February 23, 2020 — Hails to all you APESHIT goons, has it been a year already? How time flies when you’re blasting underground metal on a daily basis. We hit up the Winter NAMM show, and here are a few things we found interesting in 2020!
March 8, 2019 — Greetings and salutations from sunny California! Once again, another amazing National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) convention has come and gone! There were a few surprises along the way, they also had the Free Music Lesson, and as always, we had a great time checking out all the gear!
January 8, 2019 — What a glorious year in metal we just experienced. After the sheer amount of quality albums that were released in 2018, there is no question that the genre is as healthy and full of life as ever.
February 13, 2018 — Greetings from the 2018 **National Association of Music Merchants (**NAMM) Convention AKA the NAMM Show, where things have been changed up a bit from years past.
December 30, 2017 — Dependability is crucial to any band’s fanbase and 2017 did not disappoint. All of the bands that we’ve come to depend on for great music more or less delivered the goods.
February 20, 2017 — The 2017 edition of the **National Association of Music Merchants (**NAMM) Convention has concluded, and it was mostly filled with updates/improvements on past products, but there were a few items of interest to the metal community!
February 17, 2017 — Another strong year is in the books for heavy music, so strong that making a year end list seemed unfair to every release that we did not include in our lists.
March 8, 2016 — This year at NAMM 2016, (an industry-only global music product trade show) everything seemed to be scaled down a bit, but the show still had plenty of new items on hand that were related to the Metal genre and community.
January 15, 2016 — When looking back at 2015, the only thing that seems to matter is the passing of Lemmy Kilmister. Of course losing Phil “Philthy Animal” Taylor in November was sad but Lemmy was on another level - one of the pillars of the entire rock ’n roll universe.
March 7, 2015 — The APESHIT goons have raved about the post-apocalytic cowboys from Reykjavík, Iceland for a few years now. Their last two studio albums, Svartir Sandar (2011) and Ótta (2014), are epic pieces of atmospheric soul.
February 21, 2015 — NAMM amped up (pun intended) everything in 2015 – from the delicious lunch trucks outside to the amazing performances at the end of each day by GEORGE CLINTON & PARLIAMENT FUNKADELIC and other artists.
January 14, 2015 — Unlike everyone else, we waited until 2014 was actually over to recount our favorite albums. It’s been a great year for extreme music with a healthy amount of excellent releases.
March 12, 2014 — The month of January brings excitement to the City of Anaheim every year, and the NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) 2014 show is no exception!
January 2, 2014 — Once again, another fruitful year in extreme music draws to a close. We saw some long awaited comebacks by legends, three quarters of the original SABBATH line up, VOIVOD and CARCASS.
September 27, 2013 — In APESHIT’s ongoing quest to speak with the people who work behind the scenes to make it all happen, we caught up metal renaissance man, Ian Christe.
June 8, 2013 — Among the legions of death metal bands that are spawned, few endeavor to do anything more than pay tribute to their influences. However, once in a while a unique band comes along and brings their own style of death metal to the table.
March 1, 2013 — NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) 2013 has now concluded, and many new and innovative products were featured on the massive lot at the Anaheim Convention Center.
January 1, 2013 — As another great year for heavy music comes to a close, APESHIT takes a look back at our favorite pieces of music of 2012. This year had some great comebacks in CRYPTOPSY and STRIFE.
December 25, 2012 — You may know guitar wizard Michael Angelo Batio for his crazy double neck guitar playing, stunt guitar techniques, and awesome hair. Check out his awesome tribute to Randy Rhoads in which he highlights Randy’s playing from the first two BLIZZARD OF OZ/OZZY albums.
February 7, 2012 — Every year, NAMM bestows upon us shiny new toys for musicmakers of all genres to make new (and old) sounds with. NAMM 2012 was no less a musical heaven for the products, gadgets, and innovations that help make metal happen.
December 23, 2011 — 2011 was a very productive and enjoyable year for extreme music, perhaps the best in years. Thus, it was not an easy task choosing what we enjoyed best since they were just so many.
October 12, 2011 — ABYSMAL DAWN have emerged from the Los Angeles underground in a relatively short amount of time. But like any young band, they’ve faced their share of adversity.
August 30, 2011 — [caption id=“attachment_6836” align=“aligncenter” width=“500” caption=“Oscar Martinez (credit: Sarah Vanessa Photography)”] [/caption] Metal t-shirts - we all own them and likely have amassed a lot of them in our closets as the years have gone by.
August 12, 2011 — With their fourth official release in North America, DIR EN GREY continue to break new ground and reach out to an ever growing fan base.
