Review by JD on August 20, 2011.

Are you afraid of what goes bump in the dark, or lurks behind shadowed corners? It is a good feeling if you do, not to mention fun. Doom is a version of metal that is in my opinion, a very misunderstood and always past over style. It takes great skills to make music that is slow as hell and as heavy as a massive avalanche, yet still has talent and always is memorable. Hailing from the North East corner of the US (Pennsylvania) comes traditional Doom purveyors Argus.

Playing what can be confidently said as Traditional Doom that has been modernized, these five guys deliver soul blasting, low grinding and gut filleting metal that has everything to do with what metal truly is. Mixing Black Sabbath, Candlemass and other doomy legends together into a tour-de-force, they have a sound that is equally familiar as it is monstrously original.

Songs like the brutal yet oddly catchy 'Curse On The World' and the strong opus 'Pieces Of Your Smile' show complexity and heaviness with a whole load of passion. It is mainly Doom but there is this unmistakable input of traditional Heavy Metal that blends everything together like cold beer and hot and fresh pizza does. It is hard to ignore, unable to resist and completely addicting. Argus had delivered a near god like album on to a starving metal world.

Short of being house-bound or having the IQ of a doorstop, you need to get this album and play it over and over again at the highest volume you can muster. I have played it well over twenty five times, the main reason why this review is late. Just go out and get it already... I need to hit play again.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 9.5
Atmosphere: 9.5
Production: 9
Originality: 8
Overall: 9.5

Rating: 9.1 out of 10

Review by JD on May 4, 2012.

I love bands that seem to just lurk on the very fringes of breaking out... you know the type. They never got the chance because of perhaps lack of press, management screw-ups or other situations that keep them in the minor leagues so to speak. One such band that should have been way bigger than they have gotten was Florida based Diabolic.

One basic word describes this band who’s internal troubles and member changes have nearly broken this band into many pieces.... powerful. Fusing some shadings of Thrash and blackened lyrics into Death-esque styled metal, Diabolic walks that fine line between complex melodies and having such mind numbing heavy chaos with pure metallic class. They are the apodeme of metal’s classiest.

Eight nasty, melodic, riotous, heavy as fucking lead and purly amazing gore plastered songs are what Diabolic has offered - to a hungry metallic masses. As heavy as any Carcass song, yet monumental as Dark Angel got, this band’s music slices into your mind and sets up a moshpit of epic per portions. Pick any song that is placed on this disk, and you will see why I am so surprised that this band is not up there with the legendary Death or Death Metal innovators Cannibal Corpse.

It is sad that all of this shit has kept such an amazing band from being a favorite in our scene. I say this without reservation, go out and find the albums and promote them to the max. Diabolic deserve for the world’s attention - and a chance to show just how fucking good they are to everyone. Let them make you a DIABOLIC!!

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 9.5
Atmosphere: 10
Production: 9
Originality:9.5
Overall: 9.5

Rating: 9.5 out of 10