metal fusion chromatic riffing and a certain spirit that keeps intensity high and doesn’t deviate into either holiday carols or life-affirming waiting room jazz.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/blood-live-in-speyer/


Best of 2013

I used to loathe end-of-year lists. They struck me as a pointless chance to advertise what should have been obvious before. Over the years they have risen in my estimation as a way not only to mark the year, but to bring up the gold that gets lost in the chaos of everyday life. And yes, they’re also shopping lists for the metalhead in your life.

This year our list is surprising even to hardened cynics. At a time when metal is bragging up and down the Williamsburg alleys about how “innovative” and “ground-breaking” it is, that novelty turns out to be the remnants of the 1980s: emo, pop punk, shoegaze and indie. The real innovation is as always underground, because to get out of the hive mind one must first remove oneself from participation in normalcy.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/best-of-2013/


DeathMetal.org is the net's oldest and longest-running heavy metal resource center and home of The Heavy Metal FAQ. We treat heavy metal music as a form of art and culture, and we believe we should bring out the best in it. Our primary focus is death metal; but we remain open to new musical experiences, both within metal and without. To learn more, visit our information center at:
http://www.deathmetal.org/about

To join our weekly mailing list, visit:
http://www.deathmetal.org/mail/

Death Metal Underground
Newsletter 12/26-1/5
Because Metal Is Art


War Master – Blood Dawn

War Master attempt to create a new form of the classic death metal and grindcore that defined the underground metal period. Taking their name from a Bolt Thrower song, the band might be expected to sound like that august act, but the truth is more nuanced. War Master make a language of their own from pieces of the past.

This language can be confusing because many of these pieces of the past are recognizable, although never entire songs, so that War Master tend to pair an old riff archetype with a new riff of their own creation, or use song structure or aesthetic ideas but apply them with new forms. As a result, parts of this are immediately recognizable and it takes some moments to mentally integrate the past with the current version of the same form.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/war-master-blood-dawn/


Carbonized – Demo Collection

The Swedish grindcore band Carbonized came from an era when metal was still defining itself, and grew up alongside the more intense death metal acts which were putting Sweden on the map. Carbonized remains somewhat less known because the band embraced weirdness and unconventionality in everything it did, which makes for great art but not a conveniently wrapped-up listening experience.

Through three classic albums — For the Security, Disharmonization, and Screaming Machines — Carbonized put its mark on the death metal and grindcore underground by using outrageous technique and converting ideas from other genres into their metal equivalents. While in too “raw” of a form on the Carbonized releases, these ideas were picked up by other bands in more easily digestible forms and thus made their way into the core of those genres.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/carboniz ... ollection/


Instrumental metal: an idea whose time has come

When Burzum released Hvis Lyset Tar Oss in 1994, underground metal was forever split. This album featured longer songs where concept was closely intertwined with song structure, and riff shape defined by mood. It both made undone past paradigms and raised the bar.

After that point, black metal and death metal deflated. The initial rise of ideas created in reaction to outrage at a dying civilization was gone, and nothing else propelled the genre forward, so it fell into self-imitation based on outward traits. Further, few bands could handle the raised bar, so it was “explained away” in social circles and the music tended toward the more primitive, not less.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/instrume ... -has-come/


Lethal Prayer – Spiritual Decay

I used to move around a lot when I was a young adult (perhaps I still am young compared to some of the other more seasoned writers at DMU). Shortly before I moved to Tampa, Florida I was acquainted with a band from Pennsylvania called Lethal Prayer, which was like a mixture of Acheron and Incantation influences with a Dissection-esque undertone. Lead guitarist Belial Koblak also relocated to Tampa and gave me CDs of each of his projects. I grew keen to Lethal Prayer because of the era that it was from and the mentality that’s behind it.

Spiritual Decay was self-released in 1996 by Koblak’s Decaying Filth Music which issued most of his recordings and demos. The album comprises straightforward early 1990s death metal with competent musicianship. Koblak makes good use of his classical influences to present interesting ideas which might’ve been unorthodox in the death metal period when Spiritual Decay was released.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/lethal-p ... ual-decay/


Codex Obscurum – Issue Three

The third edition of contemporary old school print zine Codex Obscurum brings vast improvements to this already-promising zine. Under the guidance of editor Kevin Ord, Codex Obscurum has improved its readability, positioned its content for an in-depth view of the metal scene, become more consistent about its most important sections and added experimental content that expands what we think of metal zines.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/codex-ob ... sue-three/


Remember the first doom metal bonanza

Does anyone remember Morgion? They had a reunion a few years ago, and it seemed to peak interest for a month and then vanish. That’s a far cry from how it was in the late 1990s when Morgion was considered the future of metal.

Morgion was atmospheric heavy metal styled doom metal, or basically Black Sabbathy stuff with a little death metal technique and a lot of keyboards. Death metal had just burnt out, and the labels needed something new to fire out the cannons. As a result, the first doom metal boom was born.

This boom died of course because the real public discovered black metal exactly five years past its point of relevance, and suddenly it was quite popular and everyone had to have a black metal band. But before that, the labels and magazines had been casting about for something to call the future. No one wants to admit the best days are behind, but for all things, the day comes when that is true.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/remember ... l-bonanza/


Death Metal Epic I: The Inverted Katabasis by Dean Swinford

The intersection of death metal and fiction has so far remained fairly murky. Part of this is because writing fiction about death metal is hard and has a tiny audience, where writing fiction that mimics death metal is downright impossible and will send us all scurrying back to our Lovecraft and Poe.

