The influential nature of Teutonic legends Kreator cannot be stressed enough, and yet is an often ignored aspect of extreme metal history in the eyes of the mainstream, that has all too often directed unwarranted focus towards what is often deemed the heralding location of thrash metal, i.e the west coast of the United States. The rise of the most ground breaking, stylistically defying and unconventional genres in the cryptic extreme metal movement of the late 80’s and early 90’s was simply a reciprocal exaltation to the formative influences bestowed upon the innovators of extreme metal…

Marooned Live is the second live album in Sodom's career, and a fraction more substantial than its predecessor Mortal Way of Live, even if my enjoyment was not necessarily on par with that…

Cowboys from Lemi, Stam1na will release their new album titled “Taival” on October 12th 2018 through Sakara Records.

Although most fans and critics will commonly point to 1991's Mental Vortex as Coroner's best all-around effort, the adventurous Swiss trio had yet to deliver one last semi-masterpiece before going their separate ways. Ultimately Coroner's last will and testament, 1993's multi-faceted Grin drew strong criticism from some of the band's more extreme fan contingent upon release – these being of the opinion that its experimental songwriting was simply too "out there," even for Coroner…

Metal Allegiance burst onto the scene in 2015 with one of the strongest debut metal albums in years. It’s even more impressive when you consider that Metal Allegiance are a collaboration, a metal super-group comprised of some of the busiest and most decorated musicians in the genre. David Ellefson (MEGADETH), Alex Skolnick (TESTAMENT), Mike Portnoy (SONS OF APOLLO, ex-DREAM THEATER, et al.) and Mark Menghi comprise the core four, and are joined by a laundry list of metal legends both new and old…

German thrash metal veterans NECRONOMICON will release their ninth studio album, "Unleashed Bastards", on September 28 via El Puerto Records. NECRONOMICON guitarist/vocalist Volker "Freddy" Fredrich promises "Unleashed Bastards" will contain "a full menu — everything will be there: from punk to old school, from speed to flawless thrash metal. So the band has experienced a lot since their debut album in 1986 and has a lot to tell."

As was the case with their very uneven career, Sodom's two-disc greatest-hitsset, Ten Black Years: The Best of Sodom, is not the sort of collection one can easily appreciate when heard from start to finish…

With Destruction having staged their comeback live recording one year earlier (the Japan-only Alive Devastation), it was only a matter of time before the other major players of German thrash would follow suit, as the style was coming back to full, bloody bloom in the early 21st century…

Cause for Conflict may just qualify as the most confused and perplexing album of Kreator's long career – it's certainly one of the least popular. The band's previous effort, 1992's industrial-tinged Renewal, had not been well-received by the majority of fans and critics, and its mixed fortunes also led to serious dissent within the group's ranks, culminating in the departure of bassist Rob Fioretti and drummer Jürgen "Ventor" Reil – both of whom had been with the band almost since its inception…