#alcest — Public Fediverse posts

Lately, I’ve been listening to quite a bit of depressing music. Between Meadowlands, Qroba, and Exequiae, the themes of melancholy, death, and despair have been having quite the run ’round these parts. So it figures my review of the day is Embrace the Death—why turn away from a theme that’s doing well? This is the sophomore full-length release from U.S.-based Mother Crone, over a decade after their debut Awakening, and, if my research is accurate, with a completely different lineup. The topic of the day is clear, and Mother Crone approach it with a blend of doom, stoner, progressive, and groove metal. It’s always exciting to see what a band can do with a refreshed vision, lineup, and style, and apparently, grim topics are strong performers these days. How do Mother Crone compare to their contemporaries?

That my depend on how we define “contemporaries;” while Mother Crone share subject matter with the aforementioned groups, stylistically they have more in common with their own stated influences, Pink Floyd, Pantera, and Alcest (among others). As mentioned earlier, the sound on Embrace the Death is fairly well-rooted in stoner metal, with elements of doom, progressive, and groove naturally creeping in to fit the topic. Guitarists Edoardo Curatolo and Joe Frothingham (also vocals) oscillate between light, introspective play and a burlier, more aggressive approach, and Frothingham’s singing is the same. A lot of the album’s stoner and doom metal leanings actually owe to bassist Preston Wilson and drummer Charlier Romano, whose slower, grimier playing grounds the music in a progressive sort of styling. Together, the result is something at times aggressive, at times introspective, and always atmospheric in some way.

Embrace the Death by Mother Crone

But the best parts of “Embrace the Death” are unquestionably the album’s quieter moments, where Mother Crone embraces the doom and the atmosphere fully. The title track is the best example; here, Frothingham takes a break from what my father would affectionately call shouting in tune to do his best Mikael Åkerfeldt (Opeth) impression and guide the listener through a somber acceptance of the inevitable. The plaintive guitars, soft singing, and rumbling bass give way to subtle, beautiful melodies that grow organically. Not that the heavier moments are not welcome ones—”Fever Stone” is a more traditional, groove-led rocker that demonstrates a nearly opposite side of Mother Crone’s sound, the one that channels Pantera more than Opeth or Alcest. “Eye of Providence” is the middle track for the sound, best blending riffs, atmosphere, and heaviness. In all, Mother Crone don’t really sound like any of their influences, but bring forth something in the odd space between them all, something surprisingly affecting, sometimes heavy, sometimes airy, and often both at once.

Another thing I can say about Embrace the Death is that it is a fairly front-loaded album. In particular, the trio of “Fever Stone,” “Embrace the Death,” and “Unto the Dawn” is a powerful one-two-three hit of Mother Crone’s sound, from burly, melodic aggression to more plaintive, introspective atmospheres. Towards the end of Embrace the Death, however, I think Mother Crone loses sight of their strengths. “Inner Keep” in particular is an example of a song that could have used more editing than it received, clocking in at eleven minutes without making the impression I think it means to. “Celestial Light” is a beautiful closer for the album, but tonally feels a bit out of place. Perhaps if more of Embrace the Death leaned towards its title track sound it would fit better, but as is, it feels like the two extremes of the Mother Crone sound are more in competition with each other than blending into a unified listening experience. It’s all good music, but as a full album, I think there’s too much back and forth between aggressive and plaintive music to feel as “complete” as it could have felt.

Still, there is a clear journey through Embrace the Death, and, despite its grim title and concept, it’s a fun and reasonably thought-provoking listen. Mother Crone was not on my radar before now, but I’ll be paying attention to them for certain in the future. At best, this sophomore is a beautiful, compelling, and contemplative work of atmospheric metal; and otherwise, it is “only” good. Hopefully this new lineup sticks around for a bit—I’ll be looking forward to album three for sure.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Self-release
Websites: mothercrone.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/mothercronemusic
Releases Worldwide: March 4th, 2026

It’s not uncommon for death metal musicians to mellow and prog out the longer they roam this Earth. Far from a negative connotation, enough songwriting prowess can lead to a tasteful and potent way to carry out said development. One of many collectives in this category is the Morbus Chron expanded universe. These Swedes first went from classic death metal to Sweven, which eventually led to an even proggier Sweven. Now, in a further evolution following the Law of Increasing Hippietude™, we arrive at Speglas. Although predating Sweven by some five years, it took until now for the debut full-length Endarkenment, Being & Death to come to fruition. Their goal of fusing death and black metal with heavy metal, however, has remained the same throughout. With two degrees of staff and sound separation between Morbus Chron and Speglas, where has all this evolution led to?

The Sweven presence in the lineup of Speglas is noticeable from the get go. Isak Rosemarin (Sweven, ex-Morbus Chron) acts as half of the guitar crew and all of the vocal crew, lending the album a warm but powerful, raspy growl often reminiscent of Niilo Sevänen (Insomnium). Jesper Nyrelius’s (Sweven) drumming is varied and detailed (“The Spirit Postmortem,” “Hitherto Awry”). Alexi Hedlund’s guitar and Victor Berg’s bass round out the great performances of the lineup. Musically, Endarkenment… tends to fall somewhere between Inconcessus Lux Lucis’s blackened Iron Maiden approach (sadly gone unmentioned on site until now) and Chapel of Disease’s severely underrated deathened dad rock from 2024. Fans of Tribulation’s Down Below era might find a lot to like here as well. The songwriting builds upon their preceding EPs—2015’s Birth, Dreams & Death and 2022’s Time, Futility & Death—but improves on all aspects, nailing down the vocals and crafting a memorable dual guitar tandem (“Incessant Severance,” “Dies Mali”). And while the project’s vision does precede Sweven by a lot, its instrumentation inevitably ends up feeling distantly related (“Dearth”).

Endarkenment, Being & Death by Speglas

Endarkenment, Being & Death flows seamlessly from atmospheric to intense in various styles and tempos. Iron Maiden licks run amok throughout the album’s dual-harmonized guitar work (“Dearth,” “Rage upon the Dying Fire”) of course, but they’re not carrying the record alone. Gorgeous clean guitar parts (“Ailing,” “Dearth”) and sadboi tremolos (“Dies Mali”) accompany the superb rhythm and lead guitar efforts elsewhere. Parts of “The Endarkenment” even resemble Alcest by way of Spiritual Instinct’s fantastic post-black direction. All this leads to Speglas being progressive without it getting in the way of the music. In addition, a stellar production job only lifts up the band’s great stylistic choices. Simon Söderberg’s (whose production credits surprisingly include early Ghost) placement of drums and bass in the mix deserve special mention, as it makes an already good set of instruments sound incredible. Though not a massively layered or complex album, the combination of both songwriting and production depth makes for a highly repeatable experience.

Careful pacing allows Speglas to end their experiment with a triumphant bang instead of a whimper. Though the album could benefit from showing more teeth and grit at its most aggressive, the ending one-two punch of the album in “Dies Mali” and “Rage upon the Dying Fire” is a cornerstone hard to argue against. I wouldn’t be surprised if both end up being among my Song o’ the Year finalists. As for its softer side, the beauty of “Woe” and “Ailing” won’t change the minds of people diametrically opposed to intros and interludes. Some will say Speglas’s style is too watered down, others might think it’s not watered down enough. But I think Endarkenment… strikes a great balance in between, the music being both heavy and beautiful, intricate and addictingly catchy as a result.

You don’t need to reinvent the wheel to craft something that feels fresh and exemplary. Speglas took a long while to fine-tune their writing prowess for the debut, and it paid off in spades. Endarkenment, Being & Death succeeds in its primary goal as a superb example of progressive, deathened and blackened heavy metal. Despite not featuring any cowbell, I reckon it’ll be difficult for future 2026 albums to top this one come year-end. As the final recent n00b remaining who hadn’t broken the Score Safety Counter yet, I’m glad I held out this long for something remarkable. And I wasn’t even originally in charge of covering it!

