Aug16

Deadwood Lake – Immortalised in Death Review

Deadwood Lake – Immortalised in Death Review

“Sparkling cool water gently thrums against a piece of driftwood. A tiny squirrel scurries through the underbrush. I sit atop a picnic bench beside the rock strewn shore of Diamond Lake in southern Oregon mulling over how to articulate my heavy thoughts regarding an album by a band with a similar name to the very lake I overlook. When asked how they got their name, melodic atmospheric black metal band Deadwood Lake’s response is simply “we just thought it sounded cool.” It turns out that there is in fact a body of water in northern Wisconsin with the same sinister name as this relatively new yet prolific addition to the UK’s atmoblack scene.” Death at the lake.

Abigail – The Final Damnation Review

Abigail – The Final Damnation Review

“Remember that awesome review of BarbatosStraight Metal War a year ago? Remember those silly lyrics and song titles? Remember checking out all the bands referenced because you’re a sick son of a bitch? Well, here’s Abigail, another one of Yasuyuki Suzuki’s sick and twisted metal outfits.” Have a bad taste in your mouth? Just wait….

Solution .45 – Nightmares in the Waking State – Part II Review

Solution .45 – Nightmares in the Waking State – Part II Review

“Last year Christian Alvestam (ex-Scar Symmetry, Torchbearer) and his Solution .45 project dropped the first installment of a double album that went by the name of Nightmares in the Waking State – Part I. As expected, it was grounded in the same metalcore-tinged melo-death Alvestam’s been associated with throughout his music career. It had a few strong highlights but as a whole it was nothing earth-shaking. Almost a year later he’s back with the second installment of his double creature feature, but should you care?” Caring is sharing.

Dark Forest – Beyond the Veil Review

Dark Forest – Beyond the Veil Review

“I wanted to get this review up much sooner but life happened, and though it’s several weeks tardy, Beyond the Veil, Dark Forest’s fourth album, definitely deserves a spotlight shone upon it. All the more so considering we whiffed on reviewing their excellent 2014 release, The Awakening. These English chaps play folksy power metal with a butt-ton ton of traditional and NWoBHM influences, often sounding like a fusion of Iron Maiden, Kamelot and Skyclad.” Go get Ent!

Wretch – Wretch Review

Wretch – Wretch Review

“Of the wavelengths split from heavy metal’s prism, doom is the color that can most clearly trace its path back to Black Sabbath. Down-tuned riffs, fuzzed-out solos and a bottom end that would make Sir Mix-a-lot dab the sweat from his brow, today’s doom acts unabashedly carry the flame first lit by Messrs Iommi, Ward, Butler and Osborne. The danger in this familiarity is that some bands struggle to escape their progenitor’s orbit and end up as pale imitators rather than carving out a space of their own.” Doom space is tough to come by these days.

Record(s) o’ the Month – August 2016

Record(s) o’ the Month – August 2016

“Yeah, we’re a bit late with these. Angry Metal Guy has an assload of moving parts and sometimes things get lost in the mix. For example: me. During August, I fell off the face of the earth and only resurfaced recently, with a chest cold and, I’m told by cautious people standing at a distance, a “crazy glint” in my eye. Regardless of the state of my unitary mindbody (take that Descartes!), the Record(s) o’ the Month must go on. So here you go.”

Unfathomable Ruination – Finitude Review

Unfathomable Ruination – Finitude Review

“One of my friends, a classicist and lover of classical music, has a few favorite metal bands he’s never heard. It’s not the music that makes him love Necrophagist or Abominable Putridity; it’s just the absurdity of their names, the contortions of language that must occur for brutality to surge forth. Unfathomable Ruination is a band he can get behind. And well he should, because it would be foolish to try to get ahead of them.” Unfathomable fanboyism.

Helstar – Vampiro Review

Helstar – Vampiro Review

“It’s always a dangerous proposition for a band to revisit one of their most beloved albums and attempt a sequel. Nine times out of ten they can’t come close to recapturing whatever magic made their earlier work so enduring and they end up besmirching their legacy in the process (Operation Mindcrime II, anyone?). And so it was with great discomfiture I received news Helstar would be revisiting the same vampiric themes first examined on their classic Nosferatu album on new opus, Vampiro.” Dead and loving it…again.

Running Wild – Rapid Foray Review

Running Wild – Rapid Foray Review

“The pirate’s life is not for everyone. Extensive travel, oft unprofessional coworkers and arcane profit sharing arrangements conspire to limit the talent pool and keep opportunities scarce. None of that ever mattered to Running Wild. They took to the trade like a duck to water and from 1987 onward they’ve kept the marauder’s flag flying almost nonstop through hard times and rough seas. Rapid Foray is the third release since their 2012 “reformation” and as on Shadowmaker and Resilient, they’re not looking to reinvent the parrot.” Rum and rummer.