Metal Injection

Varg Vikernes is a controversial figure. The man who went to prison for infamously murdering his Mayhem bandmate, Euronymous, was released this year and ended up putting out an album. The brave bloggers at Demon Pigeon took to reviewing the record in the only way appropriate for this situation, in LOLCAT speak. If you are not familiar with LOLCAT speak, you must not use the internets. Here is a sample:

IT STARTS OFF WIF CLATTERIN AN BANGIN. IZ LIEK HEZ BASHIN SPOON AGAINST HIS PRISON BARS LOLOLOL. AN DEN TEH FURST SONG PROPR COMEZ IN. TEH FURST TING DAT HITS U IZ DAT HOMEBOY HAS BEEN IN PRISON SO LONG, HE MISD TEH INVENSHUN OV PRO-TOOLS AN DIGITAL RECORDIN TECHNOLOGY. IT SOUNDZ LIEK HEZ RECORDD IT ON DICATOFONE. FAIR ENOUGH, HE PROBABLY WANTD 2 KEEP IT RAW, BUT THARS HOOJ DIFFERENCE TWEEN RAW AN SHIT. AN DIS SOUND SHIT.

While not impressed with the first song, eventually writer Dannul Karnz comes around to the record saying "U CAN IMAGINE HIM IN DA WOODZ DRESD AS WIZARD RUNNIN AROUND IN CAPE. AKSHULLY IZ QUITE GUD WHEN U FINKZ BOUT IT LIEK DAT."

Read the entire hilarious review over at Demon Pigeon.

by Graham "Gruhamed" Hartmann

I once read online that Daughters vocalist Alexis Marshall’s style could be accurately compared to the sound of Elvis Presley being tortured. I would argue from more of a Jerry Lee Lewis on hallucinogenic drugs standpoint, but both are pretty damn accurate. This acid trip of a band made an important change to their style with the 2006 full-length, “Hell Songs,” with Alexis making the ballsy decision to change his vocal style during their rise as underground idols; from his classic mathcore shriek (think Dillinger Escape Plan or The Number 12 Looks Like You) to clean rockabilly-style crooning (in the vein of Buddy Holly or Carl Perkins). The result broke barriers, and was embraced by metalheads and liberal art students alike. (more…)

By Ben Apatoff

When supposed black metal purists lament the commercialization of their beloved music, they could be talking about BORKNAGAR. Despite roots in the Norwegian black metal scene, Borknagar's newest album, Universal, features clean singing, folk-inspired arrangements and extended acoustic segments. This is black metal for kids that don't like MAYHEM but appreciate the progressive turns and genre-defiance of bands like OPETH. The result is something that, while missing the punch of the year's best metal albums so far, gives hope to anyone who thinks black metal should've evolved more by now. (more…)

By Ben Apatoff

Just like the most famous serpent in the Old Testament, Snakes for the Divine will lead you into temptation. It could make you disavow orders, seek knowledge, find your most carnal instincts or just bang your head until your spine shatters. In any case, HIGH ON FIRE's newest monster can be compared to an apple from the Tree of Knowledge. Take a bite and there's no return to your previous state of naive passiveness, but you'll be all the better for it. (more…)

by: Shannon Joy

Swedish metal trio, KONGH, prepare for the official US release of their progressive doom-metal masterpiece, Shadows of the Shapeless.  Presented via Seventh Rule Recordings, Shadows of the Shapeless originally saw a European issue date in early 2009 through Trust No One Recordings (Isis, Cult of Luna).

While many bands do heavy well, KONGH pull it off better than most.  Incorporating styles that mimic everything from Neurosis' "Souls at Zero" to Opeth's "Deliverance", Shadows of the Shapeless offers listeners an opportunity to experience the best elements of doom, sludge, progressive, and atmospheric metal, all within the disc's 57-minute run.

By integrating minimal, Mastodon-esque clean vocals behind singer David Johansson's barbarous growl, Shadows of the Shapeless transitions seamlessly from a slower, groove based ambiance to a more brutal, pseudo-death metal heaviness.  The oftentimes quiet and understated drumming of Tomas Salonen is reminiscent of Dale Crover's work with Shrinebuilder, and perfectly accompanies Oskar Ryden's appending bass lines.  KONGH reserve their flashier side for the album's title track, adding guitar squeals and faster-paced drumming to an overall tone that pulls inspiration from the likes of Eyehategod and The Obsessed. (more…)

By Ben Apatoff

The God of War III soundtrack is a Roadrunner showcase featuring six new songs from some of the label's biggest names (OPETH, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, DREAM THEATER, TRIVIUM) and new bands getting that infamous Roadrunner push (TAKING DAWN, MUTINY WITHIN.) Anyone who buys the game gets a voucher code to download the EP online, and anyone crazy enough to be a MIKE PORTNOY completist will surely blow $100 on the game–but don't say I didn't warn you. (more…)

