“If you’re looking for thick-stringed pummel somewhere on the heady but heavy spectrum between Anciients and Today Is the Day with a kiss of Machine Head, you might be in the market for Turbid North. I know that sounds like mouthful, but these extreme metal frontiersmen make it a point to switch from Southern rock drones to chug-led beatdowns on a dime.” Trve north?
“Woodhawk’s debut, 2017’s Beyond the Sun, slipped by all of us, but thanks to some friends who I can reliably state are stoner rock aficionados, that album ended up in my collection. If I had reviewed it here, it would have received a healthy 3.5, as it was loaded with catchy, energetic, desert rock songs, and I simply love Turner Midzain’s voice. For Violent Nature, the band reconvened in Vancouver to record once again with Jesse Gander (Anciients), a relationship that clearly pays rich dividends.” Canadian deserts, man.
“As a metalhead, I always feel way behind on doom metal and its various offspring genres. It was the last genre I discovered, and further the last one I gained a bone-deep understanding of. Imagine my surprise to find an untouched, independent stoner prog album sitting in the promo bin. Chicagoan band Dark Ocean Society is one of those projects—one-man, home recorded, totally independent; it is the brainchild of one C.M. Tedor. You know, the kind of project you’d expect to spit out a shitty black metal record. Instead, we have Hymns for the Last Man, a piece on alienation and the pain of life in the modern era.” One Hymn, some waiting.
Twenty-sixteen was a year that started so well. I’d recently performed a counter coup, reorganized things, appointed Steel Druhm to my Internet Banana Republic Enforcer for Life and I was reviewing a lot of stuff. The Record(s) o’ the Month were landing on time, and the trains were on schedule. Then tragedy struck… Alas, the good that was the beginning of the year turned into a fucking bullshit slog where I became progressively overcome by life. Longtime readers will know that I have been much less involved on the back half of this year than at any point in our long history. And I’ll just be honest, I’ve been considering even setting aside the mantle of Angry Metal Guy altogether. This year has been a year of endings, in a way. The end of my faith in humanity. The end of Agalloch’s post-Ulver reign of terror. The end of a lot of famous lives.
“We predicted October would be a sticky wicket of a month for the put upon electors of Best in Show, and it certainly was. Any number of killer platters could have been hoisted overhead and declared the new Golden Calf without damaging our enormous metal cred and everyone had their own personal favorite clutched tightly to their steely bosoms. So how did we decide?” Civics lessons for free, only at AMG!
“Canada’s Anciients stormed the scene with their promising Heart of Oak debut in 2013, an intoxicating if at times derivative mix of stoner, sludge, and prog. It was an enjoyable album, though it didn’t quite blow me away like it did many others. Nevertheless, my interest was certainly piqued enough to be excited by the band’s long-awaited return with the all important album number two.” Goats for all!
“As I gaze out the windows of the AMG offices (located hundreds of miles beneath the Earth’s crust, so I’m not sure why we have windows), I can’t help but wistfully reflect on my time with this fine metal institution. In just a few short years, the site has gone from one man’s labor of love to a major force in the metal blogosphere with a staff of ten dedicated writers, and though the journey wasn’t always easy, it’s been exceedingly interesting and rewarding.” Follow along as Steel Druhm gets maudlin, waxes nostalgic and grudgingly drops his Top Ten(ish) for 2013. A Two Kleenex read!
Every year we listen to a lot of music, and while some records might be superior, they don’t always contain the best songs. So, I started doing the “Top 10(ish) Songs o’ the Year” to point out the amazing songs that I love even if they come from records I don’t have to love. So here’s the first of my amazing Top 10(ish) lists from 2013. I’ll write a year-end look for my Top 10(ish) albums later, so without further ado…
