Soilwork

Dawn of Demise – Into the Depths of Veracity Review

By Saunders on April 18, 2019 in 2019, Danish Metal, Death Metal, Reviews, Unique Leader, Death Metal, Slam, 37 comments

“Dawn of Demise are the death metal equivalent of comfort food; they’re high in calories, addictive and provide an unhealthy dose of tasty goodness that proves difficult to resist. The Danish veterans have been plugging away with their beefy, groove-laced brutal death formula for well over a decade. And while they may struggle to hit truly great heights, I’m always eager to dive into the thick, gooey depths of their simple and bludgeoning formula. Fifth album Into the Depths of Veracity largely offers more of the same as a follow-up to 2016’s solid The Suffering LP.” Brutal buffet.

Eluveitie – Ategnatos Review

By Dr. Wvrm on April 5, 2019 in 2019, Folk Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Nuclear Blast, Reviews, Swiss Metal, Folk Metal, Melodic Death Metal, 149 comments

“Taking in Eluveitie’s closing performance on 70K Tons with sentynel, I recognized something: Eluveitie is popular. Not like entry-level popular, not poser popular (well, maybe), but actually popular. The boat’s Mosh Pit Residentia showed up in spades for that set, but with the floor so choked with the trve and weeb alike, group activities like conga lines and dance parties sprung up instead. Everyone knew the songs—hell, I knew the songs. The nonet put on too great a show to discount, far better than other bias-confirming trainwrecks I witnessed that weekend. Maybe, just maybe, I’ve written Eluveitie and Ategnatos off too soon.” Then again…

Record(s) o’ the Month – January 2019

By Angry Metal Guy on February 4, 2019 in 2019, Blog Posts, Record o' the Month, 273 comments

One month down in 2019 and we’re off to the races. January was by most accounts—excepting the eventual contrarians in the comments section, a relatively disappointing month. After an almost overwhelming and backloaded 2018, the first month of 2019 felt like a pretty tepid start to the year. Fortunately, there were still some diamonds in the rough. So here’s three albums—two which received the reviews they deserved and one which was unfairly maligned—that I think that you should give your consideration from January of 2019.

Soilwork – Verkligheten Review

By Dr. Wvrm on January 11, 2019 in 2019, Melodic Death Metal, Nuclear Blast, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Melodic Death Metal, 156 comments

“Not long ago, sweating the steely Damocles ax of content output, I considered outing my own Indefensible Position: Soilwork’s most recent two full-lengths, The Living Infinite and The Ride Majestic, are their best. Formulaic? Sure, but riddled with tip-top bangers and speedy sing-alongs stronger than any they’d ever done. That both received 2.0s balled my segmented digits into puny rage nuggets whenever that betrayal came to fore. But then, an oddity: I re-spun the damned things, probably for the first time with my shiny reviewer ears, and found my ire lessened.” Still tilling the same soil.

An Interview with Unleash the Archers

By Huck N Roll on November 19, 2018 in 2018, Blog Posts, Canadian Metal, Interviews, 43 comments

“This autumn saw Unleash the Archers undertake their North American tour in support of 2017’s excellent album, Apex. October saw the tour roll through Calgary, with supporting act Striker and a couple of local bands. Huck N Roll somehow shoehorned his way into the club and managed to find some time to sit down with vocalist Brittney Slayes (before he was discovered and rudely extracted from the premises), to talk about the tour, the next album, and King Diamond.” Apex interviewer.

Parasite Inc. – Dead and Alive Review

By Dr. A.N. Grier on August 20, 2018 in 2018, German Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Reaper Entertainment, Reviews, Melodic Death Metal, 114 comments

“Bands like Hypocrisy and Dark Tranquillity were like gateway drugs for me. I remember getting heavy into the style about a decade ago and then it seemed to run its course. And, as most of my favorite bands carry on with run-of-the-mill material, while others—like Soilwork, Arch Enemy, and In Flames—continue to bore me to fucking death, it’s become even more clear that I’ve fallen away from the genre. So, in hopes of rekindling some of those flames, I grabbed Parasite Inc.’s Dead and Alive. What the hell was I thinking?” The Doc has worms.

The Night Flight Orchestra – Sometimes the World Ain’t Enough Review

By El Cuervo on June 26, 2018 in 2018, Hard Rock, Nuclear Blast, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Hard Rock, 202 comments

“AMG.com has ridden the The Night Flight Orchestra (“NFO”) horse pretty hard since the release of their first album in 2012. The illustrious Dr. Fisting (then masquerading as Fisting Andrew Golota) was their discoverer and therefore the designated reviewer thus far. Now that he is absent, presumed dead, I have taken up this mantle to impart opinions on a band that our founder abhors.” New tickets to paradise.

Into the Obscure: Disillusion – Back to Times of Splendor

By Saunders on April 18, 2018 in 2018, Blog Posts, German Metal, Into the Obscure, Melodic Death Metal, Metal Blade, Progressive Metal, Folk Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Progressive Metal, 75 comments

“There’s a fine line between genuine obscurity and an album that simply flew under the radar and remained a criminally overlooked corker, never quite attracting the attention and recognition it surely deserved. For this long-gestating second chapter of Into the Obscure, I present the strikingly brilliant 2004 debut LP from Germany’s Disillusion.” The unforgotten.

The Absence – A Gift for the Obsessed Review

By Lokasenna on April 2, 2018 in 2018, American Metal, M-Theory Audio, Melodic Death Metal, Reviews, Melodic Death Metal, 23 comments

“Even as a child of the internet era, there are a few things that have declined with its spread, for which I hold a bittersweet fondness. One of those is the once-geographic nature of the different metal scenes; while the influence of place is not gone, it hardly holds the sway it once did. Case in point: The Absence are a Tampa, Florida based act, but to the ear, they should be from Gothenburg. Offering an hour slab of At the Gates worship for their fourth album, A Gift for the Obsessed, The Absence bear a difficult task, as this style is well-worn. Do they have the chops to pull it off?” Did Absence make the heart grow fonder, or fatter?

Final Hour – Final Hour Review

By Dr. Wvrm on February 23, 2018 in 2018, Danish Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Reviews, Wargear Records, Melodic Death Metal, 0 comments

“I often wonder why bands ape a particular sound to death, but pass over another. Is Iron Maiden truly more worthy than Judas Priest? Why does Dark Tranquillity never get the same love as In Flames and At the Gates? What makes Bathory a hot ticket but not Type O Negative? Final Hour, as you may suspect, evoked this line of questioning with their take on melodeath’s tried and true tropes. Their influences are exactly the ones you would expect, and their music works inside the box.” Crazy like a box.