#atthegates — Public Fediverse posts

April breezes are blowing across the AMG estates even though the summer heat reigns supreme. With several big-ticket releases and a collection of killer platters from lesser-known acts clogging the April voting sheets, it was a pretty fat month for extreme music. This caused consternation among staffers as loyalties to iconic bands clashed and lengthy histories of excellence were rehashed, compared, and contrasted. In the end, hard decisions were made, office furniture was hurled, and curses were invoked. This is the AMG way. Welcome back to April!

If one band exemplifies death metal majesty, decay, and consistency over 30-plus years, it’s New York’s own Immolation. Since launching their crusade of brutality way back in 1989, the band have become one of the most influential acts in the genre, with a sound that evolves and mutates but is always recognizably Immolation. April brought us the 12th installment in their legacy of ugliness, and Descent [out April 10th from Nuclear Blast (Bandcamp)] is another statement on what death metal should be. Wickedly heavy, technical as hell, and ugly as fook, it’s the kind of album that feels like a tanker full of anvils. It highlights the inventiveness of Immolation even as it revisits past eras of the band’s enormous catalog. As a well-impressed Steel Druhm pointed out, “Immolation remain a rare, altered beast among other repellent horrors, painting their uniquely disturbing soundscapes across history and time.” An equally gobsmacked Kenstrosity added, “This twelfth album, soon upon us, perpetuates that standard and may even prove, with time, to have elevated it once again.” Strong words for the Grand Titans of Death. All hail Immolation.

Runner(s) Up:

At the Gates // The Ghost of a Future Dead [April 24th, 2026 | Century Media | Bandcamp] — It’s very difficult to review an album that you know will be the last for a metal luminary. It’s the end of a life, an era, and a musical companion you’ve traveled with for years, even decades. Such was the dilemma facing Grymm when The Ghost of a Future Dead was released in the aftermath of the tragic passing of legendary vocalist Tomas Lindberg. At the Gates have had plenty of genre-defining moments over their career, and fortunately, what Tomas left us with here can stand proudly among their very best. It’s a vicious, face-melting slab of thrashy melodeath with hooks and fangs aplenty, showcasing the classic At the Gates sound and the caustic, corrosive vocals of a brave and ever-defiant Tomas. As Grymm astutely summarized, ” If this ends up being At The Gates’ swansong, this is a hell of a way to go out, as they dropped another classic on our sorry asses. Awesome job to all those involved. Rest in power, Tompa.” Journey on, metal brother.

Green Carnation // A Dark Poem Part II: Sanguis [April 3rd, 2026 | Season of Mist | Bandcamp] — Successor act of Norway’s In the Woods..., Green Carnation traveled a strange musical path since 2000, passing through death and Gothic metal to eventually arrive at a kind of progressive metal-lite. A Dark Poem Part II: Sanguis finds them continuing their Poem trilogy, offering hard-edged moments alongside plenty of sad, sullen set pieces sure to bring the feelz to the coldest of hearts. Musically, Sanguis explores some older Green Carnation sounds while also pushing their style forward into new spaces, always with quality songcraft at the forefront. There are some genuinely tear-jerking moments here if you like to feel unhappy. As the usually jaded, cynical, and cranky-assed Doc Grier gushed, “For those who need something in these trying times to bolster their spirits or tear them apart (if only for a moment to reset), Sanguis is here for you.” Flower power!

It’s been a long time since Stormhammer dropped 2019’s epic Seven Seals. Having snuck its way into my top ten that year, Seven Seals proved to be one of the band’s best records, and one of the best power metal records of 2019. With a diverse vocal range, Matthias Kupka lent his voice to that record better than the other eighty vocalists mic-ing it for Stormhammer. It helps that the band put together a fluid record for a change, merging the blasty with the powery and the epic with the sappy. So, what have these German cheese grinders been up to for the last seven years? Oh, you know, hiring a new vocalist. Oh, and an entire new lineup around founding bassist Horst Tessmann. So much for dynasties.

Now that we, once again, have to start all over with Stormhammer—learning the ranges of its new vocalist, how the songwriting will adjust to those strengths and limitations, and fuck all else we need to pay attention to—let’s see what apple Horst has plucked from the Power Metal Singing Tree to wail their way through this year’s Wrath of the Hammer. Let’s see… M. Nox? Is this fucking Kamelot? How can I judge the hiring skills of a band that’s been around for over thirty years? More like, how can I Nox, amirite? OK, I’ll stop.

