Vinny's Forum Replies

I gave that Tómarúm release a go earlier on and was not impressed with it tbh.  What the hell is going on with that bass?  Odd that I have not gelled with that BAN release enough to sit through a full run through.  Will try to rectify that over the weekend as I normally like anything they do but that having been said I was not massively in love with their previous release.  As you will see from my year end list I only got through 9 releases proper this year (at least 9 that were any good anyways) and I soon tire of over saturation from new releases.

Predictably (it is the monthly feature release) Autonoesis is now in the mix also.

Strong list this month Ben.  Particularly liked Stormruler, Ellende and Skythala.  Didn't mind that Darkthrone track strangely as normally I find them pretty boring nowadays.  Only duds for me were Woods of Desolation and Liturgy (although not massive fan of that Kampfar either).

P.S. you have got the title wrong on that first track in the list, looks like you have duplicated the Stormruler track from beneath.

I repeat, this was an excellent choice Daniel.  Despite my reservations that I highlight in my review below, I still find this an enthralling experience.  In my handwritten notes for this review I referenced Vektor but noted that this was a more "meloblack" banger style of thrash metal (and I absolutely stand by that this belongs in both The North & The Pit).  I would not be adverse to some recognition of the progressive elements but wold need far more listens to this to really decide.  Anyway, my review:

This is a devious little release (although given the length of it I am not sure that "little" quite covers it). I have read the other reviews from my esteemed academites (?) and I do not really have anything different to add in all honesty. I am less inclined to agree that this does not have a place in The Pit - I would equally argue that it has some argument for addition into The Infinite clan as well as The North. What this all means in real world terms, for the uneducated reader of this review is that Autonoesis cover a lot of ground on this record. This in itself is impressive based on the effort alone and that is one of the main takeaways from this record, the work ethic and amount of stuff that is in here is really commendable. Does it all work within the confines of one single release? Well yes and no.

Give me tracks like Raise the Dead all day and I am a happy enough bunny. This high-intensity track is arguably were Autonoesis are at their least stretched in terms of technical ability but it shows their heart better than most other tracks on here, largely because it is one of the shorter and more direct tracks that bleeds pure thrash from start to finish. Where things start to come unstuck a little for me are on the longer tracks and there are far too many of them. With three tracks over or around nine-minutes in length (plus an eleven-minute plus closing track) I do find myself a bit lost in Moon of Foul Magics at times. There is a sense of frustration in hearing a track go through multiple sub-genres and influences over a protracted runtime. Often when listening to one of the more lengthy tracks on here I cannot help but think that some of these ideas could be more succinctly deployed as individual tracks. There would be nothing wrong with letting a thrash track just thrash and chop its way through three or four-minutes and parking that progressive interlude or epic black metal passage into a track all of their own.

This is not to say that they do not blend elements well as a group or individual artist (I have no idea how many people are in Autonoesis but I suspect it is a one-man project with contributors), the musicianship on here is superb and the lead work in particular is sublime. I just cannot help but feel that there is more going on here than can be comfortably digested by many listeners. Even with dedicated, alone time with this record the lack of distractions does not necessarily make the focus on everything anymore acute.

I still think this is an ambitious and highly recommendable record, not in the least because I am actively looking to expand the range of offerings in The Pit playlists each month and this is a refreshing "take" on a few sub-genres that still has the riffs to pull enough punches in the thrash metal realm.

4/5

This is a great choice for feature release and I would say replicates the direction of travel I was looking to take The Pit playlists in terms of expanding the range and scope of the tracks beyond just the conventional thrash, speed metal nominations and the groove, technical and crossover sub-genres as well. 

A review for this one is not ready yet but my listens so far have been nothing short of enthralling.

BABYMETAL - "BABYMETAL DEATH" (from "BABYMETAL", 2014)  Yes, I'm serious! Feel free to exclude it but tell me this isn't a death/thrash track.

Bitches Sin - "Haneka" (from Predator", 1982) Feel free not to exclude this one too but I'd suggest that it's an early example of speed metal.

I can't believe I am about to do this but I am actually going to listen to a Babymetal track later today.  

EDIT - it was not as bad as first feared.  You are right Daniel, absolutely has a place here in The Pit playlist.

However, I am not convinced by Bitches Sin, too much Motorhead for me to justify it going in The Pit list so I will be excluding this one.  Happy to take another alternative id you have one?

Gama Bomb - Sea Savage (2020)

So, as I said before, I haven't listened to Gama Bomb since 2008's Citizen Brain album, which I bought at the time, but haven't spun a whole lot since as, to be honest, it didn't do much for me (I will have to revisit it though after this). Gama Bomb write short, breakneck, often humourous, thrash metal that makes no attempt to break new ground and I have no problem with that. Of the twelve tracks on Sea Savage, the longest is four and a half minutes with half the album's songs clocking in at under three minutes and, I must admit, the band in full flow do thrash fucking hard. The tongue-in-cheek humour that is employed throughout isn't especially jarring and doesn't detract from the music at all - and let's be honest here, thrash metal, lyrically, can often be ridiculous even when played straight-up.

No, by far my biggest bugbear with Sea Savage is regarding the vocals. Mostly they are fine, but way too often vocalist Philly Byrne resorts to a ridiculous falsetto that feels like it may be a parody of Painkiller-era Rob Halford and I hate it. It occurs at some point in nearly every track and totally ruins them for me. It's use is most prevalent on the title track and it makes that track virtually unlistenable to my ears.

Despite this quite substantial misgiving, I still have to give the album a 3.5/5 because, as I said earlier, it does thrash so fucking hard and at it's best it is quite infectious, but that damn scream is just so fucking annoying that I can't ignore it and must reflect it in the score.

3.5/5

Being my usual picky self, I find the irony of the "Sea Savage" being a beast of ape descendance (i.e. a land mammal) and not anything associated with the sea particularly laughable. 

Exmortus - The Sound of Boredom

EDIT

Exmortus - The Sound of Steel (2018)

Sigh. I kind of feel like Exmortus exist in the wrong era. The old-school album artwork should really be clue enough but those retro heavy/speed metal vibes are not just isolated to the album cover alone. Within the ten tracks here there is enough 1990's neoclassical references as you could ever hope to find (if "hope" is the right word for you - it is not for me, "misfortune" is a much more accurate word). All this guitar wankery is played at breakneck speed to try and impress further upon the listener how talented the artist is. Problem is it is all the energy of Vektor, rehashed into some dull attempt to sound vaguely as interesting as they were; I mean this album is one of the main reasons that I left The Guardians clan behind last year.

