Aug20

Svederna – Härd Review

Svederna – Härd Review

“There is a vast root system that feeds the evergreen Swedish black metal tree. Svederna, releasing their third full-length, are nourished by the richness of blackened soil. Big daddy Bathory watches all, followed by a rabble of miscreant off-spring in the form of Marduk, Dissection, and Watain. These are just the tip of a massive iceberg; there are countless black metal bands (and death metal is a different story altogether) buried in gold beneath the surface. Svederna, then, are modern flag bearers adding to the lineage.” Branches of evil.

Begrafven – Dödsriket Review

Begrafven – Dödsriket Review

Dödsriket is Begrafven’s debut LP following a demo in 2013. Consisting of Ursus (guitars and vocals) and Maturz (bass and drums), Begrafven plays a fairly traditional blend of old-school Scandinavian second-wave black metal and melodic, less intense black ‘n roll. While the approach is by no means original, there has been a lot of demanding, atypical black metal recently, and if you’re like me, you sometimes just want some good ole fashioned, meat and ‘taters fare.” Black n’ tater.

Núll – Entity Review

Núll – Entity Review

“Off the top of my balding head, I can’t think of a genre that’s more difficult to pull off convincingly than depressive suicidal black metal. It takes quite a talented hand to navigate that particular battleship down those choppy seas. Go too hard, and you run the risk of being unlistenable, borderline or not. Go too soft, and you’re tossed into the tar pits and forever labeled a “try-hard edgelord” by those who should know better than to go that route. So I can empathize with any band trying to crack into that difficult niche market, and it doesn’t hurt that in this case, we have a band comprised of members of Carpe Noctem and Misþyrming.” Balancing despair.

Duma – Duma Review

Duma – Duma Review

“The self-titled debut by Kenyan duo Duma (meaning “darkness” in Kikuyu) is a most peculiar rara avis, carrying the sort of art difficult to distill into words, let alone narrow down to a single genre indicator. So while “grindcore” might be easiest to associate with the often rhythmically driven and dark work of Martin Khanja (aka Lord Spike Heart) and Sam Karugu, any expectations or points of reference go out the window within the first ten seconds of Duma’s opening track.” World metal.

Ulver – Flowers of Evil Review

Ulver – Flowers of Evil Review

“Off the back of 2017’s The Assassination of Julius Caesar and the Ulver Primer which we ran a few weeks ago, 2020 has bequeathed unto us a new full-length title from Norway’s Ulver. Flowers of Evil sits in an unusual place as successor to the most poppy Ulver release, an album which I underrated at the time but have come to love. Rarely simple and never expected, Ulver has built a career out of subverting expectations and always pushing into new territories. How does such a band follow the most accessible album of their story?” Just look at the flowers.

Aleynmord – The Blinding Light Review

Aleynmord – The Blinding Light Review

“It was some time ago now that the mighty Steel Druhm wandered into the Angry Metal Break room, bewildered and dazed, a single page of text — the promo sheet for Aleynmord’s debut The Blinding Light _– stuck to his paw. He read it out to us. It claimed such things as “a range of vocals from a shrill cry, yells, cleans, and even Americana-esque whistles enshrouded by a fog of thick guitars and a walking bass, The Blinding Light is a concise collection of tracks which convey this powerful emotion that can only be attempted to describe.” What was noteworthy about this strange text was that it never actually told us what genre the music was. There was debate; there was intrigue.” Blind no more.

Panzerfaust – The Suns of Perdition – Chapter II: Render unto Eden Review

Panzerfaust – The Suns of Perdition – Chapter II: Render unto Eden Review

“To prepare myself for the much-anticipated The Suns of Perdition – Chapter II: Render unto Eden, I had to commit an act of Contrition, upgrading my review of The Suns of Perdition – Chapter I: War, Horrid War to a 4.0. The fact that it has only taken this quartet of Canadians a smidge over a year to pen the follow-up to that rampaging, brvtal beast of an album was, I’ll admit, concerning. War, Horrid War combined raw intensity and crvshing riffs with moments of beauty and fragility to such stunning effect that, while I desperately wanted to get my hands on the follow-up, I wondered if Panzerfaust shouldn’t take just a bit more time to pen a worthy successor.” Burning paradise.

Pain of Salvation – Panther Review

Pain of Salvation – Panther Review

“Oh boy, have we all been waiting for this one. No album has lived in infamy quite like In the Passing Light of Day, which gave rise to the Sweaty Manbun Phenomenon here at Angry Metal Guy. Hard to believe that was three and a half years ago, but when it’s talked about on a monthly basis, it can seem like yesterday. Now Pain of Salvation are back with Panther, their eleventh studio release.” Much panther.

The Atomic Bitchwax – Scorpio Review

The Atomic Bitchwax – Scorpio Review

“If there was ever a year that demanded a new The Atomic Bitchwax record, it was 2020. Between the chain of climate-related and man-made disasters, the slow implosion of politics around the world and the pandemic, we can do with a burst of stupid, fun, high octane stoner rock, and if any band can deliver on that, it’s the terrible trio.” Giving 2020 the Wax.