Angry Metal Guy

I’m not sure I’ve made it clear during my vainglorious tenure at Angry Metal Guy Web Industries, but I love me some  Immortal. I also tend to appreciate bands that shamelessly mimic Immortal (see Byfrost) because, I really love Immortal and they don’t release twelve albums a year as they should. Therefore, if one follows the logic chain I’m forging, I’m literally forced to love Balfor. These Ukrainian black thrashers are fully onboard the Immortal party bus and their sophomore release Barbaric Blood is a shameless theft of all things Abbath and it’s pretty good to boot (available via Pulverised Records). Making it all the more interesting is the occasional inclusion of some vintage In Flames style guitar shreddery and melodic wankery. Yep, the boys have some chops and when paired with some nifty songwriting and a flair for the dramatic, this becomes one of the better slices of blackened thrash nobody heard this year. So, should you try hearing it? Well, ask yourself this. Are you morbid? Wait, wrong question. Are you into Immortal? Continue reading

Morbus Chron // Sleepers in the Rift
Rating: 4.0/5.0 —Are you Morbus?
Label: Pulverised Records
Websites: myspace.com  facebook.com
Release Dates:  EU: Out now!  US: 09.27.2011

As I listen to this unheralded piece of nasty, morbid, old school death, one word comes to mind: Spewage. That’s the best way to describe what you’ll be getting here. Morbus Chron is a Swedish band playing filthy death metal like Autopsy, Death and Massacre. This breaks the current trend of following in the footsteps of legendary countrymen Entombed, Dismember. It’s still plenty retro but not the typical Swedish retro. Basically, their raucous debut Sleepers in the Rift sounds like something spewing from the underground in the late 80′s and it’s wonderfully repellant, low-fi, non-techy and makes you feel like you need to be disinfected and vaccinated. It’s underproduced, muddy, discordant and vile all the way but somehow manages to be catchy. What more could one ask for? Nothing! Continue reading

Necrovorous //Funeral for the Sane
Rating: 4.0/5.0 — Greek salad of death!! [You're stretchin' it there, buddy. - AMG]
Label: Pulverised Records
Websites: myspace.com/necrovorous
Release Dates: Out Now!

Loyal readers of these Angry Metal Pages are  doubtlessly aware of my affinity for old school Swedish death metal (SDM) akin to the likes of old Entombed, Grave and Dismember (disloyal readers are to be shunned and publicly shamed). Those same readers will also be aware of my love for the retro movement in the genre spearheaded by the likes of Bloodbath, Entrails and Interment. Because the old school SDM style has such a grim, crusty and powerful vibe, it doesn’t bother me in the least when retro bands utilize the sound without much innovation, as long as its done well. Kindly add Necrovorous to the growing list of bands doing it really fucking well with their debut Funeral for the Sane. Hailing from Greece, these gents take the classic early ’90s sound of SDM and scrape in influences from primitive American acts as well as some grindcore. The results are ugly, scabby and about as nasty as shit on scrambled eggs. Continue reading

Crucifyre // Infernal Earthly Divine
Rating: 3.5/5.0 — “Wictory and death!”
Label: Pulverised Records
Websites: myspace.com/crucifyre
Release Dates: EU: 17.01.2011 | US: Unknown

The late 2000s have seen a resurrection of the old school Swedish death metal that Sweden became so well known for in the underground before the Gothenburg sound took the world by storm. In the last year we’ve had releases by tons of bands waving the flag of true Swedish death metal—and it’s been fun as hell to hear! Crucifyre is another band that is doing something that I would definitely not describe as new, but something I would describe as ultimately ridiculously entertaining and worth a listen if for no other reason than to experience this “all star group’s” vision of the old school. Continue reading

Interment // Into the Crypts of Blasphemy
Rating: 3.5/5.0 — Derivative of good, but still good.
Label: Pulverised Records
Websites: interment.se | myspace.com/intermenthorde
Release Dates: EU: 02.08.2010 | US: 08.31.2010

Here we go again. I have in front of me the new album Into the Crypts of Blasphemy by long, LONG time members of the old school Swedish death metal scene, Interment. These guys existed in the late 80’s/early 90’s alongside the forefathers of the genre like Entombed, Grave and Dismember, but other than a few demos and such, this is their first real release. So where are we going again exactly? Bear with me and all will be revealed. Continue reading

Honestly, I don’t know how I missed this, but apparently In Mourning is streaming their new album online at this location. I encourage everyone to go and listen to it because it’s fucking awesome. Then go and buy it.

In Mourning // Monolith
Rating: 5.0/5.0 — Easily one of the best up-and-coming bands in the world
Label: Pulverised Records
Website(s): inmourning.net | myspace.com/in_mourning
Release Date(s): EU: 25.01.2010 | US: Unknown (Possibly early February via Megaforce / Sony)

In 2008 the underground was taken by storm by a little-known Swedish progressive death metal band called In Mourning that released a tour de force entitled Shrouded Divine. A powerful combination of melodic death metal, Opeth-y style progressive bits and death metal with just a touch of core (trust me, just a touch), they were ranked highly on many year end lists and, frankly, left a bit of an impression on this Angry Metal Guy. See, there is life past Opeth in Swedish progressive metal—something that I had been coming to doubt. In Mourning managed to put out a record that had all of the great heaviness and thickness that one wants in a death metal record, while still managing to keep the haunting progressive parts fresh and interesting. The question is can they keep it up? Is it possible that they’re able to follow up such a lauded record with something even better?

The answer to the previous question is an unequivocal YES! In Mourning has come back for their sophomore release sounding hungrier than ever. With improved production qualities and a new label (that has an eye for talent, obviously, and provided the band with great artwork by the same guy who has done the Katatonia, Opeth, Devin Townsend, and Bloodbath covers—Travis Smith) In Mourning has been able to shape their sound into something even more powerful and cohesive than what was established and distinguished on Shrouded Divine. That is to say: Monolith overshadows the earlier work from this band with its power and writing.

The basics are the same, of course. A blend of Swedish death metal (à la Dark Tranquillity, At The Gates) vocals, some hardcore vocals and some great brutal death metal vocals that round out the sound. There is a lot of downtuned chunk on this album, backed up by an excellent and tight rhythm section that makes the tight, technical bits sound crushingly powerful. At the same time the band is able to slow it down a bit and they use guitar melody and, sometimes, vocal melody to even out the landscapes of this record.

One of the most vastly improved aspects of this record, in my opinion, is the flow that they’re able to get. While Shrouded Divine was good, it sometimes felt like the band was too quick to write choppy pieces that felt unnatural moving into each other. Due to the improved production, and I think just a straight up tighter band, Monolith has hardly any moments that don’t feel natural and flowing. Instead, the songs are often deceptively long despite the fact that they don’t feel that way at all—clocking in at six or seven minutes when you think it’s only been 3 or 4—and the transitions are vastly improved. Tracks like “The Poet and the Painter of Souls” exhibit the smart composition that the band now exhibits, moving seamlessly between parts and never really following into bad patterns. The same is also very much true of “With You Came Silence.”

It’s hard for me to say this, as it’s the first record I’ve reviewed for 2010, but this album has the makings of a record of the year. It has everything that fans of doom, melodic death metal, metalcore and well, frankly, good heavy metal in general should look for in bands: technical proficiency, excellent writing, balanced production and cohesiveness. Monolith may well tower over 2010 as one of the best… Not to mention that In Mourning is definitely working its way into the echelons of amazing Swedish metal bands in my opinion. It has been a while since a new band from Sweden really blew me away, but In Mourning has all the makings of one of the greats.