Literally no opportunity to show-off is missed on here. However long the intro to a song is, rest assured that some lead or over the top melodies are right around the corner. They even have the nerve to park an instrumental track in the middle of the album and call it A Minor Instrumental. If only they would have confined all the showboating to this one track! When not widdling their way to eternity the band try and get the chops going but it lacks any edge to make this anything like a thrash release with any concrete credentials. This is just an exhausting record and I do not not what tired me out soonest, the content or the continued reaching for the mouse to skip the album along.

Utterly pointless and instantly forgettable, The Sound of Steel is all filler and no killer. Yes the guitarists can play and the sub-genre (Neoclassical thrash??) demands more of this stuff but it is just so dull and presents zero appeal to me.

1.5/5

I am familiar with this one, his first release after his domestic troubles saw him arrested and put on probation.  It is a deep record and takes some time to settle in my experience but is worth the effort.  Odd that I have not reviewed or rated it to date but I guess that's the features doing their job.

I will go with Elegiac.

Over to you Ben.

Pestifer looks interesting, I will take that.

Ex Mortus for me.

I had this in my top 9 releases of 2022.  My review below.

In niche sub-genres such as drone metal and industrial metal the ideal scenario for me is to have a go-to artist I can really rely on. I cannot say that I listen to much of anyone else in either genre and so the assured and emotional consistency of Tristan Shone's output in Author & Punisher is a real bonus for me in a world of thousands of artists and much less time than needed to fully explore many of them. As time has gone on I have discovered two main themes in his work. Firstly, he gets better with every release. The maturity he is now able to exhibit on Krüller is just so confident that it is obvious in every track on the album; his experience over each passing year and release simply makes him better. Secondly, as time has gone by I have ceased to be astonished by just his incredible ability to make all manner of alien and horrifically atmospheric noises from whatever ungodly bit of tech he has made with his bare hands. I am now just as astonished by the emotional tautness of his output that stirs responses in me that I had not thought possible with this type of music.

At this point in his career, Shone is untouchable in terms of not needing to rely solely on the harsh, abrasive and heavy aspects of his music to get his message across. If there is anyone using textures better than he does on tracks like Incinerator then I damn well demand a recount! This track in particular is a rollercoaster that goes from broody and sultry onto anger and sadness before giving way to mental torture. Listen to this album through a couple of times and you will understand that Shone is able operate on multiple levels and can hammer home his message without the need for blunt force every time. Centurion relies on a subtle yet ever-present urgency to press home its threat. Maiden Star operates meanwhile in a whole separate stratosphere with dreamy melodies and blatant rock guitars as its main ingredients.

Whereas previous A&P releases lacked range, on Krüller this is not a problem that is even on the horizon. Without having to go avant-garde or just plain old wacky, album number nine just delivers on every level. The drone elements are stable without being excessive and the industrial elements play as influences (albeit big influences) that do not rule the roost as such yet the album is still so very industrial at its core but feels so open and varied without disrupting the sense of balance that permeates the record. The cover of Glorybox by Portishead feels like a huge moment for the album and indeed Shone's career itself. Taking the elements that make it such a brilliant piece of dreamy trip-hop in the first place, A&P manages to elevate this with his trademark droning, industrial intensity whilst still capturing the heartfelt message at the centre of the track.

Krüller is Tristan Shone at his best and is far and away his finest hour. Able to command enough respect at this stage to have Tool's Justin Chancellor and Danny Carey guest on the album, Shone can use his ever-growing confidence to allow his vocals to shine more as he (consciously) removed much of the trademark distortion that layered them in the past in favour of what to me is a more personal connection. One of the best finds of 2022 so far.

5/5

February 2023 nominations:

Barshasketh -"Ruin I" (from "Barshasketh", 2019)

Fellwarden - "Sun of Ending" (from "Oathbearer", 2017)

Svartidaudi - "Burning Worlds of Excrement" (from"Revelations of the Red Sword", 2018)

February 2023 nominations:

Atrocity - "Defiance" (from "Todessehnsucht", 1992)

Entombed - "Severe Burns" (from "Clandestine", 1991)

Mortuous - "Defiled by Fire" (from "Upon Desolation", 2022)

Monstrosity - "Manic" (from "Millennium", 1996)

Blood Incantation - "Inner Paths (To Outer Space)" (from "Hidden History of the Human Race", 2019)

Exocrine - "End of Time" (from "The Hybrid Suns", 2022)

I think the most important question here is, why is there a toilet roll tube on that pew?

January 2023

01. Anthrax – “Caught in a Mosh” (from “Among the Living”, 1986) [Submitted by Vinny]

02. Impalers – “Prepare for War” (from “God From the Machine”, 2015) [Submitted by Vinny]

03. Daeva – “Clenched Fist of the Beast” (from “Pulsing Dark Absorptions”, 2022)

04. GAME OVER – “Two Steps in the Shadows” (from “Claiming Supremacy”, 2017)

05. Cavalera Conspiracy - “Spectral War” (from “Psychosis”, 2017)

06. Coroner – “Internal Conflicts” (from “Grin”, 1993)

07. Prong – “Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck” (from “Cleansing”, 1994) [Submitted by Vinny]

08. Suicidal Tendencies – “How Will I Laugh Tomorrow” (from “How Will I Laugh Tomorrow, When I Can’t Even Smile Today”, 1988)

09. Stälker – “Total Annihilation” (from “Shadow of the Sword”, 2017)

10. Testament – “Absence of Light” (from “Souls of Black”, 1990) [Submitted by Vinny]

11. Hellhammer – “Revelations of Doom” (from “Apocalyptic Raids”, 1984)

12. Frosthelm – “The Endless Winter” (from “The Endless Winter”, 2015)

13. Obsolete – “Still” (from “Animate//Isolate”, 2021)

14. Acid Death – “Liquid Heaven” (from “Pieces of Mankind”, 1997)

15. Believer – “The Need for Conflict” (from “Gabriel”, 2009)

16. Critical Defiance – “Elephant” (from “No Life Forms”, 2022) [Submitted by Daniel]

17. Faith or Fear – “Straight to Hell” (from “Instruments of Death”, 2009)

18. Eruption – “Drones” (from “Cloaks of Oblivion”, 2017)

19. Oxygen Destroyer – “Cleansing the earth of Humanity’s Existence” (from “Bestial Manifestations of Malevolence and Death”, 2020) [Submitted by Vinny]

