German Metal

Porta Nigra – Schöpfungswut Review

By Carcharodon on January 15, 2020 in 2020, Black Metal, German Metal, Melodic Black Metal, Reviews, Soulseller Records, Black Metal, Melodic Black Metal, 46 comments

“I feel that I have not had the opportunity to review enough stuff from my countryfolk. It was with a certain amount of anticipation, therefore, that I pulled Schöpfungswut (Wrath of Creation), the third full-length by Porta Nigra, from the toxic waste of the promo pit. I had assumed, given their name, that they hailed from Trier, a town that houses the Roman Porta Nigra (Black Gate) and of which I am rather fond. We can safely dispense with the Trier history lesson I was planning to embark on, however, as they are from Koblenz, a city I know nothing about.” Hug your neighbors, then stab them.

Bonded – Rest in Violence Review

By Holdeneye on January 14, 2020 in 2020, Century Media, German Metal, Groove Metal, Reviews, Thrash Metal, Groove Metal, Thrash Metal, 25 comments

“Bonded is a German band that qualifies as both new and old when it comes to thrash. Rest in Violence is their debut record, but founders Bernd ‘Bernemann’ Kost and Markus ‘Makka’ Freiwald are both longtime veterans of Teutonic thrash legends Sodom. The duo has assembled an army of talent and is launching an all-out assault on the groovier side of the thrash subgenre tree. Will this initial foray hit with the force of an agent orange drop, or is it better off dead?” Bond jumpers.

Dauþuz – Monvmentvm [Things You Might Have Missed 2019]

By Master of Muppets on January 10, 2020 in 2019, Black Metal, German Metal, Naturmacht Productions, Reviews, Things You Might Have Missed 2019, Black Metal, 29 comments

“Oh God, not you guys again. It’s fucking December, don’t y’all have halls to deck and neighborhoods to ruin with your festive warbling? I’m a busy Muppet, yo, I don’t have time to babble about the great shit you couldn’t be bothered to find on your own. Nope, I’m putting my foot down; I don’t care how much you goons look forward to TYMHM season, I’m not even a little bit interested in sharing a single one my Bandcamp riches with you bastards/bastardettes and that’s that.” Dig that hole.

Erdling – Yggdrasil Review

By Steel Druhm on January 9, 2020 in 2020, Electronica Metal, German Metal, Industrial Metal, Out of Line Music, Reviews, Electronic Metal, 39 comments

“The promo sump is deep, dark, and at times, tricksey and false. When you see an album titled Yggdrasil with cover art adorned with the original Norse prime plant, you’d be justified in expecting a chest-thumping, shield-shattering dose of Viking metal. When the promo material bills this German band as pagan metal and you’re aware that our resident Muppet Boy had it slated for review before dropping it due to time constraints, expectations are heavily reinforced. Then you press play and get…” Ugly sticks.

Mystic Prophecy – Metal Division Review

By Holdeneye on January 8, 2020 in 2020, German Metal, Heavy Metal, Power Metal, Reviews, Rock of Angels Records, Heavy Metal, Power Metal, 62 comments

“Back in 2007, I ran across the Myspace page of a band called Mystic Prophecy. My fire for trve heavy metal was still in its incipient stage at the time—a time that saw Manowar, Iron Maiden, and Iced Earth as my favorite bands—so when I heard “Demon’s Blood” and its immense bottom-end power metal attack on that soon-to-be-obsolete social media platform, I was giddy.” MySpace prophecies.

Sun Worship – Emanations of Desolation [Things You Might Have Missed 2019]

By Roquentin on January 7, 2020 in 2019, Atmospheric Black Metal, Black Metal, German Metal, Reviews, Things You Might Have Missed, Things You Might Have Missed 2019, Vendetta Records, Atmospheric Black Metal, Black Metal, 24 comments

“Too much music is released and there is not enough time nor space to cover it all. Some publicists game the system and generate artificial hype for their artists. A certain uniformity in year-end lists plagues major publications. An echo chamber of taste ensnares the metal community. Some of these reasons and a plethora of others may be why bands like the Berlin-based (deathened) black metal duo Sun Worship fly under the radar.” Sun and black winter.

Dawn of Disease – Procession of Ghosts [Things You Might Have Missed 2019]

By GardensTale on December 16, 2019 in 2019, German Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Nuclear Blast, Things You Might Have Missed, Things You Might Have Missed 2019, Melodic Death Metal, 17 comments

“My first “real” metal band was Iron Maiden. The second was Children of Bodom, and through them, I found other melodic death metal bands like Norther and Kalmah. These last three bands were all listed on Metal Archives as “power metal with harsh vocals,” as a kind of elitist bid to disassociate melodic death metal that was too melodic from the “death” part of the label. While it was kind of a ridiculous strategy, it is true that there’s a major subsection of melodic death metal that has little in common with death metal aside from growls or screams.” Death’s revenge.

Halphas – The Infernal Path into Oblivion Review

By Dr. Wvrm on December 11, 2019 in 2019, Black Metal, Folter Records, German Metal, Reviews, Black Metal, 10 comments

“The Germans dropped their debut in the heart of List Season ’17, a rowdy black metal romp that thrived in the darkness of a 4 pm sunset. Two years on and Halphas won’t flinch before the listicle onslaught. Good on them too, because The Infernal Path into Oblivion is a step-up from an already strong debut. Who needs validation when you’ve got riffs?” Riff money.

Human Fortress – Reign of Gold Review

By Steel Druhm on December 5, 2019 in 2019, AFM Records, German Metal, Heavy Metal, Power Metal, Reviews, Heavy Metal, Power Metal, 22 comments

“Human Fortress has had a strange and somewhat tragic career. I bought their 2001 debut Lord of Earth and Heavens Heir on a whim and was blown away by the classy, high-quality power metal the band delivered. Aided by the exceptional vocals of Jioti Parcharidis, the band crafted some excellent songs that have stuck with me over the years, and while the album wasn’t perfect, it was a rousing and polished slab o’ Euro-power with tons of hooks. In 2003 they took a big step forward, topping their debut with Defenders of the Crown, which has gone on to become one of my favorite power metal albums of all time and one I still play with great regularity. After this, things began to fall apart.” All that sparkles….

Horrizon – World of Pain Review

By Twelve on December 2, 2019 in 2019, German Metal, Massacre Records, Melodic Death Metal, Reviews, Melodic Death Metal, 45 comments

“One of the earliest things I’ve learned in my short tenure working with these angriest of metal men is how difficult describing music actually is. Scholars throughout time have worked hard to remedy this situation by giving us the hallowed name drop, and venerated genre tags, that we might use few words to convey great meaning. And yet, these still often fall sadly short of describing the actual phenomena we experience. I could tell you, for instance, that the music of World of Pain, the third full-length output from the German band Horrizon.” When words fail.