Amenra

Deliverance – Holocaust 26:1-46 Review

Deliverance – Holocaust 26:1-46 Review

“Like Amenra, they have the ability to suck you deep into tension-building ascensions before coming down on the front of your skull like a sledgehammer. But, the biggest difference between Amenra and Deliverance is that the latter prefers the accompaniment of rasping vocals and black-metal song structures. Combining this foundation with Amenra-like builds and Gojira-esque, concrete-cracking riffs, 2020 finds Deliverance releasing their most-impressive work to date. But, good luck looking beyond the haunting artwork, the heart-sickening album title, and a band name that reminds one of hillbilly butt sex. Now, everyone, open your books to the chapter of ‘Holocaust’ and let’s begin.” End times.

Ars Moriendi – La solitude du pieux scélérat [Things You Might Have Missed 2019]

Ars Moriendi – La solitude du pieux scélérat [Things You Might Have Missed 2019]

“I may drive like a twenty-year-old, dad-joke like a forty-year-old, but I’m as fit as a flabby sixty-year-old and as spry as a seventy-year-old. I have two cups of coffee and have diarrhea for the rest of the day and, two beers later, I’m drunk. Yet, with Angry Metal Age comes Angry Metal Wisdom. As well as a lot of annual visits from old friends to the old-people home. This year, visits came from Darkthrone, Kampfar, Rimfrost, Sorxe, Stormhammer, Via Vengeance, War Curse, Reign of Fury, Second to Sun, and others. One visit I was most excited about was from Ars Moriendi.” Olde habits.

Dr. A.N. Grier’s Top Ten(ish) of 2019

Dr. A.N. Grier’s Top Ten(ish) of 2019

“Name another site out there with writers hiding behind silly monikers whom you know better than your best friends. Name a site you dared to lean on, pouring your heart out in the comments, getting positive and uplifting responses when you needed them most. Name a site you’ve spent as much time debating, loving, and sharing music as you have on AMG. You can’t.” Truth telling.

Via Vengeance – Diestractions from the Truth Review

Via Vengeance – Diestractions from the Truth Review

“He’s a happy dude that makes everyone around him happy. Case in point: at a Neurosis show in Phoenix, I became so enamored with opening act Amenra that nothing existed around me but dark, depressive death. Then I felt the nudge and looked over at the smiling face of Mr. Ocell. One second, I wanted to die. The next, I wanted to give the little guy a noogie. But how can a guy as happy as Shane write music as dark and heavy as that of Via Vengeance? I haven’t a clue, but that’s what he does.” Beware the smiling man.

Jo Quail – Exsolve [Things You Might Have Missed 2018]

Jo Quail – Exsolve [Things You Might Have Missed 2018]

“I love the cello. I don’t think there are any other instruments which offer the tonal range and gorgeous timbre a cello can. I also think it’s criminally underused in heavy music. Apocalyptica demonstrate it can sound metal as hell, yet otherwise it’s mostly limited to a few cameo appearances. This brings me to Jo Quail, experimental cellist, loop pedal wizard, and versatile session musician. Her own back catalog is largely a post-rock/modern classical blend, and after a year in which she’s supported acts like Myrkur, Amenra, Boris, and Winterfylleth, their influence clearly shows on her new record. With her sound evolving towards post-metal and atmospheric black metal, her new album is an interesting development.” Cello, my friends.

Vile Creature – Cast of Static and Smoke Review

Vile Creature – Cast of Static and Smoke Review

“Why do we love music of such a harsh, ugly aesthetic? Once, during my college years, I was asked this question by a project coach. It wasn’t the first time I heard the question, but it was the most memorable, as for the first time it wasn’t asked as an attack but of genuine interest. I found I did not have a satisfying answer. “It has a furious energy, a certain power that gives me a rush for all its darkness,” was the best I could say. But at the time, I did not yet listen to doom metal, and if I had, it might have complicated my search for a genuine answer further. Because how would I describe the appeal to bands like Vile Creature, a duo who makes deliberate, hideous music that is slow and steady.”

Dr. A.N. Grier’s Top Ten(ish) of 2017

Dr. A.N. Grier’s Top Ten(ish) of 2017

“Remember that scene in Ghostbusters (the real Ghostbusters…) where Winston tells Ray, ‘If someone asks you if you are a god, you say yes!’ Well, if someone asks you if you want to write a guide for teaching organic chemistry, you say hellafuckingno. I’m serious. Do yourself, and everyone around you, a favor. So, yeah, this year’s been nuts. Thankfully, there’s Angry Metal Guy—a solace for all metalheads to come together and be verbally abused and cat-tailed in the company basement.” Cat’s got yer list.

Throane – Plus une main à mordre Review

Throane – Plus une main à mordre Review

“In retrospect, Throane’s tantalizing début Derrière-Nous, La Lumière is one of those records whose piercing splinters, given time to gestate, have a tendency to deeply ingrain themselves into thoughts. Almost imperceptible at first, its monochromatic strokes paint uncomfortable rooms of the mind. Rooms filled with anguish and darkness, shaped equally by fears of the void and an existential dread of the mundane. Spaces hidden behind walls upon walls, repressed but always present. The idea of revisiting this world is one that is simultaneously exhilarating and frightening.” Splinters in the mind’s eye.

Roadburn 2017 Live Review

Roadburn 2017 Live Review

“Every year, something special takes place in my hometown of Tilburg, The Netherlands: the festival of Roadburn. Roadburn isn’t like your average festival. There’s no marquees, no fields of green devolving into mud, and no crowds the size of small towns worshiping the biggest bands. Instead, thousands of people dressed in black gather from every corner of the continent, and some from other continents, to see over 100 doom, stoner and other kinds of acts whose success lies almost entirely in the underground.” Welcome to the dope show.