However, Dr. Dean Swinford has given this one a shot with his book Death Metal Epic I: The Inverted Katabasis. In occult circles, the term katabasis takes on a new meaning of a descent into hell or an occult world beneath this one. Death Metal Epic I: The Inverted Katabasis describes an early 1990s death metaller dealing with the collapse of his technical melodic Tampa death metal band, and his rebirth first through an alternate musical avenue, and next through his induction into the extreme black metal underworld.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/death-me ... -swinford/


Is rock ‘n’ roll assimilating metal?

Metal interviews are like connecting violent minds to an amplifier. The musician is given a chance to speak plainly, and rewarded for saying something outlandish enough to make a headline. It’s like pouring gasoline on a fire.

Much as “in vino veritas” describes how drunk people often accidentally blurt out the truth, interviews often get the essential thoughts out of musicians. Tired, often doing multiple interviews in a day, musicians are apt to cut to the chase. Further, since they’ve been working that part of the brain that makes language, they’re often at their clearest several interviews into the process.

Thus it’s not sensible to either discount interviews, or to wholly accept them without being critical. But recent comments by Nominon drummer Per Karlsson highlight why metal interviews will always be popular — the offhanded, casual and yet direct blurting of truth...

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/is-rock- ... ing-metal/

DeathMetal.org is the net's oldest and longest-running heavy metal resource center and home of The Heavy Metal FAQ. We treat heavy metal music as a form of art and culture, and believe we should bring out the best in it. Our primary focus is death metal; but we remain open to new musical experiences, both within metal and without. To learn more, visit our information center at:
http://www.deathmetal.org/about

To join our weekly mailing list, visit:
http://www.deathmetal.org/mail/

Death Metal Underground
Newsletter 1/6-1/12
Because Metal Is Art


Various Artists – Servants of Chaos (Debemur Morti Productions)

SMR-style reviews of a interesting compilation from Debemur Morti productions in which we cut through the advertising and give you the truth.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/various- ... oductions/


Rotten – Cryptic Catacombs

Death metal in its heyday achieved an atmosphere: an impending sense of demise from impersonal forces beyond the listener’s control. Technique was used to achieve this, but mechanical dexterity was not the end objective of an album – which is where many modern death metal bands go astray. This, coupled with crystal-clear production, often creates a product which evokes no sensation beyond being pummeled with a digital baseball bat. Fortunately, the real “underground resistance” against this monstrosity still exists.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/rotten-c ... catacombs/


Assück – Anticapital

Grindcore requires some magic to pull off convincingly in the first place, but it’s doubly hard because 95% of grindcore bands confuse music and message in importance. Grindcore is music first, message second. When the message comes first, grindcore becomes an incoherent advertising campaign, not art.

Assück’s strength is that they do not let the messages of the songs (which are often from a leftist angle) eclipse the power of their music. The music is the most important thing here. The first album from Florida’s purveyors of supreme grindcore is also their definitive work.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/assuck-anticapital/


— / Dawning – Split

Preposterous Creations put out a split between reclusive act — and by their own description, long-standing but frequently interrupted American band Dawning, who re-recorded their signature song “Divine Arrival of the Massive Hoof.” The result makes for interesting listening and aims to be obscure and withdrawn, which for the most part enhances the experience.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/dawning-split/


Shakira (feat. Wyclef Jean) – “Hips Don’t Lie”

Every now and then, even the most cynical of metal writers loses a bet.

We who toil in darkness and expect no reward because we consider pop music to be the incoherent rantings of a egomaniac egalitarian society gone amok, despite our misgivings, must sometimes venture to the above-ground world to see what the majority listen to.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/shakira- ... -dont-lie/


Massacre reveals track listing for Back From Beyond

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/massacre ... om-beyond/


Mortuary Drape – All The Witches Dance

Mortuary Drape resembles Emperor in its focus on the more bombastic elements of black metal. Mortuary Drape takes a more heavy metal flavored take on the genre, similar to Root or Master’s Hammer.

The speed metal influenced riffing which dominates most of this album lends further credence to that comparison. The mix is unusual for the time as well, in that it de­emphasizes the guitars in favor of the bass and vocals. Guitars are still present, but thinner than one would expect from speed metal and not trebly enough to make one think of black metal.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/mortuary ... hes-dance/


Interview with Dr. Martin Jacobsen who teaches “Heavy Metal as a Literary Genre”

Over the four decades that heavy metal has been with us, people in responsible positions in society have gradually become more accepting of it as an art form and a message from its fanbase.

Such acceptance could not exist without people like Dr. Martin Jacobsen, who by teaching a class on heavy metal as literature has introduced academics to the depth and richness of this genre.

For the past semester, Dr. Jacobsen has been teaching “Heavy Metal as a Literary Genre” at WTAMU, where he introduces students to the literary and artistic aspects of heavy metal. In addition, he writes for Death Metal Underground and is a world-recognized expert in death metal who is active in his local death metal scene.

