April 2020 February 21st, 2020 / Scarlet Records Rating: 4.5 / 5.0 Reviewer: John Haseltine For all the folk metal maniacs in the world, it is time to raise your tankards and rejoice! TUOPPITANSSI, the sophomore release by Finland’s own Verikalpa, is upon us. Verikalpa is an entity that officially…
Orphan Devil – Victims Of The Night/Drifting Away 7″
April 2020 February 21st, 2020 / Gates Of Hell Records Rating: 4.5 / 5.0 Reviewer: John Haseltine Many bands of late have been forming or turning to the traditional sounds of heavy metal’s glory days. Is it the genre coming full circle? Or could it be the fact that the…
Epica-The Essence Of Epica (Book review)
Review Date: April 2020 Released: 2019 Publisher: Rocket88 Rating: 4.5/5 Review: JP Rocket88 has been around for a few years now but in my mind they are one of the most exciting new metal-friendly publishers. Some call it marketing to a niche, some call it ‘boutique’ but however you describe it…
Megadeth-Death By Design (Book Review)
Review Date: April 2020 Released: 2019 Publisher: Heavy Metal Rating: 4.5/5 Review: JP 2019 was the 35th anniversary of thrash titans, Megadeth. To commemorate the milestone the band issued a pair of items, a CD and a book. The CD, is a triple disc, 35 track, ‘Best of’ called WARHEADS…
Swinford, Dean-Death Metal Epic II-Goat Song Sacrifice (Book Review)
Reviewed: April 2020 Released: 2017, Publisher: Atlatl Press Rating: 4/5 Reviewer: JP The vast majority, (99% or higher) of publications about Heavy Metal are non-fiction. So when a Metal themed fiction piece is published it always catches my eye. In this case the publication in question is the Death Metal…
Artach-Chronicles Of A Black Winter
Reviewed: April, 2020 Released: 2020 Rating: 4/5 Reviewer: JP Hailing from the desolate wastes of Newfoundland, Canada it is not hard to imagine this type of music coming from the rock . Artach is a mysterious two-piece Black Metal band who have issued their debut CHRONICLES OF A BLACK WINTER.…
Road Warrior / Gravebreaker – Death Promise / Death In Heels On Wheels (7″ Split)
April 2020 February 21st, 2020 / Gates Of Hell Records Rating: 4.0 / 5.0 Reviewer: John Haseltine I was a bit indifferent to the 2018 release of Road Warrior’s POWER when I first listened to it. One thing that happens from time to time is I will continue to listen…
O’Brien, Anna-Marie, Adventures Of A Metalhead Librarian (Book review)
Review Date: April 2020 Released: 2019 Publisher: Independent Rating: 4/5 Review: JP There is a growing field of work that I have dubbed ‘Metalographies’. This term is used to define a book written by someone who chose to write their memoirs or autobiography but primarily framed it in a Metal…
17 Crash – Through Hell And Back
Reviewed: April, 2020 Released: 2020, Volcano Records Rating: 3.5/5 Reviewer: Erich With much of the world locking down and staying home, Italy has been hit especially hard by the COVID-19 virus. Considering this sobering reality, 17 Crash’s new album THROUGH HELL AND BACK is a welcome and uplifting headbanging experience,…
Demons and Wizards – III
Reviewed: April, 2020 Released: 2020, Century Media Rating: 4/5 Reviewer: Erich Nearly ten years ago, in November of 2010 I asked Hansi Kursch in an interview when/if fans could expect a third Demons And Wizards album. I got my answer in February 2020 when the blandly named III was released.…
Deranged – Deeds of Ruthless Violence
Deranged – Deeds of Ruthless Violence Reviewed: April 2020 Released: 2020, Agonia Records Rating: 4/5 Reviewer: Aaron Yurkiewicz Sometimes you turn on a record and it just grabs you by the guts from the first note. And then sometimes that record proceeds to disembowel you with its bare hands and…
Emperor-Live Inferno (DVD Review)
Reviewed: April 2020 Released: 2009, Candlelight Rating: 4.5/5 Reviewer: JP This is one of those weird, sort of unclassifiable products that bug the heck out of me. Is LIVE INFERNO a DVD with two bonus live albums? Is it two live albums with a bonus DVD? The packaging is weird,…
Rowe, Paula-Heavy Metal Youth Identities (Book Review)
Reviewed: April 2020 Released: 2018, Publisher: Emerald Rating: 4/5 Reviewer: JP It is no secret that the academic study of Metal has grown immensely in the past few years. Organizations like the International Society for Metal Music Studies, academic conferences held annually around the world, documentaries, and the now regular…
Body Count – Carnivore
Reviewed: [April 2020] Released [2020 Century Media Records] Rating [3.5/5] Reviewer: Peter Atkinson Even without all the controversy and hoo-ha, Take 2 of Body Count makes much more of an impact and feels a hell of a lot more legitimate than the first go-round for rapper Ice-T’s metal/crossover offshoot did…
Maspero, Davide. & Rubric, Max.-Wolves Among Sheep (Book Review)
Review Date: April 2020 Released: 2013 (Italian), 2015 (English) Publisher: Tsunami Edizioni Rating: 4.5/5 Review: JP Black Metal is one of the more, shall we say… anti-social, misanthropic sub-genres of Metal and NSBM even moreso. Due to the transgressive nature of the imagery, lyrics and presentation of National Socialist Black…