February 15, 2011 — While the artists are the centerpieces of the music industry, the people behind the scenes are often just as important. It takes as much blood, sweat, and sacrifice to create and maintain success for those who work off-stage.
February 7, 2011 — Day One - January 13, 2011: NAMM 2011 - Where freaks, music nerds, rockstars, wannabe rockstars, businessmen, and fanboys all roam in the same place. As I walked into the Anaheim Convention Center, a cacophony of music, horrendous notes, and loud instruments immediately overwhelmed my senses.
September 13, 2010 — Nothing beats good, memorable songs and Copenhagen, Denmark’s VOLBEAT specialize in them. Their rise to fame in Europe is quite impressive as the band have earned multiple platinum and gold records, and several hit songs.
June 28, 2010 — Few artists in metal have been as single-handedly influential and prolific in the late 90’s/2000’s as DEVIN TOWNSEND. Despite amassing a diehard fanbase and the high praise and respect of his peers, Devin’s personal life was suffering.
April 28, 2010 — In the world of death metal (and extreme metal as a whole), there are very few lead guitarists that can match Andreas Kisser’s body of work.
March 11, 2010 — While there have been well-known rock/metal bands from Asia such as LOUDNESS and X JAPAN, as well as cult underground bands such as SABBAT, SIGH, and SAD LEGEND, no Asian band has taken the underground by storm quite like Taiwan’s CHTHONIC.
February 4, 2010 — In 2009, Boston’s CONVERGE unleashed, Axe to Fall, an album equalling, if not topping, their acclaimed Jane Doe album, managing to titillate those with even the highest of expectations.
January 29, 2010 — The following interview with Ihsahn was conducted and gracefully provided by MetalGeorge for Examiner.com__, as the site’s Cape Cod Rock Music Examiner (original article). Having first acquired a copy of After-the third solo effort from former EMPEROR frontman Ihsahn-in late 2009, it was clear from the get-go that this truly was going to be the first great album of 2010.
January 12, 2010 — While most young bands never end up leaving the local circuit, Los Angeles’ DREAMING DEAD broke out of the L.A. bubble with their sharp, DISSECTION-like metallics, dedication, and hard work.
December 28, 2009 — It’s that time where we take a look back on the year as 2009 comes to a close. So we, the APESHIT goons, asked ourselves, what albums moved us, kicked our asses, and reminded us of why we love metal (and music)?
December 1, 2009 — Switzerland is not a country that exports many metal bands, but the few that it does, stand out as influential and innovative. SAMAEL is one of those bands.
August 4, 2009 — Brazil’s “other” metal band, KRISIUN, has been consistently slaying metalheads since the mid-90s. It’s clear that their focus, dedication, and nary a lineup change has helped the band elevate their dominance beyond South America.
March 23, 2009 — Not too many bands define the term, “cult band,” like Japan’s SIGH. Born in April of 1990, the band started off playing traditional black metal and then blossomed into a true musical force with classic cult albums such as Hail Horror Hail and Scenario IV: Dread Dreams.
January 2, 2009 — We finally got off our asses and did it. It’s already the year 2009, but we’ve complied a list of our top albums of 2008. Compiling such a list is never easy, and 2008 was no exception.
November 18, 2008 — Norwegian black metallers KEEP OF KALESSIN’s outstanding last album Armada positioned the band to take it a step higher. With a new label home in Nuclear Blast Records and new album in Kolossus, KEEP OF KALESSIN have their sights set on becoming the next big band from Norway.
September 25, 2008 — Becoming an unquestionable underground legend as a member of EMPEROR in your teens can be a hard act to follow. However, Ihsahn has taken on the task of continuing his musical legacy with his solo albums in addition to his work in PECCATUM and HARDINGROCK.
July 3, 2008 — Godfathers of grindcore, NAPALM DEATH, are still going strong after more than two decades of churning out loud, fast, conscious music. Their latest album, Smear Campaign, is a solid continuation of their perennial effort to unsettle the common individual’s mental indifference through the intensity of their words and music.
May 28, 2008 — Since Max Cavalera’s departure from SEPULTURA in 1996, the metal world has wished for none other than a SEPULTURA reunion. While that dream still remains, the recent reunion between brothers Iggor and Max has proven to be more special and meaningful.
May 17, 2008 — All-girl groups in metal are rare and are typically limited to mall-friendly crap like KITTIE or DRAIN STH. One all-girl group, however, has arisen from an unsuspecting place with an unsuspecting sound.
