Samael

Vredehammer – Viperous Review

Vredehammer – Viperous Review

By Grymm on March 2, 2020 in 2020, Black Metal, Death Metal, Indie Recordings, Norwegian Metal, Reviews, Black Metal, Death Metal, 61 comments

“In years past, metal music took its sweet-ass time in order to drop us the good stuff. Don’t get me wrong, I do like a good, slow burn, but usually we (and by proxy, you) usually don’t hear anything jaw-droppingly good until later in the year. Not 2020, man. Barely into our third month, and we’ve already got strong contenders for Album o’ the Year, and it doesn’t seem to let up anytime soon. And now, we’ve got the much-anticipated Viperous by Vredehammer, an album everyone here at AMG’s been anticipating since Violator knocked us all on our collective ass back in 2016.” Bow down to the Snakehammer.

Paragon Impure – Sade Review

Paragon Impure – Sade Review

By Lord Doom on November 3, 2018 in 2018, Belgian Metal, Black Metal, Reviews, Van Records, Black Metal, 48 comments

“Founding member and driving force Noctiz has only managed one full length release thus far, 2005’s To Gaius! (For the Delivery of Agrippina), with technical and personal setbacks apparently stalling efforts around 2009 to release a follow-up album which was to be titled Fall of Man. That unreleased material has been reworked and incorporated into this—their second full length in thirteen years—Sade. No, not that Sade, the English singer of “Smooth Operator” fame; Sade as in the Marquis de Sade, that cheeky French noble whose sexuality and writings thereof have been an inspiring, deep, rich vein of perversity for metal artists to plunder ad infinitum.” Sade songs say so much.

Manes – Slow Motion Death Sequence Review

Manes – Slow Motion Death Sequence Review

By Dr. A.N. Grier on August 23, 2018 in 2018, Avante Garde, Debemur Morti, Electronica Metal, Non-Metal Metal Things, Norwegian Metal, Reviews, Electronica Metal, Non-metal Metal Things, 70 comments

“The first time I heard the Norwegian oddity known as Manes, I was in grad school. That fateful day, I was grading organic chemistry exams, locked away in that windowless closet of a grading room. With hours of work ahead of me, I took the time to find some new music to ease the pain. After getting caught in the rabbit’s hole of ‘similar artists’ and the ‘who-played-with-who’ links of Metal Archives, I emerged with Manes. And, I figured, this oughta do.” Music for destroying futures.

Schwarzer Engel – Kult der Krähe Review

Schwarzer Engel – Kult der Krähe Review

By Grymm on March 3, 2018 in 2018, German Metal, Gothic Metal, Massacre Records, Reviews, Symphonic Metal, Gothic Metal, Symphonic Metal, 4 comments

“Ever get that queasy feeling in the pit of your stomach when you commit to something that’s absolutely foreign to your comfort zone? You know what I mean… you say “yes” to something before you get a good, hard look at what you’re about to do, and all of a sudden, Internal You is “nope!”-ing at record speed? Folks, that was me upon accepting Kult der Krähe, the sixth album by German one-man symphonic machine Schwarzer Engel, upon looking at the cover without hearing a single note prior.” Kult ov One.

Dr. A.N. Grier’s Top Ten(ish) of 2017

Dr. A.N. Grier’s Top Ten(ish) of 2017

By Dr. A.N. Grier on December 30, 2017 in 2017, Blog Posts, Lists, 121 comments

“Remember that scene in Ghostbusters (the real Ghostbusters…) where Winston tells Ray, ‘If someone asks you if you are a god, you say yes!’ Well, if someone asks you if you want to write a guide for teaching organic chemistry, you say hellafuckingno. I’m serious. Do yourself, and everyone around you, a favor. So, yeah, this year’s been nuts. Thankfully, there’s Angry Metal Guy—a solace for all metalheads to come together and be verbally abused and cat-tailed in the company basement.” Cat’s got yer list.

Deathcult – Cult of the Goat Review

Deathcult – Cult of the Goat Review

By Dr. A.N. Grier on December 11, 2017 in 2017, Black Metal, Norwegian Metal, Reviews, Soulseller Records, Black Metal, 32 comments

“I’m not quite sure how it happens but I always seem to find myself buried in black metal at the end of the year. It’s not like 2015, where Kampfar’s Profan squeezed its way into my top ten at the last second, but there are some last-minute gems from 2017. And two, in particular, involve the infamous Hoest. Last month, there was Taake’s Kong Vinter. This month, there’s the return of Norway’s sibling-driven Deathcult.” Goatloads of fun.

Pale King – Monolith of the Malign Review

Pale King – Monolith of the Malign Review

By Grymm on April 24, 2017 in 2017, Death Metal, Reviews, Soulseller Records, Swedish Metal, Death Metal, 17 comments

“Assumptions. No matter how hard we try not to make them, we always end up drawing conclusions about something without checking it out beforehand. In this case, with a description in our promo list as “melodic death metal,” and seeing that they hail from Sweden, I grabbed >i>Monolith of the Malign, the debut album from Pale King, expecting some twin-guitar Gothenburg melodies. And man, was I off. After much investigation, Pale King is a side-project of Jonny Pettersson and Håkan Stuvemark of long-running death-dealers Wombbath, aiming to capture an old-school melodic death metal feel, but with modern-day songwriting chops.” Olde school, new school, so many educational options!

Rudra – Enemy of Duality Review

Rudra – Enemy of Duality Review

By Grymm on December 24, 2016 in 2016, Death Metal, Reviews, Singaporean Metal, Transcending Obscurity, Black Metal, Death Metal, 6 comments

“I must admit, prior to reviewing Rudra’s eighth full-length, Enemy of Duality, my only exposure to the band was bassist/vocalist Kathir’s vocal contribution for the song “देवदेवं (Devadevam)” on the new Rotting Christ album. Granted, while the song failed to win me over, it succeeded in making me aware of the Singaporean black metal band. Curious to check out the band’s self-proclaimed “Vedic metal,” and noticing that the band just dropped Enemy of Duality, I grabbed the promo and my trusty cans to see what the fuss was about.” Don’t be rudra.