Angry Metal Guy

Soen // Cognitive
Rating: 4.0/5.0 — Causes a little dissonance
Label: Spinefarm
Websites: myspace.com/soen | facebook.com/soenmusic
Release Dates: EU: 2012.02.13 | US: 02.21.2012 (?)

I guarantee you the guys from Soen have to brace themselves for every review they’re going to read for two reasons. The first of these is that this band contains Steve DiGiorgio—heavy metal’s best bassist and best fretless for hire—and oh, right, Martin Lopez who we last saw as a member of Opeth. I have to say that I’m partial to these two guys as musicians (nothing against Ax, but Lopez is a special drummer) and so when I heard that this record was coming out I did some begging and got me a copy for review. Apparently there are other musicians in this band, but we don’t actually care The rest of the band is made up of by two Swedish guys—Eklöf, the vocalist and Platsbarzdis, the guitarist—for what is a four piece of alternative or kind of groovy progressive metal. Not progressive like Opeth or Vintersorg or Porcupine Tree but progressive like Tool. And by that I mean, they sound exactly like fucking Tool (that’s the second reason).  Continue reading

And here it finally comes. I want to take a little time to gaze at my navel before heading off to the races here. 2011 has been a hard year for me and for AngryMetalGuy.com. Without the help of Steel Druhm, this website probably would have gone under due to serious burnout. It stands that there are other options for both of us as reviewers, but we both love this site and the little community it has become and don’t have any desire to see it go anywhere. And, frankly, due to blood, sweat and more blood, we just don’t feel like we can really stop working on this website. So when I say to you all, that we don’t want to stop doing this largely because you guys keep coming by and reading this I seriously mean it. It’s a great feeling–even when sometimes the music industry gets goddamned lame.

2011, really, was a gigantic disappointment. The records I was really looking forward to this year definitely let me down. The new Opeth was nothing to write home about, the new Amon Amarth was the same ol’ same ol’, the new Symphony X left me underwhelmed, while the records that the scene kids got boners over were stuff that isn’t really my thing. There were some really good albums this year, but they came from very unexpected places. In other words, I could never have predicted that this list would have looked like this at the beginning of the year.

So here’s to the disappointing year that was and hopefully to a much more interesting (musically) 2012. May we all see out the end of the year!

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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!

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Wow, it’s been a long time and you’ve all been waiting patiently. So here’s my 20-11 of the best heavy metal songs of all time. If you’re in desperate need of an update as to what else we’ve posted, here are some links: Mine: 50-41, 40-31, 31-20 and Steel Druhm’s: 50-41, 40-31, 30-21, 20-11.

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Yggdrasil // Irrbloss
Rating: 4.0/5.0 — A remarkable record.
Label: Grandmaster Music
Websites: yggdrasil-sweden.com | myspace.com/yggdrasilofficial
Release Dates: EU: 2011.04.25 | US: 06.07.2011 [Digitally: 04.25.2011]

Yggdrasil is a new band to me, though Irrbloss (“Will-o-wisps”) is their third album. I know that there are a ton of folk metal bands out there, which makes actually going out and looking for new folk metal a very challenging endeavor. Like any underground scene there’s going to be a lot of shit, so sifting through that all sometimes is more effort than its worth. Fortunately for me, there are others with more patience than I who directed me to Sweden’s Yggdrasil and I am very glad that they did so. Continue reading

Vomitory // Opus Mortis VIII
Rating: 4.5/5.0 — Exactly what I needed
Label: Metal Blade
Websites: vomitory.net | myspace.com/vomitoryswe
Release Dates: EU: 2011.04.23/26 | US: 04.26.2011

I’ve actually been having a bit of a problem this year. While this is supposed to be the big year for all the big-named metal bands that I love, I can’t help but get the feeling that no one is putting out records that are even nearly as good as they should be. OK, I really got into the new Vintersorg, but I thought Septic Flesh was a letdown, as was the new Amon Amarth. There are others that I can’t mention yet, but let me just say, I’m disappointed with pretty much all of my favorite bands this year. So when I got Vomitory‘s Opus Mortis VIII and popped it in, I can’t say that I was expecting much more than that same ol’ same ol’ feeling of apathy. I was beginning to think, frankly, that this was my problem. But Vomitory helped me realize something—this is their problem, not mine. Continue reading

Closer and closer we draw to the best heavy metal song of all time, but indeed there is much in between and none of it has been come to lightly. I actually have spent a lot of time mulling over this list since its creation and I am pleased, thus far I can’t think of anything major that I’ve left out—which must mean that they are not indeed ‘top songs’ at all. But let me get to one note of concern that people have raised. They say that one of the reasons that a list like Gibson’s travesty is valid is because “it’s hard to know if these songs can stand the test of time!” I just want to take a minute to call bullshit.

