Bonded by Blood // Exiled to Earth
Rating: 2.5/5.0 — Re-run of the mill Label: Earache Websites: myspace.com/bondedbyblood Release Dates: EU: 16.08.2010 | US: 08.10.2010
Here comes another entry into the retro-thrash movement, for better or worse. Exiled to Earth is the second album by California thrashers Bonded by Blood and much like their debut, it’s firmly rooted in the 80’s thrash movement. Back in the days of the original thrash invasion, for every top-notch band like Slayer or Exodus, there were ten sub-par, generic clones like Atrophy, Devastation and Gothic Slam. Sadly, this release falls closer to the latter category. Continue reading
So, Iron Thrones‘ new EP The Wretched Sun which I made the Record o’ the Month and raved about in my review came out yesterday (the 27th of July, 2010). You can order the record from the band via their website (actually, through their store, but go to their site, too) and over at their Band Camp you can download the EP for $6 and you can still download the particularly excellentVisions of Light (the band’s first LP) for as much as you want (i.e. free, if you don’t want to contribute to the band’s well-being).
Oh yeah, it’s also available on Amazon, iTunes and any other number of sources where you can probably find the thing.
Listen to that song above (I hope you’re already doing so) and tell me that it isn’t worth your six bucks. Or wait, it is worth your six bucks. So fucking buy it already.
Edit: Oh right. My friendly competitors over at The Number of the Blog (who shall lose righteously in the Pigskin Destroyer 666 Fantasy Football League) are also sponsoring a tour for the band as well. If you click that link up there, it will take you to their vastly inferior website for the details. Or you could stay right here in the comfort of AngryMetalGuy.com and look at the tour dates.
7/29/10 — Chicago, IL @ The Double Door w/ The Alaya Conscious, Hessler 7/31/10 — Columbus, OH @ The Summit w/ The C.O.A.S.T., Artillery Breath 8/01/10 — Aliquippa, PA @ The Fallout Shelter w/ Sathanas, Dethlehem 8/02/10 — Brooklyn, NY@ The Charleston w/ East of the Wall, Name, & more! 8/03/10 — Allenstown, NH @ Ground Zero w/ TBA 8/04/10 — Worcester, MA @ Tammany Hall w/ Irepress, Frozen 8/05/10 — Philadelphia, PA @ The M Room w/ Monolith, Willing Swords 8/07/10 — Spartanburg, SC @ Ground Zero w/ TBA 8/10/10 — Clarksville, TN @ The Coup w/ Evolve or Die 8/11/10 — Nashville, TN @ The Muse w/ TBA 8/12/10 — St. Louis, MO @ The Firebird w/ Ashes and Iron 8/13/10 — Marshalltown, IA @ The American Legion w/ Anno Domine, Tony Rocky Horror
I seem to remember The Acacia Strain being an In Flames copy, but I think I must be thinking of another band entirely. Which means that I have no reference for these guys as I’ve never heard them before and I thought they were a metalcore band. Turns out, I’m wrong. Instead, they’re a deathcore band. Now, I try to not generalize about genre conventions while reviewing a band (I mean, it’s unfair to review an entire genre every time you review a band’s record), but I think that I’m starting to figure out what it is about endless breakdowns that I hate. And I’ll tell you. Oh yes, I’ll tell you. Continue reading
And Hell Followed With // Proprioception
Rating: 1.5/5.0 – Painfully medio-core Label: Earache Websites: myspace.com/andhellfollowedwith Release Dates: US: Out Now | EU: 26.07.2010
Steel Druhm likes NOT this whole “deathcore thing.” There, I said it! Now, all you deathcore teen weenies can pull your collective jaws off the floor and prepare to dismiss the following review as biased, or perhaps, “reviewed in bad faith,” whatever the fuck that means. However, before you do so, kindly consider that the reason for my dislike of Proprioception, the second album by Michigan’s And Hell Followed With is way more because of how bland and average the material is and less because of its regrettable deathcore style. Sadly, this material isn’t good regardless of the genre.
Every now and then, a band comes along and I’m utterly at a loss for how to classify them in the official Steel Druhm Book O’ Metal [That's what you get for not using the Angry Book o' Metal Classifications™, n00b. — AMG]. Generally, this causes me anger and vexation, but I always give a nod of appreciation for the bands that resist easy classification. The latest recipient of the nod is Gift Horse, the second album by Mose Giganticus, for they have truly baffled my considerable pigeonholing acumen. They have forced even me to admit I’m stumped. Mose Giganticus is apparently a one-man entity created by Matthew Garfield, a staple of the Philly punk rock scene for some time. While some of that punk ethos is apparent on Gift Horse, this isn’t exactly a punk album. What is it then? Good question!! Let’s try to piece this puzzle together shall we?