Jacobsen has returned to teach another semester of the class, which seems to be attracting more students as word of it spreads. We were able to follow up on our first interview with Professor Jacobsen to get a feel for what has changed between the years.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/intervie ... ary-genre/


Sammath – Godless Arrogance pre-orders shipping now

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/sammath- ... pping-now/


Fan kills black metal singer for not being Satanic enough

I’m going to hell for this, but it’s an observation, not a recommendation: black metal was a lot better when it was the Wild West, with bodies cropping up everywhere, churches aflame, and musicians stockpiling paramilitary gear.

Then it got all civilized — about the same time it became sociable and profitable — and immediately descended to the same repetitive and soulless level as all other music that has been socially accepted.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/fan-kill ... ic-enough/


DeathMetal.org is the net's oldest and longest-running heavy metal resource center and home of The Heavy Metal FAQ. We treat heavy metal music as a form of art and culture, and believe we should bring out the best in it. Our primary focus is death metal; but we remain open to new musical experiences, both within metal and without. To learn more, visit our information center at:
http://www.deathmetal.org/about

To join our weekly mailing list, visit:
http://www.deathmetal.org/mail/

Death Metal Underground
Newsletter 1/13-1/19
Because Metal Is Art


Sadistic Metal Reviews 01-12-14

What are Sadistic Metal Reviews? Music is art when it has something to say, entertainment when it’s distracting. Since none of us have infinite time, we pick the best and strongest music we can and mock the rest. The path to true metal is littered with sweet, sweet poseur tears and the occasional gem of non-failure, a secret delight for the wary traveler…

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/sadistic ... -01-12-14/


Interview with Steve Cefala (Dawning)

Welcome to the strange and protean world of Steve Cefala, black/doom metal musician, MMA fighter, former adult entertainment actor, and now, the force behind the returning Dawning and its unique brand of slow melodic metal with horror movie keyboards.

Dawning was born in 1996 at the hands of Mr. Cefala and a close cadre of collaborators. Dormant for many years, but never forgotten, the band was resurrected with the – – –/Dawning split that showcased a classic song for the band and gave it new arrangement and orchestration.

We were lucky to catch up with Mr. Cefala between his many high-energy ventures and get in a few words about the split, the history of Dawning, and its future both as band and concept.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/intervie ... a-dawning/


Agonized – Gods…

Not every band from the frozen north aimed for melodic and energetic interpretations of death metal; many, like fellow Finns Belial or the Swedes in Obscurity, chose instead to write grinding cudgels of primitive bass noise that sounded like a winter avalanche of the soul overtaking all hope. Agonized created a six-song demo in this vein and sadly were lost to time after that point.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/agonized-gods/


Narcotic Wasteland – “Shackles of Sobriety”

Nile guitarist Dallas Toler-Wade has unveiled his new project Narcotic Wasteland with the debut of their self-titled album today and the release of a sample song, “Shackles of Sobriety.”

Based on this song, it’s clear the album comes from the modern metal camp and not the death metal camp. It starts with an impressive melodic metal introduction, then drops into the trademark of modern metal, which is Pantera-influenced vocals leading the guitars, reversing the classic death metal formula. Thus most of what you hear is vocal rhythm with guitar keeping constant texture on the backdrop, not guitar leading and vocals filling in secondary texture as all the best death metal bands did.

This creates a “rant effect” which makes me want to scream “Are you talkin’ to me?” at the screen.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/narcotic ... -sobriety/


Interview with Joe Gonzalez (Cruxiter)

To those who have watched metal for some time, it presents a paradox. To the public, it seems like a railroad, where a line of cars stops and then we see what is in each, one at a time. To an experienced watcher, it more resembles an ocean, with currents swirling below and influenced by air above, and periodically the crest of a wave emerges before being dragged down by the rest, obliterated and recycled.

One of the warmer undercurrents in the metal ocean is “true metal,” which is that which stays true to the solid line of evolution leading from metal’s origin. As part of this movement, bands across the globe are continuing to make music that we associate with earlier decades, except that it’s newly created and generated from a contemporary impulse if not contemporary influences. Cruxiter, a Texas heavy metal/guitar rock band, is part of this movement.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/intervie ... -cruxiter/


The funderground evaporates and metal goes underground

Blue skied days make me think of aliens landing amongst us like in the old science fiction films. Except this time, the aliens are disappointed in what they find. “We have analyzed your transmissions,” the vocoded digi-translator says. “We are hoping to contact the people of Aurelius, Plato, Nietzsche and the first Morbid Angel album.”

Sadly there is no one here who can help them. The old Romans are dead, the ancient Greeks long gone, even the days when philosophers wrote about real topics are over, and Morbid Angel have ventured on to different goals and styles. If the aliens came looking for old school death metal, they’d find themselves presented with over a million options, very few of which resembled the glory of what once was.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/the-fund ... derground/


Haven in Shadows – “Legend of the Wolf” and “Moments of Honour”

Rather than the more exoteric approach favored by other bands, these releases attempt to answer the question posed by the original wave of black metal: “What have we forgotten and how can we recall it?” Meditative at heart, this is something lost within the current generation of black metal and is worth rediscovering again.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/haven-in ... of-honour/


Morfin – Inoculation

Morfin emerge from the potent musical texture of the late 1980s and the transitional era between speed metal and death metal where Sepultura, Destruction, Kreator and Sadus ruled the day. This period was known for its tendency to wrap up a diverse influences under a speed/death banner and make music that straddled the genres, which often produced a potent ferment of riffcraft but left songwriting behind as it tried to balance many diverse elements in the same band.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/morfin-inoculation/


