Angry Metal Guy

Gloria Morti // Anthems of Annihilation
Rating: 3.5/5.0 — Pretty darn good
Label: Cyclone Empire
Websites: gloriamorti.com | myspace.com/gloriamorti
Release Dates: EU: 30.07.2010 | US: Unknown (Import only?)

One of the best parts about being a reviewer, honestly, is getting a hold of records that you’d've never thought to buy on your own and really enjoying them. 2010 hasn’t actually had a lot of those for me. The year has gone pretty much as expected (and a little worse for certain bands, unfortunately). But one of the big disappointments has been the number of bands that I’ve gotten who I’d never heard of that just never pan out to anything. Because obviously it’s newer bands that keep things going and some of my favorite records of the last few years have been from bands that I didn’t even know existed until I got the record to review (Istapp for example, or In Mourning). Gloria Morti is one of those bands that I’d sorta gotten wind of, but never really heard before. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I received Anthems of Annihilation but I was pleasantly surprised. Continue reading

Amorphis // Forging the Land of Thousand Lakes
Rating: 4.5/5.0 — The first time I’ve ever recommended a DVD
Label: Nuclear Blast (EU | US)
Websites: amorphis.net | myspace.com/amorphis
Release Dates: EU: 09.07.2010 | US: 07.13.2010

Amorphis is a band that needs no introduction, particularly if you’ve been reading this zine for more than a few weeks. When Skyforger came out in 2009, I was fortunate enough to be able to catch it on MySpace at the time and put up a review of it on this site: it was actually one of the first things that started increasing traffic to this site. At the time that I wrote the review I was particularly laudatory of the band’s new material. Despite the wave against them because they never re-wrote The Karelian Isthmus or Tales from the Thousand Lakes again, I have been nothing but enchanted by the last three albums. They are, for lack of a better word, genius. Modern, melodic metal done with class and style, Eclipse, Silent Waters and Skyforger are three of the best album from the 2000s and have re-established the legacy of a band that has seemed to have lost its way at times. Continue reading

Thunderstone // Dirt Metal
Rating: 3.0/5.0 – They’re going through changes.
Label: SPV
Websites: thunderstone.org | myspace.com/thunderstoneband
Release Dates: Out Now Everywhere (I think!)

Whenever an established band parts ways with their original vocalist and brings in a replacement, long time fans rightfully get concerned. How will the new singer impact the band’s sound and style? Will he fit in or change the dynamic too much? That’s the situation facing Finland’s Thunderstone for their fifth album, Dirt Metal. After four pretty solid albums of Euro power metal with original frontman Pasi Rantanen, Dirt Metal starts the era of Rick Altzi on vocals. With this new era also comes the much dreaded and despised shift in sound and approach as well. Are you scared? Are you on edge yet? Read on.

Continue reading

October Falls // A Collapse of Faith
Rating: 3.0/5.0 — Dark, bleak and beautiful
Label: Debemur Morti Productions
Websites: … huh, son of a bitch… I got nothin’! (That’s a first..)
Release Dates: EU: 24.05.2010

Depressed Finns are really no surprise in metal these days. It seems like Finns are a pretty morose bunch in general. A country famous for bands like Poisonblack, H.I.M., Sentenced, Insomnium, Black Sun Aeon and Swallow the Sun, it shouldn’t be terribly surprising that some pretty bleak and depressing stuff comes out of Finland. And let me be clear, that’s not even naming huge groups of bands that I’m sure others could probably come up with. But October Falls isn’t your standard “depressed metal” band from Finland. There are no silly ESL lyrics about being buried in a plastic bag or any of that jazz. Instead, October Falls is a “depressive” black metal band with folk sensibilities.

A Collapse of Faith is one 40 minute track, which quite frankly doesn’t lend itself to an easy review. It’s difficult to sit down and describe the entire album, when its basically a series of different movements of one track. You try reviewing a symphony some time and see how well it goes. However, this one track is best illustrated by the cover of the album—a little to your left, yup there you go!—and the first minute or so: the sound of a campfire and birds in the woods gently laying under an acoustic guitar, which sets the atmosphere for the album without being cheesy or ridiculous. At about 2 minutes, the real theme for the album comes in on the guitar and for the most part you’re in “metal” territory after that. What stood out for me about this record was that the melody was gorgeous and strong, lending itself towards the melodies of Vintersorg or Borknagar (early), it had a melancholy to it that is not really present in those earlier folk and black metal records. But while I would probably still call this “black metal”, this is not Darkthrone black metal, but Petrychor black metal or maybe something more akin to Ulver‘s epic and classic album Bergtatt. Continue reading

Kiuas // Lustdriven
Rating: 3.5/5.0 – Toughen up, boys!
Label: Spinefarm
Websites: kiuas.net | myspace.com/kiuasweb
Release Dates: | EU: 31.03.2010 | US: ?

