“Stoner doom can frequently be heard in the House of Cherd. I enjoy it in my rotation, being, as I am, of Doom. Mrs. Cherd, however, takes particular delight in it. Whenever we’re doing housework to one of her playlists, it’s not uncommon for three Windhand songs from different albums to be followed by Bongzilla, then Electric Wizard, all while she promises that there are other genres in there and the next song probably won’t be stoner doom.” Family friendly doom.
“Dear Kronos, If you’re reading this, it’s already too late. When the respective hazes of gun smoke and cranial-injury clear, you’ll find your army of feral pigs disposed of and your fortress reduced to rubble; I even sang Porcupine Tree as everything burned to the ground, how’s that for brutal, yo? Anyway, you knew this was coming. You had something of mine – that’s right, had. Not only are you down a fortress and a pig army, but you’ll also find yourself no longer in possession of Avast’s Mother Culture.” Speak the Charm of Taking.
“I don’t listen to much Taake (hell, I’m not even sure I pronounce their name right), and this lack of familiarity puts me at an immediate disadvantage for reviewing Orkan. Observant readers will note that “Orkan” is actually the title of a Taake song, but the connection goes beyond that: Orkan actually consists of Taake’s live guitarist and former live bassist, who formed the project in 2008 along with fellow members of Norwegian black metal band Enchanting Darkness.” Taaking it to the streets.
“Rare is the band that truly sounds like no one else. Either standing on the shoulders of giants, or innovating their way to hundreds of copycats, few have no comparable peers, followers, or ancestors. Madder Mortem, also known as Norway’s best-kept secret, are one of those bands.” Post-Madder Mortem.
“2018 has been a damn good year for folk-oriented black metal. Okay, quantitatively speaking, that’s not true at all; more accurately, there have been two particularly captivating releases in the new Sojourner and Vallendusk records that on their own have single-handedly carried the style in recent months. This seems more than a bit unfair to Norway’s Cor Scorpii. Formed from the ashes of Windir by drummer Steingrim and guitarist Strom (neither of whom are actually still in this band), their decade-in-the-making sophomore effort, Ruin, is relatively featureless when stacked against the current crop of folk-black trailblazers.” Folking in the ruins.
“When a band comes out of the woods calling themselves an occult rock band, I can’t help but think of Ghost. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t particularly think of Ghost when I think of occult rock (I more think of those odd, ritualistic LaVey recordings I’ve heard) but that seems to be the way many o’ metalhead think. The silly Satanic lyrics, the soaring vocals and the doomy, gloomy, rocking, old-school riffs of Opus Eponymous are what people associate “occult rock” with these days. On the immediate surface, Norway’s Acârash don’t disagree with this assessment of occult rock but, boy, do they have a darker, blacker outlook on the style.” Ghost reveries.
“While another release from The 3rd Attempt wouldn’t get so much as a shrug from most metalheads, I’ve been fucking waiting all year for Egocidal Path. As anyone might be able to tell from reading 2015’s Born in Thorns review, I love anything Tchort gets his hands on. Be it Carpathian Forest, Green Carnation, or Blood Red Throne, I’m there. And being that the debut was a solid release of Nattefrost and Carpathian Forest-inspired black ‘n’ roll, I can’t help but get excited about the follow-up.”
“But the ones I came back to the most were the underrated groups, like Ofermod, Svartsyn, Urgehal, and Taake. To me, this latter group has some of the best black metal ever recorded. In Taake’s case, Nattestid ser porten vid, Over Bjoergvin graater himmerik, and Hordalands doedskvad still make me dribble over my lower lip like a fucking vegetable. But, like most black metal giants, Taake’s recent material has begun to slip in quality. Their 2014 release, Stridens hus, left my throat parched and now my need for nourishment is at an all-time high. The question is: will Taake’s newest release, Kong Vinter, wet lips or will it cause them to crack and bleed?” Lip care is crucial in a frostbitten kingdom of ice.
“I think everyone feels a little relief when a year comes to an end. I’m not quite sure why this is—considering that January 1st is just as busy as December 31st—but the phenomenon is real. Be it my real job or my fake one, there’s plenty to get done before the year’s end. Between grading and submitting them, there was still the task of cataloging promos this year’s records and preparing for the Season of Lists.” AMG is the ONLY job!
![Mistur – In Memoriam [Things You Might Have Missed 2016]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Mistur-cover-presse-768x768.jpg)
“If you look back through the top ten archives of the site, you’ll find it’s not uncommon to see a band on a list that was never reviewed by us. If a promo doesn’t come through our hand-hewn bone doors, it doesn’t get reviewed. But, even with that rule in place, there’re just too many promos arriving on a weekly basis to catch them all. What is uncommon is an album that not only landed on a couple lists but also took the top spot.” The embargo must be broken!
