We’ve had the “Covid: How Can You Help?” thing up on the sidebar for ages, but we haven’t updated anything on the issue for a long time. Today, however, Soen dropped a new track. Entitled “Igniter,” the song was recorded during the early stages of the pandemic. In the wake of yet another cancelled tour and staring down the barrel of a spring where no one knows whether any tours are going to happen, Soen needs some help to stay afloat.
Today is #blackouttuesday when media and music industry types are blacking out as a sign of solidarity with protestors. Rather than give you a much needed lesson in the sociology of race and ethnicity in the USA, I’ll leave you with this link.
“Every once in a while, for some strange reason, we like to give you creeps the VIP treatment and surprise y’all with some extracurricular goodness. Today you turds’ll be treated to a trve and tasty twofer: in a gracious act of metal camaraderie and questionable judgment straight outta Israel, blackened death veterans Arallu have granted us the honor of premiering the video for “Spells” from their latest desert-y offering, En Olam, as well as subjected their vocalist, Butchered, to an inquisitive Muppet.” Muppet on the desert beat.
I’ve been known to throw the occasional curve ball, but I think three Record(s) o’ the Month(s) in one month is the first time I’ve ever pulled this particular caper. But Angry Metal Guy is never late. Nor is he early. He does what he’s doing precisely at the moment he intends to do it. For reasons that are his own (but are mostly fuck you). This month’s Record(s) o’ the Month is dedicated to all the people who like music for “atmosphere.” Of course, you might as well say that you “like whatever, so long as it has a good beat.” But the way you’re doing it is way more trve and garners you less friends and so much metal cred. I thought I’d help you all out by giving you a handful of bands that can write and (gasp) edit songs!
“Usually when we review albums, our readers have only our flimsy prose to rely on in order to make an informed purchase. Sure, we’ll embed a Bandcamp single or music video into the review in almost all cases, but those pre-release tracks are typically selected in order to quickly hook the listener, rather than to give a broad overview of the record in question. So then, what we’re doing with Grand Abominations, the debut LP of Philadelphia black/prog/thrash metal act Botis, is a bit of a treat: you not only get to endure my flimsy prose, but you also have the opportunity to explore the entire record ahead of its release.” Grand expectations.
There’s a really specific reason that the Record(s) o’ the Month are late this month. It’s because I don’t like anything enough to make Record o’ the Month. In the past when this has been the case, I tend to listen to things that people like and let a “democratic” decision happen. We did an extensive vote and came with a lot of options and no consensus. And while the options ranged from the “pretty good” to the “deeply insulting,” I wasn’t overly thrilled about any of them.
“Dream Tröll. It’s a weird-ass pairing of words even in the realm of metal bands, yet one that glides off the tongue, despite every synapse in my brain screaming “That’s not right!” Sonically speaking, Dream Tröll is beholden to convention, but their splicing of genres is handled so ingeniously as to make such an unclassifiable name somehow fitting. It’s easy to draw correlations between traditional metal, power metal, and good ol’ fashioned rock ‘n roll, yet Dream Tröll plays with these tropes in delightfully unexpected ways, resulting in a distinct sound displaced from any defined era of metal music.” Trölling with the oldies.
As all of you know, I’ve been scarce around here at AngryMetalGuy.com, a site that is named after me. I don’t need to reiterate my long, storied history of carrying this website upon my shoulders: the ways that I have fought against a music industry that hates independent thought; the hours that I have spent organizing promos, editing reviews, and ignoring emails from n00bs who I stopped responding to. Without me there is no AngryMetalGuy.com and without AngryMetalGuy.com there is no me. But of late, a thing has been bothering me and making it hard for me to engage in this website with the passion it deserves. Well, more accurate, several things have been bothering me and I need to get them off my chest. But let me start with my big announcement.
A RotM post going up 17 days late? Wow, smells like old times ’round here. What’s going on? And more importantly, how are the n00bs to blame?
One month down in 2019 and we’re off to the races. January was by most accounts—excepting the eventual contrarians in the comments section, a relatively disappointing month. After an almost overwhelming and backloaded 2018, the first month of 2019 felt like a pretty tepid start to the year. Fortunately, there were still some diamonds in the rough. So here’s three albums—two which received the reviews they deserved and one which was unfairly maligned—that I think that you should give your consideration from January of 2019.