20. The Troops of Doom – “Dethroned Messiah” (from “Antichrist Reborn”, 2022)

21. Deströyer 666 – “Guillotine” (from “Never Surrender”, 2022)

22. S.O.D. – “Speak English or Die” (from “Speak English or Die”, 1995)

23. Aura Noir – “Wretched Face of Evil” (from “Black Thrash Attack”, 2011)

24. Hellbastard– “Heading for Eternal Darkness” (from “Natural Order”, 1990)

25. Terrörhammer – “Graveyard Witch” (from “Under the Unholy Command”, 2015) [Submitted by Vinny]

26. Bulldozing Bastard – “Under the Ram (from “Under the Ram” 2015)

27. Pantera – “Suicide Note, Pt. 2” (from “The Great Southern Trendkill”, 1996) [Submitted by Daniel]

28. Hatchet – “Living in Extinction” (from “Fear Beyond Lunacy”, 2015)

I have no issue with this.

Messa - Close (2022)

There are some records that you simply feel daunted at the prospect of having to review. Some records are so diverse and eclectic, so bristling with organic energy and vigour that committing some paragraphs to state the success of their content seems an almost injustice of near epic proportions. I mean, I can be impressed by some albums I hear and easily transpose my thoughts on the highlights to word format, but the albums that constantly challenge and surprise you are the tricky ones to truly interpret in a review. Close is one such record. Looking back at the year as a whole it is hard to understand how this release initially passed me by back in March and only really fell onto my radar at all in the final three months (breaking my end of year list to boot). My exploration of The Fallen clan certainly helped bring this to my attention but there is so much more here than the simple doom aesthetics of this record.

In simple terms, this is a cool record. Not cool as in being representative of some mainstream avenue of music but more just cool in how it sounds. There are enough instruments in use over this album to make it easy to understand just how well this record embraces influences form doom, psychedelia and world music. Crossing continents and exploring cultural boundaries along the way, Close is a celebration of all the influences that this band have been subjected to over their various pathways into Messa. Even on the grindcore track towards the end, none of this feels forced (vocalist Sara, formerly being a member of death metal/grindcore crew Restos Humanos makes the grindcore inclusion a little less surprising perhaps).

With this variety comes the potential for me to get lost in the record and find myself struggling to balance the complexity of such a mixed palate of sounds (the album being over an hour long doesn't initially bode well either) but everything is done so effortlessly it just sounds so authentic throughout. Somehow, Messa manage to sound modern and relevant yet capture the very essence of the retro vibes that ooze through those fuzzy guitar tones, ably assisted by the amazing vocal talent of Sara Bianchin. Although it is obvious where her limitations lie she still compliments each track on here perfectly and is easily one of the standout contributors to the record.

I bought this album on vinyl yesterday, such was my urgency to add this to my library in some kind of physical format and it has worked its way into my top three albums of the year, despite its late arrival on my radar. There is so much that can be said about this record that I could go on for days about it and never still get all my reflections down about it. As I said, in simple terms, this is really cool.

5/5

It sounds like you are slowly succumbing to the melancholy charms of The Fallen, Vinny.

Still working away at the clan challenge as that way I will truly understand what I do and do not like.  Monotheist was a curved ball though whilst in a quiet period at work and just threw it on stream, to great success clearly.  If all doom metal sounds like this then I am in!

Hooray, after a mere eleven days of sub-zero temperatures and no hot water, we have finally got a new boiler fitted. You sometimes take for granted the simple things like having a shower, but after washing in a bucket with kettle-boiled water for a week and a half, it feels like one of life's great luxuries!

Good news, having lost heating and hot water for a mere 2 days by comparison last week due to a frozen pipe I cannot agree more how the simple things can be taken all too easily for granted.  Glad your sorted.

Celtic Frost - Monotheist (2006)

Song writing is a fine art form. A skill that only very few excel at. You can admire well-structured and cleverly built songs all you like, however for me the real praise needs to be reserved for those that elevate their song writing to truly deranged levels of morbid grandiosity. That ability to truly detach from the expected, to actively seek to shy away from the conventional is where my eyes go all glossy with adulation. To that end, my discovery of Monotheist today for the first time has been nothing short of a revelation.

To be honest, I rarely listen to Celtic Frost and had most certainly not thought to connect them with doom metal. Of course, now I sit down and acknowledge that this last offering from CF sets the scene perfectly for the very similar sounding Triptykon, it all falls into place nicely. That having been said part of my stunned and slightly quizzical look on my face cannot hide that sense of being caught genuinely off-guard by a record for the first time in absolutely years. Although relevant, comparisons with Tom’s latter day output are not altogether an accurate reflection of just how good Monotheist is.

Which ever release I listen to from Triptykon, it exudes some sense of measure and control. It feels like some of the rampant emotions of Monotheist have been brought to heel in the intervening years that have passed since CF ducked out (on a high). That is not to say that Monotheist is bat shit crazy either, whilst it most certainly lacks some of the dark composure of Triptykon it is still a deviously calculated record to listen to. Whilst it starts off perfectly normal with heavy opener Progeny providing an above average welcome to proceedings, this is a record that slowly unravels and unhinges itself the further you get into it.

As well as Tom’s increasingly demented vocals there is a growing sense of groove and bend to those riffs also. As songs start to crash into feedback-soaked endings it is with a degree of wonder that you must ask yourself if the four years of recording was the route the band should have stuck with for their entire careers, such is the level of accomplishment prevalent over these eleven tracks.

Clear album highlight is the penultimate track (proper), Totengott. Its blend of harsh black metal vocals and noise-like atmospherics are a stunningly macabre glorification of evil music and Tom sounds rabid on his performance on here. The fourteen minutes plus offering, Synagoga Satanae is a wonderful exploration of doom metal, full of big and memorable riffs. For me, they could end the record right there and do away with the instrumental track that closes proceedings but this still acts as a great palette cleanser to end on.