March 31, 2008 — When you think about countries where great metal is from, Ireland might be the last place you’d think of. However, Irish heroes PRIMORDIAL have been paying their dues in the (international) underground scene since 1991 with their unique style of folk/black metal.
March 17, 2008 — Breaking out of L.A.’s local underground scene is no easy feat. Most bands are destined for a lifetime on the local circuit. Long time local staples, CREMATORIUM survived that having taken their DIY work ethic to the next level.
February 19, 2008 — If there’s one band’s success that has forced labels scrambling to sign retro-thrash bands, it’s Richmond, Virginia’s MUNICIPAL WASTE. Taking the best of the worlds of classic punk, hardcore, and thrash, the band add their own attitude and style to create some of the best crossover music in decades.
January 8, 2008 — The demise of CARCASS in the mid-nineties spawned a metal beast known then by only the most dedicated underground metal fans in ARCH ENEMY. Fast forward to 2008, ARCH ENEMY are one of the most popular and well-recognized bands of metal today.
January 2, 2008 — It’s been a grossly successful 2007 for APESHIT, and though we find it hard pressed to make that same general claim for metal in 2007, a handful of albums did manage to leave a strong impression on us.
November 26, 2007 — Los Angeles’ STOLEN BABIES are as twisted and imaginative as they come, both musically and visually. But the eclectic band’s natural talent shines in their ability to incorporate such creativity into crafting great songs.
October 7, 2007 — Norway’s least classiest band, TURBONEGRO, are now three albums strong since their much ballyhooed reunion in 2003. Their latest, Retox, certainly isn’t a return to their filthy deathpunk past, but it’s timeless much like their feel-good-but-feel-naughty rock ’n roll they’ve perfected of late.
August 22, 2007 — France generally isn’t the first, second, third, or fourth European country you think of when you think of “metal,” but France’s SCARVE is putting their stamp on the metal world one album at a time.
June 28, 2007 — During the past 10 years of their existence, DIR EN GREY have risen to become one of the biggest rock bands in the world. The band finally broke into the U.
May 22, 2007 — Norway’s ENSLAVED began their musical journey back in 1991 and have perserved through, arguably, a more difficult path to success than some of their Norwegian brethen.
March 26, 2007 — In the mid 90’s, seminal acts such as DEATH, DISINCARNATE, and CYNIC all made their mark by delivering crushing, technical, guitar-based extreme metal–all while retaining the key element of writing catchy, memorable songs.
February 27, 2007 — Rising out of the ashes of progressive doom merchants, ANUBIS RISING, and tech grind anarchists, UPHILL BATTLE, Southern California’s INTRONAUT have quickly made their mark on the underground scene with their unique mixture of molten heaviness, odd-time signatures, and complex atmospheric passages.
January 30, 2007 — To say that KATATONIA are one of the best exports out of Sweden is an understatement. Starting out as a death/doom band 16 years ago, they’ve carved out several niches with each evolution of their sound.
December 20, 2006 — The evolution and development of extreme music would not be where it is today without the revolutionary, forward thinking of Switzerland’s CELTIC FROST. Not only did they help shape death and black metal in its earliest stages as well as provide a profound influence on hardcore, they arguably created the blueprints for which all avant-garde metal would follow years later.
November 22, 2006 — As the world’s only true world (music) metal band, SOULFLY has been breaking down barriers and expanding the scope of metal since 1997. Band leader Max Cavalera’s unique yet influential style has helped establish their own niche in the metal world incorporating tribal music of his native Brazil, reggae, dub, punk, thrash, and death metal.
October 26, 2006 — Killing sprees, severed limbs, maggots, and zombies aren’t what eighteen year careers are typically made of. But death metal’s biggest and bloodiest band, CANNIBAL CORPSE, has done just that.
September 12, 2006 — On August 26, 2005, the metal world lost one of its legends in guitarist Denis “Piggy” D’Amour. Vowing to carry out one of his last requests to have the band’s final works heard, the surviving members of VOIVOD got to work in the studio and finished the powerful new album, Katorz.
August 19, 2006 — While all the big, influential Norwegian black metal bands have graduated to a different echelon, a small sect of bands have continued to thrive in their “abscence” by sticking to the code of true black metal.
July 28, 2006 — Deep in the heart in the land of a thousand lakes lies the country’s best kept secret. Founded in 1996, TENHI have masterfully carved out a niche with their unique style of neo progressive folk music.
November 15, 2005 — CRYPTOPSY was on the verge of breaking big when their lead screamer, Lord Worm, quit in 1997. But that didn’t stop the Canadian death metal beast.
