“Ever shrouded in mystery, the enigmatic collective Misotheist emerges from their icy realm to deliver succor to fans of metals black and arcane. De Pinte, the band’s fourth release, roughly translates from Norwegian to ‘The Tormented’ or ‘They Tormented,’ a fitting appellation given the Trondheim troupe’s fondness for tortured topics and twisted themes.” Miso kvlt!
“It’s always interesting to follow a band’s career arc through AMG reviews. The last time Lotan appeared in the hallowed halls of this fine site was in 2023, when my superior Thus Spoke took a righteous hammer to their debut. She found the Danish band’s take on the “trvest of stvles” underwhelming—citing unfocused black metal stylings, monotonous pacing, and lackluster production as key shortcomings. Now, Lotan is back with Yetzer Hara, a slab of blackened death inspired by Cain and Abel, with the intent to explore and embody “the destructive urges that define Humanity’s fall from grace.” Can Lotan surpass their debut and carve a name for themselves on the black/death pantheon’s gnarled mural?” Lotan clan.
January Filters are scrubbed. Now your ears will be brutally rubbed.
Carcharodon and Cherd roll out their Top Ten(ish) of 2024 for all the metaverse to gawk at. Pay first!
“The Panzerfaust tetralogy, The Suns of Perdition series, began all the way back in 2019 with Chapter I: War, Horrid War. Despite being a great record, delivered by a band showing huge promise, this massive saga wasn’t one that I really expected to ever see finished. Bands break up, get dragged into controversies or whatever. But, five years later, here we are, at the conclusion of The Suns of Perdition series and the end of the world.” Sundowning.
“When I wrote up Menschenmühle, the debut full-length by Germany’s Kanonenfieber, in late 2021, I described it as ‘stunning.’ The storytelling arc that it achieves, opening with the almost enthusiastic bombast of the early days of the Great War, through to the exhausted horror of No Man’s Land, is incredible. Cast in shades of blackened death metal, I ended up crowning it my Album of the Year, calling it a ‘masterpiece.’ So how does one write the follow-up to a masterpiece?” With one’s tongue, apparently.
“Originally from Belgium but now firmly ensconced in the Pacific Northwest of the US, one-woman black metal project Hulder caused some ripples with debut LP, Godslastering: Hymns of a Forlorn Peasantry, in 2021. Steeped in dark medieval themes and even darker folklore, it channeled both an almost second wave black metal harshness and a folk edge to create a unique sound. Although a little rough around the edges, it promised much for the future.” The future is NOW!
“The choice of Käthe Kollwitz’s famous Aufruhr (Uprising) as the cover art for the fourth album by Germany’s Porta Nigra is telling in that … hang on, I’m almost sure that … *cue much lip nibbling and skrunkling of eyebrows as I crank my addled memory into second gear*… Panzerfaust!!! You wouldn’t think it would take me quite as long as it did to place the cover art from my 2020 album of the year, the outstanding The Suns of Perdition – Chapter II: Render unto Eden. 2020 was, coincidentally, also the last time we heard from Koblenz’s Porta Nigra, when they dropped the very good Schöpfungswut.” Faust friends.
TheKenWord and Carcharodon bring their special sets of skills to Listurnalia and things get…interesting.
“Back in the primordial days of this here blog, we attempted something called “AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö.” The basic idea was to select a bunch of unsigned bands and give them the collective review treatment to find the most worthy buried gems. It was our humble effort to remind folks that the metal underground is still an important part of the world of metal.” Post-death is a thing. A Rodeö thing.
