Steel Druhm summarizes his experiences on the recent 70000 Tons of Metal Cruise while downplaying and concealing crimes committed in international waters.
Tribulation
AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö: Siren Oath – Loveless
“AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö” is a time-honored tradition to showcase the most underground of the underground—the unsigned and unpromoted. This collective review treatment continues to exist to unite our writers in boot or bolster of the bands who remind us that, for better or worse, the metal underground exists as an important part of the global metal scene. The Rodeö rides on.” Hear the Siren Oath.
Tribulation – Sub Rosa in Æternum Review
“Tribulation has battled its share of tribulations. After an interesting decade of gradually shifting from death metal to goth metal with growls with a new drummer every couple of years, the band lost one of their primary songwriters with the departure of flamboyant guitarist Jonathan Hultén. The last album to include him, Where the Gloom Becomes Sound, was not bad, but certainly more messy and unpolished than its predecessors, and it was the first to largely halt the band’s evolution. Sub Rosa in Æternum sees the reintroduction of Joseph Tholl on guitars, who originally helped found Hazard, the thrash metal band that would become Tribulation. How has the shake-up affected the music, though?” Trials, travails, Tribulations.
Stuck in the Filter: June 2024’s Angry Misses
“Sticky Filters make things go off-kilter. When you scrub and grease, you end up with workplace peace. We cleaned off the June grime so you can have a good time!”
These blurbs are out of control and I am going to launch an extended investigation into ending this nonsense. – AMG
Steel Druhm’s Top Ten(ish) of 2023
The List of Steel is upon you!! Now you will know trve power and glory as Steel Druhm’s Top Ten(ish) unfolds and expands to fill all the metalverse.
Kadaverficker – Superkiller (A Musical Journey Between Life and Death) Review
“After reviewing a slew of bigger releases and personal favorites in recent months, it’s nice to reconnect with the underground and plunge into the dank, mysterious corners of the promo sump. In doing so I stumbled across Germany’s Kadaverficker and their fifth full-length album, Superkiller (A Musical Journey Between Life and Death). Kicking around the traps since forming in 1993, Kadaverficker released a hefty collection of demos, splits, compilations, and various other shorter-form releases, eventually dipping into full-length territory on 2012’s Exploitation Nekronation. What can you expect on an LP that leaves nothing left in the tank across a whopping 71-minute runtime.” Ficking around,
Cloak – Black Flame Eternal Review
“It’s no secret that the pandemic put the kibosh on the live music scene for quite some time, with aftershocks of that phenomenon still felt today. For the future of many artists releasing material late in 2019 or early 2020—like Cloak with their sophomore record The Burning Dawn—the inability to perform their latest material live to help support their reputation, their audiences, and their financials caused great strain and much uncertainty. Thankfully, Cloak dedicated every spare minute unceremoniously granted to them by the pandemic to focus on writing and perfecting new material.” Cloaking tiger, hidden flame.
IATT – Magnum Opus Review
“The title of IATT’s third LP is not as ballsy as you might think. “Magnum opus” is one of those phrases that tends to be carelessly tossed around in art criticism without really meaning anything, so let’s break it down: literally, the phrase means “The great work,” specifically referring to the alchemical process of creating the immortality-granting philosopher’s stone. While some use the phrase as a placeholder for “masterpiece,” IATT is here wielding it with its proper connotation, as evidenced by much of the record’s subject matter. Taken this way, the title also serves as a metaphor in the context of IATT’s career.” Magnum force.
Netherbird – Arete Review
“If you look up the phrase “almost great” online, you’re likely to see a picture of Swedish band, Netherbird. These guys having been kicking around since 2004, and have released several quality albums without ever quite reaching the level of “Oh yeah, I know those guys!” in the metal world. If Netherbird were a person, they’d be that fun dude at the party you enjoy hanging out with, but don’t really remember until the next time you see him again. And then you have to ask the host to remind you of his name.” Birds of a nether.
Thron – Pilgrim Review
“Bands like Thron felt much more special to me as a fledgling member of the AMG staff back in early 2017. In those days, I was just happy to be covering something good. Thron’s debut LP wasn’t just good; it was damn good, and the best record I had covered for this blog at the time I penned my review. Its follow-up, Abysmal, was nothing like its namesake. We unfortunately never received a promo for Abysmal, but it was a successful risk for the band, as they pivoted from pure meloblack to something more diverse and richly textured. As ironically great as Abysmal was, I am somewhat happy I never covered it in retrospect. Its successor, Pilgrim, is on an almost identical playing field.” Thron trend.
