Record reviews
“As impressive as sweep picking, blast beats and odd-time grooves are, there’s something to be said about death metal that doesn’t reach for the skies but digs in graves. There’s a certain charm to taking a genre and just executing it well rather than adding bells and whistles, and that’s exactly what Beyond the Veil of Flesh does.” Zombies, gore and flesh eating. It’s all here.
“Unexpect’s Fables of the Sleepless Empire is hands down one of my favorite albums ever, and an excellent listen for anyone interested in avant-garde metal. It sets my personal standard for weird shit, which I guess is a bit unfortunate for any avant-garde metal bands I come across. By that admission, my recommendation for Italy’s Embrace of Dishamony means a lot.” Kronos is a harsh judge of weird music, so we always give him the weird shit.
“You know, we just don’t review enough thrash metal anymore. It’s all that damn death metal we waste our days discussing. It makes us forget the simple joys of a speedy, jacked up dose of aural frenzy ripped right from 1986. Luckily for us all, Dust Bolt is around to remind us, and their sophomore album Awake the Riot is designed with German precision to do just what the title says. As on their Violent Demolition debut, these chaps rock a hybrid of Kreator circa Extreme Aggression and Coma of Souls and the classic Bay Area sound, especially Slayer.” Ready to drop your retro cash on some retro thrash?
“It seems Bloody Hammers has a new album in the pipeline every few months. In fact, this is the third of their platters I’ve reviewed since late 2012, which pretty much makes them the anti-Necrophagist. Under Satan’s Sun is their first album without a topless woman on the cover (which I take issue with, purely for marketing reasons, mind you), but their style continues to broaden and evolve, blending the occult rock shtick made so notable by Ghost with the throwback doom of Hour of 13 and Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats.”
“Eyehategod’s new self-titled record is one born out of tribulation. Pulling it together to pen a new record 14 years after the release of its predecessor Confederacy of Ruined Lives, the incumbent kings of drug-addled sludge metal miserablism have gone through a litany of troubles, including poverty, drug withdrawal, prison time and an apocalyptic natural disaster.” Trials and tribulations can’t keep Eyehategod from returning to sic the gators of despair on you once again.
“Finnish folklore tells the tale of a small rabid cult in the 19th century, performing blasphemous actions on followers of old Finnish religions, including ritual sacrifice and burying innocent townsfolk alive. This small cult was discovered, and sentenced to die by fire on the altar in their own mansion, burned alive with most of their scriptures, save for one book which was left miraculously intact. Such is the story of Kadotetut, told by relative newcomers Vainaja. Svart Records labeled this as “one of the heaviest records ever made in the Finnish language,” and I’ll be hard pressed to disagree.” Really heavy shit about creepy Finnish murder cults. That my friends, is metal.
“Sure, we’ve all heard of beating a dead horse, but have you heard of D-beating a dead horse? Retro Swedish death is that rotting carcass and Bombs of Hades return once again to kick and stomp it with more Entombed and Dismember based bootery. Atomic Temples picks up right where 2012s The Serpent’s Redemption left off and delivers another overdose of unrefined Swedish death mixed with rudimentary crust punk and half baked Motörhead outtakes, and much like the last platter, it’s a fairly fun listen if you’re in the proper frame of mind.”
“A few years ago, his majesty Steel Druhm reviewed Insense’s, Burn in Beautiful Fire, and hated the shit out of it, incensing many a fanboy. It was, according to him, “third-rate metalcore with all the emo/screamo pap that goes along with that craptastic style”, and by the end of the review he was ready to build a church out of copies of the album just to trick Varg Vikernes into beautifully turning them all to ash. Naturally, Steel never wants to hear a single chug out of these Norwegians again, so the task of reviewing De:Evolution has plummeted down the totem pole into my hopeful hands. “Hooray!” comes the cry of the fans, “Surely this new reviewer will bring justice to our beloved Insense, and right the wrongs of that petulant website which we shall not name.” Or will he…?” Judgment awaits!
“The entire concept of a “supergroup” requires that at least some of the parties involved were “super” individually, prior to forming a band together. An unfortunate side effect of this is that when they have bills to pay, or get tired of working with their bandmates, they can always go back to whatever they were doing before. This is what led to the demise of Black Country Communion, when guitar superstar Joe Bonamassa returned to his solo career, taking BCC keyboardist Derek Sherinian with him. Undaunted, bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple) and John Bonham stunt double Jason Bonham carried on, enlisting unknown guitarist Andrew Watt.” Another supergroup…sigh. Mr. Fisting tells you just how super they truly are.
“Nothing annoys me more than when artists hype up their work beyond perceivable notions. You know what I’m talking about. “It needed to be visceral.” (adorable, Linkin Park). “…unique, not following trends” (right, Savn)? It’s just better for everyone involved to just shut the hell up and let the music do all the communication for you instead of throwing out false pretenses in hopes that maybe someone out in the Nethersphere will somehow agree with you. In other words, take a note from Germany’s Vehemenz, who have managed to grab my attention and kept me musically fixated and grinning ear-to-ear with their self-titled debut 5-song EP, all without overhyping the ever-loving shit out of it.” We at AMG will tolerate no guff, bullhockey or hype. None!
