Oct18

Dark Ocean Society – Hymns for the Last Man Review

Dark Ocean Society – Hymns for the Last Man Review

By Lokasenna on November 3, 2018 in 2018, American Metal, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Self-released, Stoner Metal, Progressive Metal, Stoner Metal, 28 comments

“As a metalhead, I always feel way behind on doom metal and its various offspring genres. It was the last genre I discovered, and further the last one I gained a bone-deep understanding of. Imagine my surprise to find an untouched, independent stoner prog album sitting in the promo bin. Chicagoan band Dark Ocean Society is one of those projects—one-man, home recorded, totally independent; it is the brainchild of one C.M. Tedor. You know, the kind of project you’d expect to spit out a shitty black metal record. Instead, we have Hymns for the Last Man, a piece on alienation and the pain of life in the modern era.” One Hymn, some waiting.

Total Fucking Destruction – #USA4TFD Review

Total Fucking Destruction – #USA4TFD Review

By Mark Z. on November 2, 2018 in 2018, American Metal, Give Praise Records, Grind, Reviews, 15 comments

“Few bands can pull off having “fucking” in their name. Total Fucking Destruction is definitely fucking one of them. This Philadelphia trio were formed in 1999 by Brutal Truth drummer Richard Hoak following Truth’s breakup the previous year. True to grindcore’s punk origins, the band have released a bevy of splits over the years but been pretty sporadic about putting out full-lengths, with only three released in their near-twenty-year history. Nevertheless titles like Zen and the Art of Total Fucking Destruction and Our Love Is a Rainbow show TFD harbor a cheeky sense of humor alongside their frantic and eclectic riffing. Apparently they’re now also running for public office, as fourth full-length #USA4TFD possesses both a Twitter-ready title and an album cover I’ll definitely be sharing with my friends, if only to see if they can make any fucking sense of it.” Vote TFD.

Antiverse – Under the Regolith Review

Antiverse – Under the Regolith Review

By Ferrous Beuller on November 2, 2018 in 2018, American Metal, Melodic Black Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Reviews, Seeing Red Records, Thrash Metal, Melodic Black Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Thrash Metal, 108 comments

“Of all the adages that exist to roll my eyes to the back of my head, “expect the unexpected” might be the worst. I hate that kind of axiomatically incorrect, cryptic bullshit. But, in a roundabout way, it does hold true. During even the most lean of musical years, a small part of me always perseveres in the hope that, just maybe, an album will come along, entirely off-radar, and take me by surprise. Sometimes, I even wonder if these records exist in abundance in some kind of alternate reality – an Antiverse, if you will.” Bizarro metal.

Glacial Tomb – Glacial Tomb Review

Glacial Tomb – Glacial Tomb Review

By Dr. Wvrm on November 2, 2018 in 2018, American Metal, Black Metal, Death Metal, Gilead Media, Reviews, Black Metal, Death Metal, 53 comments

“When I first heard about Glacial Tomb, I was lead to believe they were death metal. Next time around, black metal. I saw the words “hardcore” and “sludge” tossed around. When I finally sat down with their debut, I thought I’d settle the debate with my top-of-the-line reviewer ears. Well fuck those, and fuck me too, because Glacial Tomb will not be pigeonholed so neatly.” 20 genres in a 10 pound sack.

Serocs – The Phobos/Deimos Suite Review

Serocs – The Phobos/Deimos Suite Review

By Kronos on November 1, 2018 in 2018, Death Metal, International Metal, Reviews, Technical Death Metal, Death Metal, Technical Death Metal, 103 comments

“By infecting the percussive brutality of Cryptopsy with a whiff of the counterpoint of Spawn of Possession, …And Then the Sky Was Opened won over our own Dr. Fisting. A good album, to be sure, but one which still came with a few production idiosyncrasies and shortcomings that kept it off of regular rotation for me. The Phobos/Deimos Suite is the tremendously talented band’s chance to finally get the formula right.” Suite but deadly.

Praying Angel – The Judgement Review

Praying Angel – The Judgement Review

By El Cuervo on November 1, 2018 in 2018, Boersma Records, Deathcore, German Metal, Reviews, Deathcore, 50 comments

“Core. Not derived from apples or occupying the space below the Earth’s mantle, but of the musical ilk. Born of hardcore and its angry urgency, heavy metal has long since identified the musical and emotive commonalities between the two genres, fusing the two into “metalcore.” While the melodic metalcore which has become synonymous with the genre always had much more to do with Iron Maiden and Gothenburg melodic death metal than thoroughbred hardcore, deathcore has generally retained the brute force of both of its composite styles. Do I adjudge such potency in Germany’s Praying Angel and their debut full-length release called The Judgement?” Explores the cores.

Angry Metal Guy’s Record(s) o’ the Month – October 2018

Angry Metal Guy’s Record(s) o’ the Month – October 2018

By Angry Metal Guy on October 31, 2018 in 2018, Blog Posts, Record o' the Month, 340 comments

October has been a busy month here at the AMG offices. With the n00bcrew in full swing and a harried management team enforcing the new dresscode—yes, you have to wear trousers at work!—October has been busy. And it has been weird. While there were lots of records that people liked, there wasn’t a ton that the staff agreed on. Fortunately, there’s only one Opinion that’s Very Important™ around here: mine! And so, with all the narcissistic excess of a guy who started and runs an eponymous blog, I present to you three albums from October of 2018—a month where a single release date (the 26th) had 126 metal albums released—that I have declared the month’s very best.

Avast – Mother Culture Review

Avast – Mother Culture Review

By Master of Muppets on October 30, 2018 in 2018, Black Metal, Dark Essence Records, Norwegian Metal, Reviews, Atmospheric Black Metal, Black Metal, 83 comments

“Dear Kronos, If you’re reading this, it’s already too late. When the respective hazes of gun smoke and cranial-injury clear, you’ll find your army of feral pigs disposed of and your fortress reduced to rubble; I even sang Porcupine Tree as everything burned to the ground, how’s that for brutal, yo? Anyway, you knew this was coming. You had something of mine – that’s right, had. Not only are you down a fortress and a pig army, but you’ll also find yourself no longer in possession of Avast’s Mother Culture.” Speak the Charm of Taking.