““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.” Brace for Haxprocessing.
“My introduction to France’s Sortilège was their announcement for the 2020 70000 Tons of Metal. I’ll give any band announced a fair shake as I look for acts to follow around The Boat. I was pleasantly surprised by a trve 80s outfit channeling the likes of Iron Maiden and Judas Priest in their ability to knock out charmingly old-school heavy metal. 1983’s self-titled EP and 1984’s Métamorphose remain in my regular rotation and will undoubtedly please the old farts looking for throwback releases.” Olde dogs, new tricks?
“Tanner Anderson, Carl Skildum and Matthew Kirkwood unofficially formed Majesties in 2016 with melodic death metal in mind and Gothenburg, Sweden in their hearts. It wasn’t until 2022, however, that their debut album, Vast Reaches Unclaimed, coalesced to present a classic conundrum for conscientious music reviewers: how do we talk about a really good pastiche?” Majesty and decay.
“No More Torture may be the debut album from Seattle’s Vanishment, but the music contained within is not the product of genre n00bs. The band’s members are grizzled metal and rock veterans, and they’ve chosen a pretty straightforward thrash style for this project. Promo materials cite Megadeth, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and Metallica as Vanishment’s source material, and after spending time with the album, it’s hard to refute that list.” Speed merchants.
“Guitars scream metal. We’ve mused around the idea that metal can escape the confines of a typical treble assault with bands like Greber and Twin Lords highlighting fervent and twisted bass melodies as the fright and flight of the program. In aggressive and emotional takes on sludge and hardcore, it works. Other acts like Seum eschew the standard 6-stringer cultivating a hypnotic groove—to a fault, perhaps—to carry their torch down the metal path. No Spill Blood falls closer to this category with their 2015 debut Heavy Electric holding a unique place in the stoner rock (ish) scene for elevating the groovy shred-less platform with fierce layers of synthwork.” Synth spillage.
“Swiss trve metallers Megaton Sword made quite the impression on my war helm with 2020 debut full-length crusade, Blood Hails Steel – Steel Hails Fire. Using my name twice was a sure ticket to getting my attention, and their raw, rough, and epic sound did the rest. It was an imperfect album, but the highs were very high and it reeked of Manopotential. Now a few years on we get the next installment of the Megaton saga and I’ve been eager to wield its unreasonable mass once again.” POWERS.
“Screamer doesn’t shout in the face of tradition—they never have and, predictably so, never will. Yes, here in this brand new year of 2023, young(ish) names chase the 40-year (or more) legacy of established icons like Rainbow, Van Halen, and Judas Priest, and there’s nothing wrong with that as many such surviving progenitors have trouble playing after bingo hours these days.” Still sreaming in the night.
“With pickings slim to threadbare in the nearly drained promo sump, Yours Steely skulked through the muck, kicking aside one-man basement black metal projects, re-releases from 2020, and several of Holdeneye‘s lost retainers looking for something worthy of attention. Eventually, I scraped up a debut by unknown Finnish traditional metallers, Green King to be my (likely) final review of 2022. Originally formed as a stoner rock outfit, Green King came to be much more a traditional heavy metal vehicle, borrowing a great deal from the earliest days of the NWoBHM.” Green but eager.
“Talk about making fans wait for a new album. Way, way back in 2014 I was gobsmacked by Severance, the sophomore release by Irish epic doom act Darkest Era. It had a near-perfect blend of doom, black, goth and Viking genres and felt like a heavy-duty emotional journey through dark, trying times. It stitched together the best parts of Primordial, Atlantean Kodex, Ereb Altor, and Iron Maiden to create an album grander than the sum of its parts. There was a brooding, melancholic beauty and power to it that few albums could equal. I was very anxious to get a followup, and nearly 8 long years later, it finally shows up.” Dark days.
“I vividly remember writing the review for Hell Fire’s 2019 release Mania. I was sitting in a folding chair in my empty, about-to-be-sold house, passing the time while an HVAC person repaired my apparently damaged furnace. I sat there typing with my headphones on, letting the San Francisco band’s beautiful guitar harmonies and journeyman heavy/speed/thrash metal soothe my heart, a heart still aching from an unanticipated $2000 bill. I remember at the time thinking that I might be underrating Mania, wondering if the stress of moving wasn’t affecting my ability to be objective.” Hell bills coming due.
