Valkyrja

Flykt – Charnel Heart Review

Flykt – Charnel Heart Review

“What’s in a name, anyway? As a n00b of considerable amateurism, babyfaced me ventured forth into the minefield of the promo bin for the first time. I was immediately overwhelmed with the potential amount of sweet tunes that awaited my greedy fingers. Knowing no better, I picked the thing that sounded the coolest: Charnel Heart.” Beginner’s pluck.

Valkyrja – Throne Ablaze Review

Valkyrja – Throne Ablaze Review

Valkyrja is a Swedish black/death outfit intending to channel “violence, deprivation, and loathing through means of extraordinarily potent audio emissions.” There are a million different directions black/death can take, and fourth full-length Throne Ablaze revels in a groovy, thrashy style a la Vredehammer or Horizon Ablaze. While it is flawed, there’s a likable simplicity about these Swedes, as it feels that their music makes no pretense about being the most atmospheric, heavy, or “kvlt.” Shame of Thrones.

Hobbs’ Angel of Death – Heaven Bled Review

Hobbs’ Angel of Death – Heaven Bled Review

“The year is 1987. Robocop is in theaters, thrash metal is booming, and my mommy and daddy are just a few short years away from bumpin’ uglies to produce yours truly. On the other side of the world, an Australian Slayer fan named Peter Hobbs decides to transform his thrash band Tyrus into a new project named after Reign in Blood’s infamous opening track. The result is Hobbs’ Angel of Death – ostensibly one of the first bands from Down Under to play what we now know as classic thrash metal.” The social thrash contract must not be broken!

Ascension – The Dead of the World Review

Ascension – The Dead of the World Review

“When it comes to orthodox Swedish-style black metal (which I’ll call “orthodox black metal” for the rest of the review), explaining the general aesthetic is essentially pointless. I can call an album cold, frostbitten, grim, and evil until I turn blue in the face from hypothermia, but that won’t answer the one question readers have when they come to reviews: is this worth listening to?” Orthodox black metal for Christmas? I see what they did there.

Steel Druhm’s Top Ten(ish) of 2013

Steel Druhm’s Top Ten(ish) of 2013

“As I gaze out the windows of the AMG offices (located hundreds of miles beneath the Earth’s crust, so I’m not sure why we have windows), I can’t help but wistfully reflect on my time with this fine metal institution. In just a few short years, the site has gone from one man’s labor of love to a major force in the metal blogosphere with a staff of ten dedicated writers, and though the journey wasn’t always easy, it’s been exceedingly interesting and rewarding.” Follow along as Steel Druhm gets maudlin, waxes nostalgic and grudgingly drops his Top Ten(ish) for 2013. A Two Kleenex read!

Things You Might Have Missed 2013: Týr – Valkyrja

Things You Might Have Missed 2013: Týr – Valkyrja

As an Angry Metal Guy, I have truly been off my game this year. In fact, having become an Angry Sociology PhD Student™ has taken away precious time from my blogging gig. As the one is—and will hopefully lead to—gainful employment, and the other is an avocation, you can probably understand that I have been working hard at the former. But, unfortunately, this means that some big records I stepped up to review never got reviewed. Possibly the greatest of these oversights this year was Týr’s Valkyrja, which was so good that I made it a Record o’ the Month for September. “Watch this space,” I said. Well, those of you who watched are going to finally get your review.

Shining till Umeå!

Har du nÃ¥nsin märkt att svenska band faktiskt sällan fÃ¥r spela i Sverige? Det känns som de stora banden frÃ¥n Sverige Ã¥ker pÃ¥ turné över hela världen men aldrig längre norrut i landet än Stockholm (om dom ens spelar i Sverige). De flesta som dyker upp gör sÃ¥ pÃ¥ festivaler under sommaren och helt ärligt […]

Valkyrja – Contamination Review

Valkyrja – Contamination Review

Early in my tenure in 2009 I received a record that was being re-released by Metal Blade: Valkyrja’s Invocation of Demise, which was a release of an earlier record that was initially released in 2007 on Northern Silence Productions. There were several substantive complaints that I had about the record, which can be summed up as follows: there is nothing new and/or interesting here; it is repetitive and boring; the songs are hyper simplistic and despite being fast, don’t feel terribly heavy. The challenge, then, for Valkyrja to produce a record that I review better is to improve on these things (and since Valkyrja is out to prove themselves to me and me alone, they certainly will try… *cough*) with their new release Contamination.