“Back in the primordial days of this here blog, we attempted something called “AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö.” The basic idea was to select a bunch of unsigned bands and give them the collective review treatment to find the most worthy buried gems. It was our humble effort to remind folks that the metal underground is still an important part of the world of metal.” Unsigned in the East.
“A crazy thing happened in 2020—Holdeneye was right about Scardust. So, when I was perusing the promo pudding for a sonic snack that swooned my spoon, I popped the foil on a new Israeli symphonic power metal group, Stormbound, hoping that they might be part of a growing movement from the small but mighty country.” See you in December.
“Back in the primordial days of this here blog, we attempted something called “AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeo.” The basic idea was to select a bunch of unsigned bands and give them the collective review treatment to find the most worthy buried gems. It was our humble effort to remind folks that the metal underground is still an important part of the world of metal.” Sludge is the new grey.
“Another day, another death metal album. This must have been how reviewers back in the time of my younger youth felt when rethrash brought us swaths of sweaty song-named bands who littered the 4th to 5th spots on the local concert circuit. For every Blood Incantation or Astral Tomb that pops along—bands who play recognizably death metal but with a sense of ambition or divergence—there are at least a dozen other Dead and Dripping or Molder style bands that leak out of the collective pool of putrid palm-muted chugs. From this same OSDM ooze Fleshrot has seeped into our sudoriferous sump leaving enough of an odor for me to take a second look in the perennial quest to find the most 1991 of what 2022 has to offer.” Slowly we Fleshrot.
“Whether in the presence of a low or high grind tide, the quest for more persists. It’s no secret that quite a few of us in the office are sickos looking for a cheap, direct-to-vein thrill. Why just the other day our own El Cuervo was at the water cooler pining for the muddy-muzzled lashing of Ass to Mouth. And who could blame him? Their 2014 outing had a unique charm of blended political samples and rough-tongued tirades against the traditional pummel and pierce of high ethanol grind. Teethgrinder understands this hunger.” Molarity ensued.
“If you live in any major metro, you are familiar with the problem of homelessness and the effect it has had on how we enjoy our spaces, or rather, how others don’t. Hostile architecture—rails in the middle of park benches, rocky floors below awnings, incessantly flashing lights in seemingly empty corners—is a mainstay of contemporary urban design and aims to ensure that public features are for temporary public enjoyment, not temporary public shelter. Ashenspire has noticed too, and, with all the subtlety of a hippo eating a watermelon, this Glaswegian gang has chosen to use Hostile Architecture to highlight various issues.” Brutalism for the brutal.
“Antigama, at this point, is an institution of modern grind. The perennial contender, these Polish riff-junkies, ever solid in their strangeness, continue to litter the basin of the great grindpile in hopes to build a mound of filth worthy of the crown. As such, Antigama, in that traditional Polish underdog spirit, persists.” Embrace the grindpile.
“Negative 13 first hit the scene way back in 2002 (at the time as Negative Theory) with their self-titled (again Negative Theory) sludgefest. Presumably, life happened, as it so often does, and their dozens of fans were left with a welcome mat tagged with a goodbye note. However, in this world that keeps on giving, the past couple years have allowed people to rekindle old hobbies (and ditch new hobbies), bake bread (and then never bake bread again), and, in this case, jam with old friends. Just like that, these reinstated Pittsburghers were able to reissue their previous album as Negative 13 and lay plans for their sophomore outing Mourning Asteri.” Positive negativity.
“Philosophobia: fear of the study of knowledge, right or wrong, values—an idea so very counter to the typical academic prog attitude, yet it also plays right into certain stagnant streams of progressive metal. Philosophobia does not question or push the boundaries of the question “what is prog?” Instead, it wholeheartedly embraces older ideas, leaning into the namesake phobia to make the past the present definition. No doubt conceived in earnest, this international crew of talented musicians has finally emerged with their debut outing, long after guitarist Andreas Ballnus (Perzonal War) and drummer Alex Landenburg (Mekong Delta) first conceived these ideas over a decade ago.” Olde progressions.
“It’s late summer; baby goat season has come and passed. The now-adolescent herd will face culling and sorting for important caprine tasks: males will live to the next season for breeding within the herd or sold to other herds, and viable females will stick around for production of milk, which can serve as liquid for cheeses or in cosmetics. Potentially some goats who are neither fit for breeding nor milking will go up for sale as pets or sent to farms who raise goats for food production. Milking the Goatmachine is an atypical pair of goats though; they never made it to feed or breed. These German-born cloven-hoofed heathens escaped the goat-industrial complex to persevere as guardians of galvanized riffs, embodying the spirit of one heavy metal’s most celebrated animal icons.” Goatshake.
