Psycroptic may be one of the best known technical death metal bands out there today. Their high profile is largely the result of the fact that they make a type of technical death metal that moves about a mile a second, but while managing to not be too abstract. The band has historically had catchy hooks and great melodic parts, while never backing down on the guitar gymnastics and with vocals that have been just as diverse and unique as the music behind it. Psycroptic is the real deal, so there was never any hesitation on my part when I got a hold of the Tazmanian band’s 5th full-length The Inherited Repression.

Oh, and I knew what I was going to get out the gate. Even with the logo gone, The Inherited Repression screams “something grim comes this way,” and when the characteristic Psycroptic legato technical riff burst out the gate at about 57 seconds into “Carriers of the Plague” I was pretty much in. The whole album is a tour de force of Psycroptic‘s unique sound. There’s the groove parts (like the opening riff of the album, the amazing stuff in the middle of “From Scribe to Ashes”), the slower “breakdowny” and acoustic parts (but, this isn’t core and they’re few and far between) and the hyper fast and techy style riffs that have been with us since the beginning (some of my favorite riffs show up in final track “The Sleeper Has Awoken” but the whole album is littered with amazing riff after amazing riff). This is the stuff that keeps me excited for every time these guys put out a record.

Another major thing about this record that blows the previous albums out of the water is the production. While 2008′s (Ob)Servant was released on Nuclear Blast, the production on it wasn’t the best. Specifically the drums were heinously replaced and the sound was immensely annoying. The Inherited Repression inherited none of these production problems and it is easily the band’s most balanced album to date. The vocals are pretty far back in the mix and it helps to focus on the whirling guitars, bass and drums which are properly mixed this time around.

But I have a big complaint and, frankly, I’m a little confused as to what’s up. Jason Peppiat replaced Chalky three records ago, and since then the vocals, while not having been as extreme, were actually a little reminiscent of Trevor Strnad’s tendency to switch it up and be really dynamic. One of the things that made Psycroptic interesting to me was the way that the vocals really matched each riff and just as dynamic as the music. Unfortunately on The Inherited Repression vocalist Peppiat has pretty much stopped doing anything that isn’t in the mid-ranged scream area. While he does have two or three different tones that he uses, the death metal growl is completely gone, as well as the more At The Gates scream that he used to do—and that I really, really liked. This shouldn’t be that big a deal, right? It’s just death metal vocals. But unless the music has also lost a step (which, given that the songs are on average about 1:30 shorter than on their last record, is possible), I think that the vocals being so monotonous really has a detrimental effect on the music. While the riffs are solid, I have found that this record sags a bit in the middle, which none of the band’s previous material ever has. The only thing I can come up with is that the vocals were a lot more important than we ever gave them credit for.

I don’t want that to take away from the fact that Psycroptic is a great band and that the music on this record is pretty fucking solid. But I do feel like The Inherited Repression is a bit of a step backwards for a band that is as talented and dynamic as they come. Fans of the band will obviously still enjoy this record, but I’m not sure that it’s going to be met with as unanimous cheers and glee that the band’s previous work has.

Related posts:

1. Abysmal Dawn – Leveling the Plane of Existence Review
2. Dim Mak – The Emergence of Reptilian Altars Review
3. Suicide Silence – No Time to Bleed Review

Once considered the ”other Amorphis“ due to the style and sound of their well regarded debut In the Halls of Awaiting, Insomnium have since evolved into one of the premier melo-death units in operation. Along with fellow Fins Omnium Gatherum, they’ve been steadfastly keeping the melo-death banner flying and the style alive and viable. In fact, no one is doing this style better, as One for Sorrow and Omnium Gatherum‘s ginormous New World Shadows  amply demonstrate. Both albums employ hyper-melodic guitar-work alongside sub-woofer blowing death vocals and both shroud everything with the melancholy and sadness that seems to seep from the very ground of Finland. Over the course of four albums, Insomnium has churned out consistently high quality melo-death of this nature with very few stylistic shifts or changes. This has, at times, made their material feel a bit samey and can give the impression of roaming over well worn ground. While this was never a big issue for me personally, those concerns are still present here as they continue to hone their tried-and-true sound to a razor edge. Insomnium gives you ten new tracks of excellently melodic death that incorporates doom and elements of old Amorphis, classic In Flames, Brave Murder Day era Katatonia and Noumena. While there are no surprises, this is some great, emotionally powerful music and exactly the kind of listening material to stockpile as we head into the cold gloom of winter. 

Lead off “Inertia” welcomes you back to the cold, and at times fragile and beautiful sound Insomnium trades in. It begins with haunting, somber guitars and spoken word vocals that both slowly build the tension before blossoming into their typically melancholy death sound. The leads at 2:55 are melodic, mournful and excellently done. Things get more urgent with “Through the Shadows” which sounds exactly like material off New World Shadows and showcases that same style of frilly, trillingly melodic guitar harmonies alongside guttural death vox and clean singing segments. As melodic as it gets, there’s that ever present feeling of sadness and doom that have become the calling cards for Finnish melo-death. Its a great song with top-notch riffing and melodic leads. “Song of the Blackest Bird” keeps the quality flowing with more beautiful harmonies juxtaposed with Amon Amarthy battle riffs and nods to Tales From the Thousand Lakes era Amorphis (check out the harmonies at 2:o2 and the morose soloing beginning at 5:31). “Only One Who Waits” mixes extra aggression with an H.I.M. influence and it works exceedingly well. Other highlights include the surprisingly catchy “Regain the Fire” and the plodding and emotional title track. All the songs are classy and scream quality melo-death. There’s a ton of emotion in the writing and playing and as with prior works, that emotion is sadness and despair. This is music perfectly suited for days spent staring out the window watching the falling snow whilst lost in dark reflections.

