![Persefone – metanoia [Things You Might Have Missed 2022]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Persefone-Metanoia01.jpg)
“Right off the bat, metanoia is a weighty listening experience that demands your undivided attention and repeat listens to fully unlock the album’s many intricacies and textures. metanoia is lengthy and so densely packed that initial listens are both absorbing and overwhelming.” Answer the Persefone.
![Brymir – Voices in the Sky [Things You Might Have Missed 2022]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Brymir-Voices-in-the-Sky-01-768x768.jpg)
“Sometimes, the music doesn’t click. On paper, it should be halfway up your alley before the first song is over. It’s the right genre, right ideas, right pace, but the shit thrown against the wall still slides off into the ooze of a thousand less-deserving records. Heretofore, that was Brymir. I wanted to like them; I should have worshiped them. But their first three entries of symphonic melodic death escaped me like self-awareness from your favorite black metal band. So why, oh why, should a tired wvrm limp out of the doldrums of exile to dump on a band he doesn’t really like?” Early Brymir gets the wvrm.
![Trollfest – Flamingo Overlord [Things You Might Have Missed 2022]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/817314-768x767.jpg)
At its root, Trollfest’s sound combines the “huumpa and the beast” formula popularized by Finntroll with the diverse musical influences and a willingness to expand into whatever style feels fun at the moment from DSO. But unlike aforementioned artsy (and potentially fartsy) Swedes, Trollfest pretty much sings about their collective alcohol problem (like Korpiklaani). And honestly, every time I listen to a new Trollfest album I ask myself the same question: “Why don’t I listen to these guys more?”
“As someone who fell deeply in love with Epicus Doomicus Metallicus after buying it based solely on the cool cover back in 1986, I consider myself a big fanMAN of Candlemass’ classic era. I define that epoch as the debut up through Tales of Creation. After that, it was much more of a crap shoot, with some albums working and others not so much. Considering the band’s golden era was rather brief, Candlemass enjoyed an outsized influence on the doom metal genre over the decades. When word hit that original vocalist Johan Langquist would appear on 2019s The Door to Doom comeback after not being heard from since Epicus, expectations were set unreasonably high.” Butchers, bakers, Candlemass makers.
“Let’s talk about blood, baby. Hemoglobin and me. Let’s talk about all the blood things and the bad things that may bleed. Death metal and that hideous ichor that courses through us all are as synonymous as editors and intimidation… Swedish supergroup extraordinaire Bloodbath have made a career out of celebrating the genre’s twisted tenets and once pulsed at the very center of the classic scene.” Your bath is ready.
“Conan, destined to wear the jeweled crown of Aquilonia upon a heavy brow, leaned into the wood and pushed. Long had they been lashed to the Wheel of Pain, sinews straining to honor their commitment to King Riff. Lo these many years did Conan’s toil yield downtuned sacrifices to the King, great heaving plates of troo doom crashing into each other as the sound of their collision rose to the clouds to challenge the thunder itself. Mighty indeed were Conan’s labors, and yet, as they strained against the Wheel, Conan couldn’t help but wonder: Is this all there is? Is it meant that I should spend my days cranking out an endless chain of plodding tribute? What is to be Conan’s and only Conan’s?” Crom as you are.
“It is the circle of life. The Lord taketh and the Lord giveth back. Not seven weeks ago I was slated to review the new Satan album, when it was ripped from my hands by our Ungracious Leader. I bit my tongue as long as I could, waiting for the right moment for revenge, and that moment has come! For here I am, coming out of nowhere to steal this new Evergrey album from his hairy mitts.” Evergrabby.
“Since 2005 Audrey Horne have been showing the world that some of the best American-style rock n’ roll comes from Norway courtesy of black metal and stoner doom musicians. Yeah, I know, go figure, but damn if that’s not how things played out. On the strength of albums like Youngblood and Pure Heavy the band carved out a sizeable niche of hard-rocking good times music with a strong NWoBHM flavor and they’ve been in heavy rotation in my neck of the woods for many a year. They’ve been quiet since 2018’s Blackout, but 2022 sees them return with seventh album, Devil’s Bell.” Bell’s end.
“This year will see new releases from two of the Big Three of German thrash. Destruction are up first with fourteenth album Diabolical, with Kreator to answer in June. Though Destruction was my favorite of the Big Three during much of the 80s due to the cooly quirky, borderline black metal style of albums like Infernal Overkill, Eternal Devastation and Release From Agony, their later-era releases have been very hit or miss.” Over or underkill?
“For well over 30 years – well, since the genre came into being, really, any time I’ve needed a pick-me-up I’ve been able to safely turn to the lighter side of metal. Call it hair, glam, bubblegum metal, whatever you like, the music is based on one thing: having a great time. Always highlighted by excellent guitarists and augmented with massive singalong choruses, just dropping an old Black ‘N Blue or Dirty Looks album on the turntable washes away all of the day’s grime. Germany’s Kissin’ Dynamite feel the same way about glam metal as I do, and for six albums they demonstrated their adoration of the hair days with strong outings.” Bomb licking, cock rocking.