4.5/5

Pentagram - self titled (1985)

I have been meaning to catch up on my exploration of The Fallen clan with Pentagram’s opening offering to the world being on my challenge list. Last night I was flicking through a magazine and an interview with Mirai from the band Sigh referenced Pentagram’s debut record as “Heavy, simple and evil” and so my task for today was set. Mirai listed it as one of his five most influential albums, citing the simplicity of the riffs as being one of the key successes of the record. I would agree with this to some extent as the riffs here chart no complicated or technical patterns. Equally, the drums and bass do nothing extraordinary in the main part, but then Joe Hasselvander suddenly pulls amazing runs and fills out of thin air (Run My Course) or Martin Swaney steps in from nowhere with his charging bass line (Dying World) and suddenly this is not such a simplistic album anymore.

What works well on this record is the restraint that is showed to showcase individual performances. Whilst the riffs stick that effective level of basic ability during verses, for example, Bobby’s vocals really get to shine. His dulcet croons are given centre stage in these scenarios but then when it comes to the lead work, Victor Griffin gets the spotlight delivering brief but enchanting solos. This sharing of the limelight gives the album a real sense of cohesion and camaraderie; no individual element rides roughshod over another here folks.

There is no doubting the doom credentials on display here, the production job is light touch and the whole sound has an authentic and organically dark feel. The fuzzy edge to things gives a cruel comfort against the backdrop of Bobby’s marauding vocals. Listening to this album some near forty years after its release, it is not difficult to see why Pentagram have remained such a revered name in the doom metal scene. Simple, without being boring and clever without being complex.

4.5/5

COVID finally caught up with me after 3 years of avoiding it.  Both my wife and I tested positive towards the back end of last week.  We have isolated since then even though only "guidance" to do so as opposed to any mandatory requirement in the UK.  Keeping an eye on my wife who has breathing problems anyway but to date she seems to be okay.  I am glad of the downtime in some respects but really conscious that work was starting to pick up this past couple of weeks and eager to get in amongst my emails as I know there's money to be made, however will look after our health first and be sensible.

That sucks. Get well soon both of you.

As Vinny knows I'm sure, it has been the coldest week for years here in the UK and annoyingly, my wife and I have had no heating or hot water since last Friday due to a broken down boiler and a useless boiler insurance company (yes, SSE, I'm looking at you)! Hoping it will be finally fixed tomorrow, but I'm not holding my breath to be honest.

That's a pain mate.  I have just dragged my arse outside as we don't have a mains gas supply here so I have to check the tank under the front lawn so I know when to order some more.  Hatch was frozen shut, took me ages.  Hope your heating gets fixed soon fella.

COVID finally caught up with me after 3 years of avoiding it.  Both my wife and I tested positive towards the back end of last week.  We have isolated since then even though only "guidance" to do so as opposed to any mandatory requirement in the UK.  Keeping an eye on my wife who has breathing problems anyway but to date she seems to be okay.  I am glad of the downtime in some respects but really conscious that work was starting to pick up this past couple of weeks and eager to get in amongst my emails as I know there's money to be made, however will look after our health first and be sensible.

Between 1980 and 2003, Overkill delivered twelve full lengths, three EPs and numerous splits and videos. In a little under 25 years the band had been knocking out albums at a rate of approximately one every two years. That is a pretty consistent level of output by any measure and one that saw the band survive the lull following the eighties heyday of thrash metal by branching out into groove metal to keep the New Jersey/New York machine rolling on. Taking a wider view of the whole discography and it is even more remarkable that I can still find releases in there that I have never listened to and so being able to drop any release in by Overkill as a monthly clan feature is hopefully a voyage of discovery for all once we move away from the more infamous releases.

In my thread for this feature release I billed Kill Box 13 as a "post-groove metal" era album from Overkill. This is only half true since although thrash metal plays a part here I get much more groove metal on Kill Box 13 than I do conventional thrash metal. In fairness to Overkill, retaining that groove metal element was inevitable really. It had seen them through three or so releases and so was obviously an embedded part of their sound by this point. As I reflect on the last run through of the record I did, it is the groove metal that sticks in my mind even though the better parts for me are the actual thrash moments.

However, there are a couple of challenges with Kill Box 13 for me that consign the album to the "unlikely to revisit" pile. Firstly, it is too long at ten tracks and fifty minutes in length overall. This coupled with my second major criticism that the album is massively top heavy and almost everything after track six should have been left for a future bonus offering of previously unreleased tracks makes this album something of a damp squib for me. Accepting that the health issues in the band may play more than a part in this release being less than optimal, I still think the content lacks that consistent quality to justify a full length release and although I have not seen anything to suggest it was rushed to meet contractual requirements or the bands simple need to start touring something again, I would not be surprised if something other than artistic integrity drove some of the choices here.

2.5/5

Diocletian "Doom Cult" (2009)

There are some truly punishing listening experiences around in the plethora of extreme metal releases that populate the blackened death metal sub-genre in particular. Here be the home of Portal, Teitanblood and Antediluvian amongst many others, all of whom showcase an unrelenting style of music that defies structure and form and goes for the jugular track-after-track. To be honest, even after 30+ years of listening to metal I am still not sure of the difference between the term "war metal" and the sound emitted by the likes of Diocletian and we all know how much I hate genre pedantry so feel free to shake your head in silent disgust as I refer to this primitive style of music minus any correct "it" terms.

New Zealanders Diocletian are a tricky concept for some. Not in the least due to the fact that the vocalist at the time of Doom Cult (V. Kusabs) has since been convicted of possession and distribution of child pornography. Sometimes our exploration of the extreme side of music takes us to even darker places than we thought possible unfortunately. Focussing on the music though, Doom Cult is truly an exploration of unbridled terror done with drums, bass, guitars and some ghastly vocals thrown in for good measure. If you are looking for any semblance of production values then you are in the wrong place altogether as this has been left outside the door along with discernible vocals, structured riffs and any hope of variation.

This in fact, is probably one of the few occasions all tracks merging into one in a chaotic blur works well. Everything does get thrown at the wall here and the fetid, gloopy mess that sticks is here for the duration, all thirty-three minutes of it. There are some more memorable moments when the band adopt a more military style approach to their rhythms here and there but overall, to truly enjoy this record you have to be willing to let it assault you. There might not be a lot of mastery about the attack but it does not make it any less effective.

4/5

Dark Funeral "Where Shadows Forever Reign" (2016)

An internet acquaintance of mine often referred to Dark Funeral with ill-disguised disgust. He often referred to their sound as being “blasting for, blasting’s sake”. Dark Funeral have been a missing part of my black metal education for virtually the whole time I have listened to extreme metal – and that has nothing to do with my online friend’s less than positive experience of them. What little I have heard has never served to separate them as being standout from say Marduk or 1349 and so they have never been given a full listen through before the Review Draft picks this month.

