TERMINUS: extreme metal podcast

It's almost Christmas time here at Terminus, so what better way to celebrate the (un)holy trinity than with a triple threat of records focused on grinding dissonance? First up is the return of TDMG favorite Demoncy who go back to basics on Black Star Gnosis with their evergreen style of primitive US black/death metal. Next is Yersin, back on the show for the first time since 2020 with a refinement...

A year and a half in the making, the time has finally come for Terminus to reconvene with the members of Mormegil, formed from the ashes of the late Cromlech. What ensues: a rollicking conversation covering Cromlech's "Ascent of Kings," songwriting techniques on an epic scale, the ambitions of continuing band Mormegil, and how the ghost of AFI haunts us all. Break out the mead, boys: it's time for...

The boys are back in town with a long and girthy 2020-style episode centered around 4 black metal releases from the deep underground. First up is a patron submission in Guerrero Nómada, a modern one-man black metal project which adds touches of emo and classic heavy metal into its stomping heathenism. Next is a new entry from Holland's Zwotte Kring collective in The Color of Rain, where our Dutch...

After a week of epic, thrashing black/death Americana, we bring you a week of epic, thrashing brutal death. First up, we finally get a new release from The Death Metal Guy's favorite Colombians, Internal Suffering. Where a lot of modern BDM exists in a virtually self-contained sonic universe, nestled between tech-death and slam, Internal Suffering proudly trace their heritage to Morbid Angel. This...

On today's installation of Terminus, two different sorts of returns: Arghoslent, back from the grave, and Strix Askesis, back on the show. Arghoslent are back from 15 years of slumber with a new record of... deathened heavy metal(?) while Strix Askesis refine their sound and explore new territories between black metal and hard rock. Does Arghoslent's unique sound stand the test of time, standing s...

TBMG is out sick this week, so while the cat is away, the... cat-owner will play? On this solo venture, The Death Metal Guy gives a quick rundown of some of his favorite power electronics albums, with an ear for the links between this style of music and extreme metal. Take the stuff you love from Terminus and make it even noisier, more inaccessible, and thematically repugnant- what's not to love?...

On today's two-banger, both your intrepid hosts get to play show and tell with the latest releases from bands they love deeply. Side one: TBMG presents the newest record by Primordial, which shows the band investigating the murky territory between hard rock, heavy and black metal, Celtic folk, and all points in between, in a record as dense as it is long. TDMG brings on the new album by Profanatic...

Terminus is back with its first interview in a long while- and who better to bring the series back than Ron Vento, mastermind behind Imperial Crystalline Entombment and Aurora Borealis. I.C.E. recently released their 20 year-delayed followup to 2004's debut with Ancient Glacial Resurgence, an uncompromising but remarkably entertaining record which breathes new life into a nearly forgotten style of...

It's been a little while, but for good reason: we're back with a HUGE, sprawling 4 record show with some old favorites and perhaps some new ones for all ye Terminators. Today, we're split roughly in half between black metal and grind. Side one: Gridlink returns from their long absence with an exquisite record of technical and melodic grind, while fiendish upstarts Trichomoniasis horrify with a blo...

As the long hot summer drags onward, Terminus is back with a concise but detailed two-banger that features two surprise returns: forgotten USBM almost-legends I.C.E. in one corner, and returning Quebecois deathgrind legends Cryptopsy in the other. I.C.E. brings back a nearly forgotten style of 00s norsecore 20 years on from their debut; Cryptopsy attempts to project their churning, technical manne...

No shit we’re reviewing these! 0:00:00 - Intro 0:03:03 - Grave Pilgrim - The Bigotry of Purpose (Death Prayer Records) 1:18:48 - Interlude - FIN - “Outlaws” fr. Arrows of a Dying Age (Folter Records, 2017) 1:22:29 - Der Tod und die Landsknechte - Wir fürchten weder Tod noch Teufel (Blasphemous Terror Records) 2:10:33 - Outro - Equilibrium - “Der Sturm” fr. Turis Fratyr (Black Attakk Records, 2005)...

WE HAVE ARRIVED. Terminus is back from a lingering summer break with even more white-knuckle, pulse-pounding aktion as TDMG and TBMG once again plumb the depths of the underground, emerging with hands full of cursed jewels from the mines below. This time, it's a 2020 episode: weird records straight from the collective bowels of the metal scene, but all of them profoundly excellent in their own rig...

