Listen Now

It’s the final episode of The Sons of Metal. CHR embarks on one last solo flight with new albums from Anaal Nathrakh and Aldious, checks out some indie grindcore from Anthropic, and prepares to enter Valhalla himself alongside Amon Amarth’s appropriately-titled seventh album. Folks, it’s been a pleasure entertaining you the last eight-plus years, and summoning the last bit of warmth from my icy, cynical heart, I thank all of you for your attention during this time. Whether you’ve been a subscriber since episode #1 or just recently discovered us, I hope we managed to both inform and entertain during your time with us. Take care and be safe,–CHR New Releases: Anaal Nathrakh : Endarkenment (2020) 9:36 Anaal Nathrakh are a British extreme metal band formed in 1999 in Birmingham, England. Their sound is a complex mix of symphonic black metal, black metal, death metal, grindcore, and industrial. Get this album: Bandcamp • Amazon • Apple Music • CD Universe • Spotify Aldious : Evoke 2010–2020 (2020) 19:43 Aldious is a Japanese all-female power metal band from Osaka, who formed in 2008. They have been labelled pioneers of the Girls Metal Band Boom that began in Japan in the 2010s. Get this album: Bandcamp • Amazon • Apple Music • CD Universe • Spotify Local/Indie Band: Anthropic : Architects Of Aggression (2020) 30:45 Anthropic are a grindcore band from from Buffalo, New York who are heavily inspired by 1980s grindcore, crust punk, and death metal. Get this album: Bandcamp • Amazon • Apple Music • Spotify     Info: Facebook Heavy Metal Valhalla: Amon Amarth : Twilight Of The Thunder God (2008) 37:44 Amon Amarth is a Swedish melodic death metal band formed in 1992. Their lyrics mostly deal with Viking mythology and history. Get this album: Bandcamp • Amazon • Apple Music • CD Universe • Spotify

It’s Doug’s last show ever and the final B-Side. CHR opens the show with the blackened folk of Finland’s Havukruunu and Doug closes things out with the tech-death onslaught of Canada’s Beneath The Massacre. The Albums: Havukruunu : Uinuos Syömein Sota (2020) 5:02 Havukruunu is a Finnish duo who plays blackened folk metal very much in the vein of mid- to late-career Bathory, Rimfrost, and similar bands. Their music is grand in scope with multiple movements, choral elements, and other forms of bombast. Get this album: Bandcamp • Amazon • Apple Music • Spotify Beneath The Massacre : Fearmonger (2020) 21:57 Beneath The Massacre is a Canadian technical death metal band from Quebec. They play extremely fast, and although the songs are relatively short, they pack a lot of material into just a few minutes. Get this album: Amazon • Apple Music • Spotify

It’s Doug’s last main episode, so CHR gifts him the ursine onslaught of Chicago’s Bear Mace, while Doug opts for the heavy groove of Sweden’s Orbit Culture. CHR picks a conceptually unusual indie pick with South Africa’s Incarnate Deity, and Doug uses his final Valhalla pick to feature one of his favorite albums of all time, Opeth’s 2005 album, Ghost Reveries. Additionally, CHR talks about the future of the show. New Releases: Bear Mace : Charred Fields Of Slaughter (2020) 9:06 Hailing from Chicago, IL, USA, Bear Mace describe their sound as "planet crushing death metal". What started out as a cross between Bolt Thrower and Dethklok now incorporates more dynamic elements, such as those from later Pantera and mid-career Death. Get this album: Bandcamp • Amazon • Apple Music • Spotify Orbit Culture : Nija (2020) 21:36 Orbit Culture are a Swedish melodeath/groove metal act who mix in some thrash and progressive elements into a unique sound. Get this album: Bandcamp • Amazon • Apple Music • CD Universe • Spotify Local/Indie Band: Incarnate Deity : Theodicy (2020) 34:39 Incarnate Deitiy is a conceptually unusual one-man act from South Africa. It’s symphonic blackened death metal, but with Christian undertones. Even if you don’t subscribe to the religious philosophy, the music should appeal to fans of SepticFlesh and early Dimmu Borgir. Get this album: Bandcamp • Amazon • Apple Music • Spotify     Info: Facebook Heavy Metal Valhalla: Opeth : Ghost Reveries (2005) 46:07 Opeth is a Swedish heavy metal band formed in 1989. Lead vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter Mikael Åkerfeldt has remained Opeth’s primary creative director, incorporating death metal, progressive rock, folk, blues, classical, and jazz influences into typically lengthy compositions. Get this album: Amazon • Apple Music • CD Universe • Spotify

