Relapse Records

Baroness’ previous album was a strong piece of work, but not all fans seemed to be delighted by it.

The band's fourth full length  release, The Fleshland, is a pretty brutal slab of

Even though Unkind without a doubt are crust metal, it is not a complete sound-inferno that awaits me here, but surprisingly differentiated stuff. Sure, at times they are crashing through the Finnish lake district with a vengeance, but they don't only destroy everything, but do real songs. What makes Unkind differ from the rest of the crust horde is the fact that they put more emphasis on variety, musically as vocally.

Impressive sludge metal with a thrash-touch is offered to us by Lord Dying on their debut-album and will bring each fan of High On Fire, Mastodon, Black Tusk, Red Fang, Ancients or Lair of the Minotaur to tears of anger! Because this stuff is absolutely excellent.

ASG hail from North Carolina and have been around for about a dozen years. I am always pleased when an album exceeds my expectations and this one does. Shifting from stoner to metal to blues to effective yet eerie space rock, Blood Drive never gets stuck. Each song is weaved nicely and is chock full of creativity..The musicianship is extremely tight with plenty of killer guitar solos and very impressive vocal harmonies enhanced by the amazing voice of Jason Shi, whose style is very similar to Perry Farrell.

Toxic Holocaust mutated into existence in 1999, when Joel Grind merged his love for classic punk and metal into his ideal band. Like his influences - Bathory, Venom, English Dogs, Possessed, Broken Bones – TH featured blazing riffs, gravel-throated vocals, and a deadly fixation on the evil in man and a post-apocalyptic world. Grind wrapped all of these elements up with a DIY attitude and begin writing and recording material almost instantly.

The style is distinctly sludge groove math metal with a ballsy guitar/drum/bass/vocalist line-up. Think of garage Black Tusk inspired screamy metal songs with a very upbeat head-nodding lilt in the standard verse / chorus / solo / verse format. What's more, Howl sport a punk-style attitude/aesthetic yet somehow combine it with a higher degree of metallic accessibility. The band has a strong sense of including hooks and great fuzz leads without sacrificing the grooviness, to quickly grab the listener's attention.

Remember the gore ol’ times?...

This is such a band that defines the initial core of Relapse’s roster. Devourment, the one from Dallas, Texas, are known for their mostly uncompromising, mercilessly blasting Grind-edged Death assaults. They do it with conviction, with brutal power, with great craftsmanship. Yeah, oops, they did it again!

Now that they have found their way to Relapse Records, Inter Arma’s unique music will be available to a much larger crowd. From black to doom to post and to sludge metal Sky Burial is comprised of  innovative, inventive and incredible crushing metal The band's versatility shines through on every track and the band is able to pull each song off without sounding like any. I was totally captivated by this band from the beginning. These guys can mangle your intestines just as easily as they mangle genres.

Not sure if they're a sludge, crust or grindcore band, Call of the Void decides to be all three at once with their 2013 release Dragged Down A Dead End Path. Musically the disc is complex full. The guitars chop, thrash and wail. The bass and drums lay down an amazing blast beat with the vocals providing a backwash of anger. Call Of the Void sounds as if they carry the weight of the world on their shoulders and must create angry bulldozing music for catharsis.