“When Rimfrost disbanded after their magnificent Expedition: Darkness, I thought I’d never get to review something from them again. What’s this gotta do with Rimfrost? You’re about to find out. After Rimfrost parted ways, drummer Throllv and bassist Khratos joined forces to create new music under the moniker Son of Sam. But what is Son of Sam? Is it the next phase of Rimfrost‘s sound? Will they dig deeper than ever to top Expedition: Darkness? Or, is this something else?” The monster next door.
“As Lord Protector of the Dark Angry Metal Realm, Steel Druhm is entitled to the right of primo promo. He can often be seen pushing his massive haul of pre-picked albums around the AMG office in a giant flaming wheelbarrow, its spiked wheel crushing the skulls of failed n00bs littered about the floor as it rolls. His dragon’s hoard of promos is so large that some inevitably fall to the ground, where sniveling peons like myself snatch them up for our own reviewing pleasure. So it goes with Bloodbound‘s newest release. In his 2019 review of the band’s eighth studio album, Rise of the Dragon Empire, Lord Steel recounted the transition that the band has made over the years, moving from a more traditional heavy metal sound to a syrupy-sweet Euro-infused iteration of power metal.” Fanbound glory.
“In one of my very first reviews after being officially added to the Angry Metal Guy staff, my plan to preemptively punish myself with metalcore was foiled by my inability to not like metalcore. Well, “metalcore” may be a bit of a misleading label when it comes to Leach, because 2019’s Hymns for the Hollow found them employing a sound that reminded me a lot of the groovy melodic death/thrash style currently employed by their fellow Swedes in The Crown and The Haunted. That “core” label probably gets leveled at these guys because their songs tend to have more of a commercial tinge and because vocalist Markus Wikander uses hardcore shouts that can veer into “screamy” territory at times. Long story short: Hymns of the Hollow won me over with its simple-but-effective formula. But follow-up Lovely Light of Life is finding me two years older and two years wiser, and there’s no way I’ll fall for Leach‘s charms again. Right?” Love, hate, and metalcore.
“Thrash was my first true introduction to all things metal. Like many of the morally derelict denizens who write for this site or haunt the comment section, I dipped my toe in the swamp with Sabbath, but it wasn’t until I took a deep dive into the likes of Testament, Kreator, Slayer and Anthrax that I knew I was more than willing to drown in this sea of riffs n’ roars. Though now I now prefer my metal far more fetid, thrash still holds a special place in my heart. This led me to pluck the latest from blackened thrash outfit Siniestro from the oft-mentioned but rarely-survived primordial promo sump.” Cloudy with a chance of thrash attack.
“Nightmother is a malevolent ode to the “unholy feminine.” The band promises an “opus bereft of the warmth of the womb” and a “sublime and bacchanal celebration of matriarchal sovereignty.” I’m not 100% sure what this all means, but it looks suitably fun and debauched. The sound Wormlight employs is a (relatively) accessible form of melodic black metal.” Happy Nightmother‘s Day!
“This album cover might be enough to scare away the more discerning fans, but we here aren’t paid to run away in fear or confusion. Nor are we paid enough to afford a pair of 3D glasses, which might be handy to see this artwork in its intended form. It is a messed-up, psychedelic trip of an image, to be sure, and in some ways it foreshadows what is to come on Seeds, the third album from Swedish doom/sludge/psych trio Domkraft.” Seedy fuzz.
“There’s a reason metal fans will never want for bands that play fuzzy stoner doom. Sure, it’s the oldest genre in all of metaldom and has somehow seen less evolution in recent decades than you’d find at Boone County, Kentucky’s Creation Museum. But unlike the dinosaurs that perished in Noah’s flood, stoner doom will never go extinct. That’s because ever since The Lord revealed his commandments to Tony Iommi on Mount Sinai, purveyors of the style have remembered the Sabbath and kept their riffs holy. When a stoner band drops a bluesy-psych groove, it connects on a primal level the way few other metal styles can. The genre may be stagnant, but when it’s played well, that hardly matters. Sweden’s Moon Coven attempt to keep the altar fire burning in doom’s Holy of Holies with their third album Slumber Wood.” Sleeping wood, fuzzy bat.
“Vokonis have been on my radar for a few years now. I jumped in when their debut, Olde One Ascending, was rereleased in 2018, and liked it enough to review their third album, Grasping Time, right here back in 2019. As I found out after purchasing their second release The Sunken Djinn, Grasping Time was a slight step back. It was still a fun record, and the trio came up with many great moments, at times displaying a real knack for catchy riffs and progressive arrangements, but it just seemed like that magic formula was still eluding them. When word of Odyssey came out late last year, my first thought was “Damn, that is spectacular cover art.” Then the inevitable follow-up: “I hope the music holds up.” Thankfully, it does.” Homeric.
“My door is always open for 80s-inspired speed metal. You see, all you younger folks merely adopted the speed. I was there when it first broke through the ground and started hunting for scalps. I was raised by it, molded by it. I owe it a debt. And so I grabbed the promo for Insane‘s sophomore outing based on a sample I heard that sounded like the ugly stepbrother to classic Canadian speedsters Razor. I expected knuckle-dragging, saliva spraying acts of rapid-fire depravity on Victims. In this I was not disappointed, though the method of delivery had some surprises in store for me.” Wictims ov changes.
“‘Don’t judge a book by its cover,’ so the saying goes. But in our modern metal landscape, where a single look at an album cover or a song name can hook us or repel us forever, it’s damn hard to do otherwise. Mister Misery (strike one) are dying for your attention, as illustrated by that album cover (strike two). Their so-called brand of “horror metal” should be strike three, good morning, good afternoon, good night. And yet… maybe read the first page.” Twisted Mister.
