Lotus Thief

Inherus – Beholden Review

Inherus – Beholden Review

By Carcharodon on May 24, 2023 in Reviews, Doom Metal, Hard Rock, Progressive Metal, 43 comments

You know that scene in The Last of Us where we first meet the clickers, which can’t see but are attracted to the slightest sound? This is how I regard my fellow AMG scribes, as sightless fungi that I must not alert to the tastiest morsels in the sump until that point in time when AMG Promo Pit Rules allow me to make a breakneck sprint for the album I’ve been eyeing up. Until then, I have to stay absolutely silent. So it was that for almost a month after (the apparently, and happily, rejuvenated) Hypnotic Dirge Records alerted me to the existence and impending release of Beholden, the debut by Inherus.” Shroom squad.

Forlesen – Black Terrain Review

Forlesen – Black Terrain Review

By Carcharodon on October 27, 2022 in Reviews, Drone, Post-Metal, 23 comments

The debut record from San Francisco’s Forlesen hit me at a weird time. At the height of the first, very strict COVID lockdown in the UK, Hierophant Violent struck like a (very, very slow-moving) freight train. A masterclass in slow-build songwriting, exuding patience, confidence and skill in its execution, the album hooked me from the first spin, which was on a sunlit walk, taken as my one permitted piece of outdoor exercise for the day. Combining post-metal and drone with flashes of black metal and doom, Hierophant Violent snagged my first ever 4.5 and with it—the album, not my score—Forlesen secured places on three staff end-of-year lists.” Forlesen or Moresen.

Forlesen – Hierophant Violent Review

Forlesen – Hierophant Violent Review

By Carcharodon on April 17, 2020 in 2020, Ambient Metal, American Metal, Black Metal, Doom Metal, Drone, Hypnotic Dirge Records, Post-metal, Reviews, Ambient Metal, Drone, Post-Metal, 82 comments

“A hierophant – a word I was dimly aware of but confess that I had to look up – is a person who leads the religious into the presence of that which is deemed holy by the relevant congregation. It also a card in the tarot deck and at least one of its meanings is that of a teacher or counselor who aids the seeker in the acquisition of knowledge. Both of these meanings are wholly appropriate for Bay Area trio Forlesen’s debut, Hierophant Violent. I would estimate that, since beginning my tenure serfdom here at AMG, my musical consumption has increased by upwards of 80% and I was listening to a lot before I started. And yet it’s rare indeed that an album hits me like Hierophan Violent did.” Elephantine Hierophant.

Lotus Thief – Rervm Review

Lotus Thief – Rervm Review

By Roquentin on November 26, 2014 in 2014, American Metal, Avante Garde, Reviews, Svart Records, Experimental Metal, Space Metal, 3 comments

“I must admit I was pretty excited when I first read about San Francisco’s Lotus Thief, a duo consisting of musicians that are also members of Botanist. The promo blurb and various press snippets mentioned buzzwords like “space metal”, touches of avant-garde, and experimentalism which was enough to tickle my interest. Knowing how great the music from their other project was, I dug into Lotus Thief’s debut Rervm with a lot of expectations.” Expectations are a lot like chocolates. Too many make you die and otherwise ruin shit.