The epic “Beware” comes crashing down on your head with pounding drums, big choirs, and a massive orchestral element that builds and builds as it progresses. Then the title track powers up, delivering a thrashy lick that I haven’t heard from the band before. With burly backing vocals in play, Nox’s voice rises through the Blind Guardian-esque pre-chorus before soaring into the hooky chorus. It’s a strong piece of work, with killer soloing and a massive conclusion. For more of the thrashy bits, skip ahead to “Veil of Fire.” While it’s not their best, its At the Gates-meets-The Haunted Swedethrash is eyebrow-raising. But as with all tracks of this caliber, it always swings back into power metal territories, utilizing the tired intro-verse-prechorus-chorus-verse-prechorus-chorus-someothershit-solos-repeatingchorusthatneverseemstoend.

The best of the bunch are the back-to-back “Light in the Dark” and “Wheels of Eternity.” Both are standard Stormhammer power metal, with Dream Evil vibes in the first and Dragonforce wankery in the latter. “Light in the Dark” is a passionate number that checks all the power metal boxes. It’s also an interesting addition because it was previously released on 2022’s Never Surrender – 30 Years of Power compilation. But now it has an official home. “Wheels of Eternity” is one of the more ambitious tracks, mixing chugtastic verses with movie-soundtrack orchestrations. And the chorus is massive as fook.

The best quality of Wrath of the Hammer is its digestible runtime, making it far shorter than anything else in their repertoire. The other surprising quality is the thrash elements—something they talked a lot about in their promo materials. What doesn’t fare well is the one-dimensional vocal approach. For years, there has always been diversity galore in the throat department. Wrath of the Hammer is about as typical a power metal performance as you can get. Don’t get me wrong, Nox gives a good performance. But it just feels like a step backward compared to Seven Seals. Wrath of the Hammer has good energy and a handful of solid tracks, but it completely ignores the hard work laid before it by its predecessor.

Rating: 2.0/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Rock of Angels Records
Websites: stormhammer.de | facebook.com/stormhammerband
Releases Worldwide: July 17th, 2026

I’ve gone back and forth about how to introduce The Ghost of a Future Dead, the eighth full-length by legendary Swedish death metal innovators At The Gates, the first with the returning Anders Björler back on lead guitar and songwriting duties (along with his twin brother, bassist Jonas) and also the final album featuring the late, great Tomas “Tompa” Lindberg, who sadly succumbed to a rare-but-super-aggressive bout of cancer in September of 2025. This introductory paragraph (and review) has been typed, deleted, reworded, deleted, approached differently, deleted, etc. so many times that I’ve lost count and given myself a colossal migraine in overthinking, over-evaluating, and over-justifying. But there comes a point where, in my month of listening to this, you have to say “fuck it,” and proceed in the direction that your gut, heart, and ears are guiding you towards. I will simply state that The Ghost of a Future Dead is many things.

What it’s not, however, is a pity party. Like anyone else with a conscience and heart, I was devastated to read about what Lindberg went through over the last few years with his battle against Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma, and was heartbroken when he died after a bravely-fought battle. You wouldn’t know he was struggling upon listening to the album, however, as Lindberg was in fine form here. His delivery has never been this potent, this acidic, with lead-off single “The Fever Mask” demonstrating his caustic delivery just fine. Elsewhere, “Det oerhörda,” the first At The Gates song written entirely in Swedish, further channels Lindberg’s rage and intensity. The fact that he performed all his parts, in one day and mostly in one take on the day before his surgery, before his bandmates even recorded anything is nothing short of impressive, as it doesn’t sound like it at all.

The Ghost of a Future Dead (24-bit HD audio) by At The Gates

Speaking of his bandmates, to say they all brought their A-game would be a grotesque understatement. To be frank, this is the At The Gates album I was craving when they first reunited back in 2010.1 Everyone went all-out, and the results are ridiculous. Both Björler brothers and fellow guitarist Martin Larsson hurl riff after monstrous riff at you, but also know how to construct some damn fine harmonies like on “The Fever Mask” and “A Ritual of Waste.” As for Adrian Erlandsson, his fills and embellishments border on the criminal. I’m sure the rather obscene breakdown section of “The Unfathomable” is considered illegal in most countries, with Erlandsson incorporating a well-placed ride cymbal “TING!” at just the right time2 to send people into a pit-inducing frenzy. In fact, with the exception of moody instrumental “Förgängligheten,” The Ghost is just fire and rage from beginning to glorious end, and all four instrumentalists paid loving, yet visceral, tribute to a fallen bandmate and brother on here.

