“From the first minutes, it will be obvious to followers of the style that Profetus model their slow trudging misery after funeral forefathers Thergothon and Skepticism. This makes sense, as all three bands hail from Finland, home of the world’s most metal bands per capita at two bands per person.” Remembrance of heavy things past.
“When I first saw we’d received promo from a band named Wömit Angel, I assumed one of our staff had playfully misspelled Vomit Angel, which confused me because I already reviewed a pretty terrible album by that band earlier this year. But no, it turns out Wömit Angel is an entirely different group, a Finnish black metal trio who also happen to be inspired by the expulsion of partially digested food from one’s stomach. Given they formed in 2010 and apparently harbor both punk and thrash influences, I’m pretty surprised I haven’t heard of these guys given my proclivity for seeking out this sort of thing.” You know you Womit.
“If you read our latest Record(s) o’ the Month post for…August[1. Is that right? Wow, that’s fookin’ late.], AMG Himself opined that we’re in the midst of a melodeath revival of sorts. With impressive releases by Eternal Storm and Disillusion already on the books, and In Mourning’s new one getting some early high marks, perhaps Angry Metal Dad is onto something. Insomnium’s eighth full-length Heart Like a Grave won’t be undercutting his hypothesis either.”
“Once upon a time, your friendly neighborhood Steel Druhm was a big time power metal nerd. I loved nearly all of it, no matter how cheesy, poppy, dragon intensive or elf friendly it was. With advancing age and the inevitable cynicism that follows, my tolerance for saccharine-sweet Euro-pop-power diminished, and I’ve became increasingly judicious in what is deigned worthy for admittance in the ears ov Steel. One of the few power metal albums I still return to regularly is Excalion’s 2007 opus Waterlines. The Finnish act found a near-perfect blend of heaviness, accessibility and over-the-top fun on that platter and its withstood the test of time and shifts in listening habits.” Songs and Emotion.
In which we take a Blind Guardian song far too literally.
“With the annual pilgrimage to dead leaves and perpetual darkness underway, an appropriate soundtrack is imperative to survival; I need something that will simultaneously sonically augment the surrounding scenery as well as shield me from its scheduled sadness, something which will bring this death to life and save me from it. Such a savior has arrived in the form of Vorna’s Sateet palata saavat, and though I am loathe to share such splendor with the likes ov you, the urge to babble about said greatness has temporarily overtaken my selfish recalcitrance: you’re welcome, yo.” The autumn wind smells like Muppet.
“Nothing in this world is as good as blackened thrash metal. In the book of Z, it is the pinnacle of not just metal, but music in general. While Australian acts like Gospel of the Horns and the fukkin almighty Deströyer 666 do it best, that doesn’t mean the rest of the world has nothing to offer. Finland’s Urn are one such band who have been reliable in keeping my head banging over the years, even if their straightforward take on blackened thrash was never enough to bring them to the big leagues.” Boo-Urn?
“With multiple platinum records under their arms from the 00’s, the glam-turned-goth collective has been active since the early 90’s. One might assume they intended to be a Sisters of Mercy that actually releases new music. That lengthy career path is evident in some of the stronger tracks.” Goth by the numbers.
“Industrial metal hasn’t had a great run as of late. The few I have reviewed in my three-year tenure at AMG did not fare well. In fact, the only good industrial metal I have heard in that time was the new Rammstein earlier this year, meaning the underground has delivered exactly zilch. Of course, I may have simply missed a whopper, but fact remains that most bands touting the term seem to use it as an excuse to blow out the speakers with horrendous production and/or use it as an ersatz term for metalcore or nu-metal. Maybe the debut from upstarts Northern Genocide can make a difference.” The Devil’s factory.
“Sonata Arctica’s Talviyö marks the 20-year anniversary of the release of Ecliptica. For many fans, the band’s first four albums are the real highlight of their career. But one thing that Tony Kakko and his lovable band of Finns could never do was to sit still. Instead, in 2007, they released Unia, which saw them deviating from the formula they had perfected as an upstart Europower band. Since then, they haven’t stood still.” Stillness of winter.
