“It’s nearly October, so in the 2017 tradition: here’s the August Record(s) o’ the Month. To be honest, August was a cracking month. Surprisingly solid, given everything. There haven’t been many months—maybe September can compete—with this many good new records to choose from. But when we did the internal voting it became clear: My word is law, and what other people think is completely irrelevant.” Absolute power corrupts absotootly.
"akercocke"
Polyptych – Defying the Metastasis Review
“The forefathers of death metal were truly spoiled when it came time to come up with a kick-ass band name. The genre’s progenitors ran wild with synonyms for various acts of violence and bits of viscera (not to mention those nerds who pulled inspiration from Warhammer 40k), but when the thesaurus has fallen to tatters, where does a budding young death metal band pull its inspiration from?” How about Proust?
Shrines – Shrines Review
“As Voices guitarist Sam Loynes says “yes to anything that comes [his] way, metal or otherwise,” his growing list of projects are quite numerous. Shrines (formerly Diminished Fifth) is the third of Sam’s bands I’ve reviewed, and one I’ve been very much looking forward to listening to.” The Voices and Voices related love continues unabated.
The Antichrist Imperium – The Antichrist Imperium Review
“The past couple of years have been good to Akercocke fans. Though that entity is sadly dead and buried, the magnificent Voices emerged from its grave, releasing an excellent debut in 2013 as well as last year’s near-masterpiece London. But Voices wasn’t the only thing to slither from Akercocke’s rotten cadaver….” That’s one potent carcass!
Indesinence – III Review
“Whenever I say the words “endurance test,” what does that do to you, dear reader? Do you think of 26.2 mile marathons across metropolises like Boston, or even out in the barren sticks of Arizona? Do they bring back memories of reading books like War & Peace in the time span of a few days, in hopes that the book report will somehow miraculously score higher than the “C” you earned due to poor planning?” I think of sitting through any late period Metallica album.
Interview with Peter and Sam from Voices
Last November, Voices released their second album, London. It took us (well, except me because my finger is totally on the pulse) completely by surprise, scoring a whopping 4.5/5 and storming the writers’ end-of-year lists. I moved back to the UK just in time to catch Voices supporting Anaal Nathrakh at Camden’s Black Heart in April, and was lucky enough to chat to Peter Benjamin (vocals, guitars) and Sam Loynes (guitars, backing vocals) before the show. An interview, you say? Well, goddamn!
The Order of Apollyon – The Sword and the Dagger Review
“Hey, remember what I said about supergroups last year? In 2008, there was another conglomeration of established musicians based out of France called The Order of Apollyon, and it consisted of B.S.T. (Aosoth), James McIlroy (ex-Cradle of Filth, Chaosanct), Peter Benjamin (ex-Akercocke, Voices) and Dan Wilding (Carcass, Trigger the Bloodshed). Such a who’s who of death and black metal would create a whirlwind of head-twirling mayhem, right?” Super groups…when will they learn?
Record(s) o’ the Month – January 2015
Now that the Jørnbellion has been crushed, Angry Metal Guy can finally get around to doing what he does best: telling you what to listen to. So here’s AngryMetalGuy.com’s very first Record(s) o’ the Month for 2015 and you’ll notice that they’re even (gasp) on time! Come, take a gander, and find out why your favorite album of the month didn’t make our list.
Angry Metal Guy’s Top 10(ish) of 2014
“The Year of Our Angry Overlord 2014 has been a crazy ride. One year ago this week I was finishing up one of the most stressful terms of my entire life, and this year has been a rush of teaching prep, reading, researching, and “OMFG.” You have certainly noticed that AngryMetalGuy.com has been pretty short one Angry Metal Guy in 2014, and that’s been tough for everyone involved I’m sure.” In this massive post Angry Metal Guy reflects on 2014, ranks a bunch of records, and is waiting prepared with his flamethrower for when the whine hits the fan.
Record(s) o’ the Month – November 2014
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…