“Led by vocalist/guitarist Olav Iversen, Norwegian quartet Sahg have been delivering quality rock/metal with old-school values for years. Their 2013 opus Delusions of Grandeur was a sonic and compositional masterpiece, landing on AMG’s Top 10 that year, and showing serious staying power on my stereo as well. After a 3-year gap, Sahg returns with two new members and a dark, doomy album called Memento Mori.”
“Worry not my child for the balm to salve your festering wounds exists in the form of a split from Demonomancy and Witchcraft. Bestial, coarse and outright evil, this 26-minute payload of blackened death offers a brief respite for those needing an outlet for their rancor.” Now available at AMG – Rancor relief.
“Every metal-head has their watershed moment; whether that’s Master of Puppets, Symbolic or actually Watershed, that magic album taps you on the shoulder and says “young poser, let me show you the way to trveness.” Chariots of the Gods bills itself as melodic metal with In Flames as its top influence, I’m feeling cautious yet optimistic.” Get ready to chug.
“Formed at the turn of the millennium and billed in their promo material as “Denmark’s best-selling power metal band,” Iron Fire have consistently put out strong records with distinctive characters. 2014’s Voyage of the Damned was perhaps their darkest album to date, sounding like a cross between Dark Tranquility and Kamelot, but with more balls. Since then the band has seen some personnel changes: original drummer Gunnar Olsen has returned to the fold, and they’re now operating as a three-piece. What does this mean for new record Among the Dead?” Big in Denmark!
“I’m a big supporter of not taking yourself too seriously. From bands like Gloryhammer to movies like Tucker and Dale vs Evil, a little tongue in cheek, self deprecating humor can get you a lot of sympathy. Case in point: Bloodnut is Australian slang for redhead and the whole band pride themselves on being gingers all around. They don’t take themselves too seriously either.” Red is the new black.
“I have a strange relationship with In the Woods…. Back when I was first discovering underground metal and devouring all the obscure releases I could find in the Internet’s further reaches, I remember being taken aback one night by a mysterious 1995 debut called Heart of the Ages. Both the record’s hazy cover art and the esoteric black metal contained within conveyed a haunting, archaic timelessness that, oddly enough, was so powerful it actually discouraged me from returning to the album after my initial awestruck listens. The mystique was furthered by the fact that Woods broke up in 2000 – years before I ever heard of them.” Mystique and aura aren’t just friendly girls at the local gentlemen’s club.
“I can’t believe it’s already been a year since Serious Black’s fantastic debut As Daylight Breaks. An album that proved dream teams can exist and can work. Not only that, but this supergroup achieved it via a style that rarely receives RotY nods from yours truly. Urban Breed, et al. even had El Cuervo singing along to tunes like “High and Low” and “Sealing My Fate” whilst leaving the AMG restrooms in terrible condition for the n00bs to clean up. And now, a year and change later, Serious Black is back with Mirrorworld.” Clean up in Aisle Trve!
“Although death metal forms a sizable chunk of my metal rotation, it’s often maligned offshoot, brutal death, can prove a more awkward pill to swallow and a difficult style to get right. Too often brutal death bands over focus on the sheer obliterating brutality and over-the-top extremity, where decent songwriting becomes an afterthought.” auralboric stagnation?
“The pirate’s life is not for everyone. Extensive travel, oft unprofessional coworkers and arcane profit sharing arrangements conspire to limit the talent pool and keep opportunities scarce. None of that ever mattered to Running Wild. They took to the trade like a duck to water and from 1987 onward they’ve kept the marauder’s flag flying almost nonstop through hard times and rough seas. Rapid Foray is the third release since their 2012 “reformation” and as on Shadowmaker and Resilient, they’re not looking to reinvent the parrot.” Rum and rummer.
“There’s something about Vrtra that screams ‘the trve vndergrovnd.’ Maybe it’s the wholly capitalized stylization. Maybe it’s the ambiguous ‘V.’ Maybe it’s the dark artwork with wispy flecks of gray. Maybe it’s their sub-400 followers on Facebook. Maybe it’s that they play one of the least common fusions of metal genres. It’s definitely not their hometown(s) however, as they partly hail from the Bay Area, a home rooted in metal history. Yet thrash they reject: instead, My Bones Hold a Stillness is their debut attempt at encapsulating the towering stature of doom with blackened ferocity.” Maybe it’s that snazzy and indecipherable logo….
