Angry Metal Guy

Abigail Williams // Becoming
Rating:  3.5/5.0 — Taint your wagon
Label: Candlelight Records
Websites: myspace.com | facebook.com
Release Dates:  EU: 2012.01.27 | US: 01.24.2012

I’ve never been an Abigail Williams fan. Their debut was lackluster and derailed by metalcore underpinnings. In the Absence of Light had some actual potential but was far too generic. Needless to say, I had modest expectations as I sat down to examine their new album. Well, Steel Druhm was nearly knocked from his stately Chair of Metal Judgment [Metal Chair of Judgement? - AMG] by what he heard on Becoming. Gone are the tepid attempts to recycle left-over Dimmu Borgir and Cradle of Filth riffs and horror movie symphonics. In their place is raw, shoegazey, post-rocky, contemplative blackness, loaded with doomy atmosphere, close in spirit to Wolves in the Throne Room and Agalloch, with elements of Aurvandil and Emperor mixed in. It’s a startlingly major change to be sure (even more so than their previous shift from black-core to Dimmu-worship), and proves there’s no wagon they won’t gleefully hop onto. Surprisingly though, their newest disingenuous switch works well and they may have found the style they can excel at. That is, if they can stop pursuing every new fad and trend (the technical term is “chasing their own fail”). Continue reading

Altar of Plagues // Mammal
Rating: 2.5/5.0 —Minimal
Label: Candlelight Records (EU) | Profound Lore (US)
Websites: altarofplagues.com/ myspace.com/altarofplagues
Release Dates:  EU: 2011.04.25 | US: 05.03.2011

I respect when a band creates something unique, challenging and hard for the listener to initially absorb. However, I only respect it when there’s a real payoff once the listener DOES absorb it. I think most readers can recall some album in their past that proved difficult to grasp but all of a sudden, you got it and the album opened up and became great. That’s the root of the problem with Mammal, the new Altar of Plagues platter. An avant garde post-black metal band coming out of Ireland of all places, Altar of Plagues released a very impressive debut with White Tomb back in 2009. Follow up EP Tides was good but nowhere near as impactful. Now their second full length fails to live up to the enormous potential heard on their debut. Is that potential in danger of going up in post-smoke? Read on metal warriors, read on. Continue reading

Shroud of Despondency // Dark Meditations in Monastic Seclusion
Rating: 4.0/5.0 — Simultaneously beautiful and ugly
Label: Self-released
Websites: BandCamp | MySpace
Release Dates Digitally: Available Now | Physical: Feb. 12th, 2011 – Worldwide

Some say that the album is dead. And no, by this I don’t mean vinyl, because for all but the biggest audiophiles vinyl really is dead. I mean the album; a set of interconnected songs that form a whole, that induce you to sit and listen to them all and enjoy. Every truly monumental record is one of those kinds of records—one that should make you want to sit down and listen and just feel that swelling in the chest, or whatever you feel when you find something that really hits home. Few live up to this these days and I think there are several reasons for this—though, I’ll save those for another time. But Shroud of Despondency‘s Dark Meditations in Monastic Seclusion is one such record, a cohesive whole and a supremely honest offering which, for all its warts, is a tremendous piece of work. Continue reading

Heathens // Oh, Mock the Heavens and Let the Heathens Sing
Rating: 4.0/5.0 — Definitely worth checking out.
Label: Unsigned
Websites: myspace.com/heathensband
Release Date: Out now…

The bread and butter of a heavy metal is the unsigned band. If you are patient enough to dig through piles and piles and piles and piles and piles and piles and piles and piles of shit, you will find the prototypes of up and coming bands. Bands in their infancy, but who are producing something that is heretofore unheard of. Or maybe they’ll just be doing something old remarkably well. Or maybe it’s a blending of the two, successfully putting together a sound that few have heard and being super kick ass at the derivative stuff. In any case, what I’m trying to say here is this; you’re bound to find a band that stands out after enough time reviewing underground stuff. However, knowing where to look is a bitch. So when I was directed to the South African black metal band Heathens by Lord Doom, I wasn’t sure whether I was going to like the material or not. Fortunately, Lord Doom is a man of impeccable taste.

Continue reading

Apparently Christophe Szpajdel has released a book that spans his career and the amazing logos that he’s produced. For those of you who don’t know, he’s the gentleman who has produced some of the most recognizable logos in metal and, specifically black metal, ever. He did Emperor, Old Man’s Child, Wolves in the Throne Room as well as probably thousands of bands you’ve never heard of. His work is fantastic, serious art. His style is really distinctive and really amazing. In fact, you can pretty much tell his work just by looking at it (like, I’m pretty sure he did this Dark Fortress logo that I’m looking at). The man is a genius and his new book looks gorgeous, though I haven’t gotten a copy of it yet, unfortunately. It’s definitely going on my wishlist.

Here’s a preview of it. It’s fairly expensive (€ 35.00 / $ 55.00 / £ 32.50), but it looks like it’s really amazing quality, too. Support this man in his endeavor to make metal more visually excellent.