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In May, NYC-based musician Grant Chapman, who’s the percussionist for Chris Taylor’s Body Meat, released the self-titled debut for his sample-based project Torture Methods. Torture Methods is a gothic, glitch-ridden nightmare — but one of those fun ones that plays out in the mind like a surrealist arthouse film. On Friday Sept. 18, Chapman returned with a new single “RIPPER, REAPER.”

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ALETHEYA turn towards their heavier, ’80s-inspired influences on “Stealer,” the new single accompanying the release of their debut album, Chance To Reborn. Out since September 18, 2026, through Rockshots Records, the record combines melodic power metal with symphonic, neoclassical and progressive elements. The Italian band describe “Stealer” as: “The heaviest and most ’80s-inspired track on […]

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A lightning strike becomes a moment of spiritual awakening in ESHTADUR’s “Thunderground,” the latest single and video from In Darkness All Shadows Gone. The Colombian melodic black/death metal band’s fifth studio album arrives on October 2, 2026, through Rockshots Records, ahead of a European tour in November and December. Within the album’s narrative, thunder represents […]

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Album Review: Stryper – Throne Of Thorns

Reviewed by Eric Clifford

For all that Stryper’s classic output won them critical and commercial plaudits aplenty, it’s the efforts since their reformation in 2003 that catches my ear most. Their 80’s work has plenty of unchained heavy metal thunder for sure, but especially on albums like “To Hell with the Devil” and “In God we Trust” it shares space with an abundance of hard rockin’ pop metal that simply doesn’t resonate with me much. That isn’t to say that it doesn’t have it’s place, evidently it does and Stryper were very good at it, but if you chuck it into the ring with a latter day career heavyweight like “No More Hell to Pay”, there’s only going to be one winner there. Modern day Stryper is leaner, heavier, hungrier. They’ve still time for a ballad or seven, but elsewhere the band are sermonising within the fantastical realms of power metal at points – take the sublime “Yahweh” from their “Fallen” release for example. And they’ve been busy too, slabs of holy steel manifesting from the heavens every few years or so (things like the Christmas album notwithstanding). And, regular as clockwork, here comes another offering from the bumblebee bedecked quartet. The pews are filled, the lectern ready, the Sabbath upon us. Do the band still have it in them to render unto God what is God’s?

Stryper’s ability to pen a chorus has always been beyond reproach, but even by that standard the band are on their A-game here. Right from the glorious self-titled opener, longstanding frontman Michael Sweet belts anthem after anthem out with such irresistible fervour that even Anton Lavey wouldn’t be able to avoid humming it to himself when he thinks no one is watching. By the time I got to the celestial thunderhead of “I’m Alright (I’m O.K)” and it’s infectious speed metal shock tactics it was becoming impossible to pretend that this modern incarnation of Stryper hadn’t won me over once more. They’re so earnest, pouring their heart and soul into each note, the passion bleeding from tracks like the colossal “Shadowbreaker” which closes the album out with a d-beat propelled heavy metal hosanna, a communion taken over a stack of Painkiller and Powerslave vinyls.

To fish yet another cliché from the tepid pond of hack writing, there’s something for everyone here. I lean towards the faster songs, but elsewhere drummer Robert Sweet sets the raw crunch of “Falling” and “Hollywood” to a neck threatening mid-paced stamp. Feel like getting in touch with your softer side? “Waiting for You” and “Ashes to Roses” have you covered. Pathologically underrated guitar duo Michael Sweet and Oz Fox are in fine form – even if admittedly a bit less incendiary than they have been in the recent past (nothing here is quite so full throttle as they go on “Transgressor” from their “The Final Battle” album for example) – screwing into place the spearheads that arm the vanguard of Stryper’s melodic onslaught. Realistically, if you like heavy metal, there isn’t really a good reason to not at least give Stryper a shot here.

