“Back in the primordial days of this here blog, we attempted something called “AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö.” The basic idea was to select a bunch of unsigned bands and give them the collective review treatment to find the most worthy buried gems. It was our humble effort to remind folks that the metal underground is still an important part of the world of metal.” Welcome to Serbia.
“Like my colleague Dear Hollow, I cut my metal teeth (and nails) on heavy Christian music, and Becoming the Archetype is, without a doubt, the greatest extreme metal band of the faithful persuasion. We don’t normally receive promos from Solid State Records, but when BtA shocked their fans in June by announcing a surprise album after a ten-year hiatus, I knew I’d do terrible things to get my hands on the promo. Fortunately, all I had to do was email the band, who got me in touch with the label and its PR firm, and here we are. Phew! I quickly enlisted Hollow’s help, thinking that such a momentous occasion demanded a two-pronged attack.” Acts of faith.
“Molten Husk is an album built on a balance of synchrony and glitches, a duel of cohesive riffs and splattering experimentation. We embark on a journey with Abest, witnessing this dichotomy and wondering what the hell we do with its lesson. As the journey dwindles to its final moments, Molten Husk fully succumbs to the chaos. A corrosive and unforgiving beast, whose growls are abruptly interrupted by a spare moment of humanity in the haunting “Possessor,” it pummels and unnerves in a soundtrack of breathing darkness. But this is no black metal, though it makes sporadic appearances. This is not death metal, although listeners may be reminded of it. Although based in sludge, density is eschewed for a palpable crunch instead of earth-shaking weight. At the end of Molten Husk, Abest will challenge what you think about post-metal.” Abeast.
“If you’ve read my reviews before, you know how cautious I am about the riff. While hordes of metal maniacs revel in it and many even choose metal entirely for it, I’m about the atmosphere. That being said, if the riff sticks, it sticks hard. Death metal albums like Dyscarnate’s With All Their Might and Infernal Coil’s Within a World Forgotten offer high octane insanity aplenty with just enough variety and atmosphere, giving further weight to the riff. Italian quartet Instigate invokes the riff – and hard.” Riffy sense.
“Bloodywood’s approach to metal is, on the surface, similar to Linkin Park’s in that they often combine rapped verses with sung choruses—utilizing both English and Hindi lyrics—backed by gym-ready riffs reminiscent of Hacktivist, We Butter the Bread with Butter, and even Dyscarnate. Look beneath those superficialities and you find a ton of cool Indian folk instrumentation playing along, particularly weighted towards woodwinds and festive drums.” The Rock Shack is now open.
“Can you imagine having to self-release your debut album in the middle of a pandemic that prevents you from touring? This fate befalls quite a few young bands this year, and one of them is this one, a quartet called Catalysis from the Scottish city of Dundee, most famous for its undead unicorn invasion in the year 992.” Unicorn connection.
“In Hollywood, there’s a phenomenon called ‘twin films.’ Sometimes movies released around the same time have an uncannily similar plot, even though they’ve been in production around the same time and couldn’t have copied one another. A few well-known examples include Armageddon and Deep Impact, Antz and A Bug’s Life, and The Prestige and The Illusionist. Now, considering the frequency of release and inherent similarities, this isn’t really a thing in metal, but it still gave me pause when I noticed I was about to go through the second Unique Leader techy deathcore release with wav format tracks in just a handful of weeks.” Guts check.
“Summer is fast approaching—for those who have four seasons, anyway. That means all of the deathcore in the whole world is about to flood the markets and beat down the public just as the blazing Southern sun beats down pasty nerds such as I. English quintet Osiah opted to join the front lines of that inevitable invasion of breakdowns and br00tality with their sophomore album, Kingdom of Lies. This will also be their first outing signed onto Unique Leader. Most of you could guess what to expect from that fact alone, but let’s break it down anyway, shall we?” Break like the wind.
![The EP, Demo, and Oddity Post [Things You Might Have Missed 2018]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/cuervoportrait.jpg)
“As a younger man I had no concept of the “EP,” nor the “demo,” nor the “split.” When was the last time Iron Maiden had to curb their excesses by squashing ideas into half an hour? When were Judas Priest not able to afford a professional recording studio and production job? And when’s that Metallica/Megadeth split due again? Such formats are reserved for the underdogs of the metal world, those bubbling beneath the surface of popularity who write music for the sheer creative expression and who will never see monetary reward for their time and effort.” Short is sweet.
You like metal, bro? More importantly, you like bro metal? Boy, have I got the thing for you. Chicago quintet Harm’s Way, a band that makes the last Dyscarnate album look like fucking Modest Mouse.” What are your bench press stats, brah?
