Angry Metal Guy

Cruachan // Blood on the Black Robe
Rating: 2.5/5.0 — An improvement, but missing something…
Label: Candlelight
Websites: cruachanireland.com | myspace.com/cruachanfanpage
Release Dates: EU: 2011.04.18 | US: 04.19.2011

So, like them or not, Cruachan has been around since the early 1990s doing their Celtic folk metal bit with varying success. Their most widely well-regarded record is the album Folk-Lore from 2002, but there was at least a little love for the band’s blending of Gaelic folk music and metal. For me, the band has always had an air of ‘amateur’ about them. While bands like Primordial and Skyclad produced unique music at a high level, there’s always been a seed of a good idea with Cruachan, but an execution problem. So, how does Blood on the Black Robe live up to the legacy of the band? Continue reading

Winterfylleth // The Mercian Sphere
Rating: 2.5/5.0 — Killed by ADD
Label: Candlelight
Websites: myspace.com/winterfylleth
Release Dates: EU: 19.07.2010 | US: 07.27.2010

Winterfylleth is a pagan black metal band from Manchester, England who previously has a full length that was released on Profound Lore. They join the ranks of modern black metal bands who, while conforming to many aspects of the genre, are still fighting against the basics: grindy Satan worship. Instead, Winterfylleth produces atmospheric, but melodic black metal that fits in perfectly with a lot of what’s going on around the world in black metal, but that definitely couldn’t be grouped in with sort of “post-black metal” crowd. The Mercian Sphere has the basic foundations of what could be a highly successful record in 2010—but there are a few things that get in the way for this Angry Metal Guy. Continue reading

Limbonic Art // Phantasmagoria
Rating: 3.0/5.0 — One man and his drum machine.
Label: Nocturnal Art / Candlelight
Website: myspace.com/officiallimbonicart
Release Dates: EU: 19.07.2010 | US: ?

I loved Bathory growing up. I mean, I REALLY loved me some Bathory! That crazy Quorthon and his one man band really tore it up while basically giving birth to the black, folk and viking metal genres all by his lonesome. However, A.B. (After Bathory), many one man bands rose up in the frozen, gloomy black metal basements of the world, some good, many not. Therefore, when I heard that long running Norwegian black metal act Limbonic Art was now essentially reduced to a one man project for co-founder Daemon, I was more than slightly uneasy about the release of this, their seventh album, Phantasmagoria. Further enhancing my unease was the advance word that the album would again feature a drum machine (a long running negative for this band). With unease and hesitation upon all our minds (or at least mine), here we go. Continue reading

Nachtmystium // Black Meddle II: Addicts
Rating: 4.5/5.0 — Sick, dirty and most definitely black
Label: Candlelight | Century Media
Websites: myspace.com/nachtmystium
Release Dates: Out Now!

If you ask any black metal purist what real “black metal” should sound like, you will probably get a slew of bands that, seem to blur into each other somewhat in a slew of blast beats, tremelo-picked riffs and shrieked vocals – and woe betide he who dares to experiment with this time honoured recipe. Black metal is a cutthroat genre among its fans, and bands that defy the trends of the genre yet still dub their metal “black” are quick to draw the ire of the once faithful. Blake Judd’s Nachtmystium took a major gamble when they decided to pursure a more avant-garde approach to black metal with Instinct: Decay and have both won and lost fans, but so far, (In this angry metal guy’s opinion, at least) their less orthodox releases have been consistent and relevant to the modern black metal landscape. Continue reading

Circle of Dead Children // Psalms of the Grand Destroyer
Rating: 2.0/5.0 – Who let the pigs out? Who? Who?
Label: Candlelight
Websites: myspace.com/circleofdeadchildren
Release Dates: EU: 07.06.2010 | US: 06.08.2010

