Angry Metal Guy

Pilgrim // Misery Wizard
Rating: 3.0/5.0 — Epicus slowicus asfuckicus
Label: Metal Blade Records
Websites: Facebook | Myspace
Release Dates: EU: Out now! | US: 02.14.2012

Is lumbering, elephantine doom your thing? Well, it had better be if you plan on spending quality time with Rhode Island doom-sayers, Pilgrim. That’s because their Misery Wizard debut serves up six ginomous slices of crawling, droning, monolithic doom with all the subtlety of a steel cage wrestling match. Do you think Saint Vitus and Reverend Bizarre are slow? Pilgrim is slower. Think Cathedral has some huge sounding riffs? Pilgrim has bigger ones. In a doom pissing contest, these chaps are mellow yellow. To help explain their sound, I’ve compiled a short list of things that move faster than Pilgrim. These include: octogenarians with bad knees, glaciers, evolution and innovation in black metal. Yep, Pilgrim is mighty slow. For a power trio, they make a lot of racket and stay true to the old school style of Sabbath-infused dirgery. They aren’t innovative or particularly dynamic and at times, they can get rather tiresome and tedious, even for a doom fanboy like Steel Druhm. Because of that last factoid, Misery Wizard is an album intended only for tried-and-true doom-hounds who don’t suffer from the slightest trace of ADD [I'll be over here, looking at moss. - AMG]. If your mind tends to wander, or drone makes you snooze, skip this release, or patience you’ll lose (HA! I waxed poetic).

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Alcest // Les Voyages De L’Âme   
Rating: 3.0/5.0 — Sweet nothings.
Label: Prophecy Productions
Websites: alcest-music.com | facebook.com/alcest.official | myspace.com/alcestmusic
Release Dates: EU: 2012.01.09 | US: 01.21.2012 [01.06.2012 digitally]

Every once in a while the scene gets a hair up its ass and decides that something that is explicitly not metal is totally OK to love. So, in the 90s, when I was first cutting my teeth on the extreme metal scene, Anathema and Katatonia were both giving up their extreme pasts and putting out records that were much more akin to sort of depressing alt rock than anything they’d previously been doing. Then there’s black metal guys’ love of swirly keyboard soundscapes (such that it ends up on Metal Archives, despite them actually banning other bands that I—and most others—would consider metal). Well, since the release of Amesoeurs really broke this sound in 2009, this sort of post-black metal shoegaze stuff has becomes the scene’s favorite non-metal thing. And, really, the description of it by one reviewer I read really sums it up: “Black metal that pisses off the indie kids and indie rock that pisses off the black metal kids. Brilliant.” Continue reading

Dim Mak // The Emergence of Reptilian Altars
Rating: 3.0/5.0 — Good fighting, but never applied the vaunted “Death Touch.”
Label: WillowTip | Hammerheart
Websites: facebook.com/dimmak.deathmetal
Release Dates: US: 11.22.2011 | EU: 2012.01.10

Dim Mak arose from cult heroes Ripping Corpse in 1996 (after Erik Rutan ran off to join Morbid Angel) and they decided to do something entirely different. And yes, I believe that Dim Mak definitely qualifies as that. A thrashy, techy death metal band with martial arts themes almost exclusively (yes, their first record was called Enter the Fist), The Emergence of Reptilian Altars is the band’s fourth full length and first since 2006. Five years (well, six if you’re looking at the Euro release date) is a long time to wait between albums, so you’d like to think that they were preparing something super special (like the Touch of Death!) for their return. But during that five years down, original vocalist (and Ripping Corpse member) Scott Ruth left the band and was replaced by newcomer Joe Capizzi, whose style is markedly different than his predecessor. Continue reading

Horrendous // The Chills
Rating: 3.0/5.0 — Dreaming of Florida.
Label: Dark Descent Records
Websites: myspace.com/horrendousdeathmetal
Release Dates: US: 01.03.2011 | EU: 2011.02.17

In the last few years, old school death metal has seen a resurgence in the underground. Gone are the bands trying to blast their way into oblivion by copying the NYDM sound, no more does every death metal band in the scene want to sound like Origin or Hate Eternal. Instead, Entombed and Death have been come the ideals—and this revitalization has been welcome to these Angry Metal Ears. I find it distinctly more giving to listen to the crunchy riffs and the cavelike production values than what a lot of modern death metal has become. But as has been noted, like any trend these things start to get too saturated and the listener tends to cool a bit on the new material that’s coming out.  Continue reading

Crom // Of Love and Death
Rating: 3.0/5.0 — Viking sensitivity training
Label: Pure Steel Records
Websites: croms-revenge.de | myspace.com/cromsrevenge
Release Dates: Out now!

