“Death Knocks isn’t the most extreme album out there, but it straddles the metal boundary more than enough to earn a spot here. While I hadn’t heard of Hoaxed before, their new release caught my eye through its album art and its impressive lead single, “Where the Seas Fall Silent.” This three-piece from Portland plays metal-edged occult rock that aims for an eerie atmosphere as much as for melodic gems.” Deep fake or deep cuts?
“I had the pleasure of catching Savage Master live during January’s Heavy Mountain Music Festival. Eight straight hours of killer music, with no duds across the entire bill, played a key role in rekindling my lust for live music after the hurricane tried—and failed—to wash away my spirit. For their part, the Kentucky occult/heavy metal quintet were one of the best acts of the night, brimming with classic crowd-rousing energy and sparkling stage chemistry. However, their reputation for varied reception by our Ape ov Steel on this blog precedes them. Can they recover some devilish grace with upcoming fifth record, Dark & Dangerous?” Master! Master! Where’s the trveness I’ve been after?
A brand new Avatarium brings TWO staffers to the yard. Will the latest from this doom rock project thrill or be a sleeping pill?
“Hungary’s The Devil’s Trade never fails to challenge my ability to fairly evaluate music. There are two reasons for this: firstly, this darkest of folk music is so effective in its emotional gravity and genuine sorrow that it consumes me and often clouds my judgment; secondly, those tangible qualities that I typically critique in the music I listen to most play different roles and have different effects in this environment. It’s what made previous release The Iron Peak tricky to rate, too, and I’m grateful to see that in challenging my abilities as a reviewer, The Devil’s Trade hasn’t changed a bit.” Devil in the details.
“As someone who fell deeply in love with Epicus Doomicus Metallicus after buying it based solely on the cool cover back in 1986, I consider myself a big fanMAN of Candlemass’ classic era. I define that epoch as the debut up through Tales of Creation. After that, it was much more of a crap shoot, with some albums working and others not so much. Considering the band’s golden era was rather brief, Candlemass enjoyed an outsized influence on the doom metal genre over the decades. When word hit that original vocalist Johan Langquist would appear on 2019s The Door to Doom comeback after not being heard from since Epicus, expectations were set unreasonably high.” Butchers, bakers, Candlemass makers.
“Like a cruel joke, Avatariumߵs releases sneak up on our Steel overlord. In true fashion, the great ape had scheduled a holiday just when this one needed to land. Thoroughly enraged, he menacingly marched through the breakroom shouting that someone needed to cover it or he would sacrifice Itchymenace to the great pile of writer mulch that we toss into mash for homebrewed hobo wine.” No wine for you.
Steel Druhm’s word is law, as is his Top Ten(ish) of 2019. This is the Way.
Huck N’ Roll and Eldritch Elitist weigh in with their own Top Ten(ish) of 2019 lists, and they have a lot to say.
“Just as with their last outing, Avatarium’s latest opus snuck up on me, having only learned of its imminent release a week ago. I’m not sure why this band escapes my metal detector/radar so effectively, but this 70s doom rock project founded by Leif Edling of Candlemass fame always makes for a pleasant surprise, as they’ve been quite impressive over their relatively brief life cycle. Health concerns have caused Leif to step away from the band more and more over the last few years, and on fourth album The Fire I Long For, he’s he’s been relegated to helping write a few songs.” Feel this fire.
“In my lengthy tenure as an AMG contributor, I can count on half a hand the number of albums that blindsided me as hard as Messa’s debut Belfry did. I plucked it from the promo sump knowing zero about the upstart Italian doomsters and was soon hopelessly in the thrall of their eerie doom drone hybrid style. Naturally, Belfry was going to be a tough act to follow regardless what direction the young act decided to travel, and after a fairly short wait, we get their second album, Feast for Water.” Into the deep end.