Here at Angry Metal Guy Industries™©®, staff is small [by which he means "little people" - Ed.], deadlines are many and mercy is neither asked for nor granted. Therefore, we of the reviewer caste don’t always get to cherry pick bands or genres we love. Because of this ugly truth, sometimes a review must be done for something outside our musical wheelhouse. That is the very dilemma facing yours truly with a review of Psalms of the Grand Destroyer by Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania’s own Circle of Dead Children. Album number four by these purveyors of inhuman deathgrind is sick, twisted, chaotic and brutal for brutality’s sake, but is it good? That is a mighty tricky question. Continue reading

Ihsahn // After
Rating: 3.5/5.0 — Very good, but not as compelling as angL
Label: Candlelight
Websites: ihsahn.com | myspace.com/ihsahnmusic
Release Dates: EU 25.01.2010 | US: 01.26.2010

Easily one of the most anticipated records of 2010 for me has been Ihsahn‘s new offering. While I was a passing Emperor fan, really just a fan of In the Nightside Eclipse and Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk-era, I was taken by Ihsahn‘s solo stuff. The Adversary felt fresh—progressive enough, a step away from the later Emperor material of which I wasn’t a fan—and it captured the sonic styles and textures that he was never quite allowed to explore while in Emperor. The record didn’t stick with me as I had hoped, while I listened to it occasionally it didn’t hold a steadfast position in my discography. On the other hand, angL blew me away. Probably the finest record of 2008, angL has maintained a steady place in the rotation and is a record that I’ve showed to dozens of people. Perfectly produced, perfectly composed and smartly written, angL contained everything that I wanted out of a new progressive metal record. So, of course, when I heard that Ihsahn would be releasing a new record in 2010, I became justifiably excited.

After, the third album in Ihsahn‘s initial trilogy, has once again separated itself from the pack and from Ihsahn‘s earlier work—something that the man seems compelled to do with every release. The first album composed primarily for his new 8 string guitars, After possesses a more organic sound than the earlier two albums. While the style hasn’t changed dramatically—if you’ve heard the first two albums, you certainly would recognize it as Ihsahn—the composition feels less tightly contained and controlled. The addition of saxophone to certain tracks also offers a more natural dimension to the music, similar to that of the excellent Solefald, and the saxophone is also relatively unconstrained, unpredictable and has the sound of being highly improvised.

That Ihsahn is a fantastic writer is undisputed, but how well this record plays with you probably depends on your personal tastes. The first half of After plays very similarly to his earlier material; black metal influenced progressive metal with excellent riffing, smart transitions and some acoustic parts. This culminates with track “Frozen Lakes on Mars,” which might be the best on the album, before continuing into the second part of the album. The track “Undercurrent” marks the halfway point (trackwise, as it’s track 5) and where this album started to transform to a slower, more progressive album. The riffing and writing loses some of its crispness on the second half of this album—particularly on “Undercurrent” and “Austere” which are both quite slow—and, instead relies on atmosphere, texture and feel. By the time one makes it to “Heaven’s Black Shore,” after the 16 minutes of down time, the record seems to have lost a little bit of its punch. The last two tracks are great, though again a little bit more plodding than the earlier material and the whole album comes to a major epic close that is worth the wait.  How this will play definitely depends on what you like about the earlier Ihsahn material, I think. If you’re a fan of more atmospheric black metal, bands like Shining, Solefald, or even something like Wardruna (or from a totally different angle, if you’re a big fan of 70s prog and neo-prog like Opeth, Porcupine Tree, etc.) you’ll probably appreciate these things musically. If you’re more of a fan of the technical, fast, groovy, structured Ihsahn stuff—well, then this might take some time to grow on you if it ever grows at all.

There is always a danger in re-inventing your sound, and while this record is good, it just doesn’t live up to standard of what I was expecting after angL. That said, I would still recommend this album to others because it’s still heads and shoulders above a lot of the stuff that’s being released today. The musical performances are amazing: the rhythm section (Asgeir Mickelson & Lars Noberg from Spiral Architect) is tight and tremendously talented. The saxophonist (from the Norwegian Shining) offers a stellar performance and production and mix is also tight, clean and clear without feeling sterile. Musically, the record is still epic and compelling for the most part and it shows just how multi-dimensional Ihsahn is as a writer and performer. The question for fans is, of course, what comes after After?

