Animals as Leaders

Scale the Summit – V Review

Scale the Summit – V Review

“Although we try to cover the metal scene pretty even-handedly here at Angry Metal Guy, some genres will always get short shrift. While our inbox gets swamped with retro-what have you, orthodox black metal, and your brutal/tech death band of the week, some genres that I like – slam, for instance – rarely make an appearance here. Another one of those genres is modern instrumental prog, a la Animals as Leaders and our band of interest, Scale the Summit.” Instrumental albums are a sticky mistress. No, wait….

WRVTH – WRVTH Review

WRVTH – WRVTH Review

“Before I progress further, I want to make something clear: I’ve long held the belief that the letter “V” is not a vowel. Yes, I know, look at my screen name, but bear with me here. Call it being stubborn from years of having it drilled into my head in elementary school, but when I see it used in words like “kvlt” or “trve,” I cringe. Or if it’s used in place of an “f”, I also shudder. Case in point: Cali tech-deathsters WRVTH. How do you even pronounce that? “Ruhth?” “Rooth?” “Rivith?”” Spelling is fun.

Seven Year Storm – Aion I Review

Seven Year Storm – Aion I Review

“It was before a long journey that I haphazardly shoved all my new music on to my iPod, paying no regard to the attached one sheets and band biographies. Having never heard their material before, it was without expectation or even awareness of genre that I approached Seven Year Storm’s début EP Aion I.” Road trip music is important. Does the rubber meet the road here?

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.

Kronos’ Top Ten(ish) of 2014

Kronos’ Top Ten(ish) of 2014

“Through my own charm, genius and palpable immodesty, I have single-handedly, along with Grymm, convinced the Angry Metal Elders to grant me a big boy year-end list. My year’s tenure in the catacombs of AMG headquarters has proved fruitful beyond measure thanks not only to my brilliant colleagues and our dedicated readers…” Pretty much anybody gets a list these days. There goes the neighborhood!

Record(s) o’ the Month – March 2014

Record(s) o’ the Month – March 2014

Oh shit! Record(s) o’ the Month for March are only running a couple weeks late. You know, when I wrote that post about how this year “might” be a bit of a rough year for music reviewing for Ye Olde Angrye Metale Guye, I wasn’t fucking wrong. It hasn’t been rough. It’s been brutal. I am up to my fucking neck in shit to do, and most of that doesn’t involve “listening to heavy metal” or “telling the Internet why it’s wrong about the new _insert band_ record.” So, be glad that I am even taking the time to deign give you my now extraordinarily expensive, state-funded time. Because, when the Swedish state isn’t paying me to produce research that helps us better understand the world, I should be drinking beer, getting laid, playing video games, or watching sports. But no, here I am writing a Record(s) o’ the Month post for AngryMetalGuy.com. Show me your thanks via Flattr, people. We need to move hosts soon.

And without further ado…

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.