“Tongue of Silver represents two landscapes. It beats down upon the dead soil of the barren American West, empty and lonely winds plastering sun-bleached hills. But it pulses with the beating heart of its folklore, as legendary as it is flesh and blood. It’s a tall tale of the mundane, paying homage to not only Americana, but to the crushing weight of drone metal. The story it tells is not of speedy gunslingers or soul-searching troubadours but found in the negative spaces “somewhere between sand and rust:” a living, breathing, and uniquely American commentary on expansion and decay.” American threads.
Horseback
Sunn O))) – Life Metal Review
“Sunn O))) is not well received around these parts. When AMG’s distinguished editors and contributors were given the opportunity to review these droning doomsters, it was met with such reactions as GardensTale‘s verbal bitch-slap “I’d rather stick my hand in a blender” or Mark Z.‘s sick burn “Can I just review my washing machine running for two hours instead?” Love ’em or hate ’em, we can all agree on one universal idea about drone: it can be boring as fuck.” O)))) Boy.
Poison Blood – Poison Blood Review
“You may not have thought it but Beherit brings people together, much like Christmas and accounts of drunken excess. A mutual affinity for the Finnish blackened barbarians drew Neill Jameson of Krieg and Jenks Miller of Horseback into collaborating on a new project called Poison Blood. Tales of the occult are spun through the medium of black metal but Miller, particularly, draws from a repertoire far beyond that which is typical for the genre.” Punk up the blackness.
A Forest of Stars – Beware The Sword You Cannot See Review
“Three years ago I found a little piece of time-travel magic when I stumbled upon A Forest of Stars and their third release, a whimsical offering that envelopes you like an opium haze, transporting you back to 1891, re-opening the imposing wooden doors to the gentleman’s club and recruiting you into their English Victorian brotherhood.” Metal’s version of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is back to save the day. Are you worthy of admission to their club?
Fen – Carrion Skies Review
“Here at Angry Metal Guy US headquarters, subtle signs point to 2014 drawing to a blustery close. My very metal cats watch the crackling fireplace, mesmerized as the world burns at their paws. Top 10 lists hastily scrawled on the backs of store receipts and the margins of the daily paper are pulled from coat pockets and tossed carelessly about, littering every surface. And as the holiday silly season approaches, I’m winding down, bourbon in hand, returning to the contemplative atmosphere of post-metal and avant guard favourites like Agalloch, A Forest of Stars, Anathema, Horseback and New Keepers of the Watertowers. Now a year and some change after the release of Dustwalker, British progressive black metallers – Fen recapture my attention with their fourth full-length release.” Post black metal just in time for the long winter months? Now you’re screaming Madam X’s song.
New Keepers of the Water Towers – Cosmic Child Review
“Cosmic Child came through a little thin on the promo information (and in fact prior to listening to it for the first time, I didn’t even know the name of the album – so much for embedded album info) at any rate, I figured alright, close your eyes, hit play and go from there – how bad can it be right? The band name conjured up images of something with a Finntroll flavor – tell me a band name like New Keepers of the Water Towers doesn’t sound even remotely folky and troll-like right? It actually ended up being absofuckinglutely nothing like Finntroll, go figure!” But…if it isn’t like Fintroll, what the hell is it like??? Calm down. Madam X will now answer your questions.
Madam X’s Top 10(ish) of 2012
We’ve really enjoyed having Madam X on board the H.M.S. AMG this year and we hope she keeps her necro, dominatrix self around for a good long time! Here are her thoughtful picks for Top Ten(ish) albums of 2012. Read and rejoice!
Horseback – Half Blood Review
Just as those proponents of the early 20th Century avant-garde cultural movement that seeked to release the creative potential of the subconscious mind called themselves “Surrealists”, Horseback mastermind Jenks Miller probably thinks of himself as one too when it comes to this eclectic project of his which fuses psychedelia, drone metal, and noise music together.
Man.Machine.Industry – Lean Back, Relax and Watch the World Burn Review
Incoming! Incoming! It’s a bad album cover!