Saunders

Unleashing Hell from Down Under: Blood, sweat, venom & beers

Kruelty – Untopia [Things You Might Have Missed 2023]

By Saunders on December 23, 2023 in Things You Might Have Missed 2023, Death Metal, Hardcore, 13 comments

“Trawling through a stack of overlooked gems from 2023, I stumbled across the impressive sophomore album from Japan’s Kruelty. In another bumper year for death metal enthusiasts, Kruelty channel classic Swedeath vibes from yesteryear, done Japanese style, armed with a healthy hardcore and doom kick. The Tokyo quartet formed in 2017, recording a lengthy string of short-form releases before arriving at their 2019 debut LP, A Dying Truth. Now with a solid number of years under their belt as a unit, Kruelty unleashed a power-packed second LP way back in March 2023. And if you happened to miss it initially, as I did, I am here to rectify the oversight and introduce you to the formidable slab of solid school death, entitled Untopia.” Plunder in the East.

Walking Corpse – Our Hands, Your Throat Review

By Saunders on December 1, 2023 in Reviews, Grind, Hardcore, Noise, Sludge, 37 comments

“Heavyweights Gridlink and Rotten Sound have led the grindcore charge in 2023, but to discount less heralded acts carving a presence in the modern grind scene runs the risk of overlooking the next big thing. Hailing from Gothenburg, Sweden, Walking Corpse independently released an EP and debut full-length, 2020’s The Fear Takes Hold, before inking a deal with one of heavy music’s more impressive modern labels, Transcending Obscurity.” Dead man walking!!

Bloodphemy – Dawn of Malevolence Review

By Saunders on November 21, 2023 in Reviews, Death Metal, 8 comments

“So here we are again. End-of-year shenanigans are nearly upon us, as we AMG folk get geared up and frantically weed out the pretenders and consolidate our end-of-year lists for what is sure to be another actioned-packed and contentious edition of Listurnalia. But let us not get too carried away. Although the primo releases start to dry up as we close in on December, there are usually a handful or more of key releases to fuck up your list preparations. Enter Netherlands band, Bloodphemy.” List breaker or list faker?

Suffocation – Hymns from the Apocrypha Review

By Saunders on November 13, 2023 in Reviews, Death Metal, 34 comments

“Legend has it, if you say Frank Mullen’s name in the mirror three times after dark, the seminal vocalist appears behind you and unleashes an almighty roar into your bloody earholes. For the first time in the lengthy career of the New York brutal death pioneers, the immense, muffled growls of Mullen are absent, as a new era begins in the Suffocation camp.” Old pros restricting airflows.

AMG Goes Ranking – Suffocation

By Saunders on November 11, 2023 in AMG Rankings, Death Metal, 34 comments

With Suffocation active again, we felt honor bound to do a ranking of their legendary catalog. Join us in praise of their career of ugly brutality.

Kill the King – Kill the King Review

By Saunders on November 8, 2023 in Reviews, Thrash Metal, 10 comments

“Emerging as an underdog in the budding Indian metal scene, upstart thrashers Kill the King come armed and ready to unleash a self-titled, self-released debut thrash platter. Formed in 2016, Kill the King have done the hard yards toiling in the underground, sharpening their tools in readiness for the five-piece outfit to put their skills to practice and rumble with the big dogs of the modern thrash scene. It certainly isn’t easy to stand out in the crowded field of modern thrash, a scene that splinters off into various offshoots such as retro thrash, blackened thrash, death-thrash and modern thrash territory.” Rabid Regicide.

Kadaverficker – Superkiller (A Musical Journey Between Life and Death) Review

By Saunders on October 2, 2023 in Reviews, Death Metal, Hard Rock, Punk, 15 comments

“After reviewing a slew of bigger releases and personal favorites in recent months, it’s nice to reconnect with the underground and plunge into the dank, mysterious corners of the promo sump. In doing so I stumbled across Germany’s Kadaverficker and their fifth full-length album, Superkiller (A Musical Journey Between Life and Death). Kicking around the traps since forming in 1993, Kadaverficker released a hefty collection of demos, splits, compilations, and various other shorter-form releases, eventually dipping into full-length territory on 2012’s Exploitation Nekronation. What can you expect on an LP that leaves nothing left in the tank across a whopping 71-minute runtime.” Ficking around,

Cannibal Corpse – Chaos Horrific Review

By Saunders on September 19, 2023 in Reviews, Death Metal, 81 comments

“Cannibal Corpse is a death metal institution, with their legendary status cemented in the death metal halls of fame. And a new Cannibal Corpse album still remains a big fucking deal in the death metal world. I can’t claim to be the rabid fanboy like a couple of my colleagues, however, I have a long-held history and respect for the band, so it is a sweet deal to pen my thoughts on their sixteenth (!) album, entitled Chaos Horrific.” Death walking chaos.

Alkaloid – Numen Review

By Saunders on September 12, 2023 in Reviews, Death Metal, Progressive Death, Progressive Metal, Technical Death Metal, 67 comments

“German collective Alkaloid bucks the trend often associated with bands fitted with the ‘supergroup’ tag. With a line-up boasting members of such lauded acts as Spawn of Possession, Obscura, Necrophagist, Eternity’s End, Dark Fortress, and many others, on 2015’s striking debut The Malkuth Grimoire, and 2018’s phenomenal sophomore opus Liquid Anatomy, Alkaloid ascended to elite status in the modern progressive and technical death metal scenes.” Dream team on paper (but see the N.Y. Jets).

Dying Fetus – Make Them Beg for Death Review

By Saunders on September 6, 2023 in Reviews, Death Metal, Slam, 67 comments

“Entering the supposed twilight years of a lengthy career, Baltimore death metal legends Dying Fetus show no signs of losing their edge or slipping into a set-and-forget comfort zone. If anything, the veteran trio, consisting of band leader John Gallagher (guitars/uber low vox), Sean Beasley (bass/mid-low range growls), and Trey Williams (drums) have been on a tear since consolidating their slimmed-down power trio set-up back on 2009’s Descend into Depravity.” From Fetus to legend.