![Aether – In Embers [Things You Might Have Missed 2019]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/aether-in-embers-02.jpg)
“Wintersun has long been a favorite of mine. Sure, it’s a band with a whole bunch of frustrations, but Jari Mänepää is a strong composer, and he’s got a cool sound that I can’t help but like. His wild blend of melodeath, power metal, black-tinged folk, and symphonic over-the-top wizardry appeals to me. It’s always a good Time T(w)o listen to well-composed symphonic heavy metal, and this is where the Polish group Aether come in.” Less spa, more metal.
This post has been removed because it promoted Nazi or Nazi-adjacent metal bands or musicians. We apologize.
“As I look back upon the strange and unwieldy mess that we’ve been calling “2019,” I feel like something has been missing. Something uplifting; something powerful. And I’m already short on word count, so, long story short, it’s power metal. In fact, I’m in such a slump for the stuff that seeing The Voice Within, the debut solo album from Luca Sellitto, the guitarist from Italian act Stamina, described as “neoclassical power metal” in the promo bin caused me to grab it so fast I hadn’t even registered the glowing electric guitar on the cover.” Power outage.
“One of the earliest things I’ve learned in my short tenure working with these angriest of metal men is how difficult describing music actually is. Scholars throughout time have worked hard to remedy this situation by giving us the hallowed name drop, and venerated genre tags, that we might use few words to convey great meaning. And yet, these still often fall sadly short of describing the actual phenomena we experience. I could tell you, for instance, that the music of World of Pain, the third full-length output from the German band Horrizon.” When words fail.
“Adrian Benegas, perhaps best known as the keyboardist and founder of symphonic metal act Tragul, is at the beginning of a familiar story: a talented musician and composer takes a step away from his band to attempt a symphonic power metal solo project, one in which the story, lyrics, and compositions will be done solely by himself. He will write a story and bring it to life in musical form, bringing in guest musicians and vocalists to play various parts of the story. Is this sounding familiar yet?” Avant horizon.
Throughout the ages, many are the writers of these ancient halls who have remarked upon metalcore bands whose promotional materials lurk deep within that bogs of our storage facility masquerading as something else altogether. Many are those who have excitedly snatched up and absconded with a rare unsupervised melodeath promo only to realize, to their endless despair, that the joke is on them. As a relative newcomer, I knew to beware of this phenomenon, but I didn’t count on the surprising number of ambient bands whose promotional teams might seek to do the same thing with black metal. You’d think I’d have learned by now – Vesperith’s self-titled debut marks the fourth time I’ve sat down to sample a not-black metal “black metal” album.” Sucker!
“It’s early afternoon, and I have decided to embark on a rather lengthy walk. During this time I will be spinning Triumph & Disaster, the fourth full-length album from We Lost the Sea, and their second since the tragic loss of singer Chris Torpy. I load up the first song and notice something out of the corner of my eye—yes, I did see that right. The instrumental progressive post-metal album I’ve picked up has a fifteen-minute long opening track. Because I’m a terrible reviewer at heart, my brain does the only thing it can: it leaps to the nearest conclusion and prepares for a very long hour.” Time is a social construct.
“Have you ever listened to a band and just known that they have an incredible acoustic album in them? Since the first time I heard Swallow the Sun, I’d been waiting for their acoustic release. Winterfylleth’s The Hallowing of Heirdom was a surprise to me – and also one of my favorite albums of its year and style. When you listen to Miasma, the debut album by Polish post-atmoblack group Rosk, you can just hear the acoustic album waiting to break free. The quiet, intimate passages between songs on Miasma were deeply affecting and begging to be explored further. Only two years later, here it is: Rosk returns with remnants, a fully acoustic, stripped-down, intimate dark folk album with clear atmoblack and doom metal inspiration.” Heartstrings.
“I’m sure you figured it out from the cover art: yes, it’s me again, and I’m reviewing yet another female-fronted symphonic metal band. Why am I doing this to myself? How did I offend Steel Druhm, and when will he let me off the hook? All excellent questions for another day. For now, let’s focus on Nevaria, a Bavarian group releasing their debut full-length, Finally Free.” Freedom from mimicry.
“Sometimes metal is addictive in its brutality. Sometimes it is so technically impressive that we come back to it time and time again. Other times, it’s catchy, burrowing its hooks into our helpless brains and infecting us from within. But, in my own opinion, the best metal is simply compelling; it has an abstract quality about it that draws you in and becomes increasingly rewarding with every subsequent listen. So it was with Drei Deita (Three Foreboders), the second full-length release from Vinsta, a solo project from Austria’s Christian Höll.” Resurgence intensifies.
