Record(s) o’ the Month – April 2018

2018 is off to a generally piss poor start when it comes to timely Record(s) o’ the Month postings, and I suppose some of the blame for that rests with us at AMG.com.1 I’m never one to point fingers and assign blame, but it’s mostly Muppet‘s fault and he’s a real problem that must be dealt with. The year is also off to a lukewarm start music-wise, and few of the AMG.com staff have been impressed by the quality of releases sluicing through our disgusting promo sump. April however saw a slight upswing in goodness and listener engagement. A few anticipated releases lived up to lofty expectations and some minor rejoicing was heard across the land. Out of respect for the English Monarchy, we waited until all their pomp and circumstance was finished before we crowned our own far more important Grand Champion. Princes and princesses are nice, but the world needs a KingER!2

And that King is a Goat. Yes, King Goat roared back into our lives with another doom album writ large, and our own Angry Metal Guy was rather taken with Debt of Aeons. Though containing only a few long-form songs, the band performs the same “expansive and epic” magic we heard on Conduit, taking the root of Candlemass’ classic approach and marrying it to minimalism and emotion. Top-notch vocals carry stripped down, lumbering metal steeped in epic atmosphere. The album has a huge, inflexible presence, just like Angry Metal Guy himself. As a slobberknocked AMG explained, “[t]he songs are epic, heart-wrenching affairs, littered with great ideas and an absolutely outstanding vocal performance.” Feel the weight of royalty and bend the knee to the King Goat.

Runner(s) Up:

Voices - FreightenedVoices // FrightenedVoices definitely carried here at AMG.com when they released their mind-bending London opus back in 2014. It was such a unique, powerful album, it was fair to wonder if they could ever top it. The band seeks no such contest here though, changing direction and spiraling off into other realms entirely. Frightened is not London Part Deux, but its own bizarre life form, raw and chaotic, incorporating goth and darkwave elements into their festering sound. Grymm summed it up best: “While I was expecting another blackened slab of sheer debauchery and lunacy, I was greeted instead with a powerful album that, while giving more than a few subtle nods to their influences, still remains undeniably Voices.”

Messa - Feast for WaterMessa // Feast for Water – Fluid as the title suggests, Messa builds off their righteous debut by slipping deeper beneath the waves of emotional mood-metal. Dialing back the harsher elements of their droning doom style, blues and jazz influences rise to the top of the winding compositions, guided through the churn by sultry and emotional vocals. Feast for Water is played through a darkwave filter, strained into a jazz cabaret smoothie, and the end result needs to be experienced with a clear head and open heart. Messa exists outside easy categorization but there’s no denying the power their dark alchemy holds. Run to the water.

Show 2 footnotes

  1. To be fair, this is part of an ongoing plan to send mixed signals and generally try to piss the readers off. Unlike other sites that want to please their readership, we here at AngryMetalGuy.com have a deep-seated resentment of our readers. Because of you we continually feel like we need to write reviews in time, listen to stuff we haven’t covered, etc. Frankly, this whole “having fans” thing is an unsustainable model, and I’m looking for another one. – AMG
  2. I don’t get this joke. Please revise. – AMG
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