Doug opens the show with a semi-posthumous release from Static-X while CHR keeps it simple with some death/thrash from Sweden’s Vampire. This episode is sponsored by YOU If you would like your name here, please consider supporting us on Patreon. If you enjoy independent, honest reviews of heavy metal albums and can spare a dollar or more a month, we would appreciate your support. More information→ The Albums: Static-X : Project Regeneration, Volume 1 (2020) 3:14 Static-X is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California, and was influental in the late-1990s/early 2000s nu-metal movement. After frontman Wayne Static’s death in 2014, they found a significant amount of unreleased material that the remaining original members of Static-X put together into this new album. Get this album: Amazon • Apple Music • Spotify Vampire : Rex (2020) 15:47 Hailing from Gothenberg, Sweden, the anonymous quintet known as Vampire have been releasing a vicious combination of thrash and death metal since 2014. Get this album: Amazon • Apple Music • Spotify

The show opens with Doug dropping two bombshells, and follows it up with some slammy Russian death metal from Katalepsy. CHR slows some things down with some “jammy” doom metal from Pale Divine. In the indie segment, they listen to some punk-laden death metal from Argentina’s Medium, and in Heavy Metal Valhalla, CHR brings back the Teutonic thrash with Sodom’s third album. This episode is sponsored by YOU If you would like your name here, please consider supporting us on Patreon. If you enjoy independent, honest reviews of heavy metal albums and can spare a dollar or more a month, we would appreciate your support. More information→ New Releases: Katalepsy : Terra Mortuus Est (2020) 10:55 Katalepsy is a Russian death metal band from Moscow. The group formed in 2003, and have lyrical themes centered around gore, violence, murder, and perversions. Get this album: Bandcamp • Amazon • Apple Music • CD Universe • Spotify Pale Divine : Consequence Of Time (2020) 24:15 Pale Divine are a Pennsylvania-based doom metal band that has been around since 1995. Their sound invokes shades of Black Sabbath, Pentagram, and Trouble with some progressive elements reminiscent of Yes and Uriah Heep. Get this album: Bandcamp • Amazon • Apple Music • CD Universe • Spotify Local/Indie Band: Medium : Medium (2018) 36:18 Hailing from Argentina, Medium present their own take on the grind/crust style with their self-titled debut. Their unconventional approach blends qualities of grind, crust, punk, death metal, and hardcore. Get this album: Bandcamp • Amazon • Apple Music • Spotify     Info: Facebook Heavy Metal Valhalla: Sodom : Agent Orange (1989) 44:02 Sodom is a German thrash metal band formed in 1981. Along with Kreator, Destruction, and Tankard, Sodom has been referred to as one of the “Big Four” of Teutonic thrash metal. Originally starting out in the black metal realm, Sodom quickly transitioned into more traditional thrash for their later works. Get this album: Amazon • Apple Music • CD Universe

CHR opens the show with female-fronted blackened thrash from France while Doug indulges his drunken, stupid side with some Scottish pirate metal. This episode is sponsored by YOU If you would like your name here, please consider supporting us on Patreon. If you enjoy independent, honest reviews of heavy metal albums and can spare a dollar or more a month, we would appreciate your support. More information→ The Albums: Witches : The Fates (2020) 3:35 Formed back in 1986, Witches, known as the first French band in France with female guttural vocals, has been an on-again/off-again project with the vocalist being the only original member. Get this album: Bandcamp • Amazon • Apple Music • Spotify Alestorm : Curse Of The Crystal Coconut (2020) 11:38 Scotland’s Alestorm is possibly the most-recognized pirate-themed metal band today and are responsible for bringing the keytar back into vogue. Get this album: Amazon • Apple Music • Spotify

