Indie Recordings

Azusa – Loop of Yesterdays Review

Azusa – Loop of Yesterdays Review

Loop of Yesterdays enters with a burly thrash riff that gives way in seconds to a lull of shady jazz chords. Two minutes later, Azusa are playing both at once. The record’s dichotomous approach spawns many such treasures, oddities that are hardly surprising considering the source. An Extol/The Dillinger Escape Plan supergroup could hardly produce a pedestrian sound.” The future is fleeting.

Vredehammer – Viperous Review

Vredehammer – Viperous Review

“In years past, metal music took its sweet-ass time in order to drop us the good stuff. Don’t get me wrong, I do like a good, slow burn, but usually we (and by proxy, you) usually don’t hear anything jaw-droppingly good until later in the year. Not 2020, man. Barely into our third month, and we’ve already got strong contenders for Album o’ the Year, and it doesn’t seem to let up anytime soon. And now, we’ve got the much-anticipated Viperous by Vredehammer, an album everyone here at AMG’s been anticipating since Violator knocked us all on our collective ass back in 2016.” Bow down to the Snakehammer.

Kampfar – Ofidians Manifest [Things You Might Have Missed 2019]

Kampfar – Ofidians Manifest [Things You Might Have Missed 2019]

“I can’t remember the last time Kampfar disappointed me. Grier begins to count his fingers, evaluating every album the band has released since 1997. Oh, that’s right: never. ‘Why are you introducing a TYMHM this way?’ ‘Are you trying to freak me out or bury my hope?’ Maybe. But the real reason is that I’m a dick and I like to fuck with you all.” Honesty is a virtue.

Sarke – Gastwerso Review

Sarke – Gastwerso Review

“Since 2016’s Bogefod, Sarke has been on a steady incline that includes clean/acoustic guitars, interesting key work, and female vocals. In and around it all, they use aggressive Hellhammer/Celtic Frost moments, cold first-wave tremolo pickings, and plenty of slumbering sinisterness. Bogefod and its follow-up, Viige Urh, were fresh cuts that sounded like siblings born moments apart from one another. But where is Gastwerso’s branch on this family tree? Is it the birth of triplets or is this a xenomorph C-section?” Horrific lineage.

Obliteration – Cenotaph Obscure Review

Obliteration – Cenotaph Obscure Review

Obliteration hail from Norway and boast an esteemed pedigree, garnering loads of underground cred and respect. Unfortunately I hadn’t heard of the band until recently and still have much catching up to do. But after listening to 2013’s Black Death Horizon I was impressed with their style. And with a name like Obliteration I expect some goddamn punishing, murky, blood and pus filled death. And in this regard, Obliteration certainly don’t disappoint.” Blood and pus for all.

Iskald – Innhøstinga Review

Iskald – Innhøstinga Review

“Growing up, I’ve been blessed with watching great matches over the years as they happened. Ric Flair vs. Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat for the WCW Heavyweight title. Mankind vs. The Undertaker at the 1998 Hell in a Cell. Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Bret “The Hitman” Hart at Wrestlemania 13, where both men did a double-turn. So you may be wondering why it is that I discuss historic matches in regards to Iskald’s fifth full-length, Innhøstinga. This entire album reminded me of another legendary wrestling match…” Grapple with the blackness.

Blood Tsunami – Grave Condition Review

Blood Tsunami – Grave Condition Review

Blood Tsunami. Now, there’s a name I haven’t heard in some time. It’s not that they fell off the radar or anything. I mean, it’s only been five years since they released For faen!. But, I didn’t like that album. Not the first, second, or last time I heard it. So, I suppose, they kinda fell off my radar.” Radar is tracking a tsunami…of blood.

Aura Noir – Aura Noire Review

Aura Noir – Aura Noire Review

“I once jumped from the roof of my parents’ double-wide trailer with a cape/kite attached to my back and a four-foot plastic snow sled duct taped to my chest. No, I wasn’t drunk—I was ten. And, man, it hurt. Fast forward twenty-one years and you’ll find Father-of-the-Year Grier scaling a tree, scooting out along a solid cottonwood branch, and falling twenty feet atop a fence—my feet hitting the top strand as my face hit the ground. All because yours truly refused to hop the fence. And, guess what? It didn’t hurt at all. Because, yes, I was drunk. Those truths aside, I’ve never (fallen?) or thrown my soon-to-be corpse from a four-story building. But, I guess that separates Grier from Aura Noir’s Aggressor.” Norwegian black thrash, drunk with power.

Vorbid – Mind Review

Vorbid – Mind Review

“Thanks to the increasingly virulent strain of spurious medical staff that infect AMG, I don’t often get a chance to review the sadly diminished number of thrash acts that grace the promo bin. As it happens, thrash was my musical first love, and having been fed hale and hearty on golden riffs, I will always hold a collection of bloody knuckle memories close to my heart. However, when I spotted Norway’s Vorbid alone and unmolested in the selection sewer, I knew now was my time to strike.” Are you Vorbid?