It’s not all quite so euphoric though. “Alone Again” has a kind of sardonic, sneering vibe that I wasn’t particularly enamoured with. Also, assuming at this stage in their career that you were expecting Stryper to reinvent the wheel, you may come away disappointed. This album is very much in line with the palette the band have been painting with for some time now – which is hardly a bad thing of itself, but even so, when a previous album like “Against the Law” had toyed with a bunch of blues, funk and rock ‘n roll influence and latter day track “Take it to the Cross” had been borderline thrash…well, perhaps a bit more experimentation wouldn’t have gone amiss, regardless of how good Throne of Thorns wound up being solely on it’s own merits.

If I think that there is a little filler to be trimmed, Throne of Thorns is otherwise as cast iron a reaffirmation of Stryper’s place in the contemporary metal scene as could be asked for, and continues their post-reunion winning streak as though it was the easiest thing in the world. Time has yet to halt the yellow and black attack; these men are after all soldiers under command, and if you would join their ranks beside them, then Throne of Thorns presents as thunderous a welcome as could be asked for.

For all the latest news, reviews, interviews across the heavy metal spectrum follow THE RAZORS’S EDGE on facebook, twitter and instagram.

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Album Review: GWAR – Beyond Hell (20th Anniversary Edition)

Reviewed by Dan Barnes

Whomever would have thought those Scumdogs of the Universe, Antarctica’s foulest cohort, GWAR, would have made it four years, let alone forty, and be fifteen albums deep into their crazy career, to boot? As we patiently await album number sixteen, the band have decided to mark the twentieth anniversary of the release of the tenth full-length, Beyond Hell, with a spiffy new remaster.

This time around, GWAR went full-on with a concept album, detailing the story of the band descending into Hell to escape the attacking armies of humanity. Any similarity between Beyond Hell and Dante Allegahri’s Divine Comedy is purely intentional, with the inscription over the lintel of Hell: “Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here” forming part of the lyric.

The journey begins with the scene setting intro, as winds howl and an ancient bard starts to narrate the tale. War is All We Know finds the band’s Antarctic fortress coming under attack from the forces of humanity, led by the Nazi Pope, who eventually goes nuclear, forcing GWAR to seek shelter underground. To give this the storytelling presence it deserves, the band use punky, thrashing riffs and classic metal moments; guitars chug and riffs charge, bringing to mind the rampancy of early Sabbat. A lull in the frenzy has Oderus Urungus crooning away.

Murderous Muse uses a galloping riff and Go to Hell revolves around a majestic bass performance, courtesy of Beefcake the Mighty, supporting the chugging classic thrash and theatricality of the track. As in the Dante original, GWAR encounter all manner of characters in Hell, including a corrupt police officer in the fierce punk of I Love the Pigs; Tormentor details the encounter with the titular character, here played by Devin Townsend, who produced this record for GWAR, and contributes to one of the records most enjoyable tunes.

Rollocking speed metal is the order of the day and it’s not a million miles from classic Venom, with its pedal to the metal attitude and anthemic, fist-pounding pseudo-power metal chorus, this is GWAR doing exactly what you love GWAR for doing. Eighth Lock is all chopping riffs and spiralling guitars, as the opening of a new Hellgate is described in edgy, stomping glory.

Fan favourite, The Ultimate Bohab, and Destroyed both speed along with reckless abandon, as GWAR take time out of their journey through the underworld to berate a fan who killed himself to follow the band to Hell.

The final battle with Satan is given in The One That Will Not Be Named and, from its slow and doomy opening to the old school thrashing, it a suitably exciting climax. Flattus Maximus and Balsac the Jaws of Death go all out in this final conflict, switching between intense, machine gun riffing to scorching solos, as the thunder cracks and the Devil lies beaten.

Back in Crack finds GWAR back in Antarctica after their sojourn to the Pit, back with some more of those classic thrash metal vibes and a hefty guitar and drum combination. The eerie Outro is a couple of disturbing minutes of tolling bells, howling wind and ominous screams; the aural equivalent of a Hieronymus Bosch painting. Bonus track on Beyond Hell is a cover of Alice Cooper’s School’s Out, which seems to be ideally suited to the band.

