I’m a big fan of the D&D-themed webcomic Order of the Stick. As the comic became a true phenomenon a decade ago and its author Rich Burlew became increasingly in demand, he began drawing himself looking more disheveled with every self-portrait. In the introduction to the most recently released book, his self-portrait is wearing sweatpants, has unkempt hair and looks about ready to fall over. That is a feeling I viscerally share. Or, as the kids say in 2019: IT ME!
Black Sites
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.
Mark Z.’s and L. Saunders’ Top Ten(ish) of 2019
Mark Z. and L. Saunders have their moment in the blackened sun to proclaim their Top Ten(ish) preferences for 2019. Fear the words.
Huck N’ Roll’s and Eldritch Elitist’s Top Ten(ish) of 2019
Huck N’ Roll and Eldritch Elitist weigh in with their own Top Ten(ish) of 2019 lists, and they have a lot to say.
Gardenstale’s and Ferrous Beuller’s Top Ten(ish) of 2019
The lists continue as GardensTale and Ferrous Beuller regale us with their Top Ten(ish) picks for the year. Pay attention.
Mirror – Pyramid of Terror Review
“Everything is retro nowadays. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it is a thing. I’ve heard people say that reviving significant trends from previous decades is the result of a complete lack of originality in the current one. But I think it’s simply a law of human nature. People in any given decade become fascinated with aesthetics from anywhere between 30-to-50 years ago—presumably because they’re just now (re-)discovering them—and for a while the cultural landscape morphs into this weird amalgam of modern ideas squeezed through a retrospective filter. Or, sometimes people simply mimic whatever popular thing from whatever decade they have latched on to at the time.” Living in the past.
Record(s) o’ the Month – April 2019
We’d have to ask Sentynel, but I’m pretty sure this is a historically late Record(s) o’ the Month. You’ll forgive me, things have been a bit hectic around the office. Some of that is good and some of it is bad, but the end result is the same: extraordinarily delayed Record(s) o’ the Month. But this month was pretty easy, I didn’t even get much push-back about this—which is a shame, because I like repressing the plebeians. So without further ado, your Record(s) o’ the Month for April of 2019.
Black Sites – Exile Review
“Chicago’s Black Sites is the brainchild of guitarist and singer Mark Sugar, formerly of underrated modern thrashers Trials. It could be that Sugar and I are roughly the same age, both grew up on shitty post-glory-days ’90s thrash metal and/or are both from the Midwest, but whatever it is he seems to speak my language. Trials’ final album ended up on my Top 10(ish) in 2015 and Black Sites’ debut found similar acclaim in 2017. A songwriter with two albums that placed at #2 in my Top 10(ish) lists in the year they were released is about as close to a direct highway to “elevated expectations” as it gets. And when Mark sent me Exile, I can say that I was very excited.” Makin’ bacon (and metal).
Angry Metal Guy’s Top 10(ish) Records o’ 2017
“We are getting dangerously close to being 9 years old. I started AngryMetalGuy.com at a time when I was a different person, and 2017 proved that more than any year of my life. I loved metal, I loved to write, I was looking for work and studying Swedish, and I was still in my 20s, and Enslaved was producing albums I worshiped. Now I’m older, busier, crankier, Enslaved mostly makes me yawn, and I’m dedicating my life to different kinds of things. But while AMG isn’t quite as ‘personal’ of a blog as it once it was, I still love it very much and it is still a reflection of my values on the Internetz.” Herein, Angry Metal Guy waxes nostalgic, bitches about stuff, and makes a big list that you will all hate because you’re objective.
Record(s) o’ the Month – February 2017
“Another month, another spectacularly late Record(s) o’ the Month. At this point, can’t we just agree if you get it at all, it’s timely? As for February, it was a respectable month o’ metal with enough candidates for the top spots to make for a contentious selection, and no matter what we picked, some faction was going to have grievances. Since we’re a grievance type of website, we soak that shit up like craft beer and virgin’s blood.” It’s late, don’t hate.