Feb16

Crimson Moonlight – Divine Darkness Review

Crimson Moonlight – Divine Darkness Review

“I was relatively surprised to find I wasn’t yet acquainted with Crimson Moonlight. Party to the ‘unblack’ metal scene emerging in the latter 90s in Scandinavia, their Swedish roots stretch back to the infertile earth of 1997, associated with the relative popularity of the likes of Extol and Antestor in their unorthodox fusion of black metal with Christianity. The 19 years since their first demo has only seen 2 studio albums and Divine Darkness is their first in 12. This leaves question marks over their contemporary relevance and lack of recent experience with the project: would they be able to harness the anachronistic spirit of their unblackened origins, wherein Christian black metal was almost as sacrilegious as black metal itself?” Can this much metallic irony be good?

Frozen Ocean – The Prowess of Dormition Review

Frozen Ocean – The Prowess of Dormition Review

“”New year. New me.” Those four words were uttered by practically everyone on my social media feed at approximately 12:01 am on January 1st of this year. All great and everything, but why must you be entirely new? I, for example, am quite happy being a cantankerous dude whose alter ego is one-half adorable internet meme, and one-half winner of last month’s Record o’ the Month honors. Another thing that won’t ever change is my luck when it comes to reviewing one-person black metal bands.” Grymm is rolling the dice at Casino Vardan.

Obscura – Akróasis Review

Obscura – Akróasis Review

“What now?” That’s the question Akróasis, unfairly or otherwise, is supposed to answer. Obscura in 2016 is solely within the hands of founder, guitarist, and vocalist Steffen Kummerer. With the core of the band as we knew it between Cosmic Genesis and Omnivium gone—and that’s an impressive list: Hannes Grossman on drums, Jeroen Paul Thesseling on bass, and Christian Münzner on guitars—Akróasis is a moment for a new statement of intent.

Anthrax – For All Kings Review

Anthrax – For All Kings Review

“Growing up in the original thrash era, I loved the big stars of the Bay Area thrash explosion dearly, but as a native New Yorker, I always had a special soft spot for Brooklyn/Queens born Anthrax. Not as evil as Slayer, way less poser killing than Exodus and far less technical than Metallica, Anthrax was the good times thrash band with the New York attitude.” The noise is about to be brougten!

Omnihility – Dominion of Misery Review

Omnihility – Dominion of Misery Review

“Coming hot off the tail of a rough early summer between myself and Unique Leader records, Omnihility’s last album, Deathscapes of the Subconscious, quite impressed me with a mix of inventive and impossibly demanding riffing and a sleeve full of compositional tricks. Indeed, some of its riding embedded itself in me, and I find myself recalling the title track’s modulated theme again and again, even as I listen to the wealth of new shred that Dominion of Misery presents.” The struggle is real (and trve).

Collision – Satanic Surgery Review

Collision – Satanic Surgery Review

“Sometimes I feel like a wine critic. Not because I spit booze into a bucket like a drunken ibex and pretend it’s a real job when I write about it, but because I’m describing what I hear and then telling you good folks about how my “palate” reacts to it. Although it would be substantially easier to just sniff, taste or write “a bold 90s flavour, Good/5.0” and call it a day, this metal gig actually lets me reference hamburgers, beer, and philosophy at a frankly ludicrous frequency so I can confidently say I made the right choice. With that in mind I’ve taken many sips from the boxed Merlot of Dutch thrashcore merchants Collision’s fifth full-length Satanic Surgery, and much like a baffled wine critic (Diabolus in Vino?) I had one Hell of a time figuring out why it tasted funny.” Time for speed tasting!

Adept – Sleepless Review

Adept – Sleepless Review

“Look, I get it: ‘metalcore’ is a dirty word in the metal community. Telling a bunch of underground metalheads that you like metalcore is the equivalent of painting a big scarlet letter right between your set of Fred Durst nipple rings. And while I agree the genre has its shortcomings, I can’t help but enjoy it nonetheless. Part of it’s because this is the music I grew up with – sure, there’s lots of emo choruses and re-purposed Gothenburg riffs, but they’re my emo choruses and re-purposed Gothenburg riffs!” We have a Core infection in Sector 6!

Urgehal – Aeons of Sodom Review

Urgehal – Aeons of Sodom Review

“Without a doubt, Urgehal’s final release, Aeons in Sodom, has to be the toughest review I’ve yet written. It’s not difficult because it sucks or lacks anything worth writing about; rather, it’s difficult because of the strong personal and emotional attachment I have to Urgehal. I am a fanboy, in the truest sense of the word. What makes it worse is that Aeons of Sodom should have never happened.” The Doctor needs a therapist, stat!

Magrudergrind – II Review

Magrudergrind – II Review

“Apparently I am now the designated AMG reviewer wot gets all the grindcore, which suits me fine as, though it is amongst my top genres in the crazy world of extreme music, it’s one that I mysteriously neglect for long periods. Probably mostly because I’m listening to Toto’s first five records on a loop.” Gonna take a lot to drag me away from Magru!