“Reviewers the world over can agree; compartmentalizing bands into neat little genre labels can make life easier, but don’t necessarily do bands justice. Case in point: Virginia’s Inter Arma are equal parts Southern rock, sludge, doom metal, 70’s prog rock, and cavernous death metal.” Pigeonholery is an art AND a science.
“I have many friends that share my exquisite taste in music. If this were not the case, I would not have stumbled across Spellcaster and their newest release, Night Hides the World. Suggested to me by a member of War Curse, Spellcaster is a purveyor of the simple and the accessible. Fusing six-string details with strong vocals, these Portlanders combine Iron Maiden-esque hooks with Ghost-ish melody.” Metal friends beat Super Friends any day.
“In all honesty, I grabbed Isolation – the Kansas City quartet’s third full length since forming in 2005 – fully expecting to hate it. After all the great albums that landed in my lap recently, low-brow electronica/metalcore seemed like an interesting change of pace, and while I get 95% of our readership probably despises this music, I did my best to go into Isolation with an open mind.” Masochism is alive at AMG.
“Now that I have my fill of Waxen’s bizarre Weihung Auf Satan, it seems only right for some everyday black metal. That’s if you’re into that sort of thing. If not, today’s review will only upset you, but the name of today’s band alone ought to catch your attention.” What’s in a name, anyway?
“Circumstances have not been kind to prog-metal forefathers Fates Warning. For most of the past decade and a half, the band has been sidelined while far lesser acts have laid claim to the entire genre (oh hi, Dream Theater). The fact that Fates have released some incredibly inaccessible albums has not helped their cause, nor did their 9-year hiatus from making new music altogether.” The forefathers are back!
“Named after the gorgeous but poisonous winter flower of the same name, Helleborus’ debut full-length The Carnal Sabbath is a proper manifestation of both the gorgeous and the poisonous. Coloradan brothers Wyatt and Jerred Houseman have created a peculiar cosmic world anchored by a standard modern-day black metal sound: part Deathspell Omega and part Behemoth.” Flowers are way more metal than you know.
“I was impressed by Colorado’s Wayfarer on their debut. Their post-black metal was nuanced, densely textured and showed great maturity for a young band. I was eager to overlook the flaws since their base was sound, with such touchstones as Winterfylleth or Wildernessking. A year and a half later, Old Souls succeeds Children of the Iron Age in Wayfarer’s discography….” And a much more jaded and cynical El Cuervo awaits.
“Metal has more than its share of genres and sub-genres already, but guitar virtuoso Toby Knapp (Onward, Where Evil Follows) is intent on carving out yet another one via his one-man Waxen project. That genre would be called something like “shreddy black metal,” since third album, Weihung Auf Satan essentially answers the question – what would happen if Richie Blackmore or Yngwie Malmsteen recorded a black metal album?” Prepare to be bewildered.
![Blut Aus Nord/AEvangelist – Codex Obscura Nomina [split] Review](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cover-RGB-768x768.jpg)
“Ever since the release of 2003’s The Work Which Transforms God, French black metal pioneers Blut Aus Nord took the constrictions of the standard black metal envelope, stretched them out to ridiculous lengths and dimensions, and repackaged them to the point where you only vaguely remember there being an envelope in front of you. In other words, they, along with fellow Frenchmen Deathspell Omega, redefined black metal as we know it.” And here we have a split with a band they influenced mightily. Master and Apprentice if you will.
“There’s a lot of hype building up to You Will Never Be One of Us, the third full-length by Southern Californian powerviolence trio Nails. Known for being unrelenting in their seething anger, both 2010’s Unsilent Death and 2013’s cataclysmic Abandon All Life garnered the trio an army of loyal followers, and rightfully so. There’s no fluff, no compromise, and no bullshit when it comes to their militaristic approach.” Powerviolence is a real thing.