Upon first listen to Where Shadows Forever Reign, I can understand the “blasting” reference described above, although I do not entirely agree with the sentiment that this is overdone in anyway. Where Shadows Forever Reign is as conventional as you could hope to hear in the black metal stratosphere. It pulls no punches and sticks to a tried and tested formula without falling into the trap of just being the same the whole way through. This is not to say that there is not a large amount of repetition on here, but the nuances are subtle enough to make this an album that rewards with each listen. I would still tout that a bit more variation would not go amiss (or at least a trim on the track listing to bring this under 40 mins overall) but what is on display here is of sound enough quality that it almost works over the album duration.

It has taken me four or five listens to fully get my head around this record, but my enjoyment has increased with each listen. The loose sense of atmospherics and dissonance, coupled with the crude melodicism makes for an interesting listen as it is not like any of these elements get fully explored or developed too far beyond those more traditional black metal elements. It is more likely they are continually flirted with and teased at. The twin guitar attack to my ears should beef things up more but this record is a real machine when it gets going still and the vocals of Erik Andreas Vingbäck are of note.

Listening to this record has piqued my interest in the band enough for me to explore more of their discography but I still think they will end up outside of my core bm listening – just as 1349 are in all honesty.

3.5/5

January =

Anthrax  - "Caught In A Mosh" (from "Among the Living", 1986)

Prong - "Snap Your Finger Snap Your Neck" (from "Cleansing", 1994)

Impalers - "Prepare For War" (from "God from the Machine", 2015)

Testament - "Absence of Light" (from "Souls of Black", 1990)

Terrörhammer -  "Graveyard Witch" (from "Under the Unholy Command", 2015)

Oxygen Destroyer - "Cleansing the Earth of Humanity's Existence" (from "Bestial Manifestations of Malevolence and Death", 2020)

Testament - "Souls of Black" (1990)

Souls of Black was (according to Chuck Billy) written and recorded in a rush to get the band on the European leg of The Clash of the Titans tour with Slayer, Megadeth and Suicidal Tendencies. It sounds like it in all honesty. From the off you cannot fail to hear the scratchy sound to the guitars and the overall compression on all the production, with tinny drums and too much echo on Chuck’s vocals. Given the experience of Michael Rosen in the production chair and the late Tom Coyne covering mixing duties this is a surprising outcome but one that somehow does not entirely ruin Souls of Black.

Over repeated listens, the album has grown on me. It will never be a regular play though because (production issues aside) it is so inconsistent. This must be down to the hectic nature of the album being put together as Chuck describes, even though this is clearly a thrash metal record, it sounds rushed and that cannot be hidden by the sheer intensity of the rhythms that the band deploys. When the band are on point (Absence of Light, One Man’s Fate, Malpractice and the title track) they truly do motor at a huge rate of knots. However, the rest of the album is just filler with a smattering of promise of greater things littered largely throughout the lead work of Alex and Eric.

By comparison, Louie Clemente seems lost in the mix, occasionally bobbing his head above the squall to remind us he is there pounding away. Despite being audible he somehow lacks presence on the record. Greg’s bass is also able to be heard – if not in a muffled sense – but overall, no instrument escapes the poor production job. The most obvious element is still Chuck’s booming vocals that get enough restraint from the production to the benefit of the album overall, but they sound detached from the rest of the band’s performances, like they were over-layered as an afterthought somehow.

Not the best Testament record they have ever done but still has some enjoyable elements to remember even if they are not enough to bring me back for repeat visits.

3/5

Ah missed this thread.  Good to have you aboard.

My point is: if no new bands were to be formed, creative development of metal would come to a halt for good. And again, this principle can be applied to any field of human interests, which is what makes Nergal's remark so idiotic.

I don't think we have met before.  Welcome to the MA site, hope you stick around and chew the fat some more.

Some interesting points in your post, however I think there is a fair argument to say that "new band" does not always equal "creative development" though.  Every new band that gets together does not push the boundaries of music, in fact you only have to look at the "retro" scenes in say thrash or death metal to prove that.  I would even go as far as to consider that an excess of new bands actually leads to a reduction of creative development.  Scenes grow and die out usually seeing some kind of revival within 10 or 15 years.  That's not creative development though, that's regurgitation.

I don't think he is "dictating" anything and let's just caveat that I am no huge fan of Nergal or Behemoth so feel no obligation to defend him - and the irony of this statement coming from a well established and commercially successful artist from within the world of music is not lost on me either - but there is a lot of sense to what he is saying.  Even without the pandemic or the global financial crisis the career of a musician is limited.  Nothing wrong with doing what you love of course but it does not mean that this will put bread on the table.

Of course there's too much of everything.  Humanity is greedy by nature and the need to satiate that hunger inevitably leads to excess of everything, it is not idiotic to call that out though, in fact it is the very theme that runs throughout many metal act's lyrical content.  I have listened to metal for over 30 years and so I have been around the block a few times and I am tired of trying to keep up.  I accept that this is my problem and clearly differs from others views but there is nothing wrong with looking at what you have got in whatever form your music collection takes and just sticking with that.

January = 

Altarage  - "Rift" (from "Endinghent", 2017)

Amorphis - "Vulgar Necrolatry" (from "Karelian Isthmus", 1992)

Asphyx - "M.S. Bismark" (from "Last One on Earth", 1992)

Autopsy - "Severed Survival" (from "Severed Survival", 1989)

Acephalix - "Postmortem Punishment" (from "Theothanatology", 2022)

Diocletian - "Antichrist Hammerfist" (from "Doom Cult", 2009)

Ulcerate - "Abrogation" (from "Shrines of Paralysis", 2016)

For clarity, I have been working my way through my CDs this past month which are stored in alphabetical order, hence the glut of bands starting with "a" on the list.

I will take Dark Funeral.

Easy one for me.  Diocletian all day long.

I was very tempted by Gang Green but have decided to give Testament the nod.  Over to you Ben.

