“Aeromantic hardly breaks new ground for these excitable Swedes. By this, I mean that it is seemingly purpose-built to mainline dopamine directly to my brain, being, as it is, more 80s than the 80s. Each NFO release reaches deeper into this era, and Aeromantic nails the schmaltzy, overblown tone which has come to characterize the retrospective view of it.” Aeroma therapy.
“Chris Black (AKA Professor Black) has been a living wellspring for great metal over the past decade, crafting great music with Dawnbringer, High Spirits and Pharaoh. Somewhat overlooked in his mighty repertoire is his Aktor project, which until recently only had one release to its credit, 2015s Paranoia. It was a rocking affair heavily influenced by 70s acts like Thin Lizzy and Blue Oyster Cult and it was a fun, breezy listening experience with plenty of hooks. Placebo is the outfit’s second release and keeps the basic formula intact while adding an ass-ton of crazy synth and keyboard work, making for a somewhat loony soundscape.” It’s time for your medicine, Mr. Black.
“Dream Tröll. It’s a weird-ass pairing of words even in the realm of metal bands, yet one that glides off the tongue, despite every synapse in my brain screaming “That’s not right!” Sonically speaking, Dream Tröll is beholden to convention, but their splicing of genres is handled so ingeniously as to make such an unclassifiable name somehow fitting. It’s easy to draw correlations between traditional metal, power metal, and good ol’ fashioned rock ‘n roll, yet Dream Tröll plays with these tropes in delightfully unexpected ways, resulting in a distinct sound displaced from any defined era of metal music.” Trölling with the oldies.
“Hello, it’s me. I was wondering if, after all these years ov atmoblack reviews, maybe you’d like to meet something different? After rolling in the deep end of our promo bin’s blackest, mopiest waters for so long, it felt appropriate to set fire to the reign ov black ‘n boo-hoo bands and send my love to a new genre.” Muppet grinder.
“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.
The holidays are near, but this is no time for shopping! Instead you should be consuming the Top Ten lists of the esteemed El Cuervo and Diabolus in Muzaka. These are the gifts that keeps on giving.
Ferrous Beuller and GardensTale need to unburden themselves and share all their picks for the best of 2018. Be polite and sit quietly until they’re done, then you can go outside and get a cupcake.
“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.
“Two and a half years ago I was struck by Stockholm’s latest entrant into the Swedish tomb of death metal, arising from a coffin with the name Lik carved into it. Their debut entitled Mass Funeral Evocation> represents one of the finest old-school releases in the genre from the 2010s; it made my 2015 list and still packs a punch when I crave buzz-sawing guitars and a viscera-drenched aesthetic. Their sophomore release with the word Carnage etched on the front has now dropped and I’m delighted to report that it’s equally as savage and a worthy successor.” Lik the Devil.
“Whether we care to admit it or not, we are all subject to re-invention at some point or another. Ihsahn, a man made legend for his contributions to the legacy of black metal, has never shied away from re-calibrating his musical character, and his discography is the hard proof. Having blazed a trail with the mighty Emperor, his solo career has been no exception, never afraid to reflect its creator’s inherently eclectic tastes.” Seize the Throne of Eccentricity.
