Mighty Music

Vulcano – Eye in Hell Review

Vulcano – Eye in Hell Review

“Over the years the band lost some members, went on hiatus from 1991 to 1996, and released a slew of albums that never seemed to generate as much fanfare as their debut. Other than some curious midnight listens of Vengeance, I certainly hadn’t heard anything from the group until I came across Eye in Hell while rifling through the promo bin. Freshly signed to Mighty Music, this is the the band’s eleventh studio album and shows sole founding member Zhema Rodero joined by a new drummer and a trusted cohort of musicians who’ve been with the group for a few years now. Almost four decades into their existence, do Vulcano still scorch your ass or are their brutal eruptions long behind them?” Nighttime eruptions.

Tygers of Pan Tang – Ritual Review

Tygers of Pan Tang – Ritual Review

“Three years ago, Tygers of Pan Tang’s self-titled twelfth album made me feel good about old NWoBHM bands, and their ability to craft enjoyable-enough songs. I hadn’t revisited it until it was time to review their new album, Ritual. In fact, I even went and revisited the referred-to review above. I mean, there’s always a chance that, because I was still in my rookie year as a member of the AMG Conglomerate, I was taking it easy on some bands. But I’ve been around for a long time now, and having a warm place in my atrophying heart for a band is not only unacceptable, it is now unheard of.” Tales from an overrating bastard.

Ethereal Kingdoms – Hollow Mirror Review

Ethereal Kingdoms – Hollow Mirror Review

“Every once in a while, I’m put in a position where I have to explain to some wide-eyed innocent how it could possibly be that I don’t care much for Nightwish. The only reason this happens, mind you, is because of the band’s undying popularity and colossal influence in their genre. My problem? I like symphonic in my metal. But I don’t like the band that everyone seems to copy to get there. So why would I pick up Hollow Mirror, the debut full-length from Danish band Ethereal Kingdom?” Wishing for the night.

Transport League – A Million Volt Scream Review

Transport League – A Million Volt Scream Review

“If you’re like me, you’ve probably never heard of Sweden’s Transport League. Formed way back in 1994, they knocked out four full-length discs before breaking up in 2005. During this time, TL played an in-your-face sludge style that combined the hard knocks of Clutch with the ghoulish qualities of Rob Zombie and the Southern flavors of Down and Pantera. After dabbling in the industrial world for a few years with their band M.A.N., the boys decided to give Transport League another try.” League of the unextraordinary.

Blood Red Throne – Fit to Kill Review

Blood Red Throne – Fit to Kill Review

“I’m not gonna lie, I’m a giddy school child right now. No one in their right mind would have seen it coming but it has been a Grier wet dream to review Blood Red Throne. BRT is one of my top ten favorite bands of all time. Who? What? When? How? Where? Being the casual death metal listener that I am, this is the kind of death metal I like.” Fit to thrill.

Pectora – Untaken Review

Pectora – Untaken Review

“As the undisputed Lord of Bench Press Stats at AMG’s Skull Pit Ironworks[1. Ferrous’ feeble disputes are hereby disallowed.], I simply could not pass up reviewing a band called Pectora. Any act brave enough to name themselves thusly deserved to come under the piercing gaze of Steel, and I admittedly grabbed it with an eye toward the endless weight lifting jokes it would afford me. But something happened on the way to the Power Rack and lo and behold, this Danish act’s debut is a righteous dose of traditional dumbbell metal highly suitable for serious gym time.” No Pectora, no gain.

Vanir – Allfather Review

Vanir – Allfather Review

“What got you here won’t be what gets you there. Vanir know a bit about that. After three doots on the folk metal flute, the Danes bulked up with 2016’s Aldar Rök, adding another axe to the ever-growing Viking metal hordes. I always applaud a pivot; if you’re not improving, you’re dying. But with Vanir’s first attempt not exactly summoning my Bifrost, my expectations for Allfather are tempered.” Northern haze.

Shotgun Rodeo – By Hook or by Crook Review

Shotgun Rodeo – By Hook or by Crook Review

“My first hard rock record was Saliva’s Survival of the Sickest. I don’t mean that it was the first thing that could be lumped into the hard rock category that I’d ever heard—far from it—but that record gave me—then just into my teens—that missing bridge between classic rock and heavy metal. I could listen to both at the same time by throwing it on, hearing rock n’ roll played by a band who still had the nu-metal swagger of their early days. That link between genres is exactly what I look for in hard rock, and it seems that the Norwegians in Shotgun Rodeo think the same way.” Rock the bulls.

Carrion – Time to Suffer Review

Carrion – Time to Suffer Review

Ferrous and I, drunk or otherwise, recently groused about who to blame for death metal’s modern sound. Much like my lumping of base-camp thrash into two molds, modern rip-offs and retro rip-offs, I think death metal organizes along similar lines. OSDM has its own originality problems, but it clearly surpasses the hyper-modern tripe so often homogenized that telling bands apart is like asking infant quintuplets which one shit their diaper.” Let’s blamestorm!

Thorium – Blasphemy Awakes Review

Thorium – Blasphemy Awakes Review

“What a swell dude Rogga Johansson is. Even though he is getting ever closer to having a band for every letter of the alphabet, he still finds time to assist his buddies with their songwriting troubles. One such buddy is Michael “MHA” Andersen, managing director of Danish label Mighty Music and frontman for death metal band Thorium.” A Rogga for every season.