Angry Metal Guy

Alright! After pissing on your days by reminding you that shitty bands exist, I took the slave whip in hand and forced Steel Druhm to puke out 10 songs he really liked this year. Now the process has fallen to me, and I regret it. It’s not easy coming up with the 10 best songs from the year, and I will inevitably miss some. But I soldiered on the Angry Metal Champ I am and have produced this list of the year’s 10 best metal songs. Please, enjoy!

Continue reading

Nightwish // Imaginaerum
Rating: 4.0/5.0 — Dark passion re-play
Label: Nuclear Blast [EU | US]
Websites:  nightwish.com | facebook.com/nightwish
Release Date(s): EU: Out Now! | US: 01.10.2011

To be frank with you, I wasn’t sure whether to look forward to this one or not. On the one hand, Nightwish has a hype about them that I’ve never really quite understood. While they’re a good band that has produced some good albums (this Angry Metal Guy, for example, really enjoyed Once quite a bit), the rabidity of their fanbase and the standard to which they are held has always been very surprising to me. I have literally met people who don’t listen to anything else. Apparently their songwriter and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen (you know, the pirate from that horrible series of movies) has stalkers fans that are so hardcore about him, that they send letters to his mother to tell her that they disapprove of whom he’s dating. But honestly, I’ve never thought of the band as anything other than a pretty good, female fronted symphonic power metal band. And, well, after Dark Passion Play, I wasn’t very excited anyway. Because let’s face it. That was not a good record. So when I heard that they were releasing a movie (especially given that Tuomas is already in the movies) and a soundtrack to it, I was not excited. But Imaginaerum managed to win me over.  Continue reading

Cormorant // Dwellings
Rating: 4.0/5.0 — Deep and enjoyable
Label: Unsigned (DIY)
Websites: cormorant.bandcamp.com
Release Dates: December 7th, 2011 – Worldwide

Cormorant is a band that I probably would have never found on my own. Instead, I just randomly got an e-mail from their promoter a couple years back, where she hooked me up with the band’s 2009 release Metazoa. I was duly impressed by what these coasties had to offer, so when I saw that these guys had a new record coming out, I definitely reached out to get a promo of it. And I’m happy that I did, though I think that Dwellings is a different beast from Metazoa. Bad? Definitely not. But did the band grow and get a lot better? It seems like the maintained a pretty even keel during the two years away.  Continue reading

Today over on Twitter I got pointed in the direction of Invisible Oranges’ (great name, btw) new post called “Are album reviews obsolete?” Here at Angry Metal Guy our “bread and butter” so-to-speak, is the album review. We do a lot of them. We average about 6 a week, and aim for 7 or more. We also enjoy doing them, but as I have previously touched on, the review is a strange thing in a strange place and, let’s face it, the music industry is screwy in kind of big ways. I thought I’d maybe add some fuel to the author’s fire by adding some more reasons as to why the review is becoming obsolete—in some ways. Continue reading

Tarot // Spell of Iron
Rating: 3.5/5.0 — Up the I-ruhns!!
Label: Nuclear Blast [EU | US]
Websites: wingsofdarkness.net | myspace.com/tarot
Release Dates: EU: 2011.05.06 | US: N/A

Ah, nostalgia. My very first review upon joining Angry Metal Guy Industries was Tarot‘s 2010 release Gravity of Light. Now, just about a year later, Finland’s longest running metal act returns with a re-recording of their 1986 debut Spell of Iron to mark the album’s twenty-fifth anniversary. Much like fellow countrymen Amorphis, they apparently decided these ancient songs would benefit from a sonic face lift using modern recording technology and the modern day Tarot stylings. In the spirit of full Angry Metal Disclosure, as with many metallers, I wasn’t aware of Tarot back in 1986 and didn’t discover them until founder and front man Marco Heitala rose to worldwide prominence with Nightwish in the early 2000s. Therefore, Spell of Iron isn’t some sacred talisman album in my mind as it may well be for long time Tarot fans. That said, I’ve spun it on and off over the years and found it a very solid, highly engaging slab of traditional metal falling somewhere between Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and W.A.S.P., while always maintaining a unique sound (largely due to Marco’s excellent and distinctive vocals). Also worth noting, it’s one of their most consistent albums from start to finish and less plagued by the Filler Gremlin™ than their subsequent releases were. With the housekeeping done, let’s see what’s in the cards shall we? Continue reading

Amaranthe // Amaranthe
Rating: 0.5/5.0 — Slick, Catchy, Soulless.
Label: Spinefarm
Websites: myspace.com/amaranthemetal
Release Dates: EU: 2011.04.13 | US: 04.19.2011

Amaranthe has three vocalists. Just let that sink in for a while. From what I can tell, not one of those vocalists plays an instrument. Instead, they found three “attractive” people to do vocals for them. The first is a woman, who sounds like a pop singer (think E Type) and who I guarantee you cannot name a Slayer record. The second is a screamy dude. He’s got a beard (’cause he’s tough and angsty, you see) and he screams, but not too much (he must be very, very, very bored on stage). And then there’s the ‘power metal’ vocalist (Berg from Dream Evil) who’s just as over-produced as the chick vocalist and is there to get 14 year old girls all silly over his perfectly groomed dreadlocks. Behind them are several soulless session musicians (from Mercenary, Dragonland and Engel). Though, frankly, this is a band that is functionally made of session musicians, since integrity seems to be lacking. Continue reading

