Suidakra

Dr. A.N. Grier’s Top Ten(ish) of 2019

Dr. A.N. Grier’s Top Ten(ish) of 2019

“Name another site out there with writers hiding behind silly monikers whom you know better than your best friends. Name a site you dared to lean on, pouring your heart out in the comments, getting positive and uplifting responses when you needed them most. Name a site you’ve spent as much time debating, loving, and sharing music as you have on AMG. You can’t.” Truth telling.

Kanseíl – Fulìsche Review

Kanseíl – Fulìsche Review

“It is hardly controversial to describe the Italian metal scene as ‘bombastic,’ or even ‘cheesy.’ Hell, it’s the go-to for basically everyone in the Anglosphere, even when talking about brutally heavy acts like Hour of Penance. So imagine my surprise when I turn over a rock and find an Italian act that defies those expectations!” Cheese famine.

Syn Ze Șase Tri – Zăul moș Review

Syn Ze Șase Tri – Zăul moș Review

“I have to admit, I’d never heard of Syn Ze Șase Tri before I grabbed their 2017 release Zăul moș. For six years these Romanian black metallers have been roaming the earth without my knowledge—dropping their unique brand of symphonic black/death on the planet. Though these Transylvanians hail from the same hometown as Negură Bunget, things are done differently. Both bands have their folky songwriting and both have their native mythologies and concepts, but Syn Ze Șase Tri focuses on bigness.” Transylvania? Symphonic black metal? Big? Just in time for Halloween.

The Vision Bleak – The Unknown Review

The Vision Bleak – The Unknown Review

“Though The Vision Bleak’s newest opus, The Unknown, was late in getting to the AMG offices, no review is too late for one of my favorite bands. Since discovering them in 2006, the band’s entire discography must be spun and loved in order to become a new member of the Grier household. It is law and bound by contract. Yes, animals included.” For some the saw is the law, but with the good doctor, The Vision is the mission.

Suidakra – Realms of Odoric Review

Suidakra – Realms of Odoric Review

“As pointed out by our highly esteemed El Cuervo, Suidakra is perhaps one of the most productive bands on the planet. Including this year’s Realms of Odoric, the band has dished out twelve albums in nearly twenty years (including an early-career period where the band was releasing an album a year).” With so much productivity, are these guys the anti-Necrophagist?

Angry Metal-Fi: Hearing Is Believing

Angry Metal-Fi: Hearing Is Believing

In our first Angry Metal-Fi article, Alex pointed out exactly what’s wrong with Fleshgod Apocalypse’s Labyrinth — it’s compressed to within an inch of its life, ruining the music that the band worked so hard to create. It’s easy for us to sit and point fingers though and tell you how everyone is doing it wrong, (which they are). To really get a sense of what you’ve been missing, you need to hear some examples of bands and engineers that are doing it right. Once you’ve heard how good fully dynamic metal can sound, and how much better your favorite albums could have sounded had they been mastered with full dynamics, we hope that it will make you angry. You might even shed a tear for everything that’s been lost over the last 20 years, so many great albums ruined because of the insanity that is the Loudness War.

Suidakra – Book of Dowth Review

Suidakra – Book of Dowth Review

There will always be examples of bands that fate hasn’t been kind to despite their hard work and professional approach. Suidakra is unfortunately one of those bands, but regardless of the size of his fanbase, the name of Arkadius has been linked to fecundity, quality music and progress. Having started the band as a black metal project with folklore elements, he has continued to develop this sound further in order to forge out one of the most musically successful, yet not so widely-consumed folk melodeath bands out there. That being said, Suidakra is not an exception from the painful “quantity vs. quality” issue which resulted in the bittersweet aftertaste that Cragacht left us with. Now, however, they have a chance to compensate that downfall and strike back with a solid piece of work called Book of Dowth.