Record Reviews D

After releasing their debut album 'The Sounds Can Be So Cruel' (review here) in 2012, Sweden's DEAN ALLEN FOYD don't waste much time and start in 2013...

Okay. Okaaaaay. Okay. I have no clue what to expect from this new release by Diagonal. I had not consciously come across that band and with them being...

For me, Germany's Dawn Of Winter will always will be linked to my Doom awakening so to speak. In times before the big boom of the early years of this...

DEAD SOUTHERN BISHOP introduce themselves as the heaviest band from southern Georgia and bring along their 5 song EP 'Hymns Of Malice And Discontent'...

Rain, thunderstorm, the sound of a galloping horse, the shrill creaking of an old wooden door.....I am at a point where I find even this cliche for a...

When I looked at the cover artwork of 'Climax Community', I thought that Exile On Mainstream Records has released the first black metal album, but...

Hailing from Italy, 'Dust Storm Warning' is DSW's debut album and offers new stuff for all fans of Unida, Kyuss, Acrimony and Sixty Watt Shaman....

Dust is a well-known name in the German Doom scene. The guys are around since 1998, that makes 14 years of "Psychoaggressive Doom" as they call it,...

I said recently that I'm oversaturated by retro rock in all its facets. What once was refreshing has turned into a stale trend. There are however some...

DIRT COMMUNION comes from the city of Reno, Nevada, and damn you hear them comin'! They offer a really heavy stomping beast with their 2010 album...

Over the last seventeen years Small Stone Records has released a lot of excellent stuff, what makes it not possible for me to draw up a top-ten list,...

Yes, I'm a huge fan of Texas' DIXIE WITCH. They are the perfect embodiment of a heavy power trio that is driven by the immortal spirit of rock 'n'...

The DoomDogs return with a new output called 'Unleash The Truth'. Is that an imperative? Do I have to? Okay. To keep it short, I just say, this thing...

So here is the next band in the current roster of "retro" bands to entertain us with occult Metal. Devil are from Norway and go into a similar...

When Damo Suzuki, the legendary vocalist of German musical innovators Can, decided to record a live album together with Spanish eccentric progressive...

Recently, I have listenend to quite a few albums where certain kinds of intros seemed to be quite common. Finally I can say, that there's again a band...

Not sure if this can be counted as an album as this 8 tracker by Death Valley Driver clocks under 30 minutes but anyways in ca. 28 minutes the quintet...

To be honest, I was delighted when I have noticed the name Boskops in the press info of 'Zugriff'. Why? For me as an old punk this is a well-known...

After six years of brutality, DEMONICAL have built a solid reputation for themselves thanks to their unrelenting, bone-crushing brand of Swedish death...

On the basis of the band name, one might think that UK's DESERT STORM are huge Kyuss fans, but this is not the case at all. Instead, 'Forked Tongues'...

Despite their success, DEWOLFF don't play it safe with their new album. In fact, it's quite the opposite. 'Orchards/Lupine', released in 2011 via...

With 'Collapse The Void' you can expect a furious EP full of grim music. Fast Black Metal riffs beat on the listener - death/doom-like midtempo...

Don't be confused by the strange band name. Arizona's DRONE THRONE have nothing to do with La Monte Young, Earth or Spaceman 3. Instead, they offer a...

Until recently, I did not pay much heed to this Swedish band, because the previous album 'Side by Side' didn't get me all too excited. Somehow I have...

The guys from DOPEFIGHT make no secret of their preferences. On the one hand, they love to smoke huge amounts of weed (and are fully aware of the...

The knowledge about obscure heavy metal bands of Shadow Kingdom Records never fails to amaze me and DEEP SWITCH is so far the most outlandish group on...

Wow, what a cover! This is definitely the funniest and most original artwork that I have seen in 2010 and I can only hope that Bad Afro Records or...

The second album from Canada's DEMONTAGE is really a unique beast. Released in 2010 by Shadow Kingdom Records, 'The Principal Extinction' combines...

Here, we have the second album from Boston's DIRT MALL who continue where they have stopped with their debut 'Got The Goat By The Horns'. That means...

First off all, that's not the German heavy metal band, but the Portugese doom band which was founded one year earlier. Almost unnoticed by the public...

It's six years ago when Cosmic Lava received the first album 'Albedo Zero' from UK's DUSTEROID. Like so many other bands, DUSTEROID follow in the...

I was definitely sacred off by the title of DOOMRAISER's first demo 'Heavy Drunken Doom'. No, I haven't lost my sense of humor, but I have always been...

The Netherlands are a fertile ground for bands that are strongly influenced from the heavy sounds of the early 1970's, and Orange Sunshine and Wallrus...

If you wonder why I didn't noted the format of the latest release of UK's DOMES OF SILENCE, then I would like to let you know that the band released...

I enjoyed the last album of Sweden's DEVILLE very much, particularly because they banned almost all Queens of The Stone Age influences from their...

Finally Black Widow Records allows insight into one of the most interesting and almost forgotten chapters of US-Doom history. 'Alive In Death' is a...

I was never a big fan of Germany's DAWN OF WINTER. Well, I appreciate the fact that they've been around since 1990, but Gerrit Philipp Mutz dramatic...

Since 1998, this German band is a guarantor for smudgy, super-heavy sludge rounded off with a proper dose of doom metal. Sadly, DUST is still...

DRAGONTEARS' first album '2000 Micrograms From Home' found its day-glo niche in my halls of Psychedelia. 'Tambourine Freak Machine' which has been...