As far as musical performance, 90% of the success and appeal of Insomnium depends on the ability of Ville Friman and Ville Vanni to craft a host of memorably melodic riffs and solos. They accomplish that mission   admirable and One for Sorrow is relplete with hooks and winning guitar riffery. Every song has its share and the album has a nice ebb and flow from faster to slower, more doomy material. There’s enough shifts in tempos to keep things interesting and more than enough atmosphere. Niilo Sevanen’s death roar is well done and always sounds great laid over the melody lines. His clean singing isn’t the best ever but it adequate and doesn’t hinder the material. The production is exceptional but not too clean or polished. The instruments are clear, the guitars sound great and the vocals are mixed in perfectly.

While I’ve enjoyed every Insomnium album, I admit to being a little underwhelmed by 2009′s Across the Dark  (as was AMG). One for Sorrow is a solid step forward and in my opinion, a superior album. It may not redefine what they’ve been doing or offer something new but it’s them at their best and that’s enough for me. If you liked their prior platters or Omnium Gatherum‘s New World Shadows, buy this with confidence. Then, get thee to a window and await the impending snowfalls. Winter is coming.

Related posts:

1. Insomnium – Across the Dark
2. Omnium Gatherum – New World Shadows Review
3. The Man-Eating Tree – Harvest Review

Ah, it’s that time again. A new The Black Dahlia Murder record, full of At The Gates riffs and Trevor Strnad’s dynamic and characteristic vocals! Right? RIGHT!?!? Well, let me start with what I said last time in reference to the current trajectory of the band given their longevity and discography:

[W]hen does it become unnecessary to buy new albums from these guys? When do they fade into the [well known] obscurity of a band like Cannibal Corpse or Slayer that produced excellent records, but many people are of the opinion that all you really need to own is a Butchered at Birth or Reign in Blood and South of Heaven and you’ve pretty much heard their entire discography. As of now, I think these guys are on the top of their game. Line-up changes haven’t stopped them, I doubt that they’re going to sit around worrying about stagnation either: but they might want to think about it in the future.

The obvious outrage ensued from both sides. From the one side there was the claim that the band hadn’t stagnated and from the other side was the claim that no one thinks that Cannibal Corpse or Slayer have stagnated. Yeah, well, the first is arguably defensible—the second, less so. In any case, it appears that Ritual is the rebuttal to my critique. A powerful rebuttal. 

By a powerful rebuttal I mean, of course, that Ritual is The Black Dahlia Murder‘s best and most experimental record. The riffing has taken a turn for the more technical at times, in tracks like “On Stirring Seas of Salted Blood” there’s almost an Ulcerate kind of vibe. “Conspiring with the Damned” has a great techy riff as a lead in before moving into more traditional TBDM territory with At The Gates-inspired guitar harmonies and thrashy feel. “Malenchantments of the Necrosphere” is another groovy, downtuned tech piece that may be my favorite track on the whole album and that sounds nothing like what the band has done previously, instead placing them more in Abysmal Dawn territory.

The other big change is the use of strings, which shows up on “A Shrine to Madness” as an intro, but on “Blood in the Ink” more broadly and to excellent effect. The use of acoustic strings creates a unique feeling that almost borders on Septic Flesh‘s new material without going to the same lengths. “Carbonized in Cruciform” also uses a piano and acoustics to create a creepy horror movie kind of vibe before ripping your face off with some trem-picked riffing and blast beats. These changes are welcome and they break open a lot of new possibilities for the band.

But the songwriting hasn’t just changed and improved, what stands out here is the guitar work that has been taken to a whole new level. Ritual starts with the tracks “A Shrine to Madness” and “Moonlight Equilibrium,” which don’t exactly break the mold of earlier records, but what stands out to me on both of these tracks are the retarded guitar solos. And by retarded I actually mean fantastic, in case you were wondering. The guitar solos on this whole record are just fucking silly. “Moonlight Equilibrium” has a solo that borders on jazzy at times, where as “A Shrine to Madness” is like 80s thrash-shred done just right. And the solos stand out on almost every track on this record, including my favorites: “Carbonized in Cruciform” again showing off almost jazz-influenced melodic structures; “Malenchantments of the Necrosphere” shows the excellent knowledge of when to shred and when not to; “The Graverobber’s Work” has a legato solo with some silly tapping that just rips your face off; and to top it all off on closing track “Blood in the Ink” the solo segues perfectly into the string laden verse. This record is special just for this because these aren’t just “fill in the gaps” solos, these are genuinely interesting, musically substantive solos that serve a purpose in the song. Fantastic.

Even when the record isn’t breaking open new ground for The Black Dahlia Murder, the more traditional tracks are really just some of the best they’ve ever written. “The Window,” for example, has some of the coolest melodic work under the verses. “The Graverobber’s Work” sounds like it could have been on Unhallowed, but it’s just a kick ass song. And by now you get the picture.

So here are some final thoughts. First, congratulations to TBDM for nailing it as hard as they have. There’s nothing bad I can say about this record (except the drum sound—SUUEEECOOOOOF!!! *shakes fist*—and the bong hit over the solo on “The Burning Nullifier”. Cheesy.). It’s 45 minutes, so it’s not too long, the cover art is really great (and it reminds me of the artwork for Dragon Age) and they’ve upped the ante for melodic death metal in the new decade, as well as raising the bar for themselves. Second, if you’ve previously written off TBDM for any reason, this is the record to give them another chance on. By breaking the mold, I think they’re going to appeal to people who may have had mixed feelings about them in the past. It’s true that “haters gonna hate,” but I think the move into more techy death metal is going to maybe hook a different crowd. Also, the addition of Ryan Knight may well have been the best thing that ever happened to this band. Total fucking win.

