“Come, weary wanderer, join us around the fire here in the Folk Metal Corner of AMG. Look upon Resilience by Wandering Oak; does it not look at home here? Such indicators as the band’s name and logo, Resilience’s album art, and the big “folk metal” tag attached to the promo could only suggest the folksiest of metal. But wait, put down those lutes, I say, before you stumble into Wandering Oak’s trap!” Trapped and folked.
“When the Elder Gods finally turn their dread gaze on this flake of cosmic dandruff, Xoth will be there to pass out beers. “Party Lovecraft” is a tricky vibe to nail and also possibly an oxymoron, but this Seattle tech/thrash/black/melodeath/whatever act makes it their own. Over the course of two excellent albums, Invasion of the Tentacube and Interdimensional Invocations, Xoth filled a void that only Xoth knew was there. Few who listen can resist their charms, and now the band drops third long-player Exogalactic.” X marks the Xoth.
“It’s not easy being John Cobbet, legendary underground guitarist of Vhöl, ex(ish)-Ludicra,] ex-The Lord Weird Slough Feg, and mastermind of Hammers of Misfortune. Along with his long-collaborating partner Sigrid Sheie (also of Vhöl), Cobbet has, at his own pace, pumped out eclectic success after eclectic success with his rotating Hammers crew.” Hammers time.
“A swan at the edge of what? A fucking mandala? You know, those monk-assembled sand drawings that they sweep away as a meditation. A Swan by the Edge of Mandala (henceforth ASbtEoM) is hands down the most egregiously prog-endowed album name I’ve heard all year. And what’s that, Vorbid appears to be leaning on another definition of mandala? A dream symbol that represents a person’s quest for self-unity? So it’s a concept album too, as if we didn’t need more confirmation that Vorbid plans to spill forth a bounty of instrumental gymnastics, introspective lyrics, and formibably lengthened runtimes.” Vorbid tales.
“Daeva carries some serious post-2000 metal credibility among its ranks. Guitarist Scott Jansson and drummer Enrique Sagarnaga are longtime members of Crypt Sermon, and bassist Frank Chin joined Crypt Sermon in 2019 after spending eight years laying down rhythms for progressive thrash titans Vektor. Joining these fine instrumentalists is Infernal Stronghold vocalist Eddie Chainsaw, and together, these four nefarious gentlemen produce some of the most violent blackened thrash I’ve ever heard.” Strange sermons in the brutality vektor.
“Wow. Thrash is kind of having a year, folks. There are large swaths of the metal community who feel that the fires that heated the furnace in which all great thrash was forged went out decades ago, while others feel that those flames still sputter and cough and produce a great record every now and again. Well, something about a worldwide shutdown secondary to a pandemic seems to have stoked whatever embers remained within that furnace into a raging inferno, because the first quarter of 2021 is basically littered with quality thrash releases of a variety of styles. Therefore, I didn’t hesitate to pick up Bionic Swarm, the debut record from Dutch thrashers Cryptosis, a band who’d like to throw their hat into the progressive cyber-thrash ring with Paranorm.” 4 Swarm to wengeance.
“This may be their debut full-length, but Uppsala’s Paranorm are no spring chickens in the thrash game. According to legend — and the band’s social media accounts — Paranorm was formed by three high school friends on a hot summer night in 2007 to the sound of Megadeth’s Rust in Peace blasting from the stereo. After an initial run of a demo and a couple EPs, the band has been quiet for the last seven years. What could they possibly have been doing during such a long break from writing? If Empyrean is any indication, they spent the time searching for, discovering, and studying some powerful relic that confers ancient, arcane knowledge of the five magics of metal mastery, because this record is a progressive thrash metal monster.” Paranormal ratings.
“While I’ve traditionally identified as a basic black metal bitch, my listening habits of late have hovered firmly above death metal territory. The art of the Big Dumb Riff has held absolute command of my Spotify search bar, and it’s all thanks to the diversity the genre pool has spawned in over three decades of evolution. Just as I finish my most recent round of dick flattening at the hands of something as unflinchingly savage as Black Curse, I know I can hop to the opposite end of the technical axis to enjoy similarly aggressive highs in a fresh context. Cryptic Shift’s debut is about as far from something like Black Curse as you can imagine on the caveman riff spectrum, but those same thrills are all here.” Up Shift’s creek.
“California’s Madrost have cultivated a solid track record of high octane thrash, spiced with deathly impulses and technical flair. The band’s last couple of efforts have made for solidly entertaining platters, packed with energy, riffs and lofty ambition. Kicking round the traps for some time now, Madrost is an underrated and confident band, continuing to improve.” Prog-rot.
“With heavyweights like Tomb Mold and Blood Incantation drowning in the love of the underground, proggy OSDM has never been so widely celebrated or practiced. If you’re a player in the death metal underground, that makes it an ideal time to switch focus from your nasty death metal band to your proggy death metal band and release your inscrutably titled debut album.” Void where prohibited.
