“The Midnight Ghost Train understand that they’ll find it difficult to survive in the avalanche of stoner-doom bands in existence these days, so they’ve taken a step back, dressed themselves in a morose southern armor, and decorated their largely hard-rock vehicle with funk, country, blues, stoner and sludge.” Watch for falling rock.
“There is something surprisingly comforting, dare I say nostalgic, in Nexul’s punishing full-length début Paradigm of Chaos. Perhaps it’s the wistfulness attached to the band’s raw, hissy black/death metal approach and over-the-top Luciferian imagery. Their music today appears as an echo of a homicidal time and place which the genre occupied during its infancy. As if a splinter of the heartfelt occult hatefulness of the early Norwegian black metal scene somehow made its way to El Paso, Texas.” Morbid tourist.
“From Beethoven to Brian Eno, mankind has toiled for centuries to compose the greatest music human minds can fathom. Alas it was not until the mid-90s that music finally attained its supreme form, when two metal genres miraculously fused in the unholy union known as ‘blackened thrash.’” It was the best of times, it was the the blast of times.
“Whilst scanning the vastness of the AMG promo dumpster for something intriguing, I came across an unknown English act named Absolva who appeared to be set to release a double album of classic 80s metal with hard rock influences. Being Steel, I had to investigate further and in the process I discovered several things.” The truth is out there.
“Ever since zombies killed his dog in 2007, Will Smith has been dealing with his grief in the healthy way: by gurgling, screaming, and howling his way across New York’s underground metal scene. Many will be familiar with his work in Buckshot Facelift and Artificial Brain, and his talents are just as well displayed in Afterbirth.” Rage therapy.
“It will be a long time before I can afford to visit Iceland, so I rely on music created by the likes of GlerAkur, an instrumental project of National Theater of Iceland sound engineer Elvar Geir Sævarsson, to deliver hearty wedges of this magical land to my adoring ears. Sævarsson’s seen its sights, breathed its air, and felt its magic, and from this he’s carved his vision of Iceland into a solid block of music.” Affordable ear travel.
“Despite their obvious affection for the meat and potatoes roots of old school American death, Soul Remnants craft a distinctive sound that weaves elements of thrash, melodic death and the occasional blackened and proggy moment into their tough, groove-laden death assault.” Meat, potatoes, death, fun.
“Regardless of their current status as the sad clowns of metal, no one will deny Metallica are among the biggest titans in metal history. Their first four albums are undisputed classics, their fifth a disputed one, and they have inspired countless followers with their chunky take on thrash metal. Among them is German outfit Odium, who have spent the last decade and a half pumping out records in relative anonymity.” Some other kind of monster.
Ereb Altor is a band I’ve reviewed more than almost any other since joining the AMG metal collective in 2010. They’re a prolific bunch and stick to a regular release schedule despite also releasing albums under the moniker Isole, and their material is consistently good if not great. Ulfven is their newest release, following 2016s Blot Ilt Taut which was a series of Bathory covers. This was appropriate as Quorthon has always been the wellspring from which the band draws their inspiration.” Reforge the sword.
“James Fogarty has a bit of a dilemma on his hands. Having dismantled his solo project Ewigkeit some ten years ago, coupled with a rant about metal being conservative and out of touch, how on earth is he going to resurrect the project and make it relevant?” Metal never forgets.