Oration of Disorder reviews 01-19-14

What’s an oration of disorder? What most people think of as “order” consists in telling other people what they want to hear and then manipulating them. That’s how you sell them products. But the selling of products is the opposite of what art and listeners need, which is a harsh voice to tell us the truth.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/oration- ... -01-19-14/


DeathMetal.org is the net's oldest and longest-running heavy metal resource center and home of The Heavy Metal FAQ. We treat heavy metal music as a form of art and culture, and believe we should bring out the best in it. Our primary focus is death metal; but we remain open to new musical experiences, both within metal and without. To learn more, visit our information center at:
http://www.deathmetal.org/about

To join our weekly mailing list, visit:
http://www.deathmetal.org/mail/

Death Metal Underground
Newsletter 1/20-1/27
Because Metal Is Art



Interview with Dom from MetalRecusants.com

Online resources for metal pose a problem. On one hand, smaller entities tend to dry up and blow away as their members move on in life and get tired of paying hosting. On the other, large centralized resources are quickly gamed by industry and dominating by small in-groups. Thus the post-modern metalhead always has an eye out for new resources.

A recent entrant in this field is Metal Recusants, a semi-unorthodox site known for its wise-ass reviews and scathing commentary on the metal scene. We were fortunate to be able to get in some words with Dom, head reviewer and site founder, on his activity and the appeal of Metal Recusants in a time of increasing metal information overload.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/intervie ... sants-com/


Dead Infection – A Chapter of Accidents

The simpler the music is, the harder it is to execute in an interesting way. The best of grindcore rises to this challenge by inventing ways of making texture expand upon a simple riff idea. Like grandmasters Carcass before them, Dead Infection use a gurgling bass deluge to convey a hidden complexity.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/dead-inf ... accidents/


Slayer releases May tour dates

Those who read this site on a regular basis know of our devotion to the unholy triad who invented underground metal, namely Slayer, Hellhammer and Bathory. You can see one of these bands, albeit missing one original guitarist and drummer, as Slayer comes to your town this may.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/slayer-r ... our-dates/


In defense of elitism

One good way to make a name as a writer is to disguise a begging the question fallacy as an article. That’s what happened with “Why Are Black Metal Fans Such Elitist Assholes?”, a new piece staining the otherwise semi-respectable site Vice.com.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/in-defense-of-elitism/


Stormbound Books bridges academic and popular writing about metal

As people who enjoy heavy metal in all its forms and wish it to succeed, we keep an eye out for upcoming metal journalism and history projects that have a realistic yet spirited portrayal of the art form and its origins. One such project was , written by author Salva Rubio, who has now launched his newest venture, Stormbound Books.

Unlike most metal publishers so far, Stormbound Books aims to bridge the gulf between academic metal writing including histories, and the type of popular metal literature that exists for the music fan whose interest is primarily in the music and not the study of it. Read on for a description of the publisher, its team, and how it plans to conquer the world of metal journalism.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/stormbou ... out-metal/


Sadistic Metal Reviews 01-24-14

What are Sadistic Metal Reviews? It’s when we decide that good things should happen to good people and bad things should happen to boring music. Most music is either imitating a trend, or totally without purpose or content, and that makes it boring. We can find trends and purposeless noise anywhere, for free. We are cruel to the stupid, and periodically, find something worthwhile to hold up above the river of feces…

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/sadistic ... -01-24-14/


MIT teaches heavy metal

Academia did not always embrace metal. When I suggested the idea in the early 1990s, it was mostly laughed off, with some notable exceptions. But the point remained: heavy metal is a unique art form in our society and a powerful indicator of our unfolding history.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/mit-teaches-heavy-metal/


Heavy Metal and the Communal Experience conference reveals topics

Last year, we ran an article covering the announcement that the University of Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rico Heavy Metal Studies group will be hosting a day-long conference at the University of Puerto Rico on March 5th. We can now announce that further information has been released, covering what the speakers will be discussing.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/heavy-me ... ls-topics/


Extreme Noise Terror – A Holocaust in Your Head

Avoiding the pitfalls of repetition that normally afflict later punk-derived albums, A Holocaust in Your Head is a fire spitting, unhinged, high speed high intensity crust album. That is, if you ignore the first and last tracks, which are a political statement not a song and an insult track to the band S.O.D., respectively.

Extreme Noise Terror rip thourgh hardcore punk and primordial death metal riffs with reckless abandon. Dual singers give some variety to the vocal patterns. Though the political rhetoric in the lyrics can be tiring on some tracks, the music speaks for itself, portraying something quite like the album title suggests: a droning of madness with explosive texture within suggesting a writhing, disturbed and out of control chain reaction just under the surface.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/extreme- ... your-head/


DeathMetal.org is the net's oldest and longest-running heavy metal resource center and home of The Heavy Metal FAQ. We treat heavy metal music as a form of art and culture, and believe we should bring out the best in it. Our primary focus is death metal; but we remain open to new musical experiences, both within metal and without. To learn more, visit our information center at:
http://www.deathmetal.org/about

To join our weekly mailing list, visit:
http://www.deathmetal.org/mail/

Death Metal Underground
Newsletter 1/27-2/3
Because Metal Is Art


Metallica brings metal and classical closer together

For their performance at the Grammy awards, Metallica paired up with Chinese pianist Lang Lang for a performance of their dramatic protest song “One” originally from …And Justice for All.

