“The journey begins by following a dark silhouette, each installment describes surreal and dreamlike landscapes, strange characters, and objects—with monolithic importance attached in the strange way that dreams do. In the latter tracks, ever-vigilant eyes watch from the stars and assume a more horrific face as they emerge from the darkness as the cruel pelagic and empyrean deities and monsters among Lovecraft’s multitudes. Hecatoncheir’s uniquely dreamlike take on chthonic horror, balanced by its ambitions in liminal spaces, set one hell of a precedent for the music contained herein.” Fear and loathing in Slovakia.
Thantifaxath
Grymm’s Top Ten(ish) of 2023
A decade in to his AMG tenure, Grymm is here to tell you what the best albums of 2023 were! The Listurnalian bounty abounds!
Thus Spoke and Maddog’s Top Ten(ish) of 2023
Listurnalia23 rolls on with Thus Spoke and Maddog‘s Top 10(ish) Records o’ the Year.
Rorcal – Silence Review
“Rorcal’s approach to auditory darkness is nonetheless unmistakable, post-hardcore and post-metal coursing through every vein. Dissonant and ominous, tar-thick slogs of drone/sludge contrast mightily with raw wounds of blackened shreds with impeccable balance.” Silent but deadly.
Thantifaxath – Hive Mind Narcosis Review
“Thantifaxath have never been accessible and easy listening, but here they seem to have turned a corner into both a clarifying and an intensifying of their sound. Setting aside much of the noise influences that characterized their earlier work, they now sharpen their dissonant death edge, and sound somewhat like Portal, if Portal were accessible, with a crisper production, and forward, barbed vocals.” Facsimile of evil.
Barshasketh – Barshasketh Review
“One of the saddest things in music is the “almost there” album. It’s the album that has all the traits of something that should work, and yet it doesn’t. It’s the kid on the soccer team who is bad, but not bad enough to know he’s bad. It’s the guy in the friend group who everyone tolerates, but no one would be sad if he moved away. It’s the hundreds of albums that are released every year, met with a shrug at best, and are swiftly forgotten.” That’s not ominous or anything.
4 Days of Death: The Maryland Deathfest Diaries
“Anyone who’s seen The Wire knows Baltimore can be a rough place, but on Memorial Day weekend every year, things get especially brutal. Hundreds of rabid metal fans from all over the world descend on ‘Charm City’ to participate in Maryland Deathfest, and the result is four days of moshing, headbanging, and partying like it’s 1989.” Death to all.
Kronos’ Top Ten(ish) of 2014
“Through my own charm, genius and palpable immodesty, I have single-handedly, along with Grymm, convinced the Angry Metal Elders to grant me a big boy year-end list. My year’s tenure in the catacombs of AMG headquarters has proved fruitful beyond measure thanks not only to my brilliant colleagues and our dedicated readers…” Pretty much anybody gets a list these days. There goes the neighborhood!