“Some metal bands progress through their career; their origins marked by unbridled energy and the rawest material of their lives, they develop to assimilate more influences and sand their edges into a smoother product. Some metal bands do not. They bluntly hammer the same music into listeners’ brains, relentlessly seeking the Riff of Power. Italy’s Barbarian put the fist in knuckle-dragging metal, battering the world with heavy music.” Red meat for meatheads.
“It’s been a sparse year for traditional metal for old Holdeneye. I usually cover at least a few albums of the classic variety each year, but as I look back over the travesty that is my “Albums Reviewed” spreadsheet, I see only one 2021 album with the lone “heavy metal” tag. A couple of factors play into this shortage, namely supply chain issues (read: Steel Druhm takes most of the classic metal albums for himself because he’s old) and my own lack of productivity. Well, the holiday season is the perfect time to set all wrongs right, so I swiftly grabbed this, the third record from FireWölfe.” Power…of the Wölfe.
“Much like the Wizard album I reviewed a couple of months ago, this promo was assigned to me by Lord Protector Steel Druhm himself. Not only that, but the Argentina-based Feanor shares vocalist Sven D’Anna with their Germanic brethren in Wizard. Wizard’s latest was a fun and empowering romp through beer-soaked heavy metal lands, and given that my mental health has been under some strain lately due to work circumstances, I thought that some cheesy déjà vu might be just what the non-Grier doctor ordered. Let’s see if Feanor can put the metal in my head again.” Irresponsible power.
“I’m not quite sure how this is possible, but I didn’t know that Germany’s Wizard even existed until Steel Druhm mandated that I clear my schedule for this week to review the band’s 12th studio album, Metal in My Head. I mean, they play exactly the kind of ball-busting, artery-clogging cheese metal that originally enticed me to emerge from my primordial metalcore soup and set me on my way to becoming a full-fledged trve metal organism.” Head cheese.
“Pounder’s 2019 debut Uncivilized was covered here by Lokasenna, and since he seems to have quietly and non-suspiciously disappeared, Steel Druhm has seen fit to assign follow-up Breaking the World to yours truly. I have no illusions about why Steel has done this. It’s obvious that he believes I will end up crucifying myself before the commentariat, either by being unable to resist making unsavory jokes about the band’s name, or by going into full Skelator mode by lavishing praise upon yet another heavy metal album with questionable vocals.” Pounding the world.
![Wanderer – Awakening Force [Things You Might Have Missed 2020]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Wanderer-Awakening-Force-01.jpg)
“For the second year in a row, a metal band from Portugal floored me with something I had no idea that I wanted to hear until I heard it. Last year it was Midnight Priest, and this year it’s Wanderer with their debut record Awakening Force. It’s not that either band are doing something extremely novel, but it’s their execution and emphasis on specific parts of their influences that make them both special.” All that wander and not lame.
“Is that a Megaton Sword in your armor or are you just happy to see me? In trvth it is I who is happy to see Megaton Sword riding the tide of righteous battle on their debut full-length ode to all things edged and deadly. This Swiss cutthroat crew is carved from the same olde school stone as acts like Visigoth, Eternal Champion, and ageless legends like Cirith Ungol, and they deliver heroic tales of braver and medieval butchery on the excellently titled Blood Hails Steel – Steel Hails Fire.” Big iron.
“Formed in 2012 by Ross the Boss (ex-Manowar, Ross the Boss), Sean Peck (Cage), and Stu Marshall (Empires of Eden, ex-Dungeon), America’s Death Dealer is a bonafide heavy/power metal supergroup. Over the years, they’ve released two albums and picked up former Into Eternity drummer Steve Bolognese and Symphony X bassist Mike LePond, making the lineup for 2020’s Conquered Lands simply mouthwatering.” Iron sharpens steel.
“Hello, neighbor. Would you like to play a game with me? Yes? How about the “guess the genre” game. You know, the one where you look at an album’s cover to see if you can predict what it will sound like? How about we start with the band name? Neck Cemetery. Yikes. That’s a bad name.” Wreckin’ necks.
“Come on, groove metal. I know you can do it. Elitists tend to treat you as the secondary antagonist of metal’s story, behind only to nu-metal, but between genre founders Pantera and the best bits of Machine Head’s discography, there’s still a lot of potential in this particular sound. Hell, I’ve even enjoyed the occasional DevilDriver when craving musical fast-food, which seems to be considered a heinous crime amongst some.” Groove you wrong.
