#theocean — Public Fediverse posts

https://www.europesays.com/uk/1035111/ Loneshore – Nothing Left to Deconstruct Review #2026 #30 #Amenra #BrazilianMetal #Entertainment #EternalStorm #ExplosionsInTheSky #Jun26 #Loneshore #music #NothingLeftToDeconstruct #Opeth #PostRock #PostMetal #ProgressiveMetal #Review #Reviews #TheOcean #UK #UnitedKingdom #WillowtipRecords

When one pictures Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, post-metal is probably not among the imagery that readily springs to mind. But the more I think about it, the more the birthplace of Loneshore makes sense. Just as post-metal is often defined by striking contrasts, so is Rio, a city where mountains and beaches coexist alongside favelas and wealthy communities. This diversity is mirrored in Loneshore’s sophomore record, Nothing Left to Deconstruct, which arrives nearly eight years after their 2018 debut, From Presence to Silence. How have the members of Loneshore matured as musicians during this time?

It turns out that Loneshore wasn’t always primarily a post-metal group. From Presence to Silence blended somber, doomy melodeath similar to Eternal Storm with Opethian melodies. Nothing Left to Deconstruct, however, squarely straddles the line between post-metal and Explosions in the Sky-esque post-rock, while adopting Amenra’s silvery-smooth buildups and releases. Loneshore retains some progressive metal, although this time it’s closer to The Ocean, especially during some of the clean-sung passages in “To Stride the Black Earth.” In fact, Luiz Felipe Netto’s clean and harsh vocal styles both cover a wide array of registers. Nothing Left to Deconstruct is no less lush from an instrumental perspective, making it an enjoyable listen from front to back.

Nothing Left to Deconstruct flows like a river, though don’t expect many whitewater rapids. Intro track “Self Oscillations” is like a gentle tributary, its dreamy vocal harmonies, mild guitar notes, and mesmerizing tom drum percussion rolling fluidly into “Straylight.” Loneshore makes good use of three guitarists and a bassist by overlapping their lines together sumptuously (“Parhelion,” “Of Lost Waters”). The 10-minute centerpiece “Birth of a Mountain” features a laid-back recurring melody that rises and falls like a sea of sand dunes. That said, there are sometimes surges of vehemence in the form of blackened snarls and forceful riffs (“Straylight,” “To Stride the Black Earth,” “Parhelion”). Because Loneshore doesn’t overly favor hooks or heaviness, Nothing Left to Deconstruct is a bit of a slow burn, requiring a few complete spins to sink in for me.

As relaxing as Nothing Left to Deconstruct is overall, most of its individual songs last longer than their contents can support. The majority hover around the 8-minute mark, and all of these have lengthy outros that don’t add much. “Of Lost Waters” begins with a pristine and serene post-rock tune, which is diminished by the minute-and-a-half meandering conclusion of “Birth of a Mountain” that came before. Likewise, concluding track “With Nothing We Part” is the most languid and least memorable despite a momentary injection of vitality at the halfway point. On the other hand, “To Stride the Black Earth” is the punchiest and has no noticeable fluff. While the total runtime sits at a fairly reasonable 52 minutes, there is a stronger 40 to 45-minute record lurking within.

It’s not uncommon for artists’ priorities to shift during a lengthy absence; in this case, Loneshore is the better for it. The post/prog metal hybrid Nothing Left to Deconstruct passes by like a pleasant ocean breeze in Rio de Janeiro. It took some time for me to fully appreciate it, but I’m glad I did. The main deficiencies holding back Nothing Left to Deconstruct are a lack of decisive conclusions and a bit of bloat. Nevertheless, if Loneshore continues to develop in this manner, I anticipate great things from album number three.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Willowtip Records
Websites: loneshore.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/Loneshore
Releases Worldwide: June 19th, 2026

When one pictures Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, post-metal is probably not among the imagery that readily springs to mind. But the more I think about it, the more the birthplace of Loneshore makes sense. Just as post-metal is often defined by striking contrasts, so is Rio, a city where mountains and beaches coexist alongside favelas and wealthy communities. This diversity is mirrored in Loneshore’s sophomore record, Nothing Left to Deconstruct, which arrives nearly eight years after their 2018 debut, From Presence to Silence. How have the members of Loneshore matured as musicians during this time?

It turns out that Loneshore wasn’t always primarily a post-metal group. From Presence to Silence blended somber, doomy melodeath similar to Eternal Storm with Opethian melodies. Nothing Left to Deconstruct, however, squarely straddles the line between post-metal and Explosions in the Sky-esque post-rock, while adopting Amenra’s silvery-smooth buildups and releases. Loneshore retains some progressive metal, although this time it’s closer to The Ocean, especially during some of the clean-sung passages in “To Stride the Black Earth.” In fact, Luiz Felipe Netto’s clean and harsh vocal styles both cover a wide array of registers. Nothing Left to Deconstruct is no less lush from an instrumental perspective, making it an enjoyable listen from front to back.

Nothing Left to Deconstruct flows like a river, though don’t expect many whitewater rapids. Intro track “Self Oscillations” is like a gentle tributary, its dreamy vocal harmonies, mild guitar notes, and mesmerizing tom drum percussion rolling fluidly into “Straylight.” Loneshore makes good use of three guitarists and a bassist by overlapping their lines together sumptuously (“Parhelion,” “Of Lost Waters”). The 10-minute centerpiece “Birth of a Mountain” features a laid-back recurring melody that rises and falls like a sea of sand dunes. That said, there are sometimes surges of vehemence in the form of blackened snarls and forceful riffs (“Straylight,” “To Stride the Black Earth,” “Parhelion”). Because Loneshore doesn’t overly favor hooks or heaviness, Nothing Left to Deconstruct is a bit of a slow burn, requiring a few complete spins to sink in for me.

As relaxing as Nothing Left to Deconstruct is overall, most of its individual songs last longer than their contents can support. The majority hover around the 8-minute mark, and all of these have lengthy outros that don’t add much. “Of Lost Waters” begins with a pristine and serene post-rock tune, which is diminished by the minute-and-a-half meandering conclusion of “Birth of a Mountain” that came before. Likewise, concluding track “With Nothing We Part” is the most languid and least memorable despite a momentary injection of vitality at the halfway point. On the other hand, “To Stride the Black Earth” is the punchiest and has no noticeable fluff. While the total runtime sits at a fairly reasonable 52 minutes, there is a stronger 40 to 45-minute record lurking within.

It’s not uncommon for artists’ priorities to shift during a lengthy absence; in this case, Loneshore is the better for it. The post/prog metal hybrid Nothing Left to Deconstruct passes by like a pleasant ocean breeze in Rio de Janeiro. It took some time for me to fully appreciate it, but I’m glad I did. The main deficiencies holding back Nothing Left to Deconstruct are a lack of decisive conclusions and a bit of bloat. Nevertheless, if Loneshore continues to develop in this manner, I anticipate great things from album number three.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Willowtip Records
Websites: loneshore.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/Loneshore
Releases Worldwide: June 19th, 2026

When one pictures Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, post-metal is probably not among the imagery that readily springs to mind. But the more I think about it, the more the birthplace of Loneshore makes sense. Just as post-metal is often defined by striking contrasts, so is Rio, a city where mountains and beaches coexist alongside favelas and wealthy communities. This diversity is mirrored in Loneshore’s sophomore record, Nothing Left to Deconstruct, which arrives nearly eight years after their 2018 debut, From Presence to Silence. How have the members of Loneshore matured as musicians during this time?

It turns out that Loneshore wasn’t always primarily a post-metal group. From Presence to Silence blended somber, doomy melodeath similar to Eternal Storm with Opethian melodies. Nothing Left to Deconstruct, however, squarely straddles the line between post-metal and Explosions in the Sky-esque post-rock, while adopting Amenra’s silvery-smooth buildups and releases. Loneshore retains some progressive metal, although this time it’s closer to The Ocean, especially during some of the clean-sung passages in “To Stride the Black Earth.” In fact, Luiz Felipe Netto’s clean and harsh vocal styles both cover a wide array of registers. Nothing Left to Deconstruct is no less lush from an instrumental perspective, making it an enjoyable listen from front to back.

Nothing Left to Deconstruct flows like a river, though don’t expect many whitewater rapids. Intro track “Self Oscillations” is like a gentle tributary, its dreamy vocal harmonies, mild guitar notes, and mesmerizing tom drum percussion rolling fluidly into “Straylight.” Loneshore makes good use of three guitarists and a bassist by overlapping their lines together sumptuously (“Parhelion,” “Of Lost Waters”). The 10-minute centerpiece “Birth of a Mountain” features a laid-back recurring melody that rises and falls like a sea of sand dunes. That said, there are sometimes surges of vehemence in the form of blackened snarls and forceful riffs (“Straylight,” “To Stride the Black Earth,” “Parhelion”). Because Loneshore doesn’t overly favor hooks or heaviness, Nothing Left to Deconstruct is a bit of a slow burn, requiring a few complete spins to sink in for me.

As relaxing as Nothing Left to Deconstruct is overall, most of its individual songs last longer than their contents can support. The majority hover around the 8-minute mark, and all of these have lengthy outros that don’t add much. “Of Lost Waters” begins with a pristine and serene post-rock tune, which is diminished by the minute-and-a-half meandering conclusion of “Birth of a Mountain” that came before. Likewise, concluding track “With Nothing We Part” is the most languid and least memorable despite a momentary injection of vitality at the halfway point. On the other hand, “To Stride the Black Earth” is the punchiest and has no noticeable fluff. While the total runtime sits at a fairly reasonable 52 minutes, there is a stronger 40 to 45-minute record lurking within.

It’s not uncommon for artists’ priorities to shift during a lengthy absence; in this case, Loneshore is the better for it. The post/prog metal hybrid Nothing Left to Deconstruct passes by like a pleasant ocean breeze in Rio de Janeiro. It took some time for me to fully appreciate it, but I’m glad I did. The main deficiencies holding back Nothing Left to Deconstruct are a lack of decisive conclusions and a bit of bloat. Nevertheless, if Loneshore continues to develop in this manner, I anticipate great things from album number three.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Willowtip Records
Websites: loneshore.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/Loneshore
Releases Worldwide: June 19th, 2026

When one pictures Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, post-metal is probably not among the imagery that readily springs to mind. But the more I think about it, the more the birthplace of Loneshore makes sense. Just as post-metal is often defined by striking contrasts, so is Rio, a city where mountains and beaches coexist alongside favelas and wealthy communities. This diversity is mirrored in Loneshore’s sophomore record, Nothing Left to Deconstruct, which arrives nearly eight years after their 2018 debut, From Presence to Silence. How have the members of Loneshore matured as musicians during this time?

It turns out that Loneshore wasn’t always primarily a post-metal group. From Presence to Silence blended somber, doomy melodeath similar to Eternal Storm with Opethian melodies. Nothing Left to Deconstruct, however, squarely straddles the line between post-metal and Explosions in the Sky-esque post-rock, while adopting Amenra’s silvery-smooth buildups and releases. Loneshore retains some progressive metal, although this time it’s closer to The Ocean, especially during some of the clean-sung passages in “To Stride the Black Earth.” In fact, Luiz Felipe Netto’s clean and harsh vocal styles both cover a wide array of registers. Nothing Left to Deconstruct is no less lush from an instrumental perspective, making it an enjoyable listen from front to back.

Nothing Left to Deconstruct flows like a river, though don’t expect many whitewater rapids. Intro track “Self Oscillations” is like a gentle tributary, its dreamy vocal harmonies, mild guitar notes, and mesmerizing tom drum percussion rolling fluidly into “Straylight.” Loneshore makes good use of three guitarists and a bassist by overlapping their lines together sumptuously (“Parhelion,” “Of Lost Waters”). The 10-minute centerpiece “Birth of a Mountain” features a laid-back recurring melody that rises and falls like a sea of sand dunes. That said, there are sometimes surges of vehemence in the form of blackened snarls and forceful riffs (“Straylight,” “To Stride the Black Earth,” “Parhelion”). Because Loneshore doesn’t overly favor hooks or heaviness, Nothing Left to Deconstruct is a bit of a slow burn, requiring a few complete spins to sink in for me.

As relaxing as Nothing Left to Deconstruct is overall, most of its individual songs last longer than their contents can support. The majority hover around the 8-minute mark, and all of these have lengthy outros that don’t add much. “Of Lost Waters” begins with a pristine and serene post-rock tune, which is diminished by the minute-and-a-half meandering conclusion of “Birth of a Mountain” that came before. Likewise, concluding track “With Nothing We Part” is the most languid and least memorable despite a momentary injection of vitality at the halfway point. On the other hand, “To Stride the Black Earth” is the punchiest and has no noticeable fluff. While the total runtime sits at a fairly reasonable 52 minutes, there is a stronger 40 to 45-minute record lurking within.

It’s not uncommon for artists’ priorities to shift during a lengthy absence; in this case, Loneshore is the better for it. The post/prog metal hybrid Nothing Left to Deconstruct passes by like a pleasant ocean breeze in Rio de Janeiro. It took some time for me to fully appreciate it, but I’m glad I did. The main deficiencies holding back Nothing Left to Deconstruct are a lack of decisive conclusions and a bit of bloat. Nevertheless, if Loneshore continues to develop in this manner, I anticipate great things from album number three.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Willowtip Records
Websites: loneshore.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/Loneshore
Releases Worldwide: June 19th, 2026

When one pictures Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, post-metal is probably not among the imagery that readily springs to mind. But the more I think about it, the more the birthplace of Loneshore makes sense. Just as post-metal is often defined by striking contrasts, so is Rio, a city where mountains and beaches coexist alongside favelas and wealthy communities. This diversity is mirrored in Loneshore’s sophomore record, Nothing Left to Deconstruct, which arrives nearly eight years after their 2018 debut, From Presence to Silence. How have the members of Loneshore matured as musicians during this time?

It turns out that Loneshore wasn’t always primarily a post-metal group. From Presence to Silence blended somber, doomy melodeath similar to Eternal Storm with Opethian melodies. Nothing Left to Deconstruct, however, squarely straddles the line between post-metal and Explosions in the Sky-esque post-rock, while adopting Amenra’s silvery-smooth buildups and releases. Loneshore retains some progressive metal, although this time it’s closer to The Ocean, especially during some of the clean-sung passages in “To Stride the Black Earth.” In fact, Luiz Felipe Netto’s clean and harsh vocal styles both cover a wide array of registers. Nothing Left to Deconstruct is no less lush from an instrumental perspective, making it an enjoyable listen from front to back.

Nothing Left to Deconstruct flows like a river, though don’t expect many whitewater rapids. Intro track “Self Oscillations” is like a gentle tributary, its dreamy vocal harmonies, mild guitar notes, and mesmerizing tom drum percussion rolling fluidly into “Straylight.” Loneshore makes good use of three guitarists and a bassist by overlapping their lines together sumptuously (“Parhelion,” “Of Lost Waters”). The 10-minute centerpiece “Birth of a Mountain” features a laid-back recurring melody that rises and falls like a sea of sand dunes. That said, there are sometimes surges of vehemence in the form of blackened snarls and forceful riffs (“Straylight,” “To Stride the Black Earth,” “Parhelion”). Because Loneshore doesn’t overly favor hooks or heaviness, Nothing Left to Deconstruct is a bit of a slow burn, requiring a few complete spins to sink in for me.

As relaxing as Nothing Left to Deconstruct is overall, most of its individual songs last longer than their contents can support. The majority hover around the 8-minute mark, and all of these have lengthy outros that don’t add much. “Of Lost Waters” begins with a pristine and serene post-rock tune, which is diminished by the minute-and-a-half meandering conclusion of “Birth of a Mountain” that came before. Likewise, concluding track “With Nothing We Part” is the most languid and least memorable despite a momentary injection of vitality at the halfway point. On the other hand, “To Stride the Black Earth” is the punchiest and has no noticeable fluff. While the total runtime sits at a fairly reasonable 52 minutes, there is a stronger 40 to 45-minute record lurking within.

It’s not uncommon for artists’ priorities to shift during a lengthy absence; in this case, Loneshore is the better for it. The post/prog metal hybrid Nothing Left to Deconstruct passes by like a pleasant ocean breeze in Rio de Janeiro. It took some time for me to fully appreciate it, but I’m glad I did. The main deficiencies holding back Nothing Left to Deconstruct are a lack of decisive conclusions and a bit of bloat. Nevertheless, if Loneshore continues to develop in this manner, I anticipate great things from album number three.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Willowtip Records
Websites: loneshore.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/Loneshore
Releases Worldwide: June 19th, 2026

It’s easy to take the Internet for granted, given how ubiquitous it is these days. A couple of decades ago, it would have been unthinkable for someone like me who lives in the United States to stumble upon music made by a group from Eigg. Hailing from this small Scottish island—with a population of only about 100—Joe Cormack and Pete Colquhoun formed Electric Sun Defence following the early dissolution of their former group, The Massacre Cave, after just one album that was released in 2020. Estuary represents the next step along this trail of spirited progressive/post-metal that these two bandmates began blazing years ago.

It turns out that Estuary is an apt metaphor for Electric Sun Defence’s music. Estuaries, formed when freshwater rivers mix with the salty ocean, account for some of the world’s most productive wildlife ecosystems. Similarly, Estuary inhabits the sweet spot between the melodicism of prog and the coarse textures of post-metal. Much like The Ocean and Void of Light, Electric Sun Defence is prone to change from tranquil to tempestuous at a moment’s notice. The flurries of activity are glued together with delicious, delicate post-rock segments in the vein of pg.lost or Red Sparowes. The balance between these competing interests can feel fragile at times, but they manage to coexist and enrich their musical environment together.

Estuary’s standout strength is the masterful buildup and discharge of tension. This is immediately clear as the title track begins, layering bass and horns atop cymbal taps and serene guitars, then eventually erupting into a furious post-metal wave. “Fountain of Blood” takes things further with harsh guitar riffs that also contain the perfect amount of groove. “The Master’s Garden” deftly winds between glassy post-rock and distorted chords, climaxing with an intricate guitar melody. Though the intensity waxes and wanes, there is a clear trend of increasing aggression as Estuary progresses, becoming more like a combination of Cult of Luna and Dvne for the final two tracks, “Phantom Limb Amputee” and “In Bestia.” During the latter, Pete Colquhoun really gets to let loose with forceful and frenetic rhythms behind the kit. Don’t let the monochromatic album art fool you; Electric Sun Defence paints with a wide array of aural hues.

