“Well, would you look at this? The world’s second favorite population of satanic Tasmanians have produced a work about which they feel strongly enough to imbue it with their own name.” Ah, the late career eponymous album. We love those.
Australian Metal
Feed Her to the Sharks – Fortitude Review
“Sharks leapt right into the cultural zeitgeist recently, with Katy Perry’s cartilaginous companions helping turn the Superbowl halftime show into something out of Dorah the Explorer’s Beachside Acid Trip. It’s perfect timing for Australia’s Feed Her to the Sharks to release third album (and Victory Records debut) Fortitude.” You know the thing about a shark, he’s got… lifeless eyes, black eyes, like a doll’s eye. When he comes at ya, doesn’t seem to be livin’. Until he bites ya and those black eyes roll over white. Metalcore is kinda like that too.
Things You Might Have Missed 2014: Idylls – Prayer for Terrene
“I once had a roommate who assured me Converge was “really just noise.” At one point in his life he had played guitar for a metal band, so my naïve young self believed him. My surprise when I finally listened to Jane Doe and was blown away by the sheer emotion inherent in the spastic, ballistic dissonance. Idylls have much the same thing going on – traditional melody is eschewed, and at times, it does sound like four guys trapped in a room trying to make as much commotion as possible.” Bring forth the noise room!
Ne Obliviscaris – Citadel Review
“The Seasons of Mist promo team must have collectively flipped their titties when the Sydney Conservatorium of Music announced they were to use Ne Obliviscaris’s “And Plague Flowers The Kaleido” on their teaching syllabus. In a world of increasingly simple and commercial music, nothing screams musical credibility more than appreciation from a prestigious classical school. Mutual respect and musical coalition of the ‘complex’ and ‘respectable’ genres of classical, jazz and metal are commonly used by bands and fans for self-validation and in intellectual dick-waving contests.” El Cuervo braves the dick wavery and boards the hype train like Phallus in Wonderland.
Pestilential Shadows – Ephemeral Review
“Pestilential Shadows comes from the land down under, where the women glow and men plunder. Listen closely, and you’ll hear their black metal thunder. Listen even closer, and you’ll run for cover. Gimmicky introduction aside, the men in Pestilential Shadows have been at work making some seriously bleak music since 2003, and their fifth album, Ephemeral, shows no signs of deviating from this path.” Anyone want a Vegemite sandwich?
Kronos Comments: On Sampling Bias and the Seedy Underbelly of the Australian Metal Scene
“Just about every day, Angry Metal Guy pushes out a review of an upcoming or recently released album, producing press for the album whether we love it or hate it. It exposes readers to a lot of material, but disadvantages artists who aren’t putting out music at any given time. Given a small temporal window, this creates a very biased sample of the music scene. I love reviewing albums, but a lot of great and criminally overlooked bands are in between releases right now, and it kills me to see their hard work go unseen. So in order to rectify their invisibility, they’re being talked about here, where my shitty opinions have the outsized soapbox needed to fling themselves out onto the populace like fetid water from a fire sprinkler.”
Johnny Touch – Inner City Wolves Review
“Johnny Touch may be one of the all time worst band names, sounding more like the local playground creeper than the throwback 80s metal act they are (the cover art totally makes up for it though). That aside, this little known Aussie act has adopted an extremely old school sound influenced by early American acts like Riot and Cities as well as the earliest Dio, Ozzy and Yngwie solo albums. Basically this is as retro as metal can get since there’s scant room to crawl further up the genre’s ass before you’re stumbling across The Rolling Stones and Elvis Presley.” Steel Druhm reenacts The Old Man and the Sea, but with metal.
Mournful Congregation – Concrescence of the Sophia Review
“June is never a good month for the Grymm household. Between the rapidly increasing temperatures, even more rapidly increasing humidity, and BUGS EVERYWHERE, I’m not exactly what you would peg as “walking on sunshine.” I just want to stay inside, shun the sunlight, and get some dirge-and-purge going. And here comes Australia’s Mournful Congregation, with their stop-gap 2-song, 30-minute EP, Concrescence of the Sophia, bridging the distance between 2011’s all-encompassing somber funeral march, The Book of Kings, and their next full-length album. Should you stay in and harvest the sorrow, or would it be better for you to go outside, put on Coppertone SPF100, and flamethrow some 8-legged critters?” Grymm is far too fair for the scorching suns of summer.
Voyager – V Review
“Australia’s Voyager has stealthily grown into one of my favorite bands over the past five years. While I was suitably impressed by 2009s I Am the Revolution, I was utterly blown away by 2011s The Meaning of I, to which I gave an extremely rare perfect score. They have a very distinctive sound and approach to power-prog and their ear for melody and hooks is second only to Anubis Gate. Naturally, as the release of V grew near I became giddy like a school girl at a Justin Bieber kissing booth. Now I’ve spent some serious time with V and it actually comes close to my high expectations…at first.” But what happens next? Oh, the huge manatee!
Vanishing Point – Distant is the Sun Review
“It seems I don’t get to review power metal all that much these days, though it was one of the reasons I was originally recruited by AMG in the first place (my official title was Assistant Chief Power Metal Weenie). Instead, it’s Rogga Johansson this, retro death metal that, yadda yadda yadda. Maybe that’s why it feels so refreshing to hear some genuinely solid power-prog from long running Aussie act Vanishing Point.” Steel Druhm takes a short break from reviewing Rogga Johansson projects to enjoy some prog-power. Feel free to join him.
