Angry Metal Guy

Amorphis // The Beginning of Times
Rating: 3.0/5.0 — Angry Amorphis Fanboy = Disappointed
Label: Nuclear Blast [EU | US]
Websites: amorphis.net | myspace.com/amorphis | facebook.com/amorphis
Release Dates: EU: 2011.05.27 | US: 06.06.2011

I have to say that Amorphis‘ The Beginning of Times is one of the most anticipated records of the year and it marks a little bit of an Angry Metal Milestone™ as it was my review of Skyforger that really was the first review I posted that blew up and attracted a lot of new visitors. It’s been a busy couple years since the band released Skyforger, having released a live DVD and a disc with re-recordings of the band’s older material, they’ve really been everywhere (except here in Sweden playing shows that I could attend). But I think it’s fair to say that my expectations for The Beginning of Times were through the roof and when I finally received the promo I was practically shaking with anticipation to get tracks into iTunes and to slap on the monitors. Continue reading

It’s hard to make this kind of broad list, I just want to say that from the get-go. How do you do this? Do you choose your favorites, or do you choose the genre defining records? Because saying, for example, that some of the following records are really genre defining wouldn’t be true. On the other hand, these are the records that when I go back and look at the 2000s I think of pretty immediately as some of the best stuff and the things that I keep coming back to.

But the 2000s have been an interesting time for metal in a lot of ways. One of the things that happened was that death metal and death metal-influenced music really hit the mainstream in a lot of ways. For the first time since the 1980s there were larger groups of young people who really started getting into metal and there is an entire generation of musicians who have been influenced by the heavy metal of the 80s and the underground of the 1990s (particularly black and death metal). While I believe that metal is on the ebb again (in a popular music sense) and will once again retreat underground to lick its wounds and come up with something fascinating, interesting and new, the 2000s have been a great time to be a fan of the genre.

This list is going to take a lot of hits. I can already hear some of them, and some of them will come out of left field. But, as usual, I refuse to apologize for my taste. The focus on “magazine metal” bands will probably irritate some, and others will argue that my choices from one genre or another aren’t representative of the best of that genre during the period (specifically death metal in this case). But when I look back on the last 9 years, these are the ones that stand out. And trust me, there’s some stuff that I wish I could get on there, but I didn’t include an honorable mentions section since I expanded the list to 15. But there are some amazing records (Moonsorrow‘s Hävitetty, Anata‘s Under a Stone with No Inscription and The Conductor’s Departure, Agalloch‘s The Mantle, Turisas‘ The Varangian Way, Necrophagist‘s Epitaph, Ásmegin‘s Hin Vordende Sod & Sø, Absu‘s Tara, Rhapsody‘s Power of the Dragonflame, Anathema‘s A Fine Day to Exit, Nile‘s Black Seeds of Vengeance, Otyg‘s Sagovindars Boning, Obscura‘s Cosmogenesis, Watain‘s Sworn to the Dark, Akercocke‘s Antichrist, Enslaved‘s Below the Lights are just a few of my major oversights) that came out during this period that haven’t ended up on this list and I’m aware of that.

Anyway, I hope you find this list enjoyable, shocking, provocative and maybe even dead on. Backwards this time…

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Skyforger // Kurbads
Rating: 4.0/5.0 — A remarkable blend of elements
Label: Metal Blade
Websites: skyforger.lv | myspace.com/skyforgerofficial
Release Dates: EU: 23/26.04.2010 | US: 05.11.2010

Skyforger is Latvia’s answer to folk metal and they’ve been giving it a go for quite a while. Despite having been around since 1995, however, they’ve not produced a terribly huge discography. In fact, Kurbads is the first Skyforger album since 2003, when they self-released a folk album that was mightily well-received by their fanbase—even, apparently, more so their metal album from the same year Thunderforge. The band, for the record, has also been involved in a bit of controversy surrounding the use of, what the band calls a thundercross, and what the rest of us call a swastika in their logo. But it seems the band has worked very hard to distance themselves from any of the controversy surrounding this and should be approached from a non-political stance.