By: Navjot Kaur

30 Years and 14 Albums Down the Line, Ironbound is far from OVERKILL

Back in the early days of Feel the Fire, when tape-trading was the way to market yourself in a glam-metal dominated era, OVERKILL managed to make a name for themselves. Here on the east coast, if there was a major thrash show, chances are they were headlining it: helping to unlock the potential of thrash metal in the process. With their recent switch to Nuclear Blast Records, and 30 years of recording and performing (with the likes of fellow legendary thrash kin – MEGADETH, ANTHRAX, METALLICA) under their belt, they recently spawned out their 14th release: Ironbound.
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By Ben Apatoff

From the moment that "Forced to Rock" introduces Virginia tech-death upstarts ARSIS' new album with a piercing series of bended notes, it's clear that this band is jumping into some new waters. "Forced to Rock" is a pomp-metal kick in the crotch of death metal stodginess, a wailing ode to rocking out that's harder and funnier than anything you'll hear from DRAGONFORCE. The Summer Slaughter fanbase may pine for the flagrant complexity of We are the Nightmare and United in Regret, but they'd be missing out on Arsis' catchiest, most versatile and most song-driven album to date. (more…)

By Ben Apatoff

ROB ZOMBIE is one of the most creative frontmen in contemporary metal. Sonically and visually, he's reshaped alterna-metal and rock radio for the better, while delivering some of the best mainstream metal of the '90s and one of the most consistently exciting live shows in rock. His latest album is a sequel to Hellbilly Deluxe, the record that launched a thousand action movie soundtracks, and while Hellbilly 2 a few songs that will probably sound great live, nothing surpasses any of the original Hellbilly hits. (more…)

By Ben Apatoff

If Scenes from Hell is any indication, Beelzebub's lair is not pretty. Choked-sounding saxophones squeal for help, announcing the arrival of a freight train circus packed with cinematic string arrangements, 3/4 sea shanty progressions narrated by downtuned power chords and and enough sound clips to rival early WHITE ZOMBIE. Contagious riffs fight off a headache-inducing mix and a filthy low end. But if this really is what the Abyss sounds like, then the new album from Japanese black metal heroes SIGH also confirms the wise idiom of the late BON SCOTT: "Hell ain't a bad place to be." (more…)

By Ben Apatoff

Until the Light Takes Us, a new documentary chronicling black metal-related crimes in Norway in the early '90s, tells a fascinating story. It's a story that deserves to be told better, and it has been, most notably in authors Michael Moynihan and Didrik Søderlind's must-read Lords of Chaos. Unlike The Story of Anvil or Some Kind of Monster, Until the Light Takes Us won't appeal to anyone who isn't already invested in the music, and even fans might find it chore to get through. (more…)

By Ben Apatoff

Why bother reviewing a new album by SLAYER? You'll enjoy it if you liked the last few, and you'll steer clear if you're not a fan already, thereby voiding any effect a number rating could give it. But for those of us who hold Slayer in the highest of high standards–the band that set the benchmark for heavy music, the most dangerous, controversial and consistent band in thrash history, a band that should be able to come up with a better album title than World Painted Blood–it's time to see how this one stacks up against the rest. (more…)

By Ben Apatoff

It's not the first thing you'll notice about Fed Through the Teeth Machine, but maybe the second or third time around you'll grasp how many riffs, solos and lyrics you recognize already. Few grindcore bands have instant sticking power like THE RED CHORD, and even fewer are capable of boundary-shattering albums like this one, which packs a cavalry of unexpected and enthralling twists into songs that rarely make it to the three-minute mark. Fed Through the Teeth Machine catches The Red Chord honing in on the best ideas of their first three albums, resulting in an admirably focused set of  face-grinders. (more…)

By Ben Apatoff

Call it "Deeper Colors." Approximately two years after BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME leapt into headliner status on Colors, they've plunged further into each direction they took on that album. The Great Misdirect raises the Colors bar in every way that BTBAM previously did in following up Alaska, showcasing a grasp of melody, brutality and tempo shifts that sounds both natural and idiosyncratic. Extended doses of death metal intensity? Check. Relaxed, lounge-rock detours that slip in and out like lucid dreams? Beautifully emotive shredding from guitarists who are clearly talented enough to show off but don't? Check. Genres? Never heard of them. (more…)

By Ben Apatoff

Like OZZY before them, RAMMSTEIN confirmed the lunacy of their would-be censors by being far too goofy for anyone who actually listened to their music to even think about inflicting harm. Unlike their self-serious Family Values tourmates (who acted like they were clamoring for the type of bad publicity Rammstein stumbled into,) the German sextet walked MANOWAR's "are-you-freaking-kidding-me" line into fundustrial madness, spectacularly over-the-top shows and most recently, a video that Ron Jeremy would be ashamed of. Call it a gimmick, but even without the video, "Pussy" and the rest of Liebe ist für alle da is catchier, funnier and more creative than anything MARILYN MANSON or ROB ZOMBIE have released in years. (more…)