The dynamic composition is good, but when paired with an intuitive flow, the experience borders on transcendent. Each track fluidly transitions to the next, and the fact that none of them exceeds 8 minutes helps to keep Estuary from becoming stale. This is a rare instance of the shorter interlude tracks serving a larger purpose, albeit in a subtle way. “Spiderweb” is pretty enough that I can look past its bothersome soundbites, and “Dysmorph” functions as a reprieve while setting the stage for the raging “Phantom Limb Amputee” that follows. The grouping of these tracks with the shoegaze elements in “Choke Leper” causes the momentum to sag a little, but not terribly so. Another minor weak point is that the vocals—especially the cleans—can sound muffled, but the strength of the instruments helps compensate.

Though I entered Estuary with no expectations, it turned out to be exactly what I was looking for at the time. It keeps the listener guessing from moment to moment with the continual assurance that they’ll love whatever comes next. Electric Sun Defence shows their versatility by wielding both emotive melody and crushing ferocity. Albums like this make me pause and appreciate the privilege we have to conveniently access great music from all over the world. Electric Sun Defence might be the best metal group in Eigg by default, but they can give others in larger regions a serious run for their money too.

Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Road To Masochist
Websites: electricsundefence.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/people/Electric-Sun-Defence
Releases Worldwide: May 8th, 2026

It’s easy to take the Internet for granted, given how ubiquitous it is these days. A couple of decades ago, it would have been unthinkable for someone like me who lives in the United States to stumble upon music made by a group from Eigg. Hailing from this small Scottish island—with a population of only about 100—Joe Cormack and Pete Colquhoun formed Electric Sun Defence following the early dissolution of their former group, The Massacre Cave, after just one album that was released in 2020. Estuary represents the next step along this trail of spirited progressive/post-metal that these two bandmates began blazing years ago.

It turns out that Estuary is an apt metaphor for Electric Sun Defence’s music. Estuaries, formed when freshwater rivers mix with the salty ocean, account for some of the world’s most productive wildlife ecosystems. Similarly, Estuary inhabits the sweet spot between the melodicism of prog and the coarse textures of post-metal. Much like The Ocean and Void of Light, Electric Sun Defence is prone to change from tranquil to tempestuous at a moment’s notice. The flurries of activity are glued together with delicious, delicate post-rock segments in the vein of pg.lost or Red Sparowes. The balance between these competing interests can feel fragile at times, but they manage to coexist and enrich their musical environment together.

Estuary’s standout strength is the masterful buildup and discharge of tension. This is immediately clear as the title track begins, layering bass and horns atop cymbal taps and serene guitars, then eventually erupting into a furious post-metal wave. “Fountain of Blood” takes things further with harsh guitar riffs that also contain the perfect amount of groove. “The Master’s Garden” deftly winds between glassy post-rock and distorted chords, climaxing with an intricate guitar melody. Though the intensity waxes and wanes, there is a clear trend of increasing aggression as Estuary progresses, becoming more like a combination of Cult of Luna and Dvne for the final two tracks, “Phantom Limb Amputee” and “In Bestia.” During the latter, Pete Colquhoun really gets to let loose with forceful and frenetic rhythms behind the kit. Don’t let the monochromatic album art fool you; Electric Sun Defence paints with a wide array of aural hues.

The dynamic composition is good, but when paired with an intuitive flow, the experience borders on transcendent. Each track fluidly transitions to the next, and the fact that none of them exceeds 8 minutes helps to keep Estuary from becoming stale. This is a rare instance of the shorter interlude tracks serving a larger purpose, albeit in a subtle way. “Spiderweb” is pretty enough that I can look past its bothersome soundbites, and “Dysmorph” functions as a reprieve while setting the stage for the raging “Phantom Limb Amputee” that follows. The grouping of these tracks with the shoegaze elements in “Choke Leper” causes the momentum to sag a little, but not terribly so. Another minor weak point is that the vocals—especially the cleans—can sound muffled, but the strength of the instruments helps compensate.

Though I entered Estuary with no expectations, it turned out to be exactly what I was looking for at the time. It keeps the listener guessing from moment to moment with the continual assurance that they’ll love whatever comes next. Electric Sun Defence shows their versatility by wielding both emotive melody and crushing ferocity. Albums like this make me pause and appreciate the privilege we have to conveniently access great music from all over the world. Electric Sun Defence might be the best metal group in Eigg by default, but they can give others in larger regions a serious run for their money too.

Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Road To Masochist
Websites: electricsundefence.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/people/Electric-Sun-Defence
Releases Worldwide: May 8th, 2026

:megaphone: DEMNÄCHST!
*Zusammenfassung 10.01. bis 10.02. für Berlin

Hammerhead
10.01.2025 Berlin / Lido

A Ghost in Rags
11.01.2025 Potsdam / Archiv

Ocean
11.01.2025 Berlin / FRANNZ Club

Rotten And Poor Stage Kill
11.01.2025 Berlin

The Ocean
11.01.2025 Berlin / Kesselhaus

Weite
11.01.2025 Berlin / Neue Zukunft
14.01.2025 Potsdam / Archiv

Alestorm
12.01.2025 Berlin / Huxleys

Ola Englund
12.01.2025 Berlin

The Haunted
12.01.2025 Berlin

Slowkiss
14.01.2025 Berlin / Schokoladen

Turmion Kätilöt
15.01.2025 Berlin / Badehaus

Might
16.01.2025 Berlin / Cassiopeia

#AGhostInRags #Alestorm #Archiv #Badehaus #Berlin #Cassiopeia #FRANNZClub #Hammerhead #Hole44 #Huxleys #Kesselhaus #Lido #Might #NeueZukunft #Ocean #OlaEngl #Potsdam #RottenAndPoorStageKill #Schokoladen #Siamese #Slowkiss #TheHaunted #TheOcean #TurmionKatilot #Weite #SteelFeed #SteelFeedSoon

:megaphone: DEMNÄCHST!
*Zusammenfassung 03.01. bis 03.02. für Berlin

Purple Rising
03.01.2025 Potsdam / Lindenpark

Hands Label Night Berlin Januar
04.01.2025 Berlin / Urban Spree

Die Art
09.01.2025 Berlin / FRANNZ Club

Refugiadas
09.01.2025 Berlin / Reset

Hammerhead
10.01.2025 Berlin / Lido

A Ghost in Rags
11.01.2025 Potsdam / Archiv

Ocean
11.01.2025 Berlin / FRANNZ Club

Rotten And Poor Stage Kill
11.01.2025 Berlin

The Ocean
11.01.2025 Berlin / Kesselhaus

Weite
11.01.2025 Berlin / Neue Zukunft
14.01.2025 Potsdam / Archiv

Alestorm
12.01.2025 Berlin / Huxleys

Ola Englund
12.01.2025 Berlin

#AGhostInRags #Alestorm #Archiv #Berlin #DieArt #FRANNZClub #H #Hammerhead #Huxleys #Kesselhaus #Lido #Lindenpark #NeueZukunft #Ocean #OlaEngl #Potsdam #PurpleRising #Refugiadas #Reset #RottenAndPoorStageKill #TheHaunted #TheOcean #UrbanSpree #Weite #SteelFeed #SteelFeedSoon

#TheOcean: Anthropocentric

https://album.link/wq79n2mv5mwjs

#PostMetal #ProgressiveMetal #Sludge

FFO #Disillusion #Hippotraktor #Vulkan

#VinylArt #VinylLuv #VinylPorn

#TheOcean: Anthropocentric

https://album.link/wq79n2mv5mwjs

#PostMetal #ProgressiveMetal #Sludge

FFO #Disillusion #Hippotraktor #Vulkan

#VinylArt #VinylLuv #VinylPorn

#TheOcean: Anthropocentric

https://album.link/wq79n2mv5mwjs

#PostMetal #ProgressiveMetal #Sludge

FFO #Disillusion #Hippotraktor #Vulkan

#VinylArt #VinylLuv #VinylPorn

#TheOcean: Anthropocentric

https://album.link/wq79n2mv5mwjs

#PostMetal #ProgressiveMetal #Sludge

FFO #Disillusion #Hippotraktor #Vulkan

#VinylArt #VinylLuv #VinylPorn

#TheOcean: Heliocentric

https://album.link/m48jtzzcvpfc9

#PostíMetal #PostRock #ProgressiveMetal

FFO #BetweenTheBuriedAndMe #Intronaut #Psychonaut

#VinylArt #VinylLuv #VinylPorn

#TheOcean: Heliocentric

https://album.link/m48jtzzcvpfc9

#PostíMetal #PostRock #ProgressiveMetal

FFO #BetweenTheBuriedAndMe #Intronaut #Psychonaut

#VinylArt #VinylLuv #VinylPorn

#TheOcean: Heliocentric

https://album.link/m48jtzzcvpfc9

#PostíMetal #PostRock #ProgressiveMetal

FFO #BetweenTheBuriedAndMe #Intronaut #Psychonaut

#VinylArt #VinylLuv #VinylPorn

#TheOcean: Heliocentric

https://album.link/m48jtzzcvpfc9

#PostíMetal #PostRock #ProgressiveMetal

FFO #BetweenTheBuriedAndMe #Intronaut #Psychonaut

#VinylArt #VinylLuv #VinylPorn

Anthems for Doomed Youth
18.03.2025 Berlin

Blue Öyster Cult
03.06.2025 Berlin

Cus Berlin
26.01.2025 Berlin

Cytotoxin
10.04.2025 Berlin

Frog Leap
25.03.2025 Berlin

Haven & Death Cult 69, Chaver
25.01.2025 Berlin

LORDS OF FYRE X FEUERSCHWANZ x LORD OF THE LOST
02.10.2025 Berlin

Mad Caddies & The Skints & Jon Gazi
22.03.2025 Berlin

Manomore
10.05.2025 Seelow

Rotten And Poor Stage Kill
11.01.2025 Berlin

The Ocean
11.01.2025 Berlin

#AnthemsForDoomedYouth #Berlin #BlueOysterCult #CusBerlin #Cytotoxin #FrogLeap #HavenDeathCult69 #LORDSOFFYREXFEUERSCHWANZXLORDOFTHELOST #MadCaddiesTheSkintsJonGazi #Manomore #RottenAndPoorStageKill #Seelow #TheOcean #SteelFeed

Anthems for Doomed Youth
18.03.2025 Berlin

Blue Öyster Cult
03.06.2025 Berlin

Cus Berlin
26.01.2025 Berlin

Cytotoxin
10.04.2025 Berlin

Frog Leap
25.03.2025 Berlin

Haven & Death Cult 69, Chaver
25.01.2025 Berlin

LORDS OF FYRE X FEUERSCHWANZ x LORD OF THE LOST
02.10.2025 Berlin

Mad Caddies & The Skints & Jon Gazi
22.03.2025 Berlin

Manomore
10.05.2025 Seelow

Rotten And Poor Stage Kill
11.01.2025 Berlin

The Ocean
11.01.2025 Berlin

#AnthemsForDoomedYouth #Berlin #BlueOysterCult #CusBerlin #Cytotoxin #FrogLeap #HavenDeathCult69 #LORDSOFFYREXFEUERSCHWANZXLORDOFTHELOST #MadCaddiesTheSkintsJonGazi #Manomore #RottenAndPoorStageKill #Seelow #TheOcean #SteelFeed

Low tide, two weeks ago

#wrack #seawrack #beachwrack #beach #beachlife #lowtide #sunday #sundayvibes #twoweeksago #newmoon #opensky #sunny #sunnyday #whiteclouds #bluesky #summer #summervibes #coast #coastline #westcoast #galwaybay #westofireland #atlanticocean #seaside #exposed #thesea #theocean #oceanside #resaca #leftovers #tidewreck #tides #thetiderecedes #maritime

Low tide, two weeks ago

#wrack #seawrack #beachwrack #beach #beachlife #lowtide #sunday #sundayvibes #twoweeksago #newmoon #opensky #sunny #sunnyday #whiteclouds #bluesky #summer #summervibes #coast #coastline #westcoast #galwaybay #westofireland #atlanticocean #seaside #exposed #thesea #theocean #oceanside #resaca #leftovers #tidewreck #tides #thetiderecedes #maritime

AMG Turns 15: Angry Metal Guy Himself Reflects on 15 Years of AngryMetalGuy.com

By Angry Metal Guy

In 2009, when I started AngryMetalGuy.com, I had absolutely no serious intentions for it. I had finished my senior year of university while abroad in Sweden, and I had met someone in the lovely city of Umeå.1 We had moved in together, but finding work was proving difficult given my degree in sociology and my lack of Swedish skills. And so, I had a lot of time on my hands and not a lot of money. Needless to say, access to new music was a matter of concern for me, because I couldn’t afford it. Domestically, the Swedish government was coming down hard on piracy—or trying to—and I got a bit spooked by the whole thing because I wasn’t even a permanent resident at the time.

Fortunately, I had a few things going for me. I had a rudimentary understanding of websites and web design because of the stuff I had done for my band (and others) in the early 2000s. I had a label contact at Napalm because of the work that I had done for Vintersorg. I had experience as a reviewer from years earlier, which was a pretty formative experience for me, and where I had cut my teeth on reviews with bands like Orphaned Land and Disillusion. I tended to write lengthy reviews and had a deep and abiding love of list-making. And, yes, being a young man, I had boatloads of unearned confidence.2

The most important of the things I had going for me, however, may have been that I had no more serious intentions for AngryMetalGuy.com than gaining access to the labels from whom I wanted to receive promotional materials. Some people might think that sounds bad, but I don’t think that this is something that should be taken as a negative. When I think back, I think it was key to the website’s success.3 This nonchalance gave me the freedom to quickly stop trying to imitate news websites like Blabbermouth. It gave me the latitude to write negative reviews without fear of losing advertising dollars. And it made it easier to do what I wanted; writing the occasional rant, doing the occasional interview, and writing long-form music reviews. While focusing on reviews was not a driver of traffic early on,4 I also had no desire to monetize AMG. And, in my estimation, it was that authenticity that attracted loyal readers and, eventually, loyal writers.

AngryMetalGuy.com became synonymous with authentic, high-quality reviews. The Angry branding, which had been rooted in a joke that had little to do with my actual personality at the time,5 seemed to grant me a certain bit of leeway for my initially naïve belief that the reviewing game was, in fact, about giving honest appraisals of music. And while such naïveté has cost us label access—here’s looking at you, Nuclear Blast—this helped to make AMG the website that it has become. And I wouldn’t trade that for anything, especially access. Additionally, as I added writers, worked hard to help people learn to write, and began thinking about music reviews as an editor, I began to refine my own style and a style that we teach to new writers. Over time—and with a metric ton of further education—I have become more like the writer that I had imagined myself to be when I started AMG.

My involvement in AngryMetalGuy.com has waned, to my frustration, and, of course, inevitably. The fact that my involvement is a bit of a punchline in recent years is funny like a tough guy nickname—you know, those guys who call you Simba because your uncle killed your dad or Univision because you’re blind in one eye—funny because it’s true, but also ouch. And this becomes clear when reading through the reflections of the staff; the newer a writer is, the less likely they are to mention my influence. And yet, as bittersweet as that is, I am so happy at the consistency—and consistently increasing quality—of the staff here over the years. We’ve been able to continually recruit impressive people and excellent writers whose tastes fill out the topography of the scene in ways that are necessary to keep AngryMetalGuy.com both relevant and diverse. And yet, we never skimp on quality. The group who writes here is deep and accomplished, and I am so proud that they represent AMG today.

Fifteen years later, here I still am. I’m still The Angry Metal Guy. I’ve wondered over the years, when I’ve been struggling with keeping up, why I’m unwilling to just let go of AMG. But it’s not a mystery. The reality is that AMG is me, and I am AMG. And yet, as you’ve seen over recent weeks, AMG isn’t just me. AMG is a community of writers and readers who have worked together to create the best reviewing site in the world. We have collectively given so much more to the scene than I could ever have imagined when I registered the website all those years ago. Of course, that’s due to the dedication of the staff, the editors, and my long-time partner in crime Steel Druhm.6 Our longevity and strength show that AMG will live on, because this site, this community, and all its readers—those who read every day and those who pass on through—get so much from it. And yet, there’s so much more to give.

Here’s to another 15 years!

AMG Gave to Me …

The thing that AMG has given to me that I doubt that I would have found my way to on my own has been unsigned bands. As a supporter of the scene and musician, I would like to believe that I would have been supportive of local bands, even if I weren’t involved here. Yet, the access to things I wouldn’t have heard—and the ability to raise them for others to hear and love them as I do—is something I wouldn’t have had without AMG. In recent years, I have taken all the more comfort in independent bands. While I am a believer in the importance—necessity, even—of labels for bands to have sustained success in the world of metal, the quality of independent releases has been very high during the last decade. And even when labels are passing on things that won’t sell, there’s still a wealth of great releases that have landed on my plate and my life is better for it.

Wilderun // Veil of Imagination [2019-11-19 | Self-release] — The most obvious example of this is Wilderun. While they ended up signed to Century Media eventually, their sophomore and junior releases were both independent and they were both excellent records, which demonstrated the kinds of chops that unsigned bands shouldn’t be expected to have. These records both made my life so much richer at times when I didn’t always feel like the metal scene, as represented in my promo inbox, was cutting it for me. And while my love for Wilderun has also become a punchline, the reality is that I am not ashamed of going to bat so hard for a band that I truly love.

Aeternam // Al Qassam [2020-03-27 | Self-release] — Like Wilderun, Aeternam has become a mainstay in my rotation. Unlike Wilderun, my initial exposure to them was their debut album, which had been optioned by Metal Blade, but the band was dropped following its release. While the band’s earliest material is not as strong as their later releases,7 it’s been fun to watch Aeternam develop through the years to become one of the best orchestral and melodic death bands active today. Their composition is fantastic and their records sound great. And Al Qassam also happened to be Record o’ the Month when we started with the new layout, so it also holds that special place in my heart. I’m happy to stan these guys for years to come.

Trials // This Ruined World [2015-07-24 | Self-release] — The first time I became aware of the Angry Metal Bump™ was when I was told by then-colleague Mark Sugar (AKA Dr. Fisting) that we had pushed Trials from the red into the black because of our coverage of This Ruined World. And, while I am a genuine fan of Black Sites, Sugar’s follow-up to his late-modern thrash attack known as Trials, This Ruined World holds such a special place in my heart. The album is raw and it’s weird, and endlessly hooky. It has a trashy production that’s charming as hell and which gives it a unique sound. But it wasn’t just the production that was charming. Sugar and guitarist Ryan Bruchert tag-teamed the solos throughout the album, naming them things like “Gremlins II” and “Tango and Thrash,” and these are some real highlights; creative, fun, and super memorable. There’s a vitality to Trials’ final record that, nearly 10 years on, makes it my favorite modern thrash record by a country mile.

