“During my short tenure at AMG, I’ve discovered the magical terror that is the Promo Bin. While it is a World War I-esque no man’s land of one-man black metal carpet bombs, awkwardly rumbling deathcore tanks, nu-metal mustard gas, and experimental drone-doom PTSD, you can find some gems in the trenches while the good Lord Himself picks us, contributors, off one by one. It’s a trve and rvthless battle of good vs. evil, light vs. dark, Jedi vs. Sith, Kramer vs. Kramer, power metal vs. actual metal. It’s all about balance, after all.”
Isis
John, the Void – III – Adversa Review
“During the Great N00b Off, I told myself that, should I one day be given unchaperoned access to the promo bin, I absolutely would not choose a band purely on the basis of its name. I would do my research and make an informed decision. So, following my first foray into the promo bin sans Steel Druhm, take a bow John, the Void, a band I chose purely for its name.” What’s in a name?
Spotlights – Love & Decay Review
“The songs on Love & Decay are post-metal in structure with moments of sludge/doom heft, but damn it if Spotlights don’t frequently sound like My Bloody Valentine started down tuning their guitars and forgot to stop. Or like a much heavier Starflyer 59 back when they were accused of being a My Bloody Valentine knock-off. If you’re not following, take a break and go listen to Loveless. We’ll still be here when you get back.” Up in lights.
Degraey – Reveries Review
“One of my greatest musical regrets is missing an opportunity to see Isis perform shortly before they disbanded. They were the band that got me into the heavier, harsher-vocalled side of metal, and remain one of my all-time favorite bands. Fortunately, given their position as genre-definers for post-metal, there are no shortage of imitators out there to scratch the itch. Degraey are an independent Spanish band, here with their second album following 2016’s Chrysalis, and the briefest of listens to Reveries reveals they’re card-carrying members of the “We Miss Isis” club.” Gone but not forgotten.
Cartographs – Wilt & Blossom Review
“Right now, while the rest of the United States is either snowing or trying to thaw, right in my happy home in Florida, it’s starting to become summer already. While many people find this concept idyllic, in reality it feels kinda gross and dreary. The sudden increase in temperatures and humidity, along with grey skies, compounds feelings of dread and sadness as the grey permeates and hovers until the skies finally break, and we are delivered that deluge of rain that makes everything somewhat better. It’s rare to come across an album that captures that break effectively. Wilt & Blossom, the debut album by Danish upstarts Cartographs, managed to do so with great ease.” Haze of torment.
Unreqvited – Mosaic I: L’Amour et L’Ardeur Review
“Time for a confession, dear reader, one that I hope will not cost me the “exalted” position of Nameless N00b_17: I am not a follower of the trve faith and, try as I might, cannot enjoy black metal. I know, I know, it’s all about the atmospherics, the stripped-back aggression, the chilling extremity… but, to be frank, I find myself unable to appreciate the, um, subtleties of Gorgoroth or Marduk. So it was with a certain sense of trepidation that I approached Mosaic I: L’Amour et L’Ardeur, the third album from Canada’s Unreqvited.” Northern sadness.
Sumac – Love in Shadow Review
“Earlier this year, Sumac collaborated with the Japenese artist Keiji Haino. Haino’s abstract, free-form approach to music heavily influenced Love in Shadow. What you’ll find, when you open this Pandora’s post-metal box, is an hour of music split into four massive slabs. Structures, pre-rehearsed music is stitched together with passages of improvisation, recorded over five days in a single room, and carefully merged by Kurt Ballou. The goal: “Finding comfort in the negative spaces within each track’s borderland.”” Spaced jam.
The Crotals – Horde Review
“As Angry Metal Guy’s resident post-metal aficionado, I’ve been bombarded with more of the cresting-and-climaxing heavy stuff than a crab-walking man-cat can possibly handle. Epic-length songs featuring more build-ups than a pro-wrestling pay-per-view? Check. Thundering drums? Check. Cascading riffs and bass work that doesn’t teem with melody so much as it just levels you into (and sometimes through) the ground? Check and mate.” Post-Crotal glow.
Raum Kingdom – Everything & Nothing Review
“When post-metal is done right it’s so mothersludgin’ right. It gets a bad rap from some for its lack of definable riffs, pretentiousness, and bloated structures, but it’s one of those styles that can grip and shake your core like no other. It’s a patient, reflective, solitary sub-genre that does require a certain state of mind for the juice of an album to be extracted. Sometimes you’ll be met with a thick wall of repetitiveness that cannot be penetrated, other times with a sloppy mush of watery crescendos and vocals. Sometimes, though, you’ll encounter a beast of an album that throbs with the force of a membranous world-eater, an oozing, atmosphere-drenched annihilator that secretes a vitriolic self-loathing power into your mind as you listen.” Celtic rage.
Timeworn – Venomous High [Things You Might Have Missed 2017]
“Like them or hate them, Mastodon have grown into one of the biggest metal bands this side of the millennium. But many pine for their pre-The Hunter era, when they were still playing dense, complex sludge metal instead of smooth progressive metal. If you’re like that, Timeworn should come as an absolute treat.” Snakes. Why’d it have to be snakes?