sentynel

Inner Missing – Dead Language Review

By sentynel on March 3, 2022 in Reviews, Doom Metal, Gothic Metal, 16 comments

“I’ll be honest, my expectations for Dead Language were low. First, wow, that is a terrible name. Second, Inner Missing are a two-person gothic metal band releasing album number nine in twelve years. You have to give them credit for persistence, but nine albums without a breakout isn’t promising. Third, my first impression of the lead single “The Quest” was entirely dominated by the inexplicable near-monotone vastly over-inflected bass vocals. It was not looking good. Expectations and first impressions are funny things, though.” Lost and found in translation.

Hellfox – The Call Review

By sentynel on January 27, 2022 in Reviews, Alt-Metal, 14 comments

“As I promised in my list post, I’m once more attempting to pick up the writing habit I successfully maintained for the first half of last year. Alas, this does mean venturing into the notoriously barren January promo box. Worse, I was late and my colleagues had nabbed everything promising. My first selection turned out to be a C-tier early-00s darkwave band so far removed from both metal and good music that even I wouldn’t cover it here. Think Collide, but very boring. Fortunately, I did a bit more due diligence on my second attempt. Hellfox, are certainly metal, describing themselves as alt-metal with a melodeath lean.” Hellfox in the groan room.

Meer – Playing House [Things You Might Have Missed 2021]

By sentynel on January 11, 2022 in Things You Might Have Missed 2021, Progressive Rock, 44 comments

“There’s no formal rule for what non-metal stuff gets covered at AMG. We just look for things that are likely to appeal to metalheads. Sometimes they’re side projects of metal musicians, sometimes things that are heavy aesthetically even if they’re not built on distorted guitars. Meer aren’t either of those, but they do play a lush, complex progressive pop with rock leanings which should delight prog fans of any stripe.” Catting around the house.

Comments System Upgraded

By sentynel on August 8, 2021 in Blog Posts, 121 comments

We’ve just deployed an upgraded version of our comments tool. This brings a number of changes and new features, including YouTube, Bandcamp and gif embeds, deep reply nesting, new comment highlighting, and more.

Musk Ox – Inheritance Review

By sentynel on July 7, 2021 in Reviews, Folk, 33 comments

“Musk Ox are three guys with acoustic string instruments playing folk music: not exactly a new idea. But their pedigree as composers and musicians is impeccable. Musk Ox’s previous album, 2014’s Woodfall, was great. Cellist Raphael Weinroth-Browne’s solo record Worlds Within was one of my favorites last year, while guitarist Nathanael Larochette and violinist Evan Runge play in The Night Watch and released the excellent An Embarrassment of Riches the year before. Fortunately, Inheritance fully lives up to all this promise.” Dichotomy and musk.

The Wring – Project Cipher Review

By sentynel on May 29, 2021 in Reviews, Progressive Rock, 19 comments

“The promo’s promise of “Rush without the synths” is a pretty decent summary of what The Wring are going for here. The key elements are complex, layered, noodly guitar/bass lines and shifting time signatures. Prog’s regular downfall is letting the noodling get in the way of good songs, but The Wring keep things tight and let the songcraft lead.” Loose cipher.

Methadone Skies – Retrofuture Caveman Review

By sentynel on May 6, 2021 in Reviews, 26 comments

“Methadone is a synthetic opioid best known for its use in opioid addiction management. Its long duration of action avoids the euphoric high and rapid crash and withdrawal that results from using opioids like heroin. Naming your band after the slower, safer, non-euphoric substitute seems like an odd marketing move. (Post-rock cynics might suggest that this is a good description for the whole genre, mind.) Methadone Skies are an independent act based in Romania, and Retrofuture Caveman is their fifth treatment program in twelve years. I hadn’t previously encountered their work, but the promo package promises instrumental post-rock plus doom metal, which sounds like exactly what I need to sate my cravings.” The fix is in.

Suffocate for Fuck Sake – Fyra Review

By sentynel on April 12, 2021 in Reviews, Post-Metal, 24 comments

“Suffocate for Fuck Sake was one of those bands I’d heard good things about, but never quite got around to listening to properly. They’ve been around in the post-metal scene since 2004, though they never quite made it to “big name” status. They disappeared for nearly a decade, which probably didn’t help, before releasing their third album In My Blood in 2017. Here on the imaginatively titled Fyra (“Four”), they continue a tradition of tackling heavy topics with a theme of addiction.” Die.

Blue Hour Ghosts – Due Review

By sentynel on February 10, 2021 in Reviews, Alternative Metal, Progressive Rock, 16 comments

“NASA once lost a perfectly good spacecraft due to a units error, which led to a miscalculated course and a fiery collision with the destination planet. The navigation team had raised concerns that it was off course before the actual crash, but no action was taken. Managers preferred to assume everything was fine until it was too late. Here on final approach hoping everything is fine is Italy’s Blue Hour Ghosts with their second album, Due.” Brace for impact.

Need – Norchestrion: A Song for the End Review

By sentynel on January 12, 2021 in Reviews, Progressive Metal, 52 comments

“Need’s previous record Hegaiamas: A Song for Freedom was one of my favorites of 2017. Apparently I’m not alone, as I had to fight Huck
off to review this one. As the album titles imply, Greece’s Need play pretty prototypical pretentious prog, in the vein of Mountain-era Haken and bits of Symphony X. As the tussle over reviewing it implies, they’re also really good at it,” Needful songs.