My Kingdom Music

Kenòs – Pest Review

Kenòs – Pest Review

“As with a good ninety percent of Mediterranean death metal bands, Kenòs predicate their style on a brutal but boring interpretation of American brutal death, accented with a drum sound that’s preened like a fancy pigeon and monotonous vocals. Somebody out there likes this stuff, I’m sure, but that person isn’t me. Doomed to review Italian death metal every three months like clockwork, I can at least thank Kenòs for trying something a bit different here.” Pasta and pretension.

Deinonychus – Ode to Acts of Murder, Dystopia, and Suicide Review

Deinonychus – Ode to Acts of Murder, Dystopia, and Suicide Review

“I’ve been meaning to check out Deinonychus for one simple reason: I fucking love dinosaurs. Fellow dino nerds will know that Deinonychus was a fearsome predator of the early Cretaceous period, closely related to the infamous Velociraptor and with a name that means ‘terrible claw.’ It’s a badass band name, and though this Dutch trio doesn’t sing about slicing open unsuspecting sauropods, their music is no less compelling.” Music to go extinct to.

Dragonhammer – Obscurity Review

Dragonhammer – Obscurity Review

“The label’s press release for Obscurity states ostentatiously that the album will be the band’s ‘definitive consecration to the international scene.’ Sidelining that this is a gross misuse of the word and concept of ‘consecration’ on multiple levels, there’s no way to make me crankier right off the bat than with inane marketing bluster. Tread lightly, My Kingdom.” Dragon-sized PR misses.

Eva Can’t – Gravatum Review

Eva Can’t – Gravatum Review

“Despite ostensibly belonging to a melodic death circuit that favors homogeneity, Eva Can’t consistently blow my expectations to smithereens. Precursors Inabisso and Hinthial wowed me with their ability to incorporate melodic fervor and technical precision into a range of influences spanning metalcore – Wait! Don’t go! – to classical music. But as the years have gone by, the Italians have departed from a truly consistent sound, resulting in music that is amorphous and difficult to pin down.” Can’t or won’t?

In Tormentata Quiete – Finestatico Review

In Tormentata Quiete – Finestatico Review

“I don’t know any bands that sound quite like In Tormentata Quiete. The vocals are the heart and soul of the band, but where this often indicates an accessible band with a single, capable vocalist, ITQ uses everything but the kitchen sink in its range of styles. Two equally capable ladies bring harmonic symphonies that without context might have befitted a progressive Nightwishcore band, but here they balance out Marco Vitals. The only male listed in the vocal department, I am forced to conclude this one man is responsible for the grandiose, operatic clean vocals, the hushed whisper of the spoken sections, the occasional guttural growl, and the absolutely caustic black metal screech.” Many tongues, few spit-ups.

Område – Nåde Review

Område – Nåde Review

“Well, Område have done it again. Two years ago, I opened their Edari review talking about the marriage of an album to its artwork. What seems simplistic turns out to quite difficult. Finding the right artist and the right piece of art to match an album’s character is like food presentation. For instance, if not careful, you’ll turn your entire family against your amazing chili dogs. I thought the artwork of Område’s debut was the perfect match to its sound, but Nåde takes the cake (or, in this case, a foot-long chili coney).” Of trippy music and penis-shaped meats.

Infernal Angels – Ars Goetia Review

Infernal Angels – Ars Goetia Review

“Expectations can be an odd thing when dealing with hybrid genres. The more genres descriptors added to the band’s tag, the harder it gets to form a view of what you’re going to listen to, and it doesn’t just apply to blackened melodic industrigothic deathfolk. Take Infernal Angels, now releasing their 4th album in 15 years. Various sources I checked listed the band as melodic black metal, melodic black/death metal, or plain black/death metal.” Get in your pigeonhole!

Crest of Darkness – Welcome the Dead Review

Crest of Darkness – Welcome the Dead Review

“Ingar Amlien is a persistent fellow. Having formed Crest of Darkness in 1993 to pursue darker fare than his progressive main band Conception would allow, Amlien weathered line-up changes and several fine-tunings of their blackened thrash formula. Their last album, 2013’s In The Presence of Death, impressed our very own Madam X with their rifftastic blasphemy, goofy cover notwithstanding. Now it’s my turn to enjoy deep of Norwegian black-thrash with their seventh album, Welcome the Dead.” Welcome…to your grave!

Braindamage – The Downfall Review

Braindamage – The Downfall Review

“I know this Belgian dude who acts as my barometer for judging a band’s obscurity. The man’s knowledge of all things metal never ceases to amaze me. Whether it’s the newest grindcore band from Kuala Lumpur or a NWOBHM act that only ever released a live demo, he’ll have heard of them and, provided they aren’t too kvlt for social media, have “liked” them on Facebook. So when I look at a band page and don’t see his name on their fan list, it’s usually because they are so fresh you can suck their nuts.” We do not advocate nut suckery.

Område – Edari Review

Område – Edari Review

“There’s just something about Seldon Hunt’s artwork that draws me deep into the full concept and mood of an album. Hunt is somehow able to match auditory art with an observable one. And Område’s Edari is no different. Hunt’s work conveys a sense of beauty, confusion, and uneasiness that perfectly encapsulates a band that compares themselves to influential acts such as Manes and Ulver.” What’s with all the avant-garde metal this year? Must be due to global climate change.