![Melted Bodies – Enjoy Yourself [Things You Might Have Missed 2020]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/a2050181391_10-768x768.jpg)
“In a year like this, there’s something to be said for going crazy. If you have multiple personality disorder, severe paranoia or schizophrenia with auditory hallucinations, you never have to feel alone while you’re locked in your apartment talking to the walls! Which is why Melted Bodies have the right idea.” Assorted nuts.
![Afsky – Ofte Jeg Drømmer Mig Død [Things You Might Have Missed 2020]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Afsky-Ofte-jeg-drommer-mig-dod.jpg)
“Every year, the chase is on to find that underground band no one’s ever heard of. The one that you present to everyone who loves music and watch as their expressions change from an unconvinced “Who is this?” to “Holy shit, this is amazing!” Well, folks, for those of you with a taste for pure black metal, unadulterated by frills and ribbons, I have the album for you.” Afsky and answered.
“Heeeere’s Jonny! Again! I’m not sure how many albums Jonny Pettersson has released in 2020, but this is the third I’ve covered, and the second by his Wombbath project. The band released the sprawling, mostly compelling, Choirs of the Fallen back in March and have since signed with Transcending Obscurity Records. Not wanting to wait to see where this new partnership might take them, Jonny and co. are releasing Tales of Madness, a collection of several rerecorded demo tracks from the band’s pre-Jonny past.” Womb service.
“Matching album art to musical concept is, I imagine, a challenging task for any artist or band to attempt. Two different artistic styles coming together in harmony is certainly a tough ask, but in this case, Gjoad have nailed it. The painting you see over there, by Franz Steinfeld, could not be a more accurate description of the Samanōn sound — which is a good thing, because it’s the primary reason I picked this one up to review. I wanted something primal, something powerful, and something ancient, and it seems to me that that’s exactly what this Austrian trio are going for on their debut release.” Sound packaging.
“I’m a simple n00b. I like my meat rare, my Dr. Pepper with ice[1. Shoutout to adults who drink soda.], and my black metal raw. I don’t ask for much, just give me some chunky riffs and the vision to support them and you have my axe. What Minneapolis’ traditional doomers Kult Of The Wizard have done on their latest offering, Gold, is so much more and it’s made a simple n00b like myself all warm inside in a way that the usual holiday cheer of the season doesn’t normally bring about.” N00b appeal.
![Necrot – Mortal [Things You Might Have Missed 2020]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Necrot-Mortal-3000x3000-1-scaled-1-768x768.jpg)
“People are never satisfied. They are saturated with options, and with choice comes entitlement. Corpulent technicality and aimless dissonance have somehow convinced people that songwriting isn’t necessary. Fucking die. Whatever happened to the basics? But not just the basics, the fucking basics. Evolution is key, but nothing can replace those original elements that, when correctly combined, elicit such a chemical crush. Oakland’s Necrot have been descanting the insalubrious since 2012 and boast members of Mortuous, Vastum and Acephalix”. Death be simple.
![Houkago Grind Time – Bakyunsified (Moe to the Gore) [Things You Might Have Missed 2020]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/041466.jpg)
“Far be it from me to let my shit-tier time management fall on Andrew Lee, the one man behind one-man-band Houkago Grind Time (and 2020 death metal standout Ripped to Shreds). Bakyunsified (Moe to the Gore) may house a whole lot of meta anime piss-takes, but don’t let that fool you: this spin is more grind to the core than it has any right to be.” Anime grind had to happen.
“As I close out the year with reviews, what better way than to go back to my roots? Is that vague? Maybe. Mysterious? Definitely. What on earth would I have in common with Heretical Sect? Am I a skeleton with a snake in my skull? Maybe. I’ll bring that up with the doctor later. I suppose you could ask: what do chile, Breaking Bad, Ancestral Puebloans, hot air balloons, and the worst pedestrian safety rating in the US have in common? Secting crew.
A look back at Nevermore’s Dead Heart in a Dead World, which is now freaking olde.
![Counting Hours – The Will [Things You Might Have Missed 2020]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Counting-Hours_The-Will-01-768x779.jpg)
“Longtime members of the AMG metal intelligentsia are likely aware I enjoy me some melancholy melodeath and downbeat mope-core. Said intelligentsia may also have noticed I tend to namedrop long-defunct Finnish melodeath act Rapture rather frequently. That’s because I really loved their sound and truly miss them since they called it a day after releasing the excellently bleak Silent Stage way back in 2005. Over the years various bands helped fill the hole left in my wretched soul, but no one could truly replace Rapture. Finland’s Counting Hours may have come as close as inhumanly possibly though with their debut The Will.” Inherit the sadness.
