InsideOut

Things You May Have Missed 2010: Unitopia – Artificial

Things You May Have Missed 2010: Unitopia – Artificial

It’s that time of year again, when I dole out things you may have missed (and things that I haven’t reviewed). You must remember that we receive MASSIVE amounts of promos from all over the world, so it’s often that things just get missed. It’s definitely not intentional, but sometimes shit just gets missed. So, with that said, here’s something you may have missed…

Star One – Victims of the Modern Age Review

Star One – Victims of the Modern Age Review

Arjen Lucassen, I may have misjudged you. You see, Mr. Lucassen and his projects tend to invoke very different reactions depending on which segment of the Angry Metal demographic one asks. To some, his celebrity studded prog-rock and metal projects with Ayreon and Star One are overblown, self-indulgent, pretentious and worthy of scorn and ruthless mockery (I’ve heard “Gayreon” tossed around more than a little). Others will tell you the man is a musical genius and crafts some of the most adventurous progressive metal out there today. Yours truly was firmly rooted in the former camp (as is AMG, admit it!!) but I’ll concede that parts of Star One’s first album Space Metal ended up being a guilty pleasure despite the cheesy and lightweight “sci-fi metal” concept and sound [Whereas, I reviewed it back in the day on Unchain the Underground and thought it was self-indulgent shit. – AMG]. Well, I’m mighty shocked at the direction Mr. Lucassen has opted to take album number two, Victims of the Modern Age. This is a far FAR heavier, more metallic album, taking the basic foundation of Star One and toughening it up in every way. This is so metallic and straight forward that it sounds nothing like any of Mr. Lucassen’s other works.

Spiritual Beggars – Return to Zero Review

Spiritual Beggars – Return to Zero Review

A wise and Angry Metal Guy once said (earlier this week) that “retro is the new new,” and the trends in the angry metal world are surely proving those prophetic words true. We are up to our collective arses in retro thrash, retro power and retro retro. While new is always great, even the “new” new can be mighty fine, as with the latest release from Sahg and this wicked mother, Return to Zero from Sweden’s own Spiritual Beggars. This is the seventh full length from Michael Amott’s long running side project and respite from the melodic death metal world and although it’s as retro as retro gets, this is one slamming, jamming slab of heavy stoner/doom rock n roll.

Pain of Salvation – Road Salt pt. 1 – Ivory – Review

Pain of Salvation – Road Salt pt. 1 – Ivory – Review

One would assume that an Angry Metal Guy wouldn’t be handing out high scores willy nilly, something I seriously try to avoid doing. But apparently 2010 is a year filled with really fantastic albums by bands doing the things that, as a reviewer, and more specifically, as a music-lover, I have trouble not totally falling for. Pain of Salvation has never been a band that I personally fell for. Scarsick, the band’s 2007 release, was a record that I had issues with and I’ve had some personal gripes about Daniel Gildenlöw’s vocals on the older material (specifically his wannabe Mike Patton rappy/talky vocals). But, that said, Pain of Salvation has long been the darling of the progressive rock and metal scene, with legions of fans who love their technical prowess and pop sensibility.

Kaipa – In the Wake of Evolution Review

Kaipa – In the Wake of Evolution Review

The name Kaipa might or might not strike a bell for you, depending on where you’re from and how old you are. The band technically been around for a very long time, as they were a part of the Swedish prog scene which in some ways really differentiated itself from what non-Swedes think of when they think of prog. While prog from England, the US or Canada was often times very much about technical expertise, drug induced trips of fancy or philosophically complex ideas and theses, Swedish prog was a very lefty, ideologically communist movement. It’s not something that this Angry Metal Guy has been particularly well-informed about, so instead we called Angry Swedish Prog Correspondent to inform us about this whole fascinating phenomenon. There’s a lot one can say about it, but let us formulate it like this: Swedish prog was dirty, lefty hippies giving even the most talentless member of their friends group the right to play, despite them not having any talent at all. Kaipa wasn’t like this, on the other hand. Instead, they were much more akin to Yes, Genesis, Rush and other progressive rock bands. As a consequence, they were never quite accepted as part of the Swedish scene, but became more internationally accepted. However, unlike the communal-living types like National Teatern, Kaipa reformed in the early 2000s and has been producing records since with just one original member, Hans Lundin.

Aspera – Ripples Review

Aspera – Ripples Review

Progressive metal isn’t an easy place to be. Let’s face it, much of the world of progressive metal is a tussle between an old guard of old fans (the Neanderthals of Metal) who really like bands that sound like Dream Theater, Queensryche, and so forth, and then there’s kind of everyone else. It’s disparate, difficult to define and often pretentious as hell with little logic as to what is in fashion with which group. This is the natural outcome of genrefication, in my opinion, and part of that is a question of where a band can actually progress to. You’re either not heavy enough or you’re too heavy and you never please anyone. Few bands ever really manage to fall outside of these well-worn ruts in the road, but there are some fantastic bands in those ruts, Aspera is one of those bands.

Riverside – Anno Domini High Definition Review

Riverside – Anno Domini High Definition Review

Riverside – Anno Domini High Definition Rating: 4.5/5.0 – Excellent composition – Stays with the listener for days Label: Inside Out Music Websites: myspace.com/riversidepl | riverside.art.pl Riverside was a band that I approached with some caution. I’ve often been unimpressed with progressive metal in the modern era. Not just unimpressed, but often so much as […]