Angry Metal Guy

Iron Savior // The Landing
Rating: 4.0/5.0 —Set phasers to fondue!
Label: AFM Records
Websites:  iron-savior.com/  myspace.com/ironsaviorofficial
Release Dates: Out now!

In the ”Barons of Bombast” wing of the Pantheon of Metal, no band has a pedestal quite as lofty as Manowar. Since their birth in the late 70s, they’ve pretty much cornered the market on over-the-top clichés, cheese-wizardry and shameless loincloth abuse. One of the few pretenders to that furry, mead-stained throne of excess (besides Rhapsody, Rhapsody of Fire, Rhapsody of Luca, etc. etc.) are these Germanic purveyors of silly sci-fi lyrics, steely anthems and lusty over-production. It’s true, Iron Savior has never shied away from painful clichés, absurdly goofy concepts or exaggerated paeans to things metallic. If their multi-album concept about the misadventures of a sentient spaceship called “Iron Savior” wasn’t proof enough for you, don’t pursue a career in investigative services. In case you missed the back story, Iron Savior is the creation of one Piet Sielck, a close friend and former band mate of Kai Hansen (Helloween, Gamma Ray). The early Savior albums were close collaborations between Piet and Kai, firmly rooted in Germanic power metal but injected a lot of traditional and NWOBHM influences into the mix. Their material was so damn catchy and fun, I didn’t mind the silly space-opera lyrics or their propensity to sound overdone (a friend dubbed them “the most overproduced band ever”). The Landing is the first new Savior release since 2007′s Megatropolis and long-time fans can breathe easy, because absolutely nothing has changed! The bombast, the cheese, the vintage sound and style, it’s all back, bigger than ever (if that’s even possible). This is big boy power/traditional metal with attitude, balls and delusions of grandeur. In other words, its stupid fun and really rocks! Continue reading

Chrome Division // 3rd Round Knockout
Rating: 3.5/5.0 — Best Norwegian southern rock biker band ever!
Label: Nuclear Blast
Websites: chromedivision.com | myspace.com/chromedivision
Release Dates:  EU: 2011.05.06 | US: 07.06.2011

Have you ever wondered what a group of Norwegian black metal musicians might sound like if they played greasy biker rock? Well wonder no more, just hunker down with a case of brews and Chrome Division. Featuring Shagrath (Dimmu Borgir) on guitar and members of Old Man’s Child and Ringnevond, Chrome Division delivers something like a drunken mixture of ZZ Top, The Misfits, Venom and Lynyrd Skynyrd.  There’s nary a cold, icy riff to be found on their new album 3rd Round Knockout and instead you get rowdy, raucous, ribald and very adolescent rock/metal that’s actually exceedingly well done. This is well written, catchy,  fun and highly addictive stuff and it even leaves behind much of the Motorhead worship found on their earlier albums. Its an alcohol fueled party album that virtually forces you to pop open a cold one as you listen. How can anything that drives you to drink be bad? Continue reading

Dawnbringer // Nucleus
Rating: 4.5/5.0 — A shockingly successful clusterfuck of styles
Label: Profound Lore Records
Websites: Facebook
Release Dates: Out now worldwide!

Interesting release we have right here folks. For those unaware, Dawnbringer is a project band of sorts for Chris Black (Pharaoh, Nachtmystium, Superchrist) and his guitar playing buddies and together they create something like a mix of NWOBHM, straight up American metal, black metal, thrash and doom (there’s even moments of quasi-southern rock). Tell me that doesn’t sound intriguing, I dare you! Nucleus is their fourth full-length and yep, it’s one humdinger of a rickety metal contraption. At times sounding like a weird mash-up of Iron Maiden, Slough Feg, Motorhead and Black Sabbath, this thing rumbles and rambles all over the place and always seems ready to come unhinged but it just screams METAL! From the production, riffs and vocals, there’s an ever present rough and tough vibe and despite the myriad of styles and influences Dawnbringer tries to squish together, they somehow managed to craft some great metal songs that will stick in your head for a long time. 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.