“When perusing the AMG Upcoming Crap We Need to Review List™ of new releases, it’s easy to judge bands based on their names. King Heavy and their self-titled debut album apparently fell into the doom metal category, and I immediately made the connection with King Giant’s recent release – the two similarly titled bands within the same genre would surely broadly equate and offer a convenient comparative review?” Nothing is as it seems on the Crap List.
“My Dying Bride is one of those bands that I call a “soundtrack band,” meaning that its music has played a key part in my teenage years as well as my early 20’s. I must have played The Angel and the Dark River so much as a young adult that I’m sure I burned through a couple layers of that CD. “The Cry of Mankind,” to this day, still astounds me whenever I hear it. In other words, My Dying Bride has a special place in my heart.” Journey into the heart of Grymm.
“Imagine, for a second, one such object, say a charcoal black freight train splattered with shiny, rainbow-colored spots that has descended to our plane straight from some kooky stoner heaven, traveling at a high speed, unstoppable, and crushing everything in its path.” So little time to get out of the way of the Rainbow Train. Now less…now none!
“Live albums are a dicey bag. Not every band has the capabilities to produce something classic along the lines of Live After Death or Alive in Athens, and most certainly not from the funeral doom genre. On top of that, to make your first album after a seven-year absence a live album that’s three-quarters new material? That’s some rather gutsy planning right there….” Play live or die.
“An American author, poet, philosopher and historian by the name of Henry Thoreau once said “If we will be quiet and ready enough, we shall find compensation in every disappointment.” Nowhere does that apply more than to Uncle Acid.” Do you have a (night) creepy uncle?
“Ahab has been the proud flag-bearer for funeral doom during the last ten years, with three full-length releases fleshing out a decade which has seen them achieve great popularity for such a niche genre.” Whales and snails and squids, oh my!
“Singer-songwriter Chelsea Wolfe’s music doesn’t strictly reside under the heavy metal umbrella. However her unique form of dark artistry has captured quite a significant following within and outside of the metal community.” Time for something a little bit different.
“Apart from Black Sabbath, no doom band can claim the same progenitor status Pentagram can. Coming into existence in 1971, they were the first American doom band and along with their slightly older British brothers in arms, they wrote the book on the entire genre. They also penned another book over the years on how to become the ultimate obscure, underground and kvlt act and stay that way for four fucking decades without ever getting proper recognition.” Last days are not here!
“Okay, admission time: as you can probably guess, I don’t always rely on the Grymm Grab Bag™ to decide who or what I get to review. If it’s a band I love or have a history with, I’ll give a fair looksee and go from there. In some cases, the name alone will grab me and say, “dude, review this, please.” Hence, Finland’s Tomb of Finland. That’s a pretty benign name to most people, right?” Wait for it….
“Portugal’s Vaee Solis don’t have much experience administering slow tempo lashings steeped in thick doomy riffs, or for that matter, flogging you mercilessly with shrieks and snarls loaded with blackened ideology. It makes sense then that they’d turn to the guidance and creative output of seasoned veterans like Celtic Frost and Venom to light their path.” Whip it good!
