Amon Amarth

The Crown – Crown of Thorns Review

The Crown – Crown of Thorns Review

By Carcharodon on October 7, 2024 in Reviews, Death Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Speed Metal, Thrash Metal, 19 comments

The Crown is back with its 12th album, Crown of Thorns, continuing a legacy of death-thrash fury. We at AMG Industries, LLC have been tongue-bathing these Swedish darlings since Doomsday King, their 2010 comeback following a six-year hiatus. Through three reviewers, and 15 years of reviews, The Crown has continued to garner high mark after high mark and an unusual amount of love from our cantankerous staff. Can Crown of Thorns live up to the high bar set by their earlier work, or are the cracks starting to show?

Asenblut – Entfesselt Review

Asenblut – Entfesselt Review

By Steel Druhm on August 2, 2024 in Reviews, Melodic Death Metal, 50 comments

“Steel Druhm Himself and Holdeneye see eye to…eye on many metal-related issues. We gravitate toward the same styles and share an appreciation for plenty of bands across the metal spectrum. It’s not all Kumbaya though, no Sireebob. I could not have agreed less with his loving review of cheese-tastic faux-Manometal act All for Metal. They’re like an even more ridiculous version of the already super ludicrous Brothers of Metal, and I couldn’t stomach the lactose overload their music flung in all directions like cheap beer at an 80s thrash-fest. Imagine then my primal shock when I grabbed the latest album from German battle metal purveyors Asenblut only to find it’s helmed by one of the vocalists of All for Metal.” Metal fatigue.

Octoploid – Beyond the Aeons Review

Octoploid – Beyond the Aeons Review

By Kenstrosity on July 5, 2024 in Reviews, Death Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Progressive Metal, Psychedelic Rock, 52 comments

“Let’s play a little game, shall we? If I put a gun to your head, and it’s a big deadly gun, what genre would you guess Finland’s Octoploid play based on the album artwork alone? Yes, I know the genre tags are right under the title of this article. I assume nobody reads those. Anyway, my first assumption viewing the artwork was stoner sludge. I couldn’t have been farther off, and that excited me beyond reason. I had to check it out. Pronto. Immediately after smashing the play button on their debut record Beyond the Aeons, I reveled in absolute joy to discover the deceptive artwork was as much a red herring as I had hoped!” Tentacle play is A-OK.

Kvaen – The Formless Fire Review

Kvaen – The Formless Fire Review

By Cherd on June 20, 2024 in Reviews, Black Metal, Blackened Death Metal, Melodic Black Metal, Viking Metal, 49 comments

“Three albums into Jacob Björnfot’s run as quasi-one-man meloblack band Kvaen, certain areas of dependability have become apparent. For one thing, you know each release is going to be all about the guitars: the riffs, the leads, the melodies, the harmonies, the blistering, soaring solos. Any “atmosphere” is incidental. It’s not the point. You know those riffs and melodies are going to be easy breezy, memorable, and highly repeatable. You know on the songwriting front, you’ll get some scorching sprints and some rousing epics. And at least one song about fire.” Fire in the Home Alone.

The Vision Bleak – Weird Tales Review

The Vision Bleak – Weird Tales Review

By Dr. A.N. Grier on April 15, 2024 in Reviews, Gothic Metal, 46 comments

“Utilizing Type O Negative-esque booming vocals, surprisingly heavy riffs, and bombastic key-driven atmospheres, every The Vision Bleak album is Gothic metal goodness that’ll leave your skin crawling, hands bloody, and eyes leaking. Funny enough, 2016’s The Unknown was the first time any album I reviewed was chosen as the RotM. These eight long years have been quiet, undoubtedly due to the band brewing their next horrific release. Now it’s here and it’s like nothing they’ve ever done before.” Weird is the new bleak.

Necrot – Lifeless Birth Review

Necrot – Lifeless Birth Review

By Eldritch Elitist on April 12, 2024 in Reviews, Death Metal, 46 comments

“When it comes to the new school of old school death metal, Necrot occupies a refreshing niche. By that, I mean that they don’t much fall into a specific niche at all. None too interested in the bleeding edge of the style and similarly distant from its grimiest, slimiest depths, Necrot stands alone, simply wanting to rock.” Rock in a dead place.

Hand of Kalliach – Corryvreckan Review

Hand of Kalliach – Corryvreckan Review

By Eldritch Elitist on March 9, 2024 in Reviews, Folk Metal, Melodic Death Metal, 25 comments

“A Scottish husband and wife duo, Hand of Kalliach is self-described as melodic death metal that is interwoven with Celtic and Gaelic folk music and has been making wholly distinct music defying implied genre confines since 2020. Their yet-brief existence has already spawned an independent EP and LP, and now a sophomore full-length under the Prosthetic Records banner. Swift underground successes and unique sonic signifiers are all well and good, but when it comes to Corryvreckan, does innovation translate to a worthwhile listen?” Marriage Metal!

Darkest Hour – Perpetual | Terminal Review

Darkest Hour – Perpetual | Terminal Review

By GardensTale on February 24, 2024 in Reviews, Melodic Death Metal, Metalcore, 36 comments

“How deep is your backlog of albums you intend to give a full spin sometime, but you never get round to it? I couldn’t even begin to tally mine. One of the albums that has languished in this limbo is Godless Prophets & the Migrant Flora, the previous release from melodeath veterans Darkest Hour. I remember liking the slice I tried, but with so much to listen to and so little time I failed to give it my full attention. Grymm sure loved it, though, and in his absence, I was more than happy to step up and finally give the band the attention they deserved from me.” In the darkest hour, we cried more, more, MOAR!