Tag: Extreme Metal

Impossibly difficult to categorize into any nice, neat genre, Norway’s Drottnar originally formed as Vitality, in 1996. They began playing death metal, but changed names when their sound shifted towards black metal. The band’s sound continued to evolve more and more, incorporating progressive and technical elements into something more avant-garde over time, while still retaining elements of black metal, death metal, and other extreme sounds. It is this level of experimentation and excellence that both sets them apart from their peers musically, and simultaneously makes their music less accessible to the general populace of listeners–even amongst fans of heavy music.… Continued →

What does black metal have to do with Christianity? I caught up with Asaph and PATHØS of Indiana’s own Symphony of Heaven to find out. IVM: You guys have been playing this style of music for a few years now. How did you get into black metal (or extreme metal in general) and what led you to want to play music in this style? Asaph: So my answer to this is a bit of a journey. I started the metal journey really with Living Sacrifice, which the early stuff would be considered extreme metal.… Continued →

The first time I heard this band, I was completely blown away. The year was 1988. I was about 14 years old, and I had just started getting into Christian metal via bands like Jerusalem, Whitecross, and Barren Cross. Sacred Warrior was probably the heaviest I’d heard at the time. Then one night I was listening to KOKF 91FM out of Oklahoma City, a Christian radio station that had a late night metal show. I heard the most intense, loud, gnarly thing I’d ever heard in my life.… Continued →

Brace yourself. The Souls Unrest has one of the more complicated histories in all of Christian metal. The roots of the band lie in old school punk band Spudgun, who released one album on Bulletproof Records (a division of Gray Dot). That band got heavier and darker, changing styles so much that a new name was warranted–World Against World. That version of the band also released one album (an amazing album at that) for Bulletproof, before morphing again. A short-lived project called The Orcrist followed, but released no official recordings.… Continued →

Zurisadai (Translated from Hebrew: The Almighty is my rock and strength) are a 3 piece Christian Extreme Metal act hailing from Brazil. FFO: Thrash and Black metal. RIYL: Herd, Hating Evil, and A Hill to Die Upon.

I’ve reviewed 3 different releases from Shadow Puncher (for 2 different publications), and one of the things I’ve noticed is the diversity of sounds and influences on each project. While the one-man band from Norway functions within the death metal genre, each release has a different feel. The earliest material had a strong thrash influence, then moved into a djent-heavy sound. This EP is the first to utilise keyboards in a prominent way, thus adding a progressive element. After a 1-minute ambient keyboard intro, “One End of Heaven” rips into the speakers with brutal rhythms, blastbeats and plenty of time changes.… Continued →

While this is being described by the label as “Norwegian death metal”, honestly that is a bit misleading.  To my ears, what we have here is a hybrid form of extreme metal.  For instance, you have some down-tuned nu metal rhythms, but they’re heavier than most.  The drum machine lends itself to an almost industrial-meets-groove-metal feel.  Think somewhere between Lucid and Malformed Earthborn, but lighter on the glitches and samples.  Genre-wise this is either really heavy nu-metal or generically “extreme metal.” The first song (if we don’t include the spoken opening track) has a really annoying “bree bree bree” section that I really hope is a poor attempt at humor, as it really seems to serve no other purpose. … Continued →

Ascending King is a one-man extreme metal project from Texas. Stylistically it’s a straight-up 50/50 mix of raw black metal and funeral doom. What’s strange about that mix is just how incredibly well it works here. Slower tempos overall and crushing heaviness reminiscent of sludge without the leftfield tendencies of that subgenre, but with occasional mid-paced blastbeats? Mid-paced blastbeats you say? That’s an oxymoron! You’re right, it certainly is, but there’s no other way to describe certain sections of the aptly-named Funeral of the Species. Really attentive listeners, and readers-of-liner-notes may recognize the name Ruah (Hebrew for ‘spirit’ or ‘wind’) as a temporary member of Elgibbor, filling in on guitar and BGVs on spot dates for the Polish legends.… Continued →

Canadian metallurgic alchemists The Beckoning have posted a new song on for streaming. Mixing progressive, gothic and extreme metal sounds to pleasing results, the track clocks in at a lengthy 10:36! Let’s hope this is a sign of a new album soon. The track can be found on their Bandcamp page.… Continued →

How many of you are fans of extreme metal bands that have solo projects totally not metal? Luke Weeks of As Earth Fades has a new project coming. But not a deathcore project. While the band is on a brief hiatus, Weeks has decided to do something in his spare time. He has recorded an entire solo album, titled Recorded Dreams, under the name of Slight Edge Effect. The project’s single, “Falling from this High”, will be available shortly.… Continued →

Our very own Mason Beard has released a new compilation titled “Metal From The Dragon Vol. 1” which features 32 tracks from a variety of Christian heavy music acts. You can get it for a name your price download right here. Listen below. … Continued →

Sanctuary International has dubbed “The Top 10 Christian Metal Drummers of All Time” list which was voted on by their readers. Watch the video below and see some of these legendary musicians in action. Was your favorite drummer listed? Do you agree with the ranking? … Continued →

Extol has released the new music video for their song “A Gift Beyond Human Reach”, off of their upcoming self-titled album Extol. The album will be released on June 21st via Facedown Records and is available for pre-order at Extol’s online store. … Continued →