Steve Austin is one underground music’s ultimate survivors. He has reinvented his vision in TODAY IS THE DAY numerous times throughout the years not to mention introducing the world to two of today’s biggest metal acts: LAMB OF GOD and MASTODON. While most bands would have folded following the amount of lineup and record company changes, Austin has endured. He managed to soldier on, delivering his most powerful, focused release in years with Axis of Eden. Aiding and abetting Austin in his mission of destruction and chaos is none other than death metal elite drummer Derek Roddy (MALEVOLENT CREATION, HATE ETERNAL, NILE, etc.) whose fast and furious drumming propels much of the album on tracks such as “IED,” “Broken Promises and Dead Dreams,” and “Total Resistance.” Meanwhile bassist Chris Debari’s serpentine bass lines create an unstoppable groove on “Circus Maximus” and the disharmonic “The Worst Thing That Ever Happened to Me.” As expected, much of the energy and power of Axis of Eden is the result of Austin’s painstaking performances and while his fury and anguish is pronounced throughout the entire proceedings, he also manages to get under the listener’s skin with the creepy “Free at Last” and the ominous title cut. A much more concise work than his ambitious yet somewhat overindulgent Sadness Will Prevail and the chaotic Kiss the Pig, Axis of Eden is a nightmarish descent in to the trappings of one of the most tortured voices underground. Welcome to back to the abyss. (Supernova Records)