Related posts:

1. The Black Dahlia Murder – Deflorate Review
2. Interview with Trevor from The Black Dahlia Murder (2009)
3. Interview with Trevor from The Black Dahlia Murder

Bullshit. First, even by that logic, tracks from At The Gates and Blind Guardian, having been released in the mid-90s could easily have made that list. But I think the other thing that people forget is how metal is no longer as unified then and therefore it’s much harder to come up with newer songs that unify large buying publics. There’s a reason that it’s Korn and Tool that make those lists and not Opeth or Primordial (though arguably Opeth is one of the most popular metal bands in the world today), and it’s because metal doesn’t have the same kind of commercial power that it maybe once did. But does that mean that we should cloister ourselves in stupidity and only pay attention to records that went gold and songs that even people who don’t like metal have heard? This Angry Metal Guy says “Hell no!” And thus I have presented this list (here’s: 50-41 and 40-31) parallel to Steel Druhm’s lists (50-41 and 40-31) with an eye to what has happened in metal since then. Of course not everyone is going to agree—but that is simply because we live in a post-modern metal world, where not everyone is able to get the same metal.

But ask yourself this; which of these bands will be looked back upon fondly, and which of them will be looked back upon with shame. There’s a reason that Warrant and Stryper didn’t make Gibson’s list, and it’s the same reason that Korn shouldn’t have and Papa Roach wasn’t anywhere near it: because these were trends, they were bad, they were cheesy and they are to be looked upon with proper contempt and shame for having ever existed. The same cannot be said of Ulver or Opeth or Primordial or Vintersorg. These are united in excellence and artistic expression, even if they don’t all reach the same listeners.

So my goal here is not to construct the list of the most accessible stuff, it’s the stuff that I see as the best. That means when it comes to songwriting, presentation and, of course, memorability. And now, 30-21.

#30: Manowar – Kings of Metal – “Hail and Kill” — This, my friends, is fucking heavy metal. While Manowar‘s discography is choppy (at best) and I’m pretty sure that Joey DeMaio is a high-functioning psychopath (from everything I’ve read and given his history of fucking bands who work for him in the ass), that doesn’t mean that these guys didn’t write one of the best heavy metal songs of all time. Because man, they really did. This is a song that I would love to see live just so I could chant along with it in the chorus and headbang like mad. This track and “Thor” are pretty much the best thing the band ever did, but when they hit the ball they really hit it out of the park. Extra points for the line “May your sword stay wet like a young girl in her prime.” Ha! — Also, RIP Scott Columbus.

#29: Bloodbath – Nightmares Made Flesh – “Eaten” — The first time I heard this song, I just had to laugh. And then I had to listen to it again. This is everything that old school death metal should be, except being done with an amazing sensibility that I think is hard to find in the death metal scene. The riffs here are amazing, the chorus here is hilariously awesome (“Eaten! My one desire, my only wish is to be eaten! The longer I live the more I’m dying to feel the pain!”) and the feeling is extreme, heavy and creepy. This song is total win and I love it. When turning people onto more traditional death metal I actually think that starting with Bloodbath is a good way to go because they’re oddly “poppy” for a death metal band. As has been made abundantly clear with this song.

#28: Morbid Angel – Covenant – “God of Emptiness” — Morbid Angel is a band that has an undeniable legacy in death metal and “God of Emptiness” was a bit of a gateway record for dudes like myself who were exposed to it and went “Whoa. That was fucking evil.” The final clean vocals are great, the video is awesome and the song is just crushingly heavy. Some may debate whether or not this is Morbid Angel‘s best stuff, but I think it definitely ranks up there and it’s got added nostalgic value. In fact, I think it’s one of the best death metal tracks ever and it puts into perspective how much thrash metal changed death metal over the years, doesn’t it? This shit was sloooow. Oh, and Azagthoth is a ridiculous guitar player.

#27: Taake – Over Bjoergvin Graater Himmerik - “IV” — Probably the best Norwegian black metal band since early Ulver, Taake‘s first three records are fucking phenomenal, but one track just stands out of me on this one. With its icy cold riffing and its intelligent melody, while having great bass work and feel, this song gets stuck in my head whenever I listen to it. So there isn’t a ton more to say, but the writing is magnificent, the riffing is outstanding and the mix of extremity and melody with sort of a NWoBHM sensibility makes for what is one of the most enjoyable metal songs ever written. The riff that starts at 4:07 is largely why this record stands out for me. Two of the best minutes of black metal ever written.

#26: Blind Guardian – A Night at the Opera – “Battlefield” — So, when A Night at the Opera I fucking hated it. I really did. Even all these years later, I don’t like it as well as the band’s earlier stuff. But there is one song on this record that has stuck with me since then and has never let go and that is the track “Battlefield,” which is just epic in proportions that I cannot even begin to express. You just need to listen to this song to get a sense of how huge it is. And at the same time, it’s got this Celtic Riverdance kinda feel to it and it.. fucking works. The guitar solo is excellent, the arrangements, too, are awesome and this is just a powerhouse of a song. “Battlefield” stood heads and shoulders over the other songs on that record, and earns a well-deserved place on this list.

