“Something must be in the water over in Poland, because the country churns out quality death metal like few others. The phrase ‘Polish death metal’ always grabs my attention, whether it’s technical like early Decapitated, thrashy à la Vader, or as blackened as Behemoth. Such was the case when I espied Shine’s Wrathcult lying unclaimed in the promo bin.” Hiding light under a cult bushel.
2025 is fading in the rearview, but the Filters still need scrubbing. See what was left over after all the holiday debauchery.
“L.A.-based M., the mastermind behind Lamp of Murmuur, has been busy this year. In addition to releasing two other solo projects—Silent Thunder’s EP, Soulspear, and Magus Lord’s full-length, In the Company of Champions—he’s readying to unleash his fourth Lamp of Murmuur long player, The Dreaming Prince in Ecstasy, this November.” A cold light for mankind.
“As I have mentioned before, I’m focusing primarily on contact form promos this year. But every now and then, I will make exceptions, mostly to cover bands I have seniority over. Fortuitous, then, that twice-listing meloblack mavericks Walg sent their fifth opus V in through our back door, allowing me to keep my streak and eat it too!” Walg cake for all!
“As embedded into the fabric of horror as the works of H.P. Lovecraft are, so too are the myriad contributions of one Dan “The Man” Swanö enmeshed into the Swedish death metal scene. These two titans’ paths cross on Mountains of Madness, the fifth long-player from Sweden’s Puteraeon, who’ve tread the left-hand path of genre forbears like Grave, Entombed, and Dismember, peddling Lovecraftian Swedeath since 2008.” Tentacles in the mist.
“I, The Destroyer uses Nietzsche’s ‘The Will to Power’ to provide a journey of self-betterment. Beginning by destroying the unsavory elements of one’s life, the album guides the listener on a journey of enlightenment in hopes that the result is self-fulfillment and blissful egoism. On paper, this is a fitting concept for a black metal outfit, the album’s eight tracks follow a process of rebirth, providing moments of recollection to understand what was left behind. But, drawings on paper only go so far. Execution can make or break an album of this caliber.” Is Nietzsche rolling in his grave?
“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.” Taste the Rodeö with a Brazen Tongue.
“Swedish melodic black metal act Wormwood has a complicated history, and it all comes down to this. A string of albums have been hit or miss, as highlighted by the gone-but-unforgotten Akerblogger: 2017’s debut Ghostlands – Wounds from a Bleeding Land was a 4.0midable meloblack offering that balanced hooks and viciousness, while a follow-up trilogy installments one and two in concept albums 2019’s Nattarvet and 2021’s Arkivet have largely fallen short, respectively reflecting famine and extinction’s inevitability. The Star represents a culmination for the five-piece.” Trilogy of terror?
“How I’ve never known about France’s ACOD is beyond me, and I heartily apologize to them because I’ve been having a hella good time with many of their releases. Beginning their career as a black/thrash outfit with metalcore tendencies, they began to explore Mephorash-meets-Septicflesh territories around the time of their 2018 release, The Divine Triumph. While there are thrashy moments, the songwriting is now predominantly massive string atmospheres, marching drumbeats, cranked-up bass work, and riff after motherfucking riff.” ACOD AOK.
“Many music genres (metal, in particular) do love a good concept album. Be it a horror story, Star Trek and Lords of the Rings smut, or the tribulations of Spawn, metal bands (and their fans) can’t seem to get enough. You think you’ve heard and seen it all until you delve into the one-off absurdity of I Am the Intimidator. Never in my life did I expect to be reviewing a self-titled release whose concept has coined the term ‘NASCAR Metal’ in the festering halls of AMG.” Speed kills.
