Sumerian Records

Between the Buried and Me – Automata II Review

Between the Buried and Me – Automata II Review

“July is “Part Two” month for me, and first up is the second half of Between the Buried and Me’s double album, Automata. Take a moment, if you will, to reacquaint yourself with the first half of this opus. Too lazy to click: Well, to summarize, BTBAM wrote their usual long album, but new record label Sumerian suggested they split it in half and stagger the release. That allows those folks who can’t stomach an hour of music to take it in smaller bursts.” A band of many parts.

Between the Buried and Me – Automata I Review

Between the Buried and Me – Automata I Review

“We here at Angry Metal Guy have a fraught relationship with Between the Buried and Me. Some of us — we’ll call these apes Team Kronos —despise their lack of cohesion, and their penchant for piling myriad ideas into each ‘song,’ while others — we’ll call these clowns Team Fisting — love the insane technicality and complex ‘arrangements.’ I consider myself mostly on the fence but leaning somewhat towards Team Kronos. At times BTBAM blow my mind, but at many other times, I just sit there with a blank look of confusion on my face, wondering why all five guys insist on playing different songs at the same time.” Choose sides, bury stuff.

Periphery – Juggernaut Review

Periphery – Juggernaut Review

“Believe it or not, we tend to research the bands we review here, even if it’s occasionally more tempting just to mash our palms against the keyboard for five hundred words, assign an arbitrary score, then knock off down to the pub. This week has, therefore, seen me listening to an unhealthy amount of the genre that discerning metalheads love to hate: djent (the ‘d’ is silent).” Djent is a challenging genre, but then again, a double album of material can make any genre challenging. We like challenges.

Things You Might Have Missed 2014: Body Count – Manslaughter

Things You Might Have Missed 2014: Body Count – Manslaughter

“June 10th, 2014: I looked out of my window and saw pigs flying, and shortly thereafter received a text from Satan asking why Hell just froze over. Suddenly I remembered that Ice-T’s rap metal outfit Body Count had just released Manslaughter, so I grabbed hold of one of the aforementioned pigs and flew to my local record store to pick up a copy. Upon hearing Manslaughter in its entirety, I texted Satan the answer to his question: “because a great rap metal album was released in 2014.”” There goes the neighborhood, again!

Animals as Leaders – The Joy of Motion

Animals as Leaders – The Joy of Motion

“It’s a bit early to assess the impact of the djent scene on metal overall, given that its rapid boom and bust occurred so recently, but preliminary findings are that it produced and popularized some definite keepers. One of the foremost are poised to release their third album. Tosin Abasi’s inventive instrumental ensemble took metal by an impressively subdued and nuanced storm with their eponymous début, carving out a canyon for current sweethearts like Exivious to wash into. For all of their stylistic idiosyncrasies, Animals as Leaders gets billed as a jazz-influenced prog-metal band, but I like to think of them more as a jazz group caught in an unlikely love affair with Meshuggah. Whatever you call them, and what you call them is likely to be overwhelmingly positive, you should be expecting something great out of The Joy of Motion.” Join Kronos as he delves into Djent and what wonders it has wrought in the music world.