#25: Faith No More – Angel Dust – “Land of Sunshine” — I guess it’s hard to choose when it comes to the record Angel Dust, but one thing that shouldn’t be denied is that these guys had a sound all their own that was kind of post-metal but oh-so-metal at the same time and Mike Patton is such a unique and cool vocalist and the whole “self-help” talk that goes through this song makes it awesome. I love the maniacal laughter and the guitar solo, the bass heavy approach, and.. well.. ALL of it! These guys were really ahead of their time and really underrated, despite having had some big hits and having been pretty popular. And this is my favorite FNM track and one of the best metal tracks ever written.

#24: Helloween – Keeper of the Seven Keys Pt. II – “I Want Out” — Actually, I probably should’ve gone with something else from Helloween but I can’t help myself. I love this song (and I love Sonata Arctica‘s cover of it a hell of a lot, too ’cause it’s faster), and despite the band having other great tracks, it’s important to remember that Helloween is basically entirely at fault for what we think of as Europower in its modern form. Now you can debate whether or not that’s good, but you can’t debate that these guys have had a massive influence on that movement and bands like the aforementioned Sonata Arctica, Stratovarius, Nocturnal Rites and so forth. Let the mid-paced catchiness seep into your soul. [Also, while it's not a part of this list, you should definitely check out their overlooked and mightily awesome, but heinously cheesy, Mr. Torture.]

#23: Lost Horizon – Awakening the World – “Sworn in the Metal Wind” — “Hey man what is this? Sounds like wail of a wimp. Did you let loser side take command? Where’s the warrior in you and the spirit he got? You say lost? No! It’s somewhere inside. And you know there’s a force that unites all of us, leave the wasteland we, together, will! If you’re broken remember you have with us! Take now your next deep breath, and revive your old strength!” What more do I actually have to say than this? How about this? “Don’t forget you are metal, not some ass kissing whore!”

#22: Slayer – Reign in Blood – “Angel of Death” — Oh holy fuck did this record change my life. I mean, you can’t argue with Slayer. And for me “Angel of Death” was always one of the songs that did it for me. The riffing is awesome, the chorus is great and the track really manages to piss a lot of people off. And actually, for Slayer this song even shows a remarkable amount of sophistication, given that the rest of their stuff on this record wasn’t quite as… techy. It’s actually funny to go back and listen to this and think about how blown away I was by the extremity of this record, and how now it seems kinda tame when I compare it to other bands that I love now. But “Angel of Death” is a song loaded with great riffs, an awesome sound and maybe two of the least painfully shitty solos that the band ever wrote. Someone should’ve confiscated Kerry King’s fucking whammy bar years ago.

#21: Opeth – Still Life – “Godhead’s Lament” — Well, this song probably needs little introduction from me. Anyone who has listened to metal since forever knows that Opeth is pretty much one of the best bands ever and anyone who reads this blog knows that I’m a pretty die-hard fan. But coming in at number 21 and very deserving of doing so is “Godhead’s Lament,” which I think is the finest track from this record. Unfortunately, the only copy I could find on YouTube is peaking so I’m assuming that this is a remaster. In any case, the whole song is amazing: the riff at 1:43, the solo and the cleans that follow (at 3:27), actually I’m just going to stop. This entire song is just goddamned incredible.

Oh yeah, that’s pretty rad, innit? I thought so. But wait: there’s more! Coming soon!

Related posts:

1. Angry Metal Guy’s Best Heavy Metal Songs of All Time 20-11
2. Angry Metal Guy’s Best Heavy Metal Songs of All Time 10-1
3. Angry Metal Guy’s Best Heavy Metal Songs of All Time 40-31

#40: Finntroll – Jaktens Tid – “Jaktens Tid” — To be completely honest with you, given everything, I will never understand how Finntroll isn’t one of the most popular heavy metal bands in the world. I know, some people think it’s hokey, but I think it’s goddamned ingenious. And while Jaktens Tid is far from the band’s best album, this song addicted me to the style, the band, and really made me look to Finland as a place where something new and amazing would happen. And, oh right, it did. “Jaktens Tid” stands out as one of my favorite songs ever, and it redefined what was possible in heavy metal. Well-deserved place here.

#39: Symphony X – V: The New Mythology Suite – “Rediscovery (Part II)” — Because I tend to love real albums over individual songs, it’s sometimes hard for me to really choose the best song from an album. I think, for example, that Symphony X‘s V is one of the best albums ever written. It is a triumph of progressive metal. However, it is also successful with individual songs and Rediscovery (both parts, really, but the metal part is part II) is just a fucking incredible song. Michael Romeo is such a fantastic writer, using his subtlety to build up beautiful tracks and progressive riffing all while writing accessible and interesting music that gets really heavy. The rest of the band is no less incredible and, oh let’s not forget, Allen is one of the best. While he might not have the high, clean tenor range of Kakko, he’s got balls and a great fucking voice and really embodies the metal spirit without being Jorn. If this song doesn’t convince you that Symphony X is one of the best bands ever formed… you’ve got shitty taste in music.

#38: Cynic – Traced in Air – “Integral Birth” — Haters gonna hate, as they say. But let me be frank here: Cynic‘s second record blew the fucking top off pretty much anything that was released at the same time and this is one of the strongest tracks on it. Very rarely does something new get done in heavy metal, but these guys with their jazz fusion and their ‘we’re not very metal anymore’ approach, still managed to make something new, cool and extraordinarily engaging happen. Which, frankly, is tough to do these days. What always amazes me is the composition. Bands try to jump styles, and most of the time it’s fail. But instead, they manage to piece something together that is extraordinarily cohesive while being built of such different parts. Oh right, and they’re so much fucking better than AC/DC or Korn. God those idiots at Gibson fucking piss me right off.

