“Sometimes I’ll pick a band from the promo list just because they have an interesting name. So it was with Pyramids on Mars, who I dearly hoped were a bunch of Richard C. Hoagland inspired conspiracists writing metal for martians.” Here at AMG we’ve brought you the scoop on goblin metal and troll metal. Why not add martian metal to the list.
“Apart from a fierce weather condition, Orkan refers to a Norwegian four-man atmospheric and blackened thrash force, formed back in 2008 by ex-Byfrost drummer Rune Nesse and Taake’s own live guitarist Gjermund Fredheim. With an interesting connection between two bands established and the fact that Hoest (Taake) and V’Gandr (Helheim) guest, this album all but demanded a review. How could I say no!” A copy of a copy….
“Replace Steel Panther’s cut-rate comedy with a quintet of Torontonians who seem to actually love the ridiculous hard rock of old and, for better or for worse, you end up with Diemonds .” Female fronted cock rock? That seems wrong.
“Angry Metal Guy hates this album. He hates it so much that he won’t even deign to put to paper how much he hates it; and thus has commanded me to do so in his stead. Given how bad At The Gate of Sethu was, I was sure it wouldn’t be difficult to do so but was nonetheless displeased.” When AMG gets hostile, Kronos gets busy.
““You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” – Conventional wisdom or Will Rogers, no clear date. “We play melodic death metal with metalcore elements and tons of hooky choruses!” – Soilwork via Stabbing the Drama, 2005. Combining these two quotes explains the position from which I’ll tackle Soilwork’s tenth full-length The Ride Majestic.” When we start quoting Will Rogers, the poo usually hits the oscillation device.
“Admittedly, when I think of punk-infused thrash, I think of how Toxic Holocaust’s Hell on Earth release a decade ago planted its seed of bad demeanor in my ear. From there this seed took root and blossomed as a love for (most) of Toxic Holocaust’s succeeding releases.” Can Bonehunter steal the Doctor’s love like a thief in the night?
“Last year Enabler put out one hell of a record in La Fin Absolue du Monde. I didn’t score it, as we don’t do that for our Things You Might Have Missed features, but you can tell how much I loved it by its presence at the top of my Top Ten end-of-year list, above even Voices’ wonderful London. Looking back I might swap them around, but no matter; it’s a killer album, so when Madam X received the promo for Enabler’s latest opus she kindly sent it in my direction. I was, naturally, throbbing with anticipation.” Sometimes life can rob your throb.
“There’s always risk involved when you reach into the Grymm Grab Bag™. Sometimes, I unearth gems that impress and floor me, and then I get those that just don’t even. I can say with absolute confidence that I’ve never pulled a release from not only a new band, but also from a new label, and that is exactly what I grabbed this week.” Grymm likes to gamble.
“Even though I spend a lot of time listening to black metal (and anything and everything King Diamond), I hold a very special place in my heart for power metal. At any given time, you can walk by my office and hear an Iced Earth, Blind Guardian, or Metalium (yep, I said it) song reverberating off the walls and echoing down the hallway.” The good doctor is a power metal weenie.
“Yes, a band called Pissgrave exists and yes, that’s a very dead human being on the cover. Fifteen year old Diabolus is really stoked about how edgy this whole thing is, but much older than fifteen year old Diabolus is fairly aloof about this whole ordeal. While they’re not dressed as pirates, this is nonetheless quite gimmicky.” It always comes back to pirates with this guy.