January 2023 = 

Nordicwinter - "Beneath the Fleeting Light" (from "Beneath the Fleeting Light", 2022) 

Departure Chandelier - "Between This World and the Next" (from "Dripping Papal Blood", 2020) 

Horna - "Rautamyrsky" (from "Split w/Behexen", 2007) 

December 2022

01. Midnight – “Telepathic Nightmare” (from “Let There Be Witchery”, 2022) [Submitted by Daniel]

02. Skourge – “Old Gods Return” (from “Hardcore up Your Ass”, 2021)

03. Power Trip – “Suffer No Fool” (from “Opening Fire 2008-2014”, 2018)

04. Bewitcher – “Death Returns…” (from “Cursed Be Thy Kingdom”, 2021) [Submitted by Daniel]

05. Liege Lord - “Rapture” (from “Master Control”, 1989) [Submitted by Daniel]

06. High Command – “Siege Warfare” (from “Eclipse of the Dual Moons”, 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]

07. Sodom– “M-16” (from “M-16”, 2001)

08. Flotsam & Jetsam – “Hammerhead” (from “Doomsday for the Deceiver”, 1986) [Submitted by Sonny]

09. Vexovoid – “Infinte Collector” (from “Call of the Starforger”, 2017)

10. Meliah Rage – “Crushed Beneath My Heal” (from “Idol Hands”, 2018)

11. Xentrix – “Seven Words” (from “Seven Words”, 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]

12. Rage – “Deceiver” (from “Reign of Fear”, 1986) [Submitted by Daniel]

13. Critical Defiance – “The Last Crusaders…Bringers of Death” (from “No Life Forms”, 2022) [Submitted by Sonny]

14. Bestial Invasion – “Treachery” (from “Divine Comedy:Inferno”, 2021)

15. Machine Head – “Arrows in Words from the Sky” (from “Of Kingdom and Crown”, 2022)

16. Testament – “Legions of the Dead” (from “The Gathering”, 1999) [Submitted by Sonny]

17. Schizophrenia – “Mortal Sin” (from “Voices”, 2020)

18. Agent Steel – “Mad Locust Rising” (from “Mad Locust Rising”, 1986) [Submitted by Daniel]

19. Speedwolf – “Ride With Death” (from “Ride With Death”, 2011) [Submitted by Daniel]

20. Five Finger Death Punch – “Wash It All Away” (from “Got Your Six”, 2015)

21. Death Angel – “Humanicide” (from “Humanicide”, 2019)

22. Eradicator – “Read Between the Lies” (from “Into Oblivion”, 2018)

23. Destruction – “State of Apathy” (from “Diabolical”, 2022)

24. Demolizer– “Cancer in the Brain” (from “Thrashmageddon”, 2020)

25. Thrashist Regime – “Headshot” (from “Carnival of Monsters”, 2018)

26. Stam1na – “Memento Mori (atiestin kiitos)” (from “Novus Ordo Mundi” 2021)

27. Criminal – “Self Destruction” (from “Victimized”, 1994)

28. Invicta – “Terminal Brutality” (from “Halls of Extinction”, 2019)

29. Black Viper – “Hellions of Fire” (from “Hellions of Fire”, 2018) [Submitted by Daniel]

Hi Ben, please can you add Danish thrashers Impalers to the site?

Also, US thrashers Cruel Bomb please?

To describe French one-man bm outfit Esoctrilihum as being industrious is quite an understatement. Since 2017, Asthâghul has released eight albums and three EPs. This level of prolific activity is hardly unheard of but is certainly not the norm. Reading a few interviews with him around the web this morning Asthâghul has a very specific mindset he exists within to allow his creative juices to flow and based on the frequency of his output he does not find it very difficult to get into the zone.

Released a little under a couple of months ago (at the time of writing this review at least), Saopth’s continues Asthâghul’s journey into the symphonic, the avant-garde and the lo-fi black metal elements of his music. I will go on record early on in this review in noting that there is a lot to take in here. As someone who is not really that interested in avant-garde metal this maybe more of an individual struggle as opposed to a more widespread challenge for any fan of the sub-genre. Fortunately, there is enough variety within Esoctrilihum’s music to retain enough of the more extreme elements that are more attractive to my palate.

I am not even going to attempt to talk about individual tracks here as that is firstly an impossible task (for me at least) and secondly would be an injustice to the whole release when viewed as a singular piece of art. I can only focus on the whole album as the consistency of the performance breeds the familiarity I need to connect with it superbly. One of the major strengths of Saopth’s forty-three plus minutes its clever use of keyboards and synthesisers. They draw an ethereal and eerie picture that is equal part dungeon synth and symphonic black metal also. They are like an icy cold hand to hold throughout the album, caressing your palm during the albums more bizarre moments whilst all the while guiding you through the maelstrom that is all the component parts of the album.

Vocally, Asthâghul adopts a rasping kind of lunacy in his style that is the perfect accompaniment to the music. Sat in the mix, well layered behind the keys and the guitars and drums they embody a real sense of struggle. There are times however when it all does get too much, where no amount of mixing and mastering prowess can balance all the elements in any sense of equilibrium and as a result sections of some tracks sound like they are damaged parts of the tape to my ears which is not a pleasant experience in all honesty. I cannot deny however that Saopth’s entertained me and although I am unlikely to have much desire to revisit this for further unpicking, there is no denying the effort and talent involved in this release.

3.5/5

Acephalix - Theothanatology (2022)

Meat and potatoes death metal from the San Francisco horde.  Nothing to set the world on fire here and not a lot of difference from what has come previously in all honesty.  The riffs and vocals are quite predictable and they have in fact lost some of the darkness that they exuded on previous releases.  Still prefer the vocalist Dan's work in his other band, Vastum but there is nothing wrong with Theothanatology other than it just being very predictable.

3/5 

My flirtation with The Gateway clan has waned over the past year or so. However, that having been said I think Bad Omen's latest release might just be my most played album of the year and I do still spin Niratias by Chevelle on a regular basis following its release last year. Still, I do not now engage with much of this clan even though for a period in the late 90s and early noughties I was listening to the likes of Korn, Linkin Park and grunge acts such as AiC and Soundgarden on a daily basis.

In Sevendust I found a happy medium I guess between a record that is not shying away from being alternative but at the same time lacks any real sense of panache when it comes to song writing overall. But let us start with a huge positive in the vocals of Lajon Witherspoon. His cool and tuneful voice is the standout item on Animosity. The irony being that his voice hardly evokes any sense of animosity given that it possesses a smoothness that sounds like he could roll icing out from between his vocal chords at times. The more aggressive tracks leave me to think that he most certainly has depth in his abilities (if not necessarily able enough for me to describe that depth as range of any sort). In keeping with the vocal performance, I find the riffs here of equal aptitude. When they put their mind to it, Sevendust can let rip with the old six-strings whilst also weave some of those hazy nu-metal notes in there also from time to time. These two elements alone make for some memorability without ever managing to convey much in the way of excitement or intrigue in what I am hearing.

