Angry Metal Guy

3 // The Ghost You Gave to Me
Rating: 3.5/5.0 — Solid, man.
Label: Metal Blade
Websites: theband3.com
Release Dates: EU: 2011.10.07/10 | US: 10.11.2011

3 was one of my favorite discoveries of the year 2007. The End Is Begun ripped me out of my progressive complacency and reminded me that well-written, well-performed progressive rock or heavy metal, can be some of the most interesting and effective music. In a world dominated by polyrhythms and breakdowns, 3 was a refreshing blast of melody, piccolo toms and some of the most creative and unique guitar playing and song writing that I’d heard in a very long time. So I guess it’s fair to say that I have been anticipating their follow up, The Ghost You Gave to Me with no small amount of anticipation.  Continue reading

Pain of Salvation // Road Salt Two [Ebony]
Rating: 4.0/5.0 — Great, but less inspired
Label: InsideOut
Websites: painofsalvation.com | myspace.com/painofsalvation | facebook.com/painofsalvation
Release Dates: EU: 2011.09.26  | US: 10.10.2011

In 2010 Pain of Salvation, best known for their progressive stylings and vocalist who wishes he could talk rhythmically like Mike Patton, released a record that blew me away and shook their fanbase: Road Salt One.  It was shocking mainly because it was a largely not tech-geek-progressive and it was very 70s rock influenced. This left some long-time fans peeved, at best. They wanted something different. Well, Road Salt Two is definitely not that something different. It is stubbornly more of the same and it may have lost a bit of its luster with a year to sit on it. Continue reading

Opeth // Heritage
Rating: 2.0/5.0 — A genuine disappointment.
Label: Roadrunner
Websites: opeth.com | myspace.com/opeth | facebook.com/opeth
Release Dates: US: 09.20.2011 | EU: 21.09.2011

Disclaimer: Knowing how to review this record has been very difficult for me because I’m a big fan of the band and I have no desire to try make my opinion seem bigger than the band’s work. I understand my subjective position as a reviewer very well. But this record suffers from pretty major issues that it make it very difficult for me to enjoy and that show off the weakness of the band in its current incarnation. I am aware that there will be a good amount of whining and gnashing of teeth over this review, and you’re welcome to it. Just remember that I 1) am not invested in Opeth playing death metal; 2) like plenty of bands that have changed their sounds; and 3) enjoy progressive and abstract music of all stripes very much.

It’s hard to believe that we’re actually looking at Opeth‘s 10th full length studio record now in 2011. It’s amazing how the little progressive death metal band that could is a global powerhouse of extreme and progressive music that is signed to one of the biggest labels in the metal world. Heritage was billed as a bit of a ‘look backwards,’ in a sense, with main man Åkerfeldt saying that he thought extreme metal was boring and that he has thought that for a while and so this was going to be something else. As a long time fan (who has regularly been called a fanboy), I think it’s obvious to me that Opeth was outgrowing their roots. While I think that Ghost Reveries is a genius album, Watershed was definitely not. It felt uninspired and rushed. So the big question for me coming into all of this was: would having more time and freedom make Heritage feel fresh? Would it be a record that would change Opeth for good—and also for the better? Continue reading

Kebnekajse // Idioten
Rating: 4.0/5.0 — The Joy of Progg
Label: Subliminal Sounds
Websites: kebnekajse.se
Release Dates: SE: 2011.02.25 | US: 03.15.2011

The 1970s were a fascinating period for Sweden. There was a ton of experimentation—it was the 1970s—but just like many other phenomena, much of what was happening in the outside world was mirrored in the funhouse mirror that is Sweden’s culture. So while Americans of the time, for example, flirted with Marxism, drugs and experimental music, all of that stuff got taken in different directions in Sweden. Reading about the so-called “Red Wave” (red as in communist) of the 1970s is actually really interesting, and seeing how that was showed up and was interpreted in other parts of the culture is a fascinating endeavor.  It follows, then, that one of the most interesting things that came out of the era was called “progg” (that might look familiar to you), and it is not the same as what we think of progressive or symphonic rock that changed the face of rock in the US or UK. Instead, much of the scene was caught up in ideologies and were far more concerned with political thought than with music at all. (Rumor has it that one of the bands let everyone play every instrument because it would be unfair otherwise.) Continue reading

Spiritual Beggars // Return to Zero
Rating: 4.0/5.0 — Who said doom couldn’t be fun?
Label: InsideOut [EU | US]
Websites: myspace.com/spiritualbeggars
Release Dates: EU: 30.08.2010 | US: 10.12.2010

