Swedish Metal

Dark Tranquillity – Moment Review

Dark Tranquillity – Moment Review

By Steel Druhm on November 16, 2020 in Reviews, Gothic Metal, Melodic Death Metal, 127 comments

“I’ve always thought Dark Tranquillity was the band that best represented the Gothenburg sound that took hold of metaldom in the early 90s. It’s indisputable that they’re the act that’s aged the most gracefully in the quarter century since the style took hold, as fellow countrymen In Flames and Arch Enemy wandered off into career oblivion. That’s not to say there haven’t been ups and downs in the Dark Tranquillity catalog. That brings us to Moment, their 12th platter of moody melodeath.” Dark moments.

Novarupta – Marine Snow Review

Novarupta – Marine Snow Review

By Akerblogger on November 15, 2020 in Reviews, Post-Metal, Sludge, 13 comments

“The ocean acts as a metaphor for the the mind’s transition from light to dark, knowing to unknowing, reality to irreality. For Novarupta‘s songwriter and  leader Alex Stjernfeldt, former bassist for The Moth Gatherer, the ocean is reflects a dismal acceptance of a depressed state of mind.” Deep waters run deep.

Mitochondrial Sun – Sju Pulsarer Review

Mitochondrial Sun – Sju Pulsarer Review

By sentynel on November 10, 2020 in Reviews, Black Metal, Electronica Metal, 8 comments

“It has been a scant nine months since I reviewed Mitochondrial Sun‘s debut. Under normal circumstances, I’d be wondering whether nine months is enough to generate a new album’s worth of material. However, 2020 has finally banished any remaining illusions I may have had about the linear flow of time, and calendars are now meaningless.” The genuine pulsar.

Draconian – Under a Godless Veil Review

Draconian – Under a Godless Veil Review

By Steel Druhm on October 29, 2020 in Reviews, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Gothic Metal, 83 comments

“Darkness and light, good and evil, heavy and soft. Dichotomy has long played a key role in metal music, and following in the long, dark shadow of Theater of Tragedy, many bands have attempted the whole “beauty and the beast” thing, pairing death metal croaks with soaring, sometimes operatic female vocals. When it works the style can be very enthralling, and over their nearly 25 year career Draconian has been at the forefront of this movement, crafting albums of gothic doom death full of weepy romance and crushing grief. 2015s Sovran opus was one of their best and it left a rather large impression in my skull. It would be a tough act to follow, and it’s taken Draconian nearly five years to make the effort.” Dragon, why do you cry?

Mörk Gryning – Hinsides Vrede Review

Mörk Gryning – Hinsides Vrede Review

By Doom_et_Al on October 24, 2020 in Reviews, Black Metal, Melodic Black Metal, 48 comments

“Ah, youth. A time Steel and Huck no longer remember. When all beer is good, all kisses sweet, and anything is possible. For Goth Gorgon and Draakh Kimera, two teenagers in Sweden, this meant donning corpse paint, forming a band, and releasing an album before they were old enough to legally buy the champagne to celebrate. That album, Tusen År har Gått, was a fun combination of old-school, second wave black metal, with a definite slant towards the melodic. Think early Sacramentum, or, more recently, Wormwood. Tusen År har Gått would go on to be extremely well-regarded in metal circles, spawning a few, less interesting follow-ups.” Gryning pains.

Necrophobic – Dawn of the Damned Review

Necrophobic – Dawn of the Damned Review

By Holdeneye on October 11, 2020 in Reviews, Black Metal, Death Metal, 65 comments

“I’m not exactly sure how responsibility for this review survived its fall down the AMG Seniority Ladder™ to find its way to little old me, but I’m certainly glad it did. Necrophobic holds a special place in my heart. Not only did my enjoyment of the band’s previous release Mark of the Necrogram begin my quest to discover and love black metal, but I still remember reading Al Kikuras‘ incredible review of said album. It was the first time that I seriously considered how cool it might be to write reviews for AMG.” Necro 4 eva.

Lik – Misanthropic Breed Review

Lik – Misanthropic Breed Review

By Diabolus in Muzaka on October 6, 2020 in Reviews, Death Metal, 27 comments

“Critic-bait comes in two forms: pretension and novelty. Critics are often a special mixture of jaded and self-important, so something that appeals to an inflated sense of one’s own intelligence or to that jaded sensibility which dismisses the familiar reflexively, respectively, is what sets the critical heart aflutter. Lik is not critic-bait, but they’ve got this particular critic hook, line, and sinker.” Dismember tomorrow.

Laser Dracul – Hagridden Review

Laser Dracul – Hagridden Review

By Carcharodon on September 23, 2020 in Reviews, Stoner Rock, 16 comments

“Drawing on both the atmospheric doom of Black Sabbath and Witchfinder General’s stoner rock, Laser Dracul deal in dirty, lo-fi, rolling riffs, underpinned by the rumbling bass and rough, hollow cleans of Michael Brander. Sounding a bit like Dozer run through a Sleep filter, there is something oddly comforting about the sludgy rock on show on Hagridden.” Of lights and undead lords.