“Too many bands today make progressive music for the sake of being progressive, prioritizing meandering exploration over songcraft, and this is akin to a chef filling a bowl with flavorful seasonings and serving it as a full meal. Guild of Others seem intent on dishing out hearty meals seasoned with proggy goodness, their promo even going so far as to quote prolific music critic Martin Popoff, who is supposed to have said, “Guild of Others accomplish the near impossible, and that’s make progressive metal that is accessible.” Let’s see if there is any truth to these words, or if they’re merely promospeak.” Guild to last.
"soen"
Angry Metal Guy’s Top 10(ish) of 2021
The list has landed. I repeat, the list has landed!
A Pox on All Their Houses: The AMG Staff Pick Their Top Ten(ish) Records o’ 2021
“The pandemic shifts and mutates, mankind continues to disappoint, and AMG Industries, Ltd. LLC, rolls on through it all like an apocalyptic battle wagon with titanium crash bumpers.” The picks are in.
Bloodstock Open Air 2021 Review: Pandemic Festival Pandemonium
“In the words of Rob Halford during Judas Priest’s two-hour headline slot: “Britain’s premier heavy metal festival is back.” Yes, cranky Covid’s delta wave dangerously hovered over the pit like clouded sweat but after a few strong ciders and a crunching riff – experienced live for the first time in over 18 months – the external world became a distant memory.” Metal never dies.
Record(s[es]) o’ the Month(s) – April and May 2021
Uauauaua, six weeks late?
Yer Metal is Olde: Opeth – Blackwater Park
“There are very few albums that I consider to be 5.0s or, in AMG money, ‘iconic.’ There are even fewer that I can actually picture the moment I first heard. One of those, however, is Blackwater Park. Opeth’s fifth full-length album probably shaped my extreme metal tastes more than any other single record and I cannot believe it is already 20 years old.” Park of the beast.
Wheel – Resident Human Review
“Remember that unexpected wave of quality Tool-like albums that got released in short succession a few years ago? One of the more overlooked albums at the time was Moving Backwards, the excellent debut from British / Finnish proggers Wheel. With a dark take on the modern prog sound, slightly off-kilter riffs, heavy and engaging bass and drums and a smooth, expressive vocalist, the band did not disappoint after its excellent supporting appearance for Soen. With another platter exploring human nature landing in our laps, can the guys live up to the high standard they’ve set for themselves?” Wheels as tools.
Record(s) o’ the Month – January 2021
Turns out I’ve been reading the blog for a change. Nothing good can come of this.
Haken – VIrus Review
Yellow is the new manbun.
Killitorous – The Afterparty Review
“Yep. That’s a band name. Killitorous. Say it a couple times and soon you’ll see what they did there. Tasteful, right? I’ll be honest, it took me way too long to find it (ayyyy), but by that point I was already four listens into the Canadian supergroup’s sophomore record The Afterparty and was having too much fun to care about the silly double-entendre anymore. After all, we did give high marks to bands with such respectable names as Fvneral Fvkk and Shitfucker, right? So who am I to judge?” Tech-deathicus for the rest of us.