“Antigama, at this point, is an institution of modern grind. The perennial contender, these Polish riff-junkies, ever solid in their strangeness, continue to litter the basin of the great grindpile in hopes to build a mound of filth worthy of the crown. As such, Antigama, in that traditional Polish underdog spirit, persists.” Embrace the grindpile.
“End of year chaos is upon us to conclude another turbulent 365, as we stave off rushing deadlines, responsibilities and festive madness. As we all know, it is also time for the AMG crew to sharpen their blades and make the tough choices to consolidate the annual list fest of fine tastes. But we must not forgo our reviewing responsibilities completely in the historically lackluster schedule for December. A small pile of quality albums can unexpectedly drop and throw a spanner in the works. Following a long break between drinks, unsung Polish juggernaut Redemptor make their welcome return.” Late year redemption.
“Dr. Wvrm highlighted Poland’s Dormant Ordeal’s We Had It Coming as a Thing You Might Have Missed. While Wvrm was overwhelmingly positive, he noted that the band had room and serious potential for more exploration. Often third albums make or break bands, as they either transcend their influences in a burst of self-actualization or recede into the unforgiving metal landscape.” Is this n00b more reasonable in their assessment of the new Dormant Ordeal? Or is it still raining 4s?
“Since joining the AMG staff, a lot has changed, both personally and in the world. Everywhere you look, something is completely fucking different from how it was a mere half-decade ago. Poland’s Dormant Ordeal, however, are immune to the trend. Their 2016 opus We Had It Coming certainly had its spot on that year’s Best Of lists coming, and their tech-death sound remains exactly as it was, stalwart and monolithic. But if you aren’t moving forward, you’re moving backward, and Dormant Ordeal can’t risk falling behind in a strong year for a crowded tech-death field.” Of grand schemes and heavy things.
“What, I ask myself as I embark on my fifth or sixth listen of Straight Outta Smogtown, is the point of guest vocals. Guest vocals that work best are those that allow a band to deliver something markedly different from what they would otherwise do. Look at the two recent collaborations between Thou and Emma Ruth Rundle, for a recent example, or, going back a quite a long way now, look at Dave Grohl’s Probot. Although Probot was a far from a perfect album, the way the numerous vocalists were used, delivered a very different character for each track. So what have Polish thrashers Terrordome fashioned with a number of additional vocalists who guest on their third full-length, Straight Outta Smogtown?” The smog of war.
![Redemptor – Arthaneum [Things You Might Have Missed 2017]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Redemptor-Arthaneum1.jpg)
“By technical death metal standards, Arthaneum is an odd but compelling beast that stands-out by operating outside the box, while holding all the trademarks avid listeners of the style have come to expect. The intricate and complex musicianship impresses in all departments, but there’s a more measured, controlled approach, rather than purely focusing on unrelenting barrages of speed and cramming as many notes and ideas into each song as humanly possible.” There’s no place like tech-death for the holidays.
“It takes something else to make music that, even if it has obvious roots, seems to have been produced entirely out of these normal cycles. Such was the case with #!%16.7, the last release from Krakow’s oddball djent group Ketha. It had everything you’d never expect; grind-length grooves, a horn section, and even that Casio patch that’s just a dude grunting. Zero Hours Starlight is a wholly more conventional effort, but it still refuses easy categorization.” There’s a mole in my pigeonhole!
“Theodicy bustles with riffs, brutal growls, blastbeats and all of the traditional trappings of brutal death. True, there are moments of mechanical-sounding electronics to split up the songs and provide a quantum of atmosphere, but deep down, Deivos haven’t made Theodicy in an attempt to challenge or revolutionize the genre.” Brootal death that something…but what?
“Here at AMG, despite being metalheads and craving the extremest of the extreme and longing for the shock factor, at heart we’re still a puritanical bunch of wussies. Case in point, when faced with a band that chooses a name that’s unconventional to the point of being offensive, the band gets branded with a big scarlet letter, Twitter feeds blow up, public shunning takes place and no review is forthcoming.” While the rest of AMG ran for the hills, Madam X fearlessly tackled Ass to Mouth.
“It’s no surprise death is such a common theme in metal. Whether through global religious institutions or personal musings on mortality, it’s something we struggle with both individually and as a society, a looming black unknown that begs questions about what happens when we pass on. Encoffination, however, do not ponder questions of life and death. Instead, the duo work within the mausoleum of extreme doom metal to embrace death head-on….” Death is as death does.
