Départe

Zifir – Demoniac Ethics Review

Zifir – Demoniac Ethics Review

“Look at that album art, yo. Just look at it. LOOK AT IT!!! You might not necessarily be able to discern just what, exactly, is transpiring in that depiction, but you do know one thing: This… is… Black Metal! Perhaps that’s not enough to pique your interests, given the prolific prevalence ov metal’s best subgenre in recent years. Ok, you standards-having turd factories, would you be more intrigued by Zifir’s Demoniac Ethics if I were to tell you that this particular treat is a Turkish delight? Still nothing? Jesus, you people are impossible.” Evil ethics and pompous muppets.

Xenobiotic – Mordrake Review

Xenobiotic – Mordrake Review

“Recently a new rule was established in the AMG offices: no more claiming promos more than a month out. Giving everyone equal opportunity makes for more entertaining gladiatorial combat in the Skull Pit, you see. But now it’s become a game for the clever, so I decided to scout the waters ahead in case I needed to be ready to pounce. When I came across a promo by Australian prog-tech-deathcore outfit Xenobiotic, stared at the gorgeous Lewandowski cover and listened to its advance track, I actually set an alarm for the day I could lay claim to it, before Kronos or Ferrous could get their claws into my precious. Because if the rest of Mordrake was as good as the single I sampled, I knew we were dealing with potential Album of the Year material.” Throw it into the fire!

Clouds – Dor Review

Clouds – Dor Review

“Life is pain. The human condition is one of brief, fleeting moments of joy hemmed in on all sides by the ever-present specter of death and loss. The loss of loved ones, the loss of safety and comfort as your aging body fails and falls to ruin, and ultimately, the frigid closure of death. Clouds writes every note of their music from this cold place at the edge of mortality, with the debilitating awareness of the darkness that hovers just past our tomorrows.” Cold, hard truths.

Slaves BC – Lo, and I Am Burning Review

Slaves BC – Lo, and I Am Burning Review

“Remember Dodecahedron, oooh and how a certain timeless scribe-god lauded their last effort as being worthy of emulation? Yeah, I ‘member, and I also ‘member thinking the lad a tad light in the heart box when he confessed to its ability to bring him to actual physical discomfort. ‘That’s not a thing!’ says I, omitting a slanderous phrase or six from this recollection for the sake of the children. Dialing up the reverb and deliberately hitting ‘wrong’ notes can establish a malevolent aesthetic effectively enough, yet I have never encountered music genuinely able to instill honest-to-God fear in me through sound alone. Well, ‘had’ never.” Fear and the Muppet.

Slow – V – Oceans [Things You Might Have Missed 2017]

Slow – V – Oceans [Things You Might Have Missed 2017]

“I’m no stranger to emptiness, I have used music as an outlet for my own struggles with depression for almost thirty years and my music library is positively littered with negativity. The sounds of being depressed have haunted my ears in varying shades of grey for as long as I can remember, but never before have I heard an album embody depression itself with the same level of unnerving perfection as Slow’s V – Oceans does.” I see a slow darkness.

The Furor – Cavalries of the Occult Review

The Furor – Cavalries of the Occult Review

“The patriot in me gets a little warm and fuzzy when contemplating the healthy state of the Australian metal scene. Whether it be divisive big guns Ne Obliviscaris and King Parrot, head-scratching experimental acts like Portal and Hope Drone, the thrashy old-school goodness of Hobbs’ Angel of Death and Deströyer 666, cutting edge modern tearaways Départe and Deadspace, or reliable tech death stalwarts Psycroptic, there’s a hugely satisfying selection of Aussie metal to satiate a wide variety of extreme tastes.” Is it just me or do Aussies like their D’s and P’s?

Kronos’ Top Ten(ish) of 2016

Kronos’ Top Ten(ish) of 2016

“This being a Kronos feature, I must first launch into a brief and hateful tirade against an absurd and laughably incompetent enemy. Towards that end, I’d like to alert an Angry Metal Guy staffer that we are now officially beefin’. And that staffer is… 2015 Kronos.” War inside his head.

Grymm’s Top Ten(ish) of 2016

Grymm’s Top Ten(ish) of 2016

“I’ve been hitting the backspace key a lot as I’m writing my Top Ten(ish). Not because of a lack of anything witty to say, or a sheepishness of my selections. No, rather it’s because I’m of two minds as I type this.” Two minds, but only one weighty list!