HEAR YE, HEAR YE! We've come to that most hideous and crippling time of year where your intrepid hosts take a couple weeks off for the summer. TBMG is moving and TDMG is learning Mortician's "Hacked Up For Barbecue" in its entirety on guitar, so we're gonna take a quick break before once again commencing the mayhem. Before that, though, we've got an episode for ya: this time with two opposing take...

With a lustrous ambient soundtrack of stormy weather threatening TBMG's home, we have a new episode leaning heavily on extreme metal augmented with influences from other spheres of 00s music. Prepare to get weird and drunk dial your old art school girlfriend- we're heading straight to Brooklyn with a lot of this material, but don't fret- there's plenty of great stuff to be found. First off, a look...

TDMG is back from an out of town trip just in time to present a death-metal focused episode ranging from the oldschool to the... well, the mid-00s are now basically oldschool. Will TBMG survive the onslaught of blasting and legitimate guitar chops? Listen to find out. First off, though: the new 7" by Ossuary, presenting an alternate take on early 90s doomdeath filtered through the prism of some of...

It's been a little bit and your plaintive cries for content have carried on the wind, so here you go: a gargantuan old-style Terminus episode with 4 big records and nearly 3 hours of dense, autistic discussion thereof. This one is most certainly For The Boys, featuring 4 bands well known to fans of the show, with a selection of styles so expansive you're certain to find a new favorite in the bunch...

Welcome to Terminus Lite: half the calories but all the full-bodied flavor you know and love. Today's episode is on the shorter side- TBMG is off on a trip to Parts Unknown- but don't worry, we have longer ones planned for the future. We're playing with formats, introducing post-structuralist theory to the podcast realm- please keep listening (please.) Today is a tight, death metal focused episode...

WE'RE BACK AND WE'RE READY TO PARTY! Terminus returns with another overstuffed episode of ugly sounds, so we'll keep the preamble short: there's something for everyone on this one. But first, you'll have to cross the deadly moat of Et in Arcadia Ego, a PABM project with an industrial-tinged take on French and Slavic black metal. It sounds kinda like black wind hissing in the gaps between enormous...

Consistency? I'm not familiar with a band by that name. Here on Terminus we refuse to color inside the lines of show structure, and so we have a big ol' 2021 style episode for you- or, most of the way. We were supposed to cover 4 records but then our computers exploded so we've just got 3, but never fear, we'll have more expanded Terminus Double Stuf episodes coming to make up for it. The theme fo...

Summer yawns over the horizon, but Terminus is interested in something a little colder: today's episode features both DSBM and material descended from Peaceville doom to add some well-needed cynicism to your time by the pool. First up is the return of Austere some 14 years after their last full length. Titans of Australian DSBM, Austere return no less powerful for their time absent, with material...

Not unlike a vampire repelled by the sign of the cross, TDMG is currently working through his long-buried trauma re: acoustic guitar, and so today's episode is a neofolk special by TBMG and the  infamous Hyper Shaman. Neofolk is something we mention on the show quite frequently but only rarely review, so for the more introspective, pastoral, and wizened among us, here's your time to shine. Today's...

Terminus is back with an oldschool episode- 4 records of descent into complete madness on the part of your intrepid hosts. This time, the mix is an unusual one, from dissonant black to war metal to elaborate death metal and... sophisticated beatdown hardcore? All these things are different but they're all actually the same thing as you'll come to find out. First off, a mini-review courtesy of The...

We're excited to announce the proud return of a Terminus tradition- a carefully crafted, thematic episode that TDMG ruins with a random grind record. Who would have thought? Before we dive into two contrasting takes on traditional French black metal, TDMG regales us with the tale of Thai grinders Smallpox Aroma's debut full-length, a sub-20 minute record of blistering, oldschool grindcore with a t...

After a brief lull following TBMG's (excellent) interview with Alan Averill, we return with our regularly scheduled programming of elaborate French black metal, absurdist pornogrind, and everything in between. The "in between," in this case, belongs to Demonslaught, forgotten 1.5 wave black metal band from the greater Los Angeles area who recently received a reissue of their second demo. If you wa...

Been a while, hasn't it? After a long drought of interview content, The Black Metal Guy returns in full force, bringing you a conversation with the mighty Alan Averill of Primordial, Verminous Serpent (whose debut we reviewed on episode 121), and many more. Alan is well known for his musical accomplishments, but also his own (excellent) podcast,* and what follows is a fascinating conversation on b...