Azusa wowed listeners 2 years ago with their debut Heavy Yoke. For those who don’t know, the band consists of members of Extol, Dillinger Escape Plan, and Sea + Air. That tells you a lot about what to expect here: competent musicianship, mix of brutality and melody, creative use of atmospherics, technical and progressive. It’s all here. “Memories of an Old Emotion” starts right off the bat with a high-speed thrash attack, pummeling the listener into submission, and yet jus

Frosthardr hails from Norway, and have been punching out devastatingly harsh black metal with a decidedly punk pedigree since 1997. The band's name is well known in extreme metal circles and its members have played in Vaakevandring and Antestor, yet this self titled disc (and vinyl) is the first full length album for the band. The glossy black logo on black cover, reminiscent of Metallica's black album, is a statement of what you can expect to hear. Yet, Frosthardr shows much

Progressive Thrash Death Metal Returns! I love this new music from Azusa. Who? Remember Extol? Remember Extol’s Burial (1998) and Undeceived (2000)? Christer Espevoll (guitars, ex-Extol) and David Husvik (drums, Extol, Aperture, Absurd, Twisted Into Form) have had a reunion of sorts and they invited Liam Wilson (bass, Dillinger Escape Plan) and the incredibly talented Eleni Zafiriadou (vocals, Sea+Air) to the party. Progressive thrash death metal might just make a comeback th

When in my recent Glass Hammer interview, I asked Steve Babb what he thought about the advent of prog rock in death metal, Orlando, Florida's Monotheist was just the type of band I had in mind. Monotheist has been kicking out technical death metal since 2004, but for their full length debut on Prosthetic Records, they churn out a near flawless slab of long playing prog metal that needs to be heard loudly from beginning to end, preferably on colored vinyl for all the varied nu

Members of The Dillinger Escape Plan, Extol, and Sea + Air have joined creative forces as Azusa and will sonically shock listeners with one of most experimental and mesmerizing releases of the year. Azusa's debut album Heavy Yoke will be released on November 16th via Solid State Records in North America. The album track "Heart Of Stone" is available for streaming below. Azusa's music is a carnival of contrast - it's captivating with unconventional nerve. Uniting the complemen

Fleshkiller is a new side project of Extol frontman Ole Borud, since Extol went back into hibernation after their excellent self titled album in 2013. Ole started the band with his old band-mate Peter Dalbakk. Dalbakk was in Vardoger, and both were in Schalich together. Ole Vistnes (Shining, Tristania, Extol) plays bass, and Andreas Skorpe Sjoen (Umpfel) plays the skins. Dalbakk left and Borud struck up a conversation with Elisha Mullins (The Burial singer, former A Hill to D

Embrace The Dead (1999) and 1000 Thoughts of Violence (2003) albums to be re-issued as a double-CD package! New Track release + discussion with Jeff. October 2017. It is October, and there's a reason to get excited. This month, we shall see a double-CD re-issue of BOTH Embrace The Dead and 1000 Thoughts of Violence albums, all in ONE package! This is not a joke! Read more details below... BREAKING NEWS: Double-CD re-mastered re-issue of Embrace The Dead & 1000 Thoughts of V

Fleshkiller "Awaken" is out now! Pick up “Awaken” on iTunes, Amazon, Apple Music, and in Fleshkiller’s online store. Stream the entire album on Spotify. #Fleshkiller #Extol #FacedownRecords