Sodom

Hellish – Theurgist’s Spell EP Review

Hellish – Theurgist’s Spell EP Review

“By now it’s well known throughout the Midwest that this old man is a thrash junkie. A bona fide Gally Thrashicanus. Before putting a thrash album on, my eyes begin to gleam with a wild and ravenous light. But not so much with the new crop of thrash metal bands like Municipal Waste, Toxic Holocaust, and Bonded By Blood, what with their crisp clean high tops and head bands. I like the grit, the grime, the grisly thrash metal of yore.” Old folks like old stuff.

Grave – Out of Respect for the Dead Review

Grave – Out of Respect for the Dead Review

“There are few things more certain in life than ending up in a grave – whether it’s of the watery, earthen or concrete variety, we’ll all end up interred somewhere. In much the same way, you can almost guarantee a new Grave album will offer a quality dose of old timey Swedish death, heavy on the heavy and light on the frills.” Back from dead, chillin at the beach down at Club Med.

Ares Kingdom – The Unburiable Dead Review

Ares Kingdom – The Unburiable Dead Review

“In the case of Order From Chaos, the band’s demise wasn’t due to ego or vague musical differences, it was by design. The plan was to release three full-lengths and then fold and that’s precisely what they did. Rather than even remotely overstaying their welcome, they went out on the highest and grimiest note possible.” And their heroic decision begat this face ripper.

Blasphemic Cruelty – Crucible of the Infernum Review

Blasphemic Cruelty – Crucible of the Infernum Review

“The internet is all around us. People can hear an unfamiliar song, click a button on their phone, and be told what that track is in mere seconds. To the younger me, that would’ve been sorcery! I took advantage of precisely none of the limitless information constantly available to me when listening to Blasphemic Cruelty’s latest EP Crucible of the Infernum, and instead uttered verbatim what the venerable Al Kikuras said in his initial impression of the latest Perdition Temple record: Holy Shit, this sounds like Angelcorpse.” Another Angelcorpse hybrid falls to the ground, is it worth shedding a tear over?

Abominator – Evil Proclaimed Review

Abominator – Evil Proclaimed Review

“Satan-hailing, long-standing Aussies Abominator are back after nine years of hiatus with yet another record of their signature blackened death (or deathened black?) metal. If you’ve listened to any of the band’s previous releases, it won’t come as much of a surprise that their fifth full-length Evil Proclaimed shows no shifts in pace, attitude, or sound.” The Motorhead of Sodom clones? I’m in!

The Crown – Death Is Not Dead

The Crown – Death Is Not Dead

“Honestly, I haven’t been excited for a new release from The Crown in a long time. For one, the quality of their releases has slowly declined since their epic Hell Is Here debut back in 1999.” These cats have an uneven history with more than their share of lineup issues, but they’re back and we have opinions (and some of them are silly).

Entrench – Violent Procreation Review

Entrench – Violent Procreation Review

“I got a bit sidetracked while writing this review trying to chart the rise of rethrash (thanks Encyclopaedia Metallum!). Since 2003, the proportion of thrash albums to all metal albums released per year has, perhaps surprisingly, stayed constant at around 16%. However, the proportion of new thrash bands to new metal bands forming per year (going back to 1995) peaked at 23% in 2006, and had shrunk to 14% last year. Entrench formed just prior to peak thrash in 2005, releasing a string of demos before unleashing their debut full length, Inevitable Decay, in 2011. What can my thrashnalysis tell us about their music? Fuck all really, but it’s some pretty good trivia, eh?” When the numbers geeks get into the metal review business, you get thrashnalysis. Just go with it and take copious notes.

Skelethal –  Interstellar Knowledge of the Purple Entity Review

Skelethal – Interstellar Knowledge of the Purple Entity Review

“Great Scott! Like stepping into a sepulchral time machine, Skelethal have transported us back to when Sunlight Studios was Mecca, buzz saw guitars sounded like a swarm of bees, and vocals were scraped from the depths of the grimiest gutters of hell.” More retro death arrives, unfazed by the giant shadow of Bloodbath. That’s brave.

Force of Darkness – Absolute Verb of Chaos and Darkness Review

Force of Darkness – Absolute Verb of Chaos and Darkness Review

“With spikes, skulls and Sarcophago as my top 3 interests on ChristianMingle.com, I was surprised I hadn’t already heard of Force of Darkness. Formed in 2002, this Chilean trio released a self-titled debut in 2006 and a second LP Darkness Revelation in 2010. I was somewhat familiar with bassist/vocalist Nabucodonosor III’s other band Hades Archer, whom I had discovered via the standard method of searching for naughty words on metal-archives.org, thus stumbling on their 2008 EP Penis Metal. As EPs go it was fairly average in both length and quality.” Two things we love at AMG are penis jokes and bad ESL album titles. Enjoy of deep verb.

Dust Bolt – Awake the Riot Review

Dust Bolt – Awake the Riot Review

“You know, we just don’t review enough thrash metal anymore. It’s all that damn death metal we waste our days discussing. It makes us forget the simple joys of a speedy, jacked up dose of aural frenzy ripped right from 1986. Luckily for us all, Dust Bolt is around to remind us, and their sophomore album Awake the Riot is designed with German precision to do just what the title says. As on their Violent Demolition debut, these chaps rock a hybrid of Kreator circa Extreme Aggression and Coma of Souls and the classic Bay Area sound, especially Slayer.” Ready to drop your retro cash on some retro thrash?