For this twentieth anniversary edition, Beyond Hell has been remastered by Paul Logus, who has working with the likes of Anthrax, Armoured Saint, Pantera, Satyricon and many more, giving this record a clean and sharp cutting edge, beside its big and lush sound. Also, for the first-time, Beyond Hell will be available on vinyl.

Perhaps GWAR is a band most judged by its appearance and considered that the music takes a back-seat to the theatricality of the stage show. Yet their recorded output has the firepower of any other band you care to mention and, frankly, stomps over many. You don’t need the costumes and excess – great that they are – to appreciate GWAR for being a fearsome act on record as well as onstage.

And, if you’re yet to see it, the Shudder documentary This Is GWAR is a fantastic way to spend a couple of hours.

For all the latest news, reviews, interviews across the heavy metal spectrum follow THE RAZORS’S EDGE on facebook, twitter and instagram.

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An empty ocean and the traces of a disappearing world lie at the heart of URISK’s “The Hauled and the Waif,” the first single from their second album, CALL. Due October 2, 2026, through Vendetta Records, the record connects ecological grief with the loss of language, culture and folklore in Scotland and beyond. The single […]

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SIX STRING REVOLVER’S RAVENHAWK TALKS ‘BE SOMEBODY,’ BREAKING FREE, MUSIC, AI AND THE POWER OF ROCK AND ROLL

There are plenty of bands making noise in the underground, but every once in a while you come across an artist whose music is tied directly to the life they’ve lived. For “RavenHawk” of Six String Revolver , the songs are more than just riffs, hooks and volume. They are a vehicle for telling stories, confronting darkness and, in his words, being “the voice for the voiceless.”
RavenHawk recently joined The Zach Moonshine Show for a wide-ranging conversation covering the band’s history, their latest album Be Somebody , the stories behind several of their songs, growing up in a high-control religious environment, his love of classic rock and metal, the importance of physical music and magazines, the growing presence of AI in music, and what lies ahead for Six String Revolver.
One of the songs discussed during the interview was “Sick Mind,” a track RavenHawk describes as a statement song dealing with online predators and the dangers facing children on the internet.
“You see injustice in the world like that, man. You want to speak out,” RavenHawk explained. “And the way I know how to speak out is through our music.”
That philosophy appears to run throughout Six String Revolver’s material. RavenHawk says longtime producer Chris Richardson once told him to “be the voice for the voiceless,” a phrase that has stayed with him.
FROM A LAST-MINUTE GIG TO SIX STRING REVOLVER

Six String Revolver came together in somewhat unconventional fashion.
RavenHawk had previously stepped away from music after a former band dissolved. Then came an opportunity to open for Saving Abel and P.O.D.
There was just one problem.
He didn’t actually have a band.
“I got a call to open up for Saving Abel, the band, Saving Abel and P.O.D.,” RavenHawk recalled. “And I was like, ‘Oh, I don’t have a band, but OK, I want to do it.’”
So he assembled what he describes as some of the best musicians he could find locally and revived the Six String Revolver name from an earlier project.
The newly assembled lineup went directly onto the stage opening for P.O.D. and Saving Abel, and according to RavenHawk, things took off from there.
One of the key pieces of the Six String Revolver lineup is guitarist Hawkeye Pierce, whom RavenHawk describes as a “living legend” around Southern Utah.
“He really is the sixth string of Six String Revolver,” RavenHawk said. “If I’m the revolver, he’s the sixth string.”
MUSIC AS AN ESCAPE

