The AMG Staff Lists are ready for review, examination, and ultimately, rejection.
Shadow of Intent
Stuck in the Filter: June 2025’s Angry Misses
Filters are hard to keep clean because of all this filth. Don’t make it worse!
Assemble the Chariots – Unyielding Night Review
“Although Unyielding Night is the first full-length of Finland’s Assemble the Chariots, they have long felt more veteran than their peers. Releasing a string of EPs that transition from djenty deathcore to an early progenitor of blackened deathcore, Unyielding Night is as epic a debut as they come. Simultaneously conjuring a future of an interdimensional war among the stars with the age-old philosophy of heroism and plight, it is an album devoted to all things bombastic and cinematic.” Chariotsof the Godz.
Vale of Pnath – Between the Worlds of Life and Death Review
“When a band leaves a long time between releases, the questions of whether, how much, and in which direction their sound will have evolved hang portentously. Between the Worlds of Life and Death, Vale of Pnath’s third LP, comes almost eight full years after sophomore II, and five years after their last EP, Accursed. That latter release provided at least a clue to the direction the originally bonafide tech-death crew were set to go in, and Between the Worlds of Life and Death stays true to this promise.” Lift the Vale.
Stuck in the Filter – October’s Angry Misses
The October Filter Report is here and we have some interesting things to break down for you. Get stuck!
Ancestral Curse – In Dreams of Endless Darkness Review
“Since the first chords of “Black Sabbath” rang out from Tony Iommi’s tipless fingers, horror and metal have been intertwined. Horror can be injected into a record any number of ways, be it through gratuitous slasher samples, thematic lyrical content, or a general focus on terrifying atmosphere. New York new bloods Ancestral Curse claim to brandish a “horror-themed concoction of melodic blackened death metal.” In Dreams of Endless Darkness is the self-released debut from this quintet, which always tempers expectations, but the band managed to pull in a couple of notable guest spots that caught my eye.” Scared by death.
Stuck in the Filter – July’s/August’s Angry Misses
When 2 months of Filter crud collects, things get sticky. We got our hands dirty in July and August so you could have nice, fancy fingernails.
Mental Cruelty – Zwielicht Review
“A Hill to Die Upon represents the steepest improvement between two albums that I encountered during my overextended employment at AMG Torture Racks and Surgical Paraphernalia. After the disappointing sophomore slump that was Inferis, I assumed the German troupe responsible for the mighty Purgatorium, a veritable clinic on killer slam riffs and technical prowess, burned too brightly too soon. But A Hill to Die Upon gained a well-deserved rating upgrade and remains one of my most revisited albums in the entire deathcore pantheon.” Hill kills.
Vortex – The Future Remains in Oblivion Review
“There are three schools of symphonic extreme metal, generally speaking. You have neoclassical material, which aims to recreate the lush and delicate intricacies of classical music of a bygone era reinvigorated by a metallic influence. Then, there’s the cinematic blockbuster approach, where choirs and orchestral hits function as a source of grandiose drama and explosive scale. Finally, you have the oddball works of mad scientists who use orchestration as a tool primarily to create strange and uncomfortable music. Vortex fall under the second category.” A night at the Vortex.
Ov Sulfur – The Burden Ov Faith Review
“I’m sure it was cool once, and it can be funny sometimes, but the whole using “v”s instead of “f”s thing is a pet peeve of mine and it really hinders my ability to take a band seriously. I would have been more forgiving had the artwork been less…questionable. As an album that purports to quite seriously tackle the corruptions and injustices of organized religion, one can only hope that the contents of the package are deeper and more rewarding than their wrapper. Ov Sulfur play blackened deathcore that overall reminds me of a less bombastic A Wake in Providence.” Ov gloves ov deathcore.
