Gojira

Genus Ordinis Dei – The Beginning Review

Genus Ordinis Dei – The Beginning Review

“One can’t credibly accuse Genus Ordinis Dei of a lack of ambition. Predecessor Glare of Deliverance used bombastic symphonic death metal to weave a tale of religious prosecution and witchcraft. The entire storyline was accompanied by a series of self-produced music videos. A big project, but the album itself was undercut by bloat and failed to impress me as much as 2017’s Great Olden Dynasty had done. Now, as the year draws to a close, the Biblical story-weavers bring us The Beginning, another religion-themed concept album accompanied by videos, but with only 4 videos and a pared-down running time, I felt hopeful the Italians would not be making the same mistake twice.” Big religion.

Æolian – Echoes of the Future Review

Æolian – Echoes of the Future Review

“It’s difficult to fully articulate why I feel so strongly about Spain’s melodic death metallers Æolian. I stumbled upon their debut album Silent Witness shortly after its release in 2018, and while I saw lots of potential in their aggressive take on melodeath, Silent Witness ultimately left me unimpressed to the point that I ended up passing over their 2020 release The Negationist. So when Æolian’s name appeared within the promo sump, why did I feel such hope that this time, this time Æolian would nail it?” Hope and reality.

Omnivortex – Circulate Review

Omnivortex – Circulate Review

“Since snatching my AotY crown in 2020 with their awesome Diagrams of Consciousness, Finland tech-death juggernauts Omnivortex have been hard at work on follow up Circulate. Needless to say, I’ve been at the edge of my seat. Remembering the indelible hooks and brutal heft of their explosive debut, I have no idea what Omnivortex need to do in order to top it.” Spinning on, spinning up.

AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö: Neural Dissonance – Under a Rain of Senses

AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö: Neural Dissonance – Under a Rain of Senses

“AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö” is a time-honored tradition to showcase the most underground of the underground—the unsigned and unpromoted. This collective review treatment continues to exist to unite our writers in boot or bolster of the bands who remind us that, for better or worse, the metal underground exists as an important part of the global metal scene. The Rodeö rides on.” Death in July.

Urne – A Feast on Sorrow Review

Urne – A Feast on Sorrow Review

“I like metal to have an emotional heart to it. By this, I mean that, when I’m listening to a record, I want to feel that a band has poured some of itself into the music. Now, I get this is not for everyone and there is undoubtedly a place for straightforward riffs that one can just switch off and headbang to. That is not A Feast for Sorrow, the sophomore album from UK trio Urne, a band Metal Archives wholly inaccurately brands as “Stoner/Sludge Metal/Metalcore.”” Sorrow as fuel, pain as inspiration.

Widow’s Peak – Claustrophobe Review

Widow’s Peak – Claustrophobe Review

“I’m not a particularly skilled musician myself, and I won’t pretend for a second that I could play anything that Widow’s Peak does on this technical extravaganza of groovy and deathy leanings. Fitting for fret-melting of this caliber, this Canadian outfit has enlisted the engineering talents of Colin Marston (Krallice, Dysrhythmia, many technical credits).” Peak tech-freakouts.

Gorod – The Orb Review

Gorod – The Orb Review

Gorod’s assignment with The Orb is to figure out how to follow up 2018’s magnificent Æthra. This album’s predecessor, which followed on a string of excellent releases, is among the best albums that I have ever underrated. But Æthra brought change and continuing on this trajectory, The Orb is the band’s first fully independent release. And that raises the hackneyed, obvious question: is all this change good, actually?” Won’t somebody think of the riffs!?

AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö: Dawn of Creation – Self-Destructive Matters

AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö: Dawn of Creation – Self-Destructive Matters

“Back in the primordial days of this here blog, we attempted something called “AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö.” The basic idea was to select a bunch of unsigned bands and give them the collective review treatment to find the most worthy buried gems. It was our humble effort to remind folks that the metal underground is still an important part of the world of metal.” Welcome to Serbia.