Angry Metal Guy

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

Demiurg // Slakthus Gamleby
Rating: 4.5/5.0 — Fanfuckingtastic
Label: Cyclone Empire
Websites: myspace.com/demiurgofficial
Release Dates: July 30th, 2010

When I was doing my interview with Ed Warby last November, I reached the end of the review and he mentioned that I hadn’t asked about Demiurg. Embarrassed, I admitted that I hadn’t heard Demiurg and was quickly informed as to its nature. To paraphrase Warby (who plays drums in this band, in case you didn’t know that) this is the “Rolls Royce” among vocalist Rogga Johansson’s bands and a real juggernaut of Swedish death metal. He hooked me up with a copy of The Hate Chamber, the band’s second record, and I was duly impressed. The band, made up of Rogga (Bone Gnawer, Paganizer, Ribspreader, The Grotesquery), Dan Swanö (maybe you’ve heard of him), Johan Berglund (This Haven, The Grotesquery) and Ed Warby (The 11th Hour, Gorefest, Hail of Bullets, and more), has come back in 2010 with a new take on their already well-developed and unique sound. Continue reading

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.

Continue reading

Fimbulthier // Arise
Rating: 1.0/5.0 – Fimbulful of awful
Label: Trollzorn
Websites: fimbulthier.de | myspace.com/fimbulthier
Release Dates: EU: 09.07.2010 | US: No available date

Into every reviewer’s lap, some crap will surely fall. Now, I can’t complain too much since I’ve had a pretty crap-free run so far as a scribe for the mighty and esteemed Angry Metal Guy. Sadly, that run has now come to a sudden and painful end with Arise, the second album from Germany’s Fimbulthier. I had never heard of these gents before but apparently their 2007 debut was some kind of viking/death metal hybrid, which by the looks of online reviews, didn’t exactly warm the cockles of the metal minded among us. Arise however, is about as viking as Pee Wee Herman in drag. No, seriously, maybe I misread the band description and it said Tricycling metal because there is nothing remotely close to viking metal here. What there is plenty of however, is awfulness and dreck. Continue reading

Har du nånsin märkt att svenska band faktiskt sällan får spela i Sverige? Det känns som de stora banden från Sverige åker på turné över hela världen men aldrig längre norrut i landet än Stockholm (om dom ens spelar i Sverige). De flesta som dyker upp gör så på festivaler under sommaren och helt ärligt är jag inget fan av festivaler (för dyrt för få bra band—undantaget är House of Metal, förstås). Men av alla svenska band som jag jättegärna skulle vilja se så finns det ett som jag aldrig lyckats se men måste se innan bandets slut: Shining. Jag vet att många inte skulle hålla med men jag tycker att Shining är lätt ett av Sveriges bästa band och medan VI: Klagopsalmer inte var lika bra som tidigare plattor, ser jag verkligen fram emot VII: Född Förlorare som släpps senare i år. Continue reading

Nox Aurea // Ascending in Triumph
Rating: 3.5 — Very good, but drags a bit at times…
Label: Napalm Records
Websites: myspace.com/noxaurea
Release Dates: EU: 05.07.2010 | US: 07.13.2010

Doom is something that I have really gotten a taste for in the last couple years. A lot earlier, when I was actually playing in a band with a lot of doomy tendencies, I was actually terribly bored by most of it. But with the release of some really fantastic doom records that I’ve gotten into, it’s been harder and harder to avoid it—I like doom a lot when it’s done well. In spite of that earlier distaste for the genre, the one area that I’ve always had a soft spot for, however, has been well done gothic doom. Particularly the stuff with the “beauty and the beast” style of vocal interplay between well done female vocalist and growls. While this sound is hardly novel in 2010, Nox Aurea has attacked it anew with their second release (and Napalm Records debut) Ascending in Triumph. Continue reading

Netherbird // Monument Black Colossal
Rating: 3.5/5.0 – Crappy name, but this bird can fly.
Label: Scarecrow Recordings
Websites: netherbird.com | myspace.com/netherbird
Release Dates: EU: 09.07.2010 | US: 07.20.2010

One thing that I love about heavy metal is that every time you think you have a pretty thorough knowledge of the overall scene, some band you never heard of slithers out of some crevasse and bites you in the ass. Sweden’s Netherbird is just such an ass biter and their second full length, Monument Black Colossal seemingly came out of nowhere and surprised me with some impressively done melodic black metal, despite the really crappy band name and nonsensical album title. What is it with Sweden and metal these days anyway? That place is crawling with quality, ass biting bands! Continue reading

Soilwork // The Panic Broadcast
Rating: 3.0/5.0 — Commercial as hell…
Label: Nuclear Blast (EU | US)
Website: soilwork.org | myspace.com/soilwork
Release Dates: EU: 02.07.2010 | US: 07.13.2010

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

Grand Magus // Hammer of the North
Rating: 4.0/5.0 — Sweden hammers the World!
Label: Roadrunner Records
Websites: grandmagus.com | myspace.com/grandmagusrocks
Release Dates: EU: 21.06.2010 | US: 06.29.2010 (?)

It seems a sad fact that when one anticipates something and really looks forward to it, the chance of being disappointed increases exponentially. After Grand Magus unleashed their wildly impressive Iron Will album in 2008 (which was one of my favorite albums that year), I was extremely stoked for a follow up by this cadre of Swedish metal mongers but wondered if they could match or top the quality of that massive platter. Now that I have the anxiously awaited follow up in the form of their fifth album, Hammer of the North, my fears of being let down seem silly, because once again Grand Magus shows that they know how to craft top quality traditional heavy metal songs with a slight doom tinged edge. Continue reading

Witchery // Witchkrieg
Rating: 4.0/5.0 — Riff after kick ass riff
Label: Century Media
Websites: witchery.se | myspace.com/witcherytheband
Release Dates: EU: 21.06.2010 | US: 06.29.2010

Hey, turns out that Witchery is releasing a new record in a few days. Far be it from me to not review this monster of a super group, especially given the news that got everyone pretty worked up: ex-Marduk vocalist Legion joined the band on vocals. Not only does this cement the band as serious super group (now sporting members or former members from Opeth, Séance, Bloodbath, Arch Enemy, Marduk, Devian, Spiritual Beggar, The Haunted, and Satanic Slaughter), but it adds a well-known quantity to the band. Turns out that Swedish scene is a tad bit inbred. But does this kind of caliber, and a back catalogue of well loved records mean that Witchery will hit home anew with their deathy brand of thrash metal in 2010? Continue reading