Angry Metal Guy

For me 2011 was a year devoid of a death metal record that really knocked it out of the park. While Vomitory produced a pretty damn solid album, and Diocletian and Ulcerate were really good, but they didn’t exactly get me writhing around on the ground in ecstasy like a lot of other people seemed to have experienced it. So when I was digging through my unopened promos, I stumbled upon Nader Sadek‘s debut record which came out in 2011 from Season of Mist Records. And let me just say that I wasn’t even mildly prepared for what I was going to get. I’ll give you a hint though: it was 100% win. Continue reading

Entrails // The Tomb Awaits
Rating: 4.0/5.0 — Quality barbarism from beyond the grave
Label: F.D.A. Rekotz
Release Dates: Out Worldwide!
Author: Nemesis

This has been the year of death metal. Evidence is very much apparent if you look at the bulk of releases so far. Try to forget Morbid Angel and Decapitated for a moment. Quality albums from the likes of Hate Eternal, Vomitory, Supreme Pain, and Vader… even Autopsy – have made the genre stronger than ever in 2011. Sophomore album The Tomb Awaits is an attempt from these Swedish veterans of gritty old-school death metal to join those hallowed ranks. Continue reading

Bodyfarm // Bodyfarm EP
Rating: 4.0/5.0 — A great start!
Label: Abyss Records
Websites: myspace.com/bodyfarmnl
Release Dates: EU: 2011.04.26 | US: 01.01.2011

Amidst the sea of breakdowns, pig squeals, and all things core, comes a band that’s traditional and non-conforming. Bodyfarm, named from the institutions that examine and study the deceased and decomposition of dead flesh, is a straight up no BS death metal project with pure energy and substance. Along the same lines as Vader, Vomitory, or Cannibal Corpse in that there sound is stripped away aggressive death metal. No Gimmicks so to speak, just the music free from the pressures of mediocre innovations and the rising deathcore movement. I’m pleased to say these guys might have accidentally stumbled upon something refreshing. 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

The Project Hate MCMXCIX // Bleeding the New Apocalypse (Cum Victriciis in Manibus Armis)
Rating: 3.5/5.0 — Gonna take a while to digest this one entirely…
Label: Season of Mist
Websites: theprojecthate.net | myspace.com/theprojecthate
Release Dates: EU: 14.02.2011 | US: 02.15.2011

A few months back I posted something which amounted to me shilling for money for The Project Hate‘s new record. What you, as a reader here, probably didn’t know is that at the time I’d never even heard The Project Hate. I was not a fan at all, actually, I just thought the idea was cool and I believe in supporting underground bands doing cool shit and I think that what Lord K Philipson was doing was, in fact, cool as hell. Things, of course, ended up getting worked out and I now have a copy of The Project Hate‘s new disc in my possession and it has possibly the longest title ever: Bleeding the New Apocalypse (Cum Victriciis in Manibus Armis). I will not write that again. Continue reading

Torture Division // Evighetens Dårar
Rating: 4.5/5.0 — Don’t read this, just buy the fucking record.
Label: Abyss Records (US)
Websites: torturedivision.net
Release Dates: Out Now [Or Downloadable Here]

Sometimes reviews are short because you don’t have anything to say about a band. I mean, something just doesn’t wake that ire in you because it sucks, but isn’t really great enough to really rant about. This is a problem when you set yourself informal word limits for every review—and this is even more of a problem when the issue with the record is that it’s too fucking good to even warrant much of a review, per se. So before the jump, even, let me say this: what are you waiting for? Buy this fucking record. Continue reading

Update 25/07/2010: K. Philipson has posted this on the appropriate thread over at Global Domination: “STOP THE DONATIONS UNTIL I SAY OTHERWISE! SOMETHING JUST HAPPENED AND UNTIL WE KNOW THE EXACT STATUS OF THIS – DO NOT DONATE! I WILL SHARE INFORMATION AS SOON AS I CAN.

(don’t sweat it, I am not stealing your donations or anything)

Update July 24th: I wish I could spill the beans right now, but the important thing is that none of you donate for the time being. Hopefully everything can be explained next week or the week after. All of the money that’s been donated is safe and sound in the PayPal account and will be returned to their owners when the time comes. Keeping them for now is just a precautionary action in case it actually has to come down to donations in the end anyways, but now I doubt it.

Just hang in there. I will explain everything asap.

This Saturday is a day of celebration anyways. Now let’s just hope everything goes as planned and promised.”

So it has come to my attention today that Örebro’s finest The Project Hate MCMXCIX (Myspace here) has made a post about recording their next record. Funding is a serious problem, as we’re all aware, in the music industry in 2010. There are any number of reasons for this and it can be easily said that most of the readers of this blog are probably at fault for this in a way because free music has become the standard now, and bands are finding it harder and harder to keep on doing what they love because while the consumption of music has changed dramatically, the production of music is still very much mired in the old ways—labels, recording studios and so on. Continue reading