Angry Metal Guy

Wolfen // Chapter IV
Rating: 3.5/5.0 — Thrashes with wolves
Label: Pure Legend Records
Websites: wolfen-metal.de | myspace
Release Dates: Out now!

Wolfen. Never did I hear of them. As the album title suggests, they have three prior releases, yet the mighty Eye of Steel Druhm (like Sauron’s but more bloodshot) never spied them as they skulked through the Germanic underground. I don’t like that, since stealth wolfens are my least favorite kind of wolfen. Regardless, Chapter IV is their first album since 2006 (obstensibly because they were too busy hiding from The Eye to record anything). If this one is any indication of what the earlier platters had to offer, its perplexing they didn’t get more notoriety. They play a style that walks the line between traditional metal and thrash. It also has plenty of that ”Germanic” vibe we all love so much. Their sound comes closest to Angel Dust, especially during their Bleed era, but there are also references to Accept, Grave Digger and Brainstorm. Chapter IV offers some rockin but accessible songs, and unfortunately, a few pedestrian ditties as well. Thankfully, Wolfen hits more often than they miss and this is a solid, enjoyable dose of ballsy, no frills metal with several memorable moments. Continue reading

Vise Massacre // Expendable Humans
Rating: 2.0/5.0 — Expendable youth
Label: Gorilla the Horse Records
Websites: visemassacre.com | myspace.com/visemassacre
Release Dates: Out now!

Here’s something slightly different for us here at Angry Metal Guy Worldwide Industries. Vise Massacre is a Brooklyn-based hardcore/punk-thrash power trio and Expendable Humans is their debut full-length (a very short one at thirty-one minutes). Although it’s fairly thrashy and abrasive, there’s no mistaking that this is pure hardcore with similarities to vets of the past like Cryptic Slaughter, Cro-Mags and Sick of It All. It’s all short bursts of fast, chunky punk rage, with most songs (fourteen of em) clocking in at, or under, two minutes. There are some decent riffs scattered about and some really aggressive, herky-jerky, pissed-off material, but sadly, not much here really interests or grabs me in the slightest. Now, let’s be clear. I’m not anti-hardcore at all. In fact, I really like the bands mentioned above. This just feels entirely generic and flat to me, almost like paint-by-numbers angry punk. This somewhat surprised me, since these guys have a fair amount of underground buzz swirling around them. Continue reading

As I mentioned in a previous review, I like to think I value originality in music. I have little patience for bands that are merely retreads or knockoffs of other groups. So you can imagine my reaction when, a couple years ago, I stumbled on Black Future, the debut album from Arizona thrashers Vektor. The cover of that album looked like this. For those of you unaware, there is a band called Voivod. They have a logo that looks like this. ”What in unholy fuck was going on here,” I thought? Is this some sort of joke? Is Vektor to Voivod what Municipal Waste is to D.R.I.? What possible motivation could a band have to do that? And more importantly….is it any good? Two years later, curiosity finally got the better of me, and I decided to check out Vektor’s newly-released follow up, Outer Isolation.

Continue reading

Degradation // Juggernaut
Rating: 2.5/5.0 — Sandbagged!
Label: Self-released
Websites: www.degradationband.com/
Release Dates: Out now!

So here’s my first official review of 2012 and Steel Druhm must report that the retro-thrash wave has spilled over into another year. Whatever your opinion of such spillage may be, like every trend, some of that deluge is good, some is really bad, the majority floats in the middle. With their debut full length, Chicago toughs Degradation find themselves somewhere in that big middle, drifting toward the good side of the river but not quite able to reach the shore. Enough with the nautical metaphors. This is steady but mostly unexceptional thrash like they used to make in the second and the dreaded third wave (Gothic Slam, anybody?) of the original thrash explosion. Scattered across this fairly short, fly by album are traces of Slayer, Metallica, Testament and even mega-obscure Faith or Fear. It’s a Bay Area thrash revival with the odd piece of the germanic school sprinkled in for flavor (think old Deathrow). Despite the energy and enthusiasm the band brings to the material, I was never able to fully buy into Juggernaut and after repeated listens, some of the tracks just go by without registering in my thrash receptacle (located just under the spleen). I’m not sure if its thrash fatigue or what but this album just doesn’t resonate, though there are some quality moments. Continue reading

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

Wow, how the time flies when you’re a reviewer! It seems like only yesterday we were welcoming in 2011 and looking ahead to a vast sea of new and interesting releases. But now we’ve reached that time of year when we at Angry Metal Guy Industries reflect back on the past twelve months in music. That means taking stock of what we liked and disliked, and sadly, owning up to all the shit we overlooked, ignored, missed or otherwise screwed the pooch on (oh, the SHAME!). First up on Steel Druhm’s Shame Spiral Tour is Upstate New York’s own Armor Column and their debut, Maximum Collateral Damage (available via MWA Records). Featuring a heady blend of old school thrash and traditional American power metal (Jag Panzer, Helstar), these war hawks led by fret-man Noah Carpenter (ex-Skinless) have come to batter, brutalize and bombard with their war-themed attack. At times ripping, at others catchy and always a bit rough around the edges and dirty, this was an unexpected but welcome surprise for yours truly that just didn’t get the review space it deserved (I blame Obama). Continue reading

