“In my humble estimation, Soulmass exemplify the death-doom style. Weighty, but not plodding; methodical but not overwrought. I’ve been following these Floridians for a long time and I’ve only grown more impressed with their development. Their third full-length finds my expectations too damn high, especially after the act took a massive step forward on 2019’s The Weakness of Virtue. Can Soulmass live up to the hype? Let Us Pray so.” Mass effects.
“Wheat dies fast; chaff lives on forever. What that means for thrash, I don’t know, because that genre will relive the good ole days until the barn burns down. I also don’t know what that means for Trastorned. The Chilean quartet have spent 15 years working out the perfect homage to the genre with their debut, Into the Void. It’s mean. It’s fast. It sounds exactly how you want it to sound. But those three points mean little these days, and it will take so much more for these thrashers to survive the thresher.” Harvest tunes.
![Brymir – Voices in the Sky [Things You Might Have Missed 2022]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Brymir-Voices-in-the-Sky-01-768x768.jpg)
“Sometimes, the music doesn’t click. On paper, it should be halfway up your alley before the first song is over. It’s the right genre, right ideas, right pace, but the shit thrown against the wall still slides off into the ooze of a thousand less-deserving records. Heretofore, that was Brymir. I wanted to like them; I should have worshiped them. But their first three entries of symphonic melodic death escaped me like self-awareness from your favorite black metal band. So why, oh why, should a tired wvrm limp out of the doldrums of exile to dump on a band he doesn’t really like?” Early Brymir gets the wvrm.
“What should be said of the workhorses? The acts that caught your ear once and never let go? Not the kings of the mountain, no, but perennially at least at base camp. Like your dad used to say, the world needs 2.75-rated records too. Svartsot surmounted the folk metal summit but once with their 2007 debut Ravnenes Saga; their three shots at the top since have fallen well shy of that peak. Still, their thick-axed folkery scratches a certain itch, and given the Danes’ obligation to their sound, there’s little chance their fifth album, Kumbl, will be a disaster. There’s also little chance it’ll be a hit.” Ready to Kumbl.
“In my very limited experience with the deathcore genre, Shadow of Intent is the master, chief. I’ve never before been arsed with Lorna Shore or any of the rank-and-file, nor do I care that Worm Shepherd have made a lot of waves in a relatively short period. Their debut In the Wake ov Sol dropped a touch over a year ago, and already they’re on Unique Leader and working with what I’m told are some big names. I wouldn’t spank Grier‘s ass over any of this. All I want is some good fucking music. Given their name, I’d say Worm Shepherd are obligated to pied piper my ass to the promised land with Ritual Hymns.” Worm wrangling.
![Abstract Void – Wishdream [Things You Might Have Missed 2021]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/cover.jpg.webp)
“In hindsight, 2018 stood me at an imperceptible crossroads: the intersection of my growing disenchantment with metal and a void-filling infatuation with the electronic. The latter was encouraged, if not inspired, by a Frankensteinian atmoblack/synthwave monster released at the improbably right space-time to capitalize on the trends I loved and tired of. Abstract Void’s Back to Reality would ride that wave of serendipity to become my most listened-to album of the next few years. At least until Wishdream came along.” Void when wished at night.
![Cara Neir – Phase Out [Things You Might Have Missed 2021]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Cara-Neir-Phase-Out-01.jpg.webp)
“Oftimes, “experimental” is just a nicer way of saying “incomprehensible” or “long-winded”, “avant-garde” a tidier “sucked up its own ass.” Metal is at its best when it’s truly different, not just strange. Cara Neir received high praise their last time out, but I didn’t hear it. Until now, very little from the Texans intrigued me, nothing I couldn’t swap for some Warheads at the lunch table. Until now.” 8-bits a biting.
“Since joining the AMG staff, a lot has changed, both personally and in the world. Everywhere you look, something is completely fucking different from how it was a mere half-decade ago. Poland’s Dormant Ordeal, however, are immune to the trend. Their 2016 opus We Had It Coming certainly had its spot on that year’s Best Of lists coming, and their tech-death sound remains exactly as it was, stalwart and monolithic. But if you aren’t moving forward, you’re moving backward, and Dormant Ordeal can’t risk falling behind in a strong year for a crowded tech-death field.” Of grand schemes and heavy things.
“It shouldn’t be a surprise that following up the best thing you’ve ever done is a tough task; no wonder some bands go in a different direction entirely. Aephanemer, freshly signed to Napalm Records, are not running from that legacy.” Boars before swine.
“Few musicians have as long and varied a career as Tamás Kátai of Thy Catafalque. The one-man outfit may have attracted an entourage of impactful guests over the years, but the end product was always, is always him. The throughlines of his writing and personal touch continue to persist even now, a decade since he struck out on his own. However, his most recent outings, Geometria and Naiv, lacked that certain je ne sais qoui essential to his kaleidoscopic sound. Vadak marks Thy Catafalque’s fifth entry in seven years, a common cause of too much lack and not enough luster. Of course, just as I was ready to pass on Vadak with the same half-shrug as 2020’s Naiv, Kátai starts dropping bombs.” Thy bomber.