Within Temptation // The Unforgiving
Rating: 4.5/5.0 — A new beginning?
Label: Roadrunner | Columbia (SE)
Websites: within-temptation.com | myspace.com/withintemptation
Release Dates: EU: 2011.03.25 | US: 03.29.2011

As one of the elevated culprits who took guilty pleasure in bringing the so-called ‘female fronted’ symphonic metal genre to fame, Within Temptation has often been right next to the  milestone names of Tristania, Theatre of Tragedy, Nightwish, After Forever and the like from this infamous subgenre [Also known as "Chick Metal" by this member of The Patriarchy - AMG]. This is often accompanied by blunt comparisons, senseless ‘expert’ statements and, of course, rabid hate from people who just can’t appreciate chicks in metal [Example: my earlier comment. - AMG]. But hey, life goes on and so does the music industry. Whatever the case, unlike their colleagues who have gone through hard time line-up changes that have proven catastrophic at times, Within Temptation has continued to add new chapters to their own story. Through times of war between legions of Tarja and Anette die-hards, crazy Vibeke rumors in the air, Floor & Sander drama break-ups, the flame of Within Temptation continued to burn ever brighter, offering fascinating music with each release. Continue reading

Ava Inferi // Onyx
Rating: 3.5/5.0 — Good for you, good for ennui
Label: Seasons of Mist Records
Websites: myspace.com/avainferi
Release Dates: EU: 14.02.2011 | US: 03.08.2011

Gothic metal, or as I’ve come to think of it, hot-babes-with-epic-pipes metal. I used to love it but admit to getting burned out on it over the last few years due to the over proliferation of these types of female fronted acts. Of course, some bands do it way better than others but it just seemed like there were a million generic, plastic imitations running around and I eventually washed my hands of the whole style. So when I was assigned the new Ava Inferi album, I didn’t have high expectations to say the least. Onyx is the third album by this Portugal based crew which features the guitar work and song writing of Rune Eriksen (Aura Noir) and the vocal stylings of Carmen Susana Simoes. Although these folks are usually classified as gothic/doom, there’s really no doom in their sound in the conventional sense. No crushing riffs, no mournful dirges. Instead, they strive to create a somber, melancholy feeling by playing sedately, with minimal aggression. While I wasn’t blown away by their previous material, this one managed to get under my skin and really grew on me. I must caution however, although I liked it more than expected, I get the feeling many metal minded individuals will not feel the same way. Continue reading

Battlelore // Doombound
Rating: 2.0/5.0 — Read as: Battlebore – Snoozebound
Label: Napalm Records
Websites: battlelore.net | myspace.com/battleloremusic
Release Dates: EU: 28.01.2011 | US: 02.08.2011

“What’s the catch of the day today?”

“Well sir, we have some Tolkien themed, gothic-tinged, epic fantasy metal by the Finnish group Battelore.”

“Is it fresh?”

“Yes, it’s their brand new album Doombound and it just came out.”

“How is it prepared?”

“With heaping helpings of beauty and the beast vocals (or should I say elf and orc), lots of keyboards, heavy orchestration and a big, crystal clear production by renowned Swedish chef Dan Swanö.”

“Sounds interesting, but is it good?”

“Well sir, just between you and me, it’s rather bland, tasteless, overly tame and safe.”

“Oh gee, that sucks, it was sounding really good there for a minute. I guess I’ll go with the Belphegor blackened catfish with a side of Stratovarius fruit salad.”

“Very good choice sir.” Continue reading

Therion // Sitra Ahra
Rating: 3.0/5.0 — Good, but tough for me to Sitra through.
Label: Nuclear Blast [EU | US]
Websites: megatherion.com | myspace.com/therion
Release Dates: EU: 17.09.2010 | US: 10.26.2010

All aboard the Trans-Si-Therion Express! Conductor extraordinaire Christofer Johnsson will be along shortly to check your Avant-card to be sure you are worthy of the long, strange and bewildering musical odyssey he carefully prepared for you. And quite a journey it is through Therion’s fourteenth album Sitra Ahra (fourth in the quadrilogy made up of Deggial, Sirius B and Lemuria). Continuing along with his own unique vision of sympho-orchestro-gotho-metal, Johnsson may well have outdone himself here in scope and excess. If forced to describe Sitra Ahra in one word, that word would be bombastic. If granted another word, it would be pretentious. If given but three more, they would be over-the-top. How pretentious and over-the-top is Sitra Ahra you ask? So pretentious that it makes Nightwish and Epica sound like AC/DC. So over-the-top, it could only be equaled by a production of The Vagina Monologues staring both Gwar and Immortal.  Now, clearly restraint was never the point here and Johnsson’s motto has always been “more is more” and that’s great. But when is more TOO much? Continue reading