Avatarium

The AMG Staff Picks the Top Ten Records o’ 2015: There’s No Accounting for Anything Anymore

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!”

Jess and the Ancient Ones – Second Psychedelic Coming: The Aquarius Tapes Review

Jess and the Ancient Ones – Second Psychedelic Coming: The Aquarius Tapes Review

“Svart Records is a bastion of strange Finnish acts, and Jess and the Ancient Ones is one of the strangest. Starting with the same 70s occult rock indulged in by Ghost and Jex Thoth, they add in surfer rock and more than a little tripped out psychedelic acid rock to arrive at something altogether different.” Surf’s up and Satan is down!

Avatarium – The Girl With the Raven Mask Review

Avatarium – The Girl With the Raven Mask Review

Candlemass’ 1986 debut Epicus Doomicus Metallicus had a big impact on my young metal mind and made me a lifetime convert to Leif Edling’s concept of what doom metal should sound like. Decades later, he surprised me again with his Avatarium debut and how it leveraged the prodigious vocal gifts of Jennie-Ann Smith to create a refreshing take on the classic doom template. While I expected The Girl With the Raven Mask to be a quality follow-up, I wasn’t prepared for this!” Get prepared post-haste!

Things You Might Have Missed: Death Penalty – Death Penalty

Things You Might Have Missed: Death Penalty – Death Penalty

“When Cathedral went belly up last year, riff-meister extraordinaire Gaz Jennings was left with some time on his nimble hands. Like any good doom maven he used this time to recruit a new band and launch Death Penalty, which he lovingly named after the debut by classic doomsters Witchfinder General.” If Gaz be playing, you best be paying.

Steel Druhm’s Top Ten(ish) of 2013

Steel Druhm’s Top Ten(ish) of 2013

“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!

Things You Might Have Missed 2013: Avatarium – Avatarium

Things You Might Have Missed 2013: Avatarium – Avatarium

“Some of these things “we miss” during the year are understandably obscure and I don’t lose much sleep worrying about the overall health of my Metal Detector. Sometimes however, we whiff on a biggie and are left wondering if our collective ear to the metal underground needs a hearing aid (of steel). This is one of those whiffs. That’s because Avatarium is the new project of none other than Leif Fucking Edling (Candlemass, Krux, Abstract Algebra, etc.) and since the man is one of the modern-day Lords of Doom, we clearly should have seen this coming sooner.” Oops is all we can say on this one. The classy thing to do is forgive and move on.