“Canada’s Panzerfaust has been one of my favorite discoveries since joining AMG Industries, ever since I picked up the first part of The Suns of Perdition tetralogy for review back in 2019 and proceeded to underrate it. Underrating was not a problem when the second installment, Chapter II: Render unto Eden, arrived just over a year later. Indeed, that record went on to be my AOTY 2020. It is something of an understatement, therefore, to say that excitement levels were running high when I learned that promo for Chapter III: The Astral Drain had arrived.” Fanboy gushing and proper drainage.
Panzerfaust
Kanonenfieber – Menschenmühle [Things You Might Have Missed 2021]
“The sonic palette in which Kanonenfieber lays out its tale is rooted in atmospheric black metal, meeting in the middle ground between the howling melodies of Minenwerfer and the more bombastic power of Panzerfaust. There are, however, nods to the likes of Bolt Thrower, and the gravelly, rasping growl of the vocals owes as much to traditional death, as it does to black metal.” The art of war.
Plague Weaver – Ascendant Blasphemy Review
“♫Ohhh, Plague Weaver, I don’t believe he will make it through the night.♫ Had to be done, I have no regrats. Anywho, Canada’s Plague Weaver is the work of a dynamic duo of miserable misers and on their full-length debut Ascendant Blasphemy they seek to blend the nastiest bits of raw black metal, doom, and death into an unpleasant concoction best served with a heavy antibiotic regime. They bill the end product as black metal with doom death influences and that’s an entirely fair description, though what you get is a bit more slimy and ugly than you might expect.” Right out of the plague book.
Dr. Wvrm’s Top Ten(ish) of 2020
Dr. Wvrm delivers his Top Ten(ish) of 2020 to all his patients. It sure as hell ain’t no trve vaccine.
GardensTale’s and Ferrous Beuller’s Top Ten(ish) of 2020
GardensTale and Ferrous Beuller uncork their best spirits of 2020 and share iron libations with everyone. Cheers!
TheKenWord’s and Carcharodon’s Top Ten(ish) of 2020
TheKenWord and Carcharodon join the fray with tastes ranging from good, bad, and unfathomable.
Doom_et_Al’s and Dear Hollow’s Top Ten(ish) of 2020
Doom_et_Al and Dear Hollow have their big boy lists. Did they use that great power responsibly?
Panzerfaust – The Suns of Perdition – Chapter II: Render unto Eden Review
“To prepare myself for the much-anticipated The Suns of Perdition – Chapter II: Render unto Eden, I had to commit an act of Contrition, upgrading my review of The Suns of Perdition – Chapter I: War, Horrid War to a 4.0. The fact that it has only taken this quartet of Canadians a smidge over a year to pen the follow-up to that rampaging, brvtal beast of an album was, I’ll admit, concerning. War, Horrid War combined raw intensity and crvshing riffs with moments of beauty and fragility to such stunning effect that, while I desperately wanted to get my hands on the follow-up, I wondered if Panzerfaust shouldn’t take just a bit more time to pen a worthy successor.” Burning paradise.
Contrite Metal Guy – Mistakes Were Made
“The life of the unpaid, overworked metal reviewer is not an easy one. Cascading promos, unreasonable deadlines, draconian editors and the unwashed metal mobs – it makes for a swirling maelstrom of music and madness. In all that tumult, errors are bound to happen and sometimes our initial impression of an album may not be completely accurate. With time and distance comes wisdom, and so we’ve decided to pull back the confessional curtain and reveal our biggest blunders, missteps, oversights and ratings face-plants. Consider this our sincere AMGea culpa. Redemption is retroactive, forgiveness is mandatory.” Tiny missteps.
Sarpa – Solivagus Review
“The promo blurb had promised me that Sarpa, although rooted in the black metal aesthetic, incorporates a lot of other elements, including some Afro/Latin rhythms! Have I got a blackened Sepultura on my hands or a misguided attempt to make world-music black metal?” Kitchen sink-core.