The foregoing three albums are hardly alone. Absolutely killer bands, like Xoth, Lör, Dreamgrave, Dialith, and Carnosus, enriched my life before they signed record deals. And I would almost certainly never have heard of them without the promo bin at AMG or the other writers who are constantly delving into the depths to cover the very best that the scene has to offer—no matter where it’s from. And, on that note, there is so much music that I never would have discovered if not for the other writers. Part of the reason for expanding AngryMetalGuy.com over the years has been that we can’t keep up with all the promotional materials we receive. I just don’t have the ears or the time to listen to, never mind write about, everything I want or need to—now more than ever. But I frequently receive messages from the Angry Metal Persons telling me what to check out, and we have a community of commenters who are keeping us up to date with the things that even we miss. That is a great privilege that AMG has given me.

I Wish I Had Written …

There are two key answers to this one. First, I wish that I had written more. During recent years, I have been too far away from AMG as an entity and as a person. I reflect often upon the fact that I don’t have relationships with newer writers and readers that are similar to the ones I had in the past. That sucks. So, when I think about what I wish I had written, it’s hard not to answer: everything. I wish I had been the one to cover a critical mass of records and bands that I just haven’t had the time or the energy to cover. Not because we didn’t do it well, but because it would have been nice to be able to do it myself.8

More concretely, though, The Ocean Collective’s brilliant Pelagial. Noctus was a guy who wrote for us and who had taste I didn’t find that agreeable. He loved long, slow, and simplistic albums about which he could write long, slow, and baroque reviews. But it was good to have a countervailing opinion and diversity in the camp at the time, and we may very well not have covered Pelagial if he hadn’t snapped it up. This album stands as one of the testaments to the strength of iconic composition in the history of AMG. The fact that Pelagial hits so hard not once, but twice, because both versions of it—bevocalized and unbevocalized—are killer, makes it one of the best things I own to this day. And that’s without mentioning that the art is gorgeous and the packaging was next level. I wish I had been able to afford the vinyl they released at the time because it was truly a special boxed set. Pelagial got a 4.0 at the time. By the end of the year, I would have given it a 4.5. Today, I think it’s an unquestionable 5.0.

I Wish I Could Do Over …

If I could do it all again, I would get rid of scores.

I’m not sure how I would replace them. Either I would switch to a thumbs up/thumbs down kind of system, so that the lazy among us could still look at the thumb and decide what to read,9 or I would just get rid of them altogether. I see scores as a disservice to bands and fans alike. Scores are fundamentally subjective and yet promise objectivity. But, of course, it’s impossible to quantify something that doesn’t have quantifiable aspects and one’s impressions of music are often contextualized by one’s life context in ways that make scores variable for the person giving them over time. Yet, scoring implies that there should be intersubjectivity between reviewers and even review websites, but we all know that a M*tal T*mple 10/10 is an AMG 3.0/5.0. And sure, that 5.0 moment is great for bands.10 But every 3.0 that one writes where one is saying “Yeah, I like this! Check it out!” is interpreted by readers and bands alike as “This is fucking trash, throw it on the fire!” That’s a waste. Would AMG be the same without scores? I don’t know. Maybe Druhm would never have reached out to me to work at a place without them. Maybe the labels wouldn’t have taken me as seriously. What’s done is done. But the more I think about review scores, the dumber I think they are.

In terms of things I’ve written, I feel like I have few regrets. That said, having excised that stupid fucking Linkin Park apologetics post was one of the best moments of my life, and that thing should never have been written to begin with. Linkin Park sucks. Nostalgia is not quality; it’s nostalgia. I nostalgia early Biohazard records, but it doesn’t mean that they were good. We’ve reached the time when we’re getting a lot of “nü metal was good actually” nostalgia takes because people listened to it, and it was a gateway into better music. You don’t have to apologize for having listened to it—there are no guilty pleasures, and there are bands like System of a Down and other bands that have now been labeled ‘alternative metal’ that I think offered something different and fun—but neither do I need to accept the corporate board approved, major-label-A&R-guy-connected, darlings of MTV2 as having made a valuable contribution to the metal scene as covered by AngryMetalGuy.com. Because it didn’t.

I Wish More People Had Read …

I have wrestled with this question and I don’t have a great answer. I guess what I wish is that bigger labels would understand the nature and value of Angry Metal Guy. And so, I wish more industry people had read what is always my most popular post of the year: The End o’ Year List. In these, I discuss the growing nature of our reach, our stats, and how the things we review gain traction. I wish that these people understood the power of our staff and of you, the reader. The fact that you read so diligently and that you show up when we endorse stuff—and even when we don’t, often to tell us that we should have—is what makes this place so special. And yet, it seems like labels and PR firms have yet to truly take stock of this because we don’t play the same kind of commercial game that ‘proper’ magazines do.

Maybe it’s a question of math. As Friend o’ the Blog Matt Bacon has said, a PR company that gets you into Decibel isn’t always doing you a favor if you’re the smallest band there, because you’re competing with Iron Maiden and shitty nü metal retrospectives. Whereas, Angry Metal Guy readers and writers are operating at a different level of the scene and, as Matt has said, even our negative reviews are positives in terms of streams and purchases for bands.

And yet, it’s hard to believe that at 15 years, I still have to call out Nuclear Blast for treating us like we’re on Blogspot. I wrote a rant in 2012 called “On Things That Make Being Angry Metal Guy Hard” and I remember a PR intern at a Metal Major Label saying to me, basically, “Hey, I saw your post and I am pointedly not mentioning it to my bosses.” As streaming has proliferated, even the idea of getting individual promos for new albums has started to dwindle. There’s this idea that the compensation of free 320 kb/s mp3s of the thing we’re reviewing—and thus promoting—is too much to ask. In so many ways, the things I wrote then—which, I must admit, were very angry—are worse now than it was. Labels embargo us, in spite of our reach and quality, and they farm out work to others without concern for how it affects reviewers to be dealing with a new PR firm every six months. And then they can’t even bother to give us Yum Codes or higher quality downloads in good time for review.

I wish people would read the summaries of our statistics and sympathize a bit more with the plight of the independent reviewer. There’s no reason why we should have anything other than pretty much full access to the industry, given both our quality and reach, and your dedication to making us look awesome.

What I Wish for the Future of Angry Metal Guy …

A lot more Angry Metal Guy, in all senses.

#2024 #Aeternam #AMGTurns15 #BlackSites #BlogPost #BlogPosts #Carnosus #Dialith #Lör #TheOcean #Trials #Wilderun #Xoth

AMG Turns 15: Angry Metal Guy Himself Reflects on 15 Years of AngryMetalGuy.com

By Angry Metal Guy

In 2009, when I started AngryMetalGuy.com, I had absolutely no serious intentions for it. I had finished my senior year of university while abroad in Sweden, and I had met someone in the lovely city of Umeå.1 We had moved in together, but finding work was proving difficult given my degree in sociology and my lack of Swedish skills. And so, I had a lot of time on my hands and not a lot of money. Needless to say, access to new music was a matter of concern for me, because I couldn’t afford it. Domestically, the Swedish government was coming down hard on piracy—or trying to—and I got a bit spooked by the whole thing because I wasn’t even a permanent resident at the time.

Fortunately, I had a few things going for me. I had a rudimentary understanding of websites and web design because of the stuff I had done for my band (and others) in the early 2000s. I had a label contact at Napalm because of the work that I had done for Vintersorg. I had experience as a reviewer from years earlier, which was a pretty formative experience for me, and where I had cut my teeth on reviews with bands like Orphaned Land and Disillusion. I tended to write lengthy reviews and had a deep and abiding love of list-making. And, yes, being a young man, I had boatloads of unearned confidence.2

The most important of the things I had going for me, however, may have been that I had no more serious intentions for AngryMetalGuy.com than gaining access to the labels from whom I wanted to receive promotional materials. Some people might think that sounds bad, but I don’t think that this is something that should be taken as a negative. When I think back, I think it was key to the website’s success.3 This nonchalance gave me the freedom to quickly stop trying to imitate news websites like Blabbermouth. It gave me the latitude to write negative reviews without fear of losing advertising dollars. And it made it easier to do what I wanted; writing the occasional rant, doing the occasional interview, and writing long-form music reviews. While focusing on reviews was not a driver of traffic early on,4 I also had no desire to monetize AMG. And, in my estimation, it was that authenticity that attracted loyal readers and, eventually, loyal writers.

AngryMetalGuy.com became synonymous with authentic, high-quality reviews. The Angry branding, which had been rooted in a joke that had little to do with my actual personality at the time,5 seemed to grant me a certain bit of leeway for my initially naïve belief that the reviewing game was, in fact, about giving honest appraisals of music. And while such naïveté has cost us label access—here’s looking at you, Nuclear Blast—this helped to make AMG the website that it has become. And I wouldn’t trade that for anything, especially access. Additionally, as I added writers, worked hard to help people learn to write, and began thinking about music reviews as an editor, I began to refine my own style and a style that we teach to new writers. Over time—and with a metric ton of further education—I have become more like the writer that I had imagined myself to be when I started AMG.

My involvement in AngryMetalGuy.com has waned, to my frustration, and, of course, inevitably. The fact that my involvement is a bit of a punchline in recent years is funny like a tough guy nickname—you know, those guys who call you Simba because your uncle killed your dad or Univision because you’re blind in one eye—funny because it’s true, but also ouch. And this becomes clear when reading through the reflections of the staff; the newer a writer is, the less likely they are to mention my influence. And yet, as bittersweet as that is, I am so happy at the consistency—and consistently increasing quality—of the staff here over the years. We’ve been able to continually recruit impressive people and excellent writers whose tastes fill out the topography of the scene in ways that are necessary to keep AngryMetalGuy.com both relevant and diverse. And yet, we never skimp on quality. The group who writes here is deep and accomplished, and I am so proud that they represent AMG today.

Fifteen years later, here I still am. I’m still The Angry Metal Guy. I’ve wondered over the years, when I’ve been struggling with keeping up, why I’m unwilling to just let go of AMG. But it’s not a mystery. The reality is that AMG is me, and I am AMG. And yet, as you’ve seen over recent weeks, AMG isn’t just me. AMG is a community of writers and readers who have worked together to create the best reviewing site in the world. We have collectively given so much more to the scene than I could ever have imagined when I registered the website all those years ago. Of course, that’s due to the dedication of the staff, the editors, and my long-time partner in crime Steel Druhm.6 Our longevity and strength show that AMG will live on, because this site, this community, and all its readers—those who read every day and those who pass on through—get so much from it. And yet, there’s so much more to give.

Here’s to another 15 years!

AMG Gave to Me …

The thing that AMG has given to me that I doubt that I would have found my way to on my own has been unsigned bands. As a supporter of the scene and musician, I would like to believe that I would have been supportive of local bands, even if I weren’t involved here. Yet, the access to things I wouldn’t have heard—and the ability to raise them for others to hear and love them as I do—is something I wouldn’t have had without AMG. In recent years, I have taken all the more comfort in independent bands. While I am a believer in the importance—necessity, even—of labels for bands to have sustained success in the world of metal, the quality of independent releases has been very high during the last decade. And even when labels are passing on things that won’t sell, there’s still a wealth of great releases that have landed on my plate and my life is better for it.

Wilderun // Veil of Imagination [2019-11-19 | Self-release] — The most obvious example of this is Wilderun. While they ended up signed to Century Media eventually, their sophomore and junior releases were both independent and they were both excellent records, which demonstrated the kinds of chops that unsigned bands shouldn’t be expected to have. These records both made my life so much richer at times when I didn’t always feel like the metal scene, as represented in my promo inbox, was cutting it for me. And while my love for Wilderun has also become a punchline, the reality is that I am not ashamed of going to bat so hard for a band that I truly love.

Aeternam // Al Qassam [2020-03-27 | Self-release] — Like Wilderun, Aeternam has become a mainstay in my rotation. Unlike Wilderun, my initial exposure to them was their debut album, which had been optioned by Metal Blade, but the band was dropped following its release. While the band’s earliest material is not as strong as their later releases,7 it’s been fun to watch Aeternam develop through the years to become one of the best orchestral and melodic death bands active today. Their composition is fantastic and their records sound great. And Al Qassam also happened to be Record o’ the Month when we started with the new layout, so it also holds that special place in my heart. I’m happy to stan these guys for years to come.

Trials // This Ruined World [2015-07-24 | Self-release] — The first time I became aware of the Angry Metal Bump™ was when I was told by then-colleague Mark Sugar (AKA Dr. Fisting) that we had pushed Trials from the red into the black because of our coverage of This Ruined World. And, while I am a genuine fan of Black Sites, Sugar’s follow-up to his late-modern thrash attack known as Trials, This Ruined World holds such a special place in my heart. The album is raw and it’s weird, and endlessly hooky. It has a trashy production that’s charming as hell and which gives it a unique sound. But it wasn’t just the production that was charming. Sugar and guitarist Ryan Bruchert tag-teamed the solos throughout the album, naming them things like “Gremlins II” and “Tango and Thrash,” and these are some real highlights; creative, fun, and super memorable. There’s a vitality to Trials’ final record that, nearly 10 years on, makes it my favorite modern thrash record by a country mile.

The foregoing three albums are hardly alone. Absolutely killer bands, like Xoth, Lör, Dreamgrave, Dialith, and Carnosus, enriched my life before they signed record deals. And I would almost certainly never have heard of them without the promo bin at AMG or the other writers who are constantly delving into the depths to cover the very best that the scene has to offer—no matter where it’s from. And, on that note, there is so much music that I never would have discovered if not for the other writers. Part of the reason for expanding AngryMetalGuy.com over the years has been that we can’t keep up with all the promotional materials we receive. I just don’t have the ears or the time to listen to, never mind write about, everything I want or need to—now more than ever. But I frequently receive messages from the Angry Metal Persons telling me what to check out, and we have a community of commenters who are keeping us up to date with the things that even we miss. That is a great privilege that AMG has given me.

I Wish I Had Written …

There are two key answers to this one. First, I wish that I had written more. During recent years, I have been too far away from AMG as an entity and as a person. I reflect often upon the fact that I don’t have relationships with newer writers and readers that are similar to the ones I had in the past. That sucks. So, when I think about what I wish I had written, it’s hard not to answer: everything. I wish I had been the one to cover a critical mass of records and bands that I just haven’t had the time or the energy to cover. Not because we didn’t do it well, but because it would have been nice to be able to do it myself.8

More concretely, though, The Ocean Collective’s brilliant Pelagial. Noctus was a guy who wrote for us and who had taste I didn’t find that agreeable. He loved long, slow, and simplistic albums about which he could write long, slow, and baroque reviews. But it was good to have a countervailing opinion and diversity in the camp at the time, and we may very well not have covered Pelagial if he hadn’t snapped it up. This album stands as one of the testaments to the strength of iconic composition in the history of AMG. The fact that Pelagial hits so hard not once, but twice, because both versions of it—bevocalized and unbevocalized—are killer, makes it one of the best things I own to this day. And that’s without mentioning that the art is gorgeous and the packaging was next level. I wish I had been able to afford the vinyl they released at the time because it was truly a special boxed set. Pelagial got a 4.0 at the time. By the end of the year, I would have given it a 4.5. Today, I think it’s an unquestionable 5.0.

I Wish I Could Do Over …

If I could do it all again, I would get rid of scores.

I’m not sure how I would replace them. Either I would switch to a thumbs up/thumbs down kind of system, so that the lazy among us could still look at the thumb and decide what to read,9 or I would just get rid of them altogether. I see scores as a disservice to bands and fans alike. Scores are fundamentally subjective and yet promise objectivity. But, of course, it’s impossible to quantify something that doesn’t have quantifiable aspects and one’s impressions of music are often contextualized by one’s life context in ways that make scores variable for the person giving them over time. Yet, scoring implies that there should be intersubjectivity between reviewers and even review websites, but we all know that a M*tal T*mple 10/10 is an AMG 3.0/5.0. And sure, that 5.0 moment is great for bands.10 But every 3.0 that one writes where one is saying “Yeah, I like this! Check it out!” is interpreted by readers and bands alike as “This is fucking trash, throw it on the fire!” That’s a waste. Would AMG be the same without scores? I don’t know. Maybe Druhm would never have reached out to me to work at a place without them. Maybe the labels wouldn’t have taken me as seriously. What’s done is done. But the more I think about review scores, the dumber I think they are.

In terms of things I’ve written, I feel like I have few regrets. That said, having excised that stupid fucking Linkin Park apologetics post was one of the best moments of my life, and that thing should never have been written to begin with. Linkin Park sucks. Nostalgia is not quality; it’s nostalgia. I nostalgia early Biohazard records, but it doesn’t mean that they were good. We’ve reached the time when we’re getting a lot of “nü metal was good actually” nostalgia takes because people listened to it, and it was a gateway into better music. You don’t have to apologize for having listened to it—there are no guilty pleasures, and there are bands like System of a Down and other bands that have now been labeled ‘alternative metal’ that I think offered something different and fun—but neither do I need to accept the corporate board approved, major-label-A&R-guy-connected, darlings of MTV2 as having made a valuable contribution to the metal scene as covered by AngryMetalGuy.com. Because it didn’t.

I Wish More People Had Read …

I have wrestled with this question and I don’t have a great answer. I guess what I wish is that bigger labels would understand the nature and value of Angry Metal Guy. And so, I wish more industry people had read what is always my most popular post of the year: The End o’ Year List. In these, I discuss the growing nature of our reach, our stats, and how the things we review gain traction. I wish that these people understood the power of our staff and of you, the reader. The fact that you read so diligently and that you show up when we endorse stuff—and even when we don’t, often to tell us that we should have—is what makes this place so special. And yet, it seems like labels and PR firms have yet to truly take stock of this because we don’t play the same kind of commercial game that ‘proper’ magazines do.

Maybe it’s a question of math. As Friend o’ the Blog Matt Bacon has said, a PR company that gets you into Decibel isn’t always doing you a favor if you’re the smallest band there, because you’re competing with Iron Maiden and shitty nü metal retrospectives. Whereas, Angry Metal Guy readers and writers are operating at a different level of the scene and, as Matt has said, even our negative reviews are positives in terms of streams and purchases for bands.