#37: Ihsahn – angL – “Scarab” — Ihsahn. What can I say, this guy puts out music post-Emperor that almost lives up to my love for early Emperor. Actually, these days I listen to Ihsahn‘s solo stuff a lot more than I listen to Emperor. And what defines his best stuff for me is that blend of progressive music with his incredible riffing. All three of his solo records are just loaded with amazing riffs, song-writing and solos. But for me, this takes it. And this track really embodies his best work, in my opinion. Oh, and the main riff is just so damn hooky and excellent. But also the bass and drumming are incredible. This song is forward thinking post-black metal/progressive and it’s goddamned genius.

#36: Enslaved – Below the Lights – “Havenless” — Another one of those post-black metal Norwegian bands that has brought their game up tremendously is Enslaved. While I think that Vertebrae is their best post-prog-transition record, this track is goddamned incredible. It’s worth the place on the list for Viking chanting introduction, but there’s just something about the atmosphere these guys build that really gets under your skin. It’s addictive, it’s smart, it’s heavy and edgy. And frankly, it’s a great example of how metal is so much more interesting and progressive than what the mainstream seems to think it is. You take a look at a band like Enslaved that engages itself in Norse mythology, modern philosophy and progressive music and you say: How the hell do people just think that we’re all just cock-rock style morons? Oh right, ’cause of idiots like the people at Gibson who made that stupid fucking list. Idiots.

#35: At The Gates – Slaughter of the Soul – “Blinded by Fear” — This track speaks for itself. There is not a more influential song that has been written in heavy metal since, fuck.. I don’t even know. I mean At The Gates is on par with Slayer, Metallica, Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden for having spawned so many goddamned clone bands that it is insanely ridiculous. I don’t know a single metal dude who doesn’t know every single word to every single song on this record, and “Blind by Fear” is just the song that hooked us all. You’d think that at least this track would have made it on to the list at Gibson given that every band in the US to release a record since 2002 sounds like them. But no.

#34: Otyg – Sagovindars Boning – “Trollslottet” — OK, this one oughtta throw people for a loop, but honestly, Otyg is one of those bands overlooked even in the folk metal scene for some fucking reason. There’s like 3,000 folk metal bands, but people don’t know all the lyrics to “Trollslottet”? Screw Eluveitie in the ear! This is where this is at. In any case, I could listen to this song day in and day out, and it feels like real folk metal belongs on this list and Otyg is definitely the band that should be carrying that torch. Just listen to Vintersorg‘s tones and that jawharp and think to yourself: “My life hasn’t been complete until now.”

#33: Iron Maiden – Powerslave – “Flash of the Blade” — Iron Maiden is better than Judas Priest by the way. Just thought I’d get that out of the way. The answer the question is Iron Maiden. In any case, while I think that compared to Seventh Son and Piece of Mind, Powerslave is a kind of overrated record. Oh, it’s fucking amazing, but those other records were better. However, one track goes totally underrated on the record and never gets the attention that it deserves and I think it’s easily one of the best heavy metal tracks ever written! Dickinson is, well, Dickinson, but the harmonies are great, the melodies are catchy and the fucking guitar solo is pretty much the coolest thing that ever made it onto an Iron Maiden record. That these guys have three guitarists in the band and still never play this song live is a testament to how stuck in a rut they are.

#32: Amorphis – Elegy – “Against Widows” — Man, it’s so tough going back and choosing out which Amorphis tracks are the best. I mean, their first three records are goddamned genius, and coincidentally their last three have also been fucking astounding. But I love this song so goddamned much. This is a great combination of their more progressive song peeking through, their great harmonies and melodies and the folky metal riffing that addicted us all in the first place! This song is one of my favorites from the album, and one of my favorites ever. I’m so glad the guys over at Relapse got Moomin Fever!

#31: Akercocke - Antichrist – “Axiom” — These guys are so damned underrated. Apparently they’re done for, I dunno for sure. They’ve been dropped by Earache, their guitarist left the band and their website is done. But if the last thing they left us with is Antichrist they have left us with one of the best ‘progressive’ death metal records I own. I love the clean vocals and the double kick through the clean parts. Also, I love that their main man plays a Parker Fly ’cause that’s like the most un-death metal guitar ever. And really, as a metal dude, how do you argue with the final line of this track: “I believe that when I die, I shall rot. And nothing more of my ego shall remain.”

Yeah, so 30-21 coming next week sometime!

Related posts:

1. Angry Metal Guy’s Best Heavy Metal Songs of All Time 30-21
2. Angry Metal Guy’s Best Heavy Metal Songs of All Time 20-11
3. Angry Metal Guy’s Best Heavy Metal Songs of All Time 10-1

An interesting irony of modern metal right now is that while much of the underground seems to be mind-numbingly obsessed with simplicity, a lot of the stuff that is righteously called “mainstream” or that attempts to be mainstream is really getting quite technical and progressive—this is the opposite of what was happening a decade ago, really. As a guy who has really leaned in that direction for a very long time, I have to say that I have trouble being upset by this movement, and it makes me open to a lot of things that I think a lot of metal elitists would never even be willing to listen to. Across the Sun is one of those bands that I think your average death metal or black metal dude is going to take a listen to and say “Oh, fuck these guys,” and turn off. But Angry Metal Guy takes records and gives them a listen for what they are and I can say that Across the Sun‘s Before the Night Takes Us is a record chalk full of interesting music, despite some pretty glaring weaknesses.

