“One-man bands make me both impressed and apprehensive. I’m impressed because having a musical vision is special to begin with and being able to execute it solo takes real talent. I’m apprehensive because there’s no give-and-take or real collaboration for the visionary, and most creators of any stripe lack the will to kill their darlings.” One man with a bully pulpit.
“What is the goal of Legacy of the Dark Lands? To my ears, it sounds the point of the album was to write a metal opera in the style of Blind Guardian. But what if the goal of Legacy of the Dark Lands, a thing that made sense at the time of its conception was accomplished between 2002’s A Night at the Opera and 2015’s Beyond the Red Mirror? What if, in the years since A Night at the Opera, Blind Guardian had developed their sound to be so unique and so orchestral that by the time Legacy of the Dark Lands was released, it was unnecessary and maybe even uninteresting?” S&M Part Deux.
“Whether we missed it digging through the promo sump or it wasn’t deposited in there to begin with, the reflection commensurate with the end of a year makes us remember records that weren’t featured on the blog that nonetheless deserved to be. This little post is an effort of some of us here to put a dent, however tiny, in that issue.” Death gets a second chance.
![Abigail Williams – Walk Beyond the Dark [Things You Might Have Missed 2019]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Abigail-Williams-Walk-Beyond-the-Dark-01-768x768.jpg)
“Manned by the dark mind of Ken Sorceron, Abigail Williams has come a long way in the last decade. Surviving lineup changes, relocations, and changes in musical directions—as well as fandom—Sorceron pushes on, refusing to settle on a path created for him by others’ expectations. Up ahead is another bend in this path. So, take my hand and let’s Walk Beyond the Dark together.” Abby normal
“Few bands in the history of metal earn such massive amounts of acclaim and disdain across the broader metal community than Pantera. The Texan legends dominated the mainstream metal scene throughout the ’90s, after reinventing themselves from their questionable glam roots, developing into a testosterone-fueled juggernaut of thrash-based groove metal.” Driven to excess.
![Bull of Apis Bull of Bronze – Offerings of Flesh and Gold [Things You Might Have Missed 2019]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Bull_of_Apis_Bull_of_Bronze-Offerings_of_Flesh_and_Gold-768x768.jpg)
“Offerings of Flesh and Gold blends ritual ambiance, drone, and even aspects of dungeon synth with black metal, and I don’t know if it’s my latest fascination with enigmatic black metal projects like Death. Void. Terror. or Ancient Moon, but this debut hits the sweet spot.” Bull markets .
“I thought I was done writing about 2019 records, so when this one fell into my lap from on high, I was rather surprised and excited.” Stockings stuffed with death.
![Dauþuz – Monvmentvm [Things You Might Have Missed 2019]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Dauþuz-Monvmentvm-1-768x768.jpg)
“Oh God, not you guys again. It’s fucking December, don’t y’all have halls to deck and neighborhoods to ruin with your festive warbling? I’m a busy Muppet, yo, I don’t have time to babble about the great shit you couldn’t be bothered to find on your own. Nope, I’m putting my foot down; I don’t care how much you goons look forward to TYMHM season, I’m not even a little bit interested in sharing a single one my Bandcamp riches with you bastards/bastardettes and that’s that.” Dig that hole.
![Ars Moriendi – La solitude du pieux scélérat [Things You Might Have Missed 2019]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/627020-768x768.jpg)
“I may drive like a twenty-year-old, dad-joke like a forty-year-old, but I’m as fit as a flabby sixty-year-old and as spry as a seventy-year-old. I have two cups of coffee and have diarrhea for the rest of the day and, two beers later, I’m drunk. Yet, with Angry Metal Age comes Angry Metal Wisdom. As well as a lot of annual visits from old friends to the old-people home. This year, visits came from Darkthrone, Kampfar, Rimfrost, Sorxe, Stormhammer, Via Vengeance, War Curse, Reign of Fury, Second to Sun, and others. One visit I was most excited about was from Ars Moriendi.” Olde habits.
![Véhémence – Par le Sang Versé [Things You Might Have Missed 2019]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/véhémence-par-le-sang-versé-01-768x722.jpg)
“Medieval black metal. I barely know what the phrase means, but the concept is absolutely drenched in potential, and not the kind I can easily resist. For today’s thing you may (or may not) have missed, the conceptual and instrumental depth of Apocalypse Orchestra meets the sweeping, majestic anger wielded by Obsequiae, with bits of extra influence here and there from the French black metal scene. Joining said scene, Véhémence’s sophomore effort, Par le Sang Versé seeks to bring the past to vivid life in a powerful display of—what was it again?—Medieval. Black. Metal.” Ye olde blackness.
