Angry Metal Guy

Dragonland // Under the Grey Banner
Rating: 2.5/5.0 — This Shall Not Pass!
Label: AFM Records
Websites: thegreybanner.com | myspace.com/dragonland
Release Dates: Out now!

Talk about the right album at the right time! While I was never that big a fan of the symphonic bombast and Lord of the Rings fetishism of power metal acts like Blind Guardian and Rhapsody, I was tasked with reviewing the new Dragon- land opus over the same long weekend that  local movie channels played the LOTR trilogy nonstop in their full extended glory. Since Under the Grey Banner is yet another slobbering Tolkien love-fest, replete with elves, orcs, swords and sappiness (which completes their own trilogy started on their first two albums), it fit right in. Like their previous works, it’s a full-on symphonic cheese factory with enough grandiose pomposity to choke a Balrog. You know exactly what it will sound like and what will be included. Overblown keyboards, soaring vocals, choirs, frenetic neo-classical guitar wankery, it’s a big, overwrought symphonic mess. As such, it manages to work about as well as most albums of this ilk but at least it didn’t send me running for a shot of insulin until the midway point. While its nothing you haven’t heard before from the likes of Rhapsody or Labyrinth, its well done and quite entertaining at times in a too-close-to-Broadway-musical kind of way. However, it has it’s share of consistency issues and isn’t as strong as their 2004 Starfall release. That said, I’m sure fans of this type of Dungeons & Dragons™ music will love it like a +10 sword of sliceification. In case there was ANY doubt about the nerd-factor of this stuff, Dragonland created an interactive website with maps and narrations to help guide you on the mystic  journey they planned for you. Holy nerd bait, Batman! Continue reading

3 // The Ghost You Gave to Me
Rating: 3.5/5.0 — Solid, man.
Label: Metal Blade
Websites: theband3.com
Release Dates: EU: 2011.10.07/10 | US: 10.11.2011

3 was one of my favorite discoveries of the year 2007. The End Is Begun ripped me out of my progressive complacency and reminded me that well-written, well-performed progressive rock or heavy metal, can be some of the most interesting and effective music. In a world dominated by polyrhythms and breakdowns, 3 was a refreshing blast of melody, piccolo toms and some of the most creative and unique guitar playing and song writing that I’d heard in a very long time. So I guess it’s fair to say that I have been anticipating their follow up, The Ghost You Gave to Me with no small amount of anticipation.  Continue reading

Well, here it is folks. The final 10 [Here's the first 40: 50-41, 40-31, 31-20, 20-11 and Steel Druhm's: 50-41, 40-31, 30-21, 20-11, 10-1]. And this is going to ruffle a bunch of feathers, I guarantee it. These are, for the most part, not widely considered “favorites” and would never make fan-voted lists, but these tracks all got onto this list pretty easily. I’m not as angry about the whole Gibson list anymore, and I’ve lost a bit of steam because of that, but these tracks are all fucking fantastic, top-o’-the-line kind of shit. I hope you enjoy the list and I look forward trolling you soon. U MAD BRO!? Continue reading

Hell // Human Remains
Rating: 3.0/5.0 — Long overdue, way overdone
Label: Nuclear Blast [EU | US]
Websites: hell-metal.com | myspace.com/hell
Release Dates: EU: 2011.05.13 | US: 05.17.2011

Wow, yet another reminder that you can’t always judge a metal album by the cover. By looking at the artwork for Hell‘s debut Human Remains, I bet most would expect a death or thrash bonanza. Well, a mighty big ass surprise would await upon spinning this thing! This is NWOBHM style metal by a British band that was part of the 80′s new wave but unable to land a record deal, despite adoring fans and supporters like Lars Ulrich. After founding singer/guitarist Dave Halliday killed himself in 1987, it seemed Hell had run it’s course. Fear not, for long time fan, friend and mega-producer Andy Sneap (Sabbat) has come to the rescue, convincing them to reform for another shot at metallic glory. With the surviving members together again along with new vocalist Dave Bower and Mr. Sneap as a second guitarist, we finally get that long awaited debut. So how do a bunch of songs that have been mothballed since the 80′s sound in 2011? Well, despite some great moments and obvious potential, its not a complete success. Allow me to elaborate. Continue reading

Closer and closer we draw to the best heavy metal song of all time, but indeed there is much in between and none of it has been come to lightly. I actually have spent a lot of time mulling over this list since its creation and I am pleased, thus far I can’t think of anything major that I’ve left out—which must mean that they are not indeed ‘top songs’ at all. But let me get to one note of concern that people have raised. They say that one of the reasons that a list like Gibson’s travesty is valid is because “it’s hard to know if these songs can stand the test of time!” I just want to take a minute to call bullshit.