And yet, it’s hard to believe that at 15 years, I still have to call out Nuclear Blast for treating us like we’re on Blogspot. I wrote a rant in 2012 called “On Things That Make Being Angry Metal Guy Hard” and I remember a PR intern at a Metal Major Label saying to me, basically, “Hey, I saw your post and I am pointedly not mentioning it to my bosses.” As streaming has proliferated, even the idea of getting individual promos for new albums has started to dwindle. There’s this idea that the compensation of free 320 kb/s mp3s of the thing we’re reviewing—and thus promoting—is too much to ask. In so many ways, the things I wrote then—which, I must admit, were very angry—are worse now than it was. Labels embargo us, in spite of our reach and quality, and they farm out work to others without concern for how it affects reviewers to be dealing with a new PR firm every six months. And then they can’t even bother to give us Yum Codes or higher quality downloads in good time for review.

I wish people would read the summaries of our statistics and sympathize a bit more with the plight of the independent reviewer. There’s no reason why we should have anything other than pretty much full access to the industry, given both our quality and reach, and your dedication to making us look awesome.

What I Wish for the Future of Angry Metal Guy …

A lot more Angry Metal Guy, in all senses.

#2024 #Aeternam #AMGTurns15 #BlackSites #BlogPost #BlogPosts #Carnosus #Dialith #Lör #TheOcean #Trials #Wilderun #Xoth

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

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

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

Sentynel and Twelve’s Top Ten(ish) of 2023

By sentynel

Sentynel

Is it that time already? Whew. 2023 has raced past me, carried by a blizzard of endless Stuff. I need a goddamn break, which is currently tentatively scheduled for about 2025. As a result, I’ve been desperately behind on my listening for most of the year. I barely scraped together five reviews, all for bands I knew and liked, and was impressed by… one of them. I was nervous about my list all the way through to about November. Fortunately, I have once again ended up with a solid list of great albums, though the best doesn’t quite top last year’s The Otolith. I have lost track of what a normal selection looks like for me at this point, but this year’s big genre winner is apparently instrumental prog, while I felt it was a slightly weak year for post-metal. I also suspect I have more overlap with some of the cooler members of staff than I usually do, amongst all the records you already know are going to be on my list.

Despite a heavy year, contributing to Angry Metal Guy dot com continues to be one of my favorite hobbies. The other staff continue to have questionable taste, but I’ve found music that brings me joy anyway. We have new writers, I’ve met a couple of last year’s crop, and they’re all pretty chill despite their opinions on music. Everyone continues to put a huge amount of free work into this weird little corner of the internet. And my server load stats confirm that you, the readers, are still out there, using my bandwidth.

Finally, following Twitter’s ongoing trainwreck killing off the review autoposting there, we are now available on a slightly experimental basis on Mastodon and compatible platforms. Simply follow @[email protected]. (Note that comments don’t sync in from Mastodon, so you’ll still need to come to the site in order to tell us we’re wrong.) Of course, RSS and Facebook continue to be available.

#ish. Angus McSix // Angus McSix and the Sword of Power – I’ll defend last year’s Fellowship record to the death as serious music. The sophistication of its writing and the adulthood of its themes proves that upbeat, catchy power metal doesn’t have to be silly or lightweight. I offer no such defense for this record. This is incredibly silly. Honestly, between the track titles and how nakedly the whole thing leans on Winkler’s previous role, I was expecting to write this off as a failed attempt to recapture past glories without the wit—another soulless, forgettable pop-power metal band going through the motions. And yet it works. The fun feels genuine, the runtime too brief to be self-indulgent, the songwriting too varied to be a lazy cash-in. It’s infectious, it’s miles better than the new Gloryhammer record, and I’ve ended up listening to it a lot. I embrace the upcoming savaging in the comments section.

#10. Nuclear Power Trio // Wet Ass Plutonium – Speaking of silly, it’s the guys in creepy dictator masks. As I said when I wrote about this album, after a great EP they’ve stuck the landing on the album as well, cementing their position as serious musicians and not a one-off novelty. Fun, triumphant, soaring, Wet Ass Plutonium is an absolute blast to listen to. The musicianship is fantastic, and in particular I’ll highlight again just how great Putin is. (On bass.)

#9. Sermon // Of Golden Verse – Starring a rather more seriously masked musician, this is an emotional, gripping prog album. The only thing holding this back from a higher list placing is that I haven’t found myself compelled to listen to it all the time, which is definitely a me problem (see intro). The moment I actually do put it on I’m hooked. The dynamic, catchy songwriting has an urgent edge to it that gets under your skin and sets it apart from a lot of other prog metal, which can lack a bit of bite.  I absolutely love the vocal performance here in particular, but the whole thing is written and performed thoughtfully and impactfully.

#8. Ok Goodnight // The Fox and the Bird – In the best tradition of prog, this is a weird album. It tries to do a lot of things and manages nearly all of them. Williams’ charismatic, mood-changing vocals carry this whimsical tale. The first few times I listened I wasn’t sure it was going to stick, but I kept finding fragments of her lines in my head. With a few more listens, the whole thing settled. There are still a few little stumbles where weird and shifting gives way to just disjointed, but I find the rest of the album far too addictively, earwormily interesting to mind too much.

#7. Scaphoid // Echoes of the Rift – I owe this record more complete thoughts than I have space for here—there’s a TYMHM piece due, but see the intro for why it probably hasn’t appeared yet. In short: I’m a huge fan of this sort of pretty, thoughtful instrumental prog. I loved Absent Passages, and Echoes of the Rift is an improvement in effectively every meaningful way. Hobart has developed as a composer, and as a result it’s shorter, tighter, more varied, and more memorable. As with a lot of music on this list, my love for it is in the mood it conjures. It’s thoughtful, meditative, exploratory, and has been a favorite work and travel soundtrack for me.

#6. Sanguine Glacialis // Maladaptive Daydreaming – This record is A Lot. I mentioned it to Dr. Wvrm, who described it as “like Cradle of Filth bodysnatched Epica, then showed up to the studio and found it double booked with Nik Sundin hanging out with a jazz quartet. And instead of throwing them out being like ‘yea you know what let’s do all of it at once'”. Frankly, I have nothing further to add to this bit of poetry. If this sounds utterly horrifying, you’re not going to like Maladaptive Daydreaming. But if you’re maybe interested, know that it’s way more cohesive than it has any right to be and a lot of fun. The main thing holding it back is an inexplicably loud mastering job.

#5. Night Crowned // Tales – Here’s an interesting study in genre and reviewers’ tastes. Thus, who is far more brvtal than me, describes this as “symphonic/melodic blackened death.” I, meanwhile, relate to this as a folk metal album, though one much more interesting than the genre typically delivers. Just listen to that hurdy-gurdy or the styling of the vocals. (The female vocals really remind me of the Witcher 3 soundtrack’s Eastern European folk, for example. It’s notable that the cover art here features the Wild Hunt.) Either way, Tales is a wild ride and a certified banger through and through.

#4. Fires in the Distance // Air Not Meant for Us – This is so pretty. That seems like an odd thing for melodic death metal to be striving for, but there’s really no other word for it. Soaring guitar melodies, sweeping strings, and airy piano tug at your heartstrings. But a core of heavy riffs and harsh vocals keeps it anchored. The two mesh startlingly well. Fires in the Distance really lean into the lilting piano at times—if you’d told me a band were going to put this much piano into a melodeath record and everyone would love it, I would have laughed at you. You’d think it would sound insubstantial against the rhythm section, but it never does. Genuinely beautiful.

#3. Helga // Wrapped in Mist – This record reminds me of Gåte (who put out a good EP this year!) gone atmospheric, both in the folk composition but also in the slightly unusual vocals. There’s also some hints of Meer. It’s been criticized, not unfairly, for imperfectly mixing its folk takes on post-metal and airy dream-pop. I like both, but the more I listen, the less I think that separation is the right lens to view it through. Both these genres are characterized by a prioritization of atmosphere and feeling over immediacy, and that’s where Wrapped in Mist’s success lies. I’ve spoken before about my love of music that feels like a witches’ forest ritual, and this is the exact button Helga presses for me. Wherever it sits among its contributing genres, it conjures that feeling.

#2. Essence of Datum // Radikal Rats – Wildly underrated by some hack at little-known music blog Angry Metal Guy, “a heavier God is an Astronaut do the Mass Effect soundtrack” is right up my alley. Even then, I’ve been surprised by how much I’ve listened to this album. It’s not the world’s most challenging record, which has probably contributed to me reaching for it so often over a difficult few months. But don’t confuse that with a lack of impact. It’s cleverly written and impeccably performed, catchy, interesting and varied. This would be a fantastic soundtrack to a top-notch sci-fi film. (I listened to it a lot while reading the new Murderbot book.) As I said above, this has been a good year for instrumental prog, and the placement of this record despite two other strong contenders in the genre should speak volumes.

#1. Wayfarer // American Gothic – This one shouldn’t come as a surprise if you read my thoughts on Lathe on last year’s list. I’m a sucker for the micro-genre I’ll call industrial bluegrass, and last year Lathe mixed it with post-metal with unexpectedly successful results. Wayfarer, meanwhile, bring in black metal, a genre I normally find myself bored by. Indeed, A Romance with Violence didn’t quite do it for me. American Gothic though absolutely knocks it out of the park. The genre blend is utterly seamless, to the extent that to simply call it black metal does it a disservice. This is the best of bleak country painted with the instrumentation of black metal. Electric guitars pick up melody lines from banjos with a twang. Distorted slide guitars get that pedal steel feeling. There’s even a honky-tonk piano. It’s all deceptively melodic, and it helps there’s a heavy twist of post here. This seems to have put some members of the staff off—the second half is less immediate than the first—but these people are wrong. The atmosphere that results is pitch-perfect. The vocals and the lyrics are great. This is not an album that I expected, nor did I expect to love it like this. But it shot to the top of my list within the first couple of listens, and I love it a bit more with every spin.

Honorable Mentions

• BRIQUEVILLE // IIII – I saw these guys play at ArcTanGent this year and was dead impressed. This is really slow-burn post, but it’s worth it.
• Mutoid Man // Mutants – Another ATG band, although from many years ago. Not a big departure from their prog/punk usual, but a lot of fun.
• healthyliving // Songs of Abundance, Psalms of Grief – “Bloom” narrowly missed out on my Song of the Year. The rest of the album is also really good post-metal, with a great vocalist.
• Svalbard // The Weight of the Mask – This didn’t blow me away like When I Die, but it’s not for lack of quality; it’s a great album still, it’s just not a huge evolution.
• Tribunal // The Weight of Remembrance – A really solid bit of classic doom. As with any well-trodden genre it takes a lot to stand out, and Tribunal nail it with some great interplay—on vocals and instruments—between the duo.

Disappointment of the Year

Repeatedly giving poor-to-middling reviews to bands I like. Also, the production on that Anareta album, which I wanted so badly to love.

Song of the Year

Vienna Teng “The Riversitter” – I’m not even going to pretend to claim that this is metal, though I did of course first hear Teng on this very website. She is my favorite lyricist ever, and one of my favorite musicians in general. It’s been a long ten years since Aims, and it’s fantastic to have new music from her again. This is a pretty, moving piece, based on a short story, about not overthinking or overplanning, community, beauty, and building on each other’s ideas. I can’t fully explain why I’ve been so gripped by this song, but it spoke to me. I’m not normally a “same song on repeat” person, but I’ve listened to this song over three times as often as anything else this year.

Twelve

Up until a few weeks ago, I’d have said this was a pretty solid year, all things considered—but alas, here I am, ending the year on a low note. 2023 felt both very long and very quick, and we weren’t too far into it when I realized my contributions to this here blog were pretty much abysmal. Thankfully, my fellow writers and alternate personas are very understanding people, but it’s still rough to realize that the year has ended to mark my lowest output yet here at Angry Metal Guy.

At least the music was solid. While I was off doing who-knows-what offline, a whole bunch of talented and wonderful writers ghostwrote a whole bunch of compelling reviews and recommendations here that have come to dominate my listening. So before I properly dive into sharing my top albums for 2023, I’ll take a second to thank every one of them, from the newest n00b to the oldest olde, for a level of dedication and talent I just didn’t reach this year. I’m looking forward to the next one, and the one after that as well.

Anyway…

#ish. David Eugene Edwards // Hyacinth – Usually there’s a space or two on this list for the most exciting neofolk that comes my way in a given year, but this year was a quiet one on that front. In its absence, however, the dark country tellings of David Eugene Edwards are quickly becoming a favourite. It’s not a style I’m very familiar with—hence the #ish—but owing to the gorgeously ominous storytelling on Hyacinth, that’s something I’m determined to fix in 2024.

#10. Sacred Outcry // Towers of Gold – Life™ works in mysterious ways; when I was unable to review Towers of Gold following my excitement at Sacred Outcry’s debut, I felt pretty badly. Thankfully, Holdeneye’s account captures what is so special about this power metal odyssey better than I’d have been able to at the time. An adventure for the whole family, and an impressively emotive power metal opus.

#9. Theocracy // Mosaic – Speaking of power metal, I also loved Mosaic in a way I haven’t been taken by a Theocracy album in some time. The balance of joyful and serious themes is something the band does really, really well here, and it’s a splash of positivity that I was happy to receive just as the weather began to turn cold. Not to mention it’s impressively heavy on top of it all, and the choruses stick around long after the album is done.

# 8. The Ocean // Holocene – I’ve said in a couple of places that I don’t care much for post metal, but I do like it when The Ocean does it. The trend continued this year with Holocene, which felt more experimental, less heavy, and altogether weirder than a lot of their past work. This all works great for me, and I found I kept returning to Holocene as the year went by. “Atlantic” in particular may be one of my most listened-to songs for the year. High defeatism, am I right?

#7. Warfarer // American Gothic – Blistering, beautiful black metal; a heartfelt reason for the anger; influence from the wild, wild West to keep it all fresh. What could there possibly be to not like about American Gothic? In the past, Wayfarer haven’t quite captured my attention, but this album broke through my resistance and pummelled it to the ground within the first four seconds of “The Thousand Tombs of Western Promise.” A phenomenal album, through and through.

#6. Briqueville // IIII – IIII is not an album I expected to list here; in fact, one of the first things I did when I saw Charcharodon’s 4.0 review for it was ignore it. More fool I. I thought I had this list down when I finally spun Briqueville’s latest for the first time and it tore its way up these IIII spaces astonishingly fast. Dreamy, experimental doom atmospheres are not easy to pin down, but the songwriting here is incredible. The time passes so quickly, and then what’s left to do but to spin the whole album over again?

#5. Godthrymm // Distortions – Rounding out the other half of my top doom metal albums of the year is Distortions, essentially because this album is heavy. I love the straightforward style, the well-produced misery, and the way Godthrymm is able to so cleanly convey such powerful emotions. This album is a testament to doom metal done well, and it’s been a welcome companion since the first time I heard it—I was hooked pretty much instantly.

#4. Burden of Ymir // Heorot – If you read my reviews, you already know that the accordion is the way into my heart. This feast of black metal incorporates exactly that, and makes for a heavy, folky journey, an amazing album with a story to tell and a ton of heart. It’s also a sneaky album, the kind that grows on you the more you listen to it, with small details hidden in clever songwriting. It’s hard to ask for more; this is an album that feels made exactly for me.

#3. Angus McSix // Angus McSix and the Sword of Power – Speaking of albums that feel made exactly for me, Angus McSix is some of the most fun you can have listening to power metal. I am a sucker for cheesiness, and Angus McSix’s debut dials the cheese factor up to the maximum. The other, crucial side of the dial, however, is the songwriting. Thanks to that, everything works in a way that makes the album more than the sum of it’s ridiculous concept1. It’s a very strong album, and one that’s only grown on me with time.

#2. Sodomisery // Mazzaroth – I can only imagine that Dr. A. N. Grier and I have dramatically different year-end lists, but his review of Mazzaroth is spot-on, and I’m certain we’ll share this entry. As orchestral black metal goes, this album is grand, heavy, and huge, making for a phenomenal opus that is my top black metal album of the year. The vocal performance, the orchestrations, the songwriting—everything on Mazzaroth is top-tier, larger-than-life, incredible black metal.

#1. Vanishing Kids // Miracle of Death – It will be difficult to sum up my appreciation for Miracle of Death in the short blurb I have before me. From the first seconds of “Spill the Dark,” this album takes me to a cold, comfortable place. It’s emotional, but it feels like numbness; it’s quiet, but leaves a huge impression. Everything about this album works to create atmospheres of bleakness and hopelessness, and any time I’ve felt low throughout the year, Vanishing Kids has been there2. Miracle of Death is, in that regard, an amazing album, and one that was always going to take this spot on my list. Truthfully, I’m shocked to realize this only came out a couple of months ago—it’s been so right for my 2023 that it feels like it’s been there since January 1.

Honorable Mention

• Suotana // Ounas I – I had a lot of fun reviewing Ounas I, and have had a lot of fun listening to it since. The black/melodeath/power metal thing Suotana does so well lends itself to an extremely fun, energetic album that is just so solid. This is an album done well, and I’m still recommending it to pretty much all of you!

Song of the Year

Sometimes, you just need to have some fun. No matter how difficult, irritating, or otherwise negative this year may have been, “Ride to Hell” has been the pick-me-up song to deal with it. This is a terrific power-meets-traditional metal anthem, and the enthusiasm in which Angus McSix performs it is a huge part of the appeal. It’s catchy, it’s fun, it’s wildly addictive—it’s everything you need when times are rough and you don’t know any supernatural motorcyclists in the real world. It’s also a great song when you’re having a good day already and want to make it better.

#2023 #AngusMcSix #BlogPost #Briqueville #BurdenOfYmir #DavidEugeneEdwards #EssenceOfDatum #FiresInTheDistance #Godthrymm #healthyliving #Helga #Lists #Listurnalia #MutoidMan #NightCrowned #OkGoodnight #SacredOutcry #SanguineGlacialis #Scaphoid #SentynelSAndTwelveSTopTenIshOf2023 #Sermon #Sodomisery #Suotana #Svalbard #TheOcean #TheOtolith #Theocracy #Tribunal #VanishingKids #ViennaTeng #Wayfarer

Sentynel and Twelve’s Top Ten(ish) of 2023

By sentynel

Sentynel

Is it that time already? Whew. 2023 has raced past me, carried by a blizzard of endless Stuff. I need a goddamn break, which is currently tentatively scheduled for about 2025. As a result, I’ve been desperately behind on my listening for most of the year. I barely scraped together five reviews, all for bands I knew and liked, and was impressed by… one of them. I was nervous about my list all the way through to about November. Fortunately, I have once again ended up with a solid list of great albums, though the best doesn’t quite top last year’s The Otolith. I have lost track of what a normal selection looks like for me at this point, but this year’s big genre winner is apparently instrumental prog, while I felt it was a slightly weak year for post-metal. I also suspect I have more overlap with some of the cooler members of staff than I usually do, amongst all the records you already know are going to be on my list.