Rating: Excellent
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps MP3
Label: Trust No One Recordings | Bandcamp
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram
Releases Worldwide: February 27th, 2026

Currently checking out Pictures by #HamaSaari.
I'd describe their music as dreamy, mellow #ProgRock, #Alcest'ey in places and some (late) #Anathema, too.

https://hamasaari.bandcamp.com/album/pictures

#bcf #BandcampFriday #Bandcamp

If you know anything about grumpy ole Grier, you know he’s been dry-humping Bizarrekult ever since 2021’s Vi Overlevde. “Dry-humping” might not be the correct term. Maybe passionate lovemaking? Yeah, that’s the stuff. But, in all seriousness, this little band came out of nowhere and has been making waves in such a short time. While the debut had me glued to my seat, the follow-up, Den Tapte Krigen, damn-near bolted me down—to the point that I had to cut myself out of my pants to break free. If that had been the band’s swansong, I would have been just fine for the rest of my life. But Bizarrekult is back to ruin another pair of my pants. Behold! Alt Som Finnes!

Before we begin, let’s explore some of the new additions Bizarre and co. have brought to the table with this new outing. While the general structure of the output remains the same, the approach can vary. Joining the ranks of second-wave Norwegian black metal, Alcestian meloblack, and Enslaved-like intricacies are three guest vocalists: Yusaf “Vicotnik” Parvez (Dødheimsgard), Lina (Cross Bringer, Predatory Void), and Kim Song Sternkopf (Møl, The Arcane Order). I’m not sure whether the songs were created with the guests in mind or whether they evolved during the songwriting process, but each song was made for its guest. Each with a gentle, clean vocal style, you can expect some of the most melodic, gorgeous accompaniment in the Bizarrekult’s repertoire. And besides Sternkopf’s contribution to the closing “Tomhet,” this song is also the first ever to be penned in English. Not that we metalheads have an issue with songs in a country’s native language, unlike the rest of the mainstream poser fucks. But it’s a nice addition.

Alt Som Finnes by Bizarrekult

Alt Som Finnes kicks off with a surprising piece in the form of “Hun.” Mostly surprising in its simplicity and short runtime. Alternating between clean and distorted vocals and ripping blackened riffs, this track only whets the whistle—nothing more and nothing less. Which leaves me wanting more before “Blikket Hennes” slaps the fuck out of me like a cat who hasn’t received its treats. This track has a thick bass, unsettling old-school black metal dissonance, venomous Aldrahn-like growls, and a trudging pace slowed by tar. Then, it collapses into a gorgeous atmosphere as Parvez’s beautiful vocals hit hard and crush the olde ticker like it’s made of parchment.

There are so many reliable tracks that it’s difficult to choose one over the other. That said, “Avmakt” is a beautiful piece with one of the most memorable black metal licks I’ve heard in some time. And not because it’s thrash, death, or any other sort of approach, but because it’s a killer true black metal riff. As the song progresses, the melodies expand like an ever-growing blanket that settles over mountains and valleys, like giants slumbering below the fabric. It’s one of those songs that proves you don’t need the beauty of the clean vocals of “Blikket Hennes” to achieve the same task. While there are others in the same vein as “Avmakt,” “Aversjon” takes it to another level with its influences. Opening with slow-moving melodics and sorrowful sustains, it quickly goes dark, slithering below the Earthly strains like a viper. But, like a miracle at the darkest of times, an uplifting, Alcest-like air breathes over—pushing deep and far, even into Enslaved-esque prog-tivity.

On first spin, Alt Som Finnes is an absolute rollercoaster of emotions that, even though it’s not uncommon for Bizarrekult to instill, leave me completely crippled by the end. Outside of the surprisingly two-pump Chuck that is “Hun,” the rest weave together while many still try to resist the tempting urge to give in and conform to the predictable fabric patterns. Instead, you have a glowing blanket that is also scorched and tattered beyond repair. Though it remains intact, when touched, it feels both gentle and painful at the same time. It’s a conflicting album in its tone but not in its delivery, and the intricacies of this slow burner try hard to topple Den Tapte Krigen from its perch. Who knows where it’ll stand in time, but, regardless, this new outing is a worthy addition to the Bizarrekult family.

Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 256 kb/s mp3
Label: Season of Mist Underground Activists
Websites: bizarrekult.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/bizarrekult
Releases Worldwide: February 20th, 2026

https://www.europesays.com/nl/93727/ Dubbel zo zwaar: Deafheaven – Lonely People With Power #2025 #agriculture #alcest #Amusement #asunojokei #BlackMetal #blackgaze #BosseDeNage #Deafheaven #Dutch #Entertainment #GhostBath #HolyFawn #lantlôs #LonelyPeopleWithPower #metal #mol #Music #Muziek #Nederland #Nederlanden #Nederlands #Netherlands #NL #numenorean #oathbreaker #PostBlack #recensie #RoadrunnerRecords #shoegaze #WhiteWard #WolvesInTheThroneRoom #ZwareMetalen

Tè vertat qu'aqueste ser es lo concèrt de #bruit ≤ !!! Tròp cool.
https://bruitofficial.bandcamp.com/ per los que coneisson pas.
En primièira partida de #Alcest (que m'interessa mens) a #Montpelhièr / Sant Joan de Vedats, a #Victoire2

#rock #metal #musica #concèrt #Erau #bruch

#VersionOccitana #Occitania #Lengadòc #SantJoanDeVedats

@daks https://mamot.fr/@daks/115354605344951855

Stuck in the Filter: May 2025’s Angry Misses

By Kenstrosity

Every day we toil, rain or shine, to find you the semi-finest ore of the month. Lately, though, it’s been mostly rain. Leaks abound, uniforms are soaked to the bone, the chutes are slick and slippery. We must continue, however, to provide for the masses!

Unfortunately, we don’t have any resources to keep anything dry in this godforsaken place. I hope you like your Filter nuggets soggy!

Kenstrosity’s Meanest Meanies

Death Whore // Blood Washes Everything Away [May 16th, 2025 – Self-Release]

Hailing from Nancy, France, crust/death newcomers Death Whore unleashed what is surely one of the meanest records of the year so far. A debut capable of humbling some of the better releases by far more seasoned acts, Blood Washes Everything Away is a nonstop cavalcade of stank-face, bone-shattering riffs. From the onset of vicious onslaught “Inhaling the Dead,” to the stomp and swerve that is the massive “Infernal Terror Machine” and “None Are Forgotten,” to the blistering and evil “12 Worm Wounds,” Death Whore crafted 11 brutally addictive, but smart and lean cuts guaranteed to snap necks. They allow only the sharpest hooks to imbue accessibility to this killer material, but make no sacrifice to the filthy, crust-laden tones and textures determined to pummel and paste (“Noyé dans le sang,” “Motorthroat ’79,” “Savage Aesthetic Revenge”). Throw in a refreshing message criticizing late-stage capitalistic trends, worldwide misappropriation of wealth by the elite class, and the futility of hard work in the modern era for those struggling to meet their basic needs (“You Owe Me a Living”), and you’ve got a record after my heart. I can already tell that I’m going to regret not saving Blood Washes Everything Away from Filter relegation by the time this publishes, but don’t let my transgression in this matter stop you from enjoying of deep Death Whore.