Perhaps the most revealing portion of the conversation came when RavenHawk discussed his childhood.
Born into a doomsday religious cult, he grew up in an environment where music and popular culture were heavily restricted. His parents were members of the group, and RavenHawk says his childhood was dominated by fear, control and the belief that the end of the world could arrive at any moment.
His first major musical obsession came from an unlikely source: a library book about Jim Morrison.
“I ran across the book called No One Gets Out of Here Alive , the Jim Morrison story,” he explained.
He hadn’t even heard The Doors at that point.
After reading about Morrison, however, RavenHawk knew exactly what he wanted.
“I was like, ‘I want to be freaking Jim Morrison.’”
A video of The Doors performing at the Hollywood Bowl cemented it.
From there, he began secretly seeking out music and eventually discovered bands including Guns N’ Roses.
RavenHawk says music ultimately became his escape from the environment in which he was raised.
“I went out and got in a band and started touring with a band,” he said. “Music was basically my escape from all of this that I had to go through.”
He later wrote an entire book about his experiences and says helping people who have escaped high-control groups has become an important part of his life.
“DEAD JAIL ROCK’N’ROLL” IS PERSONAL

That personal history also finds its way directly into the Six String Revolver catalog.
RavenHawk discussed “Dead Jail Rock’n’Roll,” explaining that the song contains an event from his own life.
“I once threw a knife at my boss’s ever-loving head,” he said. “That’s an absolute true story.”
The song reflects his deep resistance to being controlled, something he connects directly to his childhood.
“I was taught to be a slave my whole life,” RavenHawk explained. “I just can’t do it, man.”
For him, rock and roll represents the opposite of that experience.
“That’s what rock’n’roll is about, man. Freedom.”
THE INFLUENCE OF JIM MORRISON, AXL ROSE AND THE CLASSIC ERA

RavenHawk’s musical education may have started with The Doors, but his influences eventually expanded into the hard rock and metal world.
Guns N’ Roses made a particularly strong impact.
When he heard Axl Rose’s vocals on Appetite for Destruction , he heard something raw and unpredictable that connected with him.
RavenHawk also spoke about how reading stories about musicians who had survived difficult childhoods affected him personally. He specifically discussed Axl Rose’s background and the way discovering similarities between their experiences gave him inspiration.
“If he can do it from a very similar environment, why can’t I?” RavenHawk recalled thinking.
That became part of the reason he chose to tell his own story publicly.
“Maybe it’ll be some kid listening and going, ‘Hey, that guy can do it. I can do it too.’”
SIX STRING REVOLVER AND THE HUMAN ELEMENT OF MUSIC

The conversation eventually turned toward the current state of the music industry and the growing presence of artificial intelligence.
RavenHawk isn’t completely opposed to AI as a tool. He explained that he can see value in using technology to build out a song idea when presenting material to other musicians.
But when it comes to Six String Revolver, he is clear about one thing.
“No AI on it at all,” he said.
The band’s music is performed by the musicians themselves, with the record having been recorded in California with engineer Tom and produced by the band’s drummer, known as Monster.
For RavenHawk, the imperfections of human musicianship are part of what makes rock and metal special.
He wants to hear what an artist has experienced, what they have to say and what they bring to the music.
“I want to hear the passion. I want to hear the message,” he said.
He also wants the complete album experience, from the lyrics and artwork to the production choices and the little details hidden inside the recordings.
That human connection is something he doesn’t believe can simply be replicated by a machine.
BRING BACK THE MAGAZINES

The discussion also took a nostalgic turn as RavenHawk and Zach Moonshine talked about the golden era of metal magazines.
Titles such as Metal Edge , Hit Parader , Circus , Metal Maniac and RIP were all part of the conversation, along with the posters, advertisements and interviews that introduced an entire generation of fans to new bands.
Before streaming algorithms and social media feeds, the record store and magazine rack were discovery engines.
You bought a cassette. You read the liner notes. You checked out the advertisements. You saw a band you’d never heard of and went looking for their music.
For RavenHawk, that physical connection still matters.
He wants to know who made the music, what the musicians are doing, what they believe in and what their lives look like outside the songs.
It’s also one reason he believes the human side of underground music remains so important in the age of AI.
BE SOMEBODY AND WHAT COMES NEXT