A wise and Angry Metal Guy once said (earlier this week) that “retro is the new new” and the trends in the angry metal world are surely proving those prophetic words true. We are up to our collective arses in retro thrash, retro power and retro retro. While new is always great, even the “new” new can be mighty fine as with the latest release from Sahg and this wicked mother, Return to Zero from Sweden’s own Spiritual Beggars. This is the seventh full length from Michael Amott’s long running side project and respite from the melodic death metal world and although it’s as retro as retro gets, this is one slamming, jamming slab of heavy stoner/doom rock n roll! Continue reading

InTensity // Times
Rating: 2.0/5.0 — Few unique ideas
Label: Unsigned
Websites: intensity-band.com | myspace.com/intesnityband
Release Date: July 3rd, 2010

You may have noticed that AMG doesn’t actually really do a lot of unsigned band reviews. Partially this is ’cause we don’t get a lot of unsigned demos, and partially it’s ’cause when we do they tend to be poorly delivered with little promo info and so forth. So I was pleased to get this promo from the Greek progressive modern rock band InTensity who delivered it to me via BandCamp—this is a highly recommended way of doing this, unsigned bands. Times is a four track EP that was self-produced by the vocalist/guitarist Ilias Iovis and is available digitally throughout the world today with future, physical versions to be announced. Continue reading

Anathema // We’re Here Because We’re Here
Rating: 4.0/5.0 — Masterfully done
Label: K-scope
Websites: anathema.ws | myspace.com/weareanathema
Release Dates: EU: 31.05.2010 | US: 05.31.2010

Where the hell does one even start with Anathema. The band has been in a state of flux for quite a while. The last thing they put out was Hindsight which, quite obviously, was not technically considered a standard release (despite it being my top record of 2008—a very dry year for metal in this Angry Metal Guy’s opinion). That means it’s been five years since A Natural Disaster an album that I found to be remarkably underwhelming, as it followed up one of the finest albums of the entire 2000s: A Fine Day to Exit. But it has, indeed, been 9 years since Anathema released a new album that I was super excited about. Everyone keeps asking “was 7 years worth it?” Well, for me it’s more like “was 9 years worth it?”

Yes. The answer is unequivocally yes. Now, it’s true that the band is never going to produce Judgement again, so get that out of your head right now. But what Anathema produces in 2010 is just as relevant and interesting as Judgement was in 1999 and A Fine Day to Exit was in 2001. “And what is that music,” you may ask. I’ll tell you: it’s melancholy, yet oddly positive, 60s and 70s influenced prog rock. With the strains of Pink Floyd, and The Beatles (but honestly, mainly Floyd and their ilk) floating around in the background Anathema breeds their own unique strain of ethereal, amorphous and gorgeous rock music.

The thing that stands out the most for me is that while older Anathema is very much a music of sorrow, We’re Here Because We’re Here is a music all its own. A music of Zen one could  say. In fact, there is a hippiesque patchouli stank to this album that is so strong I have to plug my ear-nose™. Someone has been reading Be Here Now and maybe smoking a bit too much ganj, but it’s a fascinating change, really. To see it develop from songs like “One Last Goodbye” and “Temporary Peace” into songs like “Angels Walk Among Us” that has lines like “Only you can heal your life / Only you can heal inside…” or “Presence” (which is basically an extension of the same song) which has a fascinating quote: “Life is not the opposite of death, death is the opposite of birth. Life is eternal.” Or how about the final strains of the album: “There is no difficulty that enough love will not conquer / There is no disease that enough love cannot heal / No door that enough love will not open / No gulf that enough love will not bridge / And no wall that enough love will not throw down.” This is not your depressed teenage years’ Anathema, my friends.

The positivity aside, however, Anathema still produces some of the heaviest material on the early tracks of this album since Judgement—on the tracks “Thin Air” and “Summer Night Horizon”. These heavier moments offset a much more poppy and easily digestible Anathema than I think we’ve ever heard before. However, this record is also incredibly epic, or should I say, adventurous and interesting. Tracks like the closing 8 minute epic (see!) “Hindsight” make clear that the band has more to say and a beautiful vision filled with white light, oceans… (silhouettes standing in them.. wait a second this is starting to sound familiar!) and peace and love. They are now, as they ever have been, making the music of the heart and that is the reason that they continue to be admired among fans of heavy music and prog.