Despite a heavy year, contributing to Angry Metal Guy dot com continues to be one of my favorite hobbies. The other staff continue to have questionable taste, but I’ve found music that brings me joy anyway. We have new writers, I’ve met a couple of last year’s crop, and they’re all pretty chill despite their opinions on music. Everyone continues to put a huge amount of free work into this weird little corner of the internet. And my server load stats confirm that you, the readers, are still out there, using my bandwidth.

Finally, following Twitter’s ongoing trainwreck killing off the review autoposting there, we are now available on a slightly experimental basis on Mastodon and compatible platforms. Simply follow @[email protected]. (Note that comments don’t sync in from Mastodon, so you’ll still need to come to the site in order to tell us we’re wrong.) Of course, RSS and Facebook continue to be available.

#ish. Angus McSix // Angus McSix and the Sword of Power – I’ll defend last year’s Fellowship record to the death as serious music. The sophistication of its writing and the adulthood of its themes proves that upbeat, catchy power metal doesn’t have to be silly or lightweight. I offer no such defense for this record. This is incredibly silly. Honestly, between the track titles and how nakedly the whole thing leans on Winkler’s previous role, I was expecting to write this off as a failed attempt to recapture past glories without the wit—another soulless, forgettable pop-power metal band going through the motions. And yet it works. The fun feels genuine, the runtime too brief to be self-indulgent, the songwriting too varied to be a lazy cash-in. It’s infectious, it’s miles better than the new Gloryhammer record, and I’ve ended up listening to it a lot. I embrace the upcoming savaging in the comments section.

#10. Nuclear Power Trio // Wet Ass Plutonium – Speaking of silly, it’s the guys in creepy dictator masks. As I said when I wrote about this album, after a great EP they’ve stuck the landing on the album as well, cementing their position as serious musicians and not a one-off novelty. Fun, triumphant, soaring, Wet Ass Plutonium is an absolute blast to listen to. The musicianship is fantastic, and in particular I’ll highlight again just how great Putin is. (On bass.)

#9. Sermon // Of Golden Verse – Starring a rather more seriously masked musician, this is an emotional, gripping prog album. The only thing holding this back from a higher list placing is that I haven’t found myself compelled to listen to it all the time, which is definitely a me problem (see intro). The moment I actually do put it on I’m hooked. The dynamic, catchy songwriting has an urgent edge to it that gets under your skin and sets it apart from a lot of other prog metal, which can lack a bit of bite.  I absolutely love the vocal performance here in particular, but the whole thing is written and performed thoughtfully and impactfully.

#8. Ok Goodnight // The Fox and the Bird – In the best tradition of prog, this is a weird album. It tries to do a lot of things and manages nearly all of them. Williams’ charismatic, mood-changing vocals carry this whimsical tale. The first few times I listened I wasn’t sure it was going to stick, but I kept finding fragments of her lines in my head. With a few more listens, the whole thing settled. There are still a few little stumbles where weird and shifting gives way to just disjointed, but I find the rest of the album far too addictively, earwormily interesting to mind too much.

#7. Scaphoid // Echoes of the Rift – I owe this record more complete thoughts than I have space for here—there’s a TYMHM piece due, but see the intro for why it probably hasn’t appeared yet. In short: I’m a huge fan of this sort of pretty, thoughtful instrumental prog. I loved Absent Passages, and Echoes of the Rift is an improvement in effectively every meaningful way. Hobart has developed as a composer, and as a result it’s shorter, tighter, more varied, and more memorable. As with a lot of music on this list, my love for it is in the mood it conjures. It’s thoughtful, meditative, exploratory, and has been a favorite work and travel soundtrack for me.

#6. Sanguine Glacialis // Maladaptive Daydreaming – This record is A Lot. I mentioned it to Dr. Wvrm, who described it as “like Cradle of Filth bodysnatched Epica, then showed up to the studio and found it double booked with Nik Sundin hanging out with a jazz quartet. And instead of throwing them out being like ‘yea you know what let’s do all of it at once'”. Frankly, I have nothing further to add to this bit of poetry. If this sounds utterly horrifying, you’re not going to like Maladaptive Daydreaming. But if you’re maybe interested, know that it’s way more cohesive than it has any right to be and a lot of fun. The main thing holding it back is an inexplicably loud mastering job.

#5. Night Crowned // Tales – Here’s an interesting study in genre and reviewers’ tastes. Thus, who is far more brvtal than me, describes this as “symphonic/melodic blackened death.” I, meanwhile, relate to this as a folk metal album, though one much more interesting than the genre typically delivers. Just listen to that hurdy-gurdy or the styling of the vocals. (The female vocals really remind me of the Witcher 3 soundtrack’s Eastern European folk, for example. It’s notable that the cover art here features the Wild Hunt.) Either way, Tales is a wild ride and a certified banger through and through.

#4. Fires in the Distance // Air Not Meant for Us – This is so pretty. That seems like an odd thing for melodic death metal to be striving for, but there’s really no other word for it. Soaring guitar melodies, sweeping strings, and airy piano tug at your heartstrings. But a core of heavy riffs and harsh vocals keeps it anchored. The two mesh startlingly well. Fires in the Distance really lean into the lilting piano at times—if you’d told me a band were going to put this much piano into a melodeath record and everyone would love it, I would have laughed at you. You’d think it would sound insubstantial against the rhythm section, but it never does. Genuinely beautiful.

#3. Helga // Wrapped in Mist – This record reminds me of Gåte (who put out a good EP this year!) gone atmospheric, both in the folk composition but also in the slightly unusual vocals. There’s also some hints of Meer. It’s been criticized, not unfairly, for imperfectly mixing its folk takes on post-metal and airy dream-pop. I like both, but the more I listen, the less I think that separation is the right lens to view it through. Both these genres are characterized by a prioritization of atmosphere and feeling over immediacy, and that’s where Wrapped in Mist’s success lies. I’ve spoken before about my love of music that feels like a witches’ forest ritual, and this is the exact button Helga presses for me. Wherever it sits among its contributing genres, it conjures that feeling.

#2. Essence of Datum // Radikal Rats – Wildly underrated by some hack at little-known music blog Angry Metal Guy, “a heavier God is an Astronaut do the Mass Effect soundtrack” is right up my alley. Even then, I’ve been surprised by how much I’ve listened to this album. It’s not the world’s most challenging record, which has probably contributed to me reaching for it so often over a difficult few months. But don’t confuse that with a lack of impact. It’s cleverly written and impeccably performed, catchy, interesting and varied. This would be a fantastic soundtrack to a top-notch sci-fi film. (I listened to it a lot while reading the new Murderbot book.) As I said above, this has been a good year for instrumental prog, and the placement of this record despite two other strong contenders in the genre should speak volumes.

#1. Wayfarer // American Gothic – This one shouldn’t come as a surprise if you read my thoughts on Lathe on last year’s list. I’m a sucker for the micro-genre I’ll call industrial bluegrass, and last year Lathe mixed it with post-metal with unexpectedly successful results. Wayfarer, meanwhile, bring in black metal, a genre I normally find myself bored by. Indeed, A Romance with Violence didn’t quite do it for me. American Gothic though absolutely knocks it out of the park. The genre blend is utterly seamless, to the extent that to simply call it black metal does it a disservice. This is the best of bleak country painted with the instrumentation of black metal. Electric guitars pick up melody lines from banjos with a twang. Distorted slide guitars get that pedal steel feeling. There’s even a honky-tonk piano. It’s all deceptively melodic, and it helps there’s a heavy twist of post here. This seems to have put some members of the staff off—the second half is less immediate than the first—but these people are wrong. The atmosphere that results is pitch-perfect. The vocals and the lyrics are great. This is not an album that I expected, nor did I expect to love it like this. But it shot to the top of my list within the first couple of listens, and I love it a bit more with every spin.

Honorable Mentions

• BRIQUEVILLE // IIII – I saw these guys play at ArcTanGent this year and was dead impressed. This is really slow-burn post, but it’s worth it.
• Mutoid Man // Mutants – Another ATG band, although from many years ago. Not a big departure from their prog/punk usual, but a lot of fun.
• healthyliving // Songs of Abundance, Psalms of Grief – “Bloom” narrowly missed out on my Song of the Year. The rest of the album is also really good post-metal, with a great vocalist.
• Svalbard // The Weight of the Mask – This didn’t blow me away like When I Die, but it’s not for lack of quality; it’s a great album still, it’s just not a huge evolution.
• Tribunal // The Weight of Remembrance – A really solid bit of classic doom. As with any well-trodden genre it takes a lot to stand out, and Tribunal nail it with some great interplay—on vocals and instruments—between the duo.

Disappointment of the Year

Repeatedly giving poor-to-middling reviews to bands I like. Also, the production on that Anareta album, which I wanted so badly to love.

Song of the Year

Vienna Teng “The Riversitter” – I’m not even going to pretend to claim that this is metal, though I did of course first hear Teng on this very website. She is my favorite lyricist ever, and one of my favorite musicians in general. It’s been a long ten years since Aims, and it’s fantastic to have new music from her again. This is a pretty, moving piece, based on a short story, about not overthinking or overplanning, community, beauty, and building on each other’s ideas. I can’t fully explain why I’ve been so gripped by this song, but it spoke to me. I’m not normally a “same song on repeat” person, but I’ve listened to this song over three times as often as anything else this year.

Twelve

Up until a few weeks ago, I’d have said this was a pretty solid year, all things considered—but alas, here I am, ending the year on a low note. 2023 felt both very long and very quick, and we weren’t too far into it when I realized my contributions to this here blog were pretty much abysmal. Thankfully, my fellow writers and alternate personas are very understanding people, but it’s still rough to realize that the year has ended to mark my lowest output yet here at Angry Metal Guy.

At least the music was solid. While I was off doing who-knows-what offline, a whole bunch of talented and wonderful writers ghostwrote a whole bunch of compelling reviews and recommendations here that have come to dominate my listening. So before I properly dive into sharing my top albums for 2023, I’ll take a second to thank every one of them, from the newest n00b to the oldest olde, for a level of dedication and talent I just didn’t reach this year. I’m looking forward to the next one, and the one after that as well.

Anyway…

#ish. David Eugene Edwards // Hyacinth – Usually there’s a space or two on this list for the most exciting neofolk that comes my way in a given year, but this year was a quiet one on that front. In its absence, however, the dark country tellings of David Eugene Edwards are quickly becoming a favourite. It’s not a style I’m very familiar with—hence the #ish—but owing to the gorgeously ominous storytelling on Hyacinth, that’s something I’m determined to fix in 2024.

#10. Sacred Outcry // Towers of Gold – Life™ works in mysterious ways; when I was unable to review Towers of Gold following my excitement at Sacred Outcry’s debut, I felt pretty badly. Thankfully, Holdeneye’s account captures what is so special about this power metal odyssey better than I’d have been able to at the time. An adventure for the whole family, and an impressively emotive power metal opus.

#9. Theocracy // Mosaic – Speaking of power metal, I also loved Mosaic in a way I haven’t been taken by a Theocracy album in some time. The balance of joyful and serious themes is something the band does really, really well here, and it’s a splash of positivity that I was happy to receive just as the weather began to turn cold. Not to mention it’s impressively heavy on top of it all, and the choruses stick around long after the album is done.

# 8. The Ocean // Holocene – I’ve said in a couple of places that I don’t care much for post metal, but I do like it when The Ocean does it. The trend continued this year with Holocene, which felt more experimental, less heavy, and altogether weirder than a lot of their past work. This all works great for me, and I found I kept returning to Holocene as the year went by. “Atlantic” in particular may be one of my most listened-to songs for the year. High defeatism, am I right?

#7. Warfarer // American Gothic – Blistering, beautiful black metal; a heartfelt reason for the anger; influence from the wild, wild West to keep it all fresh. What could there possibly be to not like about American Gothic? In the past, Wayfarer haven’t quite captured my attention, but this album broke through my resistance and pummelled it to the ground within the first four seconds of “The Thousand Tombs of Western Promise.” A phenomenal album, through and through.

#6. Briqueville // IIII – IIII is not an album I expected to list here; in fact, one of the first things I did when I saw Charcharodon’s 4.0 review for it was ignore it. More fool I. I thought I had this list down when I finally spun Briqueville’s latest for the first time and it tore its way up these IIII spaces astonishingly fast. Dreamy, experimental doom atmospheres are not easy to pin down, but the songwriting here is incredible. The time passes so quickly, and then what’s left to do but to spin the whole album over again?

#5. Godthrymm // Distortions – Rounding out the other half of my top doom metal albums of the year is Distortions, essentially because this album is heavy. I love the straightforward style, the well-produced misery, and the way Godthrymm is able to so cleanly convey such powerful emotions. This album is a testament to doom metal done well, and it’s been a welcome companion since the first time I heard it—I was hooked pretty much instantly.

#4. Burden of Ymir // Heorot – If you read my reviews, you already know that the accordion is the way into my heart. This feast of black metal incorporates exactly that, and makes for a heavy, folky journey, an amazing album with a story to tell and a ton of heart. It’s also a sneaky album, the kind that grows on you the more you listen to it, with small details hidden in clever songwriting. It’s hard to ask for more; this is an album that feels made exactly for me.

#3. Angus McSix // Angus McSix and the Sword of Power – Speaking of albums that feel made exactly for me, Angus McSix is some of the most fun you can have listening to power metal. I am a sucker for cheesiness, and Angus McSix’s debut dials the cheese factor up to the maximum. The other, crucial side of the dial, however, is the songwriting. Thanks to that, everything works in a way that makes the album more than the sum of it’s ridiculous concept1. It’s a very strong album, and one that’s only grown on me with time.

#2. Sodomisery // Mazzaroth – I can only imagine that Dr. A. N. Grier and I have dramatically different year-end lists, but his review of Mazzaroth is spot-on, and I’m certain we’ll share this entry. As orchestral black metal goes, this album is grand, heavy, and huge, making for a phenomenal opus that is my top black metal album of the year. The vocal performance, the orchestrations, the songwriting—everything on Mazzaroth is top-tier, larger-than-life, incredible black metal.

#1. Vanishing Kids // Miracle of Death – It will be difficult to sum up my appreciation for Miracle of Death in the short blurb I have before me. From the first seconds of “Spill the Dark,” this album takes me to a cold, comfortable place. It’s emotional, but it feels like numbness; it’s quiet, but leaves a huge impression. Everything about this album works to create atmospheres of bleakness and hopelessness, and any time I’ve felt low throughout the year, Vanishing Kids has been there2. Miracle of Death is, in that regard, an amazing album, and one that was always going to take this spot on my list. Truthfully, I’m shocked to realize this only came out a couple of months ago—it’s been so right for my 2023 that it feels like it’s been there since January 1.

Honorable Mention

• Suotana // Ounas I – I had a lot of fun reviewing Ounas I, and have had a lot of fun listening to it since. The black/melodeath/power metal thing Suotana does so well lends itself to an extremely fun, energetic album that is just so solid. This is an album done well, and I’m still recommending it to pretty much all of you!

Song of the Year

Sometimes, you just need to have some fun. No matter how difficult, irritating, or otherwise negative this year may have been, “Ride to Hell” has been the pick-me-up song to deal with it. This is a terrific power-meets-traditional metal anthem, and the enthusiasm in which Angus McSix performs it is a huge part of the appeal. It’s catchy, it’s fun, it’s wildly addictive—it’s everything you need when times are rough and you don’t know any supernatural motorcyclists in the real world. It’s also a great song when you’re having a good day already and want to make it better.

#2023 #AngusMcSix #BlogPost #Briqueville #BurdenOfYmir #DavidEugeneEdwards #EssenceOfDatum #FiresInTheDistance #Godthrymm #healthyliving #Helga #Lists #Listurnalia #MutoidMan #NightCrowned #OkGoodnight #SacredOutcry #SanguineGlacialis #Scaphoid #SentynelSAndTwelveSTopTenIshOf2023 #Sermon #Sodomisery #Suotana #Svalbard #TheOcean #TheOtolith #Theocracy #Tribunal #VanishingKids #ViennaTeng #Wayfarer

Thus Spoke and Maddog’s Top Ten(ish) of 2023

By Thus Spoke

Thus Spoke

Mum, I’ve made it; I’ve got my own official year-end list on Angry Metal Guy dot com. Just two years ago I had begun my probation period in what would come to be characteristically overzealous fashion, slapping a 4.5 on my first ever review, before deciding that words are much better than numbers. At the time, uncertain of my tenancy in these hallowed halls, I was juggling n00b reviews with short-form reviews on Instagram,1 the latter pursuit being what led me to apply here in the first place. And I’m glad I did!

My first complete year here as a writer has been pretty great, all things considered. I’ve reviewed (and not reviewed) some Excellent (with a capital ‘E’) albums and discovered new favorites—some of whom will be appearing below. It continues to humble me and blow my mind that I get to put my thoughts about music out here on the internet and that people actually read them; that I get to write about bands and records with a critical voice that actually garners some respect, like I’m a proper person who knows things; and that I have the chance to gush about artists I’ve loved for a long time, or only just hit upon. Reviewing Panopticon was a wonderful year-end highlight. Of course, not everything was rosy. It was another year of silence from Ulcerate2, not the greatest year for truly stand-out black metal (with some clear exceptions), and a year in which I struggled with some significant challenges at work. But disappointing promos and unavoidable life hurdles aside, 2023 has been the year that AMG—the reviewing, the staff, and the commenting community—has cemented itself as an important part of who I am. I’m grateful for all of you. Thank you.

Having not made one of these before, this has been my first proper taste of the agony (and perhaps joy) of choosing what to list and where to list them. Can I pen a Contrite Metal Guy piece about my picks later down the line? No, I can’t. So if I’ve forgotten something, please just don’t bring it up or it’ll torture me for at least the entirety of 2024.3 Now, on with the list before I change my mind!

