Battlecross – Rise to Power [Things You Might Have Missed 2015]

Battlecross – Rise to Power [Things You Might Have Missed 2015]

“It comes of no surprise to those of you restlessly commenting on EVERY FUCKING review, YMIO, and TYMHM article that I got truly thrashed this year. Being a product of the Bay-Area heyday, I haven’t had much fun with any of the modern thrash output storming the iTunes racks in the last decade or so. But 2015 gave me a few monsters I will love for eons to come.” The Doctor is a thrashard.

Sarpanitum – Blessed Be my Brothers… [Things You Might Have Missed 2015]

Sarpanitum – Blessed Be my Brothers… [Things You Might Have Missed 2015]

Sarpanitum is now over a decade old, which is terrifying because it seems like only yesterday that I first stumbled on them in Zero Tolerance magazine’s Death Metal Special Part II (featured alongside yours truly, believe it or not). That was in 2006. Identified as promising UK death metal hopefuls, both they and I have since amply justified that tag with our prolific outputs of… one full-length record each.” Slow and steady wins the death race.

Yer Metal is Olde! Death – Symbolic

Yer Metal is Olde! Death – Symbolic

“I’m not the staff member you’d expect to write a retrospective on Symbolic, or any other Death release for that matter. When Chuck Schuldinger died and took the golden age of death metal with him, I was six years old and had no concept of what a riff was, could never experience the bizarre fun-house mirror that was ’90s metal as it happened.” Timeless albums care not about age.

The Grand Astoria – The Mighty Few [Things You Might Have Missed 2015]

The Grand Astoria – The Mighty Few [Things You Might Have Missed 2015]

“Imagine, if you will indulge me, Hail Spirit Noir. Subtract the black metal, all songs but two, then add stoner rock and multiply the length of the remaining songs by four. This is as close an approximation as can be construed for a review catering to metalheads as to the sound of The Mighty Few by The Grand Astoria.” Math is hard.

Just Before Dawn – The Dead and Those About to Die EP Review

Just Before Dawn – The Dead and Those About to Die EP Review

“So, does anyone besides me miss Bolt Thrower? I mean, sure we have all those classic albums, but where are the new tales of battles lost and won? Since it seems those tales may never be told, we should be grateful Just Before Dawn picked up the flame thrower and continued in the legendary tank treads left by those U.K. fiends.” Farewell to arms (and legs).

Slugdge – Dim and Slimeridden Kingdoms [Things You Might Have Missed 2015]

Slugdge – Dim and Slimeridden Kingdoms [Things You Might Have Missed 2015]

Slugdge aren’t in the business of repeating themselves or narrowing their artistic scope. As such Dim and Slimeridden Kingdoms stands on its own as another weird, tripped-out journey into the strange headspace that Slugdge occupy.”
You can’t spell Slugdge without…sludge?

Indefensible Positions: El Cuervo Defends Scream Aim Fire

Indefensible Positions: El Cuervo Defends Scream Aim Fire

“Every once in a while the metal scene collectively pisses on a band or record and someone needs to step up and defend why they like it. We normally don’t spend a lot of time defending shitty records, but sometimes genuinely interesting or good records get lampooned by an overly conservative heavy metal scene and that calls for a professional contrarian to defend it! If ever there were professional contrarians, it would be the staff of AMG. So here we are to re-hash a record from our past that (some of us) love that everyone else seems to have soured on (or never liked in the first place).” This one is even more indefensible than usual!

Iskra – Ruins [Things You Might Have Missed 2015]

Iskra – Ruins [Things You Might Have Missed 2015]

“Despite what the general public may think, extreme metal is rarely written by extreme people. For all the songs about devouring maggot-ridden brains and summoning Shub-Niggurath, we all know that Corpsegrinder is really just a huge World of Warcraft nerd, and Trey Azagthoth is actually a closet Sailor Moon fanboy (and occasional emulator of the late Steve Irwin). Canada’s Iskra, however, is different.” Different like Glen Benton?