Six String Revolver is currently promoting its latest album, Be Somebody , while also working on new videos and continuing to push the band’s music forward.
The road ahead, however, has included a major challenge.
Guitarist Hawkeye Pierce is currently battling stage 3 cancer and had recently undergone surgery at the time of the interview.
Despite the difficult circumstances, RavenHawk remains determined to keep the band’s music moving.
“He’s going to come back better than ever,” he said.
And apparently Hawkeye hasn’t lost his sense of humor.
While recovering in the hospital, he has reportedly been attempting to convince hospital staff to ditch their scrubs in favor of Six String Revolver merchandise. He has even tried recruiting nurses for the band’s imaginary dance team.
So far, hospital policy has prevented the campaign from succeeding.
But Hawkeye apparently isn’t giving up.
A LADDER IN THE SKY

Outside of Six String Revolver, RavenHawk has also released a solo song titled “Ladder in the Sky,” written years ago and recently released by Rage Breed around the 25th anniversary of September 11.
Although the song moves outside the normal Six String Revolver style, RavenHawk says it allowed him to revisit material he’d written long ago.
He also revealed that his experience as a volunteer firefighter influenced the song’s focus on the firefighters who rushed into danger during the attacks.
Whatever questions people may have about the events themselves, RavenHawk says the people who risked and lost their lives trying to save others deserve to be remembered.
THE REVOLVER KEEPS SPINNING

What comes through most clearly during the conversation with RavenHawk is that Six String Revolver isn’t simply another band releasing another album.
The music is connected to a lifetime of experiences.
From discovering Jim Morrison in a library to secretly listening to rock and metal as a kid, from escaping an abusive environment to building a career in music, RavenHawk has spent decades turning those experiences into songs.
And now, with Be Somebody out in the world and Six String Revolver continuing to release music, that story is still being written.
“I love expressing myself,” RavenHawk said. “I love trying to help other people that are in need of a message and a story that they can grab onto, that can inspire them.”
In an era where an endless stream of new music can disappear almost as quickly as it arrives, that’s perhaps the most important thing an underground artist can do.
Have something real to say.
Then turn it up loud.
Full Track List From the Show:
Battle Of The Bands Top Six Winners:
1 – Another Demon – Reduced to Ash – (4,716,530 votes)
2 – Soul Of Sheol – Paradise Is Not For Us – (38,205 votes)
3 – Sharp n’ Loud – Armored sexy girl – (11,541 votes)
4 – ELICERE – Erased I : The dome – (4,176 votes)
5 – Mistress – Terrified eyes – (3,020 votes)
6 – Adam Zar Novafall – Ashes Don’t Lie – (1,327 votes)
The Zach Moonshine Intro
7 – Ozzy Osbourne – Suicide Solution – Live From Blizzard Of Ozz Tour
8 – MIDNIGHT – You Can’t Stop Steel (Live)
9 – L.A. Guns – Space Truckin’
10 – Peeling Flesh – Murderous Intent (feat. Mike from Missing Link)
11 – 200 Stab Wounds – Pangs of Conscience
Six String Revolver – Interview featuring Sick Mind/Death, Jail, Rock & Roll
12 – NervoChaos – Embrace Chaos
13 – THE BLEEDING – Born in a Casket
14 – Falling In Reverse – “Joseph” (feat. Corey Taylor and Serj Tankian)/God Is A Weapon – Feat Marilyn Manson
15 – Droid Killer – 2030 JiHad
16 – Templum Silva – The Soil Soaked Our Blood
17 – Netherdred – Necrodancer
18 – PS:23 – The Angel They Call Evil
19 – Frequency Overload – Buoyancy
20 – Culak – Crossfire
21 – Estertor – Evil Black Church
22 – Phenomy – Death May Die
23 – Black Hole Zion – I Don’t Care if This Thing Crashes
Streaming now on mixcloud: 

You can also hear the interview on YouTube, Spotify, Apple etc.


Super massive thanks to the 112,843 headbangers from around the world that tuned in live to the broadcast Friday night!

