Mercyful Fate

Tomorrow’s Rain – Ovdan Review

By Twelve on April 19, 2024 in Reviews, Doom Metal, Gothic Metal, 23 comments

“Tomorrow’s Rain is an interesting beast. The Israeli six-piece treads between doom and gothic metal, and made a splash with their debut Hollow in part because of the sheer number of guest musicians who participated in the album. Now, four years later, the band returns with their sophomore full-length, Ovdan (“Loss”), an album with a deeply personal backstory. This was recorded after vocalist and founding member Yishai Swartz suffered a heart attack severe enough to warrant open heart surgery.” Rain and recovery.

Attic – Return of the Witchfinder Review

By Dr. A.N. Grier on April 7, 2024 in Reviews, Heavy Metal, 44 comments

“Mmmmmm… King Diamond-core. It’s been seven years since Attic delivered its top-form masterpiece, Sanctimonious. And now, They’re is back again to ensure I’m erect for the remainder of the year. This new record continues the trend the band has been on even before Kim Bendix Petersen was but a wily sperm in his father’s nutsack. Delivering no-frills, old-school Satanic heavy metal, this German quintet combines soaring falsettos, creepy organs, and Mercyful Fate-esque dueling guitar work to shape yet another hour’s worth of music.” Something’s alive up there.

Yer Metal Is Olde: Illwill – Evilution

By Dr. A.N. Grier on March 10, 2024 in Yer Metal Is Olde, Thrash Metal, 18 comments

“Evilution is the sole LP from quasi-supergroup Illwill. This odd band consisted of King Diamond and Mercyful Fate greats Andy LaRocque, Sharlee D’Angelo, and Snowy Shaw. While it’s common for these lads to form, join, or guest in many projects over the years, this might be one of the strangest collaborations in their storied careers.” Licensed to ill.

Midnight – Hellish Expectations Review

By Dr. A.N. Grier on March 8, 2024 in Reviews, Black Metal, Speed Metal, Thrash Metal, 59 comments

“Two years ago, Athenar released perhaps his best album in Let There Be Witchery. And it’s one that I continually return to again and again. But this year’s Hellish Expectations strips everything back, delivering ten new songs in the shortest runtime of Midnight’s career.” LESS IS MOOOOOOAAAARRRRRR!

Dr. A.N. Grier’s Top Ten(ish) of 2023

By Dr. A.N. Grier on January 1, 2024 in Blog Posts, Lists, 116 comments

Listurnalia is almost over. But we can’t conclude it without a list from your favorite AMG writer, can we?

The Night Eternal – Fatale [Things You Might Have Missed 2023]

By Steel Druhm on December 19, 2023 in Things You Might Have Missed 2023, Heavy Metal, 49 comments

“Sometimes we get a promo and for whatever reason, it languishes in the sump unloved and unexplored, and later on we find out we missed a real gem and feel collective shame. Other times we just don’t get the promo at all. The latter was the issue with Fatale, the sophomore outing by German goth/heavy/occult metal act The Night Eternal.” Fatale if swallowed.

Malokarpatan – Vertumnus Caesar [Things You Might Have Missed 2023]

By Dr. A.N. Grier on December 17, 2023 in Things You Might Have Missed 2023, Black Metal, Heavy Metal, 37 comments

‘I don’t know about the rest of you, but work has been a fucking bear this year. Since starting tenish years ago, 2023 might be my lowest contribution to the site. It also caused me to miss a lot of great records I was looking forward to. Thank the sweet metal lord that we have TYMHM. And this one is special.”

Violent Sin – Serpent’s Call Review

By Crispy Hooligan on June 12, 2023 in Reviews, Speed Metal, 5 comments

“Like labelmates Lucifuge and fellow Flemings Bütcher, Violent Sin play relatively unadorned blackened speed metal tinged with thrash. That means raw riffs, drunken drumming, and especially raspy blackened vocals with falsetto flourishes. Altogether, Violent Sin are an amphetamine-addled amalgamation of Hellhammer and Mercyful Fate.” Sins of the elders.

Old Spirit – Burning in Heaven Review

By Carcharodon on February 23, 2023 in Reviews, Heavy Metal, 17 comments

“When I shared with the slack hacks gathered in the AMG Break Room, the offensively purple artwork for ,b>Old Spirit’s Burning in Heaven, the Boss Ape piped up, “That the guy from Vanishing Kids,?” I shrugged noncommittally. I didn’t know whether it was the guy from<,b>Vanishing Kids, had never heard of Vanishing Kids and was unsure whether expression on those leathery features was a smirk or just a sign the old fella had gas again. I just wanted to revel in a group at how awful the artwork was. Denied this opportunity, I trudged back to my cubicle and started working the foot pedal that powers up AMG-issue computers to do some research.” Old spirits and missing kids.