“Timōrātus is a deathcore project comprised primarily of David and Courtney Napier. They started out back in 2006 as a decidedly serious evangelical Christian band—their name means “full of reverence towards God; devout” in Latin—until just a couple years ago when they turned to parody in 2020’s My Life In a Mediocre Metal Band. This would explain why the jokes, such as they are, remain doggedly G-rated. One could call them youth pastor-y.” Spinal Pap.
“Suspiciously, only one other goregrind review exists on AMG, and it’s kind of shitty. If you follow the genre, you know that acts like UwU may squirt out 3 or more opuses in a year. As an organization, we are very much behind on showcasing this putrid genre of goregrind, so to rectify this oversight, I thrust myself upon GUINEAPIG’s latest bucket o’ blasts, Parasite.” Small but nasty.
“With a name like DeathFuckingCunt, you’d be forgiven for thinking that a well-done platter of slam was heading to your table. Surprisingly, the band is more subtle and nuanced (by death metal standards) than that. Decadent Perversity combines brutal death with technical death to form brutal-technical death metal. The difference between these guys and many contemporaries is that a delightful layer of grime lingers over their work.” Banned in the U.S.A.
“Wherever I end up in life, I’ll always have a soft spot for symphonic power metal. As much as I’m happy to malign the genre for its general lack of innovation, I always try to make some time to let it prove me wrong. Discovering Dreamland – Behind the Shades, the third full-length release from Swiss Deep Sun gave me what felt like my first chance this year to do exactly that.” Night(wish) falls in Dreamland.
“Deathwhite clearly enjoy the role of enigmatic mega-mystery band. For ten long years, they’ve toiled to release dark, gothy-tinged doom music with cascading negative thoughts and feelings, and all without revealing who is actually in the band. Their sound has gone through some evolution over the decade but here on album number three, Grey Everlasting, they’ve firmly locked themselves into the same soundscape as Katatonia and Warning, dropping much of the alt-metal elements in favor of bleak, unhappy odes to bummertude.” Grey is the new grey.
“We all have a type. Deep down inside, my type often reflects as moody, noodly, groove-kissed prog. So, when I see a promo that promises all of those things, I can’t help but shove it in my ears and hope for the best. Enter All Things Fallen who presents as a supergroup of sorts, boasting members of Pain of Salvation, Darkwater, and Almah—a little digging reveals it’s more of a supporting cast coalition. A little less ego can go a long way in collaborative projects, so smaller names are not exactly a bad thing.” Manbun-core.
“In the year that was 2020—you know, that year—I stumbled across an EP by an unsigned band from Arizona. That EP was The Baring of Shadows by Kardashev, an absolutely devastating record about harrowing heartache and managing mourning. Combining elements of black and post-metal with progressive death, Kardashev’s self-styled deathgaze casually sauntered to #5 on my 2020 List despite only comprising four tracks, one of which (“Snow-Sleep”) also took my Song o’ the Year spot. It seems I wasn’t the only one Kardashev impressed. It was announced in January 2021 that the quartet had signed to Metal Blade. To say I was pumped for the sophomore full-length would be something of an understatement.” Fanboy summer.
“In the six years that have passed since Astronoid’s first LP, I have yet to hear a debut record spring from the ether as novel and fully realized as Air. While possessing a youthful vigor and innocence characteristic of an enthusiastic upstart, Air sounded like the product of several albums’ worth of honed identity. As Mark Z so eloquently summarized, however, that once-perfect brew of black metal, post-rock, and shoegaze became unbalanced with Astronoid’s self-titled follow up. Its songwriting was flat, its energy and atmosphere were tempered, and they took away the fucking blastbeats; an automatic point deduction for any metal record. I’m happy to report, then, that Radiant Bloom is something of a return to form.” Embrace the Noid.
“More than any notable thrash band of the 80s, Kreator dabbled in different styles, tweaked and retweaked their formula, sometimes to their detriment. 1992s Renewal tried to fuse hardcore and industrial elements into their thrash sound with wildly mixed results, and Endorama went for something like a goth metal style that was weird to say the least. In recent years they’ve been more restrained in their experimentation, incorporating doses of anthemic traditional metal into their sound. It’s been 5 years since Gods of Violence and the singles released for Hate Über Alles suggested Kreator had been bit by the experimentation bug once again.” Impact Kreator.
“Allow me to be contrite for a moment. Three and a half years ago I casually dropped a 3.5 rating on My Diligence’s second album, Sun Rose. I’m not too proud to tell you that, after circling back to the album many times since, I definitely had my overrating cap on. At best Sun Rose was a 3.0, more likely closer to a 2.5. But I was somehow smitten at the time and threw caution to the wind. I’ll admit it now: I was too enamored of the strong songs, and ignored the chaff. Now here we are with The Matter, Form and Power, and I am determined to approach this stoner-prog platter with open eyes and an even keel.”” Doom Diligence.