Executionist // Sacrament of the Sick [May 16th, 2025 – Self-Release]

West Virginian death thrashers Executionist were not on my radar. First off, I am, historically, very picky when it comes to thrash. It slaps when it slaps and leaves me cold when it doesn’t. Lately, though, I’ve been digging the style more and more, and Executionist’s particularly meaty take on Kreator WIOLENCE has my attention thoroughly affixed. With debut LP Sacrament of the Sick, Executionist bring on the riffs, but elevate them with blackened tremolos, rabid barks, and an immense bass tone. Opener proper “Edge of Annihilation” pulls no punches, but only hints at the quality held beyond. There’s an almost At the Gates-like sense of melody here, one which works in tandem with deadly riffs and blackened char instead of as a mere surface-level decoration (“Wheels of War,” “Divided We Stand… United We Fall”). While Sacrament of the Sick relies heavily on the long form for its song structures, creating a spot of bloat, there’s usually something memorable and interesting to keep me invested in the story from beginning to end (“Thy Kingdom Come,” “Sacrament of the Sick”). With just a little tightening of the screws, Executionist could easily become the next big name in thrash. Until then, rest easy knowing Sacrament of the Sick is a worthy contender on its own merits.

Thus Spoke’s Shiny Scraps

Ghost Bath // Rose Thorn Necklace [May 9th, 2025 – Nuclear Blast]

DSBM is a genre of necessity tied to a particular mood, and it’s not a happy one. In spite—or perhaps because—of this,1 it’s one I usually enjoy. Ghost Bath’s take on this particular type of misery music has fluctuated between more black metal and more post, and I personally found it never quite stuck. Rose Thorn Necklace, however, has kept me coming back for repeated mope sessions for weeks. It’s still recognisably Ghost Bath thanks to those same echoing howls that lurch into voiceless high-pitched wails (“Well, I Tried Drowning”), and a familiarity about the bitter refrains. But synths now play a prominent role in driving melody2 both dreamy (“Grotesque Display,” “Throat Cancer”) and uncomfortably upbeat (“Vodka Butterfly”), as things swing back in the direction of post-leaning DSBM. Layered strums lace into pessimistic chord swings and scream-resonant atmoblack (title, track, “Dandelion Tea,” “Stamen and Pistil”), sometimes recalling Harakiri for the Sky. It manages to be pretty, in that characteristically depressing way, as minor melodies bleed into blackened tantrums (“Well, I Tried Drowning”) or ride on synths as harrowing screams narrate (“Throat Cancer”). The snippets of coughing (“Dandelion Tea”), sobbing (“Vodka Butterfly”), and sirens (“Throat Cancer”) are par for the course, but still very effective, and the ending duo “Needles” and the horribly—but brilliantly—named “Throat Cancer” is kind of…genuinely lovely in a really gross, demoralising sense. I’m converted.

ClarkKent’s Bestial Beats

Animalize // Verminateur [May 23, 2025 – Dying Victims Productions]

While the album cover might not inspire confidence, make no mistake, Animalize is worthy of your attention. On their sophomore album, Verminateur, these Frenchmen bring youth and energy to the old school speed and traditional metal scene. They mix up mid-tempo tunes with high-octane thrash, and even throw in a lovely piano ballad for good measure (“Priere de Remords”). On tracks like “Chevel Astral” and “Au Jugement de Soi” you can hear influences ranging from Accept to Def Leppard, while the lightning-fast “Verminateur” sounds like a blast from Judas Priest’s Painkiller. Front man Coyote brings plenty of charm, ranging from excitedly shrill to cool-headed, all while executing some well-timed “oohs” and infectious laughter here and there. Fortunately, he doesn’t carry all of the weight. Jessman and RattleGab keep the riffs spicy throughout, ensuring Animalize never phones it in, while Lynx’s drumming adds some much-needed heft. The songwriting is nice and tight, allowing the album to clock in at a tidy 36 minutes. As good as each song is, the icing on the cake is “Envahisseurs,” which will end up as a strong candidate for song of the year. It brings a killer riff and thrilling energy that’s sure to get the Statue of Liberty to drop her torch and make some devil horns.

Owlswald’s Feathered Echoes

Pandemia // Darkened Devotion [May 16th, 2025 – Hammerheart Records]

After a decade between releases, Czech death metal veterans Pandemia burst back onto the scene with their sixth full-length, Darkened Devotion. Still channeling the menacing souls of legends like Vader and Immolation, Darkened Devotion marks a significant yet successful pivot towards a more accessible sound for Pandemia. Delivering bone-crushingly heavy and succinct songs that are both memorable and easily palatable, Pandemia haven’t lost their edge—they’ve simply refined it. From “Nightmare Paradox’s” gut-punching, wicked riffing to “Catalepsy’s” gratifying, atmospheric thrash-inspired arpeggiations, every part of Darkened Devotion feels focused and tastefully executed. New drummer Jake Bayer (Cutterred Flesh) is an absolute beast, shaping Darkened Devotion’s mammoth backbone with thunderous rapid-fire double bass runs (“Blessed, Blessed Oblivion,” “Depths”), intricate tom fills (“The Pallor of Detest,” “The Wretched Dance”) and precision blasts (“Nighttime Paradox,” “A Sea to Breathe In”). Returning guitarist Alex Marek—last heard on 2005’s Riven—unleashes a barrage of infectious shredding that makes headbanging involuntary. Jaroslav “Jarda” Friedrich’s bass and Jikra Krš’s vocals complement Bayer and Marek’s authority with angry drawls and guttural, gravely growls. The album’s overall tone is immense, effortlessly engulfing listeners into its nocturnal anxieties with ease. With Darkened Devotion, Pandemia have forged a refined and brutal auditory feast that genuinely took me by surprise. Embrace the darkness.

Killjoy’s Dreamy Delights

Asthénie // Iridescence [May 5th, 2025 – Self-Release]

Iridescence is literally a colorful piece of music. Named after the naturally occurring phenomenon of an object appearing to change colors, Asthénie assigned a different color to each of these five songs. The guitars are the main focus here—whether with a glimmer (“Mélèze”) or a shimmer (“Indigo”), they brilliantly showcase the prettier side of post metal. Hardcore-tinged screams boldly accentuate the guitars’ vibrant hues, providing heft and urgency. Somewhat ironically, “Gris” (meaning grey) takes up the most time at 11 minutes and is the most developed contrast between the calm and furious. At only 35 minutes in total, Iridescence passes like a beautiful breeze with little fluff or filler. While by no means necessary, some clean vocals could potentially add even more color to a future release. Though this is not the first instance this year of a post-black record patterned after various wavelengths in the visible light spectrum, Iridescence is resplendent in its own right.

Au Clair de Lune // In the Wake of Dusk [May 16th, 2025 – Self-Release]

Moonlight and bodies of water share an intrinsic artistic bond. There’s something deeply enchanting about a celestial, ghostly source of illumination amidst a dark, murky setting. Leonard Sinaguglia’s blackgaze project Au Clair de Lune aurally combines these two aesthetics via dreamy, floaty guitars and synths akin to Autumn Nostalgie and, of course, Alcest’s Écailles de Lune. At times, the melodies are smooth and glassy like the surface of a lake (“Echoing Silhouettes,” “Neon Dusk”). Other times, they’re upbeat and catchy as a rip current (“Anaemoia,” “Distant Glow”). The principal vocal style is a mild rasp, more for flavor than heaviness, though Falyriae adds her airy singing voice on occasion. Although the track order and overall pacing usually find a good balance between the atmospheric parts and the punchy parts, the longer track lengths make In the Wake of Dusk feel a bit fluffy in places. But even so, Au Clair de Lune provides a satisfying and transportative experience to an unearthly realm.

