Phil Freeman

Killswitch Engage The fact that Killswitch Engage self-titled their fifth album provides a clue to the sounds contained within. Killswitch Engage is a concise encapsulation of everything KSE do well, with no real filler and an obvious single in "Take Me Away." It's a meat-and-potatoes guitar-bass-drums record; some tastefully melancholy piano on the album-closing "This Is Goodbye" […]

Here Waits Thy Doom 3 Inches Of Blood haven't changed their lyrical perspective on their fourth full-length (and first for Century Media); they're still yammering on about battles and demons and blah blah blah. But their musical approach has changed quite a bit. While Slipknot's Joey Jordison produced 2007's Fire Up The Blades, this album is […]

Blackjazz Norway's Shining mix industrial and metal into an unholy screech that takes elements from Nine Inch Nails' Broken EP, Meshuggah's Nothing and the collected works of Magma and King Crimson (this album includes a hellish version of KC's "21st Century Schizoid Man"), plus ultra-distorted, shrieking vocals and skronking saxophone. It's a major leap into the abyss for the […]

Desolation Of Eden Salt Lake City-based six-piece Chelsea Grin have all the deathcore basics down. The galloping, triggered double-bass drums; the pinched squeals of guitar at the end of downtuned riffs; the ultra-low breakdowns; the vocals that alternate gut-churning growls with witchy screeches. That's all superficial, though. What's important is what's uniquely theirs, and that's the […]

Of Mice and Men Yes, Of Mice & Men were formed by the former Attack Attack! frontman Austin Carlile. You should keep reading, though; they're nowhere near as awful as that implies. OM&M don't break any new ground–fans of overwrought screaming that leads into piercingly shrill clean vocals, ultra-percussive guitar riffing, and breakdowns every 30 […]

The World Is A Thorn On Demon Hunter's fifth album, they're throwing everything they've got at the listener, hoping something will stick long enough for their pro-Jesus message to sink in. The fast, heavy songs ("Descending Upon Us," "LifeWar," the title track, "Tie This Around Your Neck") blend nü metal and metalcore, with Mudvayne-ish choruses; […]

Throne To The Wolves From First To Last are coming out swinging, determined to earn back fans' trust after their disappointing third album, From First To Last, released to a resounding thud on Geffen imprint Suretone in 2007. Vocalist/guitarist Matt Good has finally become a true frontman; his sneering, whisper-to-a-scream vocal assault is captivating, and the band create […]

Potraits This U.K.-based metalcore ensemble have perfectly cloned the sound of their Stateside peers. They've got the breakdowns, the doubled-up lead growls that make frontman Danni Winter-Bates sound eight feet tall and 400 pounds, the mostly clean but occasionally shouty chorus vocals from guitarist Jason Cameron and the ultra-downtuned riffage balanced out by occasional bursts […]

In Medias Res PMToday (who'd like their band name written lowercase, but life is filled with disappointments) are a band of brothers from Arkansas who open their debut album with an acoustic-guitar-driven number about how life is filled with disappointments. The next song starts off, "This is me, neglected and obsolete/I am incomplete." Yeah, they're […]