“Void King is a four-piece stoner doom metal band from Indianapolis and Barren Dominion is their sophomore effort. Paying homage to doom greats like Sleep, Electric Wizard, and Goatsnake, while channeling amp- and pedal-abusing monoliths, these fucking stoners are set to drown listeners in THC-saturated waves of distortion. Do they succeed? Or will they end up only being the bulls-“high” of endless stoner doom puns?” Fuzz bombs.
“Ah, black metal. What storied history, what grimly grand aspirations of defiance, what glorious panda men frolicking in snowy forests! What once began as church burnings and murder and a big “fuck you” to the status quo has expanded into countless internet memes and as many sub-sub-subgenres as there are bands. From the lo-fi quality and the blasphemous shrieks, to enough broken picks per tremolo and blastbeats per minute to make a ladies’ Bible study group collectively gasp, it’s the sound of defiance and harshness. However, it toes a delicate line between shock and schlock, and Athens, Georgia, one-man satanic black metal act Lothric hopes to score a win for the home team with his debut LP Adversarial Light.” Fight the light.
“I’ve been reviewing some long-ass albums lately. In the worship of Swallow the Sun’s Songs from the North I, II, & III, Bell Witch’s Mirror Reaper, or even Nightwish’s Endless Forms Most Beautiful, patient and epic songwriting takes precedence and the portrayal of endless and daunting landscapes in audio form rear their heads. It gets tiring. So I was like, “what the hell?” and went for grind. Shock Narcotic is a grind supergroup from Detroit, their debut album I Have Seen the Future And It Doesn’t Work released through Housecore Records.” Future shock.
With its (albeit impressive) focus on sprawling song structures and meandering songwriting, progressive metal just never tickled me pink in a way that’s really stuck. Serbian five-piece Dead Frog, who I can only assume repeatedly lost at Frogger, offers their own contribution, channeling in equal measure the progressive metal giants, the alternative rock of Linkin Park, the classic heavy metal feel of Iron Maiden.” Splat.
“Lavinia is a four-piece post-rock/emo outfit from New Hampshire with members from Caspian, The Appleseed Cast, and The Burning Paris. How their Pax Aeternum sophomore effort Sallowed ended up on the angriest metal site this side of the planet, I will never know.” Sallow your pride.
“I guess I brought this on myself. All that trash I’ve been talking at the office about power metal has finally come full circle, and here I am laying out the carpet for a power metal band. The debate rages on: does power metal belong among the ranks of true metal or is it too melodic? I suppose, since the beginning, one of metal music’s core tenets has always been a focus on excess. Whether it be slamming death metal’s absurdly violent lyrics or black metal’s corpsepaint, power metal’s dramatic focus on the operatic and epic certainly fits.” Abuse of power.
“I realize I use the phrase ‘ad nauseam’ too much, and I also apologize a lot. I took two years of Latin in high school, which was pretty cool in ways I didn’t foresee. So you would think I would have the basic knowledge to tell you what ‘ad nauseam’ means, but I had to Google it only to be embarrassed by its obvious meaning: ‘to nausea’ or ‘to a nauseating degree.’ Just like deathcore!” Down with the deathness.
“During my short tenure at AMG, I’ve discovered the magical terror that is the Promo Bin. While it is a World War I-esque no man’s land of one-man black metal carpet bombs, awkwardly rumbling deathcore tanks, nu-metal mustard gas, and experimental drone-doom PTSD, you can find some gems in the trenches while the good Lord Himself picks us, contributors, off one by one. It’s a trve and rvthless battle of good vs. evil, light vs. dark, Jedi vs. Sith, Kramer vs. Kramer, power metal vs. actual metal. It’s all about balance, after all.”
“Pretense is a bitch. I’ve found myself being more and more cynical through the years about people who claim to be the best at what they do. From athletes and artists to people I interact with on a daily basis, I prefer action and art to speak for itself. Therefore, I found myself suspicious with Filipino blackened death metal three-piece Deiphago, who proclaim to be ‘arguably the most violent band on the planet, as well as one of the most envelope-pushing.'” Heavy is as heavy does.
“As I’m typing this, I’m staring out the window at a dead tree across the street. It may be past the start of spring, but much like a stereotypical black metal cover, cold dominates the sky and spring seems to have missed the memo. It’s perfect for some depressing tunes, and Mist of Misery’s fusion of symphonic black metal and depressive suicidal black metal fits the bill.” Winter is still here.