Dolphin Whisperer’s Dusky Deposition

Slumbering Sun // Starmony [May 9th, 2025 – Self Release]

Music is the closest thing we have to magic in this world. When a great song or a great album graces your ears, it’s a clean sweep to any combo the head, heart, and gyrating body. Such was the case with Lone Star Doomsters Slumbering Sun and their debut release The Ever-Living Fire back in 2023. With a fragile heart in one hand and a fat riff in the other, their take on the kind of sadboi doom you’d hear in bands like Warning or early Pallbearer struck me deep. On Starmony, much of the same elements return: growling bass underpinning stadium-sized riffs, Ozzy-like vocals that bustle with a modern emotion and charisma, and a posty playfulness that allows long-form compositions to swell and soar. The only trouble is that it takes a couple songs for Starmony to settle into that same form of riffed-out hypnosis, with the one-two intro of “Together Forever” and “Keep It a Secret” sounding like the middle drive of a live set rather than the start of an introspective journey. But with the violin-assisted weeping catharsis of “Midsommar Night’s Dream” and “Wanderlust,” the waltzing melody of “Danse Macabre,” and the Thin Lizzy-styled dueling leads of “The Tower,” Slumbering Sun again finds a monstrous groove in hopeful and hammering songcraft. And, of course, if you get a chance to catch this act live like I did, just a few days before The Dolphlet emerged, you’ll fall extra prey to the kinds of doomy incantations that Slumbering Sun conjures with their mystic-minded compositions. In fat riffs we trust, and in sorrowful hearts we linger.

Tyme’s Tragic Tones

Enterré Vivant // 悪罪 (Akuzaï) [May 26th, 2025 – Antiq]

Comprised of French multi-instrumentalist Erroiak and vocalist Sakrifiss—whose 25-year residency in Japan heavily influences the music—depressive black metallers Enterré Vivant’s3 third album, Akuzaï, blew me away. My DSBM bar was set long ago by Shining‘s unfuckwithable V: Halmstad, and yet Akuzaï has come along to give it a run for its money. Centered around 10 Buddhist sins, Akuzaï relates the experiences of Japanese civilians and victims during the Second World War. From the emotionally charged cover photo depicting a mother breastfeeding her newborn shortly after the bombing of Nagasaki,4 to the haunting interludes and shimmering, melancholic melodies within, Akuzaï melds traditional, tremolo-picked guitars and icy vocals ala Summoning and Emperor (“Sesshô,” “Shin’i”) with Moonsorrow-esque keys, Japanese-influenced flutes and violins, along with ghostly moaning howls to create its depressive atmospheres. Transitioning from the twisted croaks of interlude “Waraguchi,” album highlight “Jain” begins with mournful pianos and a pensive, tremolo-picked lead before crashing forth in waves of crushingly cascading chords and Sakrifiss’ tortured screams, its eight and a half minutes awash in black metal sadness. By the time the wails of a suffering child floated in around the seven-and-a-half-minute mark, my arms had broken out in goosebumps, and my heart was fucking broken. Offering yet another lens through which to view the torturous horrors of war, Akuzaï is harrowing, relentless, and not to be missed.

#2025 #Accept #Alcest #AmericanMetal #Animalize #Asthénie #AtTheGates #AtmosphericBlackMetal #AuClaireDeLune #AutumnNostalgie #Blackgaze #BloodWashesEverythingAway #Crust #CutterredFlesh #CzechMetal #DarkenedDevotion #DeathMetal #DeathWhore #DefLeppard #DoomMetal #DSBM #DyingVictimsProductions #Emperor #EnterréVivant #Executionist #Falyriae #FrenchMetal #GhostBath #HammerheartRecords #HarakiriForTheSky #Hardcore #HeavyMetal #Immolation #InTheWakeOfDusk #Iridescence #ItalianMetal #JudasPriest #Kreator #May25 #MelodicBlackMetal #MelodicDeathMetal #Moonsorrow #NuclearBlast #Pallbearer #Pandemia #PostBlackMetal #PostMetal #Review #Reviews #RoseThornNecklace #SacramentOfTheSick #SelfRelease #Shining #SlumberingSun #Starmony #StuckInTheFilter #StuckInTheFilter2025 #Summoning #ThinLizzy #ThrashMetal #Vader #Verminateur #Warning #悪罪Akuzaï_

Blood Abscission – II Review

By Thus Spoke

We tend to underestimate how great a role knowledge of the artist plays when experiencing their art. Even if unfamiliar with their work, the awareness of them as a person (or group of people) whose intentions are either plain or discoverable through interviews, notes, or academic consensus informs our opinions insidiously but inevitably. In an age when self-promotion is easier than ever thanks to the internet, a musician choosing to remain anonymous speaks to a desire to center their music in as absolute a way as possible. Who comprises Blood Abscission, and how many of them are there? That may never be known.1 All that exists is their art. This too eschews identity beyond numbers: sophomore II following in inevitability debut I, and all tracks bearing only the numerals of their album position. We must listen to II exactly as it is, with only Blood Abscission’s solemn proclamation as potential guide: “United in pain, we step into the abyss – not as mere individuals, but as a collective force seeking meaning within the chaos, finding a voice in the silence between the stars.”

Though I discovered it in retrospect—the debut having been dropped via self-release with zero fanfare—II continues exactly as I began. Blistering, raw-adjacent atmospheric black metal, relentless beyond the occasional lapses into dreamy gaziness where the keyboards shine and feedback hums (“III,” “IV”), not unlike a synth-obsessed Alcest. Its intensity, the desperate, unintelligible screams of the vocalist, and the grand melodic themes see-sawing between melancholy beauty and eerie dissonance bring to mind Aara on one face (“I,” “V”), Decoherence the other (“II”). II feels like an exercise in pure catharsis, the repeated climaxes of ever-fiercer roars and ascending tremolos communicating only unfiltered emotion, and the contrastive stillness a cleansing indifference. With no identifiable words, and even the muffled samples dampened beyond comprehension, II’s features are solely confined to this ebb and flow, amplifying once more the facelessness and pure aesthetic centrality that Blood Abscission impose by not naming it, or themself. It is a musical black hole, both in atmosphere and sparseness of properties, and is appropriately powerful.

Unlike an actual black hole, II is something we can escape from, though Blood Abscission do a good job of holding you in place. At its most ardent peaks, when beauty pitches fearsomely into urgency, it is hard to ignore, let alone switch off (“II,” “V”). The moves from one state of being to another are smooth, regardless of their speed—whether neo-second-wave and assured to a vulnerable undulation between sorrowfulness and heartenedness (“I”), or gentle contentment to grieving resolution (“III”). “IV”‘s emanation out of the chiming whine of “III,” and procession into the torrent that opens “V,” is not just an obvious example of this compositional fluidity, but itself proves to be a thoroughly absorbing interlude that belies its length. II repeatedly invites introspection, and does so through its rawness that reaches beyond the way the vocals and instruments are mastered, a corollary of the necessary focus on the sweep of its melodies, interplay between airy keys and darker riffing, and the tides dictated by pleasingly crisp percussion. The echoing croon of an escaped tremolo, the escalation of a minor refrain into devastation, and the torture of a conclusive shriek—with the closing act of “V” standing as the album’s crowning glory in this regard—are notably affecting.

Yet II’s consistency in perdurance is a double-edged sword. While full immersion grants the listener an undoubtedly intense and emotional experience, less conscious enjoyment threatens to leave them a little cold, outside of standout apexes at least. Perhaps this is always a danger with atmo-black, particularly of this more unrestrained and unstructured variety. I can testify that after spending some time with it, its magnitude seems greater than it did initially, thanks to deeper appreciation of its nuances, but even the influence of II’s potency doesn’t eliminate flaws entirely. II could stand to be a shade shorter, to give every moment more impact; something not needed so much by its peaks, but from which some of its lingering passages would gain better standing as transitions of beneficial steadiness between outbursts.