And pure folk metal Kurbads certainly is. Written with an eye towards ancient Latvian mythologies about men becoming heroes, every song on this record is basically about people standing up to the evil confronting them and defeating them. Think about it as the Baltic equivalent of the great national epics of Germany, Sweden, England or anywhere else for that matter. To back up this admirable and interesting concept the band has once again attacked the subject with their breed of doomy (or at least mid-paced) blackened folk metal. As I’ve been listening to this album I’ve had some issues placing exactly who the band sounds like, which is a thing to be admired, really, but I guess the best way to describe Skyforger‘s sound to newcomers is a blend of 80s thrash, Iron Maiden and Bathory with a healthy dose of folk melodies. It is a sound that is both familiar and comfortable, yet unique and interesting. Normally not a fan of mid-paced bands, Skyforger spoke to me on a completely different level.

This appeal has largely to do with the well-structured and interesting songwriting which combines all these different elements into a strong alloy. For example, the track “Black  Rider” mixes a Blind Guardian-esque riff, using bagpipes as lead instead of overly layered guitars, with an old school style Motörhead riff. While “The Nine-Headed” blends folk metal with Kreator-like German thrash and Iron Maiden‘s dual guitar leads. Each one of these songs offers a beautiful blending of these different metal styles and makes them cool, cohesive and crushing. My personal favorite song, and the one that convinced me that Kurbads was going to be a good record after all was definitely “Son of the Mare”, which starts out slow but turns into a speed metal track of amazing quality, with some of the most addictive melodies being carried by the bagpipes towards the end. This track set the standard for the album, which most of the record really lives up to.

Listening to Kurbads I’m really reminded of what it is about being a metalhead that I like so much. Sure, there seems to be a ridiculous amount of genrefication that’s gone on in the last few years. There are very few bands that are universally loved by metalheads in the same way that an Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath or a Metallica once were. But the ability of bands to take these various different genres, blend them together and get something new out of it is definitely something that is worth our admiration. Every metalhead has his or her own idea of what The Best Fucking Band Ever should sound like, and most of the time it’s not one band, but several. Skyforger has managed to mix all of these things together to write one of the more interesting folk metal albums you’ll hear these days and something I guarantee you doesn’t sound anything like Eluveitie, Turisas or Finntroll—and that’s what makes it awesome.

Well, everyone else under the sun has been releasing their Top 10 lists, and for those of you faithful readers out there I’m sure you’re also interested in what I’m going to say about the best records of 2009. First, let me say that for the first half of this year I was not indeed Angry Metal Guy—but instead, I was just a normal guy buying my metal and hoping that it was going to be fucking awesome. Now I’m a bitter critic. As a bitter critic I hear a lot more, but this year has still been characterized by some of the biggest bands on the scene for me. Mainly, Amorphis, who in my opinion have released the finest album of the year, if not the finest album of their very distinguished career. But, let me get to that later. There have been some great records this year, but there has been a lot of mediocre shit. Think of this list as being two-tiered—top 10 and then top 20. The top 10 are the records that I think were really awesome, elite albums, the second 10 are records that I think are great and worth your time and effort. Note that I haven’t heard certain albums that I’d like to hear due to that whole poverty not being offset by stealing music thing. With this, I hope to launch AngryMetalGuy.com into the new year on a new note: one where bands suck less.

