“My summer quest for scrumptious retro metal is almost at an end. It has taken me far and wide, usually with poor, and at best middling, results. It has been a quest of dissatisfaction, to the point where I will soon be turning my nose at any retro promo that is pushed under my prison door at AMG Headquarters. My last kick at the cat will be the latest from this group of miscreants who call themselves Dead Lord.” The mind is a terrible thing to taste.
“Come on, with a name like that can you blame me for grabbing this band’s album? It’s the equivalent of promotional clickbait. Crazy band name, goofy album title, and even goofier band picture, all topped off with the fact that the band consider themselves purveyors of the NWOBHM (despite the fact that this is really their debut album). It all adds up to something that, if Steel wasn’t already double-dipping this week in the review pool, he would have grabbed for sure. Which means I get his sloppy seconds.” The bitter taste of rabies.
“I love the retro metal/hard rock movement. Call it retro, call it dad metal, call it what you want. When it’s done well it can be as much fun as it was back when I was listening to the real thing in the ’70s and ’80s. Do it badly, though, and it’s just sad. ” All rise, then boogie.
“Venomous Maximus try their darndest to move past the “occult” label and appeal more generally to the metal masses. Like their records before it, No Warning is an attempt to appease fans of both the sinister and the catchy. In other words, they seem to be striving for ownership of the same plot of land Ghost lay claim to. Stealing the ghost.
“Formed out of the ashes of post-hardcore/prog act Light Bearer, Poseidon drop the hardcore, keep a bit of the prog, and infuse it all with 70s metal, dollops of doom, and a hint of sludge. Sound enticing? It does to me.” Unleash the cracking.
“James Fogarty has a bit of a dilemma on his hands. Having dismantled his solo project Ewigkeit some ten years ago, coupled with a rant about metal being conservative and out of touch, how on earth is he going to resurrect the project and make it relevant?” Metal never forgets.
“The AMG Overlords are vengeful overlords. One wrong step, one missed tithe, and an underling can find oneself working in the boiler room again. Or worse yet, getting duped into a review of something unexpected. Case in point, someone we all know and love was late with a review and thus, scrambling to get back in Madam and Steel’s good graces, frantically grabbed a promo described by the Overlords as “post-something.” I’ve been had. Heaven in Her Arms are a Japanese hardcore act who incorporate some progressive elements, some death elements, and some screamo, but not really any post-something.” Post-punishment.
“This is a late review, but that’s what happens when you live in Canada and get eight days of summer per year: you spend all your time frolicking amongst the dandelions instead of in a darkened room blaring metal. Anyhow, this new release from Stallion grabbed my attention for only one reason: in 2013 they had a song called “Canadian Steele.”” Of Northern pride and metallurgy.
“Selene are a relatively new symphonic metal band based in Belfast, Ireland. I’m not going to get on a high (or low) horse about the genre: if you like symphonic metal, you’ll read this review, and if you don’t you’ll scroll down and look for something nastier. It’s all good to me.” Nightmiss.
“Listening to this debut release from Zedi Forder makes me think of a rephrasing of a now-famous commercial: I don’t always review radio-friendly alt-metal, but when I do I review good radio-friendly alt-metal. My selections (read: offal) this month have ranged from bad to worse, but I’ve been granted respite with the debut album from this British trio.” Zedi or not, here they come.