Before the Night Takes Us is a record that starts promisingly, actually, and two things stood out immediately. The first, and most defining, was vocalist Brandon Davis. In the opening strains of Before the Night Takes Us, which starts out with some heavy groove, a techy guitar part, hardcore vocals and into a clean chorus where Davis shows off his clear, baritone voice, I was pretty instantly near convinced that this would be great. Even when they broke into a breakdown, stoppy riff after the chorus I had been thinking that the record was showing some serious promise. The second thing is that the band had some chops. Again, we’re firmly in “post-hardcore” or metalcore territory, but the orchestrations and the keyboard work definitely also lands the band in the prog arena. This was definitely enjoyable and interesting.

And so while I was grooving along with Davis’ Killswitch Engageesque baritone on “Song of the Hopeless” (which also has fucking cheesy lyrics)—he broke out the wail. This is actually not the first time that I’ve heard this, and it’s the second time in recent history that I’ve heard something that is basically an R&B or soul vocal technique coming into metal recently. The chick from Deadlock was doing it, too, on their last record Bizarro World and it drives me NUTS. It’s a vocal style that I totally abhor and it really pisses on any emotional poignancy that dude is trying to show off by making it sound forced and fake.  It actually, to draw a strange comparison, reminds me of how Joey Tempest (Men kom igen! Skämdes han för namnet Jocke!?) used to sing over the intro to every single Europe song. It’s the vocal equivalent of jumping up and down and screaming “LOOK AT ME!” In this case it’s less annoying, but it’s still a) distracting from the whole and b) hugely melodramatic and in poor taste. It takes what could be delicate passages and turns them into sappy passages. And unfortunately, it didn’t just happen once. It littered nearly every song. It is the wrong feel in the wrong place at the wrong time and casts a pallor over an otherwise serviceable disc.

Now after the rant, I can say that while it definitely ruins some moments (have I made that point clearly enough?), Before the Night Takes Us does have some pretty damn solid song-writing on it and I feel like it’s unfair to just pan the whole record because of an otherwise passable vocalist. While the music here definitely fits into the metalcore box, I’m happy to hear that the box is getting bigger and fewer bands are robbing At The Gates blind. Instead there’s piano work, as well as amazing technical guitar solos from axeman Sam Hafer and the bass and drum work from John Malloy and Alan Ashcraft respectively are excellent and work really well with what is really good technical music that straddles the border between tech death, power metal and melodic death metal. But don’t let the tech fool you, because structurally speaking the band doesn’t go too far out to pasture. The tracks don’t get any longer than 5 minutes, and while there is some mild creativity when it comes to form (the end of “Descent & Discovery” features a beautiful little keyboard/classical part), the tracks are definitely easy to sink your teeth into in the veins of Eminent or Killswitch. And the band never goes anywhere near the harder-to-grip technical nature of bands like The Human Abstract or Tesseract.

So while there are some good things going on here, and overall I have a fairly positive feeling about the album, there are some definite weaknesses (I don’t know if I mentioned the vocalist…). If you’re a fan of metalcore and melodic metal, it’s worth checking out. If you can handle the vocalist, you’ll probably enjoy the record because it’s got some good things to offer. And while it has some progressive elements and talented band members, it’s not exactly pushing the envelope and it feels like the band wants to conform to the scene and commercial viability a bit more than they want to make inventive and truly unique and/or forward thinking music. I’m sure that tactic will pay off for them, but I don’t know how much I’ll be coming back to this record. Let’s see where they are in a year or two when they’re putting up the follow up to this.

Related posts:

1. The Human Abstract – Digital Veil Review
2. Black Sun Aeon – Darkness Walks Beside Me Review
3. Dream Evil – In the Night Review

I’m sure most know the history of The Haunted and how they formed from the ashes of the legendary At The Gates. Despite my love for At The Gates, I never fully understood the stellar press and support The Haunted received and always felt they were one of the most overrated bands on the planet. Eventually they started to drift toward a more metalcore style and I lost the limited interest I had in them. Now they’re back with album seven Unseen and they’ve left their thrash days in the dust, probably for good. Instead, they deliver a strange, directionless mess of experimentation, emo angst, nu-metal and alt-rock. It’s clear they’re writing only for themselves and could care less what their fans expect or hope for at this point. While that’s admirable from an artistic perspective, when the results are this tedious and uninspiring, it’s both tragic and cringe-inducing. No matter how brave and creative they want to be, at the end of the day they should still be striving to write good music and they seem to have forgotten that here.

This is a schizophrentic album from the start. Lead track “Never Better” starts as a nu-metal dud before morphing into a more alt-rock style with a decently catchy chorus. However, the reek of nu-metal/core can’t be shaken off. The album highlight “No Ghost” sounds a lot like Clutch or Corrosion of Conformity (think “Albatross”) and as strange as it sounds coming from The Haunted, it’s actually a good song. After that the identity crisis or willful attempt to be challenging hits full stride and we get songs with Faith No More influences (“Catch 22″), straight-up angsty emo rock (“Dissapear,” “Unseen” and “All Ends Well”), songs that would fit better in the Foo Fighters catalogue (“Motionless”) and lastly, metalcore with a bit of modern thrash and groove (“The Skull,” “The City” and “Them”). While I have to give them credit for trying to stretch their sound, this ends up trying to go in every direction at once and ultimately just feels lost and scattered. It’s almost like they couldn’t decide what style to pursue so they tried them all. While some songs manage to have memorable bits or a catchy chorus, the overall impression is one of a stylistic train wreck.

