“No one plays sludgy hardcore grind quite like the UK’s Mastiff. Not that many people play sludgy hardcore grind to begin with, but if they’re out there, they don’t play it like these Kingstun upon Hull lads. True to their canid namesake, which, if you saw them casually out for walkies in your neighborhood, would illicit a “Jesus Christ, that’s a big dog” exclamation, Mastiff shock with the weight and size of their sound.” Toothsome and clawsame.
Strapping Young Lad
Death Killer – Total Destruction of the Entire Universe Review
“Death Killer may not speak to you, though, if you don’t already dig throbbing industrial music in some way. And I don’t mean old-timey industrial thrashings like the out-played lamentations of 00s Ministry work—though tonally, Total Destruction bears some resemblance.” Total destruction as a viable option.
Outergods – A Kingdom Built Upon the Wreckage of Heaven Review
“Outergods is a quintet from Nottingham, founded by guitarist and jack-of-all-trades Nathe Sinfield and vocalist Sam Strachan, two singles in 2021 heralding the release of debut A Kingdom Built Upon the Wreckage of Heaven. It offers a vicious blend of black metal, death metal, and grindcore, with the rot of dissonance and ambiance aching in its bones.” Outer in the cold.
Stuck in the Filter: November & December’s Angry Misses
“It’s a new year, and with it comes a sense of determination to make 2023 our best and most awesomest year to date. Part of that goal involves digging deep and cleaning out the Filter of the last dregs from the final months of 2022. We caught most of the notable gems in our promo sump, but as always there were those few that fell into the wrong chute. This, the first Stuck in the Filter of 2023, is a register of our semi-precious finds!” Who finds “precious finds” in the filter?
Tranzat – Ouh La La Review
“Tranzat won me over before I even heard a single note, their pétillant persona piquing all the “must listen” bones in my body. On a scale of swell to swole, these proggy French funnymen are decidedly swell-diddly-umptious. Not only have they provided a boy-band-meets-bowling-league cover art for our supreme enjoyment, but also they have adorned their merch page for Ouh La La with silly posters, silly shirts, and reasonable prices. You can even send them your own shirt (or turtleneck or polo) that they will gladly screen print for you. Perhaps for this third outing, Tranzat has finally coordinated with a highly supportive label.” Prep-core.
Wreck-Defy – Powers That Be Review
“Sometimes quality material can slip through the cracks in a busy month and fall into oblivion. Wreck-Defy’s third album Powers That Be almost suffered that ignoble fate. This Canadian super group has flown under my radar up to now despite featuring Greg Christian (ex-Testament), Aaron Randall (ex-Annihilator) and Alex Marquez (ex-Malevolent Creation) in its ranks. Having overlooked the promo entirely, I only circled back to it because I had some extra time on my hands and decided to cram in another review. Lucky I was too, as Powers is one of the most entertaining thrash albums I’ve heard this year.” Wrecking crew.
Mean Messiah – Divine Technology Review
“Drawing directly from the Dev doesn’t really narrow things down in and of itself. Mean Messiah limit themselves to a mixture of Strapping Young Lad and his more life-affirming Transcendence and Epicloud style. It’s a weird dichotomy, manic aggression opposing triumphant zen semi-choirs, causing more whiplash than a bus from a BDSM convention getting rear-ended by an 18-wheeler.” Dev Driver.
Vredehammer – Viperous Review
“In years past, metal music took its sweet-ass time in order to drop us the good stuff. Don’t get me wrong, I do like a good, slow burn, but usually we (and by proxy, you) usually don’t hear anything jaw-droppingly good until later in the year. Not 2020, man. Barely into our third month, and we’ve already got strong contenders for Album o’ the Year, and it doesn’t seem to let up anytime soon. And now, we’ve got the much-anticipated Viperous by Vredehammer, an album everyone here at AMG’s been anticipating since Violator knocked us all on our collective ass back in 2016.” Bow down to the Snakehammer.
Grymm Comments: On Mental Health Awareness and Our Favorite Music
“Metal music is rife with either “mosts” or “-ests.” The most brutal. The most extreme. The most depressive, oppressive, and downtrodden. The saddest, angriest, fastest, meanest, and heaviest. Our music lives and dies by those concepts. Every day, bands, fans, and us critics go on the hunt to find or create music that scratches the perpetual itch that those “mosts” and “-ests” bring forth. But in that unending pursuit, many bands and musicians fall by the wayside. Worse still, some of those musicians do so by their own hands. Today is a good time as any to talk about mental health in metal and rock music, and what can be done to stop the stigma associated with it.”
An Isolated Mind – I’m Losing Myself Review
“Kameron Bogges isn’t exactly a household name. In fact, prior to today’s review, the only thing I had to go by is that he’s the sole proprietor of one-man experimental act Four Hoove Death Pig, who has an album dedicated to baking banana bread under its belt. Sadly, about a year or so, Bogges suffered the all-too-real hospitalization brought on by what I can imagine would be a manic episode and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. The ongoing struggle, as well as coping with such a maligned mental health condition, inspired I’m Losing Myself, released under the guise of An Isolated Mind.” Reflections on a struggle.