“There’s no shortage of bands tunneling their way back to the past for inspiration. Magic Circle is among the pit crew delving deep into the 70s for influences, with their sound straddling the line between early Black Sabbath and rock royalty like Deep Purple. Featuring members of ,b>Sumerlands, Pagan Altar, and Doomriders, this is a bit of a super project, and on third album Departed Souls they do their best to defile all the right crypts of doom lore to arrive at something that smells fresh enough to wear about town without shame.”
Pagan Altar
Wytch Hazel – II: Sojourn [Things You Might Have Missed 2018]
“2018 was the year Steel Druhm paid way more attention to what was going on with Bandcamp. I monitored what writers and readers were buying and recommending and found a few gems along the way. My favorite was II: Sojourn, the sophomore outing by U.K. retro rockers, Wytch Hazel.” Rub it on.
Madam X’s Least Disliked Five(ish) of 2017
“And with a mighty cold flourish, twenty-seventeen makes her exit! While it’s not been a bad year by any means, it has been a more demanding year than I expected, with fewer opportunity for music listening and writing. Regulars to AMG may have noticed, going back a few months now, that I’ve pretty much been absent from the Reviews section of the site.” Come back or your creepy doll collection meets Mr. Shreddy.
Magister Templi – Into Duat Review
“When nearly half of your band includes key Svarttjern black metal misanthropes, a marriage of Pagan Altar and King Diamond’s heavy metal Mercyful Fate-alism is not what you expect to burst forth from your speakers. And yet it does.” In the Olde School you still need chalk and fountain pens.
Magister Templi – Lucifer Leviathan Logos Review
“There aren’t a lot of bands out there that come close to duplicating King and co’s brand of malevolence. From his piercing falsetto and his operatic shrieks to his mid-range torturous screams and evil growls, King Diamond owns! Norwegian based, NWOBHM-inspired Magister Templi combine occult, doom flavored lyrics reminiscent of Venom and Mercyful Fate with upbeat, power chord infused melody along the lines of Mercyful Fate and Pagan Altar to arrive at a groovy platter of satanic malarkey.” Nobody likes malarkey, or hokum for that matter, but that doesn’t stop Madam X from hailing the King and reporting how Magister Templi robs the musical grave of the immortal Mercyful Fate (if they’re immortal, why do they even have a grave??). That’s like a desecration of souls!!