Inspired by Iron Maiden, Mercyful Fate, Motörhead and Venom. Destruction was formed as “Knight of Demon” in 1982. The original line-up featured vocalist and bassist Marcel ‘Schmier’ Schirmer, drummer Tommy Sandmann, and guitarist Mike Sifringer. They soon changed their name to “Destruction” and released a demo titled Bestial Invasion of Hell in 1984. After this the group signed with Steamhammer Records and released an EP titled Sentence Of Death later that year. Destruction released their first full-length album titled Infernal Overkill in 1985, followed by Eternal Devastation in 1986. The trio then added a second guitarist, Harry Wilkens, and released the EP Mad Butcher in 1987, followed by the full length album Release from Agony in 1988, then a live recording Live Without Sense in 1989, and Cracked Brain in 1990. In 1989, Schmier left the band and Mike Sifringer continued to release albums under the moniker of “Neo-Destruction”. In 1999, Schmier rejoined, and things began to look up for the band as they signed a record deal with Nuclear Blast. They then released three more albums: All Hell Breaks Loose in 2000, The Antichrist in 2001, and Metal Discharge in 2003. The band would then sign with AFM Records and release Inventor of Evil in 2005. The band’s latest album, Day Of Reckoning, was released in February 2011.

An uncompromising sibling extreme metal trio from Brazil, Krisiun’s savage lyrics, punishing riffs, and unmitigated velocity helped make them one of the more punitive metal ensembles to emerge in the 1990s. Heavily influenced by bands like Slayer, Sodom, and Morbid Angel, the band employ a vicious, straight-ahead death metal style that was crystallized into pure fury on career-making outings like Apocalyptic Revelation (1998), Conquerors of Armageddon (2000), and The Great Execution (2011) that brought many imitators out of the woodwork. 2018’s Scourge of the Enthroned charted in Belgium, Germany, and Switzerland. Following two long tours and the global pandemic, Krisiun returned in July 2022 with Mortem Solis.

Hailing from Porto Alegre and taking their name from the lunar basin Mare Crisium (“sea of crisis”), the band was founded in 1990 by brothers Alex Camargo (bass, vocals), Moyses Kolesne (guitars), and Max Kolesne (drums) — Camargo uses his mother’s maiden name. A pair of demos (1991’s Evil Age and 1992’s Curse of the Evil One) and a self-released mini-album (1993’s Unmerciful Order) helped the band build a strong local following, resulting in a deal with small Brazilian label Dynamo, which put out the group’s merciless debut long player, Black Force Domain, in 1996. It was picked up for wider distribution by Gun Records, which also issued the group’s acclaimed sophomore effort, 1998’s Apocalyptic Revolution, the latter of which turned heads at major metal player Century Media, who scooped the band up and put out album number three, Conquerors of Armageddon, in early 2000. The label proved to be a loving home for the group, who were now taking their sonic onslaught across the globe, sharing stages with contemporaries like Vader, Belphegor, and Rotting Christ, and releasing a string of workmanlike, but undeniably brutal albums like Ageless Venomous (2001), Works of Carnage (2003), Bloodshed (2004), Assassination (2006), and Southern Storm (2008), the latter of which included a fiery cover of fellow countrymen Sepultura’s “Refuse/Resist.” 2011 saw the band issue their eight studio long player, the massively potent Great Execution, which garnered heavy praise from the extreme metal community, as did 2015’s more doom-leaden Forged in Fury. Clocking in at a taut 38 minutes, 2018’s Scourge of the Enthroned marked a return to the Gatling gun riffage and visceral attack of their debut. The album won praise from the metal press internationally, and was their first to chart in Europe.