Claustrofobia - I See Red
Rating: 2.5/5.0 – Drop the scale runs and make it shorter, and this would be a better album
Label: Candlelight
Website(s): myspace.com/claustrofobia
Release Date(s): EU: 19.10.2009 | USA: Release date unclear

Anyone who’s ever been a guitarist knows that guy who shames you.  Well, maybe not everyone, ’cause sometimes you are that guy who shames people, but for the most part, we all know that guy.  He’s really good, I mean.. really good. He basically runs circles around the competition, he makes even your best work look like totally sloppy shit and if he doesn’t have a seriously out of control ego, you probably are trying like a madman to get him into your band, even though you’re embarrassed by how bad you are compared to him.  Of course, what I never understood when I was younger was why so many of these guys worked at Guitar Center.  Sure, these guys can play anything that you play back at you, but they can’t write.

Claustrofobia‘s guitarist is one of these guys.  This guy is good.  Actually, he’s not just good, he’s great.  This man is one of those guys that you want in your band.  I mean, the dude can seriously play.  But does that make Claustrofobia‘s new record, and Candlelight debut, I See Red worth picking up?  No.  Instead, proving the rule of why guys who play like this work at Guitar Center, I See Red is an exercise in mediocrity.

Claustrofobia has basically thrashy death metal in the vein of old Sepultura and Vader.  Death metal as you know it, and not much more, is what you get from I See Red.  The approach is mildly novel at points, relying on good technical riffs to interrupt what would normally be pretty straight forward thrash riffing.  The sound is thick and the band is talented, and a markedly old school production (but still clean) brings out the drums in a way that doesn’t make them sound fake and over-produced, giving this record a good thickness that a lot of modern metal lacks.

On the other hand, this record is filled with riffs that don’t leave an impression and solos that are pretty much just any guitar teacher’s ideas of scale-runs.  While tracks like “Tira de Meta” stand out, tracks like “Discharge,” “Our Blood” and “Warstomp” underwhelm the listener with their re-hashed riffs and prepackaged solos. The record does get markedly stronger as it goes on.  But the guitar work that is supposed to impress and be interesting, is often just chromatic scales and intentionally dissonant approach for the sake of dissonance that doesn’t seem to serve any purpose or really fit into the particular idiom that the band has set themselves in.

There are definitely high points on this album and were this record half the length of what they released, I think it would be a much stronger album.   To be honest, I was excited for this album when I first hear the technical approach that they were using at certain parts.  But over time it began to blend together, and I was so distracted by the guitar work and unimpressed with the writing, that I think I lost that excitement.

Claustrofobia could be a markedly better band, if they would wander further into the technical side of things, and use each part of the song to their advantage.  With players like they have, and a keen understanding of good rhythm, they could produce something that is far more unique than what I See Red offers.  This band has practically unlimited potential, but unfortunately this album doesn’t showcase it.

Evile – Infected Nations
Rating: 3.0/5.0 – Pretty good, but certainly nothing revolutionary
Label: Earache
Website(s): evile.co.uk | myspace.com/evileuk
Release Date(s): Out Now in the EU and US

Thrash revival has been a big deal of late.  I mean, thrash is the biggest thing since.. well, thrash, in the metal scene right now.  Bands from all over the world, particularly in the underground, are donning tight jeans, jean jackets, Kreator and Exodus patches and looking for the next big thrash prodigy.  Earache is not the only label releasing thrash revival stuff, it’s coming from everywhere (Candlelight has been particularly prolific with the thrash revival).  Evile is on that bandwagon, whether they like it or not, but they have a different take on it.  That is: they sound a lot more like the mature Bay Area.