With so much atmospheric and raw black metal out there that might as well be anonymous for all its uniformity and ironic placidity, Blood Abscission stand out not only with real anonymity, but music that speaks for itself. In form resisting memorability, in actuality quite impactful and resilient, II shows what the genre is capable of. Even if it lacks the concrete immediacy to solidify it into long-standing greatness, its noise is not meaningless, and its meaning is not lost, however imprecise it might seem.

Rating: Good
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Debemur Morti
Website: Bandcamp
Releases Worldwide: April 11th, 2025

Show 1 footnote

1. And as is stated quite forcefully in the promo material, “Blood Abscission is NOT available for interviews.” ↩

#2025 #30 #Aara #Alcest #AmbientBlackMetal #Apr25 #AtmosphericBlackMetal #BlackMetal #BloodAbscission #DebemurMortiProductions #Decoherence #II #RawBlackMetal #Review #Reviews

:megaphone: DEMNÄCHST!
*Zusammenfassung 22.11. bis 23.12. für Berlin

Beth Hart
22.11.2024 Berlin / Max Schmeling Halle

Decrepid
22.11.2024 Berlin / ORWOHaus

Sepultura
22.11.2024 Berlin / Columbiahalle

Sleep Token
22.11.2024 Berlin / Velodrom

The New Roses
22.11.2024 Berlin / Hole 44

Venues
22.11.2024 Potsdam / Lindenpark

Accept
23.11.2024 Berlin / Huxleys

Alcest
23.11.2024 Berlin / Festsaal Kreuzberg

Deathrite und Obnoxious Youth
23.11.2024 Berlin / Reset

Erdling
23.11.2024 Berlin / Frannz Club

Erdling und Hand Of Juno
23.11.2024 Berlin

Molchat Doma
23.11.2024 Berlin / Tempodrom

#Accept #Alcest #Berlin #BethHart #Columbiahalle #Deathrite #Decrepid #Erdling #FestsaalKreuzberg #FrannzClub #Hole44 #Huxleys #Lindenpark #MaxSchmelingHalle #MolchatDoma #ORWOHaus #Potsdam #Reset #RoyalRepublic #Sepultura #SleepToken #Tempodrom #TheNewRoses #UFOImVelodrom #Velodrom #Venues #SteelFeed #SteelFeedSoon

AMG Turns 15: Middle Management Speaks

By Carcharodon

15 years ago, on May 19, 2009, Angry Metal Guy spoke. For the very first time as AMG. And he had opinions: Very Important Opinions™. The post attracted relatively little attention at the time, but times change and, over the decade and a half since then, AMG Industries has grown into the blog you know today. Now with a staff of around 25 overrating overwriters (and an entirely non-suspicious graveyard for writers on permanent, all-expenses-paid sabbaticals), we have written more than 9,100 posts, comprising over seven million words. Over the site’s lifetime, we’ve had more than 107 million visits and now achieve well over a million hits each and every month. Through this, we’ve built up a fantastic community of readers drawn from every corner of the globe, whom we have (mostly) loved getting to know in the more than 360,000 comments posted on the site.

We have done this under the careful (if sternly authoritarian) stewardship of our eponymous leader Angry Metal Guy and his iron enforcer, Steel Druhm, while adhering to strict editorial policies and principles. We have done this by simply offering honest (and occasionally brutal) takes, and without running a single advert or taking a single cent from anyone. Ever. Mistakes have undoubtedly been made and we may be a laughing stock in the eyes of music intellectuals, socialites and critics everywhere but we are incredibly proud of what AMG Industries represents. In fact, we believe it may be the best metal blog, with the best community of readers, on the internet.

Now join us as the people responsible for making AMG a reality reflect on what the site means to them and why they would willingly work for a blog that pays in the currency of deadlines, abuse, and hobo wine. Welcome to the 15th Birthdaynalia.

Thou Shalt Have No Other Blogs!

Carcharodon

AMG and me

I lurked quietly on AMG for about five years, reading daily, discovering great records, but never entering the fray. Not so much as a single comment. I didn’t feel qualified to get involved. Until that is, I inexplicably decided—I’m still not sure why—to answer the 2018 casting call. To my surprise, I got a shot and, under the threatening (but surprisingly fair) tutelage of Steel Druhm, I evolved from nameless_n00b_17 to become Carcharodon Sharkboi. I figured it would be a fun hobby for a year or two.

Coming up six years and more than 250 posts later, AMG Industries is so much more than a hobby. It’s become part of my daily life. And that is because of the people and the culture here, not just the staff, but also the regular readers and commenters. Although there’s a wry humor to nearly everything we do, and more in-jokes than even the seasoned staffers can keep up with, people actually care. They care. About the music. About our editorial standards. About the quality of our output. About each other. And, apparently, about Yer Mom. Caring and having standards are rare commodities on the internet, and it makes the AMG community a special place to be a part of. Are we perfect? No. Mistakes have been made. We Melvins that make up AMG are a dysfunctional family, but you love your family and you’re always a part of it. This adoptive family helped me get through some really tough times as a new(ish) dad during the COVID lockdowns and exposed me to some really impressive people, I would likely never have met otherwise. Thanks AMG for starting this place and, along with Steel, Grier and other key players, ensuring that it remains what it’s always been: a place for appreciating the music we love, free from adverts, clickbait, and dicks. I’m proud to have played my small part in it.

AMG gave to me …

Gorguts // Colored Sands – I couldn’t tell you exactly when I started perusing AMG but I remember this being one of the first reviews I stumbled across. Today, it’s not a record I reach for often but it completely changed my perception of death metal. Until I heard Colored Sands, death metal to me fell into either the Cannibal Corpse school, or the progressive Opeth and late-era Death camp. The former wasn’t for me, the latter very much was. Gorguts ripped my preconceptions apart. The band was completely unknown to me but the technical precision and dissonance they channeled into this record blew me away. And having heard it, it’s impossible not to hear Gorguts’ influence on dozens of other bands. As Noctus opined, the “riffs are absorbing, dizzying and uncompromisingly heavy … [while the] mix is dynamic, well-balanced and above all, crushing.” But it’s more than that. It’s such a complete package and, together, all the elements are simply transcendent.

Mistur // In Memoriam – It pains me to say it but Grier was right. Okay, so it was once, about eight years ago but he was still right: Mistur’s In Memoriam is an absolute banger. It does deserve a 4.5. And I did miss it. And it’s absolutely in my top-5 black metal records of the 2010s. Would I have found it without him? Perhaps. Perhaps not. After all, I didn’t know their 2009 debut, Attende. But I didn’t need to do the work because Grier did it for me. He was also right to say that In Memoriam is packed full of highlights but that the “record is impossible to appreciate unless listened to from beginning to end.” It’s a perfectly crafted piece of Windir-inspired melodic black metal, with absolutely no fat on its “magnificently structured” carcass. Every track is excellent in its own way (the duo of “Matriarch’s Lament” and “The Sight” being my personal highlights), but the album is undoubtedly greater than the sum of its parts. As a general rule of thumb, do not trust Grier but he was right on the money about Mistur.

Gazpacho // Demon – Demon is in my top ten records of all time. From the yawing note, fragile vocal line, and keys that open the record on “I’ve Been Walking, Pt. 1a” to the final notes of “Death Room”, it gives me chills every time. I’m not someone who has overly emotional reactions to music, as a rule. But I love Demon. There is something about this record’s dark vulnerability that haunts me. And given the band’s shitty name, I probably wouldn’t have bothered with it were it not for the review here. Sitting right on the intersection of alt-rock and prog, with a few heavier riffs, I could say that it has all the progressive chops of Radiohead’s OK Computer and that there’s something of Thom Yorke in Gazpacho frontman Jan-Henrik Ohm’s quiet, emotive power. I could point to the excellent use of violin (the polka that closes “The Wizard of Altai Mountains” is just fun). I could, as AMG did in the review that hooked me in, praise the fantastic production. He also, rightly, said that “[e]very listen to brings forth new experiences, new ideas, new emotions”. But it’s more than that. Demon just has that undefinable something. It’s heart-wrenching, somber and I never tire of it.

