3.0

Masters of Disguise – Alpha/Omega Review

By Steel Druhm on October 19, 2017 in 2017, German Metal, Heavy Metal, Limb Music, Reviews, Speed Metal, Thrash Metal, Heavy Metal, Speed Metal, Thrash Metal, 66 comments

“Hey look, the weirdest inside joke in all of metal is still going strong. Backstory: Masters of Disguise is a throwback speed metal act living and breathing to pay homage to a particularly obscure band from the 80s called Savage Grace. Who, you ask? Exactly. They were a good band but barely got any traction or notoriety despite a pretty solid outing with 1986s After the Fall From Grace. Now Masters of Disguise (named after Grace’s debut album) seek to revive their hero’s nonexistent legacy due to some highly tenuous ties to the original singer.” First Will and Grace comes back and now Savage Grace too?

Enslaved – E Review

By Angry Metal Guy on October 13, 2017 in 2017, Black Metal, Norwegian Metal, Nuclear Blast, Progressive Rock, Reviews, Black Metal, Progressive Rock, 149 comments

Enslaved is Norway’s biggest and most successful (currently active) metal band. They have garnered a following of intensely loyal fans who adore their every release with the fervor of the newly converted. In fact, I once counted myself a huge fan. There was a string of records that Enslaved released between 2000’s Mardraum: Beyond the Within and 2008’s Vertebrae which are practically unassailable. Not every one of those albums was perfect—Isa and Ruun were both only great records when sat side-by-side the excellent Below the Lights and Vertebrae, but they were consistently addictive listens from a band that could do no wrong. And I, along with everyone else, lathered Axioma Ethica Odini with praise, only to declare it one of my biggest disappointments of the year in 2010. I meh’d the hulking RIITIIR, and ¯\_(ツ)_/¯’d its follow-up In Times, declaring it a testament to the excesses of the modern recording industry. In sum: Enslaved went from being one of my favorite bands in 2008 to being a band whose newest release almost didn’t get reviewed by me. But with all the ranting and raving about how E is the best album they’ve put out in a while, I couldn’t keep myself away.

Sarke – Viige Urh Review

By Dr. A.N. Grier on October 12, 2017 in 2017, Black Metal, Indie Recordings, Norwegian Metal, Reviews, Black Metal, 25 comments

“Well, the cold has begun to settle in. Which means dark, frigid, unforgiving black metal will soon permeate the air of the Grier home. You can expect nothing less than the raw, primitive output of old-school Mayhem, Darkthrone, Enslaved, and Celtic Frost. It’s the right metal for the right season. The kind that you can almost feel blow through the pines as you walk over the fallen needles. The kind ‘Where Cold Winds Blow’ ‘Under a Funeral Moon,’ just ‘(Beyond the) Northern Winds.’ It’s the time of the year where I find myself once again—burrowing under cottonwood leaves until the warm suns of spring arrive to dry them out. So, it’s only fitting that one of my favorite black metal vocalists is back with an October release.” Winterize your ears.

Battle Dagorath – II – Frozen Light of Eternal Darkness Review

By Eldritch Elitist on October 11, 2017 in 2017, Avantgarde Music, Black Metal, International Metal, Reviews, Atmospheric Black Metal, 27 comments

“Space is fucking big, and there’s an appropriately sizeable array of space-themed metal bands to match. Some artists approach the infinite blackness with a sense of child-like wonder, with bands like Star One and Keldian playing up sci-fi tropes in admiration of the majesty of the star ocean. Others, like Darkspace, channel the cosmos as an unparalleled force of nature; empty, suffocating, and impossibly cold. Battle Dagaroth, a band I had expected to be pure Summoning worship based on their name and ‘atmospheric black metal’ tag, is yet another act intent on aurally replicating the incomprehensible vastness of space.” In space no one can hear you frown.

