French Metal

Kronos Comments: On Sampling Bias and the Seedy Underbelly of the European Metal Scene

Kronos Comments: On Sampling Bias and the Seedy Underbelly of the European Metal Scene

“Just about every day, Angry Metal Guy pushes out a review of an upcoming or recently released album, producing press for the album whether we love it or hate it. It exposes readers to a lot of material, but disadvantages artists who aren’t putting out music at any given time. Given a small temporal window, this creates a very biased sample of the music scene. I love reviewing albums, but a lot of great and criminally overlooked bands are in between releases right now, and it kills me to see their hard work go unseen. So in order to rectify their invisibility, they’re being talked about here, where you can be held captive by the unbreakable bonds of html and subjugated to my terrible opinions.” Next stop, Europe!

Putrid Offal – Mature Necropsy Review

Putrid Offal – Mature Necropsy Review

“I jumped on reviewing Putrid Offal’s debut album, Mature Necropsy, like a retiree on an early bird special when I saw a lineup of three guys that may actually have a few years on me. These French gore hounds formed 25 years ago, split up five later, and dug the carcass up again in 2013.” Getting tired of juvenile necropsies? Well these geriatric gore rockers are here to make you watch Murder She Wrote and eat ribbon candy.

6:33 – Deadly Scenes Review

6:33 – Deadly Scenes Review

“Avant-garde metal as a subgenre nowadays is really devoid of meaning. Nothing more than an umbrella term to include all those bands that don’t fit neatly onto well-established shelves of “traditional” metal styles. In other words, it has become shorthand for “this is weird.”” The weird don’t need to fit in, but they should expect some wedgies nonetheless.

Things You Might Have Missed 2014: Cowards – Shooting Blanks & Pills

Things You Might Have Missed 2014: Cowards – Shooting Blanks & Pills

“Paris is shit. Above all else, that is what the Paris-based Cowards wants to leave with the listener. Having missed this the first time round in 2012, Shooting Blanks & Pills has earned a well-deserved re-issue.” You might have missed this in 2012, and you may have missed the 2014 re-issue. Don’t be a two-time misser!

Skelethal –  Interstellar Knowledge of the Purple Entity Review

Skelethal – Interstellar Knowledge of the Purple Entity Review

“Great Scott! Like stepping into a sepulchral time machine, Skelethal have transported us back to when Sunlight Studios was Mecca, buzz saw guitars sounded like a swarm of bees, and vocals were scraped from the depths of the grimiest gutters of hell.” More retro death arrives, unfazed by the giant shadow of Bloodbath. That’s brave.

Blut Aus Nord – Memoria Vetusta III: Saturnian Poetry Review

Blut Aus Nord – Memoria Vetusta III: Saturnian Poetry Review

“There’s a lot to be said about a band that can produce albums that are radically different from each other, but still are unmistakably recognizable as a product of their arduous labor. Even more can be said when those albums are consistent in their high level of quality.” Can the high quality and creative insanity keep going or have we finally found the rut?

Atara / Miserable Failure – Hang Them Review

Atara / Miserable Failure – Hang Them Review

“French grind with hardcore and black metal influence that screams of being “the noose that’ll suffocate your dry throat in an auto-erotic maelstrom of hatesphyxiation” – well now, don’t mind if I do!” Madam X can never say no to a nice noose. That’s why she works remotely and not at AMG headquarters.

Nightmare – The Aftermath Review

Nightmare – The Aftermath Review

“Let’s face it, power metal is the drama club of the metal world. Members of said club tend to be overdramatic, artsy fartsy and prone to big gestures and frilly shirts. Needless to say, that makes them the target for the rest of metaldom and inevitably, lunch money gets stolen and nipples get twisted. However, none of that shit is going to fly with French power meisters Nightmare. You try to give them a wedgie or rear admiral and you may lose a tooth or six. Yep, these cats pack a lot of muscle and menace in their music and between the crunching guitars and rough and raucous vocals, you’ll forget all about the need to snicker.” But I thought drama club was cool!

Exorcism – I Am God Review

Exorcism – I Am God Review

“Super-groups are an odd breed of duck. They either end up a bunch of egos, ball-busting for attention (a fight nobody wins) or they end up something along the lines of Down’s NOLA – chilled out, soaked in beer, raw and dirty and probably totally fucking stoned. This little collective I happened upon most recently via Rock n Growl Promotion, hail from a range of countries including, unsurprisingly, the USA and more surprisingly Spain, Italy and France.” An international doom rock supergroup starring the likes of Joe Stump? Intriguing!