Angry Metal Guy

The Fallen Divine // The Binding Cycle
Rating: 3.0/5.0 – Loosely bound aggregate of excellent fragments.
Label: Unsigned
Websites: myspace.com/tfdofficial | facebook.com/fallendivine
Release Dates: Is it out? I could only find a couple tracks available online.
By: A Prospective Overseer of Unsigned Bands

The Binding Cycle is the first full-length album by Norwegian quintet, The Fallen Divine. Founded in 2009, and with one EP under their belt, the band worked with King Diamond guitarist Andy La Rocque at his studio, Sonic Train, to produce the album. And he produced the fuck out of them. The sound on this album is so clean it sparkles. Which is as it should be, because there is a lot going on and The Fallen Divine don’t want you to miss any of it. A self-described progressive metal band, they have a lot of influences and only one shot at showing you that they’ve mastered them all. Fortunately, they pretty much have. Continue reading

Devil // Time to Repent
Rating: 2.0/5.0 —A mere shadow of Ghost
Label: Soulseller Records
Websites: home.online.no/~joa-tr/
Release Dates:  EU: 09.09.2011  US: 09.10.2011

Ghost may have unintentionally triggered a little retro within retro trend with their well received Opus Eponymous debut. The similar acts are already starting to pop up like evil mushrooms and Norway’s Devil is one of the first. Their debut Time to Repent harkens back to all things 70′s and its melodic doom rock all day long. They wield a sound that falls somewhere between Black Sabbath‘s Vol. 4 and the NWOBHM vibe of Witchfinder General with a few traces of old Pentagram mixed in. I’m sure that sounds like a heady brew to many loyal readers (not AMG though, he hates blues-based doom like I hate light beer). Time to Repent offers up eight tales of sorcery, evil women, open graves and all such good family fun. It’s stripped down, simplistic, melodic and not the kind of doom that crushes you or brings on bouts of crippling despair. Instead, its very rock-based and groovy. While some of the material is worthwhile and shows real potential, more of it is pure amateur hour, cringe-worthy garage rock and unlikely to make anyone forget about Ghost anytime soon. Continue reading

Djerv // Djerv
Rating: 4.0/5.0 — Cool as a cucumber
Label: Indie Records
Websites: myspace.com/djervmusic | facebook.com/djervmusic
Release Dates: Out Now Worldwide

So here’s an old record that has been out since June (so I guess it’s not old, but in the world of reviewing that’s a motherfucking eternity). I’ve been meaning to get to it and I just really haven’t had the time or level of mental stability to do it. But now that we’re on a more even keel and the urge to kill is lessening a bit, I’ve been able to come back to this one. And boy am I glad I’ve come back to this one. Because as I said when I reviewed their EP: Djerv is something that is actually truly cool and unique. Continue reading

Byfrost //Of Death
Rating: 3.0/5.0 —Abbath Jr. stays close to home
Label: AFM Records
Websites: myspace.com/byfrostmetal
Release Dates: Out now!

One of my favorite albums from 2010 was Black Earth by obscure Norwegian black thrashers Byfrost. Hailing from the very same town as the mighty Immortal, it was hardly surprising they borrowed heavily from their better known neighbors for the musical direction of their debut. Although it was shamelessly derivative of Abbath and Co., it was also highly enjoyable blackened thrash loaded with vicious, razor sharp riffing. Since I had such a good time with that debut, I was obviously expecting good things from their second crusade Of Death. I would even say it was one of the most anticipated releases on my list for this year. Now that I’ve had some time with Of Death, my first reaction is that of disappointment. Perhaps my expectations were too high and while the music here is good indeed, its not up to the standards set by Black Earth. There’s a strange sense of musical ambivalence that overcomes me during some of the material and it feels like they lost their magic touch at times during the writing sessions for this album. Now, before you get the idea this is a bad album, it isn’t at all. There’s a lot of solid, heavy, ugly thrash with a pronounced black metal vibe to be found on Of Death. It’s just not quite as good as I hoped it would be after such a rabble-rousing debut opus. That damn sophomore jinx strikes again! Continue reading

Pagan’s Mind // Heavenly Ecstasy
Rating: 3.5/5.0 — Thank heavens they changed course!
Label: SPV Records
Websites: pagansmind.com/front | myspace.com/pagansmind
Release Dates:  EU: 2011.05.23 |  US: 05.31.2011

