Apr18

Glorior Belli – The Apostates Review

By Akerblogger on April 10, 2018 in 2018, Black Metal, French Metal, Reviews, Season of Mist, Black Metal, Sludge, 43 comments

“France: the last bastion of sophistication. Even its black metal has a sophisticated propulsion, its lyrical themes of the up-turned nose, deep in thought variety searing through deeply-challenging avant-garde compositions. I wonder why extreme metal continues elsewhere when France has sharpened the genre to the point of near perfection? The dissonant shock waves of the French scene should crumble the simple-minded bones of music in other countries, surely. But no – Scandanavia, America, Germany, Britain, South America and other such facile nations continue to churn out music that scratches the heart and offends the brain. This has to stop!” Running with Billy Bayou.

Crematory – Oblivion Review

By Steel Druhm on April 9, 2018 in 2018, Death Metal, German Metal, Reviews, SPV, Steamhammer, Death Metal, Industrial Metal, 85 comments

“Respect. Sometimes it’s given freely and graciously and sometimes it must be torn away grudgingly. Whether you’re prepared to give it up easily or not, Crematory deserve respect for reaching album 14, especially since most of those albums are composed of the same uber silly clubtronic techno-goth rock.” Rave to the grave.

Winterfylleth – The Hallowing of Heirdom Review

By Dr. A.N. Grier on April 6, 2018 in 2018, Black Metal, Candlelight Records, English Metal, Non-Metal Metal Things, Reviews, Spinefarm, Black Metal, 105 comments

“The first time I sat down with The Hallowing of Heirdom, I was in denial. With every song, I expected the sky to crack open and a dark sheet of black rain to pour from blood-red clouds. It never happened. And, as a result, I’m going to try to rate, compare, and measure The Hallowing of Heirdom against Winterfylleth’s decade of atmospheric black metal records. For how much I hate the phrase, this is like comparing apples to oranges.” Strum and drag.

Kamelot – The Shadow Theory Review

By Steel Druhm on April 5, 2018 in 2018, American Metal, Napalm Records, Power Metal, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Power Metal, Progressive Metal, 150 comments

“There aren’t many bands as steeped in class and refinement as Kamelot. Since their earliest days their take on melodic power metal has been swanky and upper-crust,, and its only grown more polished over the years, adopting neo-classical influences and pompous orchestration. The Shadow Theory marks the band’s third release with Tommy Karevik behind the mic, and things are as elegantly highfalutin as ever, often at the expense of the heavy and the metal components of their sound.” Fancy boys making noise.

Kalmah – Palo Review

By Dr. Wvrm on April 4, 2018 in 2018, Finnish Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Reviews, Spinefarm, Melodic Death Metal, 111 comments

“Kalmah could be a fine case study for some poor grad student’s research into band development. Finland’s favorite sons grew up overnight, discovering their unique and — dare I say — iconic sound as young whipper-snappers. They caught the thicket of mid-period lows underfoot and freed themselves through personal evolution, not brute strength. They retooled into an incredibly consistent act not wholly unalike their early days, but not overtly similar either. It’s been nearly five years since Kalmah last stomped the swamp, and Palo would be more a shock if it wasn’t the beautiful bog beast we all expected.” Muckrakers.

Messa – Feast for Water Review

By Steel Druhm on April 2, 2018 in 2018, Aural Music, Doom Metal, Italian Metal, Reviews, Doom Metal, 82 comments

“In my lengthy tenure as an AMG contributor, I can count on half a hand the number of albums that blindsided me as hard as Messa’s debut Belfry did. I plucked it from the promo sump knowing zero about the upstart Italian doomsters and was soon hopelessly in the thrall of their eerie doom drone hybrid style. Naturally, Belfry was going to be a tough act to follow regardless what direction the young act decided to travel, and after a fairly short wait, we get their second album, Feast for Water.” Into the deep end.

Morrow – Fallow Review

By Grymm on March 30, 2018 in 2018, Alerta Antifascista Records, British Metal, Crust Punk, Halo of Flies, Post-metal, Reviews, Crust Punk, Post-Metal, 39 comments

“UK emokrust collective Morrow dropped a massive debut on my lap in 2016 in the form of Covenant of Teeth, an engrossing 4-song album that told a tale of a futuristic society where Earth was so ravaged by humankind’s assault of its natural resources that they became tribal again. The marriage of poetic lyrics, visceral vocals, and a sad-yet-ragingly-defiant musical backdrop lingered in my psyche long after my review was published. In fact, truth be told, it’s all I listened to this past Christmas season, not only to keep my mind occupied and my energy maintained, but also because the follow-up, Fallow, was due to drop in the spring of this year. So imagine my surprise when Fallow was released as a “name your price” release on the band’s Bandcamp over Christmas Eve last year, with a physical release soon.” Grymm surprises.