The Jens Bogren production also elevates The Ghost into the upper echelons of At The Gates’ discography. Both the guitars and the drums radiate a profound heft and clarity. Speaking of clarity, being able to make out Jonas’ basslines is much, much appreciated, as he can play his ass off. Also speaking of Jonas, one thing I noticed was the more progressive leanings that he incorporated on To Drink From the Night Itself and The Nightmare of Being are still present at times, like on “The Dissonant Void,” might be reduced significantly, but they’re present and better incorporated, leading to a better impact overall. For 42 minutes and some change, The Ghost is the sound of everyone firing on all cylinders.

Full admission: everyone behind the scenes at Angry Metal Guy wanted to hear The Ghost of a Future Dead, but nobody wanted to review it. If it sucked,3 no one understandably wanted to say as much. If it were legitimately good, people would say that it’s said out of grief, trying to fit in with established publications, or some other bullshit reason. In this case, since it goes toe-to-toe with their best work (and in some ways surpasses them), it’s all those reasons plus receiving an unnecessary amount of grief from the comments section, crying about the audacity of giving it the score it ultimately received, despite all justification on my part. So I’ll take it on the chin for the team and state that yes, The Ghost of a Future Dead deserves the score due to the quality, ferociousness, and heart on display. If this ends up being At The Gates’ swansong,4 this is a hell of a way to go out, as they dropped another classic on our sorry asses. Awesome job, to all those involved. Rest in power, Tompa.

Rating: 5.0/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 256 kbps mp3
Label: Century Media Records
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: April 24th, 2026

When last we saw Sweden’s Evermore, they arrived within these halls, wielding a platter of power metal that was as muscular as it was melodic. The songs on 2023’s In Memorium hit me right in the feels, the crunch of its guitars hit me right in the nuts, and overall, I really enjoyed the record and its beefy, Avantasia-with-the-fat-trimmed-off vibe. While I had some issues with the vocal performance on In Memorium, I saw enough potential in Evermore to be legitimately excited when I saw the promo for follow-up Mournbraid splash into the sump. Once again sporting a be-womaned cover, said promo touts a “sound made of aggressive guitar riffs, soaring epic vocals, and unforgettable hooks—all amplified by a massive, neat production.” It’s a bold claim, but can the music live up to it?

It doesn’t take long for that question to be answered. On first proper track “Underdark,” Evermore sounds heavier than ever and hookier than one of those full-body Velcro suits that sticks you to the wall. In the review for In Memorium, I pointed out that that album’s lead single recycled elements of an Amon Amarth song, and interestingly enough, I can make a similar claim this time around, albeit with even more brutal source material; both “Underdark” and its preceding instrumental intro seem to rehash a melody from The Lion King soundtrack. But no worries! Once again, the pieces work so well together to kick things off that I can’t even be mad.

If you’re like me, when you saw the color palette used for Mournbraid’s cover art, you expected the music to take a turn for the darker, and if you’re like me, you were right. Each iteration of Evermore gets heavier, while still residing squarely within the confines of “melodic power metal,” and they are undoubtedly at their best when they lean into that heft. The more aggressive tracks, like “Mournbraid,” the aforementioned “Underdark,” “Ravens at the Gates” (whose melo-death riffing places the emphasis on ‘At the Gates’), and my personal anthem for 2026, the Dream Evil-esque “Armored Will,” are Evermore’s sweet spot, and they are only made more powerful by Mournbraid’s stellar production—I can’t remember the last time I’ve heard a guitar tone this mighty.

But the deliciousness of the beef makes the blandness of the more subdued side dish all the more glaring. Plopped right in the middle of Mournbraid is “Oath of Apathy,” an unfortunately titled, 7-minute slog of emotion that fails to grab my heartstrings and pulls the emergency brake on the album’s momentum. I won’t count closer “Old Man’s Tale” against Evermore since it’s labeled as a bonus track, but it suffers the same fate, even if it did manage to bring a tear to my eye once when I realized that I am officially the old man in the tale. Fortunately, every other song here is a banger, so I found it relatively easy to overlook this one blunder, although it did keep me from whipping out and slapping down my 4.0.

With Mournbraid, Evermore did just about everything I asked them to do. The vocals seemed to work much better this time around, the band dialed up the heaviness, and that guitar tone, oh God, the guitar tone! These guys have struck the perfect balance between savory and sweet in the world of power metal, and not even a mid-album detour from said balance could keep me from enjoying the hell out of this record. Greatness is coming for these guys. I can feel it in my old bones.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 256 kbps mp3
Label: Scarlet Records
Website: facebook.com/evermoremetal
Releases Worldwide: March 20th, 2026