Siberian Meat Grinder – Metal Bear Stomp Review

By GardensTale on October 11, 2017 in 2017, Hardcore, Reviews, Russian Metal, Self-released, Thrash Metal, 35 comments

“Recently I’ve developed a newfound appreciation for thrash metal. I never used to dig it, but somewhere in the last few years, something must have clicked. However, the sub-genre of crossover thrash was still foggy to me, which made me hesitant to review it. But the combo of the ridiculously cool nameSiberian Meat Grinder and title Metal Bear Stomp were too much to resist. Topping that with an equally ridiculous album cover, with a 60 foot bear dressed in bullet chains and a cape stomping his soldier boots into a panicking mob, I felt it was my sworn duty to brush up on my crossover and expose the masses to the Russian quintet.” The right to bear arms.

Nocturnal Rites – Phoenix Review

By Steel Druhm on October 9, 2017 in 2017, AFM Records, Heavy Metal, Power Metal, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Heavy Metal, Power Metal, 53 comments

“Back when I was a carefree graduate student, the band was a fairly typical sword and sorcery themed Euro-power outfit. Despite an artery clogging cheese quotient, the sheer infectious strength of albums like Tales of Mystery and Imagination and The Sacred Talisman all but forced you to get your Balrogs to the wall. Everything changed when Jonny Lindqvist joined as vocalist for 2000s Afterlife opus, slowly shifting the style into a more hard rock oriented sound.” Back from the ash hole of metal history.

Dreadnought – A Wake in Sacred Waves Review

By El Cuervo on October 3, 2017 in 2017, American Metal, Black Metal, Doom Metal, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Sailor Records, Black Metal, Doom Metal, Progressive Rock, 28 comments

“The music playback software I use on my phone has a useful function where it will recommence tracks of over 10 minutes from the point at which the song was paused and the software closed. This is great if I reach the 20-minute mark on Crimson or over halfway through Close to the Edge. It’s less great if the track is only narrowly longer than 10 minutes and immediately crashes into the climax while otherwise relistening to the album as a whole. Denver’s Dreadnought is particularly affected by this problem as their third record, A Wake in Sacred Seas, comprises three tracks between 10 and 12 minutes with a 17-minute fourth.” Long in the tooth is a lifestyle choice.

Monolord – Rust Review

By Huck N Roll on October 2, 2017 in Reviews, Doom Metal, Occult Rock, Stoner Metal, 40 comments

“While we didn’t review their slightly overhyped debut, Empress Rising, our beloved Roquentin took a look at 2015’s follow-up, Vænir, and liked what he heard. Monolord, as a name, suits these guys perfectly, as they are beholden to only one lord, and that is the Lord of the Riff. Since they hit the scene they’ve been bringing massive, fuzzy variations of Black Sabbath/Electric Wizard worship to the table.” That table can’t hold such massive riffs.

Antiversum – Cosmos Comedenti Review

By Dr. A.N. Grier on October 2, 2017 in 2017, Black Metal, Death Metal, Invictus Productions, Reviews, Swiss Metal, Black Metal, Death Metal, 13 comments

“OK, think fast: what’re the first two bands that come to mind when you think of Zurich? If you’re me, it’s Celtic Frost and Triptykon. Sure, there are plenty of others, but regardless which ones you picked, I bet Antiversum wasn’t one of them. Nothing against this mysterious, black/death group, but with only a demo and a six-way split to their name, I’m sure only a few people here have heard of them. But, now that their debut record is out, here’s your chance.” Blackened Swiss for all.

King Parrot – Ugly Produce Review

By Mark Z. on September 29, 2017 in 2017, Agonia Records, Australian Metal, EVP Recordings, Grind, Housecore records, Reviews, Thrash Metal, Thrash Metal, 32 comments

King Parrot make grindcore great again. At least that’s what I thought after first hearing the Australian quintet’s 2012 debut Bite Your Head Off, which bucked genre norms by fusing groovy aggression with honest-to-God vocal hooks and a “hip slumdog” attitude. In my review of 2015 follow-up Dead Set I referred to the band as the “Die Antwoord of grindcore,” and that remains one of my favorite analogies I’ve made at AMG to this day.” King for a day, grind for 12 minutes.