Reviews

Record reviews

Steven Wilson – The Raven that Refused to Sing (and Other Stories) Review

Steven Wilson – The Raven that Refused to Sing (and Other Stories) Review

Steven Wilson coming up with a new album in 2013; it’s pretty much a progressive affair. As simple as that. There is nothing here that manages to stretch itself out of the canons of such a well-defined genre. On the contrary, the music on The Raven that Refused to Sing (and Other Stories) revolves around what has made prog rock what it is today: complex dynamics, a wide range of styles harmoniously compressed to form a variegated compound and digressions; lots of them.” Alex Franquelli wanders through the maze that is the new Steven Wilson release and tries not to take too many digressions himself.

Omnium Gatherum – Beyond Review

Omnium Gatherum – Beyond Review

“It’s old news to loyal readers that I really took to the last Omnium Gatherum opus (as did AMG himself). Though I appreciated their prior album The Redshift a lot, I certainly wasn’t expecting the monumental slab of Finnish melo-death mixed with mega-melodic Euro-power metal that was New World Shadows. It’s one of those rare albums that has the perfect mix of atmosphere, melody, hooks and power, and it was my album of the year in 2011. I was pretty sure Omnium Gatherum would be unable to equal or top it, and when Beyond appeared in my promo bin, it was just of question of how close they could could get to the ridiculous quality of NWS.” So, how close DOES this get to New World Shadows? Steel Druhm busts out his slide rule and does some scientific measurements, so you don’t have to.

New Keepers of the Water Towers – Cosmic Child Review

New Keepers of the Water Towers – Cosmic Child Review

Cosmic Child came through a little thin on the promo information (and in fact prior to listening to it for the first time, I didn’t even know the name of the album – so much for embedded album info) at any rate, I figured alright, close your eyes, hit play and go from there – how bad can it be right? The band name conjured up images of something with a Finntroll flavor – tell me a band name like New Keepers of the Water Towers doesn’t sound even remotely folky and troll-like right? It actually ended up being absofuckinglutely nothing like Finntroll, go figure!” But…if it isn’t like Fintroll, what the hell is it like??? Calm down. Madam X will now answer your questions.

Devourment – Conceived in Sewage Review

Devourment – Conceived in Sewage Review

“Ignore the album title; this is some seriously ferocious stuff. I may have already stated my ambivalence towards death metal of the “brootalz” variety in my previous review, but Conceived in Sewage seems a rather straightforward affair. Devourment have been hailed as one of the premiere bands within said subgenre, and I can understand why; the songs kick ass. According to their label, Relapse Records, “Devourment have a simple goal; to put your teeth on the curb and stomp on your head.” While this might be somewhat of an exaggeration as to what the band has accomplished, rest assured, Conceived in Sewage is an absolute assault.” We made Potato Jim review more broootal death, though he clearly has issues with it (because we are meanies). We didn’t expect him to like it though!

Stratovarius – Nemesis Review

Stratovarius – Nemesis Review

“During my tenure here at AMG, I don’t think I’ve taken quite so much guff for a review as when I gave the last Stratovarius opus (Elysium) a mere 3.0. I found that rather funny, since a 3.0 is a pretty good score around these parts. While Elysium had some very good songs, it had several rough spots and a general lack of energy that short-circuited the album’s flow. Now I’m tasked with examining Nemesis, the follow-up by one of the titans of Euro-power and a band I’ve respected and enjoyed for a long time. It turns out to be a tough album to get a handle on.” Watch Steel Druhm search for a handle on things and when he finds it, things aren’t gonna be pretty.

Crest of Darkness – In the Presence of Death Review

Crest of Darkness – In the Presence of Death Review

“Anton Szandor LaVey could have been writing about In the Presence of Death when he wrote this line “Each verse is an inferno. Each word is a tongue of fire. The flames of Hell burn fierce” – he wasn’t writing about this album of course, but after spending the week with Crest of Darkness, that’s a damn(ed) fitting description ov their Norwegian melodic black metal style that bears strong music, lyric and vocal similarities to the likes of Naglfar, some vocal similarities to Illnath (Narrenschiff days), has some of the same cvlt blackness of 1349 (pre their directional change) and dare I even say it… a hint or two of Cradle of Filth lurking around.” According to Madam X, you can’t judge this black metal beast by the cheesy album cover. I hear what she’s saying…but DAMN! Is that cheesy or what??

Bloody Hammers – Bloody Hammers Review

Bloody Hammers – Bloody Hammers Review

“Its clear the whole “occult retro doom/rock” thing is here to stay, like it or not. With entities like Hour of 13, Castle, Occultation, Devil’s Blood and Ghost already throwing on the vest, hailing the 70s and generally receiving good press, you can expect newcomers to keep popping up like hippies at a grow-op. Bloody Hammers is one of those filthy, dirty hippies (saddled with a name that implies a death metal barrage).” I know what you’re all thinking. Why won’t Steel Druhm stop shoving retro doomy vest metal at us? Well, I shove because I love and here’s more vest to add to the rest!

Spektr – Cypher Review

Spektr – Cypher Review

“Mechanical dissonance, black metal, experimental tones – all things alluring, no? To a select few individuals with a taste for the twisted, anyway. It wouldn’t be inaccurate to say that the French seem to have an affinity for black metal with a twisted, experimental tinge. With bands like Deathspell Omega and the highly influential Blut aus Nord pioneering the dissonant, mangled tones, it’s no surprise that black metal outfit Spektr also hail from the same shores. They do have one rather unique aspect to the sound that sets them quite apart from such peers; that being the total absence of vocals, which is rather unusual for both black metal and metal as a whole.” Noctus is our resident expert on bleak, experimental black metal, so we called him in to discuss this grim, instrumental black metal opus. Did I mention its an instrumental black metal album?

Skineater – Dermal Harvest Review

Skineater – Dermal Harvest Review

“Dermal Harvest is the horror-drenched debut from Swedish extreme metal outfit Skineater. Though the band was together as early as 2008, it wasn’t until 2011 that they began to seriously court label interest, play live and record demos. They often market themselves as a supergroup of the extreme metal underground, as their members include guitarist and founder Håkan Stuvemark (ex – Wombbath, ex – In Thy Dreams, ex – Vicious), guitarist Kari Kainulainan (ex-Mourning Sign, ex-Amaran), drummer Matte Modin (Raised Fist, ex – Dark Funeral), bassist and backing vocalist Stefan Westerberg (ex-Carnal Forge, ex – In Thy Dreams) and vocalist Jörgen Ström (The Mary Major).” Natalie Zed gives you the lowdown on this Swedish death “supergroup” and tells you if they have enough skin in the game.

Hate – Solarflesh Review

Hate – Solarflesh Review

“As part of the Polish Big 4 (Decapitated, Vader and Behemoth) I haven’t yet figured out why Hate, with seven hefty albums already under their belts, never quite seem to reach the notoriety of their counterparts, Behemoth (hazarding a guess here, but a lack of court cases maybe?).” Madam X isn’t a morning gal and needs a good dose of Polish death to get moving in the AM. Will the new Hate opus be her new alarm clock?