![Almanac – A Discographic Review [Tsar (2016), Kingslayer (2017) and Rush of Death (2020)]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/RotM-square_splash_text_small-768x768.jpg)
“For the last four years, I have been neglecting—and you have been denied my Very Important Opinion™ about—one of the most idiosyncratic voices in metal: Victor Smolski. And so, in a Swallow the Sun-sized act of hubris, I’m writing a discographic review of Victor Smolski’s Almanac.” You can’t spell “Almanac” without MAN!
![Cities of Mars – Temporal Rifts [Things You Might Have Missed 2017]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/0010926561_10-768x768.jpg)
“Social media has had a major impact on our lives. From reading racist diatribes on Facebook to constructing shelves from things that were never meant to be shelves on Pinterest, few are completely outside the bubble. One positive change is the short distance between artists and fans. Take Cities of Mars, for instance. Earlier this year, my girlfriend was randomly added by these unknowns from Sweden. Fast forward a few months and we were chatting them up after a show in Antwerp, two in a crowd of a dozen including the opening band, the earthshaking riffs that’d emanated from the cafe’s ten square foot stage still ringing in our ears. You may now be thinking: “GardensTale, you’re abusing your power as an AMG writer just to plug a band we’d never hear otherwise, just because you met them!” And you’d be right, but I wouldn’t do that if Temporal Rifts wasn’t a sweet, solid and succinct slab of spacey stoner doom.” Nepotism and Neurosis.
“I don’t know why, but I end up reviewing a lot of bands that take an inordinately long time to record their works. I’m still waiting for one of them to call themselves Cicada… Maybe Knife the Glitter should have: it would have been a better name, and with a 15-year incubation period for this album, it would be appropriate.” Stab the drama, knife the glitter.
“Let me tell you something which you might already know but have most likely never heard stated directly: Master-baiting is incredibly easy. To set a Muppet trap, one only needs a handful of specific pearls to effectively get me off of one musical tangent and thrusted furiously into another. Slap the black metal tag on something, slather it in cvlt artwork and croon it to me in a foreign tongue and I’m about as sonically revved up as they come.” Muppets are cheap dates.
![Tetrafusion – Dreaming of Sleep [Things You Might Have Missed 2017]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Tetrafusion-DreamingofSleep1.jpg)
“I’m more of a modern prog dude. Not that I have anything against the classic ’70s era of progressive rock, but aside from a few notable bands, led by the obvious Pink Floyd, I simply haven’t been exposed to a lot of it, despite being a big fan of ’60s and ’70s music, in general. Yeah, I know, it’s something I need to rectify. Luckily, modern prog of the rock and metal variety offers an embarrassment of riches to indulge in.” Prog for the noggin.
![Deadspace – The Liquid Sky [Things You Might Have Missed 2017]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Deadspace-The-Liquid-Sky-cover.png)
“Down Under’s Deadspace have craftily sneaked their way into the upper echelon of bands from the past few years. Their debut full-length was a depressive but dramatic cut of black metal with a strong narrative voice through its measured pace and use of film samples. 2016’s EP felt ‘purer’ as it featured less spoken words no interlude tracks; it was 4 lengthy, cathartic tracks which tracked life and death. A sophomore record called The Liquid Sky released towards the death of 2017 and the high standard is maintained.” In space no one can hear you frown.
“As Christmas approaches, so too does the easy gushing of TYMHM season. We are in the thick of it now, the best time of the year, the constant f5ing and frantic back-listening, the questions of how you completely and totally slept on that band you’d never heard of until just now. Every day heralds a batch of guaranteed winners determined to kick the certitude of yesterday’s Top Ten down a mine shaft. Halphas kindly reminds you not to ignore the humble review, because Dawn of a Crimson Empire is no less impressive than any of the December delights that have caught your eye.” Did you…overlook this, perhaps?
![Slow – V – Oceans [Things You Might Have Missed 2017]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Slow-Oceans-001-1-768x768.jpg)
“I’m no stranger to emptiness, I have used music as an outlet for my own struggles with depression for almost thirty years and my music library is positively littered with negativity. The sounds of being depressed have haunted my ears in varying shades of grey for as long as I can remember, but never before have I heard an album embody depression itself with the same level of unnerving perfection as Slow’s V – Oceans does.” I see a slow darkness.
![Ancient Empire – The Tower [Things You Might Have Missed 2017]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/22789029_1960975857509748_2001782068802902284_n-768x768.jpg)
“When I was a wee swordbearer in the northern taiga with fewer years under my belt and not enough Jørn Lande in my life, I lived on a metal diet comprised almost solely of Freedom Call, Power Quest, Dark Moor, and their ilk. I was absolutely convinced that other than Kamelot, there was really nothing coming out of the US that could interest me. Then, a couple years later, I was slapped silly by Pharaoh, Nevermore, and Twisted Tower Dire.” Murican power metal – it’ll slap ya.
![Frostreich – Join the Wind [Things You Might Have Missed 2017]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Frostreich-Join-the-Wind-01-768x768.jpg)
“Oh, post-black metal. Everyone’s favorite genre to either love or hate on. This little genre is either hyped too much or considerably bashed on by metalheads around the globe. It can be pretentious, it can be repetitious, and a single song can carry on for-fucking-ever. Many times, entire albums revolve around a key atmosphere that, no matter the quality of the songwriting, repeats itself across every track on the album—no matter the runtime or how many songs on the disc. And, when that first fifteen-minute piece hits, people either become absorbed or annoyed within seconds.” Break, like the wind.
