“One of the may reasons Kronos is more trve than you is that he delves deep into the underground in search of the most obscure sounds in the metal world. The depths of depravity, the spine-twisting abominations that he unearths will challenge your very conception of brutality. Sometimes. Other times, Kronos’ musically omnivorous bandmates make him grudgingly listen to a French prog/jazz/math/djent band and he really, really likes it.” Not brutal enough!
“What does a band do when they’ve spent decades revolutionizing the very fabric of metal? A handful of the early century’s most innovative musicians get their say this fall – and in quick succession, as if ready to pass the torch on to the next generation of darkness. But one of those bands in particular has pitched a radical transformation in how and with what metal is played. Meshuggah, the dark and jagged jewel of Umeå.” The paradigm must now align.
“One of my friends, a classicist and lover of classical music, has a few favorite metal bands he’s never heard. It’s not the music that makes him love Necrophagist or Abominable Putridity; it’s just the absurdity of their names, the contortions of language that must occur for brutality to surge forth. Unfathomable Ruination is a band he can get behind. And well he should, because it would be foolish to try to get ahead of them.” Unfathomable fanboyism.
“From a band that’s as much of an institution as any group this century could be, any new release is going to be big news, but it’s extra special for old Kronos, since Revocation albums are de facto milestones in my tenure at AMG. Three albums down, and I’m happy to say that my opinion of the band has yet to take a hit. 2014’s Deathless has stood the test of time despit.” Fanboys be fanning.
“Given my track record on stripped-down and synth-heavy New York bands, I’ve been meaning to check out Psalm Zero for some time. Their 2014 effort, The Drain made it on to some year-end lists around the metal chaosblogosphere, but in the time between it and Stranger to Violence, I never quite followed up on the buzz.” The man doesn’t chase trends.
“As you might expect for a Japanese tech-death band, Defiled make music that’s a bit strange. Their last two records, Divination, and In Crisis were fast and brutal but had an idiosyncratic sound that can only come from a band in relative isolation – think of how strange Ulcerate sounded in 2009 and multiply by wider cultural barriers and you get something that doesn’t quite fit in to preconceptions.” Sometimes strange can be brutalful.
“C.B. Murdoc’s claim to fame, as anyone who has heard of them will tell you, is that Tomas Haake called them cool once. And they’re cool in a groovy, idiosyncratic way, as telegraphed by their grungy ’50s bop album artwork both here and on their Spinefarm-released debut, The Green. But cool doesn’t get you very far with a guy who cares not for Deafheaven and ignored the mirrored-aviators-wearing shenanigans of the last Shining album. Kronos may not be cool, but he is more brutal than you.” Brutal is as brutal does.
“Another day, another release from Unique Leader; yet there is no release for me. As the de facto tech-death guru at the AMG offices, I’m caught in a near perpetual state of mild frustration as streams of 16th notes tickle my cochleae and bearded men scream putrid nothings into my ear. While the year thus far has been pretty kind to the genre, Sturgeon’s law is still in effect, and Deceptionist’s debut, Initializing Irreversible Process, is my latest helping of the caviar of middlingness.” Somebody needs a staycation.
“Perdurance is the most difficult album you’ll hear until Jute Gyte releases its follow up. Toiling for years with little recognition and no label support, the one man black metal/ electronic/ lowercase/ ambient/ etc. band of Adam Kalmbach has produced vast quantities of what is hands down the most forward-thinking and complex music metal has to offer.” Here at AMG, we like difficult people and difficult music.
“After three years plagued by seemingly perpetual setbacks, The Schoenberg Automaton’s second full-length Apus has finally made the journey from a studio in Australia to my speakers in Chicago. The Brisbane-cum-Vancouver-based technical death metal outfit caught my eye with their first EP and took off in 2013 with Vela, which built on their progressive and extreme roots, expanding their unique and abstract sound quite successfully. Yet early-release tracks from Apus had me worried that the band had abandoned just what made their previous releases so interesting and vital. Had the sophomore slump stymied their songs?” Is The Schoenberg Automaton on autopilot already?
