“When bands list their influences publicly, I’m apt to cross at least a few of those names off a list of potential name-drops. Whether or not those tributaries contributed to the intellectual process of music-making is irrelevant. Many bands resemble their idols only with a squint and a head-tilt. Yet The Crawling’s list of Bolt Thrower, Entombed, My Dying Bride, and Novembre reads like a playbill., each entry more accurate than next.” A night at the chopra.
“I still remember the day I ventured into the world of Swedish melodic death metal. The time, the mood, the buying of so many albums. There was At the Gates’s Slaughter of the Soul, Dark Tranquillity’s Projector and Damage Done, In Flames’ Jester Race and Clayman, The Haunted’s debut and Made Me Do It, and Amon Amarth’s Fate of Norns. All purchased and consumed within weeks of each other. I was fucking hooked—ignoring reason (and my food budget) to please my insatiable craving for everything this genre had to offer.” The Left Hand Path has many toll booths.
“One of death metal’s weirdest phenomenon was the so-called ‘death ‘n’ roll’ movement. First popularized by albums like Entombed’s Wolverine Blues and Carcass’s Swansong, death ‘n’ roll is kind of like your weird older cousin at the family reunion. On one hand, you have to love him because he’s family — but at the same time, nobody really talks about him or seems to be totally comfortable in his presence. Point is, death ‘n’ roll is one of those genres that most people seem to tolerate rather than actually enjoy, and maybe that’s why bands like Lubricant are so often overlooked.” Death rock in a tight place.
“There are a handful of obscure record labels that I’ve learned to pay attention to when their output finds its way into our promo bay; the aptly named Transcending Obscurity is one of them. In recent months they’ve distributed some seriously weird novelty projects that, though not always great, typically provide something fresh that stands out in the crowded sphere of extreme metal. Thus, when I saw they had delivered us a Swedish death metal album, I was immediately intrigued.” You deserve a Kaning.
“KforKill is either one of the most on-the-nose monikers for a death metal band you’ve ever seen or a segment on Sesame Street devised by a writer trying desperately to get fired. In this case it’s the former and as a mechanism for establishing listener expectations it does an effective job of priming you for what’s to come. It did get me thinking: can this rudimentary but direct approach to band names be applied to other styles? Black metal? CforCorpsepaint. Speed? BforBulletbelts. Power metal? DforDon’tbotherwastingyourtime.” That’s cold, man.
“‘Tis the tide of Yule and if you’re anything like me, you might find yourself wondering just what might be malingering under the tree in those sinister rhomboidal shapes… If you’re exactly like me, then you too must be hoping for some filthy Swedeath to furnish the festive season. Now if your partner hasn’t taken it upon themselves to wrap up a platter of Scandinavian malignancy, then fear not because Sentient Horror are the D-Beasts for you, arriving just in time to plunder Christmas with that smooth Stockholm sound.” You know Santa’s on his way. He’s loaded lots of horrors in his sleigh.
“”Listen to them, the children of Entombed. What sweet music they make!” Or something like that. There can be no denying just how ubiquitous the genre has become, but I harbor a serious love of all things Swedish death. Clearly so do Revel In Flesh, a band who have been successfully churning out body-blow Scandinavian flavored death metal for the last 5 years.” Left Hand wrath.
“In 2014, my main claim to AMG fame or, if your tastes are less than impeccable, infamy, lay in awarding Alestorm Record o’ the Year for the truly excellent Sunset on the Golden Age. I did some other good deeds as well, such as spotlighting Entrapment’s top-shelf Swe-death platter Lamentations of the Flesh.” Cause one out of two is kinda bad.
“when I receive a promo for a band (in this case, Italy’s Hierophant), and the one-sheet that accompanies their fourth album, Mass Graves, states rather emphatically, “No pink unicorns here,” and they still don’t supply us with a promo pic? Prepare for battle, son.” Doom death in the Age of Pink.
“It was bound to happen. As I’m sitting here, writing a review of the appropriately titled An Ill Wind Blowing, the second album by Swedish sludgemeisters Age of Woe, I gaze out the rear door and see picturesque blue skies, mild temperate winds, and a garden teeming with life and vibrancy, complete with a Godzilla statue wolfing down some unfortunate garden gnomes. This is all important to note because, just a full day ago, Hurricane Matthew beat the ever-loving shit out everyone in its path through the Bahamas and parts of Florida, including my sleepy neighborhood.” From the storm comes…doom.
