Author Archives: Brandon Corsair

https://fourthknight.bandcamp.com/ Black metal project between two members of Draghkar meant to evoke the ancient sounds of Bathory, Mortuary Drape, and Varathron. Written in 2017, recorded in 2018, released posthumously in 2022.

If there’s a heavy metal record released this year that defines the state of modern heavy metal, it’s the new one from Philly heroes Sumerlands. Relentlessly ’80s to the point of obsession but optimistically gorgeous and written with a touch that can only come from the greatest of reverence for old rock and metal, Dreamkiller is a great tribute toContinue reading “Sumerlands Nourish a Love for Heavy Metal on “Dreamkiller” (Arthur Rizk Interview)”

Cryptworm caught my attention right from the beginning. I can’t recall anymore, some five years later, how I first came across their original eponymous demo (though I suspect it was by following the label that released that demo on tape, Goatprayer Records) but I can certainly remember the impact that it made. Filthy and threatening inContinue reading “Entering the Underground #24: Cryptworm’s Vile Death Metal is “Spewing Mephitic Putridity””

Autopsy are a household name with sick horror freaks worldwide, and are widely regarded as one of the most influential bands in all of death metal history (as I noted in an article celebrating the 30th anniversary of their sophomore album Mental Funeral). As a genre that was initially spawned largely by weirdo teenagers, most bandsContinue reading “Autopsy’s Sickening Death Metal Lives On in “Morbidity Triumphant” (Interview with Eric Cutler)”

Ravenous Death’s strong potential has been evident since their 2017 debut short-length Ominous Deathcult, but I don’t feel that it was truly realized until now. That debut was a solid slab of straightforward, catchy death metal that didn’t vary much from a standard old and evil death metal template. It was equal parts Floridian and SwedishContinue reading “Ravenous Death Talks Crafting Death Metal Hellscapes On “Visions from the Netherworld” (Interview)”

The 7” single has a long history in the heavy metal world, and its importance as a format continues in the underground to this day. One of the best ways to lose money is to get into old NWOBHM singles, and many of the most expensive obscurities out there are highly limited 7”s that haveContinue reading “Seven Sevens: 7 7″ Vinyl Records For a New Heavy Metal World”

Metal with a reduced tempo is the single oldest sonic niche in this great genre, going all the way back to Black Sabbath’s mighty 1970 debut. Regardless of the specifics behind the way that bands play doom metal, age and experience seem to be a unifying theme in how well modern bands understand these ancientContinue reading “Cauchemar’s Heavy Majesty Blossoms on “Rosa Mystica” (Early Album Stream + Interview)”

Phrenelith floored the world with 2017’s Desolate Endscape, which was at once atmospheric and hideously ferocious. It was an instant favorite in the larger death metal community and the band’s status as perhaps the finest newcomer in the scene was solidified across a series of demos, EPs, and notable live shows. Anticipation for a follow up wasContinue reading “Phrenelith’s Mutated Death Metal Spawns a “Chimaera” (Interview)”