Amon Amarth

Fimbulthier – Arise Review

By Steel Druhm on July 8, 2010 in 1.0, 2010, Death Metal, Metalcore, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Thrash Metal, Trollzorn/SMP Records, Viking Metal, 1 comment

Into every reviewer’s lap, some crap will surely fall. Now, I can’t complain too much since I’ve had a pretty crap-free run so far as a scribe for the mighty and esteemed Angry Metal Guy. Sadly, that run has now come to a sudden and painful end with Arise, the second album from Germany’s Fimbulthier. I had never heard of these gents before but apparently their 2007 debut was some kind of viking/death metal hybrid, which by the looks of online reviews, didn’t exactly warm the cockles of the metal minded among us. Arise however, is about as viking as Pee Wee Herman in drag. No, seriously, maybe I misread the band description and it said Tricycling metal because there is nothing remotely close to viking metal here. What there is plenty of however, is awfulness and dreck.

Unleashed – As Yggdrasil Trembles Review

By Angry Metal Guy on March 10, 2010 in 2010, 3.0, Death Metal, Nuclear Blast, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Thrash Metal, 6 comments

Unleashed is not without their appeal. They’ve been around for a couple decades now, putting out their first record Where No Life Dwells in 1991, and they’ve been pretty consistently well-respected in the scene for being among the first to do the whole Viking Metal thing. But they’re a band that this Angry Metal Guy has never been able to get into on the basis of one thing: Unleashed is the Manowar of death metal. Now, some people are going to say “But Manowar are the Kings of Metal! Should we not be praising Unleashed for translating such kinglyness into the Death Metal genre?” To which there can only be one response: “Absofuckinglutely not.”

Wulfgar – Midgardian Metal Review

By Angry Metal Guy on February 24, 2010 in 2010, 3.0, Death Metal, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Trollzorn/SMP Records, 0 comments

The guys from Wulfgar and I have something in common: we both really love Amon Amarth. I mean, I’ve been an Amon Amarth fan since I first heard “Victorious March” all those years ago and I’ve just never looked back. I’ve purchased every one of their records since I started listening to melodic death metal and, let’s face it, I’ll probably keep listening to them for years to come until I’m old, bitter and bored with everything that I used to like (it’ll happen: then I’ll become Angry 12 Tone Jazz Guy). The difference between my love of Amon Amarth and that of the guys from this Swedish quintet is that I didn’t start a band…

The Flow Chart O’ Heavy Metal Names

By Angry Metal Guy on January 21, 2010 in Black Metal, Blog Posts, Heavy Metal, 0 comments

Angry Metal Girlfriend found this blog with a really very amusing flowchart of Heavy Metal band names. It was obvious to me from the getgo that this person was not, in fact, a real fan of metal because they missed the ever important Names Taken from Lord of the Rings section (see: Gorgoroth, Burzum, Amon Amarth, Amon Din, Crebain, Isengard and so on and so forth), but it is, in and of itself, a very excellent flowchart which demonstrates just how awesome metal naming conventions really are. Also, complete with inverted pentagram. (Cick the picture below to get it to open in a new tab/window.)

Angry Metal Guy Lives!

By Angry Metal Guy on November 18, 2009 in Blog Posts, 0 comments

Wow. Things have been busy around here, honestly. One of the downsides of doing this for fun is that one makes no money doing it and has to come up with other ways to pull together an income. I’ve been trying to do that, plus, other things. Anyway, this is the stuff that I’ve been up to and listening to in my freetime (of which there is actually very little). In this time, however, I have pieced together a list that I would call the “best albums of the 2000s.” I don’t know if I’d actually call them the best, so much as the ones that have really stuck with me. As a guy who thinks that it was actually the mid/late 90s that were really the defining point in heavy metal for the modern era, and that what we’re dealing with is very much the outcome of this, this list was actually very difficult for me to produce.

Månegarm – Nattväsen Review

By Angry Metal Guy on November 5, 2009 in 2009, 4.5, Death Metal, Regain Records, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Folk Metal, Viking Metal, 1 comment

Nattväsen (Night Creatures) is the name of the new Månegarm record, and one that works well with the feel of the entire album. Clocking in at a good LP length of 45 minutes, this record explores musically and lyrically the fears which we as humans have had as long as there has been night. Those fears of the things that creep out of sight, be it the ghost of a mountain (“Bergagasten”), the creatures in our dreams (“Nattsjäl-Drömsjäl”) or a mythical creature (“Draugen”). This concept seals together a record of some of the best folk/viking metal that is currently available by any band.

Blaze Bayley – The Night That Will Not Die Review

By Angry Metal Guy on November 3, 2009 in 2009, 3.0, 4.0, Reviews, 0 comments

Blaze Bayley, for those who don’t know (where the hell have you been??) is the solo project of former Wolfsbane and Iron Maiden frontman of the same name. Honestly, this guy’s story is a true underdog story. To hear it told, he was the singer that no one wanted until he got picked up by Wolfsbane and then he was chosen to fill Bruce Dickinson’s shoes in Iron Maiden after Bruce decided he was too cool for the band. There was absolutely no way for him to win in that situation. A man with a baritone register filling Dickinson’s shoes is just ridiculous and everyone should’ve known better: but this reviewer humbly submits that X Factor is a classic record and that Virtual XI, while definitely weaker, was not weak because of Blaze, but instead because of Steve Harris’ writing and the very poor production. In fact, I’m still waiting for those two albums to be remastered.

RIP Mike Alexander

By Angry Metal Guy on October 8, 2009 in Blog Posts, 0 comments

I had a scheduled interview with Evile in Stockholm, but so sadly the bassist for that band passed away from an acute illness that he contracted in LuleÃ¥, Sweden on the 5th of October. Mike Alexander died at the age of 32, and just as they were starting a big European tour with metal monsters […]

Angry Metal Guy’s Playlist August 22nd – August 29th

By Angry Metal Guy on August 30, 2009 in Black Metal, Blog Posts, Death Metal, Folk Metal, Playlists, Swedish Metal, Black Metal, Death Metal, Folk Metal, Viking Metal, 0 comments

These last couple weeks have been pretty crazy for this Angry Metal Guy.Â I’ve moved south from the fair city of UmeÃ¥, to the much bigger (and arguably fairer) city of Uppsala.Â While I miss Norrland, I do have to say that I’m quite enjoying certain aspects of the student culture in the city of […]

Amon Amarth – The Crusher (Reissue) Review

By Angry Metal Guy on August 29, 2009 in 2009, 3.0, 4.0, Death Metal, Metal Blade, Reviews, Swedish Metal, 0 comments

Amon Amarth – The Crusher (Reissue) Rating: 4.0/5.0 (Record) – 3.0/5.0 (Reissue) 4.5/5.0 (Live Record) Label: Metal Blade (EU | USA) Website(s): myspace.com/amonamarth | amonamarth.com Release Date(s): USA: 09.01.2009 | EU: 28.08.2009 Amon Amarth is on top of the fucking world right now.Â The Thor’s Hammer is the new pentagram and every kid is hailing […]