Animosity is very much an album that I would not come back to. After giving it more than a few listens ahead of this review I cannot say there is anything remarkable here and it really just sounds like an awful lot of other music that was floating around at the time. The song writing can actually sound quite lazy at times with clunky structures such as Xmas Day really bringing nothing positive to the table. As a result the album lacks completeness and suffers from the dreaded sense that this is a collection of songs as opposed to an album.

3/5

Meliah Rage - Idol Hands (2018)

Meliah Rage are a noisy bunch. In fact Idol Hands comes straight out of the traps in a riffing frenzy and maintains this trajectory over the eight tracks on offer. Having somehow missed this band over their 30 year plus career I wondered initially how I had never picked up on any releases previously as at first glance they seemed to have some promise for my tastes. Then two things became immediately apparent very quickly with Idol Hands that made me see more or less instantly why my foray into their discography will probably be limited to this one release. Meliah Rage are to me like a poor persons version of Metal Church. That combination of power, heavy and thrash metal that Metal Church managed to nail for at least a few releases is not as well moulded here within the ranks of Meliah Rage and as a result their blend of metal is too power metal orientated for my liking.

The vocals of Paul Souza are by far the most power metal laden element to the bands sound here. For all the riffing that Jim Koury and Anthony Nichols manage to muster from the twin guitar attack (complete with some standard yet perfectly well-done lead work also) it is Souza's vocals that blunt the attack with their overly expressive gruffness that at times are quite comedic. Although he can hold tone, he lacks range and his style soon becomes predictable. Equally, drummer Stuart Dowie appears uninterested (or unable) in stretching his legs beyond some very rudimentary efforts - I mean where are the fills fella? He just sits there following the same pattern, track after track. I am not sure he has more than one stick in all honesty.

As I said, when I threw Idol Hands on at first it was instantly obvious they were noisy enough, unfortunately what they have to say is boring and predictable. Lyrically they hold a level of naivety that belies their years together as the below excerpt for the terrible Sentenced to Life clearly shows:

Trapped inside your body

Locked inside your head

Dying to be someone else

Wishing you were dead

This is poor heavy metal, badly written and actively suppressing the two bits of talent that the band holds (the guitarists) within limiting and restraining structures that challenge nobody in terms of skill set.

2/5

My Dying Bride - Turn Loose the Swans (1993)

As I further my listening in The Fallen clan I inevitably find myself with my first MDB album. I cannot articulate why I have never ventured into MDB over the last three decades. It is not that I recall any poor experience of one song that turned me off them although I predict that if I had heard Turn Loose the Swans back in 1993 I would not have gotten past album opener Sear Me MCMXCIII as my Pantera-adled brain would not have tolerated such a dreary number. In so many ways TLtS is a gift that I can only appreciate with age, as it is an album that transcends a mere death/doom tag over its seven tracks and is in fact a lot to take in.

This is an album that manages to felt as well as heard. It has tangible form and edges as well as an interesting interior to explore also. Whether it is the destitute crooning of Aaron Stainthorpe that you feel in the very pit of your stomach or the melancholic stabbing riffs of Andrew Craighan and Calvin Robertshaw that fill your head with heaviest of dark thoughts, there is always an experience to be had with any part of TLtS. Rick Miah more than deserves a mention also with his drumming providing a consistent and solid backdrop to whole despondent atmosphere of the album. The drum patterns manage to sit in the space between simple percussion and expansive detail. Never lost and never overpowering, this is one of the most balanced drum performances I have heard for some time.

Props also for the subtle use of the violin and keyboards. Martin Powell manages to make his presence felt without turning the album into a wishy-washy, gothic affair. The guitars, drums and vocals are genuinely allowed to shine with the keys and classical strings seeping in to support them or compliment perfectly the more down tempo moments. The Snow in My Hand is a great example of how they violin is effectively used to introduce the song, set the tone and then hand it over to the doomier aspects of the sound. In terms of the true death/doom content, I would argue that this is quite sparse overall and only comes into play from around the halfway point of the album. Indeed, I would go as far as to suggest that TLtS is a real grower of an album overall in terms of staying true to its overall genre classification. The elements of gothic and doom metal certainly dominate the first part of the album, yet when the death/doom content is displayed it does not push any of these other elements aside. The band merely combine them as new component parts to the sound and as a result the album has a real sense of development to it. At the same time all tracks seem somehow interconnected. Listening to the aforementioned The Snow in My Hand you cannot help but think of album opener Sear Me MCMXCIII. I am not aware that the album is a concept album and so I can only put this down to sheer consistency.

Building as it goes along, the release hits its peak shortly before the end of the record as the two lengthier tracks, Crown of Sympathy and the title track, truly showcase the song writing prowess of the band. Dramatic, grandiose (trumpet fanfare) and utterly desperate, both tracks encompass the overall experience of TLtS perfectly. I cannot pretend to have hit it off with this record from the outset and I have in fact been listening to it on and off for weeks now just to get to the point of being able to gather my thoughts for a review. At first (as with Anathema) I did find it a little bleating at times but this issue soon dispersed over repeated listens. Despite the experimentation, the record maintains a real death/doom ethos at its core and is one of the best records I have heard to date in my exploration of The Fallen clan.

5/5

Hi Ben, can the latest release for Nordicwinter be added please?  "Beneath the Fleeting Light".

New Nordicwinter got released whilst I was on holiday and s I have only just noticed this past day or so that this is out.  One of the more consistent atmo-black artists out there - certainly based on his last three albums anyway.  Always seems to chime just right with me whenever he releases something and this appears to be the case again here although far too early for a fully fledged review.

Let’s be honest. Out of all the genres of metal, thrash metal is the one that sees little in the way of output that constitutes much excitement in the modern era. Nowadays even the progressive and or super technical offerings that stray over in to our beloved The Infinite clan here at The Metal Academy rarely raise enough furore to warrant a rating pretty much a review. As someone who spends a lot of time with The Pit clan when programming the playlists each month, it is easy to become embroiled in a battle with the algorithms of streaming services to find something that offers enough of a core representation of thrash or speed metal whilst adding something new and interesting to boot.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with a band doing an established and recognisable sound well and giving a true representation of the genre in the process. However, at the end of the day there is a lot of thrash metal out there and it is easy to overlook true exceptions to the rule in such a packed and well-established genre. Enter Critical Defiance, another jolt of energy into the thrash metal corpse from the seemingly endless stream of Chilean metal bands who are unafraid to wear their 80’s influences on their sleeves and revive the sounds of old.