Infected Nations is a pretty solid album, with excellent riffing in the classic thrash style that so many of us grew up.  With riffs that bring to mind …and Justice for All and The American Way (by the ever-overlooked Sacred Reich), UK metallers Evile have really brought back a sound of thrash metal that has been missing in the revival.  While bands like have been ripping it up in the old school style of Slayer, Kreator, Destruction and bands of this sort, Evile sounds a lot more like late-80s/early 90s thrash than that.   The introduction to the title track should be a dead give-away for most listeners: beautifully harmonized clean guitars that fade in and lead to a kick ass thrash triplets.

And the whole record is chock-full of kick ass riffs and headbanging monstrosities that bring a guy back to being 9 and discovering Metallica.   There is definitely a certain charm in this and many have lauded praises on the band for “carrying the revival” on their shoulders and stuff like that.   And yeah, Evile is good at what they do!  They really are.. but where’s the progress that we’re supposed to be finding in new metal bands?  Why are we always looking back instead of forward.  Bands like Evile and Havok are almost evidence for a metal scene that doesn’t have anywhere new to go and a generation of metalheads that are disappointed with the state of modern metal: so they’re imitating what’s already been done.

Of course, why stop them?  Metallica quit making good music years ago and even Megadeth has only just regained its glory with a good album: but Evile has put out its second critically acclaimed record in a row and somehow manages to keep a 20 year old sound fresh, for the most part.

Of course, there are some things I’d change about this album.  I like the faster, heavier and techy-er parts, but I find a lot of the mid-paced riffs to be a little bit mind-numbing and I tend to lose myself in them.  Another issue that I have is the vocals, which are classic thrash and also very, very monotonous.  Matt Drake (rhythm guitar / vocals) does his best classic James Hetfield/Chuck Billy impression over every track and after a while it just feels like droning.  There are way better thrash vocalists out there, and I strongly suggest that Drake work on varying his vocals a little.

Honestly, Infected Nations is a good album, but it’s not a whole lot better than that considering everything.  The production is fantastic, the song-writing is pretty good, but it’s missing out on the originality that I’m always hoping for.  Maybe it’s just me, but I like to see bands that use their thrash metal roots for new things.  Even looking at a band like Dragonforce or Luna Mortis that obviously have thrash metal influences, but are able to blend them into other styles to make them new and interesting gives a road-map to thrash influenced bands, because I have trouble imagining how a lot of these bands are going to survive the trend.

The Atlas Moth – A Glorified Piece of Blue-Sky
Rating: 3.5/5.0 – A mix of sounds that works very well, but doesn’t stand out for me..
Label: Candlelight
Website: theatlasmoth.com
Release Date(s): EU: 21.09.2009 | USA: 10.6.2009

Sludge, and many variations thereof, have definitely been working their way into the “mainstream” consciousness of heavy metal guys for a long time.   Bands like Neurosis, Isis and all of their clones have permeated the hard skin of heavy metal, giving it something rawer, weirder and that makes heavy happen through slowness more than through technical insanity.  The Atlas Moth follows in that vein very much, blending sludge, southern groove and what sounds to me like a very Cult of Luna, Neurosis hardcore approach that is sure to please the fans of this style.

A Glorified Piece of Blue-Sky isn’t the worlds greatest piece of sludge art or anything, but they have managed to make a sound that I don’t find even remotely compelling 99% of the time, and add something to it that I really have to appreciate.  One thing that does it for me is the production of the album, which sounds like these guys are grooving in a big dark cave somewhere.  This, combined with the fact that The Atlas Moth takes their sweet-ass time getting anywhere at all with their tracks, gives this record an ambience that shouldn’t be overlooked.  In an era of pristine clean production, A Glorified Piece of Blue-Sky is a wittily titled dissertation on the understanding of groove, ambience and heaviness in the epoch of triggers and sterility.