Allegaeon // Fragments of Form and Function Rating: 4.0/5.0 — Colorado by way of Sweden Label: Metal Blade Websites:myspace.com/allegaeon Release Dates: EU: 19.07.2010 | US: 07.20.2010
I read somewhere recently that music reviewers who cite to other bands as a means to explain what an album sounds like do a disservice to themselves as writers by taking shortcuts and a greater disservice to the band by depriving them of individual creative identity. Upon reading this, I felt anger, then shame, then finally, acceptance. I pledged my very next review would be entirely devoid of such pathetic comparisons and my writing would thereby ascend to new heights of greatness. Then I listened to my assigned album and that went out the fucking window. Before me I have the debut album Fragments of Form and Function by Colorado’s own Allegaeon. It’s very good and I like it plenty. However, there is no way I get through this review without the crutch of comparison and I apologize to all who read this forevermore.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, no matter how immersed one becomes in a specific music scene, you simply can’t be aware of every band in that scene and part of the fun in life is discovering new bands and eagerly delving into their discography. I was unfamiliar with the work of Diabolic although they have been cranking out extreme death metal since 1998 in relative obscurity. Around that timeframe, I was in my “all death is good death” stage so I’m surprised these guys got under the radar, but so be it. After a four year absence since their last platter, Diabolic now unleashes their fifth album, Excisions of Exorcisms and with this album, I’m getting onboard the Diabolic bandwagon, although not necessarily due to this album. Allow me to explain. Continue reading
In This Moment // A Star-Crossed Wasteland Rating: 1.0/5.0 — Every time you play this record a Metal God dies… Label: Century Media Websites: myspace.com/inthismoment Release Dates: EU: 12.07.2010 | US: 07.13.2010
So I admit, I’ve never heard SoCal pop rockers In This Moment before. This review will be completely devoid of comparisons to their last two records. Nor will it be filled with witty insights into how the band has changed over their time and whether or not this is a darker record (of course, every new record is the darkest, heaviest, etc., that any band has ever done, so trust the bio about as far as you can throw Arnold Schwarzneger). No, this is going to pretty much be a tirade about how much I really don’t like this album at all or the style of music or basically anything about this at all except for Maria’s clean singing voice, which is very good. You are warned. Don’t throw a fit in the comments because I hate your favorite band: I’ve already warned you. If you read past the jump then it’s your own fucking fault. Continue reading
Those of you who have been reading Angry Metal Guy since the beginning will remember that I lauded heavy praise on a Minneapolis, Minnesota based band called Iron Thrones last year after I downloaded their record (for free) and had myself a little Angry Metal Hernia™. The band was incredible. Like some kind of unholy cross between Opeth and Jesus… or whatever. I promptly declared the record amazing, gave it five stars and then took a cold shower. In any case, Visions of Light, the debut, still ranks as the best unsigned act I’ve ever heard and I have had very, very high hopes for the follow up record—The Wretched Sun—which will be self-released on the 27th of July after the very talented band went and won the No Label Needed contest and got sent to a pro studio. Continue reading
Wow. So, it’s been like 10 years since I’ve listened to Soilwork and it turns out that they don’t sound at all even remotely the same. Sometimes a band falls off your radar and you don’t even think about them at all and honestly, Soilwork is one such band. Now, it’s probably not a surprise to anyone else but I was in utter shock when I turned on The Panic Broadcast to discover that the Gothenburg sound had totally been replaced by eurocore! See, now you’re laughing at my ignorance, but I’m a bit surprised. See, in Angry Metal World™ the last record that Soilwork released was actually The Chainheart Machine in 2000. And back then, these guys were playing a not-entirely-novel, but very, very good version of the Gothenburg sound. Turns out in the much lamer real world Soilwork has had a bunch of records and gotten a new vocal style, a new sound and hyper-produced. Continue reading
Here comes another entry into the retro-thrash movement, for better or worse. Exiled to Earth is the second album by California thrashers Bonded by Blood and much like their debut, it’s firmly rooted in the 80’s thrash movement. Back in the days of the original thrash invasion, for every top-notch band like Slayer or Exodus, there were ten sub-par, generic clones like Atrophy, Devastation and Gothic Slam. Sadly, this release falls closer to the latter category. Continue reading