One evening after Devin Townsend brought a stripped-down solo performance to Hamburg’s Markthalle, I’m back at the same venue. This time, though, the setup couldn’t be more different. The chairs from the previous night have disappeared, the room is ready for a standing crowd, and an interesting package is about to hit the stage. Metal… Continue Reading →

Back in the early 90’s, the movie soundtrack was in its chart dominating pomp. The formula was simple; take a huge band or artist, have them write an exclusive tune for a Hollywood blockbuster, sit back and watch the song and the movie rake in the dough.

In 1991, the biggest, buzziest movie on the slate was James Cameron’s spectacular Terminator 2: Judgment Day, starring bodybuilder-turned-Hollywood A-lister Arnold Schwarzenegger as the titular T-800 robot. The same year, the biggest, buzziest band on the planet were Guns N’ Roses, still riding the wave of the astounding success of their 1987 debut album Appetite For Destruction. Pairing them up together made perfect sense – two massive names for the price of one.

In 1991, hunger for new GN’R music was huge. They’d released a cover of Bob Dylan’s Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door on the soundtrack to 1990 Tom Cruise movie Days Of Thunder, and a brand new song, the mini-epic Civil War on charity album Nobody’s Child: Romanian Angel Appeal the same year. But it would be their Terminator tie-in You Could Be Mine that would properly announce their return – with a huge helping hand from Arnie himself.

For GnR, the song that would eventually come to be associated with Terminator 2 was one that they had being toying with since before Appetite For Destruction’s release: the swerving, juddering You Could Be Mine. Initially titled Cocaine Talking, the song rode along on a massive sleazy riff, frontman Axl Rose’s, threat-laced screams and pointed lyrics: “With your bitch-slapping rapping and cocaine tongue, you get nothing done…” – rich coming from a band famed for their chemical proclivities.

“If you listen to the lyrics, it’s about how all these nice young girls in L.A. can’t do anything before they do their coke,” bassist Duff McKagan said in 1988, three years before You Could Be Mine was released. “The song’s definitely not a pro-cocaine song. It’s about how the shit really fucks up your head.”

GN’R planned to include the song on their forthcoming Use Your Illusion double album set, but while the band were in the studio, filming was wrapping up on T2. As part of the films marketing campaign, executives believed a single, with a big budget music video, was needed to promote it. Enter The Terminator himself.

“Back then, if you could get a good video, it would get played on MTV 15 times a day,” producer Larry Kassanoff told SFX in 2017. “So, I asked him [Schwarzenegger] if he would do it, and he said ‘Only if you get the best band in the world to do it.’ And I said, ‘Okay, who’s the best?’ Arnold thought about it, came back to me and said, ‘If you get Guns N’ Roses I’m in.’ But to get them there was a lot of schmoozing with the band. Arnold and Maria [Shriver] invited the band over to their house for dinner one night, and sure enough they agreed.”

Thanks to the mutual respect between the two unlikely parties, an agreement was quickly reached.

“They’re big fans of Terminator,” Schwarzenegger told MTV in 1991. “They’ve expressed that many times. I’ve always been a fan of their music, so we checked into what it would be like to do a video together, or to get some of their music.”

“Duff and I actually went and hung out at his house,” Guns guitarist Slash continued to MTV. “He seemed to be into the whole thing. We had a lot of shots with Arnold!”

As well as tequila slammers round Arnie’s house, the band were also invited to see an exclusive screening of the movie alongside Cameron and Schwarzenegger.

“We had a specific screening; it was just for the cast, James and myself, and Guns N’ Roses,” Schwarzenegger told The Ringer in 2021. “I think that Axl Rose was extremely impressed. I remember him going to Jim [Cameron] and saying, ‘I’m in.’”

Given that whichever song they released would be the launchpad for the next chapter in Guns N’ Roses’ career, it needed to have an impact. “It worked out really cool,” Axl told MTV in 1991. “We let them listen to a lot of material and they picked was You Could Be Mine.”

