Victor Griffin’s In-Graved

Pale Divine – Pale Divine Review

Pale Divine – Pale Divine Review

“I’m a fan of most things slow and heavy, but gritty, bluesy biker doom is especially my jam. Perhaps that’s the byproduct of a misspent youth hanging out with an older brother who was an outlaw biker and frequently on the wrong side of law. Maybe it comes from too much time in sketchy bars where you were as likely to get punched as catch a good buzz. Wherever the affection comes from, it’s part of my DNA. Pennsylvania’s three-piece doom crew Pale Divine share my appreciation for this roughneck sub-genre, crafting burly doom rock in the image of peak Corrosion of Conformity, The Obsessed and Wino-era Saint Vitus.” Bad hombres.

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!

Steel Druhm’s Top Ten(ish) Songs of 2013

Steel Druhm’s Top Ten(ish) Songs of 2013

“In my (vain)glorious time at AMG Conglomerated, I’ve written off almost every year as a substandard time for quality metal. While some of that criticism was well founded, 2013 was the most craptastic year so far! The first half was the ultimate in lackluster and underwhelming, with many major players releasing flat, uninspiring platters. Hell, even the mythical Amorphis fell off their Pedestal of I-ruhn with a dull thud. While the back end of 2013 picked up the quality dramatically, it wasn’t enough to redeem a very sub par year.” Join the all knowing Steel Druhm as he takes you on a whirlwind tour of the best of a fairly crappy year in metal. Yes, 2013 kind of blew, get over it!

Record(s) o’ the Month – March 2013

Record(s) o’ the Month – March 2013

Despite a stronger crop of records as the month of March inched along, 2013 is still not shaping up to be the best of years for metal. The dearth of ratings over 4.0 probably has something to do with my beating the “don’t overrate shit” drum loudly and repeatedly – it certainly has made me very conservative – but it’s also just that the crop of records hasn’t been super great. Still, there is ONE record that doesn’t deserve to be mentioned among the year’s more mediocre fare, and it is our Record o’ the Month for March, 2013.

Victor Griffin’s In-Graved Review

Victor Griffin’s In-Graved Review

“As a long time fan of American doom pioneers Pentagram, I’ve been an admirer of Victor Griffin’s playing and his bluesy, but street tough style. Sure, he borrowed a lot of his sound from Tony Iommi, but he made it his own by mixing it with the sound of Cream-era Clapton and a touch of Hendrix. When he left Pentagram, their stock dropped precipitously, and when he returned for their Last Rites opus, everything was right in the doom world again. I enjoyed most of the material from his Place of Skulls outing, so when I heard of the new Victor Griffin’s In-Graved project, I expected solid results, which this delivered, along with a few surprises.” Doomy biker rock? Does Steel Druhm need to say more? Well, he will anyway because he’s wordy!