Bullshit. First, even by that logic, tracks from At The Gates and Blind Guardian, having been released in the mid-90s could easily have made that list. But I think the other thing that people forget is how metal is no longer as unified then and therefore it’s much harder to come up with newer songs that unify large buying publics. There’s a reason that it’s Korn and Tool that make those lists and not Opeth or Primordial (though arguably Opeth is one of the most popular metal bands in the world today), and it’s because metal doesn’t have the same kind of commercial power that it maybe once did. But does that mean that we should cloister ourselves in stupidity and only pay attention to records that went gold and songs that even people who don’t like metal have heard? This Angry Metal Guy says “Hell no!” And thus I have presented this list (here’s: 50-41 and 40-31) parallel to Steel Druhm’s lists (50-41 and 40-31) with an eye to what has happened in metal since then. Of course not everyone is going to agree—but that is simply because we live in a post-modern metal world, where not everyone is able to get the same metal.

But ask yourself this; which of these bands will be looked back upon fondly, and which of them will be looked back upon with shame. There’s a reason that Warrant and Stryper didn’t make Gibson’s list, and it’s the same reason that Korn shouldn’t have and Papa Roach wasn’t anywhere near it: because these were trends, they were bad, they were cheesy and they are to be looked upon with proper contempt and shame for having ever existed. The same cannot be said of Ulver or Opeth or Primordial or Vintersorg. These are united in excellence and artistic expression, even if they don’t all reach the same listeners.

So my goal here is not to construct the list of the most accessible stuff, it’s the stuff that I see as the best. That means when it comes to songwriting, presentation and, of course, memorability. And now, 30-21.

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Obscura // Omnivium
Rating: 4.5/5.0 — Mmm.. techy goodness!
Label: Relapse
Websites: myspace.com/realmofobscura
Release Dates: EU: 2011.04.01/04 | US: 03.28.2011

March has really been one hell of a month, hasn’t it? To think after Amon Amarth and Vintersorg we get to follow it all up with Obscura‘s Omnivium. If any record counts as the most-anticipated of the year, Obscura is probably getting pretty close to that level. Having released in 2009, what was really a hell of a surprise for most listeners (including people who’d purchased their previous record) in Cosmogenesis, these technical death metallers built on their Necrophagist cred (and sound) and on the legacy of the mighty Death with their technical, progressive death metal—complete with awesome fretless bass attack. So, while this isn’t really a record that can fall victim of the sophomore slump (being the band’s third record), it certainly is an album that could fall victim to overly heightened expectations. And, I must admit, this Angry Metal Guy certainly had heightened expectations. Continue reading

Vintersorg // Jordpuls
Rating: 4.5/5.0 — The Perfect Record for Spring
Label: Napalm Records
Website: myspace.com/vintersorganic
Release Dates: EU: 2011.25-28.03 | US: 04.05.2011

After a wintry silence of 4 years about a new solo record, Vintersorg is finally releasing the long awaited follow-up to Solens Rötter. If you consider the early solo career of Mr. V, this is actually pretty surprising. His fecundity has been next to almost none, producing a record a year, as well as having a myriad of other excellent projects (like Otyg, Waterclime, Havayoth, Gravisphere, being in the mighty Borknagar and I’m sure someone will correct me on something I’ve missed). But for this Angry Metal Guy the new record coming has been a worrisome thing, as the taste that was left in my mouth by Solens Rötter was a bit bitter. To date, the record is my least favorite of everything that has been released under Mr. V’s solo moniker and the decision to ditch the amazing Steve Digiorgio and Asgeir Mickelson and bass and drums, respectively, was definitely felt. So I guess the question for Jordpuls was… what next? Continue reading

A new Vintersorg track has just been added over at the MySpace in its entirety! This may be the best thing that we’ve heard from Mr. V in my opinion since Visions or even Cosmic Genesis! The record comes out on the 25th in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Then on the 28th it hits the rest of Europe. April 5th it sails over the sea to the USA.

The record can (and should) be pre-ordered over at Napalm Records’ webshop!