I Voidhanger Records

Divine Element – Thaurachs of Borsu Review

Divine Element – Thaurachs of Borsu Review

“Based on my review stats thus far into my AMG career, I’ve got a 66 percent chance of snagging a record featuring Spectral Lore guitarist Ayloss whenever I pull an I, Voidhanger release from the promo bin. It’s easy to see why the label is so eager to back his work; he’s one of the few black metal guitarists I can recall who possesses a unique playing style, slapping an unmistakable stamp onto pretty much every product he touches. But before he staked his claim to black metal fame with Spectral Lore, he cut his teeth on Divine Element.” Sharp teeth, sharp riffs.

Lo-Ruhamah – Anointing Review

Lo-Ruhamah – Anointing Review

“Having been wrongly labeled as a Christian band, Lo-Ruhamah nevertheless garnered quite a few interested ears with their interesting take on progressive doom metal mixed with esoteric spiritualism. But then, they went inactive for almost a decade. Now, with the members spending time between the States and Estonia, they return with their long-awaited follow-up, Anointing.” Back from the dead, but not like Jesus!

Locust Leaves – A Subtler Kind of Light Review

Locust Leaves – A Subtler Kind of Light Review

“Even the most stigmatized genres within the metal canon were born out of an earnest desire to innovate, and as such I’m willing to give any style — or in this case, a combination of styles — a fair shake. Enter Greece’s Locust Leaves, a band I was rather eager to cover due to their proclaimed fusion of prog, black, thrash, and doom metal. Locust Leaves does indeed cover all of these styles (and more!) in the span of just thirty-six minutes on their long-gestating debut A Subtler Kind of Light.” Many Greek chefs, small kitchen…FIGHT!

Tome of the Unreplenished – Cosmoprism: The Theurgy – Act 1 Review

Tome of the Unreplenished – Cosmoprism: The Theurgy – Act 1 Review

“I first listened to Cosmoprism: The Theurgy – Act 1 just after midnight. As I snuggled into my unicorn shaped pillow, I allowed the ambient nightmare that Tome of the Unreplenished had created into my mind. I let it capture my imagination and I was rewarded with a listening experience that, honestly, seemed to transport me into another world.” Into the uni-verse.

Lorn – Arrayed Claws Review

Lorn – Arrayed Claws Review

“Recall, if you can, your first exposure to black metal. If you’re a grizzled follower of the genre, its sinister novelties have become an aspect of your daily listenings that ceased to faze you long ago. I imagine, however, that you reacted to your first encounter with the style much in the same way your parents would; a knee-jerk response of “what the fuck am I listening to?” that shocked you in a way music never had before. My initial listen of Italian duo Lorn’s Arrayed Claws instantly recalled my reaction to the loss of my black metal virginity.” You never forget your first.

Mare Cognitum – Luminiferous Aether Review

Mare Cognitum – Luminiferous Aether Review

“Okay, so you burned every church out there. Every last forest has been utilized for frost-bitten photographs of corpse-painted minions wielding medieval weaponry, invisible oranges, or both. You sang every hymn there is for either Satan, Tolkien orcness, darkness, the wilderness, or anything even remotely related to the above. What’s left to cover? Why SPACE, of course!” Into the blackness (of space).

Goatcraft – Yersinia Pestis Review

Goatcraft – Yersinia Pestis Review

“One of the best aspects of writing for Angry Metal Guy Inc. Ltd. Turbo Hyper-Fighting Edition, besides the scenic view of the cemetery right outside the window of my broom closet/office, is the chance to review something challenging and different. Texas one-man black metal act Goatcraft definitely fits the bill as both. Yes, we review a crap-ton of one-man (or woman) black metal here, but I don’t recall us ever reviewing an album that’s strictly piano.” One man, one keyboard…all blackness.

Howls of Ebb – Cursus Impasse: The Pendlomic Vows Review

Howls of Ebb – Cursus Impasse: The Pendlomic Vows Review

“There’s a lot of pent up anger and frustration going around these days. Whether that certain something bothering you is serious like the weather or banal as your governing politicians spewing hatred, it’s always nice to be able to turn to metal in search of some escapism. To find a way out. A portal to a safe space. A wonderful soundtrack for hollow and bitter soliloquies. You might think, at first, that San Francisco’s ex-trio, now duo, Howls of Ebb provide exactly that with their experimentally tinged blackened death adorned with dark and threatening atmospheres and hints of aggression.” And you would be extremely wrong.

Skáphe – Skáphe² Review

Skáphe – Skáphe² Review

“You’ve witnessed the scene. It’s a part of the furniture in many contemporary neo-neo-noir, ominously foreboding, condemningly pseudofuturist movies. Our heroic but morally ambiguous protagonist visits some sort of underground nightclub. People, presumably the filth of the city, dance spastically (yet provocatively) under stroboscopes, adorned by black leather and fetishized clothing. A mixture of disgust and temptation lingers while a red haze surrounds the entangled mess of bodies. It’s Hollywood’s typical portrayal of Hell on Earth, a mise-en-scène imbued with cheap symbolism. Imagine now a worthy metal accompaniment to such a spectacle in real life, deprived of all the fabricated fanciness, something that would eclipse phony visual cues and provide a truly infernal setting.” Or just recall the club scene in Blade II.