Angry Metal Guy

Today there will be no review, for today we are going to mourn a fallen metal warrior. This metal warrior isn’t one you’ve ever heard of, probably, unless you were in northern Wisconsin in the mid-2000s when the bands Tower of Babel and Dumah first played together. I don’t even think I was present at the time, but it started a friendship with an excellent legacy that has lasted until today (in the Wisconsin Metal Alliance). But not only that, but friendships would bloom from it that are genuinely meaningful to this day.

The guitar player for Tower of Babel was known as Black Andy and he was not the ‘star’ of the band, but he was an excellent player, a charismatic and friendly guy and a total blast. One of his jokes even made it onto the blog recently, as I believe it was he who started the “Riders of Rohan!” joke that I referenced in my Turisas review, and his humor was matched by a sharp wit and gentle wisdom.

Andy lived in Madison, Wisconsin and worked as a freelance writer and actor, had cut his hair, lost his beer gut and shaved his beard, but he was still through-and-through an excellent metal dude with solid taste and an unparalleled creative mind. The loss of his excellent band was also a sad day for me and other friends and fans, and now we have something even worse to mourn.

Black Andy died on the 12th of April suddenly at the age of 32. He is survived by his brother and parents and I assume his snakes.

He will be sorely missed.

Included here are two pictures of the man and the song “A Babylonian Legacy,” which felt appropriate for this moment.

Black Andy with Tower of Babel

Andy (L) and Chris from Dumah (R)

Eternal Silence // The Arsonist
Rating: 4.0/5.0 — Smokin’!
Label: Unsigned
Websites: eternaldeath.com | myspace.com/eternalsilence
Release Dates: Available now on Band Camp | iTunes, etc., 26th of March | Out on CD this summer

Eternal Silence is a death metal band that hails from New London, Wisconsin and has been around as long as this Angry Metal Guy has been into death metal. They started out in the late 90s, released a record in 98, an EP again in 2002 and then went silent—though they’ve been playing shows around Wisconsin and Illinois consistently. Like so many bands, they’ve suffered from issues surrounding labels, studios and band members, but somehow the core of this group has managed to stick together and stick it out. Sometimes stubbornness is really the best friend of a musician. Eternal Silence has shown that years of patience and hard work can pay off.

The Arsonist is the culmination of an 8 year wait and, while it’s a hell of a lot shorter than I would’ve expected after 8 years of silence, the record is smoking (no puns intended). Playing death metal in the style of Vader and Impious and rooted in the very foundations of the death metal scene, these cheeseheads have written 6 heavy, engaging and all around kick ass tracks. Normally one would try to highlight the best tracks on this record in order to explain what it was exactly that one liked or didn’t like: but to be honest every track on here is stand out. The excellent blend of old school death metal song writing, i.e., a little bit more verse/chorus than a lot of modern bands, with melodic riffing and no fear of groove results in evenly, smartly written tracks with a lot of dynamics that keep the listener hooked in for the entire length of the record.

The band is tight and long gone are the weaknesses that marred the 2002 release The Dawning of Chaos. While that previous EP was well-recorded, the rhythm section was tricky and weak at times and the writing of the tracks was a bit repetitive at times. The time down, and lots of live shows has definitely done Eternal Silence a lot of good and The Arsonist exhibits the kind of tightness and punch that one expects from good death metal. The situation on the low end especially has markedly improved since the 2002 EP and it’s nice, too, that the production leaves room for “new” bassist and bearded fiend Jake Fredrick to shine on nearly every track.

As you can tell, there aren’t a lot of weaknesses on The Arsonist. Probably the most stand out is that some of the riffing on “Centuries of Blood” is weak, and that’s probably the weakest track on the record. But honestly, the biggest weakness might be that this record is a few years too late. While the tracks here are strong, The Arsonist isn’t exactly blazing new trails. I’m sure that the well-schooled fan of death metal, the type that’s always looking for new stuff, could write this record off as being “rehashed” and could argue that case. Eternal Silence isn’t exactly coining “The Wisconsin Sound” or anything. They’re just making good, honest death metal that will induce headbanging and the throwing of horns. No pretentiousness involved.

While pretty well known among the scene in the Midwest, Eternal Silence has suffered from a lack of attention outside of their home turf. The Arsonist will give them a chance to expand their audience, touring territory and hopefully get picked up by someone who can really give them what they need, or at least help them expand in the whole DIY field that so many bands are taking these days. Fans of death metal of almost any stripe should check these guys out as they have music that could appeal to almost everyone but the most entrenched fan of certain sub-genres. This Angry Metal Guy is planning on spinning the hell out of this record, anyway.