IT’S EPISODE ONE HUNDRED! This turns out to be a non-event (Thanks, COVID!), but still manages to be a fun show. CHR opens with some crossover/hardcore from the Cro-Mags while Doug indulges his “chugga-chug” side with Lamb Of God’s newest. CHR gets slow and grimy in the indie segment with WeedWizard, while Doug highlights a forgotten band from the 1990s with Corrosion of Conformity’s fourth album. This episode is sponsored by YOU If you would like your name here, please consider supporting us on Patreon. If you enjoy independent, honest reviews of heavy metal albums and can spare a dollar or more a month, we would appreciate your support. More information→ New Releases: Cro-Mags : In The Beginning (2020) 6:48 The Cro-Mags are a crossover thrash/hardcore band from New York City. With a Hare Krishna background, they were among the first bands to fuse hardcore punk with thrash metal and were associated with the birth of a tougher attitude within the hardcore scene in the late 1980s, related to the world of martial arts. Get this album: Amazon • Apple Music • CD Universe • Spotify Lamb Of God : Lamb Of God (2020) 17:53 Lamb of God is an American heavy metal band from Richmond, Virginia. Formed in 1994 as Burn the Priest, the band is considered a significant member of the New Wave of American Heavy Metal movement. Get this album: Amazon • Apple Music • CD Universe • Spotify Local/Indie Band: WeedWizard : Closed Eyes… Open Mind (2020) 32:12 WeedWizard started somewhere in Germany back in 2013 to worship the heavy, fuzzy riffs of stoner metal, doom, and sludge. Their sound employs Black Sabbath style riffing with gravely vocals, and an excessive amount of downtuning. Get this album: Bandcamp     Info: Facebook Heavy Metal Valhalla: Corrosion Of Conformity : Deliverance (1994) 44:37 Corrosion of Conformity is an American heavy metal band from Raleigh, North Carolina, formed in 1982. The band started as a hardcore punk band but later moved towards a slower and blues-tinged heavy metal sound. Get this album: Amazon • Apple Music • CD Universe • Spotify

Doug opens the show with some mythological doom metal from Indiana with Wolftooth’s sophomore album, while CHR goes a more metal-adjacent route with Wailin Storms’s third release. This episode is sponsored by YOU If you would like your name here, please consider supporting us on Patreon. If you enjoy independent, honest reviews of heavy metal albums and can spare a dollar or more a month, we would appreciate your support. More information→ The Albums: Wolftooth : Valhalla (2020) 3:32 Hailing from Richmond, Indiana, Wolftooth are a pack of well-seasoned musicians combining influences from the 1970s and early 1980s NWOBHM with thrash and doom-laden riffs. Get this album: Bandcamp • Amazon • Apple Music • Spotify Wailin Storms : Rattle (2020) 13:21 Wailin Storms, from North Carolina, play a mix of doom-punk and swampy rock with vocals reminiscent of bluesy masters like Howlin’ Wolf and Samhain with emotive nods to Destruction Unit, Bauhaus, and Jesus Lizard. Get this album: Bandcamp • Amazon • Apple Music • Spotify

Still apart, but united in metal, CHR and Doug close out the double-digit episodes with some nü-hardcore from Code Orange and tech-death from Killitorous. In the indie segment, Doug introduces us to Hyborian’s imaginatively-named sophomore album, and in Heavy Metal Valhalla, CHR opts for some classic English death metal with Benediction’s third album. This episode is sponsored by YOU If you would like your name here, please consider supporting us on Patreon. If you enjoy independent, honest reviews of heavy metal albums and can spare a dollar or more a month, we would appreciate your support. More information→ New Releases: Code Orange : Underneath (2020) 3:56 Formed under the name “Code Orange Kids” in 2008, Code Orange started out playing straightforward punk, but would eventually take their music in a heavier direction. They now describe themselves as “doomy, abrasive” hardcore punk similar to Black Flag, Converge, or Integrity. Get this album: Amazon • Apple Music • CD Universe • Spotify Killitorous : The Afterparty (2020) 15:50 Killitorous is a three-guitar technical death/grind supergroup from Canada that features endless blast beats, non-stop screaming, and relentless 1990s movies references. Get this album: Bandcamp • Amazon • Apple Music • Spotify Local/Indie Band: Hyborian : Volume II (2020) 27:40 Hyborian are a Kansas City quartet who drop immense, neck-snapping riffs while espousing tales of mythology based on the works of Robert E. Howard. Get this album: Bandcamp • Amazon • Apple Music • Spotify     Info: Facebook Heavy Metal Valhalla: Benediction : Transcend The Rubicon (1993) 38:20 Benediction are an English death metal band formed in 1989. Although very old-school in their approach, Benedition employed punk-style rhythm and what Entombed would popularize later as “death-and-roll” to make them stand out from other bands at the time. Get this album: Amazon • Apple Music • Spotify

