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By Andrew Bansal

Swedish melodic death metal band Soilwork are ready to release their ninth studio album ‘The Living Infinite’ on March 1st in Europe and March 5th in the US via Nuclear Blast, and this is an album that’s perhaps as important for the band’s career as anything they’ve previously put out, for a number of reasons. This is their first ever double album, with 20 brand new original tracks on two discs. It’s also their first album after the departure of guitarist Peter Wichers, who left the band for the second time due to ‘creative differences’ with the other members. Without him in the lineup, it has become even more crucial for the band to prove themselves, and the prospect of a double album heightens the anticipation further amongst fans. And thirdly, with a previous album as incredibly catchy as the 2010 release ‘The Panic Broadcast’, it was always going to be interesting to hear how their sound developed since then, specially with new guitarist David Andersson as an integral part of the songwriting process. Continue reading “Soilwork – The Living Infinite”

By Andrew Bansal

In their continual pursuit to support old school hard rock and heavy metal, Nuclear Blast Records have unearthed yet another potential gem. Swedish classic hard rock quartet Free Fall recently signed to the label and are now all set to release their debut full-length album titled ‘Power & Volume’. Hitting stores in Europe tomorrow February 22nd, in the UK on February 25th, and in the USA on March 19th, this is the band’s first effort at presenting what they describe as ‘freedom rock’. The country of Sweden never ceases to amaze me with the sheer multitude of heavy rock and metal bands it keeps on producing. Free Fall is the newest one to be introduced to us, and based on this set of tunes, it’s safe to say that they’re not here to simply make up the numbers. Continue reading “Free Fall – Power & Volume”

By Avinash Mittur

A few years back, thrash was making a major comeback in the metal world. The bands borne out of this movement saw packed houses weekend after weekend and small labels began to sign these acts like no tomorrow. For a short time, these so called ‘thrash revival’ bands were the supposed future of old school American heavy metal. It didn’t take long for the movement to become oversaturated; for every decent thrash band formed, ten mediocre ones would join in. After only a couple of years, the kids grew bored of the music and fashion (and MySpace), and most of the bands refused to change their sound for a new audience. The crowds and the hype disappeared, and the thrash revival was silenced. While Bonded By Blood, Warbringer and a short list of other acts were able to narrowly escape the slaughter thanks to relentless touring outside of California, Hatchet from Santa Rosa wasn’t so lucky. Hopes were high for the young act- the band released their debut record, Awaiting Evil, on Metal Blade Records in 2008, but they soon suffered many changes to their lineup with guitarist Julz Ramos being the one founding member left. After parting ways with Metal Blade in the wake of the thrash revival’s death, Julz has spent the last five years quietly writing and testing new material onstage with a revolving lineup of Hatchet. Now with a stable lineup in place and a recent string of killer live performances under their belt, Hatchet are set to release their long-awaited second album, Dawn of the End, on The End Records on March 5th. Continue reading “Hatchet – Dawn of the End”

By Andrew Bansal

Every once in a while, I visit the BandCamp website and click on ‘Discover’, to see if I can find anything worthwhile. I usually see a number of bands featured on there that would otherwise be out of my radar, simply due to the fact that they’re not signed to big labels or PR agents, and they don’t feature in any of the dozens of press releases that are emailed to me on a daily basis. This means I have to make an effort on my own to go and look for bands that deserve the attention. I would consider myself and this website a failure if I didn’t do so and just stuck to covering the signed bands, and so I went on a BandCamp adventure earlier today. Seattle-based one-man project Shroud Of Spiders was the one that impressed me the most this time. Here is my review of the self-titled debut EP, a five-track instrumental piece composed and recorded by Thom Beckman, mostly on his solid body electric mandolin. Continue reading “Shroud Of Spiders – Self-Titled EP”

By Andrew Bansal

New York death metal legends Suffocation have been around since 1988, and in their early years they released some highly influential albums such as ‘Effigy Of The Forgotten’ (1991), ‘Breeding The Spawn’ (1993) and ‘Pierced From Within’ (1995). They disbanded for a period after that, and reformed in 2003. The subsequent releases had all the elements the band was earlier known for, but in addition there was an increased focus on the technical aspect of the musicianship. The latest album ‘Blood Oath’ was released in 2009, and now the band is ready with their seventh studio album ‘Pinnacle Of Bedlam’, released February 15th in Europe and set to release on February 19th in North America via Nuclear Blast Records. This album features the return of drummer Dave Culross who was briefly in the band in the late 90’s, but more than anything, I was looking forward to see which musical direction the band had taken on this set of tunes. Continue reading “Suffocation – Pinnacle Of Bedlam”

By Avinash Mittur

It’s been eight long years since Steve “Zetro” Souza has committed his throat to a full time metal band. After giving the greatest vocal performance of his career on Exodus’ Tempo of the Damned in 2004, Zetro quit the legendary thrash act and stuck to one-offs and fun projects. The best of these was easily his supergroup Tenet’s only release Sovereign, an unjustly forgotten modern classic. Now the Bay Area veteran is returning to the thrash world with Hatriot, a band made up of virtual unknowns besides himself. After showing off a four song demo in all the way back in 2011, Hatriot’s debut record Heroes of Origin is finally set for physical release on February 12th through Massacre Records. This album will easily satisfy fans of old-school Bay Area thrash and fans of Zetro’s other work, and it’s a decent contribution to the bay’s rich catalog of metal. Continue reading “Hatriot – Heroes Of Origin”