Author Archives: big johnson

PAIN – Cynic Paradise

August 16, 2010 – 3:24 pm

Despite producing an endless amount of albums, going on worldwide tours with HYPOCRISY and various other bands, workaholic Peter Tägtgren still finds time for his pet project, PAIN. As another creative outlet for the HYPOCRISY mastermind, PAIN serves as a fun project with a more mainstream output. The first few seconds of Cynic Paradise starts [...]

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KEEP OF KALESSIN – Reptilian

August 9, 2010 – 10:15 pm

KEEP OF KALESSIN have been in the 2nd tier in terms of popularity because their big brothers in EMPEROR, IMMORTAL, and SATYRICON have infamous pasts. These Norwegian metalheads try and match their counterparts with their versatility and improved musicianship. With an acoustic beginning and lush keyboards, “Dragon Iconography” starts off sounding like KOVENANT’s Nexus Polaris, [...]

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WITCHERY – Witchkrieg

August 8, 2010 – 9:58 pm

After taking a breather in their respective other bands, namely THE HAUNTED, OPETH, and ARCH ENEMY, the members of WITCHERY offer Witchkrieg, the first album with vocalist Legion (ex-MARDUK) on board. Upon first glance, Legion’s vocals are much more varied than when he had the monotone screech in MARDUK – unfortunately, most of his vocals [...]

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SOULFLY – Omen

July 29, 2010 – 1:05 pm

Ever since guitarist Marc Rizzo joined SOULFLY, he has single handedly changed the band from a nu-metal/SEPULTURA Roots-era cover band to an exciting extreme metal band with one of the most unique vocalists in the metal scene. Amazingly, Omen is already SOULFLY’s seventh album, and the opener, “Bloodbath & Beyond,” has CAVALERA CONSPIRACY’s fingerprints all [...]

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CHARRED WALLS OF THE DAMNED – Charred Walls of the Damned

July 27, 2010 – 10:24 am

When Richard Christy finds time away from The Howard Stern Show, Jason Suecof takes a break from his producing jobs, and Tim “Ripper” Owens and Steve DiGiorgio are pried away from playing in their multitude of bands, they pull off a brilliant project like CHARRED WALLS OF THE DAMNED. “Ghost Town” immediately brings back memories [...]

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AEON – Path of Fire

July 20, 2010 – 10:37 pm

After a promising start by releasing their debut album on the brutal label, Unique Leader, this no frills Swedish death metal band released their first major label album with Rise to Dominate – a stagnant and predictable album on Metal Blade Records. Like their fellow countrymen in DEFLESHED, a band that wants nothing to do [...]

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WATAIN – Lawless Darkness

July 18, 2010 – 10:33 pm

While the hardcore black metal elitists call WATAIN sellouts, the rest of the world has anticipated the new opus for quite sometime, and Lawless Darkness delivers some ugly and beautiful black metal all at once. “Death’s Cold Dark” continues the formula that made Sworn to the Dark so successful with the blasts, double bass, and [...]

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PESTILENCE, WARBRINGER, VITAL REMAINS @ Ultra Violet Social Club, Los Angeles (06/07/10)

June 25, 2010 – 10:44 am

A variety of metalheads gathered outside the Ultra Violet Social Club, a former strip club turned music venue, and were impatiently waiting for the countless opening bands to finish. Finally, as the blasphemous intro for “Where Is Your God Now” began, the legions of VITAL REMAINS fans went inside to see a short, but brutal [...]

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BORKNAGAR – Universal

June 14, 2010 – 9:43 pm

By having both guitarist Jens Ryland and bassist Tyr rejoin the group, BORKNAGAR mastermind Øystein Brun was refreshed and inspired enough to write the newest progressive work of art, entitled Universal. After releasing some weaker albums in Epic and Origin, this refreshed lineup has written an excellent album that rivals some of AMORPHIS’s recent releases. [...]

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MISERY INDEX – Heirs to Thievery

June 12, 2010 – 8:51 pm

As one of the hardest working bands in the metal scene, Maryland’s MISERY INDEX grind out a new album with Heirs to Thievery. Vocalist Jason Netherton’s lyrics have stayed true with his political views and makes the listener actually expand their mind by using their brain to think. Musically, the band expands on their last [...]

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