“2015 is still in its embryonic stages, but we may already have the doom album ov the year in our dirty, peasant hands. Little heralded Crypt Sermon’s debut Out of the Garden is a veritable treasure trove of classic doom moments guaranteed to take the listener back to the good old days of the genre, before there were such things as “retro” or “occult” doom.” Hope you’re ready to feel the weight of the world, because we’ve reserved a doom with a view just for you.
“Frankly, decent thrash metal has been hard to come by in recent years. Sure there’s been some gems along the way and several stalwarts and rising upstarts have dished up quality albums. But overall the genre that sparked my interest in metal in the first place has provided slim pickings. Fortunately Greek thrashers Bio-Cancer are here to breathe some much needed life into the genre with their interesting blend of razor sharp extreme thrash.” Blackened thrash from Greece sounds like just what the doctor ordered to chase away those winter doldrums.
“Three consecutive releases reviewed by three different writers on AMG? This must be unheard of. Carving a little niche as one of the better and more evocative offshoots from the much-maligned ‘blackga(y)ze’ genre, An Autumn for Crippled Children have produced their fifth full-length in the beautifully desolate The Long Goodbye.” Many an AMG writer has tried his hand at figuring these cats out. They’re all gone now….
“Pelican is no stranger to EP releases and I’m no stranger to Pelican EP releases (I own every one of them). Their choice to do an EP is based solely on (as far as I can tell), mood. Some of their EPs stand alone as original releases (Pelican and Ataraxia/Taraxia), while others carry a song that will appear on an upcoming full-length. However, The Cliff goes in a different direction by kidnapping a song off the preceding full-length and fucking with it three times over with vocal and/or industrial remixing before closing out with the only original track.” An EP of remixes and remashes. Joy.
“These days the word “fairytale” conjures up quesy images of watered-down Disney films, of sickly sweet soundtracks that work their way so far under your skin they freeze your blood, and of delightful princesses toiling away in grueling mediocrity until they fall into the strong arms of an musclebound Prince Charming to live happily ever after… and that’s not metal!” Madam X has issues with Disney and she can’t let them go. But this ain’t no damn fairytale!
“Interesting accent these bands have got there. New Jersey? No, New Zealand. And Australia. Well then, let’s throw another shrimp on the barbie! 36 minutes of blackened thunder from down under await those with a taste for the cavernous on Call of the Maelstrom from Vassafor and Temple Nightside.” Nasty stuff for nasty people. You know who you are.
“We all have our go-to bands or genres we seek out when in need of a break from the rigorous traits of extreme metal, whether it’s the riff heavy rock of Truckfighters, the spacey psych jams of Mars Red Sky, or the soulful occult doom of Witch Mountain. In recent years I’ve gravitated more and more towards the fuzzy, doomy end of the spectrum when I want to take it down a notch. Enter Philadelphia’s Ruby the Hatchet, yet another band to throw their hat in the “female fronted retro doom rock” ring.” Is she related to Molly Hatchet, by chance?
“Sharks leapt right into the cultural zeitgeist recently, with Katy Perry’s cartilaginous companions helping turn the Superbowl halftime show into something out of Dorah the Explorer’s Beachside Acid Trip. It’s perfect timing for Australia’s Feed Her to the Sharks to release third album (and Victory Records debut) Fortitude.” You know the thing about a shark, he’s got… lifeless eyes, black eyes, like a doll’s eye. When he comes at ya, doesn’t seem to be livin’. Until he bites ya and those black eyes roll over white. Metalcore is kinda like that too.
“I’m getting rather tired of raving about Chris Black and his many musical endeavors (Pharaoh, Dawnbringer, High Spirits, etc.). Not because they don’t deserve the praise, mind you. I’m just reaching the point where I feel and sound like a shameless fanboy, and Steel Druhm doesn’t like that. Not. One. Bit. Apparently, Mr. Black cares little for my critical dilemmas, as he’s now released another winning musical project where he’s joined by Jussi Lehtisalo and Tomi Leppanen of the strange Finnish act Circle.” Black + Circle = Spin this black circle!
“Just a quick glance over The Sanity Days’ lineup, featuring members who have all, at different points, been part of Onslaught, will make you think you’ve got their style all figured out. It must be aggressive, speedy, killing thrash that they play! And yet, their music has got nothing to do with that.” We like a good surprise. Less so the bad surprises. Which one lurks behind the Sanity Curtain?
