“Another year has passed us by. As 2019 drifts to memory, I contemplate all the love the AMG community has shown me, a now somewhat less maligned contributor to a respected forum of metal journalism, feeling the love, feeling the camaraderie, feeling the–oh shit, there’s a review due this week?” Better get to it before the Task Monkey gets to you.
“When I was younger, I didn’t care much about production. Usually, I would look past an album’s sound and simply focus on its riffs and songwriting. That’s changed in my time writing here, as I’ve listened to a lot more music and started to care more about how an album sounds. Even still, it’s rare to find an album whose production outright ruins it. Most of the time, awful production goes hand in hand with awful music.” Ruins to their memory.
“When it comes to our promo bin, the old adage holds true: the early bird gets the worm, the late bird gets the obscure Chilean black metal album with the unpronounceable name. Seriously, what the fuck is all that squiggly shit? Google tells me it’s Hindu for ‘world path,’ which makes sense given that Pyreficativm’s sole member Melek R. N. accompanied this album with a lengthy promo blurb containing several references to Eastern mysticism (amidst a torrent of other philosophical gibberish). After seeing he also referred to this debut as a ‘vehicle and ritualistic vessel,’ my pretense sensors went off the charts. Suddenly I feel like I’ve stumbled upon a South American version of Vardan that Enjoys ov Deep Soma.” I am become daft.
“Sometimes the right setting is everything for a metal album. Fortunately for myself, through a pretty atypical series of life events I’ve had the opportunity to enjoy several records in environments that bring out their absolute best. I’ve listened to Ahab while snuggled below decks on a three-masted barque sailing in the North Atlantic, I’ve listened to Wolves in the Throne Room while hiking the lush forests of the Pacific Northwest, I’ve listened to Baroness while cruising through the humid towns of southeastern America, and I’ve listened to The Acacia Strain while cleaning my toilet. But Æ.Thy.Rift, the third album from Australian one-man black metal project Ill Omen, isn’t one of those albums that just benefits from a proper listening environment – it demands one.” So…give it up!
“I love combining metal with long-distance running. I find that reducing myself to a wheezing heap is a surprisingly effective way to evaluate new music: if an album makes me say “fuck this!” and throw my iPod into the nearest drainage ditch, it probably isn’t worth revisiting. With Macabre Omen’s sophomore effort Gods of War – At War, the effect was quite the opposite.” You missed the battle of the year!
“Greek black metal seems to earn its fair share of acclaim, be it Acherontas’ latest album, meloblack torchbearers like Rotting Christ, or the epic pagan-isms of Macabre Omen. But while I love the bigger names, exploring the scene in depth has always been something I’d do ‘one day,’ just like finally watching the episodes of Twin Peaks after Laura Palmer’s killer is revealed, or cleaning up that mysterious stain in the corner of my living room.” Stain first, Greek exploration second.
