The list has landed. I repeat, the list has landed!
Alustrium
Saunders’, Huck N’ Roll’s and Cherd’s Top Ten(ish) of 2021
Saunders, Huck and Cherd deliver their weighty Top Ten(ish) lists and try to get along in the process.
Doom_et_Al’s and Dear Hollow’s Top Ten(ish) of 2021
Lists are a gift and Doom_et_Al and Dear Hollow have presents to distribute. Prepare for tidings of anger and joy.
Deviant Process – Nurture Review
“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: technical death metal can be a fickle mistress. For a genre so overflowing with talent, much of the actual music can come across as rather soulless, and despite all the intricacies, a lot of releases appear surprisingly formulaic. In short, I’ve been burned before. But then I look to recent releases from bands like Alustrium, Symbolik, and Allegaeon; releases that serve as a potent reminder that not all is lost, and that when the tech-death hits, it hits hard. It was with this sunny outlook that I plucked Nurture, the latest release from Deviant Process, from the promo pit.” High hopes and technical problems.
Record(s) o’ the Month – June 2021
It’s time for the Record(s) o’ the Month. I shall gird my loins with acerbic comments about your parentage and take to the comment section!
Have at ye!
Alustrium – A Monument to Silence Review
“Philadelphia’s progressive tech death architects Alustrium smashed out an album for the ages with their 2015 opus A Tunnel to Eden. The sophomore LP presented a kaleidoscopic, grand in scale masterwork of progressive and technical death metal, featuring serious instrumental and compositional chops, while possessing tons of heart and style. Despite being a little too bloated and ambitious for its own good, the pros far outweighed the miniscule cons to deliver a knockout punch. Punctuated by 2020’s strong Insurmountable EP, it has been a long time between drinks on the full-length recording front. Curiously slipping under the radar, Alustrium’s third album, A Monument to Silence is now upon us.” Unquiet monuments.
The EP, Split, and Single Post [Things You Might Have Missed 2020] Part I
“The neglected, forgotten children; that’s what this post is about. Full-lengths albums are the proud first-born, strutting about with muscular arms and a beautiful face. But EPs?” Arms for the poor.
Redemptor – Arthaneum [Things You Might Have Missed 2017]
“By technical death metal standards, Arthaneum is an odd but compelling beast that stands-out by operating outside the box, while holding all the trademarks avid listeners of the style have come to expect. The intricate and complex musicianship impresses in all departments, but there’s a more measured, controlled approach, rather than purely focusing on unrelenting barrages of speed and cramming as many notes and ideas into each song as humanly possible.” There’s no place like tech-death for the holidays.
Kronos’ Top Ten(ish) of 2015
“And so emanates my refrain: 2015 was a shit year for metal. My colleagues, and you, reader, may disagree, but I stand firm in my ambivalence towards this year’s release schedule as a whole.”
The AMG Staff Picks the Top Ten Records o’ 2015: There’s No Accounting for Anything Anymore
“We’ve reached the end of 2015 and this year I’m personally editing these Top Ten lists. For the first time (ever) I am reading the production of the different writers we’ve assembled over the last few years. I am shocked. I am dismayed. I feel angry, offended, galled. But I am not surprised. Under Steel Druhm and Madam X‘s indulgent care and averted gaze the young Angry Metal Staffers have run amok. Alas, after having actually consumed of the words these gentlemen produce, I’m firing them all. It’s back to the drawing board: me, Steel Druhm, and as much metalcore as you can eat!”