Burial Ritual // Tower of Silence
Rating: 3.0/5.0 – Starts out not so good, gets awesome by the end..
Label: Unsigned
Release Date: Available now from CDBaby
Website: myspace.com/burialritualband

Burial Ritual hail from Wisconsin, as part of the state’s burgeoning death metal scene. Playing what I would describe as blackened death metal, they also sound pretty original for the scene as well. The gorey cover and the logo by Christophe help set the stage for the band as well..

The first thing that stood out for me is that Burial Ritual rock one of the best recorded demos I’ve heard from Wisconsin bands up until now. The production is pretty solid for a self-funded recording of a fairly unknown band. The drums are heavily triggered, as is the way, but all-in-all it’s not too annoying and the recording definitely gets across the primary sound for these guys which is pretty much brutal death metal, complete with chug and pig squeals, meets atmospheric black metal.

This is actually a pretty interesting combination of sounds, if you think about it. There aren’t very many bands who have even tried to do something similar to it. However, the execution could really be better. The first three tracks on the album suffer from what I consider to be bad changes, boring riffs and way too much repetitiveness. Instead of punching you in the face with their brutality, they kinda poke you on the forehead with their persistence, while never really having the intended effect of kicking your ass.

Fortunately, the record gets better. While the fourth track “Cannibalistic Tendencies” is better than the first three tracks, it still has some sorta boring funeral doom style riffs that do nothing for me, but also there are a couple of awesome riffs and some good guitar melodies that make up for it. This transitional song brings us into the part of the record that I think is actually pretty brilliant. Starting with the acoustic intro to “Atop a Funeral Pyre,” the album goes from boring to compelling. The riffs that were previously boring become face crushing and the composition is absolutely 100% improved. Honestly, I’ve never heard anything like this in my life. Usually a band doesn’t rebound on the second half of an album so strong as these guys do, but for whatever reason the rest of this record is a fucking blinder.

What this tells me is that Burial Ritual has some serious potential. If they can get their composition in tact with everything else that they’re doing well—that is, their playing, the excellent vocal approach and their borderline professional sound—I definitely could see them with a label in the near future.  My suggestion to them would be to continue towards the blackened side of the “blackened death” label, because their best material seems to be rooted in that. The sporadic keyboards should get some more space and the blasty riffs keep a lot of the stuff here interesting and compelling.

So, the Wisconsin Metal Alliance, who I proudly support, are running a poll called the WMA awards!  You are free to go in and vote for those bands, and there’s a FAQ below.  You should do it, for sure!

Vote for the WMA Awards – showcasing the best Wisconsin Bands!

The WMA Awards consist of 20 categories related to metal music and performance, and many bands across the state have been recognized to win these awards (WMA and non-WMA bands).

Winners will be voted upon throughout the next 5 weeks, and voting is open to the public (however, you must register on the message board in order to vote). The winner and runner-up for each category will be notified after all of the votes have been tallied. There are several categories, so check out the awards and be sure to vote on others to support the Wisconsin metal community.

Voting remains open until Oct. 31st. The polls are located here: http://www.wimetal.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=88

The WMA is an online community that is dedicated to strengthening METAL throughout Wisconsin – fans, bands, and anyone else related to metal. These awards help us showcase the best in Wisconsin, and bring some new bands to areas that may not have much exposure. Be sure to vote, and while you’re at it, why not tell us about your favorite metal album, what’s going on with your band, or advertise a show you have planned (if you’re in a band).

Here’s a short FAQ on the WMA Awards:

Q: How were the bands chosen to be finalists?

A: We had everyone who posts on the WMA forums submit nominations of as many bands as they wanted for all 20 categories. Then, all of the forumites here voted and chose the top 5 in each category (where there were at least 5 nominees). That is how we arrived with these bands.

Q: Isn’t there inherently bias toward WMA bands? I mean, about half of the finalists are in the WMA.

A: We wanted to open this up to everyone, but it was a difficult process just getting it as far as it is today. The goal is to make these awards something that bands are interested in and get more people coming by here. That way, there will be a bigger pool of people submitting nominations and voting. So it’s more likely that there are many WMA bands because those are the bands most of us are familiar with. By getting more bands in here, it benefits everyone.

Q: What do bands get for winning the awards?

A: Not much, really, other than some recognition. We will also make small images to place on bands’ Myspace/websites that show the recognition of the award. We wanted to recognize the bands that stand out in the Wisconsin Metal Community.

Q: How do I vote?

A: Simply register for an account here and place your vote. It’s pretty easy. And after you’ve registered, you can make a post about your favorite band or a new album you like, or just tell us what’s going on with your band.

Q: What is the WMA trying to gain from this?

A: We want to strengthen the Wisconsin Metal Community and help bands and fans across the state connect with each other. We want to showcase the best Wisconsin has to offer, and gaining some exposure with the best bands is one way to do that.