Dolphin Whisperer

EEEEE EEEEEEEEE, San Jose State University
Maud the Moth + Trajedesaliva – Bordando el manto terrestre Review

Maud the Moth + Trajedesaliva – Bordando el manto terrestre Review

By Dolphin Whisperer on May 25, 2023 in Reviews, 34 comments

“Unquestionably I spend most of my listening time browsing this site’s namesake aesthetic, but I also enjoy sticking my nose elsewhere to try to catch a whiff of what else may inspire that same special beauty in ugliness I desire. Though the Maud the Moth (Amaya López-Carromero also of healthyliving) side has a metallic line to the pleading halls of Scotland’s Ashenspire, Trajedesaliva (the duo of Mon Ninguén on synths and unavena on voice) hosts no such connection, living in their own experimental electronic ambient world.” MOAR Moth?

Yakuza – Sutra Review

Yakuza – Sutra Review

By Dolphin Whisperer on May 22, 2023 in Reviews, Doom Metal, Heavy Metal, Post-Metal, Psychedelic Rock, Sludge, Sludge Metal, 23 comments

“Yakuza over the course of their 20-plus year career explore through the duality of reverent and incendiary identities how sound too can transform through iteration. Having not yet graced the halls of AMG, and generally living on the outside of the metal limelight, Yakuza‘s hazily hypnotic, startlingly shredded, and warped woodwind take on metal will catch you off guard. Sutra will help you find the light.” C’mon Sutra.

Sunbeam Overdrive – Diama Review

Sunbeam Overdrive – Diama Review

By Dolphin Whisperer on May 16, 2023 in Reviews, Nu Metal, Progressive Metal, 14 comments

“Sunbeam Overdrive as a name conjures the gaudy—a would-be leisure suit-wearing hotshot cruising down the coastal highway, top-down, sunglasses on, radio cranked. But the 90’s California kid in me hears this modern style of progressive metal that borrows more from aged successful radio-friendly acts like A Perfect Circle and Sevendust than anyone who plays in the more expected noodling and tricky rhythm definitions of the genre.” Sun’s out, prog’s out.

Vintersea – Woven into Ashes Review

Vintersea – Woven into Ashes Review

By Dolphin Whisperer on May 10, 2023 in Reviews, Black Metal, Melodic Black Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Progressive Metal, 68 comments

“In the past 20 years that bands like Wolves in the Throne Room and Agalloch have been pioneering a shade of the American black metal sound, a few interesting things have happened: black metal got cool and, as such, has continued to add new notches into its total allowable expressions. Youthful bands, who likely grew up finding out about these bigger names alongside other 00s music trends, have erupted with melodic and even fairly accessible atmospheres defining their modern vision of what black metal can be. These visions can feel a little kitchen sink at times, but that doesn’t stop acts like Vintersea from continuing to try and find that special melodic thread that binds their wide-ranging influences together.” New blood, old blackness.

Fatuous Rump – I Am at Your Disposal Review

Fatuous Rump – I Am at Your Disposal Review

By Dolphin Whisperer on May 1, 2023 in Reviews, Death Metal, Slam, 48 comments

“Slam and goregrind go together like week-old roadkill and a mid-July heat wave—between flail and fester this oft-maligned corner of brutal death metal hobbles with neither functional brain nor censor. Well, no censor on Bandcamp if you rock with goregrind and not pornogrind. Bandcamp has standards after all. At the slampicenter of these thick string rattling, pong snare clanging, sample-infested in-joke bands rests a bevy wildly stylized vocalists, allowing the throat-singing influenced snorter Larry Wang (Gorepot, Virginity Fraud, and many more…) a dank spotlight.” Rump truck.

Sunrot – The Unfailing Rope Review

Sunrot – The Unfailing Rope Review

By Dolphin Whisperer on April 23, 2023 in Reviews, Doom Metal, Metalcore, Sludge, Sludge Metal, 9 comments

“Sunrot has got some shit to say, and they’ve imbued the sophomore The Unfailing Rope with an essence of festering self-loathing dripped forth from incensed veins. A low-tatter mind knows that drilling a hole into your skull won’t alleviate mental anguish, but fight after fight after fight can lead you to consider (“Trepanation”). And when life has gifted you a “seething scorn [that] cauterized the wounds that never bled,” (“Patricide”), well, that lets you know all you need to build the ethos of Sunrot: the only catharsis seems to be the end. Have you got a morbid fire stoked in your curious and deflated heart yet?” Extreme solutions.

Bonginator – The Intergalactic Gorebong of Deathpot Review

Bonginator – The Intergalactic Gorebong of Deathpot Review

By Dolphin Whisperer on April 20, 2023 in Reviews, Death Metal, 21 comments

“Whether you dread the stock report, the job search, the general grind of hand-to-mouth life, times are tough. That’s why we here at AMG are announcing that we’ve decided to turn a new leaf to assist with a different kind of grind. In need of hip flower? Look no further than our direct-to-consumer weed delivery platform Angry Marijuana Guy, a service sure to fall into favor with ganja socialites and herbaceous intellectuals everywhere. For this launch on the most apt of days—that’s 4/20 for us of the brutish month-day persuasion—I, Dank Dolph, have three limited edition hybrids to present to you inspired by the munchie-fueled machinations of the like-minded Massachusetts act Bonginator.” Smoke on the weedeater.

AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö: Fracturus – Versus the Void

AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö: Fracturus – Versus the Void

By Dolphin Whisperer on April 17, 2023 in Angry Metal Guy's Unsigned Band Rodeo, Death Metal, Deathcore, Technical Death Metal, 28 comments

“AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö” is a time-honored tradition to showcase the most underground of the underground—the unsigned and unpromoted. This collective review treatment continues to exist to unite our writers in boot or bolster of the bands who remind us that, for better or worse, the metal underground exists as an important part of the global metal scene. The Rodeö rides on.” Void fractions.