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I remember getting my grubby teenage mitts on "Arise" in 1991.  I was 14 and was so new and naive to the brutal sound of the Brazilian's particular brand of thrash metal I genuinely believed it to be the best album they made and spent years ignoring anything that had gone before.  Then came "Chaos AD" which I liked for about five minutes before I sold the CD for beer money.  In the space of two years I had fallen in love with and out of love with a band on the basis of two records and being offered "Roots" three years later was hardly the reconciliation I'd hoped for either. The fact is though that growing up has a certain charm when it comes to music and learning to understand the concept and importance of a discography is a key part of any music lovers maturity. For this reason I remember with equal clarity my discovery of two of the most important thrash records in my collection, both of them unheard by my young and frankly at times stupid ear...

In the dirge of modern death metal with an ever increasing glut of "more" technical, "more" squally and "more" "old school" bands just crawling out of the woodwork like grubs wearing torn jeans and an old Possessed vest, it is nice on occasion to have the veterans of the genre step forward and remind us what true death metal is all about. Ruinous consist of Alex Bouks, Shaun Eldridge and Matt Medeiros all of Funebrarum fame (as well as various others).  The pedigree they have on paper transfers brilliantly into nine tracks of furious death metal done with aplomb and thankfully some variety too.  There's a selection of some fine death doom alongside some grindcore and more old school sounding DM to boot. Not afraid to throw in epic monuments such as "Through Stygian Catacombs" or behemoths like "Procession of Ceaseless Sorrows" alongside the smash and grab frenzy of "Transfixed on the Gate" or "Ravenous E...

The "past".  We love it when we get a snapshot of something that invokes nostalgia, don't we? Whether it is the visual "past" in the form of a rerun of your favourite TV show from way back or finding your old school books in the loft whilst clearing out some junk.  Of late the internet has been awash with reviews, forum posts and general excitement about the debut album from Sumerlands, largely because of its references to the "old school" or reminiscent sounds of the 80's heavy metal heyday. After numerous positive musings around the web I decided to try and give myself goosebumps and finally got round to listening to one of Relapse Records' latest additions to their roster.  The caveat being that if I didn't end up getting changed into my torn jeans and equally shot at Dio t-shirt after three songs I would be pissed. The good news is I am not pissed.  Sumerlands definitely invoke that feeling of a time when metal trod the line of comm...