“In which we fall under the Russian sphere of influence and cry about it.”
"soen"
Aphrodite – Lust and War Review
“The dog days of summer are upon us. The glory of finding albums that are monthly contenders for our highest accolades seems but a distant memory. Instead, we find ourselves scouring the pits of promo hell in desperate searches for something, anything, with redeeming qualities. So I find myself saddled (by my own choice) with Lust and War, the debut album from Toronto’s Aphrodite.” Speed kills.
Wheel – Moving Backwards Review
“The astute reader may have noticed this review is, as the youngsters say, hella late. But to err is human, and even the lords who guard the jail cells above the skull pit are of our own kind, they may begrudgingly admit. So when I saw the spectacular Wheel open for Soen and immediately sought an explanation for why we hadn’t reviewed them, the voice through the trapdoor thundered in its brazen might: ‘Whoops.'” Mistakes were made.
East of the Wall – NP-Complete Review
“Quick word association game: New Jersey and metal genres. What are you thinking about? If it was jazz-infused progressive metal, well, you should probably be checked by a medical professional. Yet you’re not wrong, because that is exactly what East of the Wall have to offer, and have done for over a decade now. After releasing 4 albums in 5 years between 2008 and 2013, the band took their time for NP-Complete, partially forced by numerous line-up changes.” From Jersey with…jazz??
Sermon – Birth of the Marvellous Review
“I’ve said it before: we love finding gems amongst the post-apocalyptic ruins of the promo bin. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does it is glorious. Perhaps the name Lör rings a bell? How about The Reticent? Heck, we can throw King Goat in there as well. All examples of unknown acts whose music blew us away. It’s a big part of why we review albums, to be honest. Sure the 0.5 and 1.0 reviews can be entertaining, but we would much rather have people talking about (and buying) the music rather than the review. Which makes me pretty happy to say I’ve found my latest gem in Birth of the Marvellous.” You look…Marvellous!
Record(s) o’ the Month – February 2019
A RotM post going up 17 days late? Wow, smells like old times ’round here. What’s going on? And more importantly, how are the n00bs to blame?
Black Lung – Ancients Review
“I’ve been on a run in 2019. Not a great run, mind you, but a good one. I haven’t really stumbled across any albums that completely sucked, nor (aside from Soen) any that blew me away. Everything’s been “pretty good,” and that makes me feel like an overrating bastard at times. But rather than dredging the promo sump for some nu-core to lambaste, I continue to optimistically search for hidden gems. Which leads me to Maryland stoner/doom trio Black Lung and their third album, Ancients.” Terminal lung failure.
Source – Totality Review
“Not everyone was on board with their wanton and blatant Tool-meets-Opeth template, but you can count me amongst their followers. After all, it was their first album, and the trio from Boulder, Colorado had to mimic someone. Over the past couple of years, the Madam and I have often posed the questions, ‘How’s it going with Source? And is their sound going to evolve into their own, or are we gonna get another Tool-ish record?’ ‘It’s going well” and ‘Sort of’ would be the correct answers, via their sophomore effort, Totality.” Return to the Source.
Angry Metal Guy’s Top 10(ish) of 2018
The manbun has landed! We repeat, the manbun has landed!
Haken – Vector Review
“My introduction to the band was on The Mountain, which found the band dropping incredible songs with deeply creative compositions and amazing performances. But The Mountain‘s follow-up—Affinity—has never really established itself in my listening rotation. Unfortunately, while Affinity was full of ideas I loved and things I appreciated intellectually, it was like the girl who’s “perfect” for you but that you can’t get into. So I’ll admit mild consternation when Vector arrived. I wondered if Vector would continue in Affinity’s footsteps or if Haken had stayed on the move.” Moving and remaking.