But this was more than just a cross-cultural soundtrack tie-in. Schwarzenegger decided he wanted to appear in the accompanying promo video.

“We filmed the show in [New York venue] the Ritz,” Axl said. “And Arnold was flying back from Congress and going ‘I want to be in the video’. So, Arnold got all his people and put together a video.”

The clip saw the band performing live as they are stalked from the crowd by Arnold’s Terminator, interspersed by action from the movie, before he confronts GnR backstage and decides they are a “Waste of ammo”. Just seeing the combination onscreen immediately made it one of the most memorable and exciting videos of the 90s.

“We hung out and he was really, really cool,” GN’R guitarist Slash said. “He gave the whole band jackets from the movie and these French bikers jackets with bullet holes everywhere.”

The single was released on June 25, 1991, a week before Terminator 2: Judgment Day. The idea of bringing these two cultural behemoths together was a masterstroke: Terminator 2 became the biggest movie at the box office the weekend it was released, and the highest grossing film of the year. And while GN’R didn’t quite reap the same benefit, with You Could Be Mine peaking at No.29 on the US singles charts, it paved the way for the blockbusting one-two of the simultaneously released Use Your Illusion I and II later than year.

It’s all aged very well for everyone; T2’s 4K restoration is back in cinemas, Skynet robots still quite haven’t enslaved the human race, and You Could Be Mine is still being played by Guns N’ Roses to stadium sized crowds around the globe.

Album Review: Barren – Verderf

Reviewed by Dan Barnes

Belgian trio, Barren, return with a new full-length album, Verderf, this month, four-years on from the debut, I. Not that that Flanders-based three-piece have been idle in that time, having been busy with a series of split EPs with the likes of Vomit Spell, Sickrecy, Lesser Animal and Distaste, as well as gracing the stages at some of Europe’s most prominent extreme music events, including Germany’s Deathfest and Grind Nazi Scum festivals, Obscene Extreme in the Czech Republic, and our very own – and much missed, Doc – Grind After Death in Bolton.

For ’twas at the Alma Inn, 2025, that I first experienced Barren’s chainsaw grind in what was one of the sets of the day. When a band is able to boast members of Agathocles, Aborted, Emeth and Suppository, you’re always going to be onto winner.

Fourteen songs are on offer over Verderf’s nineteen-minute run-time, and Barren waste not a single moment with anything other than relentless aggression and savage devastation. Sub-one-minute blasters pepper the track listing: Earthcrusher feels like an unstoppable machine is chewing everything in its path; Swallow combines screams and grunts, Protestation oozes with thick, dirty riffs, while both Adversarial and Filth offer simple and effective old-school grind-beasts in the vein of Nasum and Rotten Sound.

Their chainsaw grind takes the buzzing tones of Swedish death metal and builds dense, crushing monuments of extremity: Leech leans heavily on newest band member, Stef Wouters’ bass to unleash a fast and furious romp; Algol rages through ripping lines and a searing solo, courtesy of Matias Dupont’s vast experience, loading in a breakdown and big drums from Llano Bergman.

Both Blades and Tyrants have a classically brutal death metal charge and Dying Fetus-grunts to sit alongside the grim and grizzly guitar lines and ferocious beatdown. The blurb says this album is not made for comfort and it’s easy to see that is the truth. It’s filled with short, sharp and shockingly precise blasts of destruction and decay, uncompromising riffs and a devastatingly crushing aggression.

The two aspects of Barren’s sound come together when the band go death grinding, through Scourge’s skipping lines, Abase’s grooving and textured riffs, and Apes’ breakdowns, all done with maximum bleakness and boisterousness.

Verderf is twenty-minutes of a band at the top of their game and blasting for all they’re worth. It’s the kind of record you put on when the world has maybe made you a little miffed and, rather than resort to extreme violence, you grab a brew and a biscuit and allow Barren to commit atrocities instead.

For all the latest news, reviews, interviews across the heavy metal spectrum follow THE RAZORS’S EDGE on facebook, twitter and instagram.

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