“Maybe it’s just me but, if I were looking to quote ‘rave reviews’ of a band, I wouldn’t necessarily single out the phrase “Earnest, vibrant music specked with impressive nuance.” Nevertheless, this is the phrase that a promo blurb writer selected from our review of Sammal’s last effort, Suuliekki. Treble Yell, who penned that review in March 2018, had gone on an entirely non-suspicious but very sudden and permanent sabbatical by the time I was press ganged into service later that year. But he clearly enjoyed, without loving, Suuliekki. Since then, Sammal has shed both its keyboard player and bassist. Perhaps you, like me, think that for a band like Sammal, which trades in progressive 70s-inspired neo-folk, both of those positions are fairly critical. Well, these three Finns laugh in your face.” Folk is not afraid of you.
Witchcraft
Obsidian Sea – Pathos Review
“Pathos is the fourth full-length from Bulgarian trio Obsidian Sea, and their second for current home, Ripple Music. It is also not at all what I was expecting. Obsidian Sea was unknown to me until I picked this up for review but, given the band name, I was expecting some dark and stormy prog, perhaps infused with elements of doom, sludge or even some epic post-metal. That is not what I got, however.” Choppy waters.
Huck N’ Roll’s and Eldritch Elitist’s Top Ten(ish) of 2020
Huck N’ Roll and Eldritch Elitist will now hold court with their well-thought-out Top Ten(ish) lists. Appear or be held in eternal contempt.
Sólstafir – Endless Twilight of Co-Dependent Love Review
“Icelandic post-metal titans Sólstafir need little introduction but we at AMG Towers are fans of formulaic, masturbatory prose, so I’ll provide one anyway. Sólstafir is Icelandic for ‘radiating sun beams,’ something I have always thought to be wildly inaccurate as a name for this entity, which at no point embodies sunshine. In their early days, Sólstafir played raw, aggressive black metal, interspersed with hints of Viking metal and occasional atmospheric passages (see the debut, Í blóði og anda). Since then, with each release, Sólstafir have evolved, peaking, many would argue, on their fifth full-length, 2014’s Ótta.” Twilight of the Ice Lords?
Kryptograf – Kryptograf Review
“Kryptograf cite influences that include Witchcraft, Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats and Black Sabbath, and it all fits. Between the band lineup—two guitarists, three vocalists, plus bass and drums—and a healthy helping of fuzz that permeates without overpowering, Kryptograf wears its ‘60s influences loudly and proudly.” Fuzzy navel gazing.
Witchcraft – Black Metal Review
“Magnus Pelander, the sole remaining founding member of Witchcraft, takes the reins on Black Metal, seemingly completely. There is his voice, and there is soft plucking on an acoustic guitar, and these two sounds comprise almost the entirety of the Black Metal sound. It sounds very different than the Witchcraft usual — certainly, it stands completely apart from Legend and Nucleus.” One man, one guitar.
Lykantropi – Spirituosa Review
“There are many threats facing our world today. Some are man-made (climate change, for example), while other dangers manifest as actual men and women. But is there any threat less talked about than that facing Sweden today? The time vortex seemingly whirling across that Scandinavian country, spitting out 70s alt-rock bands left, right and center? From Witchcraft, Horisont, and Graveyard to my subject today, Lykantropi, and, let’s be honest, recent Opeth too, there is a significant number of them around.” A plague of the past.
Sammal – Suuliekki Review
“I have been covered in filth lately. Dragged through a mire of pestilence, I have sampled fruit irrigated by the grotesque and profane. Blast-beats that scorch the earth, inchoate riffs fat with torment and wretched vocals fit only for withering a pleasant disposition. Black metal, death metal, doom, grind and thrash. I’m a mess and I need to divest myself of the depravity that’s accumulated over the months. A panacea is in order, something that can wash away the silt and leave me lighter, fresher. To that end I have chosen to bathe in the antiseptic waters of Suuliekki, the new album by Finland’s Sammal.” Scrub-a-dub-dub.
Demonomancy – Poisoned Atonement Review
“Back in 2016, Italy’s ghoulish Demonomancy released a split EP with Finland’s Witchcraft that was one of the first releases that I tackled as a scribe for the site. While the split didn’t have me feting either act I still wrangled a fair measure of enjoyment out of it, enough at least to warrant a closer look at Demonomancy’s new album, Poisoned Atonement.” Vote Hell.
Demonomancy/Witchcraft – Archaic Remnants of the Numinous/At the Diabolus Hour Review
“Worry not my child for the balm to salve your festering wounds exists in the form of a split from Demonomancy and Witchcraft. Bestial, coarse and outright evil, this 26-minute payload of blackened death offers a brief respite for those needing an outlet for their rancor.” Now available at AMG – Rancor relief.