Final Fantasy

Danimal Cannon – Lunaria Review

Danimal Cannon – Lunaria Review

There is some absurd and crazy shit going on in the world of music. I must admit that, despite being a pretty eclectic guy, my dedication to Angry Metal Guy has made me a little myopic. I focus on a lot of what lands in my promo box and don’t get a lot of output from the outside. Therefore, I’d missed that there is a growing 8-bit music scene developing. Back in the day I thought it was awesome that my buddy made a Nintendocore band called Totally Radd! and we all had a great time with it (including his ridiculously epic cover of “Hallowed Be Thy Name” which works a hell of a lot better than you’d expect as an 8-bit track). But that was 2003 and this is 2016. I have been trapped listening to metal’s own versions of Nostalgiacore­­™—re-thrash, retro-doom, the Nostalgia Wave of British Heavy Metal™, old school death metal, old school black metal, old school old school metal. But there’s a whole other world out there, folks! Filled with other nostalgia that I also like. Enter Danimal Cannon.

Gygax – Critical Hits Review

Gygax – Critical Hits Review

“When AMG himself dropped a promo on me from a new band from former Gypsyhawk members called Gygax, named after the Godfather of D&D himself, E. Gary Gygax, I was both intrigued and skeptical. I love my metal and nerd tendencies, and Gygax had better come in with a decent THAC0 and saving throw if they wanted to withstand a lashing from yours truly.”

A New World – Intimate Music from Final Fantasy Review

A New World – Intimate Music from Final Fantasy Review

I’ve written elsewhere that metal isn’t always just about the use of heavy drums or distorted guitars. I suspect most metalheads would agree that Wagner is straight up metal. When I reviewed Pale Communion recently, I was struck by how “metal” some of the structures of the record were—despite lacking these trappings. In that same review, I jokingly referenced Anathema’s Weather Systems, where I declared “You can take the dirty hippy out of metal, but you can’t take the metal out of the dirty hippy!” That record, in all its post-Pink Floyd glory is a testament to the fact that often times the trappings of that which is metal is more about being epic, layered, and intense. Intimate Music from Final Fantasy also falls into this category: things that are metal, but not metal.