SOS Metal Reviews: Baroness "Blue Record," Skeletonwitch "Breathing The Fire," Manegarm, and more…

BARONESS: BLUE RECORD Baroness follows up their stunning previous effort THE RED ALBUM with another colorfully titled endeavor BLUE RECORD. Despite taking discernible steps away from their comfort zone this time around, most notably by choosing burgeoning producer John Congleton known more for indie rock savvy than sludge metal salvation, this unit’s unbridled spirit and […]

Year in Review: Top 10 Albums of 2009

1. Slayer – World Painted Blood: “You would think that even a pioneering thrash metal band would evolve and head in a different direction at some point during a career that spans nearly 30 years. Not Slayer. On World Painted Blood, Slayer is just as devastating, fast, and angry as they were in 1986…delivers thrash […]

SOS Metal Reviews: Austrian Death Machine "Double Brutal," Whiplash, Evile, and more…

AUSTRIAN DEATH MACHINE: DOUBLE BRUTAL When will it end? Tim Lambesis returns with his brand of Arnold Schwarzenegger impersonation metal with Austrian Death Machine’s double album aptly titled Double Brutal. The first disc contains 13 new metal jams served with a wink and a nod thanks to the subject matter and the rapidly getting stale […]

SOS Metal Reviews: Napalm Death "Times Waits For No Slave," Death By Stereo, Minsk, Warbringer, and more…

NAPALM DEATH TIME WAITS FOR NO SLAVE Pioneering grindcore unit Napalm Death continue their trademark trail of wreckage, willfully destroying everything in their way with lethal rounds of speed and a rabid sense of aggression on Time Waits For No Slave, the British troupe’s 14th studio endeavor. Exhibiting the ravenous thirst for domination they’ve built […]

Review: Kylesa – Static Tensions [2009]

After a tumultuous eight-year run, Savannah, GA quintet Kylesa have come into their own on the outfit’s latest 10-track disc STATIC TENSIONS. Fully realizing their unique spot in between Isis and Mastodon on the metal continuum, this act has struggled both through wallowing the underground as well as in the shadows of some bigger hometown […]

Review: Capricorns – River, Bear Your Bones [2008]

UK instrumental metal menaces Capricorns inject an undercurrent of visceral volatility into their latest sludgy sojourn RIVER, BEAR YOUR BONES. Setting off a dastardly stoner rock feel that trades genre-typical flashes of excess for barrages of skull pounding passages that could easily be mistaken for pit stomping hardcore if not for the spacy interludes in […]

"Guitar Hero Metallica" Track List Unveiled

Here are the tracks slated for Guitar Hero Metallica, hitting the streets on March 29, 2009 for XBox360 and PS3 (Nintendo Wii and PS2 release date is May 31 according to amazon.com). The game will feature an option for double bass drum action on expert+ mode. Note that the original Bob Seger, Diamond Head, Queen, […]

Review: Deadbird – Twilight Ritual [2008]

Creepy and doomy, the sophomore six-track sojourn from Arkansas sludge metal quartet Deadbird is a viscous Southern-fried delight whose massive rhythmic rumblings give the band the sheer heft to properly obliterate all in their wake. From the menacing slow-churned intro on “Into the Clearing,” this oppressive unit takes you through a grueling 47:23 journey steeped […]