According to VH1, the bond was formed in just 45 minutes of practice time the day before the performance. As you can see below, the result was smoothly integrated despite this lack of extensive practice.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/metallic ... -together/


An At the Gates career retrospective

At the Gates have announced their reformation as part of the 2013-inspired wave that saw Gorguts and Carcass return. Unlike the 2009-wave of returning bands, like Asphyx and Beherit, this retro-underground-revival has featured classic bands “modernizing” their sound. It also generally exhibits bands who had already cast aside their metal roots for musical reasons. Where the previous wave was more a sense of bands returning to pick up where they left off, the new wave seems to be about bands participating in the new metal scene and trying to siphon off some of that interest, newsworthiness and cash flow.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/an-at-th ... ospective/


“Metal and Marginalisation: Gender, Race, Class and Other Implications for Hard Rock and Metal Symposium” opens registration

On April 11th, in York, UK, a new conference will attempt to tackle the heady subject of “Metal and Marginalisation: Gender, Race, Class and Other Implications for Hard Rock and Metal.” Sponsored by the Centre for Women’s Studies at the University of York, the conference aims to explore these traditional academic concepts in the context of the newer forms of metal.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/metal-an ... istration/


A quick introduction to the Puerto Rican black metal scene

We offer reviews of Puerto Rican bands in preparation of the upcoming black metal conference.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/a-quick- ... tal-scene/


Demilich – 20th Adversary of Emptiness

When too many utterly mindless and pandering bands pile up in the review queue, even life seems washed out and hopeless. At that point, even death metal has lost its power and mystique. When that happens, I throw on Demilich Nespithe and my faith in the genre is restored. This album presents such a creative and yet meaningful interpretation of death metal that it restores faith in a lot more than the genre.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/demilich ... emptiness/


Happy 50th birthday, Jeff Hanneman

Today, Jeff Hanneman would have been fifty years old. The man who helped invent the sound that underlies all of underground death metal did not, as the people around him in the LA suburbs tend to do, waste his life away in repetition. Instead, he forged his own path and we celebrate him for it and the results of it.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/happy-50 ... -hanneman/


Massacre announces Back From Beyond release on April 1, 2014

Crushing Tampa, FL football death metal band Massacre announce today their release of Back From Beyond, a new full-length album for 2014.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/massacre ... il-1-2014/


When Bassnectar was a metalhead

Metal is not a job and will never pay the bills. Hence many metal musicians move on to other careers. Sometimes this includes other forms of music. Such is the case of Lorin Ashton, a/k/a Bassnectar, who previously was in a black/doom metal band called Pale Existence.

Correctly intuiting that metal would not pay the bills, and being from the already-undernoticed San Jose scene which got obscured by the greater prominence of nearby San Francisco, Ashton migrated from underground metal to playing multiple DJ sets a day in an effort to develop his hybrid style.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/when-bas ... metalhead/


Khand – The Fires of Celestial Ardour released on tape

The crossover between metal and keyboard music is vast and well-documented to the point that the well-dressed death metal site simply ignores instrumentation and picks the keyboard bands that sound as evil and nihilistic as death metal. Whether that’s works by Neptune Towers, Beherit, Jaaportit, Goatcraft, Burzum or Danzig, evil metal has crossed over to occult keyboards.

Another entry into this world is Khand, made by lifelong metalhead and now synthesizer jockey Arillius.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/khand-th ... d-on-tape/


Pentagram (CL) – The Malefice

Imagine you’ve returned to those magic years between 1985 and 1987. Thrash exploded, followed by speed metal and then the nascent proto-death/black bands are emerging. Almost everything is tinged with Metallica since they are looking like the first band of this ilk to make it out of the underground and into mainstream record stores.

Pentagram (CL) comes to us from those formative years but with two different versions of that time. The first is the second disc in the set, which re-records seven classic tracks using modern production and instrumental know-how. The second is the “first” disc in this set, which is thirteen new songs. While both derive from the fertile era of the middle 1980s, they each take different approaches, with the first disc actually showing more of what this band can do.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/pentagra ... -malefice/


Interview: Brian Kirkmeyer who teaches “Metal on Metal: Engineering and Globalization in Heavy Metal Music”

For some time we have delved into academia and its treatment of heavy metal. Today however we take another course, which is to look at the technology of heavy metal and its implications for both society and technology.

Aiding us in this quest is Dr. Brian Kirkmeyer, who teaches “Metal on Metal: Engineering and Globalization in Heavy Metal Music” at Miami University in Oxford, OH. He was good enough to gift us with some of this time explaining the class and his approach to the study of heavy metal.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/intervie ... tal-music/


Headhunter D.C. – …In Unholy Mourning…

At a time when most crosshairs were aimed at Tampa, FL or Sweden as being “death metal capitals” some of us trained our sights further afield to places like Canada and Brazil which to their credit were home to a great number of pioneering bands. Headhunter D.C. are one such band who built a fanbase in their homeland of Brazil but are generally not known outside South America.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/headhunt ... -mourning/


Speed metal: the choice of royals

Many of those who are involved with music have spoken praise for the 1980s speed metal explosion, which offered a form of music with both intensity and integrity. Until the great wave of commercialization, it simply refused to join the social impulse to all get along and behave like everyone else.