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.

Continue reading

2010. Wow, man. 2010. We’re counting months now until we all die in 2012. So how do you think it’s going to happen? Do you think that terrorists will get a nuke and fuck up the world? Or do you think that a meteor will hit? Or should I wait until the end of 2011 to ask that question?

Well, either way, now that I’ve given your children nightmares that they will never get over, I’d like to say THANKS. Thanks to everyone for reading this blog of mine (and Steel Druhm’s—who gets a special thanks for writing for this blog of mine). Thanks for responding to posts, for donating to the website to help keep it afloat and thanks for your patience when I can be a little bit inconsistent due to having a life and not doing this for a living (and thanks to Mr. Steel Druhm especially, but also Lord Doom and the others who have helped pick up the slack). It’s really cool that you do that. That you get an RSS feed of reviews that we write. That you debate and that you feel as passionately about metal as we do even if we don’t all agree. That’s awesome.

Also, a big WTF to Southern Lord and Profound Lore for not sending me promos despite repeated requests. What’s an Angry Metal Guy gotta do to get some love from y’all? I’m not going to download your shit illegally to review it, but I’d like to review it! So send me promo already for fuck’s sake!

Lastly, I want to say a word first about the fact that 2010 saw the loss of two of my personal heroes: Ronnie James Dio and Peter Steele. Let’s not forget both of these metal icons who gave in their own very unique ways to the fabric of the thing that we all love. Metal will definitely not be the same with them gone.

In honor of 2010 being a pretty good year (aside from the untimely deaths), I’ve got to present my top 10. And more importantly I have to declare the Record o’ the Year! Continue reading

Blind Guardian // At the Edge of Time
Rating: 2.5/5.0 — Some shimmers of glory, but not a total return
Label: Nuclear Blast (EU | US)
Websites: blind-guardian.com | myspace.com/blindguardian
Release Dates: EU: 30.07.2010 | US: 08.24.2010

Blind Guardian is easily one of the most unique bands that modern metal has ever encountered. I really do think that they are one of the most original acts to ever come out of any scene, sub-genre or crevace within the greater history of metal. Combining bay area thrash influence with a German power/thrash legacy and sprinkling liberally with Queen, this German act has been at the forefront of power metal and progressive metal since Imaginations from the Other Side (for sure, and probably even before that). Few bands in metal command the kind of insane loyalty from their fanbase and few bands ever deserve that kind of loyalty, frankly. Even for me, personally, Blind Guardian was one of the bands that really got me exploring modern power metal. I picked up Nightfall in Middle-Earth and my life was forever changed. That record still ranks in my top 10 of all time, easily. Continue reading

Skyforger // Kurbads
Rating: 4.0/5.0 — A remarkable blend of elements
Label: Metal Blade
Websites: skyforger.lv | myspace.com/skyforgerofficial
Release Dates: EU: 23/26.04.2010 | US: 05.11.2010

Skyforger is Latvia’s answer to folk metal and they’ve been giving it a go for quite a while. Despite having been around since 1995, however, they’ve not produced a terribly huge discography. In fact, Kurbads is the first Skyforger album since 2003, when they self-released a folk album that was mightily well-received by their fanbase—even, apparently, more so their metal album from the same year Thunderforge. The band, for the record, has also been involved in a bit of controversy surrounding the use of, what the band calls a thundercross, and what the rest of us call a swastika in their logo. But it seems the band has worked very hard to distance themselves from any of the controversy surrounding this and should be approached from a non-political stance.

And pure folk metal Kurbads certainly is. Written with an eye towards ancient Latvian mythologies about men becoming heroes, every song on this record is basically about people standing up to the evil confronting them and defeating them. Think about it as the Baltic equivalent of the great national epics of Germany, Sweden, England or anywhere else for that matter. To back up this admirable and interesting concept the band has once again attacked the subject with their breed of doomy (or at least mid-paced) blackened folk metal. As I’ve been listening to this album I’ve had some issues placing exactly who the band sounds like, which is a thing to be admired, really, but I guess the best way to describe Skyforger‘s sound to newcomers is a blend of 80s thrash, Iron Maiden and Bathory with a healthy dose of folk melodies. It is a sound that is both familiar and comfortable, yet unique and interesting. Normally not a fan of mid-paced bands, Skyforger spoke to me on a completely different level.