As a young lad, my dear mother strove to teach me two important things: first, don’t be an angry metal boy/guy, and secondly, never judge others. Well, as an angry metal guy reviewing albums I’d say I’m a major disappointment, but I really can’t say that I’m as big of a disappointment as the meaning of the Finnish band Kiuas‘ name. Kiuas is a Finnish word that roughly translates into sauna stove or stove of sauna. So, in essence, this band is called… SAUNA STOVE? These guys lose Angry Metal Points™.

Despite the goofy name, Kiuas has been thrashing about since 2000 and its members hail from the Finnish extreme metal scene. Their previous platters have featured an intriguing, oddball amalgam of power metal infused with doses of folk, viking, black and death metal. Indeed, it is difficult to categorize Kiuas, which is to their credit as artists. Branding them as power metal simply doesn’t do them justice since they have so little in common with the Gamma Ray, Stratovarius, Sonata Arctica, Weenie Happy Metal bands that have come to define that genre. Kiuas is not a happy sounding band and have opted to put the power back in power metal with crunchy, thrashing guitars and dramatic, aggressive vocals that run the gamut from clean to rough all the way to death metal roars.

Lustdriven is the band’s fifth crusade and marks a turning point in the band’s direction and approach. Gone are the death metal vocals and in their place is an increased emphasis on mood and melody at the expense of aggression. This is a less furious and speed oriented affair and sometimes that works very well while at other times it doesn’t. Things get off to a blistering and self-referential start with “KiuasAssault” (translation: sauna stove assault and all the awful images that may bring to mind). This is classic Kiuas complete with ripping guitars, pounding drums and aggressive singing and screaming from Ilja Jalkanen, who is an extremely gifted metal vocalist who does a lot of interesting things with his range and vocal dexterity. This is a great opener!

However, what follows the classic, ripping opener are several far weaker songs. “Cry Little Angel”, halts the forward momentum because of its painfully sappy  lyrics and mediocre chorus. While the gothic stylings of “Of Love, Lust and Human Nature” partially sets the record back on course, it, too, is followed up by other weaker tracks. It isn’t until track 8 that we get the blockbuster of the album in “The Quickening.” This is a brilliant metal song that shows what Kiuas is truly capable of. Powerful, epic, heroic metal that makes you want to lift the family war hammer and charge directly into hell. This one truly grabbed me on the first listen and when Ilja sings “I was scorched once by the fire, on one of those long trips to hell” I was ready to rock and rumble. And while the album closes out quite strong with “Summer’s End” and “Winter’s Sting,” which are both solid tracks that showcase Kiuas’s folk metal elements, none of the other tracks quite measured up to the mighty standard of “The Quickening”.

Overall, this is a solid album by a very talented band with what is likely a bright future ahead of them. Sadly, I cannot say Lustdriven is as strong as 2008’s The New Dark Age and there are several songs I wish were left on the recording studio floor. However, as the album marinates inside your head, it does get better and better and fans of top notch musicianship and powerful music are encouraged to seek this out for a listen. Check out “The Quickening” if nothing else because this song is an early candidate for metal song of 2010 and should not be missed. Bring back the death vocals next time boys and rethink that damn name!”

Tarot // Gravity of Light
Rating: 3.0/5.0 – Good moments but too inconsistent
Label: Nuclear Blast (EU | US)
Websites: wingsofdarkness.net | myspace.com/tarot
Release Dates: EU: 23.04.2010 | US: 06.18.2010

Talk about a long-suffering, unheralded and unsung band! Tarot has been slogging through the metal trenches in relative obscurity outside of their native Finland since 1986. For many non-Finnish folk (myself included), Tarot was an unknown quantity until lead singer and founder Marco Hietala joined up with Nightwish in 2002 for their Century’s Child outing, thereby drawing much needed attention to his primary recording outfit. It has been nearly four years since 2006’s Crows Fly Black, but finally the metal underdogs of Tarot are back in action with their eighth album, Gravity of Light.

Tarot is easy to like and even easier to root for. They are not a “thinking man’s” metal band nor a “post rock/blackened jazz fusion blah blah blah” band. No, Tarot slings the metal hash, kicks your ass and lets Satan sort out the mess thereafter. Tarot is not a crushingly heavy band and generally walks a line between power and traditional metal while tossing in more than a little melody (i.e. lots of keyboards). In fact, one of my issues with Tarot has always been wishing they were slightly heavier. When they want to tear it up, they do it well, but all too frequently for my taste, they dial back and move into more mellow and sedate musical territories. Sadly, that pattern continues here and Tarot teases with some solid heavy metal before drifting back to an almost hard rock style at times.