Megadeth // Th1rt3en
Rating: 3.0 — .5 is reserved specifically for Chris Broderick for being a beast.
Label: Roadrunner Records
Websites: megadeth.com | myspace.com/megadeth | facebook.com/megadeth
Release Dates: EU: 2011.11.02  US: 11.01.2011

When Megadeth released Endgame in 2009, I was noticeably effected. This was Megadeth like we hadn’t really heard them since (arguably) Youthanasia, and for more fans, much earlier than that. It was a refreshed band with excellent writing and guitar work that matched the Marty Friedman days. The songs were well written, catchy and the record was tightly edited and honed down to perfect vinyl length. Honestly, Endgame was a record that I don’t think anyone but the most idealistic of Megadeth fans could even have been expecting. And though at the time I joked that we should make sure that Mustaine wasn’t stockpiling fertilizer, (I still hold firm to that belief) the record has aged pretty well. That, of course, means that there are some expectations for Th1rt3en. Expectations that this record, for example, will not suck. Continue reading

Evile //Five Serpent’s Teeth
Rating: 3.0/5.0 —Fresh from the Department of Redundancy Dept.
Label: Earache Records
Websites: evile.co.uk/theBand/  myspace.com/evileuk
Release Dates:  EU:  26.09.2011 US: 10.18.2011

My, how times and tastes change. When I first signed on as a newbie writer for Angry Metal Guy Industries, I was happy and content with all the musical trends in the metalsphere (save anything core, of course). Now, a scant year and a half later, I’m pretty much burned out on black metal and I’m even getting weary of my (formerly)  beloved retro-thrash wave. At this point, the trend feels beaten back to life then back to death again. While a few of the recent thrash releases stood out (Toxic Holocaust for one), as a rule the scene feels tired and old like it did toward the end of the original wave. That brings us to the U.K.’s Evile. Their 2007 release Enter the Grave was a nice shot in the arm of vintage thrash but their follow-up Infected Nations took on too much of a progressive mid-period Metallica vibe and bored more bashed (although AMG dug it well enough). I was hopeful they would return to their more aggressive style on Five Serpent’s Teeth and while they did, this ended up too generic and unoriginal to really get me worked up into a thrashy lather. However, its undeniably well-executed, generally engaging speed with enough technical ability to impress and a few standout cuts. Continue reading

Anthrax// Worship Music
Rating: 3.5/5.0 — The sound of white persistence.
Label: Megaforce Records | Nuclear Blast 
Websites: anthrax.com | myspace.com/Anthrax
Release Dates:  EU: 12.09.2011 | US: 09.13.2011

Wow, the Thrax is finally back! After endless bullshit, drama and ridiculous delays, the revolving door of vocalists that saw John Bush and Joey Belladonna coming, going and coming again is over (for now). In the peculiar saga that saw John Bush depart so Anthrax could record an entire album with unsung voice Dan Nelson, only to scrap it for planned re-dubs with Bush and then later with original singer Joey Belladonna, we finally get the refinished  product. Confused? Yeah, me too. So after an eight year wait, is Worship Music worth the metallic soap opera and histrionics fans had to endure? Well, the hype circus is already in full swing, with the band themselves saying its their best material and some early reviews comparing the quality favorably to genre classics like “Heaven and Hell” and “Stargazer.”  Well, allow me to take a step back and simply say, NOT! It’s good and definitely interesting but Steel Druhm shall not be among the throngs of metal press that hail this as some crowning triumph or the best work of their long career. While it isn’t in the same league as their classics, it’s enjoyable and finds them trying new things without completely ditching the classic Thrax sound. Despite a few excellent songs, Worship Music isn’t the release of the year that many (myself included) hoped it would be. Continue reading

Riot // Thundersteel
Websites: riotsweb.com/  myspace.com
Released: 1988 via CBS Records

Unlike the other bands featured in these Retro-spective reviews™, New York’s own Riot is a seminal, long running and well known act. Slogging away since 1977, they released classic albums like Rock City and Fire Down Under. So why are they included here you ask? Well, one of their albums seems to have been lost in time and forgotten even though I regard it as their best by far. That album is, or course 1988′s Thundersteel. This release marked a stark departure in sound for Riot. Forgoing their more traditional, slower 70′s roots, Thundersteel was all about intense Painkiller-like aggression, soaring vocals and speed speed and more speed. Maybe it was the arrival of vocalist extraordinaire Tony Moore or just something in the NYC water that year but this album is one non-stop explosion of blistering guitar, air raid vocals, superb writing and unreal energy. It was a sound and urgency they never recaptured despite very strong moments on their 1990 follow up The Privilege of Power. Since this album is a true buried treasure of speed/power, I felt it was job, nay, my DUTY to bring it back out of the shadows in 2011. Commence the learning! Continue reading