Sigh

Defect Designer – Ageing Accelerator Review

By Grymm on July 14, 2015 in 2015, Death Metal, Norwegian Metal, Reviews, Russian Metal, Sleaszy Rider Records, Technical Death Metal, 20 comments

“Russian tech-death machine Defect Designer had an interesting couple of years since their 2009 debut, Wax. Bassist, guitarist & vocalist Dmitry Soukhinin decided to relocate from the Russian city of Novosibirsk to the much-easier-to-pronounce Olso, Norway, taking everything but his band with him. To help round out his recording line-up, Dmitry enlisted members of SepticFlesh, Trollfest, and Cryptopsy to aid in recording what would become the oddly spelled Ageing Accelerator. Now, you would think that having people from the aforementioned bands perform for your record would have the masses salivating for progressive tech-deathy goodness, and in words on a screen, it does look inviting, doesn’t it?” So where’s all the drool?

The Meads of Asphodel/Tjolgtjar – Taste the Divine Wrath Review

By Jean-Luc Ricard on June 10, 2015 in 2015, American Metal, Black Metal, English Metal, Eternal Death, Reviews, Black Metal, Psychedelic Rock, 9 comments

“Split albums are hard to do well. It’s rare that the contributing bands are equally matched, and even rarer that the musical styles are complementary. The Meads of Asphodel are no stranger to the dodgy split.” Begs the question, is Tjolgtjar the yin to the Meads raging yang?

Ebonillumini – Arktos Review

By Lord Doom on May 30, 2015 in 2015, Avante Garde, Black Metal, English Metal, Reviews, Wickerman Recordings, Black Metal, 22 comments

“Rather than a true sub-genre, “avant-garde” seems more a default category for bands who can’t be pigeonholed with a nice, tidy tag. With a name like Ebonillumini it’s almost a given this is a band worthy of the avant-garde label. Less obvious is that they’re far removed from anything like an Arcturus style of forward-thinking, unconventional metal.” Icebergs ahead!

Record(s) o’ the Month – April 2015

By Steel Druhm on May 26, 2015 in 2015, Record o' the Month, 50 comments

“April was a good month for metal with a few firebombs of musical greatness peppered throughout like radioactive rainbow sprinkles from Hell. It was also a month where the AMG staff bickered, fussed and feuded more than usual over what was good, great and garbage. Some albums were way over-hyped, perhaps others were even overrated (gasp!), and opinions were more plentiful than assclowns at a Gathering of the Juggalos.”

Sigh – Graveward Review

By Kronos on April 27, 2015 in 2015, Avante Garde, Black Metal, Candlelight, Japanese Metal, Reviews, Symphonic Metal, Black Metal, Symphonic Metal, 39 comments

“Sigh are on their tenth trip around the turntable and still spin at 45, since there isn’t a faster option. Graveward is their attempt to penetrate the monolithic shadow cast by In Somniphobia, an album so fantastically strange that it was a sidestep even by the standards of a band that defines the term “avant-garde”.” Sigh is a breath of fresh air.

6:33 – Deadly Scenes Review

By Roquentin on January 13, 2015 in 2015, Avante Garde, French Metal, Kaotoxin Records, Reviews, 11 comments

“Avant-garde metal as a subgenre nowadays is really devoid of meaning. Nothing more than an umbrella term to include all those bands that don’t fit neatly onto well-established shelves of “traditional” metal styles. In other words, it has become shorthand for “this is weird.”” The weird don’t need to fit in, but they should expect some wedgies nonetheless.

In Tormentata Quiete – Cromagia Review

By Grymm on November 8, 2014 in 2014, Avante Garde, Black Metal, Gothic Metal, Italian Metal, My Kingdom Music, Reviews, Black Metal, 19 comments

“”Emphatic Music.” This is how the PDF file describes the accompanying Cromagia, the third album by Italian septet In Tormentata Quiete, in which the band blends theatricality, black metal, and progressive folk elements into a heady mixture. According to the bio, Cromagia revolves around the concept that our existence is colored by emotions, and the music explains how these songs are an interpretation of said colors. So is this a melting pot of the prismatic rainbow colors of humanity, or is it just a puddle of crayons left out in the sun for too damn long?” Roy Gee Biv and all the chromatic death crew are here to paint you a memory.

Manimalism – Manimalism Review

By El Cuervo on November 6, 2014 in 2014, Adversum, Avante Garde, Black Metal, Norwegian Metal, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Black Metal, Progressive Metal, 14 comments

“Originating as Taarenes Vaar in 1992 in a very different metal landscape, Sølve resolved to push his brand of Norwegian black metal further than previously. Composed of two demos from 1996 and 1997, plus additional material from the same period, the integration of black metal with avant garde here is raw and darkly perverse.” There are more mentions of sex in this review than any in AMG history, and this isn’t even cock rock! You just never know what to expect these days….

Necrophagia – WhiteWorm Cathedral Review

By Al Kikuras on November 4, 2014 in 2014, American Metal, Death Metal, Reviews, Season of Mist, Death Metal, 6 comments

“If you’re a death metal fan and haven’t at least heard the name Necrophagia, you either aren’t much of a fan or you’re deaf, in which case you have a really good excuse and aren’t listening to death metal anyway. Or nu-metal. Or polka.” These fiends have been lurking at the periphery of extreme metal since the 80s and just wont die. Die, monster, die!

Madmans Esprit – Nacht Review

By Dr. A.N. Grier on October 6, 2014 in 2014, A Sad Sadness Song, Avante Garde, Black Metal, Gothic Metal, Korean Metal, Reviews, Black Metal, Gothic Metal, 4 comments

“It turns out I’m a judgmental son of a bitch. I admit it, I label people before they even open their mouths and I usually find many decisions made by others to be dumb and immature. I don’t mean to be this way, but I’m very much a person that “judges a book by its cover.” However, I have to say that nothing pleases me more than discovering that the dickhead talking to me with his Corona Light and sport coat over a Superman shirt is actually cool as shit. I like to be proved wrong about someone’s character. It makes for a much better conversation. The same goes for music.” We like judgmental types around here, since we’re in the judging business and all. And this one deserved some real serious judgment.