“I typically like to treat albums as self-contained works. Music evolves with the artist; any band will tell you that a given record is a time capsule chronicling a band’s creative impulses at a given point, and that, ideally, it should not be beholden to prior albums. Yet certain works regarded as important transitional pieces may not be appreciated as such until years later.” Does that language worry you?
“Crust punk is an interesting beast. Stylistically speaking, its bludgeoning, relentless nature is closer to metal than perhaps any other style of punk, but only a handful of metal acts have dabbled in the genre. Vhol and modern Darkthrone have made admirable attempts at bringing crust to the metal masses, but ultimately the genre has flown under the radar of most fans.” Run with the crust pack.
“My beloved Angra has influenced a seemingly endless amount of satisfying tribute acts, and three years ago, Vandroya was the new kid on the block. Representing Angra at their speediest and proggiest.” Who doesn’t love them some Angra?
“I’m a big fan of MindMaze’s Back From the Edge. Similar to Pyramaze’s excellent Disciples of the Sun, it’s a true grower of a progressive power metal album that I’ve really warmed to over the years. It strikes an admirable balance between prog and power styles, carrying plenty of memorable hooks bolstered by proper prog songwriting in its longest tracks.” Power-prog and problems.
“My perpetual desire to keep up with the new, the strange and the inventive in the metal landscape betrays one of my greatest sins as a genre fan: I quite often forget to tip my hat to good ol’ heavy metal. Sure, I have nearly every Maiden record memorized front to back and I endeavor to wear my Motörhead shirt at least twice a week, but I tend to push modern homages to metal’s roots to the wayside. I think my ignorance is a byproduct of a general disinterest in new takes on traditional metal endemic to the current scene, and occasionally the metal community (and myself) needs a good ass-kick of a record to whip it into shape.” The penalty for your anti-metal attitude is a booting.
“New Jersey’s Blood Feast is yet another in a seemingly endless stream of resurrected relics that reaffirms I’ll never reach the bottom of the well o’ denim ‘n bullet belts.” Look what crawled out of the NJ swamp lands.
“Until recently, Arthemis had been one of around a few dozen bands I’d always had a mild curiosity for but had never bothered to closely investigate. I’m convinced the only reason I knew of their existence was because they included Power Quest’s vocalist and guitarist (Alessio Garavello and Andrea Martongelli, respectively) amongst their ranks, though now only the latter remains in the band. I also vaguely remembered them from high school as one of a handful of power metal bands that had a propensity for including bare breasts on their album covers, which always struck me as an ironic practice for what might be metal’s least sexy genre.” From Power Quest to Power Chests.
“I have a complicated relationship with standard death metal; that is to say, the old school, cave-your-skull-in-with-a-cinder-block variety. I love the style, but you don’t need access to our promo bin to realize how much and how often the stuff is churned out (i.e. oh, so goddamn much), and as a result, I rarely go hunting for undiscovered gems so much as I stick to what I know and cherish. However, I found myself with a hankerin’ for a hunt last week and my search resulted in an album that seemed no-frills enough to get me by.” If you seek death you will find it.
“Initially, this review was going to begin with a nutshell description of the current black metal scene. I had a few ideas: how the style is split into two methods of composition (instant gratification versus slow burning atmosphere), how the line between traditional and post-black metal is slowly being blurred, and so on. As I repeatedly drafted and deleted my intro, however, I began to realize that the state of the genre is far too multi-faceted to describe in terms of duality. Besides, you’re smart enough to read AMG, so you would have instantly seen through my half-baked thesis.” Discerning readers demand flawless scholarship.
“A blend of power metal and modern thrash that borrowed sounds from bands as diverse as Borealis, Iced Earth, and Sylosis, Damnations Day’s debut is an intriguing album that I still periodically return to despite some weak links and a couple of forgettable acoustic numbers. I had hoped that in the four years since that album the band would have diligently developed a filler-less follow up.” Hope is like a fickle seamstress.
