Rating: 3.5/5

Like their countrymen Dimmu Borgir, or the celebrated/accursed Cradle of Filth, Keep of Kalessin is high on concept and bombast when it comes to their craft. While they may not be for the blackest kvlt, KoK is ideal for those that keep extreme music on their periphery, and are comfortable with just a little corpsepaint.

Rating: 2.5/5

Side projects in the Metal world usually form to either flesh out––or experiment with––enigmatic aspects of one’s personality. Pain is the result of Peter Tägtgren’s love for industrial metal, reportedly inspired by Fear Factory’s “Soul of a New Machine”. Frankly, his attention is better devoted to the celebrated death metal of Hypocrisy.

Last year, the German legends Kreator set the thrash standard for 2009. In 2010, we’re getting schooled by those Jersey devils, Overkill. But not only is ‘Ironbound’ a more consistent album than ‘Hordes of Chaos’, it’s one of their best yet. Credit is certainly due in part to producer Peter Tägtgren (Hypocrisy/Pain), and they’re thankfully backed by stronger labels now. Overkill now enters a dominant new phase of their storied career.