So for me, again, while this record might not be on the exact same par as Judgement or A Fine Day To Exit it is definitely still a fantastic album that is worth your listening, your time and your money. The songwriting continues to be compelling, the vocal performances are outstanding and need I mention that Steven Wilson did the mix? Probably not. Now hopefully it won’t be another 7 (or 9) years before Anathema puts out another record of this caliber. Every once in a while Angry Metal Guys need some Zen.

So the question is whether or not I should be excited or worried… To be totally frank I’m not the biggest Porcupine Tree fan and I really have strong distaste for Dream Theater, so the only guy in the band that I really seem to enjoy consistently is Åkerfeldt. But, this could be really good because they’re all great at what they do. Or, it could be really, really bad. In case you’re wondering what I’m talking about, Steve Wilson just said in an interview that was posted on the 3rd of May from Chordstruck Magazine that he’s started writing with Åkerfeldt and Portnoy.

If he’s not touring with Porcupine Tree, he’s off working on solo material, producing other bands or doing one of his side projects like Blackfield, Bass Communion and No-Man. Recently, Wilson has collaborated with Mikael Åkerfeldt from Opeth and Mike Portnoy from Dream Theater.

“I started writing with Mikael [Åkerfeldt] last month, finally. It’s still in the very early days. We wrote about 15 minutes of music last month in my studio near London and we’re very excited about it. I think people are going to be very surprised by the direction. If they’re expecting some kind of death-metal-progressive rock, they’re going to be surprised [because] it’s not like that,” Wilson continues.

So, is this good? Bad? Are we worried? Happy? I really, really don’t know. What I do know is that I’ve decided to call the project ÅWP (pronounced OHWP for you English speakers out there.. but add a little bit more w like in the word “row” as in “row, row, row your boat”.) because it sounds like a fun made up word. It’s fun to say. You’ll impress your friends with your knowledgeness and it’ll be generally awesome. It also kinda sounds like the sound an alien in a cartoon would make when it owped along. Åwp. Åwp. Åwp. … *cough*

What I can say is this: usually, supergroups are bad (though Barren Earth certainly kicks a lot of ass). They’re just not consistent. There are too many strong wills pulling in every direction. I could maybe see something working between Wilson and Åkerfeldt because of their history together, but Portnoy? I dunno. He seems like the odd man out in that group and the one who’ll make it suck (this might be part of my anti-Dream Theater bias). However, anyone who gets word of this in one direction or another should let me know so I can keep the fans updated. And worried.

Pain of Salvation // Road Salt pt. 1 – Ivory
Rating: 5.0/5.0 — A stellar re-invention that should bring you to tears
Label: InsideOut
Websites: painofsalvation.com | myspace.com/painofsalvation
Release Dates: SE: 14.05.2010 | EU: 17.05.2010 | US: 06.08.2010

One would assume that an Angry Metal Guy wouldn’t be handing out high scores willy nilly, something I seriously try to avoid doing. But apparently 2010 is a year filled with really fantastic albums by bands doing the things that, as a reviewer, and more specifically, as a music-lover, I have trouble not totally falling for. Pain of Salvation has never been a band that I personally fell for. Scarsick, the band’s 2007 release, was a record that I had issues with and I’ve had some personal gripes about Daniel Gildenlöw’s vocals on the older material (specifically his wannabe Mike Patton rappy/talky vocals). But, that said, Pain of Salvation has long been the darling of the progressive rock and metal scene, with legions of fans who love their technical prowess and pop sensibility.

Road Salt, then, stands to be a great disappointment for a large number of fans who are looking for neo-progressive sensibilities. This is simply not the same band that put out The Perfect  Element (Part I). There is nothing on this record that should outright appeal to metal heads and fans of tech music. But there’s something else, and something that in my opinion places this album on a different plane than 99% of albums released this year, an emotional depth, beauty, fragility and, lastly, dirtiness that makes this album a fantastic journey and easily my favorite Pain of Salvation to date.

Road Salt is still a prog record, however, it’s just way more a 70s rock influenced album that places the band into the same arena as bands like Porcupine Tree, Anathema, Guilt Machine and their ilk. And when I say “70s rock influenced”, let me be totally clear: this is an album that is built to sound like it was recorded on analogue equipment in a room with brown shag carpeting, made by bearded men in bell bottoms who’d smoked a little bit too much hash. The guitar tone screams Hendrix, the vocal harmonies mimic the soul harmonies of folk musicians like Kris Kristofferson and the moog organ is something that you’ve heard a million times while digging through your dad’s record collection. Hell, even the build at the end of the first track “No Way”, sounds like it came off a Trettioåriga Kriget record. And there’s nary a technical wank solo to be found on this album. No, instead the album is based a lot around blues rock—a thing that this Angry Metal Guy hates with a total passion.

