El Cuervo

I'm not deliberately contrary.

Poltergeist – Feather of Truth

By El Cuervo on July 7, 2020 in Reviews, Speed Metal, Thrash Metal, 17 comments

“Switzerland’s Poltergeist are a better-established band than I had initially realized. Sitting pretty with 4 previous albums spreading back to 1989, they benefit from a degree of metal legitimacy, having produced music in the same decade in which thrash metal came into existence. Following a 23-year hiatus, their 2016 comeback suitably impressed the prior AMG reviewer with their tasteful references to many of their better-known 80s contemporaries. 2020 sees their fifth full-length unveiled and it’s called Feather of Truth. Ghost ticklers.

Hail Spirit Noir – Eden in Reverse Review

By El Cuervo on June 22, 2020 in Reviews, Black Metal, Psychedelic Rock, 118 comments

“I’m enjoying that I’m now able to look back at the 2010s with retrospect. In all my personal affairs, life developments, and the end of my formal education. But in particular, musically. I can now definitively make sweeping statements like ‘Sleep at the Edge of the Earth is the best record of the decade,’ and ‘there was a better decade of music from 1971-1975 than across 2010-2019.’ But, and pertinently to this review, I can also state that ‘Hail Spirit Noir (HSN) is one of the most creative metal bands which became active during the teenies.’” Hail teen spirit.

Ulthar – Providence Review

By El Cuervo on June 9, 2020 in Reviews, Death Metal, 58 comments

“Their debut in 2018 was received poorly by the respective probationary writer, noting that it suffered from “conflating incomprehensible fury and aimless blasting with gripping riffs and relentless aggression.” While it was slightly underrated, and this at least demonstrates that not all of the probationary writers were overrating bastards (though all the ones who made the cut are), it was far from essential and hardly suggested that there were great things to come. Enter 2020 and Providence.” New year, new gear.

Fairyland – Osyrhianta Review

By El Cuervo on May 25, 2020 in Reviews, Power Metal, Symphonic Metal, 31 comments

“France’s Fairyland last released an album in 2009 and were already seasoned at that point, with a decade of releases under their belt. 2020 brings with it a release called Osyrhianta, a bombastic, symphonic power metal record. What does 11 years of development bring to the table?” Time and Tolkien.

Asgard – Ragnarøkkr Review

By El Cuervo on May 13, 2020 in Reviews, Folk Metal, Progressive Metal, 51 comments

“The concept of Ragnarøkkr is one that has become distinctly tied to metal. Meaning the “twilight of the Gods” and famously forming subject material for Bathory and many other bands, it tells the mythological tale of death and devastation of the world and the Norse Gods. Asgard are (somewhat strangely) a Swiss band adopting this imagery in their name and the title of their new record, Ragnarøkkr.” Half Asgarded.

An Autumn for Crippled Children – All Fell Silent, Everything Went Quiet Review

By El Cuervo on April 28, 2020 in Reviews, Black Metal, Post-Metal, 44 comments

“The progression of 4 years and a few skipped releases yields a form of AAfCC which is even more indebted to The Cure than I remember their old form being. They were hardly a band which was ever thoroughbred black metal but their transformation into a truly genre-blending smoothie must now be nearing completion.” It’s all in the blend.

Reek – Death Is Something There Between Review

By El Cuervo on April 20, 2020 in 2020, Death Metal, Hard Rock, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Testimony Records, Death Metal, 18 comments

“Cometh the year, cometh the man. Rogga Johansson is once more pillaging our pages with yet another death metal project (1 of the 73,832,799 death metal or death metal-adjacent albums to which he has contributed), this time with a band called Reek.” Smell the Rogga.

Wvrm – Colony Collapse Review

By El Cuervo on April 1, 2020 in 2020, American Metal, Grind, Prosthetic Records, Reviews, 8 comments

“First, a call to our indefatigable, pedantic readership: Wvrm proclaim to be “South Carolina’s only grind band.” Such self-aggrandizement simply demands some spotty, metal nerd to raise their forefinger; “actually, there’s a long history of grind in the Carolinas, dating back to the colonial era….”” Grind in a warm place.

Hemotoxin – Restructure the Molded Mind Review

By El Cuervo on March 15, 2020 in 2020, American Metal, Death Metal, Reviews, Thrash Metal, Unspeakable Axe Records, Death Metal, Thrash Metal, 7 comments

“In 2016 I reviewed the sophomore album by California’s Hemotoxin, entitled Biological Enslavement. It was a not-unwelcome slice of death-thrash with an eye for the old-school and a proclivity for the technical, though it suffered from indistinct song-writing. Almost 4 years later in 2020, its successor called Restructure the Molded Mind is set for release. 2020 has thus far proven to be a pretty shitty time to be alive but perhaps some raucous death-thrash was exactly what I needed to reinvigorate myself.” Blood poisoning and mind molding.

The Night Flight Orchestra – Aeromantic Review

By El Cuervo on February 28, 2020 in 2020, Hard Rock, Nuclear Blast, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Hard Rock, 66 comments

“Aeromantic hardly breaks new ground for these excitable Swedes. By this, I mean that it is seemingly purpose-built to mainline dopamine directly to my brain, being, as it is, more 80s than the 80s. Each NFO release reaches deeper into this era, and Aeromantic nails the schmaltzy, overblown tone which has come to characterize the retrospective view of it.” Aeroma therapy.