Take a flick through any review on MA of any of these South American revivalist acts and you will soon find high praise aplenty. This praise is not unjustified either given that in Critical Defiance’s case at least, they give an energetic and memorable performance throughout No Life Forms. Clocking in at just under half an hour, their sophomore release both sounds and feels like a thrash metal record from the heydays of the genre. With two guitarists in the ranks (a change from the debut release as I understand it – see Sonny’s review) the band present a full and complete sound that crackles with fire and energy throughout. As soon as the opening track starts, we get sight of the superb lead work within mere seconds and as such No Life Forms sets it’s stall out early.

The album flicks between all out, maniacal riffing with frenetic tempos and frantic pace swarming all over the listener and straight up memorable riffing and classic thrashing chops. The infectious nature of CD’s passion for their music is obvious on all ten tracks on offer here and they deliver that passion with the album never managing to become a draining experience for the listener. When they tone things down for some chopping punishment on our ears of a more classic variety, they reference Kreator, Morbid Saint, Sodom, and Demolition Hammer in their playing style to show some grounding in the genre’s history.

As a unit you will struggle to find many bands tighter than CD. The drummer is an absolute machine, and the audible bass is a real powerhouse in driving the band forwards also. As already referenced, the guitar work is nothing short of exceptional here and the instrumental track, Elephant (one of two instrumentals) showcases this perfectly with its climbing melodies and charging riffage. Likewise, the vocal work of Felipe Alvarado is a perfect fit for the music. It reminds me of a more crossover style than the rest of the bands sound indicates as we are spared the high pitched shrieks as seems to be the norm on all retro-thrash records nowadays.

Despite all the positives noted above, I am not blown away by this record. Going back to my opening paragraphs, this has all been done before and although this is done well, I have plenty of this stuff already littered through out my physical and virtual library. In all honesty, even with a short run time, large parts of No Life Forms just pass me by each time I listen and that is not really the fault of anyone in the band, more a reflection of how overloaded my brain is on this stuff nowadays. Five stars for effort but not enough here still to keep this in the higher ratings overall.

3.5/5

Departure Chandelier - "Dripping Papal Blood" (2020)

The huge and rather grandiose logo for the band does no justice to the actual sound of Departure Chandelier. Whilst there most certainly is a majesty to their sound it is a dank and drab majesty that manages to capture the core and basic elements of conventional black metal alongside dungeon synth and choral elements as well. This four track demo from 2020 follows the success of their debut full length from the previous year which I am already getting on rotation along with their first demo from 2019 also which tracks a similar format to Dripping Papal Blood.

With an intro and outro track dedicated entirely to dungeon synth, we only have two tracks proper for DC to express their grim and grime-ridden black metal. Thankfully, even over such a short format, they manage to impress us without seemingly breaking a sweat. It is clear that the demo format allows for them to rely purely on the raw and slightly muffled/suppressed sound as opposed to being invested in any high level of production values. They intelligent let the synths create atmosphere in keeping with the religious theme of the demo overall but they are also really strong with the riffs here as well. The only element that feels a little too far removed from proceedings is the drums. Whilst audible, they are only just so, a lot of the time they are just a "tishing" entity in the background and far more rhythm is developed from the guitar work as opposed to any real percussive input from the sticks.

Deploying a tried and tested rasping vocal style, the lyrics are sung as tortured incantations that compliment both the harsh bm on offer as well as the more atmospheric moments. Clocking in at just over thirteen minutes, Dripping Papal Blood is memorable and departs leaving me with a real sense of closure as the minimalist synths count out the death knell of the outro track. This has proven to be a very good find and holds much promise for me as I explore their wider discography. I would recommend their debut demo The Black Crest of Death, The Gold Wreath of War for anyone who finds this format pleasing enough.

4/5

I have always struggled with Amon Amarth. Notwithstanding that melodic death metal is not my thing at all, the Swedes continuous levels of praise is nothing short of baffling given that every song I hear by them sounds exactly the same. I had spent time in the past with a couple of albums of theirs (Twilight of the Thunder God and Surtur Rising) and just got not get beyond seeing them being little more than background music. In weighing up the options for this month's Review Draft for The Horde I clocked this, their debut full length release and had heard high praise for it being "brutal" and "glorious" so I decided to see if the band started out any better than they currently sound.

I would open the main part of my review by saying that the aspirations to be "glorious" are really obvious on Once Sent From the Golden Hall. There is - even at this early stage in their career - an ambition to deliver songs on a grandiose and epic level and that is something I cannot help but recognise and acknowledge. With track lengths ranging from four to eight minutes, Amon Amarth try to pack out their song writing with story telling being the main provision being utilised. With the theatrics of the sound of a battle echoing around the middle section of the track Amon Amarth, the band make no bones about the grandiosity of their ideas and at least try to throw something different in there away from their familiar musical style.

The problem with all this ambition is that both the musicianship and the production job are of such a poor standard that the delivery of the promise is just a football field away from the planned intent. Former Opeth drummer, Martin Lopez was part of Amon Amarth at this point in their career and considering the stature he attained with Opeth over seven albums, none of that promise is even hinted at here in 1998. His timing is terrible and on more than one occasion he is behind the rest of the instruments and appears to be more than a tad over-eager on the hi-hats and cymbals as well. The twin guitar attack of Hansson and Mikkonen sounds exactly the same as it does today in fairness and the only real drawback to this (aside from the fact that I hate the tone) is that they are drowned out in the main by Johan Hegg's vocals. In fact Hegg gets by far the best treatment by the production and mixing job and his vocals really standout on here (how could they not) and for the first time I thought how more befitting they would be in a black metal act than in a melodic death metal band, but still, they are far too dominant here even if they do at times serve to hide Lopez's misgivings behind the drumkit.

In all OSFtGH is a triumph of design over content and is the final nail in the coffin for me and Amon Amarth as I doubt I will ever take any other opportunity to explore anymore of their releases since their debut just confirms that like the rest of their discography that I have experienced, Amon Amarth are simply not for me. 

2/5