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Yer Metal Is Olde: DragonForce – Inhuman Rampage

Yer Metal Is Olde: DragonForce – Inhuman Rampage

By Baguette of Bodom on February 15, 2026 in Yer Metal Is Olde, Power Metal, 66 comments

“Wait, the funny Guitar Hero III song is turning 20? What the fuck? Yes, indeed—what better way to kick off 2026 than to make the masses feel Olde? <DragonForce needs little introduction to anyone who existed during the ’00s. Born from the remnants of black metal band Demoniac in 1999, British guitarists Herman Li and Sam Totman have always been the tandem at the center of the band with their Yngwie-esque “more is more” philosophy. Valley of the Damned and Sonic Firestorm already got significant attention, but 2006’s Inhuman Rampageis the one that made the band infamous.” DraGONES!

Carrion Vael – Slay Utterly Review

Carrion Vael – Slay Utterly Review

By Grin Reaper on January 15, 2026 in Reviews, Melodic Death Metal, Technical Death Metal, 65 comments

“Carrion Vael has cultivated an admirably consistent release schedule since dropping Resurrection of the Doomed in 2017. After unleashing follow-up God Killer in 2020, the Richmond, Indiana quintet has delivered big, veiny doses of muscular, technical melodeath every other year. Slay Utterly is Carrion Vael’s fifth load of unfettered aggression, slinging riffs that sparkle and crush in whiplashing frenzies. Though not explicitly billed as a concept album, Slay Utterly delves into tales morbid and macabre.” Carrion, my wayward son.

AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö: Blindfolded – What Seeps through Threads

AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö: Blindfolded – What Seeps through Threads

By Dolphin Whisperer on December 19, 2025 in Angry Metal Guy's Unsigned Band Rodeo, Death Metal, 22 comments

“AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö” is a time-honored tradition to showcase the most underground of the underground—the unsigned and unpromoted. This collective review treatment continues to exist to unite our writers in boot or bolster of the bands who remind us that, for better or worse, the metal underground exists as an important part of the global metal scene. The Rodeö rides on.” Blindfolded and led to the Rodeö.

Plague Curse – Verminous Contempt Review

Plague Curse – Verminous Contempt Review

By Spicie Forrest on October 8, 2025 in Reviews, Black Metal, Blackened Death Metal, Death Metal, 52 comments

“We’ve all been told, once or thrice, not to judge a book by its cover. As a species, we’re pretty good at doing it anyway. In metal circles, band logos and album art often follow certain tropes that let us quickly identify what we’re about to hear and set expectations accordingly. Except when they don’t. When I first saw the cover art for Verminous Contempt, I thought I had it pegged. I mean, rats? Green mystery fluid? Skulls? This was sewage-drenched death metal for sure. I was, of course, wrong. For their debut, Plague Curse instead offers a highly polished platter of blackened death metal.” Cess is MOAR.

Exterminatus – Echoes From a Distant Star Part 1 Review

Exterminatus – Echoes From a Distant Star Part 1 Review

By Owlswald on April 30, 2025 in Reviews, Death Metal, Technical Death Metal, 28 comments

““Exterminatus” is a Warhammer 40k term that describes a global mass extinction event authorized by the emperor when the Imperium deems the cost of holding or retaking a planet too high. While I’m naïve about such things, Canadian fivesome Exterminatus certainly isn’t. And these Canucks are here to incinerate your eardrums with a heavy dose of sci-fi inspired tech-death. Originally demoed in 2012, Echoes From a Distant Star Part I was to be the follow-up to Xenocide’s debut album, Galactic Oppression. However, the group disbanded before they completed the album, and its members—including most of the original lineup—subsequently formed Exterminatus.” Exterminate to evolve.

Coffin Feeder – Big Trouble Review

Coffin Feeder – Big Trouble Review

By El Cuervo on April 22, 2025 in Reviews, Death Metal, Deathcore, Hardcore, 56 comments

“Sometimes you can judge a book by its cover. The intellectual property rights-busting album artwork of Big Trouble by Coffin Feeder pays tribute to the silliest action movies of the 80s and 90s, just like the music within. This album represents the band’s full-length debut after a pair of EPs that tickled our very own Kenstrosity. Though the core members may be Belgian, the bands through which these guys ordinarily peddle their wares (Aborted, Leng Tch’e) are fused with a steaming smorgasbord of high-profile guest spots (Benighted, Cattle Decapitation, Archspire). The result is an energetic fusion of various cores, from death to grind to hard.” Get to the chugga!

Fleshbore – Painted Paradise Review

Fleshbore – Painted Paradise Review

By Kenstrosity on January 24, 2025 in Reviews, Death Metal, Technical Death Metal, 41 comments

“Starting the year off strong on the album art front, Indianapolis’ technical death metal quartet Fleshbore adorn their sophomore record Painted Paradise with an idyllic landscape—courtesy of one Mark Erskine—that lives up to its title. Naturally, I was drawn to this depiction, knowing full well that those tunes which lurk just beneath may strike a darker, nastier tone altogether. Then again, extreme metal can be a fickle beast, and the promo sump even more so. That leaves me no choice but to dive right in like Mary Poppins into a chalk mural in the asphalt.” Paradise by the Fleshbore light.