2000

Yer Metal Is Olde: Nifelheim – Servants of Darkness

Yer Metal Is Olde: Nifelheim – Servants of Darkness

“There’s something immensely satisfying about listening to musicians who are utterly devoted to their craft. In the realm of blackened thrash, you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who fits that description more than Nifelheim’s founding members, Swedish twins Erik “Tyrant” and Per “Hellbutcher” Gustavsson. These are the guys who apparently kicked out their first guitarist for being “wimpy” enough to have a girlfriend, the guys who once claimed that Venom is the most recent band they actually like.” Trve darkness.

Iron Maiden from Worst to Best: 9-7

Iron Maiden from Worst to Best: 9-7

A couple days ago Iron Maiden released its 16th studio album. This new platter is a double-disc monstrosity by the name of The Book of Souls, and now that I’ve received my physical copies, I’m going to be re-listening to it a dozen times with lyrics in hand. So, while we’re waiting on this I’m taking advantage of the moment to do something I’ve wanted to do for a very, very long time: a huge Iron Maiden retrospective, spanning the band’s entire studio discography. Here’s the third installment.

Yer (Not Quite) Metal is Olde: Agents of Oblivion – Agents of Oblivion

Yer (Not Quite) Metal is Olde: Agents of Oblivion – Agents of Oblivion

“Drunk drivers fucking suck. On January 23, 1997, Acid Bath bassist Audie Pitre and his parents were killed by one who blew through a stop sign, ending one of the most creative sludge bands in the history of metal music, let alone in the New Orleans, Louisiana music scene. On a more personal note, it also ending one of my all-time favorite bands.” But at least there was a small silver lining.

Katatonia – Dead End Kings Review

Katatonia – Dead End Kings Review

Katatonia are one of my favorite bands, I think it’s safe to say. In the top 10? Probably, but definitely the Top 15 – with A Great Cold Distance and Last Fair Deal Gone Down duking it out for one of the best records of the 2000s. Their development as an act that has moved this far from Dance of December Souls and Brave Murder Day is immense. Those records are absolute classics, but as a band Katatonia has developed a feel for modern, depressive rock in the late 2000s that one could only have guessed at when Discouraged Ones and Tonight’s Decision were being released. But I did not enjoy Night Is the New Day pretty much at all. Instead, while everyone was freaking out, I was underwhelmed. It was filled with songs that didn’t speak to me even remotely. And unlike Viva Emptiness which finally just clicked for me after about 18 months of not digging it, Night Is the New Day still doesn’t pack any kind of punch.

Angry Metal Guy’s Indefensible Positions: Mayhem – Grand Declaration of War

Angry Metal Guy’s Indefensible Positions: Mayhem – Grand Declaration of War

Every once in a while the metal scene collectively pisses on a band or record and someone needs to step up and defend why they like it. I normally don’t spend a lot of time defending shitty records, but sometimes genuinely interesting or good records get lampooned by an overly conservative heavy metal scene. And that calls for a professional contrarian to defend it! If ever there ever a professional contrarian, it would be me. So here I am to re-hash a record from my past that I still love that everyone else seems to have soured on (or never liked in the first place).