I wish I had written …

Grymm Comments: On Mental Health Awareness and Our Favorite Music. Okay, I don’t actually wish I had written this. Nor should I have been allowed to. However, I am extremely glad that Grymm, Kenstrosity and The Artist Formerly Known As Muppet took on this project. In any space, it’s an incredibly important subject but mental health struggles seem to have an outsize impact on people in our (still relatively niche) scene, as the engagement with this piece showed. The number of incredibly personal and moving stories people felt able to share in response to Grymm‘s post made me very proud to be part of this place and I like to think that, perhaps, it helped a few people, who felt they had nowhere else to turn, feel a little less alone. Chapeau gentlemen.

I wish I could do over …

Kanonenfieber – Menschenmühle [Things You Might Have Missed 2021]. In the write-up of my favorite record of 2021, I opened with a disclaimer, setting out what this record categorically was not. It was an effort to head off what I predicted would inevitably become an issue for a German band, writing and singing about war in German … you figure it out. To be fair, when I interviewed its creator, Noise, a couple of years later, it seems I was right. Still, I don’t think my efforts helped. If anything, they sparked a pointless debate in the comments (of which I was part). I should have left well alone and just focused on this outstanding record.

I wish more people had read …

The Art of Labelling – Part I and Part II. All the way back in early 2020, while locked up in my house, I penned a two-part feature looking at three great, independent record labels—Hypnotic Dirge, Naturmacht and Transcending Obscurity. I wanted to understand the challenges, and opportunities, facing them and their founders. I found these fascinating to write and I learned a lot. Part I did ok numbers, not great but ok; Part II … less so. Given the huge amounts of time Nic, Robert and Kunal gave up to help me with these pieces, I had hoped to get more exposure for these excellent labels.

GardensTale

AMG and me

It’s hard to overstate the impact AMG has had on my life. When I found the site, checking out reviews for Book of Souls, I wasn’t listening to that much metal anymore. The quality of the writing drew me in, I got caught up on recent big releases, and the writing bug sank its teeth in me. Soon, metal had become a big part of my life again. Not long after, my partner expressed an interest as well and I introduced her to the various types and subgenres of metal, and we started going to more concerts and festivals, which is our favorite shared experience to this day. We started going to Roadburn, met and befriended several bands. We made friends from Wales at Graspop. During the pandemic, the staff started doing Zoom calls,1 and I got to know many of my fellow writers. After the pandemic, we made more friends through Roadburn and Angry Metal Days. We’ve been to Brutal Assault, with people we met at other festivals. One even moved to our city and has become a close companion since then. How much smaller would our world be without these friendships and experiences! This one shared interest—the love of music—is a wonderful, ongoing journey, that has enriched our lives in ways I can scarcely describe, and the match that set the fire was a click on a link while I was bored at work. AMG has brought my partner and me incalculable joy. Here’s to 15 more years!

AMG gave to me …

King Goat // Conduit – Conduit is important to me for several reasons. It was my first Album of the Year at AMG, with the title track a well-deserved Song of the Year. But it was also the album that showed me how wrong I was about doom metal. I had this notion that Swallow the Sun levels of drudgery were the standard for the genre, something I could (at the time) only tolerate in small amounts. Having just begun my AMG career in August that year, I was keen to unearth as much as I could from 2016, and King Goat blew my mind wide open, an obliteration of preconceptions that has served me well since. Despite the cataclysmic recalibration, I have not yet discovered a doom album to top Conduit. The mighty vocals, the colossal riffs, the cosmic scale of it all … it is a truly monumental album. Just thinking of the anthemic duet of the title track’s bridge still sends chills down my spine.

Disillusion // The Liberation – If you didn’t see this coming, welcome to AMG! I have made no secret of how much I love The Liberation.2 It is, quite literally, my all-time favorite album. The first time I heard it, it was overwhelming. The second time, “Time To Let Go” got its powerful hooks into me. Third time round, the sheer scope of “Wintertide” began to land. Every time I span it, I discovered more depth, more hooks, more intricate details, which connected all the tracks like a perfect web. It’s a bold treatise on dying and letting go, emotionally charged not just through the vocals but with every chord. I love progressive music principally for its storytelling ability, as the freedom from structure allows the music to emulate the endless ways to build a narrative arc. It’s why I love Pink Floyd and, more recently, Major Parkinson so much, and it’s the reason Edge of Sanity’s Crimson is one of the only albums I’ve done a YMIO for. But none do it better than Disillusion, and they’ve never done it better than on this album.

Madder Mortem // Red in Tooth and Claw – I’d heard Madder Mortem before, back in their Desiderata days. Although I enjoyed that album, it hadn’t stuck with me somehow. Red in Tooth and Claw brought me back into the fold in a big way, and Madder Mortem’s become one of my favorite bands since, owing to its unique sound and peerless emotional acuity. This album’s closer, “Underdogs,” remains one of the most effective and affecting tracks in the stellar discography of Norway’s best-kept secret. A disastrously scheduled and attended gig during the Marrow tour allowed my partner and me hours of drinks and conversations with the band, especially with vocalist extraordinaire Agnete Kirkevaag, and it remains the best and most personal experience I’ve had with any band. Madder Mortem will always hold a special place in my heart, and I would likely never have gone back to them if I hadn’t read Jean-Luc Ricard‘s review and decided to give a long-forgotten band another shot.

I wish I had written …

Alcest – Kodama Review. We have some mighty fine writers here at AMG, each with their own style and voice. But few could match the poetry of Roquentin. Starting out here, this was the review that made me sigh dreamily and wish for the ability to write such extraordinary prose. When you’ve been writing reviews for a while, you often find yourself trying new ways to phrase the same things; this is good, that is bad, etcetera. The Kodama piece is a masterclass in melding these points into a beautifully phrased flow, which never feels repetitive or perfunctory. Roquentin, you are missed.

I wish I could do over …

Hemina – Venus Review. I’m only human, and humans make mistakes. My biggest mistake, though, was the framing of Hemina’s Venus. A lengthy, winding progressive metal album from my early AMG career, I found the love-themed concept album trite and too cheesy. And though I may have been able to defend that musically, I was completely wrong about the concept, which dealt with the happiness love brings, as well as the drama and destruction. And the band called me out on it in the comments, in the worst way: with polite kindness. One more memory for the ‘lie awake at night’ bank, I suppose.

I wish more people had read …

Wills Dissolve – Echoes Review and Album Premiere. We don’t do a lot of premieres around here, so when we run one, it’s a special event. Hypnotic Dirge is not an unknown label, Wills Dissolve had a very good album with a great Burke cover. All the ducks in a line, right? Crickets. 3 comments, 2 of which talked about the lack of comments. Just a strange fluke, it seems, but certainly one of my bigger AMG disappointments.

Kenstrosity

AMG and me

When I first applied to write for AMG, I felt terribly unconfident that I would get anywhere with it. A certain commenter’s (Septic, you scoundrel, you) and my meatspace friends’ constant, and sometimes irritating, encouragement and support conspired to keep me from chickening out. Lo and behold, I jammed my foot into the Hall door. Just. Brutal though that training was, now that I’m here and somewhat seasoned, I can say that this gig represents one of the most rewarding and meaningful hobbies in my life. I’ve learned a ridiculous amount, both about metal at large and about writing—and made an unprecedented number of great friends along the way—in the last six years (this November), and I wouldn’t trade that for anything. I’m not the same person I was when I applied, of that there’s no doubt. But, I like to think that, with the support of the staff, the commentariat, the silly goofy Discordians, and all of the readers that keep this place vibrant and burgeoning with views, I’m better for it. I owe this place and the people in it a huge debt, one I can never repay. Thank you everyone, for everything!

