Century Media Records

Barren Earth – On Lonely Towers Review

By Angry Metal Guy on March 23, 2015 in 2015, Century Media, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Epic Metal, Finnish Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Progressive Death, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Doom Metal, Progressive Death, Progressive Metal, 56 comments

“Barren Earth may be the only band I ever forgive for not giving me an audition to be their vocalist. After it was announced that Mikko Kotamäki (Swallow the Sun) was leaving the band and that they were publicly searching for a singer, I screwed up my courage and dropped them an email with some songs. Being that I am “the standard by which all should be judged” (which is why I started a blog), I was duly shocked, dismayed and offended that they never even sent me a kind rejection letter.” Bitter and jilted, can Angry Metal Guy ever forgive this Finnish super group their taste in singers!?

Napalm Death – Apex Predator-Easy Meat Review

By Dr. Fisting on January 20, 2015 in 2015, Century Media, Death Metal, English Metal, Grind, Death Metal, 21 comments

“Napalm Death, we meet again. For their last decade or so, these guys have been a model of uneventful consistency. Their notorious lineup changes seem to be a thing of the past (or perhaps not), and their last 4-5 albums have been damn solid. This is certainly a good thing for longtime Napalm fans, but it makes reviewing them increasingly redundant.” You might even say reviewing them is a bit of a…grind?

Marduk – Frontschwein Review

By Angry Metal Guy on January 16, 2015 in 2015, Black Metal, Century Media, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Black Metal, 1 comment

This post has been removed because it promoted Nazi or Nazi-adjacent metal bands or musicians. We apologize.

The Crown – Death Is Not Dead

By Dr. A.N. Grier on January 11, 2015 in 2015, Century Media, Death Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Thrash Metal, Death Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Thrash Metal, 48 comments

“Honestly, I haven’t been excited for a new release from The Crown in a long time. For one, the quality of their releases has slowly declined since their epic Hell Is Here debut back in 1999.” These cats have an uneven history with more than their share of lineup issues, but they’re back and we have opinions (and some of them are silly).

Grymm Comments: On Blake Judd

By Grymm on September 7, 2014 in Blog Posts, 46 comments

“There is one cardinal rule that just about every metal musician out there adheres to: you never, repeat, never fuck over your fans. I don’t mean changing genres on a whim, or abandoning a tried-and-true sound for greener, greedier passages. I’m talking about taking advantage of the goodwill and adoration of your fanbase, using them for your own selfish purposes. Again, most metal musicians are very thankful for the fans they have. The fans indirectly feed them, put gas in their touring vans, allow them to put t-shirts on the table, and ultimately pursue the career [hobby – AMG] that they love the most, and they are always appreciative for that. Sadly, Nachtmystium mainman Blake Judd is not one of those people.”

Grymm and Angry Metal Guy comment on the recent craziness with Nachtmystium and Blake Judd.

Wolf – Devil Seed Review

By Steel Druhm on August 19, 2014 in 2014, Century Media, Heavy Metal, Power Metal, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Heavy Metal, Power Metal, 8 comments

“Wolf has been running at the forefront of the retro metal pack for a while now, surpassing even the vainglorious cheese meisters of Hammerfall. They’ve done so with slick, memorable song writing and a healthy respect for their elders like Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and Mercyful Fate. Although they’re utterly devoid of originality or new influences, they’ve been uncannily skilled at aping and raping the past for golden metal moments of steel. 2011s Legions of Bastards had a strong Painkiller vibe, but Devil Seed slows things down and adopts a darker,more restive, simmering mood, like a filthy mob of commoners perpetually on the verge of rioting against the haughty upper crust.” Honey, the Wolf is at the door again!

Arch Enemy – War Eternal Review

By Steel Druhm on June 3, 2014 in 2014, Century Media, Death Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Death Metal, Melodic Death Metal, 59 comments

“Arch Enemy keeps soldiering along, ever honing their super polished, shiny and pretty version of melodic death metal. This despite the departure of such key parts as guitarist Christopher Amott and vocalist Angela Gossow. Easy peasy, in comes Nick Cordle (Arsis) and Alissa White-Gluz (The Agonist) and we get another typical Arch Enemy platter, full of power metal ideas smashed into melo-death templates and layered with snazzy guitar-work from Michael Amott.” Ready for more Power-Death? Yes, it’s a thing!

Lacuna Coil – Broken Crown Halo Review

By Grymm on March 23, 2014 in 2014, Century Media, Gothic Metal, Italian Metal, Reviews, Gothic Metal, 19 comments

“When a band hits a certain level of fame, usually it gives them free reign to do whatever their innermost muse guides them to create without fear of their label dropping them. They can craft new masterpieces to guide the listener to unknown lands, and hold them there for the duration of the album’s captivating length. They can also lull the unsuspecting fan into a false sense of security before bludgeoning them to a wet, slushy pulp. In other words, no matter what the band does, it’s guaranteed that their label will back them up, as they are proven to sell like virtual gang-busters.” Which approach will Lacuna Coil take? Are you sure?

Twilight – III: Beneath Trident’s Tomb

By JF Williams on March 14, 2014 in 2014, American Metal, Black Metal, Century Media, Reviews, Black Metal, 4 comments

“It’s easy to be skeptical of the US black metal super-group Twilight. Perhaps the only one of its kind, this ever-changing collective has included key players from Leviathan, Draugar, Xasthur, Nachtmystium, Krieg, Isis, The Atlas Moth, Minsk, and, as of this year, Sonic Youth. As one might imagine, the results have been polarizing among listeners, and with their third (and final) release III: Beneath Trident’s Tomb, Twilight has elected to go all out with a fantastically idiosyncratic record.” J.F. Williams is throwing around terms like perversely groovy and bizarre and disjointed. Does this spark your interest? Read on!

Indefensible Positions: Grymm Defends Projector

By Grymm on February 15, 2014 in Blog Posts, Indefensible Positions, 58 comments

Every once in a while the metal scene collectively pisses on a band or record and someone needs to step up and defend why they like it. We normally don’t spend a lot of time defending shitty records, but sometimes genuinely interesting or good records get lampooned by an overly conservative heavy metal scene and that calls for a professional contrarian to defend it! If ever there were professional contrarians, it would be the staff of AMG. So here we are to re-hash a record from our past that (some of us) love that everyone else seems to have soured on (or never liked in the first place). Watch as Grymm gamely defends Projector: Dark Tranquillity’s most reviled album. They say luck favors the foolhardy!