EMIL'S DEEP UNDERGROUND RECOS (part V) HARD'n'HEAVY Edition Well, well, well ... what do you know ... a HARD'n'HEAVY edition of Straight Outta Catacombs! Unfortunately, nowadays the softer side of metal and hard rock doesn't seem to be very underground popular, for lack of a better word. In fact, after I started researching Bandcamp for new and excited bands and releases that fitted the style, it became rather evident. So after digging, no, scratch that, excavating for a whil

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

Band: Frenzy Title: Blind Justice Label: Underground Power Records Release date: February 4, 2019 Country: Spain Format reviewed: high-rate mp3 promo The comics of my childhood and early teen years were a bit different vis-à-vis nowadays virtual domination of visual arts, films in particular, with superheroes and villains lifted from the ever expending American comics industry or its Japanese manga counterpart. The heroes of my early comics didn’t have superpowers, but they w

Band: Imprecation Title: Damnatio Ad Bestias Label: Dark Descent Records Release date: March 22, 2019 Country: USA Format reviewed: VBR mp3 promo IMPRECATION has been around for almost three decades. Formed in Texas in 1991, the band released their underground acclaimed debut, “Satanae Tenebris Infinita”, in 2013, after previously releasing an array of demos, EPs and splits, in the years since their inception. The founding core of Ruben Elizondo (drums & keys) and Dave Herrer

Hello 2019! After a spellbound 2018 for metal and rock music in general, we're welcoming 2019, a year that already seems to shape into yet another amazing and abundant year for our beloved music. The first month of this year, January, turned out to be a balancing act when it came to what albums I've spent most time with. Making a distinct separation from albums that I've reviewed, and spent ample amounts of time with, and albums that I listened at my own leisure. Therefore, t

Band: Heavy Feather Title: Débris & Rubble Label: The Sign Records Release date: April 5, 2019 Country: Sweden Format reviewed: high-rate mp3 promo In case you didn’t notice … there is a massive wave of retro rock coming out of Sweden in the most recent years! Massive. Heavy rock, progressive rock, acid rock, psychedelic rock, hard rock, blues rock … even proto heavy-metal. As most recently, we, the fans and music enthusiasts were spoiled with illustrious releases such as: H

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: Maestus Title: Deliquesce Label: code666 Release date: February 8, 2019 Country: USA Format reviewed: high-rate mp3 promo MAESTUS hails from Eugene in the Pacific Northwest. Formed in 2013, the band released a debut EP, “Scarlet Lakes” that same year, followed by a full-length, “Voir Dire” in 2015. Currently, the Oregon quintet featuring five musicians, collectively sharing a very impressive resume, is set to release their full-length sophomore effort, “Deliquesce”, ava

Band: Zero Fire Title: Second Sun Label: Independent/Self-released Release date: March 22, 2019 Country: Canada Format reviewed: high-rate mp3 promo The modern hard-rock outfit ZERO FIRE hails from the Canadian port city of Hamilton in the Ontario province. The band released their self-titled debut EP in February 2015. Continuing to improve their presence on the local rock circuit, the band released the single “Ghost”, in October of 2017, a song that also made the cut for the

Band: Unendlich Title: Thanatophobia Label: Horror Pain Gore Death Productions Release date: February 1st 2019 Country: USA Format reviewed: high-rate mp3 promo Up until about one month ago, I was unfamiliar with the body of work that UNENDLICH has put out so far since 2014, when Michael Connors released “Monarch of the Damned”, the debut album of his, then, one-man project. Hailing from Baltimore in the state of Maryland, Michael released a sophomore effort in 2016, titled “

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

In November 2018, US dark melodic metal act WITHERFALL released its much-celebrated second studio album, “A Prelude to Sorrow”. Never resting on its laurels, the group led by the creative duo comprised of vocalist Joseph Michael (Sanctuary) and Jake Dreyer (Iced Earth) now announces the “Vintage” CD, LP, and digital release to be available during the upcoming acoustic tour with Sonata Arctica and released via Century Media Records on March 22nd, 2019. WITHERFALL reveals

Here we go again ... Denim & Leather is a personal opinion eZine dedicated to the ever evolving world of Rock and Metal.  Underground or mainstream, established or debutant, tamed or extreme - all have a place among these virtual pages. A simple format eZine with a broader scope rooted and developed in the Rock and Metal online global community. An eZine for ALL Rock and Metal enthusiasts across our planet. My nine month stint with Blessed Altar Zine (to it's founder a

I am amazed by the amount of music that I was able to go thru last month, December 2018. Besides the reviews and making the final decisions on what shaped to be a TOP 30 best albums of 2018 (and a list of 20 honorable mentions!), there was still time left to spin other records on my turntable. Funny enough, in order to keep track of what was played and when, I kept hand notes. According to these notes, these are my five most played albums in the month of December 2018: KXM Sc

PLAYLIST #2 Rock music as heard on FM radio in the early 90's. A personally curated music cocktail (classic rock, glam rock, hard rock, glam metal, heavy metal & thrash metal) based on actual radio playlists. Playlist #2 - part I The Four Horsemen - Rockin' Is Ma Business Skid Row - Youth Gone Wild Guns N' Roses - Don't Cry Def Lepperd - Don't Shoot Shotgun War babies - Hang Me Up The Black Crows - Twice As Hard Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit AC/DC - Shoot To Thrill Gary M

PLAYLIST #1 Rock music as heard on FM radio in the early 90's. A personally curated music cocktail (classic rock, glam rock, hard rock, glam metal, heavy metal & thrash metal) based on actual radio playlists. Playlist #1 - part I Megadeth - Hangar 18 Guns N' Roses - Locomotive Queensryche - Queen of the Reich Metallica - Nothing Else Matters Def Leppard - Run Riot Pearl Jam - Alive Warrior Soul - The Wasteland Heavens Edge - Find Another Way White Lion - Broken Heart Suicidal

EMIL'S DEEP UNDERGROUND RECOS (part IV) All releases on this edition of Straight Outta Catacombs, saw the dim light of the winter days at the end of 2018 and beginning of 2019. Most were overlooked and some might require an eclectic taste. The underground metal scene was flooded with new releases last year. A huge chunk of material that came out was oriented towards the darkest realms of black metal, with loads of other offerings that were blackened, to various extents. The p

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

(in alphabetical order) Altars of Grief - Iris (3/21) Anguish - Under The Influence (3/24) Axel Rudi Pell - Knights Call (3/23) BattleroaR - Codex Epicus (6/15) Brainstorm - Midnight Ghost (9/28) Crimson Day - At The Mountains of Madness (1/19) Dangerous Curves - So Dirty Right (4/6) Décembre Noir - Autumn Kings (11/9) DeWolff - Thrust (5/4) Dynazty - Firesign (9/28) Earthless - Black Heaven (3/16) Freedom Hawk - Beast Remains (3/23) Helrunar - Vanitas Vanitatvm (9/28) Impel

(in alphabetical order) All Consumed - Birth Of Ruin (10/7) Amaranthe - Helix (10/19) Antiverse - Under the Regolith (10/19) Arsis - Visitant (11/2) Artas - Ora et Gomorrha (10/27) Beorn's Hall - Estuary (2/24) Beyond Creation - Algorythm (10/12) Blackevil - The Ceremonial Fire (7/7/17*) Black Rainbows - Pandaemonium (4/6) Bloodbath - The Arrow of Satan Is Drawn (10/26) Deathrite - Nightmares Reign (11/9) Fernando - Fernando (4/3) Hypnos - Set Fire To The Sky (9/28) Iron Lamb