Author: Thomas Bonnicel

One can guess that these Swedes had hip parents: not only do these youngsters look like their dads did in 1981; they also listened to their LPs and still wear their clothes. We’re particularly impressed to see that Gotham City shirt worn by Lethal Steel’s singer Viktor, if that’s an … Read More

Hats off to the one who can in good faith, without any prior clue, guess that Firespawn is a Swedish band. With their ‘all-star’ line-up comprising current or ex-members of Entombed, Dark Funeral, Unleashed and Necrophobic, you could indeed bet that Firespawn will sound 100 percent Swedish. Well, that’s not … Read More

While their first album, ‘The Chills’, was an excellent homage to the late ’80s death metal scene, their second album ‘Ecdysis’ had already begun to morph into a progressive death metal form… And while the artwork of ‘Anareta’, their third album (in four years!), may remind you of Cannibal … Read More

Aevangelist have always been a strange band, and the more time goes on, the stranger they get. ‘Enthrall To The Void Of Bliss’ is not easy-listening metal, far from it. Apart from ‘Alchemy’, which is a sort of midway interlude; none of the remaining six tracks last less than … Read More

After two killer albums reeking of old-school death metal, and having Autopsy influences proudly displayed on their leather-clad sleeves, California’s Vastum will surprise you with ‘Hole Below’. While this is still death metal, this sounds like a whole new band. While the previous albums had songs, in the … Read More

A fourth album from these Spanish thrashers from hell, who love Voivod so much they’re named after one their songs! And, at least at the beginning of ‘Reborn From The Ashes’, the Voivod-vibe is indeed there, so much that ‘Traitor’s Gate’ sounds like Piggy jamming with Desaster or Aura … Read More

Now we know why it’s taking ages for Negative Plane to release a new album: the guys are all too busy with side-projects, Agrath being one of them. Actually two of Agrath’s members are in NP, and two are also in Ominous Resurrection! But let’s focus on Agrath: the trio … Read More

This Necronomicon isn’t the Canadian death metal band, but the German ‘thrash’ band, and it’s pretty awkward to see them change label again (their eighth label in eight albums) and end-up with Trollzorn, who are usually more folk metal than speed metal. Unlike the short, sharp, shock of thrash ‘Pathfinder…’ is an … Read More

The deep communion between Uppsala’s wolfpack continues, and Degial have once again called upon their brothers on their second album: Watain’s Erik Danielsson handled the artwork (which has similarities to his own band’s ‘Sworn To The Dark’); In Solitude’s (R.I.P.) Gottfrid Åhman recorded and mixed the album while his brother Pelle contributed lyrics, … Read More