But a recent interview with Dominic West, who accompanied the UK’s Prince Harry to the North Pole, confirms that speed metal may have more going for it than simply being aloof to the great herding instinct. It is the music not only of Royals, but of soldiers...

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/speed-me ... of-royals/


Alex Hellid creates contest to re-mix Entombed

Alex Hellid of Entombed is offering a contest which puts a challenge to his listeners: make something of Entombed, and possibly win free stuff.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/alex-hel ... -entombed/


DeathMetal.org is the net's oldest and longest-running heavy metal resource center and home of The Heavy Metal FAQ. We treat heavy metal music as a form of art and culture, and believe we should bring out the best in it. Our primary focus is death metal; but we remain open to new musical experiences, both within metal and without. To learn more, visit our information center at:
http://www.deathmetal.org/about

To join our weekly mailing list, visit:
http://www.deathmetal.org/mail/

Death Metal Underground
Newsletter 2/4-2/10
Because Metal Is Art


Brutal Truth announces final European dates

Many of us are still in mourning from the recent announcement by NY grindmasters Brutal Truth that the band would be disbanding shortly. However, Brutal Truth is going on one last world-destroying tour and they’re releasing European dates for that tour now.

In addition to announcing their final tour dates, Brutal Truth has also unveiled the brand new video for the track “The Stroy.” Taken from their split with powerviolence band Bastard Noise, “The Stroy” shows Brutal Truth at its most vicious.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/brutal-t ... ean-dates/


Oration of Disorder reviews 02-05-14

What’s an oration of disorder? What most people think of as “order” consists in telling other people what they want to hear and then manipulating them. That’s how you sell them products. But the selling of products is the opposite of what art and listeners need, which is a harsh voice to tell us the truth.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/oration- ... -02-05-14/


What is the underground?

This issue is about to explode into public discourse because the rise in new-style metal bands has forced this question upon us all.

What is the underground?

Before even reading this article, keep in mind that there are some excellent resources. First, The Heavy Metal FAQ provides a complete answer. Second, Underground Never Dies! is a whole book dedicated to this topic through the eyes of metal bands from the 1980s-1990s underground era.

But we can come up with an even quicker definition.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/what-is-the-underground/


Triptykon announce Melana Chasmata release on April 14

Ex-Celtic Frost guitarist and compose Tom G. Warrior releases the second album of his Triptykon project, Melana Chasmata (“dark valleys”) on April 14 in Europe and April 15 in the USA through Century Media Records/Prowling Death Records Ltd.

This follows up on the first Triptykon album, Eparistera Daimones, which introduced the modern speed metal (think Pantera or a more artistic and slower Meshuggah) style mixed with Gothic and doom metal elements that so far has characterized the band.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/tryptiko ... -april-14/


Bazillion Points releases Heavy Metal Movies

Metal-related publisher Bazillion Points (of Metalion and Only Death is Real fame) is furthering its extensive catalogue, this time with a book chronicling the exploits of heavy metal movies.

Written by Mike “McBeardo” McPadden, Heavy Metal Movies covers over 1300 films, ranging from movies explicitly about a heavy metal theme (obligatory This Is Spinal Tap entry), to movies that were metal in spirit and thus became involved in bands’ artistic development (notably Lord of the Rings and Conan the Barbarian), in addition to various violent slashers and metal documentaries. Reviews are accompanied by color photographs and promotional artwork.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/bazillio ... al-movies/


Sadistic Metal Reviews 02-09-14

What are Sadistic Metal Reviews? When people decide that life is worth living, try to make good music. Unless they hope to make a quick buck, in which case they disguise bad music as “innovation.” We separate the good from the bad — with a machete. Come for the misery, stay for the occasional exception…

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/sadistic ... -02-09-14/


Thevetat enters studio to record EP

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/thevetat ... record-ep/


Satan “Life Sentence” tour 2014 kicks off in April

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/satan-li ... -in-april/


Codex Obscurum zine releases issue #4

The recent revival in non-ultra-niche zines for underground metal continues with the success of Codex Obscurum, an old-school style zine that takes advantage of modern technology. Our previous coverage of Codex Obscurum chronicles its development from the early days to mastery of aesthetic and content.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/codex-ob ... s-issue-4/


Interview: Zloslut

We reviewed Zloslut in our latest Oration of Disorder reviews. Response was good, and so we wrote to the band and asked if they’d do an interview. Hunter of Zloslut was good enough to respond and create this interview.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/interview-zloslut/


DeathMetal.org is the net's oldest and longest-running heavy metal resource center and home of The Heavy Metal FAQ. We treat heavy metal music as a form of art and culture, and believe we should bring out the best in it. Our primary focus is death metal; but we remain open to new musical experiences, both within metal and without. To learn more, visit our information center at:
http://www.deathmetal.org/about

To join our weekly mailing list, visit:
http://www.deathmetal.org/mail/

Death Metal Underground
Newsletter 2/11-2/17
Because Metal Is Art


The relationship between heavy metal and horror movies

Apparently Kirk Hammett’s Fear FestEvil went off without a hitch, bringing together metal fans and horror movie fans in a celebration of movie artifacts, horror movie personalities and metal bands saluting their favorite genre of film.