#ish. Convocation // No Dawn for the Caliginous Night – Not only did this album floor me on first listen, but it also made me discover how much I love to say the word “caliginous.” *Annunciates* Cal-ig-in-ous. No Dawn… is just as satisfying, but in a very different way. Its drama, potency, and sheer scale are wondrous to behold and instantly catapulted it into my list (well, close enough). I had been thinking in recent months that I’d kind of fallen off the doom wagon. But Convocation was there right as the year was about to end to shove me firmly back on board. As Cherd opined “This is a towering celebration of death’s enormity, packaged in the heaviest and most shimmering of vessels,” and I concur. It’s really only down to a totally stacked year of music that this behemoth doesn’t rank higher.

#10. Thantifaxath // Hive Mind Narcosis – This album scares the shit out of me and I absolutely love it. Everything about its wacky, dissonant, bendy, manic, and malevolent intensity borders on the hallucinogenic and nightmarish. And as a piece of extreme metal, aiming to confront with the harshest of blackened death metal, this is a very good thing. Thantifaxath were a 2023 discovery for me, and this, their sophomore effort, thoroughly convinced me that I should be paying attention to them. It always sends me into a state of heavy foreboding, anxiety, and nausea at confrontation with the absurd. When I reviewed Hive Mind Narcosis, I talked about its contradictory coherence and beauty under a façade of erraticism and ugliness, and I believe this to be what makes it continue to stand out amidst many other unapproachable extreme metal records that came out in 2023, worthy as they may be.

#9. Downfall of Gaia // Silhouettes of Disgust – While I’ve had an appreciation for Downfall of Gaia since Atrophy, Silhouettes of Disgust has been the first one that’s really made an impression on me. It’s stuck with me nearly all year since it dropped in March, and I find myself continuing to return to it again and again. When I don’t know what to listen to, I’ll stick this on, and I’ll enjoy it every time. Melodically and emotionally powerful, it contains some of my favorite musical moments of the year, including in particular the building surge of drama and catharsis that ends “Optograms of Disgust” and the album entirely. I think the reason Silhouettes has had this effect was pinned down nicely by Carcharodon when he wrote: “this is the [album] that manages to blend most effectively all the disparate facets of Downfall of Gaia’s sound.” And I would go further and assert what he only hinted at, that Silhouettes is indeed the best of the band’s career.

#8. Stortregn // Finitude – I feel like Stortregn have been getting more and more fun with every album, or at least definitely on the last few. While Emptiness Fills the Void (2018) was light enjoyment, Impermanence (2021) stepped things up a gear into real grin-inducing territory. Finitude, however, blows those records out of the water with what is possibly the most fun I’ve had with technical death/black metal of any kind. Everything about it works towards this, from constantly evolving, circularly composed song structures that sweep you away with their drama and flair, to a flipping flamenco break in “Xeno Chaos” which I should hate, but instead, I absolutely fucking love because it works so brilliantly. Its melodies are gorgeous, its energy undeniable, its rhythms irresistible. Damn, I think I’m gonna go and listen to it again now, I’ve really given myself the itch.

#7. To the Grave // Director’s Cuts – This started off higher on my list. It’s not that I’ve cooled off on it. Quite the contrary, as To the Grave are my most-listened-to artist on Spotify this year, and I will still ardently defend, to anyone who bothers to vocalize their disagreement, that this is an Excellent album. It’s simply a testament to the strength of those you’ll find below. But let that not take away from the immensity that is Director’s Cuts. It’s a stunning slab of deathcore that utterly wipes the floor with anything else released in that subgenre this year, not just br00tal and groovy as all hell, but possessed of a powerful and righteous message of animal liberation, wrapped of course, in a super mean metal mien. “Manhunt,” and indeed most of the album, powered many a top set in the gym, while stone-cold classic-in-the-making, “Axe of Kindness” easily makes it to the Songs of the Year playlist. It’s just fantastic all-round. Until all are free! *Headbangs violently.*

#6. Wayfarer // American Gothic – I was not initially overly enamored with American Gothic. I don’t know what I was playing at though, because it’s quite clearly brilliant. It’s grown on me like no other album has this year, quickly and assertively muscling its way almost into my top five. Though at first I thought it was inferior to its predecessor A Romance with Violence, as I’ve mentioned, I was being silly, and it’s actually far superior. With a more coherent and consistent compositional structure, more powerful and punchy songs, with stronger, more memorable melodies, and a better integration of that uniquely Western vibe into vibrant and vicious black metal, this is my favorite Wayfarer album by a country mile. Brilliantly evocative, both satisfyingly savage and stirringly soft when it needs to be, American Gothic never ceases to transport me to the old West in its turbulent transformation with drama, passion, and beauty. And it’s wonderful to experience.

#5. Night Crowned // Tales – It was surprising enough that none of my esteemed colleagues had nabbed Tales before I did. But for it to be so mind-blowingly fantastic that it would end up this high on my year-end list was something else. With a songs-of-the-year-lister for an opening cut and, in general, a tracklist stuffed full of back-to-back bangers, and a blazingly bombastic, infectious spirit all around, Tales charges ahead of the competition with savage glee. It’s actually hard to overstate just how good this album is, particularly given how ridiculously easy it is to listen to with its catchy melodies, (relatively) snappy song lengths, and dynamic energy. The culmination of Night Crowned’s fiery and dramatic style of black metal, and the best of their already stellar discography, Tales calls me back ceaselessly and I’m more than happy to oblige.

#4. Fires in the Distance // Air Not Meant for Us – This album is magical. Nothing has changed since I first heard it in its entirety this spring. Elegantly composed, stirring, and effortlessly graceful, it’s hands-down the most straightforwardly beautiful thing on my list. It’s moving without being sappy, and pretty without being saccharine. And Air Not Meant for Us also wins points for including a midway instrumental that’s not only just as good as the other tracks, but possibly better, and bridges the two sides of the album in this lovely way that makes for a dreamy kind of interlude. Fires in the Distance have such a distinctive form of ethereal, key-accented melodeath/doom that I can only see the immense strength of Air Not Meant for Us as a huge, incredibly exciting sign of more brilliant records to come. As it is, I still haven’t had enough of this one.

#3. Serpent of Old // Ensemble Under the Dark Sun – Back in June, I confidently declared that “Serpent of Old have crafted one of the best metal records of 2023 so far, no exaggeration.” Well, it turns out I wasn’t exaggerating, because here it is, number three on my list. Clear as day I can recall hearing the opening notes of “The Sin Before the Great Sin,” as Ensemble Under the Dark Sun began playing for the first time. Straight away I knew that I’d landed a monster of an album, and 42 or so minutes later I was completely engulfed in its intoxicatingly atmospheric darkness. Like their eponymous snake, Serpent of Old wound their blackened death metal around and around my brain. Ensemble is intense, and yet utterly captivating, dripping with oppressive, haunting melodies and deep, angular dissonance. And it also features the best drum performance of the year in my opinion. To think this is a debut is frankly astonishing, and I am extremely keen to hear more.

#2. Dødheimsgard // Black Medium Current – For a long time, this sat comfortably in first place. Why is no mystery. Unlike anything Dødheimsgard have put out in the past, or anything else released this year, Black Medium Current challenged, confronted, and mesmerized me. Weird and discomfiting one moment, tear-jerkingly beautiful another, this album is an emotional and musical rollercoaster that treads perfectly that line between avant-garde wackiness and sincere black metal passion. I recall how stunned I was to discover its 72+ minute length, after already spinning it back-to-back multiple times because it’s so engrossing and intelligently composed. I also recall just how close I came to awarding my first “Iconic” when reviewing it, simply due to the lasting power I perceived it to possess. While the Contrite Metal Guy piece is not on the roadmap for anytime soon, I still believe Black Medium Current to be incredibly special, and an album that absolutely must be heard by everyone in the metalsphere, even if it’s to rapidly discover it’s not one’s cup of tea. Dødheimsgard have made an almost perfect record here. A worthy holder of the top position, were it not for one, equally lengthy rival…

#1. Panopticon // The Rime of Memory – As it’s so recently reviewed, perhaps this was obvious. But with Panopticon, I can be sure that its immense influence is not just due to proximity bias. Just like its predecessor …And Again into the Light, The Rime of Memory knocked me flat off my feet and buried me like an avalanche, with all of the intensity and force, and yet none of the cold. Because this burns white hot with passion and pain. I haven’t yet decided whether it sits above that prior record, but right now, it doesn’t matter, because it easily stands above all others in 2023. “Cedar Skeletons” alone snatches the song of the year accolade, but the whole is something I have to experience again and again. It would just be wrong to give anything less than first place to an album that quite literally brings me to tears because of how emotionally poignant and compositionally powerful it is. As with my #2 pick, its epic duration is immaterial in the face of its effect, which is utterly unmatched by any of my other list contenders. Panopticon—particularly on more recent records—seems to have a unique ability to tug on my heartstrings and to blend the most ferocious of black metal with the most serene and evocative Appalachian folk, and to have it all bleed pure pathos. The Rime of Memory more than matched my lofty hopes, and it already has a very special place in my heart.

Honorable Mentions:

• Ahab // The Coral Tombs – A return to form after the iffy Boats of the Glen Carrig. Managing at turns to be both as heavy as a colossal squid and beautifully still as the depths of the ocean.
• Nightmarer // Deformity Adrift – I love everything Nightmarer put out and this is no exception. Brutal and shivering with grim atmosphere and irresistible rhythm.
• Manbryne // Interregnum: O próbie wiary i jarzmie zw​ą​tpienia – Just as good, if not better than its predecessor. Which means it’s really rather good. Gnarly, intriguing Polish black metal with bite and pizzaz.
• The Circle // Of Awakening – This magnificent dramatic black metal opus came the closest to making it into the final list. I slept on this album hard until the final months, and it was only barely pushed out.
• Dymna Lotva // The Land Under the Black Wings: Blood – An album that came out of absolutely nowhere for me and stunned with its emotional potency and devastating delivery. Future Dymna Lotva records may well make the list when that year comes.
• Voidsphere // To Infect | To Inflict – Thank you to Dear Hollow for putting this on my radar. It’s like Decoherence and Darkspace had a baby. A dark, mesmerizing atmospheric black metal baby. Gorgeous.

Songs of the Year:

• “Cedar Skeletons” – Panopticon
• “De Namnlösa” – Night Crowned
• “Axe of Kindness” – To the Grave
• “Optograms of Disgust” – Downfall of Gaia
• “The Fall” – Serpent of Old
• “A Coral Tomb” – Ahab
• “Boreal” – The Ocean
• “Seven Crowns and Seven Seals” – Sulphur Aeon
• “Taufbefehl” – Nightmarer
• “Of Awakening” – The Circle (ft. Ne Obliviscaris)

Guilty Pleasure of the Year:

• “SIRENCORE” – Banshee – Not remotely metal unless you count some black metal shrieking scattered into its dance-pop. I did however, get mildly addicted to this song for a time. What can I say? I have to let my girly side out occasionally. And yeah. It’s going on the playlist.

Maddog

My earballs had a mixed year. A headbanger’s field day, 2023 boasted a solid array of death metal and some doom that won over skeptics like me. But this year’s music lacked emotional weight. Few 2023 albums sounded as beautiful as Inexorum’s Equinox Vigil, as heart-wrenching as Darkher’s The Buried Storm, or as monumental as Gloson’s The Rift, all of which rocked my 2022 list. There was still plenty to love, but something felt missing.

And so, I found solace in music from years past. Trees of Eternity’s Hour of the Nightingale, perhaps the most underrated record in AMG history, offered me catharsis on dark days. Emma Ruth Rundle held my hand,4 expressing boundless empathy through Marked for Death. Every Enshine release whisked me into a secluded world of sorrowful beauty. Conversely, LiveWire’s thrilling Under Attack!, my favorite 2022 record, kept hopelessness at bay; no matter what, I’m happy to inhabit a world that has LiveWire in it. On the fiercer side, I rekindled my love for Morbid Angel’s Covenant (1993), Suffocation’s Effigy of the Forgotten (1991), and Dying Fetus’ Killing on Adrenaline (1998). This deep bench of yesteryear highlights helped scratch the itches that 2023 albums missed.

The scarcity of tear-jerking 2023 music also re-taught me an important lesson: music that isn’t overtly emotional can still offer consolation or escape. Indeed, my favorite 2023 records brought a smile to my tired face rather than feeding my wallowing tendencies. A comment from the recent Suffocation review expressed this sentiment best:

All things fall to ruin in this world, and that’s why we have death metal.

I’ll give thank-yous a shot, though they’ll inevitably be incomplete. Thank you to AMG for his fearless leadership, Madam X for her tireless work, Grier for his insults, Steel for his bourbon (and also his bourbon), Sentynel for keeping us alive, and Dear Hollow for doing all the writing. Thank you to the UK staff for tolerating my occasional visits, and to everyone who’s supported me through bouts of melodrama. And thank you to everyone who makes my world more musical: artists, comment-section banterers, fellow writers, friends who share music with me, kind people at shows, and more. I’ll be on board 70,000 Tons for the first time next month, and I’m excited to keep deepening my musical community.

Finally, thank you to Thus Spoke, my (list) partner in (vegan) crime. Her intense emotional connection to music bleeds through her words, inspiring me to listen more closely and write more goodly. Read her list first; you won’t regret it.

#ish. Ne Obliviscaris // Exul – Exul’s peaks show Ne Obliviscaris at the top of their divisive game. The band’s balance of beauty and brutality is as strong as ever, as the strings, clean guitars, and death metal riffs move in lockstep. Bassist Martino Garratoni’s hyperactive melodies round out Exul’s rich soundscape. It’s a pleasure to hear Ne Obliviscaris’ compositions unfold, ebbing and flowing among the band’s diverse strengths. Exul’s bloat is the only major splotch on an otherwise stellar record. Listen to Exul with an open mind; it’s easy to get clouded by the hype or the popular hatred. Exul offers a lot to love, and there isn’t much else like it.
[Pairing: Maison Ferrand (Ars, France), Citadelle Jardin d’Été Gin. This gin is easy to sneer at; it’s contemporary, a newcomer, and French. But give it a chance. You might find your mind wandering through a château garden in bloom.]

#10. Gorod // The Orb – I slept on The Orb at first because of its lackluster bass. After a decade of spectacular performances, bassist Benoit Claus inexplicably dialed back his wizardry after 2015’s A Maze of Recycled Creeds. Still, Gorod makes it work. The Orb’s unhinged harmonic leads showcase guitarists Pascal and Alberny at their finest. Meanwhile, the album’s energetic peaks and valleys give space for the drums to take the driver’s seat. Every moment of The Orb amps me up for the next moment, most notably on career highlight “Breeding Silence.” The Orb isn’t memorable enough to land near the top of Gorod’s formidable discography, but Gorod’s brand of hyper-technical death metal is still fun as hell.
[Pairing: Founders Brewing (Grand Rapids, MI), Porter – 6.5% ABV. Less rich than some of its Founders brethren (e.g. Breakfast Stout), but still a flavorful feast.]

#9. Altari // Kröflueldar – I don’t know what the hell this is, but I love it. Altari’s distinctive debut melds black metal and psychedelic rock. While those genre labels might provoke knee-jerk comparisons to Oranssi Pazuzu or A Forest of Stars, Altari’s sound is peerless. Stalwart rhythms ground you while swirling melodies emerge from nowhere to whisk you away, echoing Love’s Forever Changes and Jefferson Airplane’s Surrealistic Pillow. And yet, Kröflueldar’s blackened edge makes it a haunting experience. While Kröflueldar’s abrupt song endings have room for improvement, Altari’s hypnotic debut is a triumph. It might be tucked too far underground to turn many heads, but it’s well worth your time.
[Pairing: Brandy Soymilk Punch (made with Paul Masson VSOP Brandy). “What the hell is this? Why would I ever drink… Errr, why is my glass empty? Fill me up!”]

#8. Sodomisery // Mazzaroth – The melodic black metal resurgence of 2023 peaked with Sodomisery. Mazzaroth checks every box. Dissection-lite blackened death riffs collude with soaring Misturious melodies to lure you into the fray. The album’s clean sections and Sodomisery’s newfound symphonic elements add emotional depth without sounding generic. Mazzaroth’s strengths coalesce in its belt-along choruses, which maintain the album’s somber mood while still worming into your brain. Because Sodomisery executes every component so well, the record sounds fresh despite trodding well-trodden ground. Even Sodomisery’s less-than-ideal name inspired three of 2023’s most iconic comments. Mazzaroth has captured the hearts of old fans and newcomers alike, and the attention is well-deserved.
[Pairing: BrewDog (Ellon, UK), Drop D – Cascadian Dark Ale, 8.1% ABV. Perfectly balances hoppiness and roasty stout flavors, without reinventing any wheels.]

#7. Faithxtractor // Contempt for a Failed Dimension – While 2023 had no shortage of compelling no-frills death metal, the genre peaked in January with Faithxtractor. This is what you get when you cross faith unforgiving death metal with a tractor meticulous songwriting. Contempt for a Failed Dimension’s single-minded focus keeps it concise and fearsome across both its crushing slow sections and its frantic riff carnivals. Faithxtractor’s creativity elevates the album from “mere” fun to the top of its genre. Even at its most unhinged, Contempt for a Failed Dimension never trips over itself. Every riff inhabits its optimal location, and each one is essential to the final product. I’m not sure which dimension has failed—I hope it isn’t a spatial one—but I know Faithxtractor will punish it mightily.
[Pairing: Lagunitas Brewing (Petaluma, CA), IPA – 6.2% ABV. A familiar beer in a familiar style, but it always hits the spot. Sometimes that’s all you need.]

#6. Xoth // Exogalactic – Xoth’s brand of technical blackened death-thrash is a sci-fi spectacle. Exogalactic’s futuristic riffs, twisting melodies, and narrative arcs make it feel like reptilian aliens are indeed enslaving humans as gladiators like hordes of warriors are really battling for the galaxy. Hearing Xoth play Tetris with electrifying melodies of all shapes and sizes is thrilling. While the album’s peaks fall short of its predecessor, you’ll be belting out its colossal choruses in no time. Xoth’s style is unique, but it shares a strength with Archspire, First Fragment, and Jane Austen: you can hear Xoth grinning through their art. Every time I listen to Exogalactic, I can’t help but grin alongside.
[Pairing: Brouwerij Huyghe (Melle, Belgium), Delirium Tremens – Belgian Golden Strong Ale, 8.5% ABV. A paradox in a glass: strong and flavorful, but light-hearted and bright. It’ll put a smile on your face.]