Since the 1980's I'm a fan of the first wave of hardcore bands, which emerged from the Boston scene. Especially groups like SS Decontrol, Siege, and...

Boston's DIRT MALL stuck somewhere between glam rock, Detroit rock'n'roll, and pop punk with their debut album, that has been released in 2007 thru...

Here we have the first full-length from the Portuguese band DAWNRIDER, who also appeared on a split-7" in 2005 with Maryland's War Injun. I assume...

Formed in Maryland, USA, DEATH MASK took shape in 1985, and disappeared soon afterwards in 1987. Strongly influenced by Black Sabbath, Venom,...

After one strong demo released in 2006 under the name Nemesis, DARKEST ERA have finally put out their first release through Eyes Like Snow Records in...

I'm surprised again and again, how much bands have arisen out of the ash of Norrsken. There's Witchcraft, the most popular, then Graveyard and DEAD...

It's the first release from the new German label Beautiful Scum Records, and it's a damn good label debut. This Italian band was founded in 1989, and...

This time the small US-underground label Public Guilt is responsible for the second album of DARSOMBRA, after they already released a 3" CD-R from...

'Mandala' is the result of the collaboration between D.B.P.I.T. and Kenji Siratori and both have managed to break with usual musical conventions and...

I remember this Swedish band from their split-CD with Sergej The Freak, that was released on Daredevil Records at the end of 2005. Their sound was...

I bet, that all three guys of DRIFT have one or three discs of Clutch in their music collection at home. And I'm damn sure, that they like this band a...

I can't help, but the latest album 'One Bird, Two Stones' of Austin's one and only DIXIE WITCH didn't convince me as much as I hoped. Maybe my...

Heavy "stoner" rock from the UK, which should be interesting enough for fans of this genre, but this isn't doing anything for me. This is sounding...

Some years have past, since DOZER's  first release, what has been a split-EP with Unida on Meteor City. During the last years, the group had toured a...

What for a great second album from one of Germany's oldest Doom Metal bands!!! This is excellent stuff, and much better than their debut album, which...

What can you expect from a band, which consists of the complete Baby Woodrose line-up plus three members from On Trial and from an album-titele like...

Due to the "optimistic" title of this compilation, one can be sure that the here included music is free from sweet harmonies and uplifting grooves....

This is the latest demo from German doom band DUST, recorded in early 2005 and after a period of inactivity in 2004, the band is back with a new five...

The Czech Republic is still a white spot on my musical map, and I have no clue what's going on there. But now it's my first meeting with a Czech band,...

First off, it's a big secret for me why this band is still unsigned, because this is one of the most promising underground releases, I received in a...

Currently, there aren't much bands around, who are playing such a fine crossover, consisting of 70's heavy rock and early-80's hardcore, like...

It's been nearly two years ago, since the release of this brilliant compilation, but anyway, this disc is so damn good, what makes it still worth to...

I'm not sure, how familiar the name Tom Denney is to the readers of the Cosmic Lava, but I like to give you a small introduction into his...

How the hell should I write a review about this compilation, without just adding one superlative after the other? But ok, I will try and start from...

This is the promo of the upcoming debut MCD from heavy US rockers DIRTY RIG. This four guys are fans of 18 wheelers, strong booze and the good ole...

This US four piece band had played a lot of shows during the last years in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Francisco and San Diego and this is their nine...

The first four track demo from this Argentine band stands in the tradition of 70's Doom-laden Hardrock. Argentina is no blind spot in the history of...

After a long and shitty day you come at home,drink some beer and feel frustrated,and then you went to your friends to play some heavy sick Blues stuff...

DUSTER 69 are ready to release their third full length on Daredevil Records. This group placed their name on the map with numerous tours and build a...

Here's is the second demo from this Kouvola-based band. If you want to fresh up your geographical knowledge let me tell you that Kouvola is a Finnish...

Out of Brooklyn, NY comes this two man band, but to my fortune, DUST TO DUST don't play this kind of republican-pseudo-redneck-hardcore like Biohazard...

My expectations were really high on the second album of DIXIE WITCH, because "Into The Sun" is still one of my faves. But I have to admit, that I got...

"Misanthropic Generation" reminds me to my old days in the early 80's, when I used to wear spikey hairs and a painted leather jacket, and some of my...

It's the third album of Philadelphia's instrumentalists DYSRHYTHMIA, this time recorded at Electrical Audio Studios with Steve Albini, who's famous...

Yes, this five-piece won't stop for anything with their fourth album "Stop At Nothing", this time on Relapse Records. DYING FETUS are playing an...

I will never understand what should be so special about DOWN. The first album was mostly average, with a few good songs on it, but nothing special for...

I needed a long time since I've finally get a copy of the debut of this awesome TX powertrio.And yes, they are a POWER trio in the truest meaning of...

This is the fourth full release from the now legendary Welsh Death/Gore/Grind veterans DESECRATION. I never had the chance to listen to their older...

One of the heaviest bands from the USA were DEATH ROW, co-founded by Victor Griffin and this is a limited vinyl edition (1000 copies) from Game Two...

A new Swedish band, that was formed back in 1997 and they are playing very weighty 70's influenced fuzz-driven heavy rock 'n' roll (they call...

For me, this trio is a special and unique band. They have captured a very own sound on the first self-titled album, which was far away from today's...

Originally released in 1999 on Cranium Records, the excellent US label Brainticket has taken the chance to release this album now in 2001 again....

A new US-band with their debut on Benchmark Records. They don't cover any new ground, but their downtuned heavy rock is solid and entertaining to keep...