“American Horror Story: Freak Show puts faces to the monsters that walk among us, case in point Twisty the Clown! Lords of chaos and insanity, Orion (Behemoth), Daray (Dimmu Borgir, ex-Vader) and Heinrich (ex-Decapitated) of Vesania, give these monsters a soundtrack.” I hate clowns. All of them.
“It’s easy to forget that at the time of it’s release, Zlitoid The Omniscient was something of a reboot for Devin Townsend’s career. Having disbanded both his solo group and the long-running Strapping Young Lad in 2007, Townsend decided to return home, get healthy, and focus on family life. Ziltoid was his first release after that self-imposed exile. The record was charmingly low-budget, recorded solely by Townsend and a drum machine, and there was no tour to promote it.” The long awaited Ziltoid sequel has finally arrived. Pray it doesn’t suffer from Jar Jar Syndrome.
“As many AMG readers know, production quality plays a major role in the reviews posted on this site. Love it or hate it, care about it or don’t give a fuck about it, awareness of the “Loudness War” and the desire for quality metal is real. And with a new Angry Metal-Fi article out on dynamic range, I found it timely that I would be reviewing Deserted Fear’s sophomore release, Kingdom of Worms. Why, you ask? Well, Dan “The Man” Swanö himself handled the mixing and mastering of the album.” Here Dan is to save the day!
“Rigor Mortis is about as cult a name as there is in the annals of thrash. Unable to capitalize on the genre’s first wave in the mid 80s, the band’s 88′ debut was a wild, almost cartoonish dose of speed with death undertones that arrived just in time for the entire thrash genre to go over the proverbial cliff due to oversaturation.” This may be the surprise of the year right here.
“Bushcraft, the first album by Vancouver’s Baptists, was a record that I fancied quite a bit. Clearly inspired by the likes of Converge and Botch, the band delivered some fine metallic hardcore with various subtle influences mixed in, from crust to noise rock. It was raw, angry music, just as expected from bands in the genre (and from comparable groups on Southern Lord). A year later, they’re back with their sophomore release, again produced by Converge’s Kurt Ballou and promising “fast, exhilarating music of rage, oozing with genuine raw emotion and punk rock fury.”” But are promises kept and rage delivered with emotional fury?
“Ah, Polish death metal. The riffing quivers with imperial might, the drumming carpet-bombs soundscapes like F-22s over Syrian ISIS outposts, the band names evoke titanic sacrilegious deities or bear primal aggression with their blunt simplicity: Behemoth, Hate, Azarath, Decapitated, and – Calm Hatchery. Uh – the fuck? Yes, forming in 2002 with a moniker that calls to mind cuddly newborn dinosaurs instead of ragged bleeding neck stumps, Calm Hatchery already stacked the cards against themselves….” Worst band name ever? We report, you decide.
“Harmony pervades Once There Was A Time When Time And Space Were One. Not in the strictly musical sense, but in its idyllic unity between typically opposed characteristics. Time and space, old and new, science and nature. Sweden’s My Brother The Wind returns on this, their third record, to peacefully entrance and impart their wholly-improvised instrumental Space Rock on the rushed and pressured masses.” God knows we all need a break from the pressures of modern life!
“When I submitted last week’s Godflesh review for their awesome long-awaited comeback album, I had no idea that it would just be part one of a two-part special on British Two-Piece Bands Who Want To Watch The World Burn.” Will Anaal Nathrakh’s quick and cold Desideratum attack decimate or will it self-destruct? Read on!
“Of all the throwback forms of metal that conjure warm fuzzy feelings of nostalgia, the famed Sunlight Studios sound, pioneered in Sweden during the late 80s/early 90’s, remains the most endearing yet oversaturated styles around. For every Bloodbath, Entrails or Blood Mortized there are countless other derivative bands bogged down by their lack of songwriting finesse and fresh ideas. So when East Coast death metal crew Horrendous burst onto the scene in 2012 with their accomplished debut album The Chills, it gave the tired style a welcome shot of adrenaline.” Can this be just as horrendous as their debut? More horrendous even?
“You know how Kurt Cobain killed Hair Metal? Apparently he didn’t manage to finish the job. It’s taken a couple of decades, but the recent surge of sleaze shows that the blow delivered by Kurt’s Fender Jaguar wasn’t, in fact, fatal.” If Cobain couldn’t kill sleazy cock rock, no one can!