This appeal has largely to do with the well-structured and interesting songwriting which combines all these different elements into a strong alloy. For example, the track “Black  Rider” mixes a Blind Guardian-esque riff, using bagpipes as lead instead of overly layered guitars, with an old school style Motörhead riff. While “The Nine-Headed” blends folk metal with Kreator-like German thrash and Iron Maiden‘s dual guitar leads. Each one of these songs offers a beautiful blending of these different metal styles and makes them cool, cohesive and crushing. My personal favorite song, and the one that convinced me that Kurbads was going to be a good record after all was definitely “Son of the Mare”, which starts out slow but turns into a speed metal track of amazing quality, with some of the most addictive melodies being carried by the bagpipes towards the end. This track set the standard for the album, which most of the record really lives up to.

Listening to Kurbads I’m really reminded of what it is about being a metalhead that I like so much. Sure, there seems to be a ridiculous amount of genrefication that’s gone on in the last few years. There are very few bands that are universally loved by metalheads in the same way that an Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath or a Metallica once were. But the ability of bands to take these various different genres, blend them together and get something new out of it is definitely something that is worth our admiration. Every metalhead has his or her own idea of what The Best Fucking Band Ever should sound like, and most of the time it’s not one band, but several. Skyforger has managed to mix all of these things together to write one of the more interesting folk metal albums you’ll hear these days and something I guarantee you doesn’t sound anything like Eluveitie, Turisas or Finntroll—and that’s what makes it awesome.

Rage // Strings to a Web
Rating: 4.5/5.0 — A surprising, catchy release
Label: Nuclear Blast (EU | US)
Websites: rage-on.de | myspace.com/rage
Release Dates: EU: 05.02.2010 | US: TBA

When I was in my big power metal phase, which I guess would’ve probably been around 2000/2001, I stumbled upon a Rage CD in a great used CD store that I used to go into all the time (those were the days). I thought for sure it was going to be great just from looking at it. Turns out… not so much. I don’t recall hating a record more than that one. I thought it was a major pile of shit. I’m pretty sure it was the record XIII, but I can’t be sure as it was sold away a long time ago. Needless to say I wasn’t even a little bit excited when I received this record. I was fully expecting this record to be totally crap.

However, the German hockey metal has struck: and I’ve been addicted for about a week to this CD. For fans of the band, I’m sure that this review will probably be not as good as it could be, because I don’t have a lot of reference for the band’s earlier work, however, I’m going to describe this from the perspective of someone who’s really hearing these guys for the first time. Rage is like a blending of 80s Yes with Blind Guardian. They have all the thrash, the classical influences (and these guys actually pre-date Blind Guardian by a few years) and the “hockey choruses” as one individual I know calls it, that make Blind Guardian, Nocturnal Rites and bands of that nature addictive. On the other hand, there’s a progressive bent, that keeps things fresh and that really is reminiscent of the 1980s.

Actually, the biggest surprise here is that a band with such big, modern production can still sound so genuinely 80s. I know that, of course, these guys started making music in the early 80s, but honestly.. no one sounds like that anymore. These guys have not shyed away from the things that made the 80s unique and campy, including a Top Gun love scene kind of soundtrack moment (the track entitled “Fatal Grace” and starring a Kenny G wannabe) in the big “Empty Hollow” track (a 5 part epic, that kicks ass). But despite all of this, it still manages to be good and somehow avoids the camp. It has all of those simple rock beats, straightforward melodies and guitar driven compositions that one associates with the 80s, but somehow they just make it work. There must be something in the tone or the production that I can’t quite put my finger on, but this record manages to be simultaneously nostalgic and relevant.

But don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a glam album either. It is consistent with good German thrash metal and just generally addictive. Very few bands tempt me to headbang at the desk while I’m writing the review and listening to it. Few bands produce melodies that are so intensely addictive as the choruses on this album (see: “Empty Hollow,” “Hunter and Prey,” “Saviour of the Dead”). My biggest complaint about this record, honestly, is that the lyrics are pretty lame. As a buddy put it “Show me a power metal band with good lyrics and I’ll show you the holy grail,” and that’s probably true.. but you’d think that someday we’d be able to get past the embarrassing lyrics that show up on this record (and many other power metal records). It’s a shame, because everything else about this record is great—but just listen to the lyrics to “Hellgirl” and tell me that you’re not embarrassed.

Criticisms aside, I was pretty much wowed by this album. I’ve heard bad things about this band’s later material, so it sounds like this record isn’t at all representative of that era. If you’ve been a fan of this band in the past but quit listening to them, now might be the time to give them another chance. And if you’re a fan of power metal, prog and German thrash you should definitely check out this album.