#5. Raider // Trial by Chaos – Trial by Chaos is as dense as its cover art. Over 39 minutes of hectic death-thrash, Raider tells tales of dystopia, science fiction, and righteous defiance. Every element of Raider’s onslaught finds its mark. The guitars range from Floridian death metal steamrollers to three-piece melodic leads, nailing both styles. The thunderous rhythm section raises hell at climactic moments and stitches Trial by Chaos’ disparate pieces together. Most strikingly, Angelo Bonaccorso’s vocal variety imbues the music with emotional force and narrative structure. This is only Raider’s second full-length record, but its cohesion and show-stopping power make it best in class. Expect Raider to be a torchbearer for death-thrash in the years to come.
[Pairing: 3 Floyds Brewing (Munster, IN), Permanent Funeral – Imperial IPA, 10.5% ABV. Unforgiving in its strength, its hoppiness, and its intense flavor. Intimidating but irresistible.]

#4. Wayfarer // American Gothic – Seamlessly blending their Western aesthetic with black metal, Wayfarer transports the listener to the Western United States circa 1900. This is not a romanticized Magic School Bus trip; everything around you is greed, senseless violence, and environmental devastation.5 American Gothic’s emotional palette matches this landscape, leading through righteous anger (“The Cattle Thief”),6 longing (“To Enter My House Justified”), and hopelessness (“Black Plumes over God’s Country”). The album’s fantastic rhythm section and its rich production, both uncharacteristic strengths for black metal, allow Wayfarer’s diverse compositions to shine. Even though Wayfarer isn’t the only band playing this style, they’ve won my heart. Concise but powerful, American Gothic is the new American gothic.
[Pairing: Buffalo Trace Distillery (Frankfort, KY), Sazerac Rye. Accessible for the wallet and the palate, but with a fierce rye edge. A flavor bonanza and a perfect companion for an evening of reminiscences or regrets.]

#3. Hellripper // Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags – The “old Hellripper” is still alive and well, after two riotous slabs of blackened speed metal. The “new Hellripper” is no less formidable. Forays into death metal and old-school speed metal add flair around the edges. Meanwhile, Warlocks’ longer tracks leap out of Hellripper’s comfort zone while balancing melodic variety and narrative cohesion. Scottish folk influences add depth throughout the melodies, the lyrics rooted in Orkney mythology, and the unexpected bagpipes. With these forces combined, the record’s narrative pieces feel like captivating campfire tales rather than bedtime stories. And still, Warlocks’ speedy killers are the most fun I’ve had all year. Warlocks is both an exhilarating listen and a massive step forward for Hellripper’s songwriting.
[Pairing: St. George Spirits (Alameda, CA), Terroir Gin. The juniper-heavy palate will placate gin gatekeepers, while the Douglas fir and sage will transport open minds to a California coastal redwood forest. Classic, innovative, and delicious.]

#2. Onheil // In Black Ashes – In Black Ashes is melodic black/death/speed/thrash at its finest. But that description is both a little too much and much too little. The album’s irresistible speedy riffs alone deserve Grier’s 3.5. Onheil’s mastery of melody and songwriting elevates In Black Ashes into the stratosphere. Led by the indomitable “Void,” In Black Ashes’ powerful melodies offer catharsis like none other. As the album progresses, Onheil flexes their compositional muscles more, melding narrative meloblack epics with Mors Principium Est-adjacent bangers. Every track is a winner, and Onheil strikes an impossible balance between enthralling riffs and emotional heft. In Black Ashes deserves a lot more love.
[Pairing: Hayman’s Distillery (London, UK), Royal Dock Navy Strength Gin. This isn’t just another boring London gin; spices and citrus add a twist. Bottled at the 114 proof point where soaked gunpowder can still ignite, Royal Dock is fierce but shockingly smooth.]

#1. Theophonos // Nightmare Visions – Nightmare Visions throws everything at the wall, and everything sticks. I struggled to describe this album once, and it isn’t getting easier. Theophonos’ debut feels like a grind-paced tour through metal history, squeezed through a blackened filter. Armed with razor-sharp riffs, a vicious rhythm section, and a refusal to sit still, Theophonos’ dissonant style is both neck-shattering and evocative. The album’s density makes it a gripping experience, while Jimmy Hamzey’s (Serpent Column) masterful transitions hold the Jenga blocks together. Theophonos’ blood, sweat, and tears glisten through details like the inter-song callbacks and the blurring of frenzied black metal and serene rock. Ten months into our love affair, Nightmare Visions still reveals new facets on every listen. Even if blackened grind isn’t your home turf (trust me, it isn’t mine), give Nightmare Visions a shot. I’d never heard anything like it, but now I can’t stop listening.
[Pairing: Fifth Hammer Brewing (Queens, NY), POGlodyte – Sour Ale with Passionfruit, Blood Orange, and Guava, 5.5% ABV. The description is accurate but inadequate. Wilder than your wildest dreams, this sour is what you never realized your life needed. Rapture for every taste bud.]

Honorable Mentions:

• Night Crowned // Tales – Tales is a scorcher from cover to cover, blending ferocious blackened death melodies with clean and folky digressions. Night Crowned jostled their way up here at the last minute. Ask me in a few weeks, and I might regret not pushing Tales up to my top 10.
• Tomb Mold // The Enduring Spirit – Tomb Mold’s 57-degree turn into prog death lands close to Fallujah’s best work. With dueling guitar leads, riveting bass melodies, and groovy drum lines, The Enduring Spirit is gorgeous and engaging. With more oomph, it could’ve landed near the top of my list.
• Saturnus // The Storm Within – From its crushing death-doom riffs to its My Dying Bride-esque dirges, The Storm Within ripped my heart out. Saturnus’ decade-awaited return suffers from bloat, but it’s still one of 2023’s rare emotional juggernauts.
• Kalmah // Kalmah – Kalmah’s Kalmah sounds like Kalmah, in the best way. Firestorm riffs, massive climaxes, and prominent synths get the blood flowing. The slower morose sections hit just as hard, especially with their infectious choruses. Kalmah doesn’t break new ground, but it still holds me rapt.
• Reverend Kristin Michael Hayter // Saved! – Saved! is jarring, but Hayter’s spellbinding vocals and her cohesive compositions won me over. The album pantses my heart in its best moments, like “I Will Be with You Always.” The out-of-place shorter pieces and the record’s rocky start hold Saved! back, but it’s still worth a spin or ten.
• Serpent of Old // Ensemble under the Dark Sun – This one is tough to describe. Ensemble’s blackened death melodies, at once eerie and grabby, crept under my skin on my very first listen. Given how dense and thoughtful Ensemble is, I still can’t believe it’s Serpent of Old’s debut.

Disappointments o’ the Year:

• Myrkur // Spine – Pairing: Methanol. A close relative of excellence, but hazardous in its current form. So close, but so very far.
• The Ocean // Holocene – Pairing: Southwest Spirits (Dallas, TX), Calamity Gin. The heavy floral and citrusy botanicals make for an intriguing promo pitch. Given my history with similar styles, I had every expectation of loving this. Alas, reality was not so kind; I struggled to finish it.

Songs o’ the Year:

1. Onheil – “Void”
2. Enslaved – “Congelia”
3. Xoth – “Battlesphere”
4. Sermon – “Golden”
5. Gorod – “Breeding Silence”
6. Ne Obliviscaris – “Equus”
7. Insomnium – “1696”
8. Theophonos – “Of Days Past”
9. Raider – “Labyrinth”
10. Wayfarer – “The Cattle Thief”
11. Stortregn – “The Revelation”

#Ahab #Altari #Convocation #Dödheimsgard #DownfallOfGaia #DymnaLotva #Faithxtractor #FiresInTheDistance #Gorod #Hellripper #Kalmah #Lists #Listurnalia #Mānbryne #Myrkur #NeObliviscaris #NightCrowned #Nightmarer #Onheil #Panopticon #Raider #ReverendKristinMichaelHayter #Saturnus #SerpentOfOld #Sodomisery #Stortregn #Thantifaxath #TheCircle #TheOcean #Theophonos #ThusSpokeSAndMaddogSTopTenIshOf2023 #ToTheGrave #TombMold #Top10Ish_ #Voidsphere #Wayfarer #Xoth

Thus Spoke and Maddog’s Top Ten(ish) of 2023

By Thus Spoke

Thus Spoke

Mum, I’ve made it; I’ve got my own official year-end list on Angry Metal Guy dot com. Just two years ago I had begun my probation period in what would come to be characteristically overzealous fashion, slapping a 4.5 on my first ever review, before deciding that words are much better than numbers. At the time, uncertain of my tenancy in these hallowed halls, I was juggling n00b reviews with short-form reviews on Instagram,1 the latter pursuit being what led me to apply here in the first place. And I’m glad I did!

My first complete year here as a writer has been pretty great, all things considered. I’ve reviewed (and not reviewed) some Excellent (with a capital ‘E’) albums and discovered new favorites—some of whom will be appearing below. It continues to humble me and blow my mind that I get to put my thoughts about music out here on the internet and that people actually read them; that I get to write about bands and records with a critical voice that actually garners some respect, like I’m a proper person who knows things; and that I have the chance to gush about artists I’ve loved for a long time, or only just hit upon. Reviewing Panopticon was a wonderful year-end highlight. Of course, not everything was rosy. It was another year of silence from Ulcerate2, not the greatest year for truly stand-out black metal (with some clear exceptions), and a year in which I struggled with some significant challenges at work. But disappointing promos and unavoidable life hurdles aside, 2023 has been the year that AMG—the reviewing, the staff, and the commenting community—has cemented itself as an important part of who I am. I’m grateful for all of you. Thank you.

Having not made one of these before, this has been my first proper taste of the agony (and perhaps joy) of choosing what to list and where to list them. Can I pen a Contrite Metal Guy piece about my picks later down the line? No, I can’t. So if I’ve forgotten something, please just don’t bring it up or it’ll torture me for at least the entirety of 2024.3 Now, on with the list before I change my mind!

#ish. Convocation // No Dawn for the Caliginous Night – Not only did this album floor me on first listen, but it also made me discover how much I love to say the word “caliginous.” *Annunciates* Cal-ig-in-ous. No Dawn… is just as satisfying, but in a very different way. Its drama, potency, and sheer scale are wondrous to behold and instantly catapulted it into my list (well, close enough). I had been thinking in recent months that I’d kind of fallen off the doom wagon. But Convocation was there right as the year was about to end to shove me firmly back on board. As Cherd opined “This is a towering celebration of death’s enormity, packaged in the heaviest and most shimmering of vessels,” and I concur. It’s really only down to a totally stacked year of music that this behemoth doesn’t rank higher.

#10. Thantifaxath // Hive Mind Narcosis – This album scares the shit out of me and I absolutely love it. Everything about its wacky, dissonant, bendy, manic, and malevolent intensity borders on the hallucinogenic and nightmarish. And as a piece of extreme metal, aiming to confront with the harshest of blackened death metal, this is a very good thing. Thantifaxath were a 2023 discovery for me, and this, their sophomore effort, thoroughly convinced me that I should be paying attention to them. It always sends me into a state of heavy foreboding, anxiety, and nausea at confrontation with the absurd. When I reviewed Hive Mind Narcosis, I talked about its contradictory coherence and beauty under a façade of erraticism and ugliness, and I believe this to be what makes it continue to stand out amidst many other unapproachable extreme metal records that came out in 2023, worthy as they may be.

#9. Downfall of Gaia // Silhouettes of Disgust – While I’ve had an appreciation for Downfall of Gaia since Atrophy, Silhouettes of Disgust has been the first one that’s really made an impression on me. It’s stuck with me nearly all year since it dropped in March, and I find myself continuing to return to it again and again. When I don’t know what to listen to, I’ll stick this on, and I’ll enjoy it every time. Melodically and emotionally powerful, it contains some of my favorite musical moments of the year, including in particular the building surge of drama and catharsis that ends “Optograms of Disgust” and the album entirely. I think the reason Silhouettes has had this effect was pinned down nicely by Carcharodon when he wrote: “this is the [album] that manages to blend most effectively all the disparate facets of Downfall of Gaia’s sound.” And I would go further and assert what he only hinted at, that Silhouettes is indeed the best of the band’s career.

#8. Stortregn // Finitude – I feel like Stortregn have been getting more and more fun with every album, or at least definitely on the last few. While Emptiness Fills the Void (2018) was light enjoyment, Impermanence (2021) stepped things up a gear into real grin-inducing territory. Finitude, however, blows those records out of the water with what is possibly the most fun I’ve had with technical death/black metal of any kind. Everything about it works towards this, from constantly evolving, circularly composed song structures that sweep you away with their drama and flair, to a flipping flamenco break in “Xeno Chaos” which I should hate, but instead, I absolutely fucking love because it works so brilliantly. Its melodies are gorgeous, its energy undeniable, its rhythms irresistible. Damn, I think I’m gonna go and listen to it again now, I’ve really given myself the itch.

#7. To the Grave // Director’s Cuts – This started off higher on my list. It’s not that I’ve cooled off on it. Quite the contrary, as To the Grave are my most-listened-to artist on Spotify this year, and I will still ardently defend, to anyone who bothers to vocalize their disagreement, that this is an Excellent album. It’s simply a testament to the strength of those you’ll find below. But let that not take away from the immensity that is Director’s Cuts. It’s a stunning slab of deathcore that utterly wipes the floor with anything else released in that subgenre this year, not just br00tal and groovy as all hell, but possessed of a powerful and righteous message of animal liberation, wrapped of course, in a super mean metal mien. “Manhunt,” and indeed most of the album, powered many a top set in the gym, while stone-cold classic-in-the-making, “Axe of Kindness” easily makes it to the Songs of the Year playlist. It’s just fantastic all-round. Until all are free! *Headbangs violently.*

#6. Wayfarer // American Gothic – I was not initially overly enamored with American Gothic. I don’t know what I was playing at though, because it’s quite clearly brilliant. It’s grown on me like no other album has this year, quickly and assertively muscling its way almost into my top five. Though at first I thought it was inferior to its predecessor A Romance with Violence, as I’ve mentioned, I was being silly, and it’s actually far superior. With a more coherent and consistent compositional structure, more powerful and punchy songs, with stronger, more memorable melodies, and a better integration of that uniquely Western vibe into vibrant and vicious black metal, this is my favorite Wayfarer album by a country mile. Brilliantly evocative, both satisfyingly savage and stirringly soft when it needs to be, American Gothic never ceases to transport me to the old West in its turbulent transformation with drama, passion, and beauty. And it’s wonderful to experience.

#5. Night Crowned // Tales – It was surprising enough that none of my esteemed colleagues had nabbed Tales before I did. But for it to be so mind-blowingly fantastic that it would end up this high on my year-end list was something else. With a songs-of-the-year-lister for an opening cut and, in general, a tracklist stuffed full of back-to-back bangers, and a blazingly bombastic, infectious spirit all around, Tales charges ahead of the competition with savage glee. It’s actually hard to overstate just how good this album is, particularly given how ridiculously easy it is to listen to with its catchy melodies, (relatively) snappy song lengths, and dynamic energy. The culmination of Night Crowned’s fiery and dramatic style of black metal, and the best of their already stellar discography, Tales calls me back ceaselessly and I’m more than happy to oblige.

#4. Fires in the Distance // Air Not Meant for Us – This album is magical. Nothing has changed since I first heard it in its entirety this spring. Elegantly composed, stirring, and effortlessly graceful, it’s hands-down the most straightforwardly beautiful thing on my list. It’s moving without being sappy, and pretty without being saccharine. And Air Not Meant for Us also wins points for including a midway instrumental that’s not only just as good as the other tracks, but possibly better, and bridges the two sides of the album in this lovely way that makes for a dreamy kind of interlude. Fires in the Distance have such a distinctive form of ethereal, key-accented melodeath/doom that I can only see the immense strength of Air Not Meant for Us as a huge, incredibly exciting sign of more brilliant records to come. As it is, I still haven’t had enough of this one.

#3. Serpent of Old // Ensemble Under the Dark Sun – Back in June, I confidently declared that “Serpent of Old have crafted one of the best metal records of 2023 so far, no exaggeration.” Well, it turns out I wasn’t exaggerating, because here it is, number three on my list. Clear as day I can recall hearing the opening notes of “The Sin Before the Great Sin,” as Ensemble Under the Dark Sun began playing for the first time. Straight away I knew that I’d landed a monster of an album, and 42 or so minutes later I was completely engulfed in its intoxicatingly atmospheric darkness. Like their eponymous snake, Serpent of Old wound their blackened death metal around and around my brain. Ensemble is intense, and yet utterly captivating, dripping with oppressive, haunting melodies and deep, angular dissonance. And it also features the best drum performance of the year in my opinion. To think this is a debut is frankly astonishing, and I am extremely keen to hear more.

#2. Dødheimsgard // Black Medium Current – For a long time, this sat comfortably in first place. Why is no mystery. Unlike anything Dødheimsgard have put out in the past, or anything else released this year, Black Medium Current challenged, confronted, and mesmerized me. Weird and discomfiting one moment, tear-jerkingly beautiful another, this album is an emotional and musical rollercoaster that treads perfectly that line between avant-garde wackiness and sincere black metal passion. I recall how stunned I was to discover its 72+ minute length, after already spinning it back-to-back multiple times because it’s so engrossing and intelligently composed. I also recall just how close I came to awarding my first “Iconic” when reviewing it, simply due to the lasting power I perceived it to possess. While the Contrite Metal Guy piece is not on the roadmap for anytime soon, I still believe Black Medium Current to be incredibly special, and an album that absolutely must be heard by everyone in the metalsphere, even if it’s to rapidly discover it’s not one’s cup of tea. Dødheimsgard have made an almost perfect record here. A worthy holder of the top position, were it not for one, equally lengthy rival…

#1. Panopticon // The Rime of Memory – As it’s so recently reviewed, perhaps this was obvious. But with Panopticon, I can be sure that its immense influence is not just due to proximity bias. Just like its predecessor …And Again into the Light, The Rime of Memory knocked me flat off my feet and buried me like an avalanche, with all of the intensity and force, and yet none of the cold. Because this burns white hot with passion and pain. I haven’t yet decided whether it sits above that prior record, but right now, it doesn’t matter, because it easily stands above all others in 2023. “Cedar Skeletons” alone snatches the song of the year accolade, but the whole is something I have to experience again and again. It would just be wrong to give anything less than first place to an album that quite literally brings me to tears because of how emotionally poignant and compositionally powerful it is. As with my #2 pick, its epic duration is immaterial in the face of its effect, which is utterly unmatched by any of my other list contenders. Panopticon—particularly on more recent records—seems to have a unique ability to tug on my heartstrings and to blend the most ferocious of black metal with the most serene and evocative Appalachian folk, and to have it all bleed pure pathos. The Rime of Memory more than matched my lofty hopes, and it already has a very special place in my heart.

