Nuclear Blast

Pallbearer – Mind Burns Alive Review

Pallbearer – Mind Burns Alive Review

By Cherd on May 15, 2024 in Reviews, 165 comments

“It’s time to revisit a conversation that became necessary in 90s metal circles with the advantage of almost 30 years hindsight. How do we deal with beloved metal bands when they lose their interest in metal, either abruptly or over the course of several albums? Back then, it was complicated. When Paradise Lost decided they weren’t a death/doom metal band anymore, there was disappointment and confusion. Same when Ulver left black metal tied to a tree whimpering in the woods and never looked back. Some fans of their metal work remained open minded and found merit in the new directions. And the bands certainly found new fans who would never touch metal on principle. I’ve surveyed the general metal media consensus around Pallbearer’s output since 2017’s Heartless, and I’ve come to the conclusion that in the 2020s, things aren’t so complicated. Everyone’s a simp.” Simptons of the metalverse.

Korpiklaani – Rankarumpu Review

Korpiklaani – Rankarumpu Review

By GardensTale on April 10, 2024 in Reviews, Folk Metal, 32 comments

“Every metalhead has a few firsts when they’re just entering the scene. First band you became obsessed with. First live gig. Korpiklaani was neither of those for me, but it was the backdrop to my first moshpit, and the next few as well, when I had less than 10 bands in my metal library and the band only had its first 2 albums under the belt. Like many others, Korpiklaani drifted into my past, apart from an occasional nostalgic spin of “Wooden Pints” or “Cottages & Saunas.” Until a few weeks ago.” Flora and sauna.

Thy Art Is Murder – Godlike Review

Thy Art Is Murder – Godlike Review

By Maddog on October 3, 2023 in Reviews, Death Metal, Deathcore, 36 comments

“Hate them or love them, you know them. Australia’s Thy Art Is Murder catapulted into the deathcore stratosphere in the early 2010s, through the technical The Adversary (2010) and the powerful Hate (2012). Despite its inconsistency, Thy Art Is Murder’s output earned sizable crossover appeal from death metal fans; think All Shall Perish, not Bring Me the Horizon. Godlike, whose release was delayed a week by line-up drama, follows four years after the middling deathcore-fest Human Target.” Thy Art is Drama.

Kataklysm – Goliath Review

Kataklysm – Goliath Review

By Ferox on August 8, 2023 in Reviews, Death Metal, Melodic Death Metal, 51 comments

“Goliath isn’t going to sneak up on anybody. Kataklysm’s formula, tweaked on 2020’s Unconquered to include a seven-string guitar, remains in place: burly but accessible melodies that often evoke Amon Amarth, lyrics that use cliched martial imagery to spur the listener toward a kind of tough-love self-improvement, and effective production from guitarist Jean-François Dagenais that splits the difference between “gnarly” and “sleek.” Size matters.

Twilight Force – At the Heart of Wintervale Review

Twilight Force – At the Heart of Wintervale Review

By Eldritch Elitist on January 19, 2023 in Reviews, 70 comments

“Twilight Force’s Dawn of the Dragonstar should have been on my 2019 year-end list. Hell, I should have at least written a Things You Might Have Missed piece on it. Yet in retrospect, at the time, the prospect of fully embracing Twilight Force was borderline embarrassing, even for me.” Return of the GammaStrataWeenie.

Septicflesh – Modern Primitive [Things You Might Have Missed 2022]

Septicflesh – Modern Primitive [Things You Might Have Missed 2022]

By GardensTale on December 23, 2022 in Things You Might Have Missed 2022, Death Metal, Symphonic Metal, 45 comments

“This article fits its category perfectly and not at all. On the one hand, Septicflesh is a household name in symphonic death metal and most of you won’t have missed that they released a new album this year. On the other hand, there has been little to no fanfare surrounding its release. No promo in our inbox, no chatter on the lines. It wasn’t until the following weekend had passed that I chanced upon it, did a double take, and took to the Hall to announce my discord about completely missing Modern Primitive, one of the biggest symphodeath releases of the year.” Septicflesh is back on the menu, boys!

Fallujah – Empyrean Review

Fallujah – Empyrean Review

By Dolphin Whisperer on September 9, 2022 in Reviews, Progressive Metal, Technical Death Metal, 61 comments

“Fallujah has a contentious history here at the house of AMG. From the first flirtations Angry Metal Guy himself had with The Harvest Wombs, to the loudness wars that consumed The Flesh Prevails to the unenthused success of Dreamless—all ending in the nonconsensual torture of our very own TheKenWord with his harrowed recount of 2019’s Undying Light, which left the poor poriferan in a state most unfit for attacking this newest, Empyrean.” Fuss and bother.