Gravity of Light comes barreling out of the gates with an energetic Accept/Judas Priest/Euro metal attack while utilizing a killer dual vocal attack by Marco and Tommi Salmela. Marco possesses a seriously unique set of pipes (like the evil spawn of Blackie Lawless and Udo Dirkschneider) and his voice may be a love or hate proposition, but he surely can let it rip when the song calls for it. It helps that the production places Marco’s patented squeal front and center while leaving enough emphasis on the guitar so it’s still prominent rather than muted in the background (which kills a metal record faster than having the name St. Anger on the cover).

The first 4 songs on Gravity of Light all show Tarot in top form with catchy, rocking, classic metal moments that get your head shaking and fist pumping (especially “Satan is Dead” and “Pilot of All Dreams”). Sadly, the level of these songs isn’t maintained throughout and several just seem to drag on without much energy (ex. “Magic and Technology”). Further unhinging the album, some tracks, although energetic enough, are simply lackluster. This brings me to my second and far more serious issue with Tarot. While they definitely have what it takes musically, at times on past albums and here again on Gravity of Light, the songwriting has been far too inconsistent. For every quality metal stomper (“I Walk Forever“, “Sleep in the Dark”) we get one or two tedious, lethargic tracks.

It’s a very frustrating experience to wish a band was better than they really are, but you simply can’t overlook the fact that some of Tarot’s output is just plain and generic. This is even more troubling because I think Marco is one of the more interesting singers in metal and I really want to hear him on better material than this.

Gravity of Light is a weaker album than Crows Fly Black and although there are a few worthwhile songs on display, this is neither exceptional nor essential. In a market as crowded as heavy metal has become, I can’t see this gaining much attention outside of Finland and in some ways that is a shame. I firmly believe Marco and company have it within themselves to write a monster metal album, but this is not it.

Recently I’ve said in several different posts that I thought that Koskenkorva was the reason for the Finnish heavy metal craze. Turns out, I’m wrong. Apparently there is an indoctrination process that starts very, very young. Indoctrination, from heavy metal guys in dinosaur suits. Aptly named “Heavisaurus”! Their videos now litter the web and are pretty much the coolest thing I’ve ever fucking seen. The comments are classic, but my two personal favorite were “It’s like Gwar with training wheels!” And then the other guy who was just outraged at the how much cooler Finnish kids shows are than American ones: “GOD DAMMIT finland has metal dinosaurs and in the US we had hannah montana and the jonas brothers, FUCK”

Watch, and be in awe.

This can only really lead to one response, honestly. You probably should’ve seen this coming…

Black Sun Aeon uploaded their new video for the track “Frozen”, which is probably one of the best on the new record Routa that came out 3 days ago in the US. Check it out!

Black Sun Aeon // Routa
Rating: 3.5/5.0 — Very good
Label: Stay Heavy Records
Websites: blacksunaeon.com | myspace.com/aeonoftheblacksun
Release Dates: EU: 01.04.2010 | US: No date yet..

One of 2009′s most pleasant surprises for this Angry Metal Guy was Black Sun Aeon‘s Darkness Walks Beside Me. To say that I was slightly addicted to the album would be an understatement: I was totally addicted to that record. It’s like there’s something in the water (Koskenkorva?) in Finland that leads to the ability of these Finnish bands to build some of the most incredible melancholy into their already heavy, beautiful music. Black Sun Aeon‘s debut full length was definitely on the same level as many of the other excellent Finnish doom and melodic death bands out there. While maybe not as melodic as some, or maybe a little bit more simplistic than others, Darkness Walks Beside Me was a tremendous success.

To say that I was surprised when I found out that Tuomas Saukkonen was going to be releasing a double record entitled Routa (“Ground Frost” from Angry Finnish Translator Girl—Not sure if this just means frost on the ground or if it is talking about permafrost or something). I was surprised, but also happy, and have awaited the album with baited breath.  It is incredibly hard to live up to a solid debut album and Tuomas Saukkonen is trying to do it with this new double album. The record is indeed a double record, but it’s still only about 30 minutes more of music than was on Darkness Walks Beside Me. It is, however, differentiated into two parts “Talviaamu” (Winter Morning) and “Talviyö” (Winter Night).

Musically, it is easy to say that Routa is the audio clone of Darkness Walks Beside Me. Keyboard-laden synth over thick, downtuned guitars knocking out slightly black and death metal influenced doom. The vocals are for the most part death metal growls and there are some good clean vocals as well in a lower register. Never faster than mid-paced death metal, the record really shines when dynamic parts are thrown in, adding to that sense of dreariness and melancholy that is built on every track. For fans of the first release, the sound will definitely appeal to you as a listener—how could it not? But, the question is whether or not it will replace the first one.

