Record reviews
“Geoff Tate cannot be stopped. Getting fired from Queensryche barely slowed him down, and a lengthy court battle over the band name just made him mad. Hell, we even begged him to show us mercy, but he denied us. Instead, Tate has delivered The Key, the debut outing by his creatively-named new project Operation: Mindcrime.” Someone, somewhere deserves this.
“By now we all know Tuomas Saukkonen is a force of nature. He’s Finland’s metal juggernaut as surely as Rogga Johansson is Sweden’s, and over the decades he’s created some brilliant music with Before the Dawn, Black Sun Aeon and Dawn of Solace. Several years ago and for reasons unknown, he folded all his bands and started fresh with Wolfheart.” The leader of the Finnish pack is back with more sadboy melo-death.
“Under the Red Cloud marks the 12th studio album from Finland’s grandfathers of extreme metal, the band’s sixth LP with Tomi Joutsen as vocalist and his 10th year in the band. The string of Tomi’s six records started with 2006’s Eclipse and had an absolutely epic beginning. Eclipse, Silent Waters and Skyforger showed the band’s new found drive and energy, reclaiming some of their death metal heritage, while veering further into what Nuclear Blast has fittingly labeled ‘melancholy rock.’ Unfortunately, Angry Metal Guy’s Law of Diminishing Recordings™ is a fickle mistress, and The Beginning of Times and Circle were both records that were good, but lacked the urgency of that initial trilogy.” Angry Metal Guy is back reviewing Amorphis, and do you kids know what that means? It means he’s probably not doing his actual job! Now read the damned review!
“An American author, poet, philosopher and historian by the name of Henry Thoreau once said “If we will be quiet and ready enough, we shall find compensation in every disappointment.” Nowhere does that apply more than to Uncle Acid.” Do you have a (night) creepy uncle?
“Many people hold many things as precious in this wonderful floating rock we call Earth. Some value money over all else. To others, power is the key to happiness. Love is also a beautiful, unifying force in this cesspool of a world. The one thing we all can agree on and wish we could hoard, is time.” And Grymm will be getting none of the time spent with this album back. Not ever!
“If there is one thing that can be said about Slovenia, it’s that they have supplied us with a number of great metal bands. For instance, there is… ummmm… well… fine, so I don’t know any off the top of my head. But they’ve given us at least one good metal band.” Does one good band make for a regional scene?
“Royal Hunt has been knocking around the prog-metal circuit forever, and though they’ve dropped a few killer releases, I’d describe their overall discography as a bit spotty. There are those classic albums where their melodic AOR/metal style really hit a sweet spot, and others were it feels like they’re stuck in a lower gear. Their golden age was in the mid 90s with vocalist extraordinaire, D.C. Cooper (Silent Force, Steel Seal) and most fans would likely point to 1997s Paradox as they crowning achievement.” The hunt resumes. Tally ho!
“Like death and taxes, Mötörhead is an institution that can easily be taken for granted. For the past 40 years, it’s been an article of faith that A) frontman Lemmy Kilmister is a god in human form, and B) his band will release an album of consistent (if predictable) amphetamine-fueled rock ‘n roll every two years or so.” The band that beat up your grandfather is still around, and they want your lunch money.
“Josh Graham is a serial pie fingerer. Aside from his visuals and art work for established names such as Neurosis and Vattnet Viskar, he’s also embarked on a number of music projects including the post-rock Red Sparowes and post-metal A Storm of Light. Now he brings his tight atmospherics and stunning visual design to his new ambient project IIVII and its debut, Colony.” There’s complete anarchy here at AMG headquarters!
“While there are some who would have ol’ Kronos trapped in a padded room reviewing deathcore and only deathcore for the foreseeable future, one of the perks of Angry Metal Guy’s preoccupations is that I’m able to slip in a review every now and then that doesn’t quite fit the death/grind beat that I usually work.” Hey. Who approved this review?