Steel Druhm has been waiting for this for a long time! For the uninitiated, Crom is the brainchild of one Walter Grosse and he functions as a one-man-band, doing it all for the metal masses. His first album, 2008′s Vengeance, was one of those special sleepers that didn’t get nearly as much attention and praise as it deserved. Fusing viking, epic and power metal, it had a unique, engaging style all its own and the songwriting was top-notch (it almost sounded like Týr mixed with Europe and Hammerheart-era Bathory if you can imagine that). So good was the material, years later, I still find myself singing the immortal line “I swear this oath, this oath of Wengeance...” at least once a week (wengeance, like revenge, is best served cold, with crackers and cheese). While the lyrics were based around viking and mythical themes, it had a dead-serious feeling that most power metal acts couldn’t come close to achieving. After a long wait, we finally get Of Love and Death. So, is it more viking/power with all the sacking and rampaging we expect? Well no, it’s something quite different. Apparently in the three years since Vengeance, Mr. Grosse grew tired of viking battles and blood oaths and turned all introspective and emo. This is an album steeped in the subjects of love, heartache, loss and loneliness. That’s right, he done gone and turned in his war hammer for a big-ass book of love poems. As odd as it seems, it doesn’t totally kill things and Grosse’s writing and performing chops are still there. However, this certainly isn’t the sequel I was hoping for and there are issues that ultimately render it a partial disappointment. Continue reading

Lance King // A Moment in Chiros
Rating: 3.0/5.0 —Good times, bland times
Label: Nightmare Records
Websites: lancekingvox.com/  myspace.com/lancekingvox
Release Dates: Out now!

Lance King, like Elvis, is everywhere. He’s sang for a ton of bands (Balance of Power, Pyramaze, Avian, Empire etc. etc.), he runs Nightmare Records and still found the time to record and release his first solo album, A Moment in Chiros. For those unfamiliar with his body of work, Mr. King is the quintessential prog-power metal singer. His voice is versatile, powerful and his range is impressive. He sounds equally at home alongside melodic power metal and thoughtful prog-metal. For his debut solo project, he’s brought in elements of both and made damn sure everything is super-duper melodic, even symphonic at times. To assist him in this endeavor, he recruited a mighty host of friends, including members of Anubis Gate, Beyond Twilight and Adagio. The final product (which was apparently written and recorded in only three months) will remind many of Empire-era Queensryche mixed with elements of  Dream Theater, Pagan’s Mind, Anubis Gate and of course, Lance’s other units, especially Balance of Power. There are moments where Lance and company shine as bright as the sun and there’s some interesting material here for fans of power-prog. However, A Moment in Chiros struggles with the consistency of quality and this ultimately hurts things, which is a real shame. Continue reading

The Fallen Divine // The Binding Cycle
Rating: 3.0/5.0 – Loosely bound aggregate of excellent fragments.
Label: Unsigned
Websites: myspace.com/tfdofficial | facebook.com/fallendivine
Release Dates: Is it out? I could only find a couple tracks available online.
By: A Prospective Overseer of Unsigned Bands

The Binding Cycle is the first full-length album by Norwegian quintet, The Fallen Divine. Founded in 2009, and with one EP under their belt, the band worked with King Diamond guitarist Andy La Rocque at his studio, Sonic Train, to produce the album. And he produced the fuck out of them. The sound on this album is so clean it sparkles. Which is as it should be, because there is a lot going on and The Fallen Divine don’t want you to miss any of it. A self-described progressive metal band, they have a lot of influences and only one shot at showing you that they’ve mastered them all. Fortunately, they pretty much have. 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

Thulcandra // Under a Frozen Sun
Rating: 3.0/5.0 —-More Dissection than the county morgue
Label: Napalm Records
Websites: myspace.com/thulcandrametal
Release Dates: Out now!

The Germanic horde Thulcandra is back for another fast and furious bout of Dissection worship. For those who missed my review of their 2010 opus Fallen Angel’s Dominion, these chaps, lead by Stefan Kummerer (Obscura) are huge fans of the late, great Dissection and their debut was a loving tribute to their classic sound. Since I’m also a fan, their authentic and spot-on Dissection-isms (and occasional Immortal-isms) won me over enough to overlook the complete lack of originality. That release stands up well and I still spin it fairly often. Now comes their second album, Under a Frozen Sun and its a whole lot more of the same. Once again, they deliver expertly performed, melodic black metal with all the hallmarks of The Somberlain and Storm of the Light’s Bane albums. This time however, it feels slighty less fresh and engaging. Perhaps their homage schtick is growing old or maybe its the black metal weariness I’m feeling of late. Either way, while less successful than the debut, Thulcandra (or Dissection, I’m not sure which) retains just enough charm and appeal to make for some worthwhile moments of old school Scandinavian blackness, suitable for scowling and frowning in the snow.  It also has several barnburners that rise above the continued pattern of staunch unoriginality. Continue reading