Holdeneye

When you wield the 4hammer, every album looks like a nail.

Nightfell – A Sanity Deranged Review

By Holdeneye on September 11, 2019 in 20 Buck Spin, 2019, American Metal, Black Metal, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Reviews, Black Metal, Death Metal, Doom Metal, 24 comments

“Synergy is such an interesting concept. Take two things, add them together, and occasionally the resulting whole is far greater than the sum of its parts. This effect is rendered even more powerful when the constituent ingredients are seemingly at odds. In the same way that peanut butter slathered all over a bacon cheeseburger elevates it to another level of awesomeness, the curious mixture of hardcore/crust journeyman Todd Burdette (Tragedy, His Hero is Gone, Warcry, and many more) with jack of all metals Tim Call (Aldebaran, Mournful Congregation, The Howling Wind, and many more) has produced Portland, Oregon’s dark metal monstrosity, Nightfell.” Frankenstein lives!

Witch Vomit – Buried Deep in a Bottomless Grave Review

By Holdeneye on September 5, 2019 in 20 Buck Spin, 2019, American Metal, Death Metal, Reviews, Death Metal, 50 comments

“The other day, I was sitting at the ~~kid’s~~ n00b’s lunch table and about to close a deal trading away my Twinkie for Carcharodon‘s bland, British pastry, when Mark Z. walked in like the cool big kid he is and slammed a promo on the counter. ‘Hey, n00bs. Here’s Witch Vomit if you want it. I’m doing something else.’ He promptly picked up another promo with ‘vomit’ in the name and walked away. I tried to act cool, seeing if anyone else was as excited as I was, but when the bell rang, all of my fellow n00bs got up and headed towards Dr. Grier‘s 5th-period class, ‘How to Avoid Dismemberment.'” Harridans ov hurl.

Warcrab – Damned in Endless Night Review

By Holdeneye on August 30, 2019 in 2019, British Metal, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Reviews, Sludge Metal, Transcending Obscurity, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Sludge Metal, 82 comments

“I decided to atone for this cowardice by chugging some audible sludge in the form of Damned in Endless Night, the third full-length album from British wrecking crew Warcrab. I don’t listen to much sludge but the choice band name, impeccable logo, and Bolt Thrower comparison in the promo lured me into the Warcrab pot, and the musical chum I found within was so good that I couldn’t escape—nor would I want to.” Wharf arts.

Domination Inc. – Memoir 414 Review

By Holdeneye on August 26, 2019 in 2019, Greek Metal, Groove Metal, Reviews, SPV GmbH, Steamhammer, Thrash Metal, Groove Metal, Thrash Metal, 29 comments

“Greek thrashers Domination Inc. (minus the “Inc.” back then) released their debut Infants of Thrash. Take one look at the band’s name, and it shouldn’t surprise you that Infants sounds a cowboys from hell of a lot like Pantera. Fast forward four years and sophomore effort Memoir 414 finds the band wanting to “slightly move away from our initial old-school sound” and hoping that it will sound “heavier and more modern.”” Vulgar display of diary entries.

Detherous – Hacked to Death Review

By Holdeneye on August 22, 2019 in 2019, Canadian Metal, Death Metal, Redefining Darkness Records, Reviews, Thrash Metal, Death Metal, Thrash Metal, 24 comments

“I think I’m finally coming around on this whole death metal thing. The gore and violence subject matter of the genre has been difficult for me to get used to. I started my life as a religious prude and possess a Constitution ability score that has me literally passing out whenever I give blood, so I’ve never gotten into horror films or their musical equivalents. Add to that the fact that I’ve responded to three “hammer smashed faces” in my relatively short EMT career, and the novelty of songs with such titles is somewhat lost on me.” A metalhead with a split personality. Chopping spree.

Humanity’s Last Breath – Abyssal Review

By Holdeneye on August 5, 2019 in 2019, Death Metal, Deathcore, Djent, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Unique Leader, Death Metal, Deathcore, Djent, 66 comments

“What is the heaviest album of all time? While you’re running off to the comments to tell me, I’m going to stay here and admit that I have no clue. I don’t even know what the heaviest album ever would sound like. It could be blazingly fast or crushingly slow, or some combination of the two. Or it could simply carry an intense emotional weight from its subject matter, but the point is, heaviness is a hard concept to define when it comes to music.” Heavy as a two-ton thing.

The Offering – Home Review

By Holdeneye on August 1, 2019 in Reviews, Death Metal, Deathcore, Groove Metal, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Metalcore, Nu Metal, Power Metal, Progressive Metal, Thrash Metal, 109 comments

“In 2017, Boston band The Offering dropped a self-titled—and killer—EP that got them noticed by Century Media. Well, it’s time to check out their debut full-length Home, so grab something olde, something nü, something growled, and something blues, because today we’ll be haunting the chapel to see if the band can successfully marry an unhealthy number of musical influences into a cohesive whole.” Holy headlock!

Carnal Tomb – Abhorrent Veneration Review

By Holdeneye on July 26, 2019 in 2019, Death Metal, German Metal, Reviews, Testimony Records, Death Metal, 27 comments

“I’m sitting here watching the sun illuminate the leaves of the many trees in my gigantic new backyard, and I’m finally allowing myself to entertain a glimmer of hope that this all might work out. Ask Mrs. Holdeneye and she will tell you that I can become quite despondent and Eeyore-like when exposed to even mild amounts of stress, so moving twice this year has affected my baseline mood significantly. Perhaps this explains why I’ve been listening to far more death metal during the last few months than is my norm — I’ve been unconsciously trying to vent the frustration that comes from uncertainty and constant change, things I love just about as much as Ron Swanson does.”Stressball deathball.

Enforced – At the Walls Review

By Holdeneye on July 17, 2019 in 2019, American Metal, Reviews, Thrash Metal, War Records, Thrash Metal, 36 comments

“In 2017, a little Texas band named Power Trip released their sophomore album Nightmare Logic and subsequently blew the metal world’s collective mind. Their brand of crossover thrash made them darlings of the underground and mainstream metal media alike, and that record was a part of several year end lists here at AMG. Todays offering At the Walls finds relative newcomers Virginia’s Enforced laying siege to the throne with their debut set of crossover tunes, but do they even riff?” Riff the walls down.

Burial Remains – Trinity of Deception Review

By Holdeneye on July 12, 2019 in 2019, Death Metal, Dutch Metal, German Metal, Reviews, Transcending Obscurity, Death Metal, 23 comments

“Back when I was a snot-nosed n00b, I waxed non-poetically about how old school death metal has never really grabbed me all that hard. Now that I’m a snot-nosed non-n00b, I should probably set the record straight and disclose that the Swedish death metal sound really does have a place in my heart. That Boss HM-2 guitar tone is just so nasty, and when it’s combined with punk rhythms, it can induce an almost trancelike state with its beautifully bouncing beefiness. That sound is what has set a lot of European death metal apart in my ~~Holden~~ eyes, and I almost universally ignore the OSDM bands from my own country because of it.” Benedict Holdeneye.