AMG gave to me …

Sulphur Aeon // Gateway to the Antisphere – Up until discovering this review, back when I first encountered AMG in 2017, I listened almost exclusively to metalcore, Evanescence, and operatic symphocheese. Then I hit play on this incredible record, and my life forever changed. I’d heard snippets of death metal and other extreme fare before, but it never clicked. Sulphur Aeon, on the other hand, had me swooning within seconds, initiating what was, effectively, the musical equivalent of the Big Bang in my brain. A whole universe of metal, extreme and otherwise, expanded exponentially before me in an instant. Those cosmic wonders revealed to me in the process, provided endless hours of joy, excitement, and vigor, the likes of which I could never anticipate. With time, I only grew fonder of Gateway to the Antisphere, until it eventually became a Ken icon, the standard by which I judge all other records of its ilk, even today.

Slugdge // Esoteric Malacology – If you asked me to curate a Top 10 metal records of the 2010s, Esoteric Malacology easily hits my Top 3. If you asked me to curate a Top 10 metal records of all time, Esoteric Malacology easily hits my Top 5.[Um … what?! – Carcharodon] Much like Gateway to the Antisphere before it, Slugdge’s fourth LP clicked immediately and, all these years later, shines just as bright, if not brighter. Rarely does a week go by without me picking this back up for some quirky, proggy death metal fun. Esoteric Malacology even transcends the trend of clumsy lyrics endemic to metal writ large, instead showcasing devilishly clever prose and subversive messaging that conveys meaningful themes, and compelling emotional depth. Then you have the stellar performances of this dynamic duo (now trio), perhaps most effectively portrayed in Song o’ the Decade contender “Putrid Fairytale,” which remains to this day my favorite piece of progressive death metal of the modern era. Needless to say, I love this record. HAIL MOLLUSCA!!!

Unfathomable Ruination // Finitude – Brutal tech death doesn’t get better than this. Easily my most cherished Kronos find, Unfathomable Ruination’s unbelievable triumph of crushing artistry left me speechless when I first span it. Considering this was my first foray into the dense, challenging extremities of more technical music, I expected Finitude to fly way over my head. I found myself bewildered that its impenetrable density and ridiculously high level of detail were so effortless for me to access. Blame that on the record’s immense groove and flawlessly structured writing. With enough time to acclimate to the intense environment conjured by Unfathomable Ruination, I found greater appreciation for its nuanced detailing and deeply satisfying tones. Hell, that perfect snare alone brings enough aural pleasure to overwhelm even the coldest spirit. At the end of the day, you should just go read Kronos‘ review of this beast, as it explains, more eloquently than I ever could, why this should be on everyone’s essential listening schedule.

I wish I had written …

In This Moment – A Star-Crossed Wasteland Review. Boy was I mad when I found this piece for one of my favorite metalcore albums. While my confounding taste is the butt of many a joke for my colleagues and our readers alike, seeing a 1.0 for this record truly hurt my soft baby heart at the time. Given the chance, my assessment would’ve likely precluded me from being hired by AMG Inc in the first place, but nothing could change how dear this record is to me. Even now, over a decade since its release, I still regularly reach for these romantic, adventurous, and theatrical tunes.

I wish I could do over …

Ascend the Hollow – Echoes of Existence Review. I’ll be frank, this review is bad. Like, really bad. Partly due to the last minute nature of the piece and partly due to my unbridled enthusiasm for the record itself, I unleashed a tidal wave of unhinged band comparisons, more than half of which don’t make any sense in retrospect. An insane density of passive voice further plagues this write-up. It’s actually kind of embarrassing. The only things that wouldn’t change much are the overall score and some of the hard points of my analysis. Otherwise, this post desperately needs an overhaul.

I wish more people had read …

Into the Obscure: Straight Line Stitch – When Skies Wash Ashore. While I’m over the moon that one of the band members unexpectedly dropped by in the comments to offer kind words for my coverage of Straight Line Stitch’s excellent When Skies Wash Ashore, I do wish more readers had given this album a chance. Many didn’t bother to even read this article because of the tags, unwilling to spend even five minutes of their time. For an album personally significant to me, that felt pretty lame.

Holdeneye

AMG and me

What does Angry Metal Guy mean to me? Honestly, this is a question that I’m constantly trying to answer. As life goes on, and my kids enter their busy teen years, my hunger to listen to, and write about, new music has definitely waned. But there was a time when this music blog was exactly what I needed in my life. I’ve never felt totally fulfilled by my job as a firefighter, and I went through a period where I questioned whether it was actually the career for me. I considered going back to school or switching professions in order to be able to better use some of my seemingly untapped skills. I’d been reading AMG off and on for years at that point and had already fantasized about joining the roster of talented writers when a casting call came about. I answered the call, forever marring the Angry Metal archives with my questionable taste and questionable humor—and forever changing my life. Put simply, Angry Metal Guy is where I found my voice; it’s where I realized that no matter what it is that I want to say, I have a natural ability to say it in a way that seems to resonate with people. I may have dreams of writing something a little more meaningful than a heavy metal review filled with potty humor, but if that dream should one day come to fruition, all those poop, fart, and penis jokes will have been instrumental in bringing it about.

AMG gave to me …

Anaal Nathrakh // The Whole of the Law – When I first heard this record, it was unlike anything I’d ever heard. Grymm‘s review and the album’s subsequent success during List Season 2016 convinced me to give this thing a whirl, despite it lying way outside my wheelhouse. Sure, I’d enjoyed some extreme metal before, but Anaal Nathrakh was in a whole different league for me. Until The Whole of the Law, I never dreamed I could actually like something so insanely … well … insane. The project’s brand of philosophical violence hit me at a time when I was struggling to reshape my worldview after deconstructing my inherited Christian faith, and just about everything about the album’s aesthetic clicked with me. This record has fueled many a sweaty therapy session in Holdeneye‘s Iron Dungeon of Pain and Enlight(dark)enment™, and it opened me up to a whole new world of musical brutality.

Sabaton // Carolus Rex – This one will probably shock a lot of people. I was a late adopter when it came to Sabaton, and I never really gave their early records a shot because I felt the whole history-metal thing was too gimmicky. But when Angry Metal Guy and Steel Druhm gave Carolus Rex the old tag-team tongue bathing, I took notice. I think the conceptual nature of the album really helped the band’s schtick resonate with me. It was the first time an album had me running to Wikipedia to learn more about the events described in the music, and this combination of learning history and enjoying heavy metal has become the best part of every new Sabaton release since. It’s no exaggeration to say that Sabaton has become one of my favorite bands of all time, and I’ll always be grateful to this site’s malevolent dictators for showing me the way.

Candlemass // Epicus Doomicus Metallicus – If I had to choose a feature that solidified Angry Metal Guy as my go-to metal blog, it would have to be when Angry Metal Guy and Steel Druhm each curated their personal top 50 heavy metal songs of all time back in 2011.3 These features reveal a lot of each of their personalities and their tastes in music, and I found a lot in common with both lists. I used them as tools for broadening my musical horizons, but no other new-to-me album hit me as hard as Candlemass’ EDM. Steel recommended “A Sorcerer’s Pledge” as a ‘doom odyssey akin to Rainbow’s “Stargazer,”‘ and that was all the nudge I needed to give the full album a try. As far as I know, EDM was the first full-fledged doom album I ever loved, and it has grown into a personal desert-island record. Thanks, Boss!

