2021

Kauan – Ice Fleet Review

By El Cuervo on April 8, 2021 in Reviews, Post-Metal, 78 comments

“It’s April 2021 and our favorite Russians masquerading as Finns by way of Ukraine and Estonia are back with their ninth studio release. Ice Fleet is their first album laced with any English (in its title) and tells the true story of an unidentified fleet of ships discovered in Northern Russia in 1930, with its crew and cargo perfectly frozen in time. Kauan offered some of the best post-metal of the 2010s, culminating in the delicate and stirring Kaiho in 2017. It arguably deserved a spot on my list given that I return to it more than most from that year, so what are my thoughts with the passing of 4 years?” Frozen feelz.

Arion – Vultures Die Alone Review

By Huck N Roll on April 8, 2021 in Reviews, Heavy Metal, Melodic Metal, Power Metal, 18 comments

“I don’t put much stock in award shows or competitions. Really, who amongst us does? Ever since the first Metal Grammy went to Jethro Tull metal fans around the world have viewed these sorts of things with more than a little trepidation. So when a band comes my way that came to fame in a competition, it’s more a curse than a blessing. Power metal act Arion (the Finnish act, not the Greek) is such a band. As teens these guys were finalists in UMK, the Finnish qualification program for Eurovision, eight years ago.” Beauty pageant meets the metal world.

Fuoco Fatuo – Obsidian Katabasis Review

By Dear Hollow on April 7, 2021 in Reviews, Death Metal, Doom Metal, 23 comments

“In the case of funeral doom, I’ve run across several people telling me that Skepticism and Moss are the best funeral doom out there, followed by warnings to stay away from Catacombs and Until Death Overtakes Me. What happened? Neither Skepticism nor Moss stuck with me, and I routinely return to Catacombs and Until Death Overtakes Me. With a style as minimalistic as funeral doom, everyone will react differently to the same slab of concrete-thick, 20-BPM riffs, and will entirely depend on the atmosphere it provides.” Journey to the center of Katabasis.

Zao – The Crimson Corridor Review

By Grymm on April 7, 2021 in Reviews, Metalcore, Post-Metal, Sludge, 90 comments

“As someone who’s candidly gone on record about mental health in the past, it’s always a gamble for me to dive into an album that heavily focuses on such a difficult subject. It’s not often that it’s treated with the necessary weight and care that it undoubtedly deserves, and more often than not, for every one An Isolated Mind’s I’m Losing Myself, there are about 50 of these littering the scene, taking up way too much space and energy. If there’s one band, though, that can tackle it with grace and honesty, it’s Pennsylvania’s Zao.” Corridors of the mind.

Dark the Suns – Suru raivosi sydämeni pimeydessä Review

By Steel Druhm on April 7, 2021 in Reviews, Gothic Metal, Melodic Death Metal, 15 comments

“Anyone remember these guys? No? Dark the Suns were part of the gothic melodeath wave that came along in the wake of Theatre of Tragedy in the late 90s and early aughts. You’d be forgiven for missing these Finns though, as their output was never all that compelling or memorable. They did manage three full-length releases however, with the last hitting in 2010. After that they faded into the Goth ether. Because they never seemed to gain any real traction in their “heyday,” I was rather surprised to see their name appear in the promo sump. So surprised in fact that I was compelled to find out what could have brought the band back after 10 long years in the grave.” Prodigal suns.

Hiraki – Stumbling Through The Walls Review

By Akerblogger on April 6, 2021 in Reviews, Noise Metal, Post-Metal, Punk, 24 comments

“Synths are the future. It’s only logical now that the guitar, an antique device used by nostalgic, decrepit moshers in back-alley dive bars, is disowned. The guitar is dead. Long live the synth. Long live, especially, synthpunk and noise rock which, in the wake of that new, hip arcade game Cyberpunk 2077, is the in thing. In the satellite station of Aarhaus, Denmark – 166 cosmomiles north-east of Copenhagen – a young band by the name of Hiraki corrupt data by producing an abyssal synth-punk noise that takes influence from the likes of Daughters, Street Sects, and The Body.” Wall-E-core.

Evil Drive – Demons Within Review

By Dr. A.N. Grier on April 6, 2021 in Reviews, Melodic Death Metal, 21 comments

“Well, the female-front beast that is Evil Drive is back. Like I’ve stated in previous reviews, Arch Enemy probably comes to mind the most. That said, the band has tried to incorporate more than meets the ears. I’m not gonna say this Finnish Five-some has solved the problem and released something special. Not quite, but at least there’s a little more variety on this new release. Or, maybe it’s that it seems like the band has finally started taking their music seriously.” By demons be driven.

Mythic Sunship – Wildfire Review

By Carcharodon on April 6, 2021 in Reviews, Progressive Rock, Psychedelic Rock, 18 comments

“Given the heavily jazz-influenced psychedelic free-form rock on show from Mythic Sunship, that they borrow part of their moniker from Coltrane’s 1971 Sun Ship. For me, there’s a fine line in avant-garde music—be that jazz, psychedelic rock or even the most progressive forms of black and death metal —between writing something progressive, challenging and interesting, and simply delivering what sounds like a noisy, unstructured jam session committed to record.” Spacey jam.

Wheel – Preserved in Time Review

By Doom_et_Al on April 5, 2021 in Reviews, Doom Metal, 39 comments

“Metal ebbs and flows. Sub-genres within metal ebb and flow. A few years ago, with Khemmis and Pallbearer leading the charge, it appeared we were entering a golden age of doom which honored its classic and heavy roots, while adopting a progressive sensibility. Sadly, Pallbearer veered into hard-rock territory, Khemmis went very prog, and suddenly, the cupboard seemed bare. Sure, Fvneral Fvkk made a classic, but it was the exception rather than the rule. Doom is not going anywhere, of course, and stoner doom bands are more common than Holdeneye 4.0s, but over the past few years, it’s played a supporting role to its black and death metal cousins. Well, Wheel (not to be confused with their identically named prog counterparts, reviewed recently) is here to remind you of the glorious, thunderous, epic power of classic doom.” Doom wheeling.

AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö: Grabesfurcht – Wachkoma

By Carcharodon on April 5, 2021 in Angry Metal Guy's Unsigned Band Rodeo, Instrumental Metal, 15 comments

“Back in the primordial days of this here blog, we attempted something called “AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö.” The basic idea was to select a bunch of unsigned bands and give them the collective review treatment to find the most worthy buried gems. It was our humble effort to remind folks that the metal underground is still an important part of the world of metal.” Grabesfurcht in the morning.