“Ah, Aeternam. Ever since a rush order on their third album, Ruins of Empires, was foisted upon me early in my career as an Angry Metal Serf, the Canadians have become a reliable mainstay in the world of MENA-infused death metal. Ever armed with grit, heft and rock-solid songwriting, any release from this band has been cause for celebration. With Heir of the Rising Sun, we’ve reached album number 5 since the band’s inception in 2007.” Putting on heirs.
“In the three years since their sophomore release Samsara, Venom Prison has experienced a meteoric rise to fame. Samsara captured the hearts of both underground metal aficionados and non-sociopaths, by infusing high-energy brutal death metal with a healthy dose of slamming hardcore. Venom Prison’s unrelenting sound earned them a deal with Century Media, and Erebos brings the band to a crossroads as their major label debut.” Prisoner of expectations.
“‘Don’t judge a book by its cover,’ so the saying goes. But in our modern metal landscape, where a single look at an album cover or a song name can hook us or repel us forever, it’s damn hard to do otherwise. Mister Misery (strike one) are dying for your attention, as illustrated by that album cover (strike two). Their so-called brand of “horror metal” should be strike three, good morning, good afternoon, good night. And yet… maybe read the first page.” Twisted Mister.
May 2021 be a better year for us all.
GardensTale and Ferrous Beuller uncork their best spirits of 2020 and share iron libations with everyone. Cheers!
TheKenWord and Carcharodon join the fray with tastes ranging from good, bad, and unfathomable.
“France’s Nightmare are no strangers to the heavy metal scene. The band’s origins go back four decades to their foundation as a punk outfit in 1979. Over the next few years, the punk stylings gave way to the burgeoning heavy metal sound of the early 80s and the band released a couple of full-lengths before going on hiatus in 1988. But Nightmare’s best work was yet to come.” Dream warriors.
“Preconceptions are fun, aren’t they? When I tell you Dystopia A.D. is a 2-man unsigned band from Jersey, or Joisey as it’s colloquially known, you’re already forming a picture in your head. If you’re like me, you’re probably expecting some sort of politically charged thrash, possibly of a crossover or core-related variety. Dystopia is, after all, a word that inherently defines a result of particular forms of governance, and Jersey is known primarily for blue collar thrash, Overkill of course its flag carrier. Combine that with the unsigned 2-man band and the picture seems complete. Except it’s utterly, utterly wrong.” Garden state fake.
“March of 2020 was a big month for me, personally. I turned in a full manuscript of my dissertation for a seminar that gives you the bits and pieces that need to be fixed in order to go to a public defense. As a result, AngryMetalGuy.com is one step closer to getting AMG Himself back. You can bet that heads will fucking roll. That’s what I do around here. Fortunately, I had a solid stable of records to listen to while I was editing and planning my inevitable return, including March’s Record o’ the Month.” Back to rule.
“Our overlord’s prolonged stay in the dark dungeons of higher education has yielded mostly secondhand stress and delayed Record o’ the Month articles for Angry Metal Guy Himself. But in my case, it has now resulted in not one but two offers to review the great Aeternam, one of the very best when it comes to MENA-folk influenced metal.” Storm in the sands.
