Grimoire Records

Thonian Horde – Downfall Review

Thonian Horde – Downfall Review

“I prefer my black metal atmospheric. Consequently, I’d be lying if I claimed I’ve listened to more albums classified as black ‘n’ roll than there are strings on my guitar. Given my lowly n00b status, I don’t have the great privilege of selectively perusing through the promo bin for albums to share with the AMG community that suit my fancy. Instead, I must welcome what is thrown at me to earn the respect of the AMG staff. Thus, when I hunkered down to listen to<,i>Downfall, the third full-length from self-proclaimed black ‘n’ roll outfit, Thonian Horde, I wasn’t quite sure what I was in for.” Horders, man….

Haze Mage – Chronicles Review

Haze Mage – Chronicles Review

“Growing up, my teenage cat-brain was filled with all sorts of bizarre questions and interesting ‘What If?’ scenarios. How long is the prison sentence for cutting the tags off my mattress? What other dimension does the other sock go when its sibling emerges from the dryer? Most puzzling of them all would have to be ‘What if Glenn Danzig and his cohorts did away with their Satanic leanings and lyrics during their musical peak, and decided to just smoke a metric fuck-ton of pot instead?'” Enter the Maze of the Haze Mage.

Yatra – Death Ritual Review

Yatra – Death Ritual Review

“The size of the role vocals play in genre categorization is a funny thing. At least superficially, harsh screams may be enough to earn a ‘blackened’ tag, and there’s more than one melodic death metal album that would be labelled power metal if it weren’t for the harsh vocals. This can cause a conundrum when a band wants to shake up the status quo with an unusual vocal approach. Enter Yatra, a new band formed after the dissolution of Blood Raven. This fuzzy stoner doom might not draw a second glance if it weren’t for its oddball application of harsh snarls. Is it gonna be enough to set themselves apart from the usual stoner-doom hullabaloo?” Voices carry.

Snakefeast – In Chaos, Solace Review

Snakefeast – In Chaos, Solace Review

“Experimental metal is a tricky genre. For one, it’s defined by indefinability. Where do you draw the line between progressive, simply odd, and truly experimental? What do you call it when a band emulates another’s experimental sound? And, the further off the beaten path a band walks, the smaller the prospective audience is likely to get. Nonetheless, I applaud bands who try to go beyond thinking out of the box and disregard the box altogether. If nothing else, it’ll always have a unique sound, something the majority of bands will never be able to lay claim to.” Saxy boys.

Sloth Herder – No Pity, No Sunrise Review

Sloth Herder – No Pity, No Sunrise Review

“If you’ve never heard of Frederick, Maryland, then you’re amongst 99.9% of the U.S. population. It’s a Podunk settlement in the western part of the state, composed of little more than a quaint downtown, rolling hills, a few cookie-cutter suburbs, and some scattered golf courses. It also happens to be where yours truly grew up. One dark night years after I moved away, I randomly scoured the web for bands from my musically barren hometown, only to come across Sloth Herder and their Abandon Pop Sensibility EP. Treading the foul line between black metal and grindcore, the record was a lot like Thomas Hobbes’ description of life before society: nasty, brutish, and short.” Hobbs-core has arrived,

Torrid Husk & End – Swallow Matewan [Split] Review

Torrid Husk & End – Swallow Matewan [Split] Review

“On a Saturday morning I was lazily kicking back in bed, gazing through the shades at the vibrant colors of the gorgeous day ahead, feeling the mild spring breeze float through the window when I decided it was time to delve into Swallow Matewan, a split release between West Virginia’s Torrid Husk and Greece’s End. Some 40-odd minutes later of listening to the despairing double dose of violent, rainbow killing, unicorn enslaving atmospheric black metal and I was left emotionally damaged and wallowing in self-pity.” Unicorn enslaving is frowned upon in this establishment.