2018

Rebellion – A Tragedy in Steel Part II: Shakespeare’s King Lear Review

By Steel Druhm on January 26, 2018 in 2018, German Metal, Heavy Metal, Reviews, Heavy Metal, 28 comments

“If you encountered me during my misspent youth as an 80s metalhead and asked if Shakespeare and metal went well together, I’d have pondered the question deeply for several seconds, before hurling a half empty Schlitz can at you whilst cursing your ancestral line as posers and PMRC collaborators most foul. In the fullness of time I’ve come to realize the great English scribe’s body of is in fact, potent fodder for metal, teeming with sinister plots, betrayal, murder and war, sweet war. This pairing has been field tested with 2 concept albums based on Macbeth, one of which coming from German’s second-string grave exhumers, Rebellion.” Some are born metal, and some have metal thrust into them.

Orphaned Land – Unsung Prophets & Dead Messiahs Review

By Angry Metal Guy on January 26, 2018 in 2018, Century Media, Death Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Oriental Metal, 123 comments

“Orphaned Land has gone through a lot more change than I think I even realized as they have made the journey from an obscure but promising melodeath band to a major label metal act. Back in 2013, I ended my review of All Is One by urging the band and the label not to “fuck with the formula.” The new record, which I was not impressed by, was being released only three years after the incredible The Never Ending Way of ORwarriOR. All Is One lacked the depth and force of any of the band’s previous material, a fact which I attributed to the album not having been given the time it needed to germinate. But I didn’t fully realize that since the release of 2011’s The Road to OR-Shalem, the formula had already been pretty well fucked. The first drop was Matti Svatizky in 2012, he was followed by Yossi Sassi in 2014. Both the guitarists had been in the band since 1992 and Yossi is the one I have always associated with Orphaned Land’s characteristic “oriental”+prog rock sound. With Yossi’s departure, it was hard to not imagine that decline was inevitable. So I admit that I approached Unsung Prophets & Dead Messiahs with mixed feelings and a healthy dose of dread.” Fear and the Orphan.

Rotheads – Sewer Fiends Review

By Diabolus in Muzaka on January 26, 2018 in 2018, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Memento Mori, Reviews, Romanian Metal, Death Metal, Doom Metal, 14 comments

“From Leonitus in the Republic of Plato to sad, lonely, middle-aged women reading the barely literate depravity of Fifty Shades of Grey, the ugly, vile, visceral, and disgusting has a wide-ranging abhorrent appeal. Death metal, our chosen disgusting delicacy, revels in refuse instead of aiming for transcendent beauty. Romania’s Rotheads have, with their debut Sewer Fiends, gone straight for the most repugnant place they could envision, and through their music they try to bring the listener down to grovel alongside them.” Filth hounds.

Hooded Menace – Ossuarium Silhouettes Unhallowed Review

By Ferrous Beuller on January 25, 2018 in 2018, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Finnish Metal, Reviews, Season of Mist, Death Metal, Doom Metal, 51 comments

“Furthering what is sure to be the metallic trend of 2018, Lasse Pyykkö has seen fit to bestow upon us another nexus of death-doom via that sinister shroud, Hooded Menace. Fifth album, Ossuarium Silhouettes Unhallowed, shrugs off the gossamer gathered between releases and prepares to enrapture a captive audience with riffs of yore and environs unsavory, but this time, with an added depth of disease.” Unhallowed Eve.

Machine Head – Catharsis Review

By Dr. A.N. Grier on January 25, 2018 in 2018, American Metal, Groove Metal, Nu-metal, Nuclear Blast, Reviews, Groove Metal, Nu Metal, 249 comments

“Machine Head was with me during some dark times and I was there for them. So, to say I’m a fan—or to say that they changed my life—is an understatement. But, now, 2018’s Catharsis is upon us. And, honestly, I’m so fucking confused, depressed, and speechless that all I can do is sit here quietly, wondering how much longer I can go on supporting my beloved Machine Head.” Gaskets blown here.

Mammoth Grinder – Cosmic Crypt Review

By Mark Z. on January 25, 2018 in 2018, American Metal, Death Metal, Hardcore, Relapse, Reviews, Death Metal, Hardcore, 34 comments

The first time I saw Mammoth Grinder live, I was wasted at a bar in Portland and had to laugh as the band announced every song as a Deep Purple track to see if anyone would notice. The second time I saw Mammoth Grinder live, I was shithoused in Brooklyn and had a Warriors-style adventure trying to find my way home on the New York subway system after the show. Point is, apparently being drunk and seeing Mammoth Grinder live is the best way to get hooked on them, because I’ve been anticipating Cosmic Crypt since before I started writing for AMG.” Fat, drunk and at a Mammoth Grinder show is no way to go through life, Z.

Savage Machine – Abandon Earth Review

By Dr. A.N. Grier on January 24, 2018 in 2018, Danish Metal, Heavy Metal, Power Metal, Reviews, Self-released, Heavy Metal, Power Metal, 48 comments

“The crack of lightning, the rumble of thunder: If I had a nickel for every time I heard a song with such ominous bleatings, I still wouldn’t be able to buy a pint. But, this time, there’s no falsettos to back the rumble or guitar shredding to support the raining blood. Instead, Denmark’s Savage Machine uses this sky screaming to launch mankind from this puny planet. But, what’s in store for mankind on Abandon Earth?” Into the void trvly.

Portal – Ion Review

By Kronos on January 24, 2018 in 2018, Australian Metal, Avante Garde, Death Metal, Profound Lore Records, Reviews, Death Metal, 115 comments

“Since their inception, Portal’s outre take on death metal has been something of a curiosity; a malformed fetus suspended in sepia alcohol behind so many dusty artifacts. Few other artists have encroached on their sound, and even fewer can pretend to challenge their simultaneously dour and frenzied Victorian aesthetic. Theirs is horror music, to be sure, but the horror stems from a sort of noir psychedelia, an all-encompassing fractal unrest where the creak of the floorboards and the crack of colliding planets are indistinguishable in scope.” The cake is a lie.

Sonic Prophecy – Savage Gods Review

By Swordborn on January 24, 2018 in 2018, American Metal, Heavy Metal, Reviews, Rockshots Records, Heavy Metal, Power Metal, 7 comments

“Salt Lake City’s Sonic Prophecy has at this point become a fixture in the US metal underground, plying their craft of beefy, vocal-driven, traditionally styled heavy/power metal that evokes Judas Priest, Iced Earth, Manowar, and others of the sort. Word on the street has been positive for this lot, so Savage Gods now stands in judgement before easily-irritated power metal guy.” Swords n’ Tequila hold the tequila.

Heidevolk – Vuur van Verzet Review

By Dr. Wvrm on January 23, 2018 in 2018, Dutch Metal, Folk Metal, Napalm Records, Reviews, Viking Metal, Folk Metal, Viking Metal, 59 comments

“I’m a bit of a Johnny-come-lately when it comes to folk. I occupied the Ensiferum / Finntroll bandwagon for a decade, but the Viking folk of Heidevolk came to me as a recent and pleasant surprise. They are not Bathory, not Korpiklaani, not Týr or Vintersorg, but the Dutchmen blend the aesthetics and strengths of each into one cohesive package.” Go folk yourself.