Steel Druhm

Feel the wengeance

Cryptworm – Oozing Radioactive Vomition Review

By Steel Druhm on December 13, 2023 in Reviews, Death Metal, 24 comments

“Cryptworm’s 2022 Spewing Mephitic Putridity debut completely satisfied my shameful desires for a death metal album sounding like someone vomiting gut slime and mega-maggots for 33 minutes. It was repulsive, obnoxious, stupid, and fun. It was also really heavy, borrowing key chapters from Autopsy and early Carcass. I go back to it regularly, so the UK-based blokes did something right. Now hot on the heels of this grisly triumph, we get a brand new splatter platter called Ooozing Radioactive Vomition.” The Worm has (re)turned.

Record(s) o’ the Month – October 2023

By Steel Druhm on December 9, 2023 in Record o' the Month, 116 comments

It’s December so it’s time to open up your gift. Looks like you got October’s Record(s) o’ the Month, You lucky toadlicker! No returns or trade backsies.

Dusk – Dissolve into Ash Review

By Steel Druhm on December 8, 2023 in Reviews, Death Metal, Doom Metal, 18 comments

“Long, long ago (1995 to be exact), an unheralded Green Bay, Wisconsin act named Dusk threw their hat in the death-doom arena and dropped a short debut titled …Majestic Thou in Ruin. I stumbled upon it in a record store while in law school and bought it based entirely on its tranquil cover art. I was quite taken with what was inside too, and the band’s rough, raw, yet highly atmospheric style resonated deeply. Dusk walked the same morose and tortured territory as diSEMBOWELMENT, but they opted to stick closer to the doom side of things, at times almost venturing into early My Dying Bride / Anathema soundscapes.” Dusk and her replace.

Phobocosm – Foreordained Review

By Steel Druhm on December 6, 2023 in Reviews, Death Metal, 44 comments

“Montreal’s mega-heavy death metal merchants Phobocosm have a distinguished track record here at AMG, scoring high marks both times they were featured. It’s been a long time since their last appearance for 2016s Bringer of Drought, which Lord Kronos himself blessed with a righteous 3.5. He appreciated their nods to Incantation and Ulcerate and the no-nonsense way they steamroll and crush the listener with grim atmospheres and a massively heavy sound. Not the most productive of acts, nearly 7 years have creaked by since then, but we’re finally poised to receive third album, Foreordained.” Fear of caverns.

Record(s) o’ the Month – September 2023

By Steel Druhm on November 25, 2023 in Record o' the Month, 168 comments

The September Record(s) o’ the Month are at the door. Be thankful and offer them pie and bird flesh.

$Cruciamentum – Obsidian Refractions Review$

Cruciamentum – Obsidian Refractions Review

By Steel Druhm on November 22, 2023 in Reviews, Death Metal, 30 comments

“Cruciamentum may not be especially prolific or productive, having managed only one full-length from 2008 to 2015, but their Charnel Passages debut put them on the map with its massive, monolithically atmospheric caverncore sound. It was the kind of statement album presaging a successful career, but they failed to follow it up in a meaningful way as years drifted by with nary a peep save an EP in 2017. Nearly 8 long years later they finally offer up their sophomore long player, Obsidian Refractions. Crucial momentum.

Diviner – Avaton Review

By Steel Druhm on November 10, 2023 in Reviews, Heavy Metal, 37 comments

“In a year steeped with excessive amounts of death metal and the unspeakable depravities that go with that, I’ve been without my normal dosage of sword-swinging traditional and trve metals. Luckily, the Hellenic warriors in Diviner are out to remedy that situation with their mammoth third opus, Avaton. Since their founding in 2015, Diviner made it their business to bring burly, machismo-laden classic metal to the masses on quality platters Fallen Empires and Realms of Time.” Divine interwention.

Vastum – Inward to Gethsemane Review

By Steel Druhm on November 8, 2023 in Reviews, Death Metal, 18 comments

“San Francisco’s Vastum have been an interesting act to follow since they hit the scene in 2011. Employing an especially moist, slimy cavern-core sound owing much to Incantation, Autopsy, and Funebrarum, their savage attack was hard to resist on ace offerings like Patricidal Lust and Hole Below. With current and former members of Hammers of Misfortune, Acephalix, and Ulthar involved, they crafted some unsettling, evil-sounding shit and their writing felt more interesting than the average death output. 2019s Orificial Purge felt like a comedown in quality and inventiveness, though it was still an enjoyable platter of mostly mid-paced death. Now comes Inward to Gethsemane and with it, a hope for a rebound to the vile magic of their earlier days.” Is ugly enough?

Carnal Tomb – Embalmed in Decay Review

By Steel Druhm on November 4, 2023 in Reviews, Death Metal, 34 comments

“Prior to the Great Plague, Holdeneye discovered the vile charms of Germany’s Carnal Tomb and was quite taken with their sophomore outing Abhorrent Veneration. He appreciated the mixture of old school and Swedeath and the band’s ability to weave in restrained proggy elements without upsetting the corpse cart. Several years and many weird societal shifts later, we get their third helping of gruesome bits, Embalmed in Decay. The band’s basic template remains in place though it shifts the focus more completely to old school death with fewer Swedeath d-beatings taking place.” Sex after death.

Serenity – Nemesis A.D. Review

By Steel Druhm on November 1, 2023 in Reviews, Power Metal, 24 comments

“Austria’s Serenity had a pretty good run over these last 10 years. Starting life as a progressive-minded power metal act, by the time 2013s War of Ages hit the streets they’d shifted to a more streamlined and grandiose style, sounding like Kamelot cross-bred with Sonata Arctica and Avantasia. The formula worked very well due to consistently solid, memorable songwriting and albums like Codex Atlanticus and Lionheart had a lot to offer fans of larger-than-life symphonic power metal. 2020s The Last Knight was a step backward, dumbing down their sound while trying to make it more poppy and accessible, with bright synths and borderline club beats underlying the usual pomp and circumstance. The end product was still Serenity but things sounded plastic, frail, and light on substance. Three years on we get their eighth album, Nemesis A.D.” Serenity NOW!