Following two long tours and the global quarantine caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Krisiun finally got the opportunity to record in late 2021. They entered Family Mob Studio in São Paulo, Brazil and produced nine songs themselves. They sent the files off to Mark Lewis in Nashville, Tennessee, who mixed and mastered the set. Titled Mortem Solis, it boasted sleeve art by Marcelo Vasco. The video single “Serpent Messiah” was issued in June, followed by the album release in July. ~ James Christopher Monger, Rovi

Los Angeles-based neo-classical extreme metal mavens Exmortus return on new album, “Necrophony.” Four years in the making, the group’s sixth album offers nothing but savage rebirth and fierce renewal. “Necrophony” marks a significant turning point—one foretold by the Legions of the “Undead” EP in 2019—for the Angelenos. Not only have they emerged from the throes of the pandemic stronger, faster and crazier, they’ve signed on to global metal powerhouse Nuclear Blast. The passion and fury of lead-off single “Oathbreaker” is merely the tip of Exmortus’ darkest tower. Follow-on singles like the powerful “Mind of Metal” and “Storm of Strings,” a whistle-stop, no-joke cover of Greek-American composer Yanni interpreting Vivaldi’s “The Storm,” add greatly to Exmortus’ masterly oeuvre.

Exmortus was founded in 2002. The group issued a bevy of well-received demos and EPs that culminated in debut In Hatred’s Flame in 2008. Since then, Gonzalez—now flanked by specialists Phillip Nuñez (bass), Chase Becker (guitars), and Adrian Aguilar (drums)—has gone on to release four more fan-favorite full-lengths. Exmortus have toured with Amon Amarth, Obituary, Death Angel, and more, playing gigs in North America and Europe. The group’s highlights have also included a stint with thrash legends Exodus at industry lighthouse event NAMM and a coveted spot on the 70000 Tons of Metal cruise. Necrophony, a portmanteau of “necro” and “phony” (or “dead sounds”), is Exmortus bigger, badder and wickedly restless.

Written from a fresh slate, Necrophony’s origins can be traced to preludes “Masquerade,” “Overture,” and the intro to “Children of the Night.” Once Exmortus had the feel down, they settled on expanding on the motifs by forging Viennese sophistication with metal might. Careful observers will hear Exmortus’ clever use of the album’s musical theme throughout its 12-song range. That includes “Darkest of Knights” and the aforementioned “Children of the Night,” as well as Necrophony’s shorter bursts of bravado in “Oathbreaker” and “Beyond the Grave.” The most important attributes were, however, vibe and Exmortus’ careful crafting of their next-gen sonic fingerprint.

Whereas previous albums up through 2018’s “The Sound of Steel” have been predicated on heroic fantasy/sword & sorcery, Necrophony turns a decidedly darker page. Exmortus have gone from a “Conan the Barbarian” and “Gladiator” aesthetic to something blacker, more nefarious as illustrated by the eeriest and evilest Lovecraftian and Tolkien-esque tales. There’s even a classic horror thing happening. This is, of course, a reflection of our immediate world, and the darkness that’s engulfing everything in it.

Exmortus invited Renaissance man Zack Ohren (Fallujah, Immolation) to return as engineer, producer, mixer and mastering ace on Necrophony. Certainly, the team that had cemented the group’s three previous albums into the annals of metaldom was going to work yet again. With Ohren at the helm, Exmortus holed up in Sharkbite Studios in Oakland, CA. Necrophony was fast-tracked in just under two weeks. The result is a clap of virtuosic metal sure to leave fans battered, bloodied, and hungry for more violent opulence.

With “Oathbreaker,” “Mind of Metal” and “Storm of Strings” ringing darkened ears Exmortus’ paroxysmal ascent to extreme metal’s upper echelons is guaranteed with Necrophony. Bow in reverence to the high-flying, six-stringed dynasts now.

Chicago Based Metal Band thats been going strong since 2007. Though numerous line-up changes, we have had the pleasure of playing with 100+ shows across the U.S, Mexico, and Canada; with both local and known bands such as Diamond Plate, Spellcaster, Skelator, Malas, Hammerlord, Exodus, and even mighty Megadeth @ Rave/Eagles Club