Honorable Mentions:

• Ahab // The Coral Tombs – A return to form after the iffy Boats of the Glen Carrig. Managing at turns to be both as heavy as a colossal squid and beautifully still as the depths of the ocean.
• Nightmarer // Deformity Adrift – I love everything Nightmarer put out and this is no exception. Brutal and shivering with grim atmosphere and irresistible rhythm.
• Manbryne // Interregnum: O próbie wiary i jarzmie zw​ą​tpienia – Just as good, if not better than its predecessor. Which means it’s really rather good. Gnarly, intriguing Polish black metal with bite and pizzaz.
• The Circle // Of Awakening – This magnificent dramatic black metal opus came the closest to making it into the final list. I slept on this album hard until the final months, and it was only barely pushed out.
• Dymna Lotva // The Land Under the Black Wings: Blood – An album that came out of absolutely nowhere for me and stunned with its emotional potency and devastating delivery. Future Dymna Lotva records may well make the list when that year comes.
• Voidsphere // To Infect | To Inflict – Thank you to Dear Hollow for putting this on my radar. It’s like Decoherence and Darkspace had a baby. A dark, mesmerizing atmospheric black metal baby. Gorgeous.

Songs of the Year:

• “Cedar Skeletons” – Panopticon
• “De Namnlösa” – Night Crowned
• “Axe of Kindness” – To the Grave
• “Optograms of Disgust” – Downfall of Gaia
• “The Fall” – Serpent of Old
• “A Coral Tomb” – Ahab
• “Boreal” – The Ocean
• “Seven Crowns and Seven Seals” – Sulphur Aeon
• “Taufbefehl” – Nightmarer
• “Of Awakening” – The Circle (ft. Ne Obliviscaris)

Guilty Pleasure of the Year:

• “SIRENCORE” – Banshee – Not remotely metal unless you count some black metal shrieking scattered into its dance-pop. I did however, get mildly addicted to this song for a time. What can I say? I have to let my girly side out occasionally. And yeah. It’s going on the playlist.

Maddog

My earballs had a mixed year. A headbanger’s field day, 2023 boasted a solid array of death metal and some doom that won over skeptics like me. But this year’s music lacked emotional weight. Few 2023 albums sounded as beautiful as Inexorum’s Equinox Vigil, as heart-wrenching as Darkher’s The Buried Storm, or as monumental as Gloson’s The Rift, all of which rocked my 2022 list. There was still plenty to love, but something felt missing.

And so, I found solace in music from years past. Trees of Eternity’s Hour of the Nightingale, perhaps the most underrated record in AMG history, offered me catharsis on dark days. Emma Ruth Rundle held my hand,4 expressing boundless empathy through Marked for Death. Every Enshine release whisked me into a secluded world of sorrowful beauty. Conversely, LiveWire’s thrilling Under Attack!, my favorite 2022 record, kept hopelessness at bay; no matter what, I’m happy to inhabit a world that has LiveWire in it. On the fiercer side, I rekindled my love for Morbid Angel’s Covenant (1993), Suffocation’s Effigy of the Forgotten (1991), and Dying Fetus’ Killing on Adrenaline (1998). This deep bench of yesteryear highlights helped scratch the itches that 2023 albums missed.

The scarcity of tear-jerking 2023 music also re-taught me an important lesson: music that isn’t overtly emotional can still offer consolation or escape. Indeed, my favorite 2023 records brought a smile to my tired face rather than feeding my wallowing tendencies. A comment from the recent Suffocation review expressed this sentiment best:

All things fall to ruin in this world, and that’s why we have death metal.

I’ll give thank-yous a shot, though they’ll inevitably be incomplete. Thank you to AMG for his fearless leadership, Madam X for her tireless work, Grier for his insults, Steel for his bourbon (and also his bourbon), Sentynel for keeping us alive, and Dear Hollow for doing all the writing. Thank you to the UK staff for tolerating my occasional visits, and to everyone who’s supported me through bouts of melodrama. And thank you to everyone who makes my world more musical: artists, comment-section banterers, fellow writers, friends who share music with me, kind people at shows, and more. I’ll be on board 70,000 Tons for the first time next month, and I’m excited to keep deepening my musical community.

Finally, thank you to Thus Spoke, my (list) partner in (vegan) crime. Her intense emotional connection to music bleeds through her words, inspiring me to listen more closely and write more goodly. Read her list first; you won’t regret it.

#ish. Ne Obliviscaris // Exul – Exul’s peaks show Ne Obliviscaris at the top of their divisive game. The band’s balance of beauty and brutality is as strong as ever, as the strings, clean guitars, and death metal riffs move in lockstep. Bassist Martino Garratoni’s hyperactive melodies round out Exul’s rich soundscape. It’s a pleasure to hear Ne Obliviscaris’ compositions unfold, ebbing and flowing among the band’s diverse strengths. Exul’s bloat is the only major splotch on an otherwise stellar record. Listen to Exul with an open mind; it’s easy to get clouded by the hype or the popular hatred. Exul offers a lot to love, and there isn’t much else like it.
[Pairing: Maison Ferrand (Ars, France), Citadelle Jardin d’Été Gin. This gin is easy to sneer at; it’s contemporary, a newcomer, and French. But give it a chance. You might find your mind wandering through a château garden in bloom.]

#10. Gorod // The Orb – I slept on The Orb at first because of its lackluster bass. After a decade of spectacular performances, bassist Benoit Claus inexplicably dialed back his wizardry after 2015’s A Maze of Recycled Creeds. Still, Gorod makes it work. The Orb’s unhinged harmonic leads showcase guitarists Pascal and Alberny at their finest. Meanwhile, the album’s energetic peaks and valleys give space for the drums to take the driver’s seat. Every moment of The Orb amps me up for the next moment, most notably on career highlight “Breeding Silence.” The Orb isn’t memorable enough to land near the top of Gorod’s formidable discography, but Gorod’s brand of hyper-technical death metal is still fun as hell.
[Pairing: Founders Brewing (Grand Rapids, MI), Porter – 6.5% ABV. Less rich than some of its Founders brethren (e.g. Breakfast Stout), but still a flavorful feast.]

#9. Altari // Kröflueldar – I don’t know what the hell this is, but I love it. Altari’s distinctive debut melds black metal and psychedelic rock. While those genre labels might provoke knee-jerk comparisons to Oranssi Pazuzu or A Forest of Stars, Altari’s sound is peerless. Stalwart rhythms ground you while swirling melodies emerge from nowhere to whisk you away, echoing Love’s Forever Changes and Jefferson Airplane’s Surrealistic Pillow. And yet, Kröflueldar’s blackened edge makes it a haunting experience. While Kröflueldar’s abrupt song endings have room for improvement, Altari’s hypnotic debut is a triumph. It might be tucked too far underground to turn many heads, but it’s well worth your time.
[Pairing: Brandy Soymilk Punch (made with Paul Masson VSOP Brandy). “What the hell is this? Why would I ever drink… Errr, why is my glass empty? Fill me up!”]

#8. Sodomisery // Mazzaroth – The melodic black metal resurgence of 2023 peaked with Sodomisery. Mazzaroth checks every box. Dissection-lite blackened death riffs collude with soaring Misturious melodies to lure you into the fray. The album’s clean sections and Sodomisery’s newfound symphonic elements add emotional depth without sounding generic. Mazzaroth’s strengths coalesce in its belt-along choruses, which maintain the album’s somber mood while still worming into your brain. Because Sodomisery executes every component so well, the record sounds fresh despite trodding well-trodden ground. Even Sodomisery’s less-than-ideal name inspired three of 2023’s most iconic comments. Mazzaroth has captured the hearts of old fans and newcomers alike, and the attention is well-deserved.
[Pairing: BrewDog (Ellon, UK), Drop D – Cascadian Dark Ale, 8.1% ABV. Perfectly balances hoppiness and roasty stout flavors, without reinventing any wheels.]

#7. Faithxtractor // Contempt for a Failed Dimension – While 2023 had no shortage of compelling no-frills death metal, the genre peaked in January with Faithxtractor. This is what you get when you cross faith unforgiving death metal with a tractor meticulous songwriting. Contempt for a Failed Dimension’s single-minded focus keeps it concise and fearsome across both its crushing slow sections and its frantic riff carnivals. Faithxtractor’s creativity elevates the album from “mere” fun to the top of its genre. Even at its most unhinged, Contempt for a Failed Dimension never trips over itself. Every riff inhabits its optimal location, and each one is essential to the final product. I’m not sure which dimension has failed—I hope it isn’t a spatial one—but I know Faithxtractor will punish it mightily.
[Pairing: Lagunitas Brewing (Petaluma, CA), IPA – 6.2% ABV. A familiar beer in a familiar style, but it always hits the spot. Sometimes that’s all you need.]

#6. Xoth // Exogalactic – Xoth’s brand of technical blackened death-thrash is a sci-fi spectacle. Exogalactic’s futuristic riffs, twisting melodies, and narrative arcs make it feel like reptilian aliens are indeed enslaving humans as gladiators like hordes of warriors are really battling for the galaxy. Hearing Xoth play Tetris with electrifying melodies of all shapes and sizes is thrilling. While the album’s peaks fall short of its predecessor, you’ll be belting out its colossal choruses in no time. Xoth’s style is unique, but it shares a strength with Archspire, First Fragment, and Jane Austen: you can hear Xoth grinning through their art. Every time I listen to Exogalactic, I can’t help but grin alongside.
[Pairing: Brouwerij Huyghe (Melle, Belgium), Delirium Tremens – Belgian Golden Strong Ale, 8.5% ABV. A paradox in a glass: strong and flavorful, but light-hearted and bright. It’ll put a smile on your face.]

#5. Raider // Trial by Chaos – Trial by Chaos is as dense as its cover art. Over 39 minutes of hectic death-thrash, Raider tells tales of dystopia, science fiction, and righteous defiance. Every element of Raider’s onslaught finds its mark. The guitars range from Floridian death metal steamrollers to three-piece melodic leads, nailing both styles. The thunderous rhythm section raises hell at climactic moments and stitches Trial by Chaos’ disparate pieces together. Most strikingly, Angelo Bonaccorso’s vocal variety imbues the music with emotional force and narrative structure. This is only Raider’s second full-length record, but its cohesion and show-stopping power make it best in class. Expect Raider to be a torchbearer for death-thrash in the years to come.
[Pairing: 3 Floyds Brewing (Munster, IN), Permanent Funeral – Imperial IPA, 10.5% ABV. Unforgiving in its strength, its hoppiness, and its intense flavor. Intimidating but irresistible.]

#4. Wayfarer // American Gothic – Seamlessly blending their Western aesthetic with black metal, Wayfarer transports the listener to the Western United States circa 1900. This is not a romanticized Magic School Bus trip; everything around you is greed, senseless violence, and environmental devastation.5 American Gothic’s emotional palette matches this landscape, leading through righteous anger (“The Cattle Thief”),6 longing (“To Enter My House Justified”), and hopelessness (“Black Plumes over God’s Country”). The album’s fantastic rhythm section and its rich production, both uncharacteristic strengths for black metal, allow Wayfarer’s diverse compositions to shine. Even though Wayfarer isn’t the only band playing this style, they’ve won my heart. Concise but powerful, American Gothic is the new American gothic.
[Pairing: Buffalo Trace Distillery (Frankfort, KY), Sazerac Rye. Accessible for the wallet and the palate, but with a fierce rye edge. A flavor bonanza and a perfect companion for an evening of reminiscences or regrets.]

#3. Hellripper // Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags – The “old Hellripper” is still alive and well, after two riotous slabs of blackened speed metal. The “new Hellripper” is no less formidable. Forays into death metal and old-school speed metal add flair around the edges. Meanwhile, Warlocks’ longer tracks leap out of Hellripper’s comfort zone while balancing melodic variety and narrative cohesion. Scottish folk influences add depth throughout the melodies, the lyrics rooted in Orkney mythology, and the unexpected bagpipes. With these forces combined, the record’s narrative pieces feel like captivating campfire tales rather than bedtime stories. And still, Warlocks’ speedy killers are the most fun I’ve had all year. Warlocks is both an exhilarating listen and a massive step forward for Hellripper’s songwriting.
[Pairing: St. George Spirits (Alameda, CA), Terroir Gin. The juniper-heavy palate will placate gin gatekeepers, while the Douglas fir and sage will transport open minds to a California coastal redwood forest. Classic, innovative, and delicious.]

#2. Onheil // In Black Ashes – In Black Ashes is melodic black/death/speed/thrash at its finest. But that description is both a little too much and much too little. The album’s irresistible speedy riffs alone deserve Grier’s 3.5. Onheil’s mastery of melody and songwriting elevates In Black Ashes into the stratosphere. Led by the indomitable “Void,” In Black Ashes’ powerful melodies offer catharsis like none other. As the album progresses, Onheil flexes their compositional muscles more, melding narrative meloblack epics with Mors Principium Est-adjacent bangers. Every track is a winner, and Onheil strikes an impossible balance between enthralling riffs and emotional heft. In Black Ashes deserves a lot more love.
[Pairing: Hayman’s Distillery (London, UK), Royal Dock Navy Strength Gin. This isn’t just another boring London gin; spices and citrus add a twist. Bottled at the 114 proof point where soaked gunpowder can still ignite, Royal Dock is fierce but shockingly smooth.]

#1. Theophonos // Nightmare Visions – Nightmare Visions throws everything at the wall, and everything sticks. I struggled to describe this album once, and it isn’t getting easier. Theophonos’ debut feels like a grind-paced tour through metal history, squeezed through a blackened filter. Armed with razor-sharp riffs, a vicious rhythm section, and a refusal to sit still, Theophonos’ dissonant style is both neck-shattering and evocative. The album’s density makes it a gripping experience, while Jimmy Hamzey’s (Serpent Column) masterful transitions hold the Jenga blocks together. Theophonos’ blood, sweat, and tears glisten through details like the inter-song callbacks and the blurring of frenzied black metal and serene rock. Ten months into our love affair, Nightmare Visions still reveals new facets on every listen. Even if blackened grind isn’t your home turf (trust me, it isn’t mine), give Nightmare Visions a shot. I’d never heard anything like it, but now I can’t stop listening.
[Pairing: Fifth Hammer Brewing (Queens, NY), POGlodyte – Sour Ale with Passionfruit, Blood Orange, and Guava, 5.5% ABV. The description is accurate but inadequate. Wilder than your wildest dreams, this sour is what you never realized your life needed. Rapture for every taste bud.]

Honorable Mentions:

• Night Crowned // Tales – Tales is a scorcher from cover to cover, blending ferocious blackened death melodies with clean and folky digressions. Night Crowned jostled their way up here at the last minute. Ask me in a few weeks, and I might regret not pushing Tales up to my top 10.
• Tomb Mold // The Enduring Spirit – Tomb Mold’s 57-degree turn into prog death lands close to Fallujah’s best work. With dueling guitar leads, riveting bass melodies, and groovy drum lines, The Enduring Spirit is gorgeous and engaging. With more oomph, it could’ve landed near the top of my list.
• Saturnus // The Storm Within – From its crushing death-doom riffs to its My Dying Bride-esque dirges, The Storm Within ripped my heart out. Saturnus’ decade-awaited return suffers from bloat, but it’s still one of 2023’s rare emotional juggernauts.
• Kalmah // Kalmah – Kalmah’s Kalmah sounds like Kalmah, in the best way. Firestorm riffs, massive climaxes, and prominent synths get the blood flowing. The slower morose sections hit just as hard, especially with their infectious choruses. Kalmah doesn’t break new ground, but it still holds me rapt.
• Reverend Kristin Michael Hayter // Saved! – Saved! is jarring, but Hayter’s spellbinding vocals and her cohesive compositions won me over. The album pantses my heart in its best moments, like “I Will Be with You Always.” The out-of-place shorter pieces and the record’s rocky start hold Saved! back, but it’s still worth a spin or ten.
• Serpent of Old // Ensemble under the Dark Sun – This one is tough to describe. Ensemble’s blackened death melodies, at once eerie and grabby, crept under my skin on my very first listen. Given how dense and thoughtful Ensemble is, I still can’t believe it’s Serpent of Old’s debut.

Disappointments o’ the Year:

• Myrkur // Spine – Pairing: Methanol. A close relative of excellence, but hazardous in its current form. So close, but so very far.
• The Ocean // Holocene – Pairing: Southwest Spirits (Dallas, TX), Calamity Gin. The heavy floral and citrusy botanicals make for an intriguing promo pitch. Given my history with similar styles, I had every expectation of loving this. Alas, reality was not so kind; I struggled to finish it.

Songs o’ the Year:

1. Onheil – “Void”
2. Enslaved – “Congelia”
3. Xoth – “Battlesphere”
4. Sermon – “Golden”
5. Gorod – “Breeding Silence”
6. Ne Obliviscaris – “Equus”
7. Insomnium – “1696”
8. Theophonos – “Of Days Past”
9. Raider – “Labyrinth”
10. Wayfarer – “The Cattle Thief”
11. Stortregn – “The Revelation”

#Ahab #Altari #Convocation #Dödheimsgard #DownfallOfGaia #DymnaLotva #Faithxtractor #FiresInTheDistance #Gorod #Hellripper #Kalmah #Lists #Listurnalia #Mānbryne #Myrkur #NeObliviscaris #NightCrowned #Nightmarer #Onheil #Panopticon #Raider #ReverendKristinMichaelHayter #Saturnus #SerpentOfOld #Sodomisery #Stortregn #Thantifaxath #TheCircle #TheOcean #Theophonos #ThusSpokeSAndMaddogSTopTenIshOf2023 #ToTheGrave #TombMold #Top10Ish_ #Voidsphere #Wayfarer #Xoth

#TheOcean möchten gerne im Juli (dieses Jahr) im #ZBau in #Nürnberg spielen und ich habe Karten - so es denn in irgendeiner Art und Weise sicher möglich ist.

#nowplaying #vinyl