I regret nothing! But I wish I could do over …

Scardust – Strangers Review. While I don’t actually wish I could do this one over, I wish I would have done it harder. Strangers is a world-class album, and it’s only gotten better in the years since its release. This should have been a 4.5, minimum, and it should have been my Album o’ the Year for 2020. I took so much delight in how divisive the album was for our beautiful commenters, and I can only imagine how much more fun it would have been to watch you guys lose it over an even higher score. Scardust is a uniquely talented band, and I really wish I could have helped insert that glowing eggplant into even more earholes.

Sentynel

AMG and me

AMG landed in my life at a pivotal time for my music taste. I stumbled into 70s classic rock and prog in my early teens, and on to Nightwish, Blind Guardian then Isis by my late teens. Searching for more, I found the Skyforger review here and, unwittingly, an endless deluge of new music. I am terribly novelty-seeking, and AMG has kept me interested in music – not for me the endless adulthood of listening to one’s teenage favorites. I’ve picked three highlights I haven’t already written anything about anywhere below, but choosing was a brutal process and I had over a dozen Desert Island Discs-worthy choices shortlisted. But the music is only part of it. Ten years of running the servers here has taught me a lot, and it’s also a source of pride how stable it’s been over that time.4 Eventually, I was talked into trying my hand at reviewing. It’s been rewarding and great for my writing more generally, even if I don’t have time to write as much as I’d like. Huge, huge thanks to Dr. Wvrm‘s editorial help and support. Finally: there’s a weird, worldwide crew of friends behind this site, and I’m proud to be a part of it.

AMG gave to me …

The Ocean // Pelagial – This is the obvious choice for this spot; my favorite record of the 2010s and possibly ever. I never tire of listening to Pelagial, over a decade later. From the opening piano to the last guitar line fading into electrical noise I am transfixed. Sitting on the boundary between prog and post-metal, it’s rich, melodic, even catchy at times, crushing at others. Each of its moods and styles hits perfectly, while the narrative and thematic arc of a descent into the deep gives it an enduring coherence. It’s taken me a few attempts to actually write this piece because I keep getting distracted just listening to it. I’ll never stop seeking out new music, but contenders to Pelagial’s throne are few and far between.

Esben and the Witch // Older Terrors – Perhaps the record I reference the most while trying to explain my specific music taste. This is an incredibly me album. Sparse, hypnotic, atmospheric, Older Terrors does an awful lot with very little. The balance here is incredibly delicate. Getting music this minimalist to have real impact is hard, and the albums where it works are some of my all-time favorites. Here, the folk stylings—the sense of forests, rituals and magic—are key to its success. I associate this album with its cover art much more viscerally than anything else I listen to. It’s genuinely transportive; pressing play feels like stepping into that starlit forest.

Vienna Teng // Aims – Ah, how can I pass up an opportunity to write about an album that only tangentially qualifies for this section on a bunch of axes? I mentioned my love of Teng’s work in my 2023 AotY list, but I think Aims is particularly special. It’s at once incredibly catchy and poppy, yet also very experimental, and really shows off her lyrical and thematic flair. “The Hymn of Acxiom” casts an internet marketing database as a choral hymn, more relevant now than ever; “Landsailor” is a love duet between humanity and capitalism.5 These songs sit alongside more traditional themes of love and loss. They’re heavy subjects handled in a way that’s sensitive and moving. None feel out of place, and I still get them stuck in my head out of the blue regularly. Metal isn’t completely devoid of meaningful lyrics—last year’s Wayfarer did a good job here, for example—but it’s rare that I would describe anything as poetic, or that it makes me think to this degree.

I wish I could do over …

Mitochondrial Sun – Mitochondrial Sun Review. When I penned this review, I was very new to actually writing here, and hadn’t quite figured out my voice or a writing process that really worked for me. I don’t think I did a terrible job by any means, and this isn’t the only thing I’ve underrated here either (looking at you, Musk Ox), but this record is really something special and deserved both a better review and more attention generally.

Huck N Roll

AMG and me

I am olde, and I am stuck in my ways. I only ever read reviews at two sites, and the first of those was AMG. When I applied to write here, I knew for sure I would not get the gig. But by some stroke of luck, AMG Himself missed my application and Steel—perhaps just wanting an equally olde curmudgeon on staff—brought me in. I loved every minute of it. Hopefully, I became a better writer, thanks to all the talented miscreants I was with. What a great group of people – the writers and the regular (and irregular) commenters. It’s certainly a regret of mine that life got in the way and I had to leave the team.

It was the actual reviews on AMG that got me hooked. They were irreverent, entertaining, and always, always brutally honest. Hands down AMG could (and still can, even with 4.0ldeneye)6 be counted on more than any other site for the TRVE review. No 5.0-pandering to labels and bands: if it sucked, it sucked, and if it was good, well, it sucked less.

You might also be surprised to learn what great people these AMG writers are because, once you get behind the review curtain, they are a bunch of sweethearts. I miss them all!7

AMG gave to me

Darkher // Realms – The year I started with AMG, I was a deer in the headlights. Thankfully, I didn’t have to do a full year-end list, just a quick Top Ten(ish). And tops for me was Realms, from Darkher. Thanks to my good friend Grymm’s amazing writeup, I jumped on this album and never jumped off. This album got me more into doom than I’d ever been, and it’s a genre I still go to quite often (although more in the dark of winter than other times). I still spin the vinyl quite a bit. Thanks Grymm!

The Night Flight Orchestra // Amber Galactic – Another of my albums of the year that I discovered thanks to the undying admiration of my (still) good friend Dr. Fisting. Such fun. And when the guy from Bear Mace says he loves it, well, you take him seriously folks! I always read all the reviews here (still do!) and sample anything highly-rated. Amber Galactic is a big reason why.

A whole bunch of super friends // Whether they know it or not – Yes, even you, Grier!8

I wish I had written …

More YMIO features on Kiss. I did manage one for Love Gun but still, the site is sorely lacking in Kiss material.9 There should be two dozen YMIO features now.10 There should be an album ranking.11 There should be … well, maybe that’s enough.

But seriously, I wish I had written a lot more than I did in my final days. Having to cut down to two reviews a month sucked. I love finding new bands (Sermon) and writing about them, and doing it half as much, meant I was also way less engaged with the rest of the staff. So it was a double whammy. Less new music, and less camaraderie.

I wish I could do over …

Raven – Metal City. If I had known the olde feller from Raven was going to pounce on the comments because I said his album was a 2.5, I would have gone lower just to get him going even more. Nothing in my AMG days made me prouder than “Off you fuck, chief” becoming the catchphrase of the year. And Steel, I never bothered listening to All Hell’s Breaking Loose but I know for a fact you overrated it!12

#2024 #Alcest #AMGTurns15 #AnaalNathrakh #AscendTheHollow #BlogPost #BlogPosts #Candlemass #Darkher #Disillusion #EsbenAndTheWitch #Gazpacho #Gorguts #GrymmCommentsOn #Hemina #HypnoticDirgeRecords #InThisMoment #Kanonenfieber #KingGoat #Kiss #MadderMortem #MentalHealthAwareness #Mistur #MitochondrialSun #NaturmachtProductions #Raven #Sabaton #Scardust #Slugdge #StraightLineStitch #SulphurAeon #TheNightFlightOrchestra #TheOcean #TranscendingObscurity #UnfathomableRuination #ViennaTeng #WillsDissolve

Das Jahr wird noch laut 😁
#MetalheadConcerts #Disillusion #AnnekeVanGiersbergen #Monkey3 #Pendragon #BadReligion #OrphanedLand #Voyager #Imminence #Wheel #Therapy #Alcest

Das Jahr wird noch laut 😁
#MetalheadConcerts #Disillusion #AnnekeVanGiersbergen #Monkey3 #Pendragon #BadReligion #OrphanedLand #Voyager #Imminence #Wheel #Therapy #Alcest