CHR opens the show with some blackened death metal from Vredehammer while Doug throws some groove in his death metal with Abysmal Dawn. This episode is sponsored by YOU If you would like your name here, please consider supporting us on Patreon. If you enjoy independent, honest reviews of heavy metal albums and can spare a dollar or more a month, we would appreciate your support. More information→ The Albums: Vredehammer : Viperous (2020) 2:08 Vredehammer was originally conceived as Per Valla studio solo project, formed after his departure of Elite and Allfader. He later teamed up with other musicians and Vredehammer became a full functioning band in early 2013 with the release of an EP and the band’s first concert. Get this album: Bandcamp • Amazon • Apple Music • Spotify Abysmal Dawn : Phylogenesis (2020) 14:46 Hailing from Los Angeles, Abysmal Dawn plays an aggressive mix of modern death metal, blending the hooks and technicality of early ’90s American death metal with the atmosphere, melody, and brutality of their contemporaries. Get this album: Bandcamp • Amazon • Apple Music • Spotify

As the hosts practice social distancing, CHR opens the show with the densely-produced death metal of New Zealand's Ulcerate while Doug opts for some Michigan melodeath from The Black Dahlia Murder. In the indie segment, CHR ventures to Bangladesh to check out the debut from Nawabs of Destruction. In Heavy Metal Valhalla, Doug looks at one of the most popular industrial albums from the 1990s with Nine Inch Nails' sophomore release, to mixed results.

Doug opens the show with the throwback classic power/speed onslaught of Germany's Stallion, while CHR drags him back to the U.K. to listen to My Dying Bride's newest death/doom outing.

As the hosts practice social distancing, Doug vents his frustrations through the new Body Count album, while CHR busts some stuff up to Testament's newest LP. Feeling everyone could use some guidance on life, Doug introduces us to the Deacons of Doom philosophy. Finally, CHR needs some comfort music from his past and revisits Tesla's second album.

CHR opens the show with some "psychedelic doomcore" from Germany's Warped Cross, and Doug checks out the latest release from industrial shock-rocker Davey Suicide.

CHR opens the show with the throwback sounds of The Night Flight Orchestra while Doug opts for some deathcore from Suicide Silence. In the indie segment, CHR checks out some experimental gothic metal from the French band Ulvånd. The gothic metal continues in Heavy Metal Valhalla where Doug highlights the 1991 debut from Type O Negative.

Doug opens the show with some environmentally-themed extreme metal from California's Cattle Decapitation while CHR takes the dairy theme to extremes with some glorious cheese from Sweden's Brothers of Metal.

It's Black Metal History Month, so CHR and Doug are serving up an episode full of blackened goodness. In the new album segment, Doug serves up some blackened melodeath from Machinations of Fate and CHR opts for some blackened thrash from Midnight. In the indie segment, China's Vengeful Spectre provide some folk-influenced black metal. Finally, in Heavy Metal Valhalla, they revisit the second album from Emperor, one of the pioneers of the Norwegian scene.

CHR opens the show with some slow, female-fronted doom from California's Brume while Doug picks up the pace with the old-school death-and-roll of Arizona's Gatecreeper.

CHR opens the show in Germany with the speed metal assault of StormWarrior while Doug brings us back to the states for some crossover thrash from Red Death. In the indie segment, CHR introduces some Amon Amarth-laced, Gothenburg-style melodeath from Russia with the band KillHammer. For Heavy Metal Valhalla, Doug reveals one of his favorite songs of all time on Ozzy Osbourne's second solo album.

Doug opens the show with some progressive German tech-death from Obscura, while CHR indulges some avant-garde black metal from Schammasch.