Primordial

Cardinals Folly – Our Cult Continues! Review

By Jean-Luc Ricard on August 10, 2014 in 2014, Doom Metal, Finnish Metal, Reviews, Shadow Kingdom Records, Doom Metal, 10 comments

“I’ve always found doom to be a particularly beguiling style of heavy metal. I’m not sure any other subgenre is able to evoke such a broad range of emotions, from sheer suicidal despair to fist-pumping, booty shaking euphoria. Or perhaps I have a pathologically shaky booty (though if you don’t at least feel a twitch in your hips when listening to Sleep’s Holy Mountain then I don’t trust you as a human being).” Ready from some odd doom metal? Jean-Luc Ricard joins AMG’s probationary squad to tell us of Cardinals Folly and their interesting approach to the typical slow and low.

Darkest Era – Severance Review

By Steel Druhm on May 27, 2014 in 2014, Cruz Del Sur, Doom Metal, English Metal, Epic Metal, Heavy Metal, Reviews, Doom Metal, Epic Metal, Heavy Metal, 27 comments

“Sometimes an album hits you just right and the only words that really seem to fit are “convincing, authentic and WOW.” That’s exactly what happened to me upon spinning Darkest Era’s latest opus Severance. Though this Irish epic metal act was hitherto unknown to me, their cunning mixture of Primordial, doom and black metal instantly knocked me for a loop and now I’m a loyal convert to the cause (read as fanboy). ” Looks like the normally cranky Steel Druhm is over the Gaelic moon for this one.

Doom:VS – Earthless Review

By Steel Druhm on May 9, 2014 in 2014, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Reviews, Solitude Productions, Swedish Metal, Death Metal, Doom Metal, 9 comments

“Doom:VS is a one man act with a pretty spotty record of productivity, but man, when they drop an album, it really drops hard! The brainchild of Johan Ericson (Draconian), Doom:VS released back to back gobstoppers of morose doom/death with 2006s Aeternum Vale and 2008s Dead Words Speak and both stand among the genre’s very best. Then, the band vanished from the mortal coil and seemed to be consigned to history. Without much warning, they’ve made a huge return with Earthless and now Johan is joined by Thomas Akim Gronbeak Jensen (Saturnus), who handles all the death roars.” Looking for something to really bring you down? Steel Druhm has just the pill for that.

Things You Might Have Missed 2013: Procession – To Reap Heavens Apart

By Steel Druhm on December 9, 2013 in 2013, Chilean Metal, Doom Metal, High Roller Records, Things You Might Have Missed 2013, Doom Metal, 8 comments

“Following along with Avatarium, little know Chilean act Procession released a high quality slab of doom in 2013 that you may have missed. In fact, I probably would have missed it were it not for a tip from a loyal reader. Their sophomore opus To Reap Heavens Apart is right in line with early Candlemass (think debut and Nightfall), While Heaven Wept and Solstice and as such, it’s weighted down with weighty, glum and downtrodden riffs and despairing, yet epic vocals that call to mind the styling of Messiah Marcolin, albeit a more restrained version.” Steel Druhm missed his share of good doom this year and it has him rather perplexed an confuzzled.

Mael Mórdha – Damned When Dead Review

By Madam X on September 5, 2013 in 2013, Candlelight, Doom Metal, Folk Metal, Irish Metal, Reviews, Doom Metal, Folk Metal, 5 comments

“Not only do lesser known Dublin based Mael Mórdha have some serious Primordial-worship going on, but members of the Mael Mórdha horde also act as session musicians for their touring big brothers. At any rate, knowing their close affiliation to Primordial (whom I hold in pretty high regard) and that Mael Mórdha boast a recent signing to Candlelight Records offering them a wider distribution base, I was a tad keen to hear their fourth full-length release. Damned When Dead is an infusion of traditional Irish laments and dirges on a sturdy back-bone of folk metal with some doom and gloom for added good measure, much like that on offer by Primordial and in part by Waylander. ” Join Madam X as she takes you on a guided tour of Irish folklore, piles of bodies stacked high to the sky and her own barbaric bloodlust. Be afraid.