September 2, 2005 — Perhaps no other band originating from the influential wave of Norwegian black metal in the 90’s has evolved as far away from its musical beginnings as ULVER has.
May 18, 2005 — While the black metal scene in Norway has taken up most of the country’s extreme music spotlight, RED HARVEST are a band who’ve been honing their own brand of chaos under the radar.
March 29, 2005 — Swedish metal purveyors, DARK TRANQUILLITY, are old veterans in a scene dominated by young upstarts. Character, their seventh album, thunders with artistic ingenuity that many of today’s bands strive for but may never reach.
January 26, 2005 — Thrash titans, THE HAUNTED, should’ve collapsed years ago. But they’ve defeated record label woes and original band members leaving (and returning) to remain as one of the most relevant extreme bands on the planet.
November 16, 2004 — The hardcore scene these days is quite a large and vibrant landscape. However, the almighty dollar has pervaded the burgeoning scene and has created a climate of image-driven and image-conscious bands (as well as fans).
August 18, 2004 — Who would have guessed that a little dwarf star named PECCATUM would blossom into a full grown star? Five years since their debut, Strangling From Within, one-half of the post-EMPEROR musical movements has grown far beyond anyone’s expectations.
June 23, 2004 — SATYRICON mastermind Satyr is a man on a mission. Even after helping to pioneer the Norwegian black metal movement, writing some of the most groundbreaking albums in extreme music, and being the first black metal band to sign with a major label, he is not content.
May 17, 2004 — In the world of music, there are leaders and then there are followers. Since their formation in 1990, MY DYING BRIDE have always spearheaded their own path.
February 21, 2004 — There are few bands that inhabit the universe of heavy dissonance. Alongside like-minded comrades such as KNUT and BOTCH, KEELHAUL dish out a unique blend of chaotic potency.
January 16, 2004 — Fans rejoiced last year as metalcore godfathers, INTEGRITY, made a smashing comeback with To Die For. The album received almost unanimous critical acclaim and the band were busy playing shows and had future tours lined up.
December 29, 2003 — (Evil) spirits have been running high in THE CROWN camp since the recent reunion with their original voice-from-hell, Johan Lindstrand. The Swedish metallers’ highly publicized one-off (2002’s Crowned in Terror album) with former AT THE GATES screamer, Tomas Lindberg, found the two camps in a situation with a serious lack of chemistry prompting a quick-but-inevitable split.
October 30, 2003 — Originally formed out of two thirds of Norwegian black metal gods, EMPEROR, ZYKLON grew to become a formidable yet distinct beast on its own. ZYKLON’s debut album, World ov Worms, was an impressive record that combined death metal and black metal along with some industrial/electronic influences into a violent machine.
September 29, 2003 — With the recruitment of vocalist Derrick Green, Brazil’s SEPULTURA started the second chapter in their illustrious career. Despite the fact that many have counted them out ever since replacing original vocalist Max Cavalera, SEPULTURA are still hungry to prove that they’re not quite finished yet.
September 12, 2003 — The eclectic world of post-metal music is an exciting sphere of musical creativity where the possibilities are infinite. The UK’s ANTIMATTER follow this path of the less-is-more/anything-goes approach of artists such as ULVER and IN THE WOODS….
August 24, 2003 — Poised to conquer all of metal, SOILWORK have grown in leaps and bounds since their humble beginnings as just another Swedish death metal band. Their latest album Figure Number Five, while many would argue isn’t their best, is still their most blossoming effort packed with their most refined songs yet.
July 23, 2003 — THE GATHERING are well known for being a major player in the female-fronted underground metal movement. They paved the way for bands such as LACUNA COIL by carving out a niche for female vocals in a testosterone-heavy genre.
May 6, 2003 — Arising from obscurity, Italy’s LACUNA COIL have come a long way to being one of the rising stars in the underground metal scene. Early comparisons to THE GATHERING, THEATRE OF TRAGEDY, and PARADISE LOST undoubtedly overshadowed the band’s budding potential.
March 13, 2003 — When you think of terms like “noisecore” or “math metal,” one name should come to mind. BOTCH were undoubtedly pioneers of this sound. They combined hardcore and metal and brought it to new heights of technicality, dissonance, and creativity.
November 25, 2002 — 11 years since the dawn of their debut album, New York’s IMMOLATION are still flexing their death metal muscles with album number six, Unholy Cult. While most bands come and go, IMMOLATION have no plans to make a dash for the exit.
July 26, 2002 — Born during the beginnings of the famed Gothenburg scene, DARK TRANQUILLITY helped pioneer the Swedish melodic death metal sound. They have helped influence a whole generation of bands.