“I realize that my covering this album will be a little controversial for some readers out there. Yes, the cover is a close-up of a dude’s heavily made-up eyeball, accentuated by black fingernail-polished hands. And yes, it’s metalcore.” We dont often highlight metalcore albums (for obvious reasons ), but Grymm has a soft spot for this golden oldie of the core scene.
“One of the biggest disappointments this year was Profound Lore’s inexplicable failure to get us a copy of the new Dawnbringer promo, Night of the Hammer. Due to said failure, it was we who might have missed one of the best albums of the year. I’ve been a major supporter of Chris Black’s (High Spirits, Pharaoh, ex-Nachtmystium) weird proto-metal project ever since their outre Nucleus platter, and I was equally bowled over by 2012’s Into the Lair of the Sun God. Maintaining the band’s upward trajectory once again, Night of the Hammer takes the Dawnbringer sound even further backward into metal’s past.” Like a hammer to a nail, so are the days of our metal lives….
“Painting an elaborate portrait of the mysterious but beautiful Scottish Highlands, Aura is atmospheric folk metal of the kilt and haggis variety. Saor is the brainchild of Andy Marshall, ex-Falloch, and he saw great success with his début Roots.” The hills are alive with the sound of…SAOR!
“There is one problem I have with punk/crust/D-beat. It encourages me to fuck shit up. When done right, the music tempts me into driving 100 mph to work, marching into my boss’s office and beating the living shit out of him. While I obviously have some serious psychological issues here (particularly being that I am indeed my own boss), music like this sets my skin on fire and the only cure for this uncomfortable burning sensation is revolution, overthrow and apocalyptic destruction.” Apparently we found crust punk for the angry solo practitioner. Work your own hours and burn shit down.
“It’s the month of December, and there be some slim pickings here at the Angry Metal Guy Fortress. With the exception of a potential End of Year Candidate, it’s the month where bands that you haven’t checked out all year are scrutinized, lists are finalized, and if you are at all like me, you are avoiding all shopping centers as if they were quarantine zones.” Grymm may lack the proper holiday spirit and the requisite love for all Mankind, but the man knows his metal.
“Paris is shit. Above all else, that is what the Paris-based Cowards wants to leave with the listener. Having missed this the first time round in 2012, Shooting Blanks & Pills has earned a well-deserved re-issue.” You might have missed this in 2012, and you may have missed the 2014 re-issue. Don’t be a two-time misser!
November follows up an October that was pretty phat in terms of the number of phat ass records that dropped on our unsuspecting, and largely also phat, asses. And while 2014 has been an extremely up-and-down year for me, November has produced what I think are the year’s most consistent albums across the board. So while I can be sassy about the lateness of this post, or the ways in which Steel Druhm‘s heavy metal credibility is in constant question due to his love of Jørn, I almost feel like that downplays what an extremely good month for heavy metal November really was. So let me just get right down to it. The Record o’ the Month for November was…
“While the cover art looks more like it belongs on a Municipal Waste album, Brazil’s NervoChaos aren’t a current band playing the music of their elders. They are the real deal.” Al Kikuras has history with these creepers. Ugly history!
“Being the metal fan that you are, I can only assume you’ve had that late-night trip to the record store, hell-bent on purchasing a new album. It doesn’t even matter what album. However, tonight it turns out your favorite record store doesn’t have shit in the way of metal. Either you own it or don’t want it. So you base your purchasing decision on close examination of the “fans of blah blah blah” labels, the artwork, and the band name itself. You finally come across an album just released that week and buy it knowing there’s the possibility for one-of-three outcomes.” Buying blind, oh the thrill!
“Last year, two EPs caught me totally off-guard. For a long time I just couldn’t get on with any form of punk – despite my penchant for good grind – though in recent years my tastes have developed and I’ve been increasingly delving into the –core end of things. But I was totally unprepared for how much I would enjoy Tide of Iron’s split with Grace (The Hard Work EP), and even more so Enabler’s Flies.” When we at AMG get surprised, we make sure you hear about it toot sweet.
