AFM Records

Ross the Boss – Born of Fire Review

Ross the Boss – Born of Fire Review

Ross the Boss is one of those bands I can’t help rooting for, being as it’s the outfit of Ross Friedman, the man behind the guitar on all the classic Manowar albums. Those platters were a huge part of my early metal education and I still cherish them dearly, as all trve metal fans should. Ross’ post-Manowar projects have been somewhat hit or miss, and 2018s By Blood Sworn was very disappointing despite some major league talent coming on board to help out. Because of this, I majorly tempered expectations coming into their 4th album, Born of Fire.” Who’s the Boss?

Anvil – Legal at Last Review

Anvil – Legal at Last Review

“Not to say Anvil has no semi-classic records to their names, but those were over a dozen albums ago. By now they’ve recorded more than AC/DC, in a shorter time span, yet their sound also shows as much growth as their Australian counterparts. Is the new pro-weed romp another carbon copy or have the fumes brought some inspiration to the geezers?” Anvil is Anvil.

Serious Black – Suite 226 Review

Serious Black – Suite 226 Review

“It’s no secret that Serious Black has fallen out of favor with me since 2016’s Mirrorworld. I mean, how do you fuck up a recipe as simple as As Daylight Breaks? Furthermore, how do you go from a Grier top-ten pick to a disappointment of the year? Well, it happened. Which found me almost missing out on 2017’s Magic and completely missing out on that same year’s acoustic release, First Light. And, when this year’s anticipated new record landed, I almost missed out again. For better or worse, Suite 226 is here with another concept story. This time a deranged lunatic rather than a top-hot magician. All I can say is buckle-up, kiddos. If I have to be here, then so do you.” Why so Serious?

Lordi – Killection (A Fictional Compilation Album) Review

Lordi – Killection (A Fictional Compilation Album) Review

“The rubber costumes, Halloween-themed perversions, and Rob Zombie-meets-’80s hair metal ditties aren’t on the list of ‘Things Metalheads Need.’ Yet, their Gwar-ish concepts spring up every couple of years as the Metal Monster Squad’s own songs (?) summon them via radio shows hosted by either Twisted Sister’s Dee Snider or Rockin’ Ralph Ruiz. And they don’t seem to care if you want what they have to offer or not—even if they’ve done it some ten times in twice as many years. And, only God/Satan knows, but there’s a handful of you sick sonsabitches out there that enjoy this crap. So, this review of Killection (A Fictional Compilation Album) is for you. Be ashamed of yourself.” Monster, Inc.

Brothers of Metal – Emblas Saga Review

Brothers of Metal – Emblas Saga Review

Truth be told, there’s a decent chance that I wouldn’t be here writing within these hallowed halls without Brothers of Metal. You see, back in 2017 I was a mere lurker at AMG, and might have been content to continue in that capacity if I hadn’t seen a commenter recommending Prophecy of Ragnarök, the debut from the aforementioned Swedes. I checked it out and fell so hard for its sometimes hilarious, sometimes deadly serious take on Norse-mythologized folky power metal that I felt compelled to create a Disqus account just so I could express my thanks to the recommender.” Brother hugger.

Human Fortress – Reign of Gold Review

Human Fortress – Reign of Gold Review

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….

Magic Kingdom – MetAlmighty Review

Magic Kingdom – MetAlmighty Review

“Having never heard of Magic Kingdom prior to this review, I was surprised to find out that the band’s existence dates back to 1998 and to find out that Mr. Lance King himself had at one point been involved with the band according to Metal Archives. MetAlmighty finds the band slinging power metal tunes that should satisfy fans of bands like Theocracy, Gloryhammer, and the various incarnations of Rhapsody.” Magic, monsters, and monarchs.

Elvenking – Reader of the Runes – Divination Review

Elvenking – Reader of the Runes – Divination Review

“While checking out a music video for one of the lead singles to Elvenking’s latest record, Reader of the Runes – Divination, I stumbled across a comment that deeply resonated with me. To paraphrase: “This is pretty good, but I still feel like a Pagan Manifesto widow.” It’s rare for a band to drop their best album seventeen years and eight LPs in their career, but 2014’s The Pagan Manifesto was precisely that.” Everything’s runed.

Kryptos – Afterburner Review

Kryptos – Afterburner Review

“”Full speed ahead—let’s burn up the night!” So screamed Kryptos vocalist and guitarist Nolan Lewis, thus closing out the Indian quartet’s 2016 opus Burn up the Night. That album excelled by infusing classic heavy metal riffs with harsh vocals and it more than earned its spot on my Year End list that year. But apparently full speed is no longer fast enough. Fifth album Afterburner sees the band cranking the throttles into overdrive and doubling down on everything that made Night great.” Still burning in the night.