Honestly, while this is a very good album, I’m a little bit disappointed with the fact that it’s not a step in a new direction at all. Hastily produced, these songs don’t seem to have had time to gestate and grow into something a little bit more than what the previous record had to offer. While 45 minutes of this probably would have been totally fine, pushing it out into two CDs—which while named Winter Morning and Winter Night don’t seem to have the differences of night and day—just pushes the length over what is reasonable to sit down and listen to in a single sitting and find enjoyable. After about an hour my mind starts to wander.

That said, I find that if I sit down and listen to one or the other, I enjoy it very, very much. The melodies are strong, evocative and emotional. The tracks have great groove, good playing and the production is very strong—something that shouldn’t go without mentioning. This record is one of the few I’ve gotten in a long time that doesn’t suffer from a loudness issue, so drums sound like real drums and not like tinny metal kegs being hit with a stick. This double record is worth your time if you’re a fan of doom or gothic metal, and if you loved the first album, you’re guaranteed to at least like this one if not have the same kind of infatuation you had with the first one. Now I think that Mr. Saukkonen should let this sit and focus on his other projects for a while so that this doesn’t get stale.

Barren Earth // Curse of the Red River
Rating: 4.5/5.0 — Stellar
Label: Peaceville
Websites: barrenearth.com | myspace.com/officialbarrenearth
Release Dates: EU: 29.03.2010 | US: 04.06.2010

Barren Earth took me completely by surprise. As a rule I do not post reviews of records from labels that do not send me promos of them. I think it’s a disincentive for them to do so and generally bands don’t deserve the promotion. However, sometimes bands come onto the radar that I can’t ignore, as is what happened when I picked up this new Barren Earth record on a total whim. In fact, I didn’t even know that this band had ex-members from Amorphis, the drummer from Moonsorrow, the guitarist from Kreator or the vocalist from Swallow the Sun involved—or that it was mixed by Dan Swanö. I guess I should have expected that this would be a great record…

And great it is. No normal “super group” kind of album (you know, the kind that lacks a soul), this project has taken time to gestate and turn into a real band and the listener definitely gets that feel. If we start at the top and work our way down; one of the thing that stands out about this project is definitely how cohesive the record is. This is not an album with a “hit or two,” but instead a complete album that flows beautifully and is meant to be listened to from beginning to end every time you break it out. Not to say that the tracks aren’t strong, because they really, really are. The opening track on the album “Curse of the Red River” blends death metal pig squeels with a Jethro Tullesque flute solo and excellent melancholic melodic riffing. “Flicker”, another of my favorites, twists and turns from strumming acoustic guitars to machine gun double bass and bestial growls and back, showing off what dynamics can do for a band who is intent on using them to their full extent.

Curse of the Red River is, if you haven’t figured it out, the unholy union of Amorphis and Opeth. If you take Still Life and Blackwater Park era Opeth and mixed it with Elegy and Tuonela-era Amorphis, this is probably what it would sound like. You can hear the kind of mid-paced melodies that you get from those mid-era Armophis albums, for sure. But with the vocal breadth and dynamism that vocalist Mikko Kotamäki displays gives this a much deeper, heavier feel than anything they were putting out during that era. His vocals stand out from the background and offer that perfect contrast, with a good, smooth clean tone and amazing growls which give a force to the tracks that would be sorely missing if performed by anyone else.

The band, in what is quickly becoming a progressive death metal genre in the wake of Opeth‘s gigantic popularity, does an excellent job of blending the styles of doom and death metal with beautiful clean vocals and acoustic parts. However, unlike some bands who are intent on sticking clean vocals into the music, these guys aren’t just building tracks that are throwaway vehicles for a big chorus. Instead, they have all the intensity and melancholy that you expect of the genre and the band involved. On top of that, Barren Earth has a sense for catchy guitar melodies that really stick in your head, leaving the listener humming them for hours after listening to the record.

My biggest complaint about this album, honestly, is that it’s a little too easy to draw the continuous comparisons to Amorphis and Opeth as I’ve done here. Particularly the former band is ever-present in their sound. This isn’t bad, but one wonders if in the long run this will sit well with listeners, or if they won’t just go back and take out Elegy and Tales from the Thousand Lakes and relive something that happened a couple decades ago. While I personally think that this record will probably rank high at the end of the year list, I think there is a possible critique with it being considered too derivative and thereby losing some if its credibility. But personally, this Angry Metal Guy thinks that’s bullshit and will be listening to this album in as much free time as he can spare…

‘Cause it’s fucking great.