2014

Things You Might Have Missed 2014: Amaranthe – Massive Addictive

Things You Might Have Missed 2014: Amaranthe – Massive Addictive

“To say that I’ve had an ongoing “love/hate” relationship with Amaranthe would be a far too forgiving description of my feelings towards Sweden’s very own ’90s pop-commodity-metal band’s first two albums. I even took a moment last year to openly admit that I had spent far too much time and energy hating Amaranthe, and that frankly I couldn’t cope with listening to another one of their records. I have to admit, this was partially a lie: I actually have been listening to the band’s new record far more than I’d like to admit publicly.” We messed up.

Things You Might Have Missed 2014: Idylls – Prayer for Terrene

Things You Might Have Missed 2014: Idylls – Prayer for Terrene

“I once had a roommate who assured me Converge was “really just noise.” At one point in his life he had played guitar for a metal band, so my naïve young self believed him. My surprise when I finally listened to Jane Doe and was blown away by the sheer emotion inherent in the spastic, ballistic dissonance. Idylls have much the same thing going on – traditional melody is eschewed, and at times, it does sound like four guys trapped in a room trying to make as much commotion as possible.” Bring forth the noise room!

Things You Might Have Missed 2014: Sentience – Beyond the Curse of Death Demo

Things You Might Have Missed 2014: Sentience – Beyond the Curse of Death Demo

“Long gone are the days of demo releases being the lifeblood of underground metal. With the tape trading days of circulating a raw and rough cut demo to create word of mouth buzz and build street cred a thing of the past, and the digital age having firmly taken over, the format has become a fading relic in the modern metal landscape.” But this putrid gem might just take you back to the rancid demo days of yore.

Things You Might Have Missed 2014: Serdce – Timelessness

Things You Might Have Missed 2014: Serdce – Timelessness

“Never heard of Serdce? I can’t blame you. The Belarussian prog-death group has been tramping around the metalsphere in undeserved obscurity since 1997 and Timelessness is the fourth(!) LP to spill from their obscenely talented hands and the first to be released by the metal messiahs at Blood Music.” Did you miss this slab of prog-death in 2014? Well, fix that in 2015!

Things You Might Have Missed 2014: White Empress – Rise of the Empress

Things You Might Have Missed 2014: White Empress – Rise of the Empress

Twenty-fourteen was a busy one for me, but that’s no excuse for me not covering White Empress’s début record Rise of the Empress which came out in September from Peaceville Records. It’s hard to know whether or not to call White Empress a super group, per se, but the heart of the band is Paul Allen and Will Graney—previously of Cradle of Filth. From the Empress’ mouth herself, Allen and Graney put together some demo tracks and started working with Mary Zimmer, formerly vocalist for Luna Mortis. This developed slowly, spawning a Bandcamp site and some pretty wicked imagery The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe imagery before the band finally got picked up by Peaceville. Next thing you know and Rise of the Empress was released and I completely biffed on it. Regardless of my schedule or whether or not White Empress qualifies as a “supergroup,” Rise of the Empress is a strong showing that shouldn’t be overlooked.

In the Company of Serpents – Merging in Light Review

In the Company of Serpents – Merging in Light Review

“Stoner metal is not known as a particularly inventive genre. Though improvements to equipment and recording techniques have allowed bands to push the boundaries of heaviness, the basic musical template has remained pretty static since its conception. That said, there is little sweeter in the metal world than a stoner doom band totally crushing a hammering riff, however many times you’ve heard it done before.” Looks like we’ll be hearing it again…and again.

Things You Might Have Missed 2014: Falconer – Black Moon Rising

Things You Might Have Missed 2014: Falconer – Black Moon Rising

Falconer’s 2011 record Armod was not only my introduction to the band’s music, but to AMG as well. I don’t remember how I stumbled across our eponymous overlord’s review, but I’m glad I did… This year, Falconer released their follow-up to Armod in the form of Black Moon Rising, and I’m going to come full sphere by writing about it here on AMG.” Once beloved by AMG Himself, is Falconer still the adorable moppet it once was?

Angry Metal Guy’s Top 10(ish) of 2014

Angry Metal Guy’s Top 10(ish) of 2014

“The Year of Our Angry Overlord 2014 has been a crazy ride. One year ago this week I was finishing up one of the most stressful terms of my entire life, and this year has been a rush of teaching prep, reading, researching, and “OMFG.” You have certainly noticed that AngryMetalGuy.com has been pretty short one Angry Metal Guy in 2014, and that’s been tough for everyone involved I’m sure.” In this massive post Angry Metal Guy reflects on 2014, ranks a bunch of records, and is waiting prepared with his flamethrower for when the whine hits the fan.