“There are few bands that cause me as much discomfort, uneasiness, and paranoia as Leviathan does. What’s crazy about it is, I fucking love it. Leviathan albums are like cult indie films that you are completely floored by even if they are a chore to get through.” Strap on the depression machine, you know the Wrest.
Dr. A.N. Grier
Hacavitz – Darkness Beyond Review
“Being that I had money and nothing else to do, I purchased the sophomore release [Katun] of Mexican blackened-death metallers Hacavitz.” Money and idle hands lead to poor musical choices. Always.
Pelican – The Cliff Review
“Pelican is no stranger to EP releases and I’m no stranger to Pelican EP releases (I own every one of them). Their choice to do an EP is based solely on (as far as I can tell), mood. Some of their EPs stand alone as original releases (Pelican and Ataraxia/Taraxia), while others carry a song that will appear on an upcoming full-length. However, The Cliff goes in a different direction by kidnapping a song off the preceding full-length and fucking with it three times over with vocal and/or industrial remixing before closing out with the only original track.” An EP of remixes and remashes. Joy.
Furor Gallico – Songs from the Earth Review
“When I hear someone mention a band with nearly as many active members in its ranks as the starting lineup of a baseball team, I immediately think of that one band from Des Moines (which is, honestly, the worst kind of buzzkill). There is always the risk of biting off more than you can chew when trying to incorporate so many musicians/instruments into an album, not to mention trying to balance everything on the stage.” Celtic themed folk metal from Italy? Now that’s fooking international!
Sumac – The Deal Review
“One of my favorite things about metal is just how small of a world it can be. Like all metalheads out there, I have my favorite bands and musicians. Many of these musicians have a tendency to venture out into new projects and/or genres and I stalk them from band to band and genre to genre.” And this creepy stalking has led him to a bad case of…Sumac.
Arbitrator – Indoctrination of Sacrilege Review
“They say nine out of ten startup companies fail. Much of this has to do with the venture’s lack of resources and connections; failing to find the know-how and know-who before the money runs out.” As companies race to find investors, you’re tasked with deciding what bands to invest your funds into. Choose…wisely.
Death Karma – The History of Death and Burial Rituals Part I
“Death is perhaps the most interesting subject to me. Though I don’t study it, don’t have any sort of education in it, and don’t have any right to expand on or analyze it, I just find the human intrigue and fear of death fascinating. Some embrace death and live their lives knowing that everything could end today, others accept but fear death, and many avoid discussion of it (and even the thought of it) more than anything else in the world.” Want to learn more about death? Then this is the best source since the Mondo Cane videos.
Ethereal – Opus Aethereum Review
“I’m just going to come out and say it. I enjoyed Dimmu Borgir’s big-assed Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia. Yep, I said it. Haters be a hatin’ but its elements of bombastic orchestration and “beauty and the beast” vocals introduced a balance of demonic and angelic qualities that expanded on a style bands like Emperor and Limbonic Art had/have nurtured for years.” Don’t hate the keyboards, hate the player.
Raunchy – Vices.Virtues.Visions. Review
“There are three things you need to know in regards to Raunchy: 1) I’ve had an unhealthy love affair with them since stumbling across Wasteland Discotheque back in 2008; 2) they have the most misleading band name ever; and 3) never say “can I get Raunchy?” when asking for their promo.” We call that a micro-aggression, and we only tolerate macro-aggressions at AMG. HR awaits!
Serious Black – As Daylight Breaks Review
“When I picked up the debut album of Serious Black for review, I knew nothing about this band. What I did know was that the band name Sirius-ly gives me an uncontrollable urge to hunt down Harry Potter and punch him in the fucking face. But once I decided to review this slab of melodic metal, I discovered that this sum bitch is serious-ly special.” Step back folks, we have another “super group” on our hands.