Kenstrosity

Destroying AMG's metal cred from within.

Beyond Mortal Dreams – Abomination of the Flames Review

By Kenstrosity on April 14, 2022 in Reviews, Death Metal, 24 comments

“Two albums in thirty years does not a prolific act make. But that’s exactly how Beyond Mortal Dreams’ story begins. 1992 saw the youthful Australian death metallers spawn upon this mortal plane, under the moniker Suffering. After changing their name to Beyond Mortal Dreams in ’95, the band…. well, disbanded until 2003. Upon reforming, Beyond Mortal Dreams extracted enough evil and grotesquery from the depths of hell to concoct their debut record, From Hell, in 2008. Now, fourteen years later, these hellish imps prepare to unleash their second tome, entitled Abomination of the Flames, accompanied by this wonderfully infernal visage beside this introduction.” Olden demons, scarcely known.

Vimur – Transcendental Violence Review

By Kenstrosity on April 2, 2022 in Reviews, Black Metal, Melodic Black Metal, 36 comments

“Back in 2019, I raved about Vimur’s sophomore album, Triumphant Master of Fates. It was a magnificent expulsion of incendiary black metal fueled by venom and vitriol. Three years later, the Atlanta quartet readies their next salvo, entitled Transcendental Violence. Lucifer only knows what the hell that means, but there’s no doubt that destruction awaits.” Violence as currency.

Stuck in the Filter – February’s Angry Misses

By Kenstrosity on March 31, 2022 in Blog Posts, Stuck in the Filter, 41 comments

“The year trundles on, and the world only gets angrier. As above, so below, and we below are very, very angry. So angry, in fact, that we decided to makeshift some spiked Louisville Sluggers and demolish our filtration system entirely. Fuck the system! And wouldn’t you know it? There was a ton of shiny nuggets strewn amongst the rubble that once was our only means of cleaning the “air” we breathe down here. Ah well, who needs it!” Rage against the dying of the Filter.

Redshark – Digital Race Review

By Kenstrosity on March 23, 2022 in Reviews, Heavy Metal, Speed Metal, Thrash Metal, 42 comments

“Continuing the trend of covering things I don’t normally cover, I traveled at the speed of light metal to Barcelona, where I encountered an angry, ‘roided-out shark wearing nothing but bullet belts and cargo khakis that barely contained his quads. His name is Fred, but his friends and enemies just call him Red, for short. My first encounter with Red looked much like the scenery depicted to your left. Specifically, there were many explosions, gunshots, cacophonies of glass and cigarette-stained plastic shrapnel, and the sweet sound of skulls succumbing to ruthless whirlwinds of ignited ammunition.” Blood in the mortar.

Hyperia – Silhouettes of Horror Review

By Kenstrosity on March 15, 2022 in Reviews, Thrash Metal, 21 comments

“It’s been a long time since I reviewed a thrash metal album. When I stumbled upon Hyperia’s Silhouettes of Horror in the promo dump, though, I knew I had to have it. First of all, the Canadian quartet touted themselves as “melodic thrash,” then they followed up with an elaboration including attractive attributes like “insanity” and “drinking.” Plus, the album artwork boasts that classic stylized look that graced many a thrash slip cover over the years. It seemed to me that Hyperia had all of their ducks in a row for their second record, and I was eager to pass judgment upon it accordingly.” Duck, duck, moose!

Hath – All that Was Promised Review

By Kenstrosity on March 2, 2022 in Reviews, Black Metal, Death Metal, Melodic Death Metal, 77 comments

“Hath are a cool band. They fill that Slugdge-shaped hole in my thirsty sponge body quite snugly without being a carbon copy, and you can clearly hear how much the group’s sound and skill grew between debut EP Hive and debut LP Of Rot and Ruin. The same measure of growth in songwriting and style applies between Of Rot and Ruin and their latest opus, All that Was Promised.” Hell Hath more fury.

Brood of Hatred – The Golden Age Review

By Kenstrosity on February 24, 2022 in Reviews, Death Metal, Post-Metal, Progressive Metal, 9 comments

“Tunisian one-man band Brood of Hatred caught my attention during my early days on Bandcamp, luring me into mastermind Muhammed Mêlki’s twisted brand of progressive post-death metal with Skinless Agony. He apparently released a second album, Identity Disorder, so quietly that I completely missed it until just a few days prior to writing this. Catching up on what I missed gave me a clearer picture of how Brood of Hatred developed over the last eight years leading up to his latest outing, entitled The Golden Age.” Pox Romana.

Stuck in the Filter – January’s Angry Misses

By Kenstrosity on February 21, 2022 in Blog Posts, Stuck in the Filter, 79 comments

“January 2022 has been surprisingly strong for me here at Angry Metal Guy. Normally the first couple months of the year make me question whether I even like metal anymore, but this year started off with a pretty loud bang for a change. Our collective expectation that only the loosest of shit would slough down the pipeline created a situation where we missed a few quality movements.” Welcome to the Super Bowel!

Bloodywood – Rakshak Review

By Kenstrosity on February 16, 2022 in Reviews, Deathcore, Folk Metal, Groove Metal, Melodic Metal, Nu Metal, 85 comments

“Bloodywood’s approach to metal is, on the surface, similar to Linkin Park’s in that they often combine rapped verses with sung choruses—utilizing both English and Hindi lyrics—backed by gym-ready riffs reminiscent of Hacktivist, We Butter the Bread with Butter, and even Dyscarnate. Look beneath those superficialities and you find a ton of cool Indian folk instrumentation playing along, particularly weighted towards woodwinds and festive drums.” The Rock Shack is now open.

WAIT – The End of Noise Review

By Kenstrosity on February 9, 2022 in Reviews, Progressive Metal, 24 comments

“Time WAITs for no sponge. This apparently holds true for my unfortunate green friend to my left, the sands of time quite literally gushing out of his be-hourglassed noggin. The oddly disturbing artwork depicting this surreal injury translates to the weird and wacky, grungy prog-death stylings of Baltimore’s WAIT (short for We are in Transit). A supergroup of sorts, the trio pulls from the pool of live performers who jammed for acts ranging from Cynic to Defeated Sanity to Obscura, so it comes as no surprise to me that debut album The End of Noise promises to be a twisted and technical affair.” Difficult commute.