British Metal

Orange Goblin – The Wolf Bites Back Review

Orange Goblin – The Wolf Bites Back Review

“Not a lot of bands last twenty years, and even fewer do so with no real lineup changes. British stoner rock stalwarts Orange Goblin are a rare breed: aside from losing second guitarist Pete O’Malley long ago, the other four members have stood fast since 1995. Two things usually happen in these cases: first, the band gets incredibly tight, with fantastic chemistry. Twenty-three years together will do that. On the flip side, more often than not the songwriting suffers (see: Angry Metal Guy’s Law of Diminishing Recordings™). Bands turn into caricatures of what they are most famous for.” Orange you glad the Goblin’s back?

Witchsorrow – Hexenhammer Review

Witchsorrow – Hexenhammer Review

Cathedral left such a gaping hole in the doom metal scene when they dissolved back in 2013. Sure, they dabbled in some rather goofy disco moments, and 2010’s The Guessing Game was an exercise in headfuckery, but when they brought the heavy, it was delivered by a fleet of Mack trucks. Calling them a massive influence would be understating the obvious in extremes. So when younger bands such as Hampshire’s Witchsorrow come along with a sound eerily like their forefathers, I tend to get a bit weary. Now on their fourth album, Hexenhammer, the British trio hope to impress the grumpy old man-cat from Blashyrkh, Florida…” Lord Of Hexhammers.

Noisepicker – Peace Off Review

Noisepicker – Peace Off Review

“The other day at the grocery store, I bought a bottle of wine solely on the Walking Dead label. And I’m not even a big fan of the show. But, when I’m brain-fried and all I want is a fucking drink, I grab the first bottle or six-pack that jumps out at me. That’s how I came across that wine and that’s how I came across what I thought was Nosepicker. Because, you know, I’m immature like that. Unfortunately, it’s not Nosepicker, it’s Noisepicker.” Pick it, don’t eat it.

Monsterworks – Scale and Probability Review

Monsterworks – Scale and Probability Review

“Mastered by the infallible Dan Swanö. A PR email that rants about the loudness wars. A heartfelt, passionate declaration that they will NOT bow to the pressures of the industry, and dad-gummit they’re going to give us a sparkling recording with Full Dynamic Range. All this and more are promised from Monsterworks on their sixteenth (!) album, Scale and Probability.” Sound and fury signifying…monsters.

Seven Sisters – The Cauldron and the Cross Review

Seven Sisters – The Cauldron and the Cross Review

“Although I tend to dabble in extreme metal more often, make no mistake, I do love the traditional stuff. I have fond memories of my brother and I pouring over the lyrics to Iron Maiden’s “The Trooper” until we could recite them flawlessly — a skill we both still keenly possess. Seven Sisters, a band thusly named for the area of North London they hail from, share my love of the classic craft, as evident on their second full-length, The Cauldron and the Cross.” Trooper metal.

Boss Keloid – Melted on the Inch Review

Boss Keloid – Melted on the Inch Review

“At AMG Headquarters last week, as a number of us were gathered around the bench press station during our allocated one hour of yard time, discussions turned from who could bench the most, to personal tastes when it comes to genres to review. When I was finally allowed to talk, I said I like my dad metal, sure, but I also enjoy deeply of prog, doom, some stoner — and I like it all to be just a little off-kilter. Well, members of Boss Keloid must have been standing nearby, because Melted on the Inch, their third album, ticks all my non-dad-metal boxes.” Boss dad prison metal.

Voices – Frightened Review

Voices – Frightened Review

“When Akercocke dissolved in 2012, a few of its members regrouped as Voices, releasing a respectable debut in the form of Voices from the Human Forest Create a Fugue of Imaginary Rain, revealing that there was some life left from the ashes of everyone’s favorite hedonistic prog-death merchants. However, absolutely no one was prepared for the relentless headfuck that came out the following year.” Voices carry… expectations.

Ingested – The Level Above Human Review

Ingested – The Level Above Human Review

“Slow year for death metal though it has been, things are speeding up — metaphorically, that is. Manchester’s finest slamongers are back with their fourth full-length insult, The Level Above Human, and as always they’re peddling their trademark combination of deathcore and brutal slam. It’s an influential mix and one that plenty of today’s slam-purveyors like Vulvodynia and Abominable Putridity owe their success to. Yet as fun, as the beatdown combo can be, quality control has never been a hallmark of either genre. Ingested navigate the bloodied, goopy waters of brutal deathcore as well as any crew of veteran slam sailors, and though The Level Above Human won’t change your world, it will change the position of your head in relation to that world with great regularity.” Level up or die.

Poly-Math – House of Wisdom | We are the Devil Review

Poly-Math – House of Wisdom | We are the Devil Review

“With the recent reunion of At the Drive-In, hopes have never been higher for a rekindling of the fire under the asses of Omar Rodríguez-López and Cedric Bixler-Zavala – a fire which produced the best prog rock albums of the 2000s. And given the rate at which Rodríguez-López currently produces LPs (about one a month for the past two years), it might not be long before there’s a new The Mars Volta album collecting saliva on turntables everywhere. But that doesn’t mean substitutes aren’t welcome.” We take whats we can gets.