Of course, aspects of that ambience I could do away with.  Fun space noises?  Over-rated and boring.  But the tracks themselves are well-crafted, highly convincing and there is an emotional weight which seems to overlay this record in a way that a lot of bands are missing—it’s something that I think goes missing a lot in metal.  In some ways, despite the fact that these guys don’t really sound like it, they have a big of My Dying Bride buried deep down there or something.  Another important thing that stands out about this record is how brutally heavy it is at times, despite being technically very simplistic.  I have commented in the past, and to people personally, that a lot of metal doesn’t feel like it has an edge anymore.  Certain projects sound like something middle-age women who appreciate such stellar artists like Michael Bolton would fall in love with.  The Atlas Moth does not suffer from this fatal flaw.  The sound is huge, raw and heavy, with a wide range of vocals and a thick punching low end.

There is a major drawback for me, and that’s that the songs don’t seem to stick.  Despite being heavy, groovy and ambient, there are only a few moments on this album that really stand out for me.  The rest of it feels, honestly, like I could be listening to the same song on every track.  Is it one big 50 minute song that I’m listening to?  This is an unfortunate weakness that a lot of sludge has for me.  While there are some cool things and I appreciate the ambience, it works better as background music than it does as something I feel like actively istening to.   That said, I think this album will definitely go over well with fans of the genre.  While it’s not terribly dynamic, in my opinion, it definitely offers something more than a lot of the shit I’ve heard in the genre.

Insomnium – Across the Dark
Rating: 3.0/5.0 – Enjoyable and well done, but doesn’t quite stick
Label: Candlelight
Websites: myspace.com/insomniumband | insomnium.com
Release Date(s): FI: 9.9.2009 | EU: 26.09.2009 | USA: 09.15.2009 (apparently this album was delayed)

Insomnium is one of those bands that rides on the border of melodic death metal and progressive rock, straddling the fence between good, solid heavy music and the proggy stuff that all the sadboy metal guys listen to.  Those guys who secretly love The Cure and Depeche Mode and end up making stuff that sounds like newer Katatonia, Anathema or Amorphis.  This isn’t really a critique, but it lets you know right off the bat where these Finnish melodic metallers are standing in reference to the never ending “is melody metal” war that seems to be going on these days.

And these guys are very good at what they’re doing.  Across the Dark is a highly polished, excellently produced record.  The music is melodic and fairly interesting, and sounds like an expert blend of Whoracle/Colony-era In Flames, Opeth and modern Amorphis (though, admittedly these guys use a lot more death metal vocals).  While it starts a bit slowly, these Finns have you in the grip of their darkest dreams and melancholy aspirations in no-time, transferring smoothly between the heavy and the progressive with the ease that very few bands possess.

There are issues with this record, however.  The first is the vague feeling that I’ve heard this all before.  It’s not like I consider Insomnium‘s sound to be a direct rip off of any one band, but instead these guys are a bit like the stranger who you meet that you swear you recognize from somewhere.  They consistently tell you that they’ve never been to that specific bar, and they don’t know that person you know from college, but you’re still fucking positive that you know the guy.  I spent this whole album thinking to myself, “man, have I listened to these guys before?”

The second thing that I’m not terribly keen on is that the clean vocals and chorus parts seem a bit formulaic, wandering a little too close to the Killswitch Engage territory for my own tastes.  Clean vocals are fine for me, but the way that they’re built into big catchy choruses, when the rest is heavy melodic death metal just rubs me the wrong way after being inundated with metalcore bands jumping on the KSE bandwagon.  Those parts sound too polished, too clean, too commercial for me to really feel like there’s anything dangerous about this band.  Instead, it sounds like they’ve got a producer sitting in the room going “and now, my friends, you need a catchy chorus!  I know just the guy to write one for you!”

However, that isn’t the whole album and that certainly isn’t the feeling that I get from it all.  There is a good deal of excellent melodic death metal riffs on here that I really dig, the clean vocals on “Lay of Autumn” stand out for me, and the album has a flow that it is really important for me and that speaks to talented writers with a feel for detail.  All-in-all Across the Dark is not the strongest record I’ve heard this year, but if you’re a fan of melodic death metal, progressive death metal or stuff in that vein you probably won’t go wrong buying it.