Aug21

Wolves in the Throne Room – Primordial Arcana Review

By Doom_et_Al on August 17, 2021 in Reviews, Black Metal, 75 comments

“Wolves in the Throne Room is an important band for me. When I was just getting into black metal, I found my way to the early albums in the band’s discography, which demonstrated to me the intrinsic and glorious bond black metal has with nature. I was absolutely captivated and I still consider the trilogy of Diadem of 12 Stars, Two Hunters and Black Cascade to be one of the strongest in black metal’s catalog. While I may be less enamored with the later albums (Thrice Woven, apart from its thunderous opener, left me cold), I feel a very close affinity with the band, and any new release is a very big deal to this reviewer.” Wolves or sheep?

Malossi – Blanke Barter Review

By Huck N Roll on August 17, 2021 in Reviews, Stoner Rock, 23 comments

“It sounds like a dream or a hallucination. Clutch is actually a Norwegian band. They rock hard, they add a bit more of a desert vibe to their sound (think of a more restrained Kyuss), and they sing in Norwegian. They love to throw things like tuba and harmonica into their songs. Their favorite thing in life is abusing the hell out of scooters (hence the band name). And for their album cover, they use a portrait that basically looks like my dad. Sound crazy? It’s not that far from reality, my friends. Let me introduce you to Malossi, and their second album, Blanke Barter.” Scooter-core.

Black Swamp Water – Awakening Review

By Dr. A.N. Grier on August 16, 2021 in Reviews, Hard Rock, Southern Metal, 19 comments

“I grabbed this promo from the rattlesnake and scorpion-infested bin at AMG’s Southwest office because I thought it was thrash. See, I’ve been on a thrash kick lately and I had no qualms grabbing another thrash release to review. The band name didn’t exactly strike me as a band that played thrash. But, who am I to judge? Maybe they’re swampy thrashers from the South, like Pantera and Exhorder. But, this is no thrash band. Everything I know about life is a lie.” Swamp romps.

Killing – Face the Madness Review

By El Cuervo on August 16, 2021 in Reviews, Thrash Metal, 20 comments

“Sometimes you simply have to judge a book by its cover. That cover in this case? Brightly colored, hand-drawn depictions of violence. If, like me, you immediately thought that Face the Madness by Killing was an 80s or 90s extreme metal album then you would be absolutely correct. And with the one sheet’s proud boast that it is “probably the best Danish thrash metal record since Excursion Demise by Invocator and By Inheritance from Artillery,” these Danes certainly don’t lack confidence.” Killing with confidence.

Fleshbore – Embers Gathering Review

By Cherd on August 15, 2021 in Reviews, Death Metal, Technical Death Metal, 37 comments

“One of the only true perks in this gig, besides the callous hazing of my fellow writers and the mindless braying of the commentariat, is getting highly anticipated releases weeks in advance. When that happens, a swarm of reviewers pilfer the promo pit, greedily clutching the release like so many Gollums with the One Ring. If you’re the lucky reviewer actually covering said album (we hates them), it’s a boon, as you get peer reactions in real time. But for everyone else, it means it becomes that much harder to focus on the album you’ve actually chosen that week. This is especially unfair to the band you’re reviewing when the Big Release is the same genre. This week, Archspire’s follow up to tech death masterpiece Relentless Mutation ran through the writers’ room like rancid chili. My own official assignment was Indianapolis, IN tech death newcomers Fleshbore’s debut Embers Gathering. ” Flesh and golden arches.

Viserion – Natural Selection Review

By Felagund on August 14, 2021 in Reviews, Black Metal, 51 comments

“For a relatively young genre, metal has found its fair share of adherents who quickly discovered their musical niche and haven’t budged from that sound. While this applies to both listeners (I’ll proudly wave the tattered OSDM banner until the day I die) and practitioners, it’s most noticeable with new and emerging bands not only harken back to a particular sound, but actively refuse to grow beyond it. Much like the Vogons in the immortal tome A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, these bands refuse to evolve. This may merely be my own bias showing, but this phenomenon seems to be most pronounced amongst the black metal set. Ever committed to all things trv, it would appear these corpse painted cretins believe that metal peaked somewhere around 1993. So when I picked up Viserion’s debut Natural Selection, I was understandably apprehensive.” Status woe.

Vaelmyst – Secrypts of the Egochasm Review

By Carcharodon on August 13, 2021 in Reviews, Heavy Metal, 43 comments

“Melodic death metal is a genre I want to like more than I actually do. Describe it to me and, on paper, I should love it. Not a death metal fan but desperately wanting to be so that I can hang out with cool kids Kronos and Ferrous Beuller, dialling up the melodic quotient should be just the ticket. While there are, of course, bands like Dark Tranquillity and Insomnium, that I love, I find that melodic death metal is a genre plagued by mediocrity.” Melo-ego and super-death.

Prestige – Reveal the Ravage Review

By Steel Druhm on August 13, 2021 in Reviews, Thrash Metal, 23 comments

“Prestige are a Finnish thrash band with a really, really awful name. They’re not a new act either. They were around at the tail end of the 80s thrash heyday, releasing their debut way back in 1989. According to their bio this earned them the distinction of being “one of Finland’s very first thrash metal bands.” They managed two followup releases, the last of which coming in 1992, before going into a Winter Soldier-like cryofreeze. They reformed in 2020 and now we get their first album in 29 years, Reveal the Ravage.” Thrash redemption.

Ænigmatum – Deconsecrate Review

By Kenstrosity on August 12, 2021 in Reviews, Death Metal, 47 comments

“I’ve had my eye on Ænigmatum for two months now. As with most things that cross my path on the river Bandcamp’s neverending stream, the colorful but still fleshy and spiny cover for the Portland, Oregon quartet’s sophomore effort Deconsecrate caught my attention—and, thankfully, so did the advance track. It was a twisty, gnarled hurricane of blackened death metal from a label I normally associate with more knuckle-dragging fare. Needless to say, Ænigmatum seemed poised to deliver something fresh in a summer that’s been remarkably dry for this sponge.” Songs for scouring.

Infex – Burning in Exile Review

By Steel Druhm on August 12, 2021 in Reviews, Thrash Metal, 31 comments

“I’ve spent the better part of 2021 trying to figure out if I’m tired of thrash or if there’s just been a drought of speed worth getting excited about. Whichever the case may be, I keep poking the thrash/speed promos looking for something that speaks to my inner thrashard and makes me want to slam like it’s 1985 again. California’s Infex have been lurking around since 2012, billing themselves as crossover thrash. They’ve released two album already but I never heard of them until we received the promo for third platter, Burning in Exile.” Sound of the times.