Reviews

Record reviews

Sonata Arctica – Pariah’s Child Review

Sonata Arctica – Pariah’s Child Review

“A strange thing happened somewhere between Sonata Arctica’s 2012 release Stones Grow Her Name and 2014’s Pariah’s Child: Tony Kakko found his wolf shirt and his copy of Ecliptica. Neither of these things were to be expected. Since 2007’s much-maligned Unia, these Finnish masters o’ cheesemetal have been popping out records that are hard to tie back to the band’s original incarnation.” Ain’t nothing as good as record with a great picture of a wolf on it.

Aurvandil – Thrones Review

Aurvandil – Thrones Review

“I don’t review much black metal because I’m pretty tired of the genre and there are more avid and enthusiastic reviewers at AMG who can deal with it properly. However, for unknown reasons, I took quite a shine to Aurvandil’s 2011 opus Yearning and gave it high marks. Now we get Thrones, which was originally released last year as a limited edition cassette, though why anyone would release anything on cassette is beyond my simple mind (why not an 8-track edition or if you really want to be kvlt, go with a phonography cylinder).” In the mood for 50 minutes of low-fi blast beating? Here’s your huckleberry.

Retro-spective Review: Lizzy Borden – Master of Disquise

Retro-spective Review: Lizzy Borden – Master of Disquise

“Lizzy Borden was the charming tyke famous for chopping up her folks with an axe (allegedly). Lizzy Borden the band (and the man) are much less famous, and that’s why I’m casting the attention nets back through time to land their magnum opus for your consideration. As part of the wave of slightly glamy hair metal acts that spewed from L.A. in the 80s, Lizzy and W.A.S.P. were basically cut from the same animal print cloth. They wanted to be metal, but sought to incorporate lots of radio friendly hooks and glam, sleaze n’ trash theatrics.” Ready for a hair metal rock opera? Wait, come back, it’s really good!

Woman Is the Earth – Depths Review

Woman Is the Earth – Depths Review

“It’s as if a new black metal band emerges from America every day, always with long song lengths and minimalistic ideas. Before I know it, a band is in their third album cycle before I’ve given them the time of day, and it’s becoming increasingly difficult for me to care about every other Ash Borer clone that pops out of the wilderness. But this band deserves attention because they’re one of the few to really get what music like this should be about – energy and atmosphere.” Noctus wants you to pay attention to this band, so you best do so.

Gazpacho – Demon Review

Gazpacho – Demon Review

“It’s no use making fun of Gazpacho for the name. I did that once already and unfortunately they’re still named after a type of tomato soup. While this tomato soup isn’t cursed, it does contain MSG, which is about as close to ‘metal’ as one needs to get to be reviewed here at AMG.” The Angry Metal Guy himself drops in to wax not-particularly-eloquently about the Norwegian progressive band Gazpacho’s newest full length. Don’t miss this review.

Neige Morte – Bicephaale Review

Neige Morte – Bicephaale Review

“One of my dearest friends is also my musical antithesis. As much as I can’t understand his love of power metal and Devin Townsend’s Ziltoid record, he cannot fathom how I can unironically enjoy something like Sunn O))) or Revenge. To him, a lot of the wonkier stuff I listen to comes off as noisy hackery, or glorified refrigerator hum. I’ll admit, making pure dissonance your primary compositional tool is a slippery slope in extreme metal. But, when done right, it leads the likes of Portal, Deathspell Omega, Ulcerate and Gorguts (among many others, obviously) into creating some truly moving stuff in spite of their opaqueness. How, exactly, someone could not be immediately enthralled by the first five seconds of Obscura or Si Monumentum Requires, Circumspice is a place I don’t want to go mentally. That being said, it’s times when I listen to an album like Neige Morte’s sophomore release Bicephaale that I find myself siding right with my naysaying buddy.” JF Williams dons his naysayer hat for his review of these French black metal warrior’s latest.

Coltsblood – Into the Unfathomable Abyss Review

Coltsblood – Into the Unfathomable Abyss Review

“Colts are young male horses. Colts, assuming that they are not neutered in their upbringings, will eventually grow up to be stallions, free to roam the range, gallop at high speeds, and get their horsey groove on with the nice mare a few barns down. I know you’re thinking to yourself, “Gee, Mr. Grymm, why the educational lesson on horses?” (Okay, you’re not thinking this at all, but roll with me here, dear readers.) As mentioned earlier, horses are fast creatures, hence their use as a mode of transportation in the olden days. Coltsblood, a fairly new band from Liverpool, England, is so very, very, very not fast. At all. Into the Unfathomable Abyss crawls and lurches like a pissed off, swamp-covered turtle in a race that’s impossible to win nor does it care for victory, but will you stay involved through all 58 minutes of its marathon duration?” I like turtles as much as the next guy, but…yeah.

Sinbreed – Shadows Review

Sinbreed – Shadows Review

“What do you get when you take a rough and ready Germanic power metal band and add two members of Blind Guardian? You get a better rough and ready Germanic power metal band. Sinbreed is that band and features the talents of Blind Guardian guitarist Marcus Siepen and drummer Frederik Ehmke, which gives them some instant musical credibility and clout. Their 2009 debut When World’s Collide was a rock solid slab of slick, but angry metal in the vein of modern Accept, Herman Frank and Paragon and Shadows improves on that template with even more raspy, Udo-like vocals and thrashy guitar lines.” More power metal at AMG? What is this, a pirate-shirted coup?

Gamma Ray – Empire of the Undead Review

Gamma Ray – Empire of the Undead Review

“Wow, these guys have been around forever! Empire of the Undead is Gamma Ray’s eleventh freaking album, and we get it despite the fact their recording studio burned down and everything was lost, except the masters for this baby. So what do you get from a band so beloved and long in the tooth?” After so many albums, what are you expecting? Steel Druhm expects you to read this.