Every now and then I find myself sweating a new release and sincerely worrying a band may have already seen its best days. This is one of those perspiration inducing albums. After three platters of excellent progressive metal that reminded me of the halcyon salad days of Fates Warning and Queensryche, Pagan’s Mind really screwed the pooch hard with their last release, 2007′s God’s Equation. Ditching nearly all of the things they had working for them in favor of a stripped down and more commercial approach, it was one of those albums that leaves fans befuddled, bewildered, betrayed and generally in an foul humor (I won’t go into the David Bowie cover, but it was bullshit ass!). With my confidence and fanboydom thus shaken and stirred, I didn’t know what to expect from these Norwegian metallers. Would it be a return to the prog-tastic spacey glory of their Enigmatic Calling and Celestrial Entrance works or a dash further down the path toward commercial oblivion ah la Krokus (yes, Krokus damn you, they were good once!). After much consternation and intestinal distress, I can report their fifth album, Heavenly Ecstasy is way better than their prior misstep, though it doesn’t fully return to their previous levels of excellence. 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

Ulver // War of the Roses
Rating: 2.0/5.0 — Oh Nattens Madrigal where have you gone?
Label: KScope
Websites: jester-records.com/ulver | myspace.com/ulver1
Release Dates: EU: 2011.04.25 | US: 05.03.2011

Ulver is one of the greatest metal bands ever. If there were a “Big 4″ for 90s metal, Ulver would be one of them because those first three records, Bergtatt, Kveldssanger and Nattens Madrigal (for the uninitiated) are absolutely essential Norwegian black metal records (obviously Kveldssanger isn’t black metal per se, but it is still an awesome record). But, of course, that same experimental drive that pushed the band into black metal also pushed them out of it, and Garm has been very critical of the scene since leaving it. That said, Ulver is also like Katatonia or Anathema in that their post-(extreme) metal music has been widely accepted by metalheads largely because of the already existing cred. But I get the feeling that War of the Roses will try that patience. Continue reading

Above Symmetry // Ripples
Rating: 3.5/5.0 — Same damn record, re-issued
Label: InsideOut
Website: abovesymmetry.com | myspace.com/abovesymmetry
Release Dates: EU: 2011.04.25 | USA: Digital: 04.26.2011

Progressive metal isn’t an easy place to be. Let’s face it, much of the world of progressive metal is a tussle between an old guard of old fans (the Neanderthals of Metal) who really like bands that sound like Dream Theater, Queensryche, and so forth, and then there’s kind of everyone else. It’s disparate, difficult to define and often pretentious as hell with little logic as to what is in fashion with which group. This is the natural outcome of genrefication, in my opinion, and part of that is a question of where a band can actually progress to. You’re either not heavy enough or you’re too heavy and you never please anyone. Few bands ever really manage to fall outside of these well-worn ruts in the road, but there are some fantastic bands in those ruts—Above Symmetry is one of those bands. Continue reading

Sarke // Oldarhian
Rating: 2.5/5.0 — Darkthrone meets Cemetary in a garage
Label: Indie Recordings
Websites: myspace.com/sarkeofficial
Release Dates:  EU: 2011.04.15 | US: N/A

This is an odd one indeed. Basically, Sarke is a side project for Thomas Berglie (Old Man’s Child, Khold) and he handles all the instruments here. He recruited Nocturno Culto (Darkthrone) to do the vocals and together they released Vorunah in 2009 and now they’re back with Oldarhian. Although both men come from black metal backgrounds, Sarke is not a black metal band. Instead they play a mix of traditional heavy metal, Cemetary, Tiamat and new Darkthrone with some extra punk tossed in for good measure. The music is very stripped down, simplistic and not exceptionally heavy. At least for Nocturno, this material isn’t a big departure since it’s similar to Darkthrone albums like Circle the Wagons and F.O.A.D. Keeping their sound fairly consistent with the Vorunah album, Oldarhian offers more of their basic metal-punk fusion and while it has some enjoyable, rocking songs, it doesn’t completely work for me as a whole. Continue reading

Insense // Burn in Beautiful Fire
Rating: 1.5/5.0 — Quoth the Raven, ‘No more core!!’
Label: Indie Recordings
Websites: myspace.com/insense
Release Dates: EU: 2011.04.08 US: 04.08.2011 [Digitally]

Reviewing albums like this is how I pay my debt for getting the Amon Amarth review. My inbox will become a wasteland of the very worst metalcore, deathcore, screamocore and whatever soulless rubbish Angry Metal Guy can hurl at me in an Oden-like rage (thank God I didn’t ask for the upcoming Amorphis review). As part of my community service, I’m here to enlighten you about Norway’s Insense and their fourth album Burn in Beautiful Fire. If you never heard of them, these guys play third-rate metalcore with all the emo/screamo pap that goes along with that craptastic style. Their bio says Anders Fridén of In Flames thinks they’re the next big thing to hit the scene. Well, if this is what Anders thinks is good music, that explains why In Flames has sucked so thoroughly since Colony. All apologies and respect to Mr. Fridén but even by metalcore standards this is super shitty and irritating. It’s boring,  annoyingly unoriginal and painfully below average in every aspect. I even hate the freaking album cover. Continue reading