Twelve

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Manntra – Oyka! Review

Manntra – Oyka! Review

“Why do people listen to folk metal? For that matter, why do I listen to folk metal? There are many plausible answers to this strangest of questions, beginning with “power metal and Vikings are a great combination,” and spanning all the way to “flutes are cool, man.” Truthfully, I think “folk metal” is too broad a term. When I first stumbled across Okya!, the fourth full-length from Croatian folk metal band Manntra, I was intrigued by the “folk metal” tag the band carried, but also brought with me the usual trepidation of not really knowing what to expect. Ensiferum folk metal and Eluveitie folk metal are, after all, very different metals, but both fall under the same basic tag.” A jig in a folk.

Glasya – Heaven’s Demise Review

Glasya – Heaven’s Demise Review

“The level of diversity available with metal music is a wonderful thing. At any given moment, I’m completely enamored with two or three styles of metal, but those styles are constantly in flux, my needs and desires shifting with the mood of a given day. Lately, I’ve been coming back around to symphonic metal. Embrace of Disharmony launched me back in, and I’ve come to miss that orchestral, symphonic, and otherwise over-the-top element in my heavy metal. Enter Glasya.” Wish upon the night.

Disrupted – The Procrastination of Being Review

Disrupted – The Procrastination of Being Review

“While I can certainly appreciate awesome riffing, furious roaring, and bestial drumming, I’ve always felt like the approach just needs something… more. Melodeath, death-doom, and similar styles are what have resonated with me more strongly in the past, leaving “just” death metal largely off of my radar. A short while ago, I reviewed the latest from Mettadone, and was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the modern take on the style. Fast-forward to the present, and here I am again, giving death metal another chance in my life.” Death adds life.

Burial in the Woods – Church of Dagon Review

Burial in the Woods – Church of Dagon Review

“The difference a single instrument can make is incredible. Barring the obvious candidates, like voice and drums, you can change an entire band’s sound with a single addition. Nightwish makes standard power metal until you add in the orchestrations. Wilderun play pretty neat symphonic metal, but throw in a mandolin and see how that changes things. It’s these small flourishes that help many of our favorite bands to win the battle against homogeneity. In the spheres of death-doom, Burial in the Woods seek similar uniqueness with their debut effort, Church of Dagon.” Church is kvlt.

Intothecrypt – Vakor Review

Intothecrypt – Vakor Review

“I’m always interested in bands that rise from the ashes of other bands. We hear about it all the time: four original members from one band go onto form their own band, bringing fans of the original band untold joy, because that band hasn’t put out a record in twelve years. In the case of Russian doom act Scald, it was the unfortunate death of the band’s lead vocalist that led its remaining members to Tumulus, which plays folk metal based on Slavic mythology. Fast-forward to 2016, and those same original Scaldians have now formed Intothecrypt, fusing these styles together by playing blackened death-doom in English and Ancient Russian, with Finno-Urgic influences informing both the story and the language.”

Hidden Lapse – Butterflies Review

Hidden Lapse – Butterflies Review

“I’d like to invite you to take a moment and look at that album art. While you’re at it, admire the album title and band name. And now that you’ve spent three seconds doing that, you won’t be the slightest bit surprised when I tell you that Italy’s Hidden Lapse play progressive power metal with symphonic elements. If you were surprised, I’d recommend spending some more time on this site.” Butterfly effect.

Tanzwut – Seemannsgarn Review

Tanzwut – Seemannsgarn Review

“So there I am, minding my own business, taking a casual stroll through the Angry Metal Promo Pit when a certain Tanzwut catches my eye. There’s the name, of course, but more importantly, the tagline: “medieval rock,” they use to describe themselves. Now, the last time I heard “medieval” applied to a style of metal, the album was The End is Nigh, the band was Apocalypse Orchestra, and my Album o’ the Year was thus. So if you tell me you play “medieval rock” and you have two bagpipers in your band, well, what can I say? I’m in.” Bag men.

Embrace of Disharmony – De Rervm Natvra Review

Embrace of Disharmony – De Rervm Natvra Review

“Stagnation is a problem. In this wondrous day and age where music can be shared across the globe at a mere few clicks, you’d think that “too much of the same” in metal would be a laughable concept. Instead, it’s an actual problem. An uncountable number of fledgling bands are being influenced by the same big acts and creating essentially the same sound over and over again. There is nothing more exciting in this musical sphere than a band that breaks the cycle of stagnation, who smashes through stereotypes and clichés both to rise above the rest and revitalize their sad, tired genre. Symphonic metal, I give you Embrace of Disharmony and their sophomore effort: De Rervm Natvra.” Symphonies of slickness.

Rendezvous Point – Universal Chaos Review

Rendezvous Point – Universal Chaos Review

“Lately, I’ve come to a realization: I really like progressive metal. The lighter, bouncier, often less heavy warmth of its synth-tastic embrace has been rather alluring of late, and I’ve been leaning more towards the Ayreons, the Civilisations, and the Riversides of my collection. Shortly after I came to this realization, I came to another: not all prog is created equal, as the three aforementioned examples demonstrate capably. Still, seeing an album cover with that much purple on it in piqued my interest nicely, and that’s the story of how I snatched up Universal Chaos, the sophomore album from Norwegian prog metal act Rendezvous Point.” Prog is chaos.

Evohé – Deus Sive Natura Review

Evohé – Deus Sive Natura Review

“I rarely write my introductions first. This paragraph, the one right here that you’re reading right now usually appears later on, as if by magic, after I already have an idea of where exactly the review is going. I tell you this so that you’ll understand when I say that I’ve already squandered most of my allotted word count gushing over Deus Sive Natura down there, so I don’t have much time to be all flowery and introductiony. So here’s what you need to know: Evohé hail from France, play pagan black metal, and Deus Sive Natura is their third full-length.” No introductions necessary.