![High Command – Beyond the Wall of Desolation [Things You Might Have Missed 2019]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/High-Command-Beyond-the-Wall-of-Desolation-01-768x768.jpg)
“I soon began to hear rumblings about Beyond the Wall of Desolation both in the comments here and in the metal community abroad, so I finally forced myself to taste of the fruit that the record has to offer. It’s a good thing that this fruit comes pre-pulverized in smoothie form, because High Command’s brand of thrash lands like a swift punch to the mouth and I found myself sans teeth in short order.” Teeth are for closers.
“I suppose I’m a fan of the Chicago post-metal scene: I’ve got plenty of Pelican and Russian Circles albums, and was lucky enough to see the latter live last year (which, when you live where I do, is a minor miracle). Pelican haven’t been on the same trajectory as their cousins, though, but it’s not completely their fault. Life gets in the way sometimes, and many things happened to these guys since their last full-length, 2013’s Forever Becoming. The biggest catalyst for the writing of Nighttime Stories was the death of Tusk vocalist Jody Minnoch in 2014.” Darkness as catalyst.
“I slink out of the Double R Diner booth I’m seated in and saunter over to where Audrey Horne is swaying in the center of the restaurant. Eyes closed, head back, fingers loosely splayed out, I join her in an unhurried groovy dance and lose myself to the music. I watch as a wash of color on the back of my eyelids slowly morphs with the ebb and flow of the music. The soundtrack to our dance, however, is strangely not Angelo Badalamenti’s jazz instrumental but “Muted Shifting of Space,” the hypnotic opening track on BIG|BRAVE’s new fourth full-length album A Gaze Among Them.” Stranger, louder things.
“Sunn O))) is not well received around these parts. When AMG’s distinguished editors and contributors were given the opportunity to review these droning doomsters, it was met with such reactions as GardensTale‘s verbal bitch-slap “I’d rather stick my hand in a blender” or Mark Z.‘s sick burn “Can I just review my washing machine running for two hours instead?” Love ’em or hate ’em, we can all agree on one universal idea about drone: it can be boring as fuck.” O)))) Boy.
“Contempt for Man. Now there’s an album name I can get behind. I drive down the road and pull my hair out at drivers for whom “turn signal” is a foreign concept. I go to Walmart and see writhing bits of humanity shuffling around, eyes glazed over and blood pumping furiously to their heads as they attempt to operate a self-checkout machine. I think to myself that these people are breeding. These people are voting. These people are sharing their opinions on the internet.” Hell is other people.
“Mythology has always been a popular subject of metal. Of these, Norse legend is the first and foremost, to the point of cliche, by anything ranging from cheesy power to pummeling death metal. But Sumerian and Egyptian have their fans as well, and even a few Asian and South-American wellsprings have proven fruitful. One underused source of ancient stories is that of Native American culture, a loose collection of mythologies of the many tribes that once roamed the North-American continent, which often worshipped the great beasts of the plains and the elements that provided for them. Eagle Twin, consisting of singer/guitarist Gentry Densley (Iceburn) and drummer Tyler Smith, sought to correct this lack of appreciation with the Native American inspired The Thundering Heard (Songs of Hoof and Horn).” Tribal thunder.
“Those of you who have been reading this Revered Site regularly know that the Huckster’s ranking on the Kronos Scale of Brvtality is a paltry 0.5. I mean, take a look at my bio: vocalists who sound like Lord of the Rings villains need not apply. And yet, there are times when I do enjoy my music a bit more extreme, and when I do, I go in deep.” Helms Deep!
“The metal world is far different than it was just seven years ago. Agalloch was still a band, people still took Wintersun seriously, and this new beast called “metallic hardcore” was first rearing its HM2-powered head. Spearheaded by groups like Black Breath, Enabler, and (arguably) Nails, the style rejected the Gothenburg-inspired metalcore of the mid-00s by instead delivering a violent combination of frenetic metal riffing and pummeling hardcore fury. It was a sound that Massachusetts’s All Pigs Must Die embraced with open arms.” Long story snort; they’re back.
“Ardor, the third full-length by Montrealers BIG|BRAVE opens with a sustained, unending riff. As it reverberates eerily, it suggests that the trio picked up right where they left off with their sophomore release Au De La, veering even further into fields of textures and sparse instrumentation. Their signature sound is a combination of elements from multiple genres and idioms, from post-rock to drone, shaped into an experimental, caustic, and often hermetic concoction.” Bliss in the abyss.
“Crust punk is an interesting beast. Stylistically speaking, its bludgeoning, relentless nature is closer to metal than perhaps any other style of punk, but only a handful of metal acts have dabbled in the genre. Vhol and modern Darkthrone have made admirable attempts at bringing crust to the metal masses, but ultimately the genre has flown under the radar of most fans.” Run with the crust pack.
