Twelve

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Mettadone – Rotten Flattery Review

By Twelve on May 19, 2019 in 2019, Archaic Sound, Death Metal, Reviews, Ukrainian Metal, Death Metal, 27 comments

“Back in 2015, Ukranian act Mettadone emerged from wherever they’d been previously to unleash their debut, Invisible Disease, upon the world. The album was an intriguing offering of gothic-tinged doom/death and had good potential behind it. In 2017, while touring, the band’s singer apparently left the band right before a show. What’s a band to do? I should think that would be obvious: the drummer sang the show, discovered he enjoyed the role, and so the band subsequently went full death metal.” Should you ever go full death metal?

Mystik – Mystik Review

By Twelve on May 17, 2019 in 2019, I Hate, Reviews, Speed Metal, Swedish Metal, Speed Metal, 37 comments

“What makes speed metal speed metal? Holdeneye mused on this philosophical nightmare not too long ago, and never really formulated an answer. At the time he was pacing around the Angry Metal Break Room like a caged animal, muttering incoherently to himself, I spent many an hour watching him, amused, thinking to myself: ‘Riffs. Speed. Done.'” Not so fast.

Monasterium – Church of Bones Review

By Twelve on May 13, 2019 in 2019, Doom Metal, Nine Records, Polish Metal, Reviews, Doom Metal, 26 comments

“There are a lot of factors that come into play when a person decides to pick up new music to listen to, but the band name is really the most important one. Take Monasterium, for example. The word, discontinued in today’s vernacular, could refer to either a monastery or a monk’s cell within a monastery in Medieval-era English. And, really, that’s all I needed to know before grabbing Church of Bones, the band’s sophomore effort, from the Promo Bin and letting it take over my week.” Monastic metal.

Árstíðir lífsins – Saga á tveim tungum I: Vápn ok viðr Review

By Twelve on May 6, 2019 in 2019, Black Metal, Icelandic Metal, Reviews, Van Records, Black Metal, 75 comments

“Norse mythology is an expansive, rich, and very metal topic. It’s no surprise that folks from all walks of the metal world have adapted its themes and stories as a part of their artistic visions. I would argue that black metal adopt this style best, especially when the band itself hails from the North. Enter Árstíðir lífsins. Since 2008, these Icelanders have been creating black metal that tell the historic and mythical tales of their homeland in their native language. Their latest output, Saga á tveim tungum I: Vápn ok viðr is part one of a story about the rise and reign of King Óláfr Helgi Haraldsson, who ruled Norway in the eleventh century.” Ice tales.

Isgalder – The Red Wanderer Review

By Twelve on May 1, 2019 in 2019, Black Metal, German Metal, Naturmacht Productions, Black Metal, 39 comments

“The quality of an album’s production is a pretty common theme for reviews and comment sections here at Angry Metal Guy. We’ve all heard them — great albums that have been brickwalled, suffocated, or buried behind a head-scratching production choice that probably made perfect sense to the producer at the time. So when I received The Red Wanderer, the debut album from Isgalder, who play pagan black metal, and saw that the band produced the album themselves, I was apprehensive.” Extreme noise terror.

Óreiða – Óreiða Review

By Twelve on April 20, 2019 in 2019, Black Metal, Harvest of Death, Icelandic Metal, Reviews, Atmospheric Black Metal, 44 comments

“Atmospheric black metal is tricky to judge. The definitions for the style are broad, and its success really lies in the emotional resonance felt by the listener. Obviously, this is a true statement of all art, but I’ve always found the more abstract qualities of atmospheric black enhance that statement beyond its usual bounds. To me, this makes it a very difficult style of music to review. So, naturally, when I came across an unreviewed sample of the genre, I leapt at the chance to become better acquainted with Óreiða, and their self-titled full length debut.” Void where sold.

2 Wolves – …Our Fault Review

By Twelve on April 17, 2019 in 2019, Doom Metal, Finnish Metal, Inverse Records, Reviews, Doom Metal, Gothic Metal, 37 comments

“I used to think Finland must be the single coolest place in the world. Unsurprisingly, this view coincides with my discovery of symphonic metal music, which, for a long time, remained comfortably nestled in the frosty inspiration of that country. It wasn’t long before I crossed the threshold and met doom metal, which, would you believe it, also kept my attention rapt on Finland. 2 Wolves hail from Finland, and bring gothic-tinged doom metal to light in their fourth full-length, …Our Fault.” Nobody’s at fault.

Crown of Autumn – Byzantine Horizons Review

By Twelve on April 2, 2019 in 2019, Italian Metal, Melodic Death Metal, My Kingdom Music, Reviews, Melodic Death Metal, Progressive Metal, 81 comments

“Love at first listen. Is there any better feeling? Byzantine Horizons and I have been nearly inseparable since the album first came into my hands. I’d never heard of Crown of Autumn before that happy day, but between the cool band name and awesome cover art, I really didn’t have much choice but to investigate.” Crowned in glory.

Silver Bullet – Mooncult Review

By Twelve on March 31, 2019 in 2019, Finnish Metal, Power Metal, Reaper Entertainment, Symphonic Metal, Power Metal, Symphonic Metal, 65 comments

“Who was your gateway band? The one that got you into metal, the one you blame for this obsession that never goes away? Mine was Nightwish; the idea that you could combine orchestral and metal concepts together swept me away completely, and for a while, symphonic metal was all I could listen to. Today, however, I only listen to the band rarely, and I believe the genre is sadly stagnated. But while navigating the depths of the promo bin, I found myself drawn to it once again and decided that my first ‘official’ review around here should pay homage to that exhilarating initial experience.” Cult of the Night(wish).

Orpheus Omega – Wear Your Sins Review

By Twelve on March 28, 2019 in 2019, Australian Metal, EVP Recordings, Melodic Death Metal, Reviews, 41 comments

“One of my favorite things about melodic death metal is its versatility. Alone, death metal is a style that I can appreciate but don’t often enjoy. So when you fuse it with aspects of other genres that I love, it’s easy for me to enjoy the result. Subsequently, this has long been one of my favorite genres of metal music. So much so that I’ve been hunting for some to review basically since the moment I got here. At long last, here they are, Orpheus Omega, who hails from Victoria, Australia, and Wear Your Sins, their fourth full-length effort.” Wish upon a scar.