Swedish retro death is as common these days as reality shows about fat, uneducated hoarders. Steel Druhm appreciates both trends, so he’s happy as a pig in shite over the Dismember-worship demonstrated by Daemonicus on their second album, Deadwork.
Loch Vostok – V: The Doctrine Decoded Review
So last year (that’d be 2011 for everyone reading this review in 2013 and forward) I discovered Loch Vostok’s record Dystopium a few months after it was released and did a Things You Might Have Missed entry about it. But given that it was last year, I was surprised when I saw that the fecund Teddy Möller and crew had already produced a new record and that it was sitting in my inbox. Now, granted, I didn’t get to it nearly quickly enough (since it’s already out), but I thought I’d drop in and let you know that a) it’s out and b) what I think of it. I like it, but not as much as Dystopium. There, now you don’t need to read any further!
90s Metal Weirdness: Testament – Low
Cast your minds back to a time when metal music was not cool. Nay, indeed, a time when metal was anathema to all that was considered to be “chic” and “in.” A time when your favorite bands were actually encouraged by the music industry to play slower, cut their hair, and write sensitive lyrics about their childhoods. Yes, this unfortunately really happened.
Our new semi-irregular feature “90s Metal Weirdness” focuses on albums released between 1992 and 2001 and which we all probably would rather forget. But in the service of publicly shaming the musicians involved, we have pushed forward.
Retro-spective Review: Lethal – Programmed
We haven’t had a retro review for some time and Steel Druhm is here to fix that. Diving deep into the archives, he points an aproving finger at long forgotten, Queensryche-influenced rockers Lethal and their excellent debut, Programmed. With all the spit and shit flying between Geoff Tate and his former band, you’re gonna need this if you want a taste of good, old fashioned Ryche ‘n roll.
Fullforce – Next Level Review
Confession Time! Steel Druhm has been wracked with guilt since underrating the first Fullforce album. Now he finally gets a chance to atone as he reviews the new opus by this melodic metal supergroup from Sweden.
Angry Metal Guy Speaks: On the Consequences of Copyright Fights and Ownership
Recently Steel Druhm outlined with some bittersweet memories the evolution of the music industry away from the prized formats of the CD and the LP (and cassette – but let’s not kid ourselves, liking cassettes is basically just proof that you’re trve ’cause you’re using the shittiest technology possible). But one of the things he didn’t touch on was the societal implications of the process he was talking about. Now I understand that this is a metal blog and that if I wanted to start AngrySociologyGuy.com I am free to do so; but bear with me, because I don’t feel like starting a new blog just to hash through the concept of ownership.
The Gathering – Disclosure Review
The Gathering were once a metal band and much beloved by Steel Druhm. Now, they’re more like a goth-rock act and Steel’s affections have cooled significantly. Can the new opus rekindle the love that once burned with the heat of a thousand suns? Tune in for all the latest romance and gossip!
Daylight Dies – A Frail Becoming Review
More doom-death for Steel Druhm! Daylight Dies returns with a very Ghost Brigage-y take on the genre. Finnish-style doom-death from North Carolina?? Can it work? Should it even be attempted? Find out inside.
Revocation – Teratogenesis Review
Happy Metal Guy reviews the thrashy new Revocation EP while also revealing his love of naked and vulnerable things and his sadistic urge to torture insects. Lock up the cats and small animals and bring in the psycho-therapists.
Enslaved – RIITIIR Review
Enslaved has really secured its position in the highest tear of metal bands in the world. Though they started out long ago in the second wave of Norwegian black metal, nothing they’ve done since the late 90s has really represented that faction of their existence. Instead, they’ve become one of metal’s shining examples of a transition from the extreme to the progressive. While doing more to maintain their extremity than a band like Anathema or Katatonia have done, the band’s last full length Axioma Ethica Odini and their EP The Sleeping Gods both lacked extremity while pushing out the borders of the band’s progressive bona fides. I wasn’t sure of what to make of Enslaved’s RIITIIR when it first arrived – but while the record is ostensibly different than the band’s previous work, that mellow, bong-water stain of ’70s progressive rock continues to push further and further from their black metal roots. For the better?
