English Metal

Coltsblood – Into the Unfathomable Abyss Review

By Grymm on April 4, 2014 in 2014, Candlelight, Doom Metal, English Metal, Reviews, Doom Metal, 1 comment

“Colts are young male horses. Colts, assuming that they are not neutered in their upbringings, will eventually grow up to be stallions, free to roam the range, gallop at high speeds, and get their horsey groove on with the nice mare a few barns down. I know you’re thinking to yourself, “Gee, Mr. Grymm, why the educational lesson on horses?” (Okay, you’re not thinking this at all, but roll with me here, dear readers.) As mentioned earlier, horses are fast creatures, hence their use as a mode of transportation in the olden days. Coltsblood, a fairly new band from Liverpool, England, is so very, very, very not fast. At all. Into the Unfathomable Abyss crawls and lurches like a pissed off, swamp-covered turtle in a race that’s impossible to win nor does it care for victory, but will you stay involved through all 58 minutes of its marathon duration?” I like turtles as much as the next guy, but…yeah.

Pet Slimmers of the Year – Fragments of Uniforms Review

By Madam X on March 29, 2014 in 2014, Candlelight, English Metal, Non-Metal Metal Things, Not Metal, Post-Rock, Reviews, Post-Metal, 3 comments

“So the Process Church of the Final Judgement wasn’t really your thing? Don’t slit your wrists over it, cults aren’t for everybody. Candlelight Records recently took a walk on the wild side adding a band that doesn’t run with their usual black metal or even their melodic death metal circles. Their band name is absurd, meaningless and annoying to the point where Nothing actually may be the better option, and to say that it had me tearing my hair out in chunks is an understatement. Pet Slimmers of the Year… Have you tried to Google this? No dammit, I’m not putting my feline on a diet, round is a shape too!” Yep, that’s the worst band name of all time. But, is the music any good? Madam X has opinions.

Abyssal – Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius Review

By Natalie Zed on March 8, 2014 in 2014, Black Metal, Doom Metal, English Metal, Profound Lore Records, Black Metal, Doom Metal, 6 comments

“The latin phrase “Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius” comes from an incident in the early 13th century known as the Massacre at Béziers. The ironically named Pope Innocent II had declared a crusade against those he identified as heretics in Northern France, and the first town his assembled force attacked was the well-fortified town of Béziers. As the siege developed, it became a massacre, with more disciplined soldiers losing control of the mercenaries in the force who massacred the people, pillaged the town and ultimately burned it to the ground. The Massacre at Béziers has become emblematic of religion gone mad, persecution in its most extreme and dangerous incarnation, not just for the degree of the bloodshed, but for its indiscriminate-ness.” This is late, but also good. Nat knows her black metal!

Human Cull – Stillborn Nation Review

By Kronos on March 5, 2014 in 2014, Crust Punk, English Metal, Grind, Hardcore, Reviews, WOOAAARGH, Crust Punk, Grind, 1 comment

“Band names are difficult to decide on, which is why so many of them are overwrought (Cryptopsy), ridiculous (Gorguts), deliberately self-effacing (literally any local hardcore band) or a combination of the aforementioned (The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza). No matter how terrible or fantastic a band is, their name can have a huge effect on what you think of them. Enter Eexeter’s Human Cull, a band whose sobriquet is so fantastically violent and straightforward that it could only signal one thing: really good grind.” Good grind is hard to find. Ask anybody.

Conan – Blood Eagle Review

By Noctus on February 25, 2014 in 2014, Doom Metal, English Metal, Napalm Records, Reviews, Doom Metal, 8 comments

“”Redundant genre, you say? Sorry, can’t hear you over ALL THESE AMPS!” say Conan ever so confidently. Or at least, I imagine that’s what they would say a few moments before bashing your skull in. Yes sir, Conan’s brand of doom metal is ridiculously heavy and drony – to the point of almost seeming like a gimmick.” Crom laughs at your four winds, amps and droning! As Crom laughs, Noctus discusses Conan’s brand of stoner doom.

