“I love imagining new music genres. What if somebody made blackened thrash with cleanly sung choruses? What if somebody made war metal with melodic death metal riffs? What if somebody made music like The Acacia Strain that was actually good? California’s Here Lies Man asked their own version of this question: what if Black Sabbath played Afrobeat?” World music downfall.
“Lavinia is a four-piece post-rock/emo outfit from New Hampshire with members from Caspian, The Appleseed Cast, and The Burning Paris. How their Pax Aeternum sophomore effort Sallowed ended up on the angriest metal site this side of the planet, I will never know.” Sallow your pride.
![Coheed and Cambria – Vaxis – Act I: The Unheavenly Creatures [Things You Might Have Missed 2018]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Coheed-and-Cambria-Vaxis-Act-I-The-Unheavenly-Creatures-01.jpg)
“What were you expecting, a metal review? Too bad. Coheed time. Back in 2005, the New York boys of Coheed and Cambria were immensely influential in my formative years as a rabid consumer of music. Though only a metal band in the loosest sense of the genre, the band’s emotionally explosive and instrumentally nuanced brand of progressive alt-rock undoubtedly laid the foundation for my formal induction into metal fandom only a year later. For better or for worse, they also ignited my critical spirit; the waning quality of C&C’s post-Good Apollo Vol. I output forced me to examine music with an unbiased ear, and helped turn me into the cynical shithead you see before you today.” Alien inwasion.
“When A Perfect Circle dropped debut album Mer De Noms in 2000, the rock supergroup managed to exceed, or at least match, the lofty expectations its high profile membership garnered, led by Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan. The brilliant debut opus remains a staple in my listening rotation nearly 20 years later, and 2003 follow-up Thirteenth Step proved a worthy successor. Before inevitable clashes with the band member’s various main projects resulted in a 14-year recording hiatus, they dropped the ill-advised and overtly political 2004 covers album eMOTIVe. Now A Perfect Circle finally return with their highly anticipated fourth LP, Eat the Elephant.” Sphere today, gone tomorrow,
“My heart may belong to metal, but it was Coheed and Cambria that cemented my love for rock music. One of my favorite bands to this day, C&C’s influence on my musical tastes has resonated long into my twenties, with sonically similar acts like The Dear Hunter helping to keep me invested in their particular blend of modern alternative and progressive rock. It’s surprising to me then, as a fan of such a specific style, that I’d never encountered Connecticut’s Mile Marker Zero.” Prog is a highway, and you’re gonna ride it.
![Dunsmuir – Dunsmuir [Things You Might Have Missed 2016]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/DunsmuirArtwork.jpg)
“Considering their impressive all star line-up, the debut self-titled LP from Dunsmuir seemed to fly under the radar rather curiously. The freshly minted rock project featuring Dave Bone (The Company Band), Brad Davis (Fu Manchu), Vinnie Appice (Black Sabbath, Dio) and none other than legendary Clutch frontman Neil Fallon released a consistently solid debut album worthy of your attention.” How the hell did we miss this?
“Every once in a while the metal scene collectively pisses on a band or record and someone needs to step up and defend why they like it. We normally don’t spend a lot of time defending shitty records, but sometimes genuinely interesting or good records get lampooned by an overly conservative heavy metal scene and that calls for a professional contrarian to defend it! If ever there were professional contrarians, it would be the staff of AMG.” Cold Lake would be easier to defend!