Ulcerate – Vermis Review

By Jordan Campbell on September 4, 2013 in 2013, Death Metal, New Zealand Metal, Relapse, Reviews, Death Metal, 5 comments

“Ulcerate’s emergence was rather inauspicious. Their first work, The Coming of Genocide, didn’t hold much promise. It was pretty standard for mid-aughts uber-blast brutality, assaultive to the point of redundancy. But there were some gnarly guitar squalls nestled in their amateurish blastfuckery, and on their first true album, Of Fracture and Failure, things started to get wild. Then, Everything is Fire happened, and things got real.” First Carcass and now this? It’s all big releases, all the time and and Jordan Campbell is on the job with his always insightful musings.

Colossus – Wake Review

By Alex Franquelli on April 21, 2013 in 2013, 4.0, Perennity Records, Reviews, Swedish Metal, 4 comments

I’ve spent the last few minutes trying to stick a label on Wake. Not that it matters anyway and, to be honest, watching MTV on mute while listening to “Ruinbuilder” with my headphones on is a valid alternative to tiring out my brain. Ms Germanotta is out of sync in this peculiar, extemporary world of mine as she moves about trying to keep up with the pace imposed by the nervous beat of a Swedish drummer. This unrepeatable choreography slowly fades into the background as Niklas Eriksson’s vocals, sometimes reminiscent of Savatage’s Zachary Stevens and Jon Oliva’s melancholic elegance, boldly sets the record straight with the opener “A Stir from Slumber”.

October Falls – The Plague of a Coming Age Review

By Angry Metal Guy on March 13, 2013 in 2013, 4.0, Black Metal, Debemur Morti, Epic Metal, Finnish Metal, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Atmospheric Black Metal, Black Metal, 22 comments

Back in ’10—when I was wearing an onion on my belt ’cause that was the fashion in those days—I reviewed a record from Finnish atmospheric black metallers October Falls called A Collapse of Faith. At 40+ minutes of a single song, my Angry Attention Deficit Disorder hindered me from loving this record. While it was good, had great melodies, interesting ideas and an old school production that added a fuzzy atmosphere to the whole thing, I was never able to really bring myself to come back to it. It might have been perfect for some of the depressing, snowy days that we get here in Sweden, but I’ve got a quite bit of go-to music for that. Still, I was curious was when I received the promo for The Plague of a Coming Age. With its fantastic cover art, and its 9 easily distinguishable songs, I thought this might be a step in a direction I could enjoy.

Cnoc An Tursa – The Giants of Auld Review

By Natalie Zed on February 20, 2013 in 2013, 4.5, Black Metal, Candlelight, Folk Metal, Reviews, Scottish Metal, Black Metal, Folk Metal, 25 comments

When one thinks about black metal, the image that probably comes to mind is that of the pine barrens and frozen desolation of Norway, the extreme cold only briefly warmed by burning churches dotting the landscape. Scotland, on the other hand, is not usually the landscape that one imagines, but rather than the icy fjords of Scandinavia, Cnoc An Tursa hail from Falkirk.” Scottish metal just sounds tough, doesn’t it? Well, Cnoc An Tursa is obsessed with scottish poetry about battles and death, which is clerarly tough. Natalie Zed will tell you if they’re good as well as tough.

Steel Druhm’s Best Heavy Metal Songs of All Time 20-11

By Steel Druhm on May 8, 2011 in Blog Posts, 9 comments

OK boys and ghouls, we’ve officially reached the meaty epicenter of heavy metal excellence. After thirty warm ups (50-41, 40-31, 30-21 | And here’s AMG’s: 50-41, 40-31, 31-20), these are the brightest of gems, the most gleaming of chromes. Here begins the twenty songs that define all that is heavy, all that is metal. Bow down then get the hell up and HAIL as the True Masters enter the building. Steel Druhm roll please.