Jun20

The Third Kind – Man vs Earth Review

The Third Kind – Man vs Earth Review

“As a reviewer, it always feels good when you correctly identify a band’s influences. Hmm, I thought to myself upon first listening to The Third Kind’s Man vs Earth debut, this kind of sounds like All Out War. It turns out there’s a good reason for that. Formed in 2015, Kind count All Out War guitarist Taras Apuzzo amongst their ranks, along with other members from a slew of New York hardcore bands.” Earth had it coming.

Thunderslave – Unchain the Night Review

Thunderslave – Unchain the Night Review

“I really should know better by now. I thought that I’d learned early in my career as an unpaid music journalist, back when I was known simply as Nameless_n00b_11, that Steel Druhm and his gifts are not to be trusted. Don’t get me wrong. He’s a fair master, to be sure, but he also has a tendency to entertain himself by being overwhelmingly cruel. During one of our recent socially distant AMG staff Zoom chats, he told me that he had a promo picked out just for me, one that “sounds like Skelator if they actually tried.”” Steel gifts are for closers.

Pale Divine – Consequence of Time Review

Pale Divine – Consequence of Time Review

“Generally speaking, bands don’t wait until their 25th year in existence to hit their peak. Don’t tell that to Pale Divine though. Pennsylvania’s best kept secret has been quietly churning out beefy classic doom albums since the turn of the century, basing their sound around Trouble, Black Sabbath and Pentagram, with a gritty biker rock edge making everything feel sturdy and muscular.” Time has been good to some of us.

Irae – Lurking in the Depths Review

Irae – Lurking in the Depths Review

“Black metal has a weird reputation. If you ask anybody walking down the street about it, given its nuances of church burning and Satanism, they’ll shudder and tell you “that stuff is scary, man.” However, if you ask a person who regularly listens to it, it becomes a different beast entirely: using Burzum’s self-titled as an example, you’ll hear an angsty Ewok grumbling about his mom taking away his Satanic Bible while abusing a Walmart guitar.” Fear and loathing in Portugal.

Goblins Blade – Of Angels and Snakes Review

Goblins Blade – Of Angels and Snakes Review

“I don’t know what prompted me to grab this debut album from Goblins Blade. It could be that I was sick of all the prog I listened to this month. It could be that I wanted to save the world from another Holdeneye 4.0. Or it could be that the lack of an apostrophe in this band name made me cringe enough to want to write about it. Regardless, here we sit with my first power metal review of the year, and with promo blurb name drops like Judas Priest and Metal Church, I am cautiously optimistic.” The problem with goblins.

Exocrine – Maelstrom Review

Exocrine – Maelstrom Review

“Are you ready for a hot take? I enjoy deeply of Exocrine’s Molten Giant. Regardless of the criticisms it received in the linked review, I return to that record still, twenty-two months after it’s initial release. Tight, jagged and delightfully choppy, Exocrine delivered a big sleeper with Molten Giant. It looked like stock tech-death, sounded like stock tech-death, and stepped on just about every mine littering the tech-death field. Yet, it put a big, stupid grin on my big, stupid face.” Squid pro quo.

Airbag – A Day at the Beach Review

Airbag – A Day at the Beach Review

“Four years ago now, our AMG Overlords made the error in judgement to bring me on as a n00b. Airbag’s Disconnected was my second probationary review, and I will never forget it. Why? Well, because every week without fail for the past four years, our technologically advanced promo distribution system has notified me that “Steel Druhm has stopped sharing Airbag with you.” Okay, I get the hint.” Bag men.