The Wounded Kings – Consolamentum Review

By JF Williams on February 16, 2014 in 2014, Candlelight, Doom Metal, English Metal, Reviews, Doom Metal, 3 comments

“Supreme overlord and beloved Great Leader Angry Metal Guy recently suggested that we don’t lead into our reviews talking about genre, in the interest of avoiding redundancy. Moreover, I’d imagine that the average AMG listener doesn’t really need a lesson on thrash metal 101, right? That’s because, in many cases, it does a disservice to band’s artistic uniqueness – isn’t it better to discuss the band, rather than its relationship to the genre it would appear to work within? I wish I could say that was possible with The Wounded Kings, but this Dartmoor-based five piece do little if not play to a genre, which is that of Sabbath-ian Electric Wizard worship.” Now that we pigeonholed everything, JF Williams discusses the merits of the music itself.

Lvcifyre – Svn Eater Review

By Steel Druhm on January 17, 2014 in 2014, Black Metal, Dark Descent Records, Death Metal, English Metal, Reviews, Black Metal, Death Metal, 10 comments

“Alright, enough of the goddamn “V” replacing the “U” in band and song names! It’s dumb, trite, annoying, I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore! Moving on, Lvcifyre is a blackened death outfit from the U.K. and Svn Eater (irritating isn’t it?) is their sophomore outing. Having never heard them before, I admit to being pleasantly surprised by what they’re offering here, which is a fascinating mix of Norwegian black metal circa 1993 and hyper-riffy, technical and mega-brootal death metal. In a nutshell, their sound is vicious-as-fuck, mean-as-hell and heavy-as-a-two-ton-heavy-thing. You can expect to hear traces of old Darkthrone, Behemoth, Nile, Immolation and Deathspell Omega in a SINGLE SONG, all stitched together with power of the almighty riff.”

Sheol – Sepulchral Ruins Below The Temple Review

By Grymm on December 2, 2013 in 2.5, 2013, Death Metal, English Metal, Iron Bonehead Productions, Reviews, Death Metal, 3 comments

“What’s old is new again. Many new bands are ravaging old graveyards to exhume rotting corpses of bands and styles long since past their sell-by date. 70’s proto-doom, 80’s retro-thrash, and now, 90’s fuzzy Swedeath are the templates that bands are utilizing to create their own legacies. UK’s Sheol are the newest duo to bring out the rotting, zombified corpses of early Dismember and Darkthrone into the sunlight (studios) with their debut EP, Sepulchral Ruins Below The Temple.” 2013 winds down as it cranked up – with loads of old school Swedish death. Do you have room for just a little more?

Hell – Curse and Chapter Review

By Steel Druhm on November 29, 2013 in 2013, English Metal, Heavy Metal, Nuclear Blast, Reviews, Heavy Metal, 10 comments

“There’s an interesting history behind Hell. As a part of the original NWoBHM, they were close to releasing an album alongside contemporaries like Saxon and Iron Maiden, but bad luck and personal tragedy brought them low and derailed their best laid plans. Though they never made it past the demo stage, they were influential in the scene and championed by folks like producer and former Sabbat guitarist Andy Sneap. So taken with their old demos was he, that he encouraged the members to reform and give it another go with him on guitar, which resulted in 2011s Human Remains opus. That platter featured some ancient tunes loaded with NWoBHM flair and a noticeable Mercyful Fate influence, and while the music was highly enjoyable, I struggled mightily with the delivery of front man David Bower, which was overdone, uber-theatrical and at times, very cheeseball parmesan.” Now that they’ve had some time to sort things out, can Hell deliver some metal for the ages or are they still suffering from Drama Overload Disorder? Steel Druhm has the prognosis.

Code – Augur Nox Review

By JF Williams on November 18, 2013 in 2013, Agonia Records, Avante Garde, Black Metal, English Metal, Finnish Metal, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Black Metal, Progressive Metal, 2 comments

“Genre tags such as progressive and avant garde are kind of paradoxical terms in metal. Surely something truly progressive or avant garde should traverse the outer fringes of musical expression, bringing to the table a metal forged of fearless, arcane exploration? Often that’s not the case – those terms are in many ways boxes only slightly larger than thrash, death, and other tags of old. Does the anticipated third album of England’s Code break free of these restraints?” JF Williams asks and also answers. That’s why we keep him around.