The festival featured performances by Exodus, Death Angel and Carcass, but also had as guests Kerry King (Slayer), Scott Ian (Anthrax/SOD), Doyle (Mistfits) and of course Hammett (Metallica) himself. In addition, you could meet movie legends like Boris Karloff’s wife and son, the man in the Godzilla suit Haruo Nakajima and a number of a directors and actresses from horror movies over the years.

The most interesting quote of the day however came from Hammett himself, who outlined the reasons for the relationship between metal and horror movies...

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/the-rela ... or-movies/


Marquis Marky leaving Coroner at end of February

Coroner occupy a unique place in metal history. Coming from the speed metal camp, they injected their music with technicality and a high art sense that placed them alongside Voivod and Prong as some of the 1980s oddities.

As power metal grew popular in the 2000s, Coroner came back into focus because so much of what they did presaged what power metal would become. As a result, the band re-united and began to play live again.
However, today drummer Marquis Marky announced on Facebook that he will be leaving the band at the end of February...

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/marquis- ... -february/


Defending metal before the internet

The Internet grew out of 1960s DARPA projects and has been with us a long time. Most of us however only began to explore it after September 1993 when AOL began mailing out all those free disks that allowed anyone (and they meant, Satan help us, literally anyone) to get on the internet. After that, the Internet became public property.

But before those times, in the days of the late 1970s through early 1990s, the BBS was king. Someone would set up a home computer on a second phone line, install and configure (or hand-code) some software, and then send out the word to others friends on their own BBSs. People traded files and wrote messages to one another, both private (email) and public (forums).

During the later days of that phenomenon, a user named Starmaster opted to defend heavy metal against accusations laid against it in a text-file known as Heavy Metal: The Untold Truth, translated here from the raw text file...

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/defendin ... -internet/


Death metal horror film Deathgasm wins funding

You may have read our previous coverage of Deathgasm, the metal-themed horror film that independent producer Jason Lei Howden of New Zealand intends to make. The film, which focuses on the story of two teenage boys who unwittingly summon an ancient evil entity known as The Blind One, will begin shooting in another eight to ten weeks.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/death-me ... s-funding/

King Crimson spinoff group The Crimson ProjeKCt releases Live in Tokyo

A supergroup composed of King Crimson musicians, The Crimson ProjeKCt, will release Live in Tokyo through InsideOut Music on March 18, 2014. To commemorate the announcement of the live album’s release, the band have issued a video of their live performance of the 1974 King Crimson classic “Red” off the album by the same name.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/king-cri ... -in-tokyo/


Interview: Ray López of Thrash Corner Records

Regular DMU readers may have noticed that Puerto Rico has been on this site’s radar since Brett Stevens interviewed José “Chewy” Correa of Organic last year, and for good reason. The “Island of Enchantment” is more than just beaches, bikinis and piña coladas; it’s also home to one of the most active and diverse metal scenes that you’ve probably never heard of.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/intervie ... r-records/


Teenage Time Killer readies debut LP

Occasionally, even the most cynical members of the DMU venture into the outside world to a realm where supergroups come together and convulse the media in marked excitement. Corrosion of Conformity members Mike Dean and Reed Mullin have put together a project entitled Teenage Time Waster, a 21-track album featuring many prominent names within the music industry.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/teenage- ... -debut-lp/


Destroying Texas Fest IX to destroy Houston on May 17, 2014

* Sadistic Intent
* Negative Plane
* Blaspherian
* Nodens
* Inverted Trifixion
* Morgengrau

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/destroyi ... y-17-2014/


DeathMetal.org is the net's oldest and longest-running heavy metal resource center and home of The Heavy Metal FAQ. We treat heavy metal music as a form of art and culture, and believe we should bring out the best in it. Our primary focus is death metal; but we remain open to new musical experiences, both within metal and without. To learn more, visit our information center at:
http://www.deathmetal.org/about

To join our weekly mailing list, visit:
http://www.deathmetal.org/mail/

Death Metal Underground
Newsletter 2/18-2/23
Because Metal Is Art


Interview: metal academic John Sewell of the University of West Georgia

As part of our exploration of the ideas behind the metal, we take frequent peeks into the world of academia, where a number of metal academics are writing, teaching and evangelizing heavy metal as a cultural and artistic force. This is one mechanism for metal to rise above mere “product” status and be understood as a phenomenon with something to contribute to our understanding and society at large.

Today we chat with metal professor John Sewell, author of “Doing it For The Dudes”: A Comparative Ethnographic Study of Performative Masculinity in Heavy Metal and Hardcore Subcultures and the University of West Georgia’s resident metal analyst. We’re grateful to him for sparing us the time to chat about the meaning behind metal, and what it is that makes this genre quite difficult to pin down.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/intervie ... t-georgia/


Black Sabbath – Tyr

If I ever have to declare a field of study — and I hope I never must — I will declare my intention to study transitional material. It is the most fascinating by far, and Black Sabbath Tyr demonstrates why.