In fairness, vocalist Peter Dolving deserves some recognition for fitting into the diverse styles The Haunted explores here. He shows he can be a versatile front man and I was impressed at times by the shades of his performance. Sadly, too much of his vocals still end up being typical metalcore screamo crap which I can’t stand. The guitar work of Patrik Jensen and Anders Björler is disappointingly mediocre on many tracks and only occasionally do they hit upon an inspired riff (“No Ghost” sounds great and the riffing in “The Skull” is OK).

Truth be told, I had a great deal of trouble giving  this album the repeated spins required to be fair. After one listen all I wanted to do was treat it like I treated St Anger and throw it in trash. I did ultimately stick with it and sat through it over and over again to see if things clicked somehow. They didn’t. For people who like metalcore, nu-metal or emo, this may be quite an interesting release. However, Steel Druhm cares not for those styles so to my ears, this is pretty rotten. Although I was never fully enamored with The Haunted, I can now say they will be completely dropped from my musical consciousness forevermore.

Related posts:

1. Scar Symmetry – The Unseen Empire Review
2. Witchery – Witchkrieg Review
3. Architects – The Here and Now Review

Heavy metal was once the most popular music in the world. Sure, it was glam rock, but bands that were genuinely cool were doing really well even if they weren’t getting radio play. Think about the success of Metallica pre-black album, or Iron Maiden selling out the Long Beach Arena 4 nights running on the tour for Powerslave. The music was technical, but it was still accessible and the mass appeal was still synonymous with good bands. But since the 1980s the quality of pop music has declined dramatically, and popular rock with it. We have now landed in a bizarro world, where bad, fundamentally not very catchy or interesting bands that lack all content are popular, and where innovators and interesting bands have trouble getting any recognition. But there’s an even more terrible place, and that’s the ill-advised attempts of people to try to blend these two things. No good can come of this.

Deadlock is living proof of this. Bizarro World is pretty bizarre in that it rocks some pretty interesting melodic death metal that is consistently ruined and pissed on by a desire to forcibly shove pop music—and I mean real pop music, complete with synths and overproduced female vocals—into the mix. Deadlock sounds a lot like Sonic Syndicate—this is certainly no compliment—but they’re actually heavier, with a real death metal vocalist and some seriously interesting guitar work at times. There are some solid riffs that litter tracks here and there and some genuinely good things that show up. While the production is super fake and annoying, it’s par for the course, you know? I’ve come to expect it, and I’ve got a thing for perfectly sweeped arpeggios.

Unfortunately, this band decided that groovecore or melodic death metal wasn’t good enough, they decided they needed a clean female vocalist, as well. And then they decided that they wanted to mix in Top 40 pop music into their sound. To quote one dead guy from Lord of the Rings “Not with ten thousand men could you do this. It is folly.” And folly, it indeed is. Of course, the problem is, that I have very little reference for modern pop music. I don’t listen to pop radio ever unless I’m forced to in public places, which is a rarity in the days of portable music. But let me put this into context:  this is how I imagine Miley Cyrus would sound if I had ever heard her. She’s bland, sure she can sing, but since she’s so over-produced it’s hard to tell if her voice has any personality or anything. Then on top of it she brings with her an R&B kind of sense to rock music, with all the wrong flourishes in all the wrong places, but then draping it Evanescence style lyrics (i.e., bad, depressing teenage angst lyrics such as “You left me dead. Dead as dead can be.” – That deserves a fucking award).

So basically you’re left with a record that is half groovecore with the occasionally awesome solo and or some fun At The Gates or Soilwork riff which gets offset by anonymous, shitty pop music out of nowhere. Don’t get me wrong, by the way, Sabine Scherer can sing and is a talented vocalist. But she’s anonymous and really has no personality or character that draws this listener to her voice. She sounds like every other pop vocalist I’ve ever heard since about the 1990s—the overproduced vocals that sound like they should be flitting over techno beats, not on a metal record. And the lyrics don’t help, when they’re coughing up crap like: “What a brutal romance, what a brutal romance.. It always takes two to tango!” I can’t imagine anyone ever liking this anywhere who isn’t a 14 year old girl. And frankly, I’ve met some 14 year old girls who listen to way heavier and cooler shit than this, I shouldn’t do them a disservice of comparing what they like to this.

If you want a perfect snapshot of how shitty this record is, go find the track “Renegade.” Make sure to bring a bucket with, ’cause I guarantee that you’ll blow chunks.

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1. Omnium Gatherum – New World Shadows Review
2. Amaranthe – Amaranthe Review
3. In Solitude – The World. The Flesh. The Devil. Review

I’ve been waiting for a long time to get to Abysmal Dawn‘s new disc Leveling the Plane of Existence. Having had a 2010 that was sadly devoid of mind-blowing technical death metal (excepting Hour of Penance‘s Paradogma), I was really looking forward to a slab of technical death metal mastery that is being sold by Relapse as the savior of American death metal. While I wouldn’t go that far, Abysmal Dawn does offer up some solid technical death metal that is well-played, well-written and full of enough novel ideas and good riffs to make the record enjoyable. And the band has a unique, melodic voice that separates it from the pack.

Abysmal Dawn is a solid technical death metal band in the vein of Psycroptic, Decrepit Birth, Anata and others. However, whether or not they’re up to that same level is up in the air. Leveling the Plane of Existence has some excellent tracks on it, to be sure. The short and sweet “Manufactured Humanity” stood out for me the first time through, because the main riff while simple, was definitely infectious. “In Service of Time,” the third track on the record, has a great groove at the beginning and is generally mid-paced throughout, but it’s loaded with great harmonies and smart writing—not to mention great solos and superb guitar tone. Abysmal Dawn even wanders into doomy-esque Nile territory with the slow riff at the beginning of “Perpetual Dormancy” only to land in At The Gates territory with the harmonies that follow it up in some of the most well-constructed song writing on the record, flowing seamlessly from one idea to the next without interruption and without seeming remotely forced.