#1: Amorphis // Skyforger — Amorphis is cooler than your favorite band. Honestly, they just fucking are. They have somehow managed to keep themselves excellent and relevant after all these years by producing some of the finest mainstream metal that the world has ever scene. Not only that, but their new vocalist has brought a life and energy to this band that after Tuonela I, frankly, had never expected to see again. Honestly, more power to these guys. They are a truly fantastic band on a roll. I look forward to new material from them in the future.
#2: Obscura // Cosmogenesis — Yeah, sure, everyone can say that it sounds like a bit of a blend of a Cynic/Necrophagist rip-off, but I honestly don’t give a shit. These guys are fucking phenomenal musicians who make really convincing and awesome metal and I have listened to this record way more than I was anticipating when I first got it. I am especially moved by the bass on this album which is just seriously awesome—a trait that many metal bands just, frankly, suck at. This album is balls-to-the-wall and awesome.
#3: Fleshgod Apocalypse // Oracles — Seriously some of the best tech death metal I’ve ever heard. What I love about this album is how good it is at being deliciously melodic and really subtle about it. Honestly, these guys are so much better than your average tech death metal band. I have trouble seeing why they haven’t gone over better, but I know that there’s another one of those ripoff memes out there about these guys. Anyway, this album totally ripped my goddamn face off and I totally loved it. They need a real drummer, though.
#4: Guilt Machine // On This Perfect Day — I’m going to be listening to this album for years. Partially it’s just that the vocals of this record keep drawing me back, but it really is one of the few albums that really drew me back over and over again this year. Super awesome melodies, amazing vocals and just perfectly composed. I might not be a huge fan of Ayreon, but I’m never going to insult the Dutch mastermind behind all these projects because Guilt Machine is an epic masterpiece of progressive rock/metal.
#5: Megadeth // Endgame — Oh man. This record is not a record I ever expected to end up on my top 10 list. It was so much fucking better than I expected and I hate myself for saying that because Dave Mustaine is the planet’s biggest douchebag. But man, this record is great. Easily among the best records for the year. Though, it’s getting close.
#6: Riverside // Anno Domini High Definition — Polish prog that really does something me. It’s a good blending of progressive metal and modern rock and has some amazing stuff in it. I love the sort of Opeth-y parts, of course, but everything about this record screams “listen to me again and again and again!”… and I did.
#7: The 11th Hour // Burden of Grief — Great fucking Dutch/Swedish doom. Honestly this is one of those records that I wish would’ve gotten more play as I think it’s actually on the up side of bands that have gotten a ton of play this year (mainly Ahab) from the underground metal guys, but I honestly think that this is the best doom to be released this year. The vocals are fantastic, the writing is amazing and all-in-all I’m pleased with this album.
#8: Indukti // Idmen — More excellent Polish prog that totally kicked my ass. This band is really fucking interesting and the songs on this album are well-crafted, fun to listen to and just all-in-all worth a spin or two. I think it will definitely be one of the albums that stands out for me from 2009 because it was something I’d never heard before and I was really, really impressed with it. Well, shit, I still am impressed!
#9: Ghost Brigade // Isolation Songs — Another album that I had to get on my own, but wow was it worth it. This record is basically like Katatonia meets.. well, sludge. They do all of those things that Sólstafir, Hanging Garden, etc., are trying to do, but they do them with tact, grace and a smart pop sense that those bands totally fucking lack.
#10: Scar Symmetry // Dark Matter Dimensions — I’m almost embarrassed to write this. This album totally jumped out and kicked my ass. Honestly, the new vocalists make them great and the new material is fantastic. The songs are very, very good and the catchiness kept drawing me back. I feel like a sucker because this stuff is so fucking commercial I can hardly help myself. If death metal could be gummy pop, it would be Scar Symmetry. But man… Oh man.

Honorable Mentions:

Fejd // Storm
Claws // Absorbed in the Nether Void
Black Sun Aeon // Darkness Walks Beside Me
Be’lakor // Stone’s Reach
Cobalt // Gin
Ulcerate // Everything is Fire
Marduk // Wormwood
Havok // Burn
Gorod // Process of a New Decline
The Chasm // Farseeing the Paranormal Abysm

These last couple weeks have been pretty crazy for this Angry Metal Guy.  I’ve moved south from the fair city of Umeå, to the much bigger (and arguably fairer) city of Uppsala.  While I miss Norrland, I do have to say that I’m quite enjoying certain aspects of the student culture in the city of Uppsala.   I haven’t had a lot of music time, but here’s some of what I’ve been listening to in the last week.

Weekly suggestion: Guilt Machine – On This Perfect Day — Yeah, this record was seriously solid and I strongly suggest you pick it up.

The Black Dahlia Murder – Deflorate — Oh, this is good.  I wasn’t super impressed with Nocturnal, so I’m pleased.  Watch for a review coming soon.
Gwyllion – The Edge of All I Know — Definitely heard better, but a pretty alright record.  Good vocals.
Insomnium - Across the Dark — Watch for this review.  Out on the 7th of September in Europe.
Isis – Wavering Radiant — These guys are ridiculously overrated.
Havok – Burn — See the review.  Great fucking riffs.
Amorphis – Skyforger — Best album of 2009?  So far.
Anaal Nathrakh – The Constellation of the Black Widow — \m/
Propagandhi – Supporting Caste — It ain’t the glory days, but these guys are still the smartest political band around.
Marduk – Rom 5:12 — I’m getting psyched for the new record, are you?
Falkenbach – Ok Nefna Tysvar Ty — Excellent viking/folk metal record.. addictive melodies.
The Dear Hunter – Act III: Life and Death — Excellent.
Amon Amarth – Live in Bochum 30/12/08 — Seriously, worth buying the reissue for this live record.