The only possible positive side to this miserable covid affair, for the past eighteen months or so, was the ample time musicians had to amp up their game and focus on their newer studio creations. The result: a slew of great rock & metal music is being unleashed upon mankind! My lust for melodic music has always carried over into the most extreme of the realm. I'm a strong believer that complex melodies will once again help promulgate rock/metal into the music's mainstream. O

EMIL'S DEEP UNDERGROUND RECOS (part X) Thrash Metal ... and beyond ... Edition! Thrash metal without a message is just bogus. Whereas some bands are recording and releasing the same tiresome and meaningless music just for the sake of their bank accounts, the thrashers of the underground continue to deliver music that tell the tale, carrying out the social, political and environmental messages for which the genre was well known and appreciated by legions of fans worldwide. For

Band: Widower Title: Cataclysmic Sorcery Label: Black Market Metal Label Country: USA Release date: May 24, 2019 Format reviewed: (VBR) mp3 promo If I am to use just one word to describe WIDOWER's forthcoming full-length debut effort, "Cataclysmic Sorcery", that word would be "density". Density of compositions, density of guitar riffs, density of drumming ... if you catch my drift. This album ranks in quality with some great efforts, in the same blackened thrash metal vein, o

Cincinnati metallers WAR CURSE to release new studio album, "Eradication", on May 10, 2019, via Svart Records. The Bay comes to Ohio! Thrash soldiers War Curse channel that iconic thrash sound on their second album, Eradication. But this isn’t a bunch of upstarts in someone’s garage worshiping their heroes - this is a group of seasoned vets whose callused hands and chords are a testament to their dedication to the craft. Each tune is jam-packed with heavy metal riffing,

EUGENIC DEATH was formed in late 2010 in Greensboro, North Carolina. The band name was chosen to draw attention to society's overall view, mistreatment and neglect of the poor. Jonathan McCanless (lead guitarist) had long desired to get his music into mass circulation and decided in late 2010 that the only way to accomplish this was to start a band with the most dedicated and talented musicians he could find. The natural choice for vocals was Keith Davis, whose voice i

EMIL'S DEEP UNDERGROUND RECOS (part VII) Thrash Metal Edition Here we are ... completing the Straight Outta Catacombs most current trifecta, here we have the Thrash Metal Edition. Well represented by underground bands from across the globe, thrash metal is once again ready to conquer the world, in this (2nd) edition exclusively dedicated to the genre. (The 1st thrash metal edition - here.) Except for a couple of reissues, the rest of the material is very recent. Are we gonna

Band: Usurper Title: Lords of the Permafrost Label: Soulseller Records Release date: March 22, 2019 Country: USA Format reviewed: VBR mp3 promo I became aware of Chicago’s USURPER in the mid 1990s, at the time of release of their debut album, “Diabolosis…” (1995), an effort well received by fans. The band went on to release a couple of splits, an EP, and in 1999, their sophomore full-length effort, “Skeletal Season”, retaining their blackened thrash metal style in the process

CYCLONE TEMPLE - "I Hate Therefore I Am" 4/1991 Combat Records Year was 1991. Midway thru my high school years. After the quasi fall of the communist regime in my birth country, Romania, at the end of 1989, access to everything “western”, music, movies, TV, fashion, lifestyle, etc, was becoming rather easy. The music market was suffocating under the amount of bootleg tapes coming in from Poland and other ex-Eastern Block countries, CDs were somewhat available, so they were re

Band: Leach Title: Hymns For The Hollow Label: Independent/Self-release Release date: January 29th 2018 (digital), January 18th 2019 (LP) Country: Sweden Format reviewed: CD quality digital LEACH hailed from Borås, Sweden in 2003, releasing their full-length debut album, titled “Blindfold” in 2012, followed up in 2014 by the “Above All” EP. The band’s current lineup: Markus Wikander (guitar, vocal), Jamie Andersson (guitar), Anders Nordlander (bass) and Joachim Ahlstrom (drum

EMIL'S DEEP UNDERGROUND RECOS (part III) Thrash Metal Edition For no particular reason, thrash metal releases seems to have taken a slight dive in the most recent couple of years. Not that the thirst for great thrash releases has diminished. We saw less quality release in thrash than in any other genre of metal. The global metal community received well the latest albums from the sacred monsters of thrash and the few newcomers. But was that enough? Well, we're about to find ou