And while thinking about the construction and sound of the record, the production on this CD should not be overlooked. While certainly we don’t spend a lot of time talking about production these days because any band signed to any label worth its salt can afford state-of-the-art production these days, but the mix on Leveling the Plane of Existence is superb, and unlike Psycrotpic, Hour of Penance and Fleshgod Apocalypse the drums on here sound more natural (though I’m sure they’re replaced). This makes everything that happens on here sit perfectly, which is good because few things are more annoying when listening to death metal than a snare drum that blocks out the riffing.

All of that said, though Leveling the Plane of Existence is not a scene defining record. It’s pretty much what one expects of technical death metal. While there are excellent tracks as mentioned earlier, there are also some tracks that might even go down in the “filler” category, like “My Own Savior” and the sleeper of a final, and frankly cheesy, track “The Sleeper Has Awakened.” These songs have some good parts, but I doubt they’re band’s strongest material, and they certainly don’t live up to a lot of the other material on the disc.

Still, the final product of Abysmal Dawn‘s third album is definitely on the good side of the spectrum. The record is good and the band is definitely talented as hell and has developed a unique voice. The technical skill, and especially the guitar solos, stand out as some of the best I’ve heard on a death metal record in a long time. These guys aren’t spending time imitating Kerry King or Trey Azagthoth but instead have developed a much more melodic approach to the guitar solos that definitely plays well with this style—something that sets them apart from other more technical bands that are putting out records right now. So while Leveling the Plane of Existence might not be scene-defining, it is definitely worthy of a listen for fans. And it might even prove a gateway to the scene for non-fans.

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3. Obscura – Omnivium Review

Well, I’m not sure what I did to end up on the Angry Metal Guy’s Official Shit List™.  However, his  assigning me both the new Lazarus A.D. and Artas albums proves I’m on it bigtime. I can just picture AMG up there on his throne all high and mighty, laughing as he contemptuously sneers, “let him eat metalcore.” Steel Druhm does not like being on the Shit List and Steel Druhm will have his wengeance! Anyway, Riotology is the second album by Austrian metalcore/quasi-thrash bandwagon jumpers Artas. Up until now their claim to fame was a wildly ill-conceived cover of Coolio‘s “Gangsta’s Paradise” which ended up being funnier than Weird Al Yankovic‘s “Amish Paradise.” Now with Riotology they can truthfully claim recording two average metalcore albums. Hey, congrats guys! As soon as I saw the album cover which looks like a screen shot from the Assassin’s Creed video games I should have known where this was heading. The second clue I was in trouble was the band’s prominently displayed claim that they play “modern metal.” Apparently that’s record industry speak for tired metalcore by bands that yearn to be At the Gates and In Flames with poppier, radio-friendly choruses.  Because I am merciful, I will now implore you all to leave this review and save yourselves. I can’t go with you however, for I must write on.

After a delightfully non-core intro, things kick off with “Fortress of No Hope” (ironically, exactly the feeling that set in for me) and you will be regaled with the same melodic thrash-core you’ve been beaten into expecting by years of record company abuse. After some screaming and shouting, there’s the expected clean singing for the “big” chorus that aims for radio airplay somewhere, anywhere. If you’ve ever  listened to Shadow’s Fall, Killswitch Engage, Unearth or Trivium then you heard this before, and here it is again. Taking the route of Lord Doom who always tries to find the positives, there is a decent riff/drum interplay at 3:44. There, I was positive! On “The Day the Books Will Burn Again”  vocalist Hannes adopts a more snarling Udo-esque approach which sounds decent but he quickly lapses back into the textbook metalcore screams and the song goes down the tubes. Later, we get “The Suffering of John Doe” with plenty of dramatic clean singing and a semi-ballad breaks out at times between generous helpings of chugga chug chug riffing (they obviously care nothing for the suffering of Steel Druhm). Elsewhere we get a song sung in German (“Rassenhass”), one in Spanish (“No Pasaren”) and “Le Saboteur” is in French. While it’s clear Artas are multi-lingual, they remain painfully one-dimensional and that dimension is predictable metalcore that would have been HUGE in 2000.

This is a pretty long album with sixteen tracks of thrashy-core punishment. If that’s your thing then I guess this is a pretty good bargain. Of the sixteen, best in show probably goes to “Fortress of No Hope,”  “Ashes of Failure” or “A Martyr’s Dawn.” Aside from singing in different languages and including some orchestration in “Between Poets and Murderers” there isn’t a lot to distinguish Artas from other acts playing this style. They write predominantly fast songs with plenty of screaming and clean choruses that strive to be as catchy and ear-friendly as possible and that’s pretty much it folks. As far as how these guys rate against the new Lazarus A.D., I would give Artas the edge for having superior riffs, energy, greater variation in songwriting and a more sincere, authentic and less forced feel to the music.

While the fact that bands like this are still getting signed makes me want to punch a random record company executive, there must be a market for it so I blame society. If you love this style, buy this album. If you hate it, then don’t. OK, can I come out of the doghouse now AMG? [Do you promise to quit being a review hog? - AMG]

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2. Lazarus A.D. – Black Rivers Flow Review
3. Evergreen Terrace – Almost Home Review