But from the opening notes of this album, I was moved emotionally in a way that I think no record has done almost ever. Gildenlöw’s vocal performance is perfect—it is emotionally evocative, huge and sweeping and amazing. His emotional performance reshapes good (or excellent) music into something that is epic and transformative. By bringing his prog and non-blues rock influenced sensibilities to the entire genre and then placing his vocal perfection over songs like “She Likes to Hide”, “Sisters”, “Linoleum” and probably the most evocative of  all the tracks on the album “Road Salt”, Gildenlöw and Pain of Salvation create a sound all their own in what is easily the most overdone genre in the history of mankind. Turning the sounds of 60s and 70s rock and blues into something unique in 2010 is a magical feat, honestly. I have trouble wrapping my mind around how it was done.

In the end, this is an album that should make your heart ache. There is a sadness that really permeates the album. And in an era when hard rock and metal is so incredibly impersonal, when every other record is faux hate and anger or clichéd nonsense, it is beyond refreshing to have band produce material that is so emotionally poignant and beautiful. On top of that, of course, is the fantastic production of this album, mixed with the superb quality of musicians involved in the whole production and you have the formula for what is easily one of the best albums of the year—and one of the best albums I have heard in a really, really long time.

Bison B.C. // Dark Ages
Rating: 4.0/5.0 — Way cool record
Label: Metal Blade
Websites: myspace.com/bisoneastvan
Release Dates: EU: 9.04.2010 | US: 04.12.2010

Another record from Metal Blade’s Canadian installation and the third record from Canadian 70s-metal-meets-hardcore band Bison BC. This record took me totally by surprise, as I’d never heard of this band before and wasn’t really sure of what to expect. Honestly, all I had to go with was the look of the record and it looked very 70s. That fact alone hasn’t been very reassuring, while there are some bands out there trying to push the sound a bit, it just feels like another nostalgia movement that isn’t going anywhere to me so I tend to be pretty skeptical of such records.

Dark Ages, however, is maybe that white buffalo of the herd, then. While maintaining the fundamental foundations that you hear from bands like High on Fire or Barn Burner, that is, the thick low end and doomy feel, Bison BC pushes the envelope with a much more hardcore oriented vocal approach. The sound is also characterized by some old school sounding death metal riffs and some deceivingly proggy moments which I could have done with even more of actually. While the indie scene is getting their 70s prog on, the metal scene seems to be more interested in emulating the simplicity of Motorhead and Black Sabbath and less with some of the more progressive roots of the scene—something that is slightly remedied here.

I might be wrong, but there is definitely the feel that these guys were also a bunch of former crust punks or something. The record is produced much more like an old hardcore or metal album than most of the modern stuff that’s coming out and it’s a sound that I really like. The tones are thick and meaty, the drums are nothing but beef and the guitar tone is like smooth like butter while still being totally fat. This is one of the best features of the album, as you sort of zone in and out of their riffs, it really stands out how fucking heavy old school production really  sounds when you compare it to a lot of the modern production tricks and techniques that we’re hearing these days. All-in-all, the earthy tone from this Canadian foursome is a refreshing change of pace and Dark Ages has all the heavy riffs that a modern metal head could possibly want. For me, the highlights were definitely “Stressed Elephant”, which has a cool horn section at the beginning, some acoustic work at the end and is just generally totally epic, and the track “Die of Devotion” which is almost thrash, except that the chord and melodic choices are way more interesting. But “Wendigo Pt. 3″ which seals the record up is definitely the finest moment and it culminates in all that prog that’s missing from the more straight hardcore and metal stuff.

Honestly, the biggest complaint that I have about this record is probably that it’s not proggy enough. They sound like they want to prog it up, but then they always break it back down to the more simplistic hardcore and crusty stylings. While it definitely works and is definitely enjoyable, it left me frustrated waiting for Rush or Kansas to burst through all the “raaaah!” that was going on here. Fans of the neo-70s stuff, crusty punk and hardcore should definitely check this out. Though, I think most people should at least give these guys a listen, because Dark Ages is interesting, thick and heavy as the nearly extinct land mammal from which they take their name.