Reviews by Simon Crawley

The enigmatic UK bassist Shane Embury is part of yet another new project. The Napalm Death man is already involved in the likes of Lock Up, Brujeria, Venomous Concept, and Born to Murder the World, and now he’s added Tronos (the Spanish for ...

Pulchra Morte

Divina Autem Et Aniles

By Simon Crawley | 16 April, 2019

There's nothing like a ferociously morbid start to the year and especially when there's a mass of riffs and dark melody partial to such a beginning. My first contribution of 2019, in the way of heavy metal ramblings here, is my take on the first f...

Revocation

The Outer Ones

By Simon Crawley | 05 November, 2018

Full-length studio album number seven from Boston, Massachusetts’ Revocation is a significant one. Its release coincides with the band’s career at a juncture in its trajectory. That perhaps sounds too dramatic, but Revocation has, in t...

Infera Bruo

Cerement

By Simon Crawley | 11 October, 2018

I will admit that what initially drew my attention to this release was learning of the link to Trap Them (also signed to Prosthetic Records) through the band’s bassist, Galen Baudhuin. He is Infera Bruo’s vocalist and guitarist and he ...

Pig Destroyer

Head Cage

By Simon Crawley | 03 October, 2018

Significant foundations were laid earlier by the likes of Napalm Death and Repulsion, but grindcore never quite saw Pig Destroyer coming. This was in 1997 when vocalist J.R. Hayes and Agoraphobic Nosebleed’s Scott Hull formed the band, which...

Gulch

Burning Desire to Draw Last Breath

By Simon Crawley | 05 September, 2018

Hardcore certainly has, in my opinion, a lot more room for the warped and avant-garde. Originality and a good ol’ fashioned pair of balls are also qualities all too often lacking with hardcore acts. California's Gulch is a five-piece force o...

Marginal

Total Destruction

By Simon Crawley | 08 May, 2018

To say anything is ‘old school’ has gotten a bit tired, but when it comes to Belgium’s Marginal who kicks it seriously old school with their brand of grindcore/crust punk, it just seems fitting. This is a sound, whilst fully bene...

OHHMS

The Fool

By Simon Crawley | 07 June, 2017

With the debut release of Bloom in October 2014, Kent’s (U.K.) OHHMS sidled up warmly to fellow The Metal Forge contributor Simon Milburn. And when 2015’s Cold came out, that was that – Mr. Milburn was won over ...

Warbringer

Woe to the Vanquished

By Simon Crawley | 08 April, 2017

Thrash is a highly coveted strain of heavy metal. Its speed, groove, and gritty aggression are elements diehard fans hold dear and get very protective over when the progressive arm of metal sidles up to it. In some ways, death and black metal have...

Havok

Conformicide

By Simon Crawley | 20 March, 2017

Havok is a band I only came to know at the time they unleashed 2011’s Time is Up upon modern day thrash. One cannot ask for a better introduction. Time is Up remains a personal favourite and go-to album when my mood lends i...

Bear Mace

Butchering the Colossus

By Simon Crawley | 20 March, 2017

In keeping to the gruesome theme, this is an album that, like a bear trap, will crack both the air and your bones as it smashes closed upon your stumbling across it. With beginnings dating back to 2012, this five-strong band hailing from Chicago l...

Sunlight's Bane

The Blackest Volume: Like All the Earth Was Buried

By Simon Crawley | 06 March, 2017

Sunlight’s Bane, formerly known as Traitor, releases its full-length debut album here under the new moniker. Fans of the likes of Nails, Trap Them, and Call of the Void will appreciate what the Michigan outfit has to offer.

A little ...