“I just like violent music. Death metal is the last word in musical aggression but it knows many phrases. Bone-crunching verbs and enough unsavory adjectives to terrify the dead all terminate in one fatal piece of punctuation. California’s Dearth utilize their pen to grave ends.” Grave new world.
Need – Norchestrion: A Song for the End Review
“Need‘s previous record Hegaiamas: A Song for Freedom was one of my favorites of 2017. Apparently I’m not alone, as I had to fight Huck
off to review this one. As the album titles imply, Greece’s Need play pretty prototypical pretentious prog, in the vein of Mountain-era Haken and bits of Symphony X. As the tussle over reviewing it implies, they’re also really good at it,” Needful songs.
Nicarus – Coal People Coal Puppets Review
“Well, well, well. Looks like I found myself a unicorn. No, not the band picture, I’m speaking metaphorically. You see, whereas there are plenty of one-man bands, there are not a great deal of one-woman bands. On top of that, Tali Green, the mind behind Nicarus, hails from Israel; hardly a hotbed for metal. So it goes without saying that the underdog factor for Coal People Coal Puppets is sky high. If this were a Hollywood movie, she’d be de facto winner of 2021 already. But is this the real life, or is it a fantasy?” Coal for all.
Malakhim – Theion Review
“Black metal is my mac ‘n’ cheese. It’s something I can consume at pretty much any time. First thing in the morning? Delicious! A quick lunch at work? Get that puppy in the microwave! When I’m hungry and don’t know what to have for dinner? There’s always mac ‘n’ cheese! Best of all? It goes with pretty much anything. Even ice cream. Trust me on this. The downside is that I don’t remember most of my mac meals; one has to be pretty special to stand out. 2021 has brought me my first go-to meal, courtesy of Theion, the debut album of Malakhim, a Swedish black metal quintet formed in 2017.” A gooey fate.
Fractal Generator – Macrocosmos Review
“Fractal Generator is an Sudbury, Ontario trio with a demo and a full-length under their belt. Boasting a range of experimental enactments incorporated into their death metal foundation, including black, grind, and warped melody, it’s a dense listen full of dynamics and movements.” Just the fracts, Jack.
Stellar Death – Fragments of Light Review
“Well. Here we are, 2021 at last and I decided to ease myself into this new year of misery musical exploration with a pick that seemed to be safely in my wheelhouse, based on the genre tag at least: a nice slab of safe, comforting post-metal. Fragments of Light is the debut LP from Washington, D.C.-based Stellar Death. The two-piece comprises Scott Loose (also of While Heaven Wept) and Matt Kozar (Witnesses).” Soft landing.
The Ridiculous Year o’ Death Metal, Part 2 [Things You Might Have Missed 2020]
“When I say death metal has been absolutely disgusting in 2020, it can only be a good thing. While we at Angry Metal Guy have done our best to cover as much calamity as possible, it was inevitable that some releases would go unrecognized. To that end, this round-up exists solely to shed unholy light on those atrocities that didn’t quite make the cut, but absolutely warrant your attention.” Death Redux.
AngryMetalGuy.com’s Aggregated Top 10 of 2020: Thus Spake the Plebeians
Heavy metal. Lists. Math. These are three of my favorite things. It’s for this reason that the AngryMetalGuy.com Meta List is the article for which I feel the most excitement every year.
Transilvania – Of Sleep and Death Review
“Transilvania is a black/thrash metal quartet from Innsbruck, Tyrol, Austria, having released a full-length, a split, and an EP since its 2014 or 2010 inception. The project was officially founded in 2010 as Epidermis, changing its name to Old Skull and then to Transilvania in 2014.” Bad fangover.
Alta Reign – Mother’s Day Review
“Ah, the first review of 2021. The awfulness of 2020 is finally behind us and the air is thick with hope and boundless possibilities. The world is nearly our oyster once again and everything is poised to come up roses. Because I feel spiritually reborn and brimming with optimism, I picked an upbeat hard rock/metal promo to be my carefree entry point into the year’s grinding review schedule.” Yer Mom!