Uauauaua, six weeks late?
![Record(s[es]) o’ the Month(s) – April and May 2021](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/2104-05-FB_Square.jpg.webp)
Apr21
Poverty’s No Crime – A Secret To Hide Review
“Poverty’s No Crime plays a very archetypal brand of progressive metal as developed in the mid-80’s by other genre veterans such as Fates Warning and 90s acts like Dream Theater. This means expansive songs that still hold on to classic verse-chorus structures, recognizable riffs and melodic leads, but allow for a lot of exploration upon the motifs within these tracks.” Operation: Povertycrime.
Altarage – Succumb Review
“I’ll just come out and say it; I have no clue what is going on in this record. As The Guy Who Explains Why Shit Like This Is Good, that really puts me in a bind. As a result, I’ve spent weeks putting off this review. But hey, maybe we can try something new; instead of me telling you what’s the point of Succumb, how about you tell me. For once, I’m going to read your comments and entertain the idea that your opinions are as valid as those of my own self, The Guy Who Explains Why Shit Like This Is Good. Go wild down there.” Late hit.
Gojira – Fortitude Review
“Fortitude was certainly on my list of most anticipated 2021 releases. I was in the minority here at the AMG Worldwide Pit of Ultimate Darkness when it came to my adoration of Magma – perhaps because the sense of loss that permeated that album resonated with me. Even though I lost my mom decades ago, that sort of thing sticks with you. But beyond that, the songs themselves were superbly written, and the band executed their vision to perfection. So with all the anticipation, why is this review two weeks late? Well, Roadrunner deem it unnecessary to send review material to lowlifes such as Angry Metal Guy, so I had to wait for release day just like everyone else, and then spend two weeks listening to Fortitude. Has it been worth it?” We must flee!
Domkraft – Seeds Review
“This album cover might be enough to scare away the more discerning fans, but we here aren’t paid to run away in fear or confusion. Nor are we paid enough to afford a pair of 3D glasses, which might be handy to see this artwork in its intended form. It is a messed-up, psychedelic trip of an image, to be sure, and in some ways it foreshadows what is to come on Seeds, the third album from Swedish doom/sludge/psych trio Domkraft.” Seedy fuzz.
The Plague – Within Death Review
“I’m not exactly sure why, but I’ve been spinning Black Breath’s Sentenced to Life a lot recently. Maybe it was the epic face-kicking that I received from the recent Enforced release, but something made me seek out even more crossover bludgeonry by which to flagellate myself. Sentenced to Life saw the Seattle band blending crossover thrash with the rumbling HM-2 Swedish death metal of Entombed and Dismember, and the results were pretty glorious, earning the coveted 5.0 from my predecessor in unbridled optimism, Happy Metal Guy himself. Well, between this preparation and my recent Entombed kick following the passing of L.G. Petrov, I was primed to reach for the next buzzsaw promo I found. It sounds distasteful to say at a time like this, but bring on The Plague!” Get down with it.
Becerus – Homo Homini Brutus Review
“Cavemen have become popular again, and this time they’re not trying to sell you insurance. No, a wave of bands are doing something I appreciate and embracing the simpler elements of death metal. Bands like Frozen Soul, Sanguisugabogg, Celestial Sanctuary, and Gutless are associated with our cave-dwelling ancestors and they have one important thing in common: big, dumb riffs. What type of big dumb riffs? Mortician ones.” Welcome to Club Dead.
Stone Healer – Conquistador Review
“The central thesis forming Stone Healer’s impressive debut is this: how does one cross-breed the warm fuzz of stoner with the cold lacerations of black metal? The answer is manifold and not easily summarized. The songwriting is absolutely wild, frequently thriving upon a nightmare train-of-thought flow, flying from reflective melancholy to gnawing discordance and back.” Black desert voyage.
Bunker 66 – Beyond the Help of Prayers Review
“There’s something so alluring about the melding of two genres like black and speed metal. When executed correctly, these seemingly disparate styles join forces to create a noxious stew altogether stronger than the sum of their individual parts; powerful, bombastic and able to dissolve your stomach lining. Bands like Blackevil, Bewitcher, Hellripper and a cornucopia of their spike-and-denim clad contemporaries prove what transpires when icy BM and the meat-and-potatoes chug of 80s speed form their unholy union. Bunker 66 are no strangers to this format, and are eager to continue the sacrilegious scourge with their new album Beyond the Help of Prayers.” Bunker busters.
Fyrnask – VII-Kenoma Review
“When I think of the sprawling extreme metal bands that I admire the most – The Ruins of Beverast, Urfaust, Spectral Lore, Blut Aus Nord and Darkspace a handful – I picture their music as labyrinthine cathedrals: their domes, spires and towers encrusted in shadowy depth; their facades etched in malicious secrets, crafted meticulously over hundreds of years; a visitor’s footsteps echoing minutely against the leering iconography of the interior walls. Using rough raw material, the best bands craft cathedrals of splendor that loom over the scene with menacing authority. Many bands, too many bands, attempt to recreate the fine detail of the best. They try, but the foundation of their place of worship is fractured and cheap to begin with. The finished product stands tall for a brief moment in time, but as the wind changes the structure falls – they lack the intricacy, the balance, the transitions. Another band on the rubble heap. On a plot of land somewhere in the East of Germany another architect lays the first stones of a new creation. Fyrnask has experience.” Building toward destruction.