Emerging in the final days of the 1980s and the first days of the new decade, Tyr shows Black Sabbath trying to keep one foot in what succeeded in the previous era while gesturing at inventing the next. The band is not bold enough to simply invent it, since they are too invested in being an industry in themselves. That puts them in the position of defending what they have by incorporating the current, not by redefining it and trying to become something new.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/black-sabbath-tyr/


Autopsy unleashes Tourniquets, Hacksaws and Graves on April 29

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/autopsy- ... -april-29/


Society views heavy metal as a symbol

If you’ve suffered through even a few years of big media, you’re probably aware how it functions through symbols. Where literature might describe something, big media trots out a handy symbol that might be described uncharitably as a cliche. Drinking = troubled. Strip bar = edgy. Slow dance = love. Motorcycle = rebel.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/society- ... -a-symbol/


Mayhem – “Psywar”

Norwegian black metal band Mayhem have released the first side of their upcoming single, entitled “Psywar.” At 3.5 minutes it shows the band continuing their foray into modern extreme metal aesthetics.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/mayhem-psywar/


DeathMetal.org is the net's oldest and longest-running heavy metal resource center and home of The Heavy Metal FAQ. We treat heavy metal music as a form of art and culture, and believe we should bring out the best in it. Our primary focus is death metal; but we remain open to new musical experiences, both within metal and without. To learn more, visit our information center at:
http://www.deathmetal.org/about

To join our weekly mailing list, visit:
http://www.deathmetal.org/mail/

Death Metal Underground
Newsletter 3/9-3/16
Because Metal Is Art

Interview with Terry Butler of Massacre

Massacre carved a place for themselves in the death metal community years ago and with their foundational From Beyond, an album of tremolo-picked columnar death metal with big fuzzy production at a time when many death metal bands were still trying to emulate the muted-picked speed metal of the previous era.

Over two decades later, Massacre returns with Back From Beyond which sees release on April 1, 2014 via Century Media records. We were fortunate to be able to grab a few words with bassist Terry Butler, whose work with Massacre, Death, Six Feet Under and other Florida death metal bands has made him a towering legend in the community.

http://www.deathmetal.org/interview/int ... -massacre/


Arctic Music relaunches with Julian Hollowell (Kult of Azazel) at the helm

Arctic Music Group (AMG), famed for quality death metal releases at reasonable cost in the early 2000s, will restructure itself into Arctic Media (AM) along with its imprint labels Arctic Music, Frozen North and Punktuation!.

Under the leadership of Julian Hollowell (Kult of Azazel, Hateplow) Arctic Music and Punktuation! will focus on extreme metal and punk. Under Ricktor Ravensbrück (Electric Hellfire Club), Frozen North will focus on electronic and industrial music. Finally, Mike Gallo of SBS Recordings will lead the new label imprint Blue Light which will focus on blues, country, reggae and world music.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/arctic-m ... -the-helm/


Finland hosts Modern Heavy Metal: Markets, Practices and Cultures conference in June 2015

Toni-Matti Karjalainen of the Aalto University School of Business announced the Modern Heavy Metal: Markets, Practices and Cultures as slated for June 2015, in coordination with the International Society for Metal Music Studies. The conference is designed to be a fusion of business and management theory and observations on the business of heavy metal.

“The former black sheep of popular culture is today a relevant subject for almost any scientific discipline,” the conference organizational flyer announces. A Call For Papers and more information will be unleashed on March 31, 2014.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/finland- ... june-2015/


Interview with The Inverted Katabasis author Dean Swinford

We were fortunate to get some time for a chat with Dean Swinford, author of Death Metal Epic I: The Inverted Katabasis. As a person with extensive experience in both death metal and literature, Swinford provides a great deal of insight into both.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/intervie ... -swinford/


Saint Vitus on 35th anniversary tour of North America

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/saint-vi ... h-america/


Sadistic Metal Reviews 03-12-14

What are Sadistic Metal Reviews? The only path to metal glory is to make music that is metal both in form and content, and upholds the spirit of conquering the unknown and crushing the empty and pointless. Anything else fails and shall be mocked! Come for the impotent rage, stay for the occasional standout…

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/sadistic ... -03-12-14/


Master launches “North American Witchhunt Tour” in April

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/master-l ... -in-april/


Is all metal speed metal now?

All of this is well and good if we do one single but difficult thing: recognize that what we’re listening to now is a dressed-up version of what metal and punk were doing in the late 1980s. We’re walking backward in history, away from that scary underground death metal and black metal, and looking toward something less disturbing and more fun at parties. It seems no one has come out and said this, so I figured it must be said.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/is-all-m ... metal-now/


Adramelech – Psychostasia re-issued by Xtreem Music

Adramelech, long viewed as a younger brother to legendary Finnish death metal band Demigod, ride again with the re-issue of their classic Psychostasia on Xtreem Records. Revered for their ability to mix subtle melody with mid-paced death metal rhythms to produce an enveloping sense of pervasive darkness, Adramelech like Demigod found their way into many death metal collections but remained out of the spotlight that favored more dramatic bands.

http://www.deathmetal.org/news/adramele ... eem-music/


DeathMetal.org is the net's oldest and longest-running heavy metal resource center and home of The Heavy Metal FAQ. We treat heavy metal music as a form of art and culture, and believe we should bring out the best in it. Our primary focus is death metal; but we remain open to new musical experiences, both within metal and without. To learn more, visit our information center at:
http://www.deathmetal.org/about

To join our weekly mailing list, visit:
http://www.deathmetal.org/mail/