![Massive Wagons – Triggered [Things You Might Have Missed 2022]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Massive-Wagons_Triggered-01.jpg.webp)
“Massive Wagons released one of the most unapologetically fun records of the year (sorry Coathanger Abortion). Triggered is the British quintet’s sixth overall and second on Earache Records. In a year packed with countless prog, death and black metal albums, it stands as a fresh and contagious alternative to an otherwise serious and challenging musical landscape.” Wagon show.
In the midst of a so-so year for brutal death, Imperial Execration is signed with expert purveyors of sewage-caked brutality Comatose Music and armed with a compact debut LP, entitled Commanding Satan’s Crusades. Will this be the brutal death metal album that wakes Saunders from his 2022-induced brutal death stupor?
“Bloodbox don’t give two fucks about convention, throwing the ole rule book out the window in favor of chopped-up experimentation and a mangled deconstruction of their grind-infused industrial core. These mysterious masked avengers tip their hats to their rabid punky roots of old school grind, while bringing to mind the industrial grind assault of Aussie alchemists, The Berzerker.” Put your hand in this box.
“Dawnwalker have been around since 2011, but my first exposure to them didn’t happen until a mere couple of years ago, courtesy of this very blog. I was able to review Ages, the band’s fourth full-length release and compliment it on its well-done blend of progressive, death, and folk-like metal into one monolithic beast of an album. If words like those excite you, though, you should know that Dawnwalker do not stay in the same place for long—House of Sand is nothing like that, but don’t let that get you down. For their fifth full-length, the English band explore some new sounds, revisit old ones, and build out their album in a frankly beautiful way.” Downtuned Abbey.
“Ianai is a “single-entity” project shrouded in mystery. Its secretive mastermind Trevenial offers twelve tracks influenced by folk music across the globe, equally evocative and primitive. With ties to England (mastered by Orgone Studios’ owner Jaime Gomez Arellano) and Finland (produced by Jaani Peuhu), and featuring a classical orchestra and world music artists, as well as a vast array of guests, from notable acts like HIM, Sisters of Mercy, Swallow the Sun, and The Rasmus, Sunir is a debut loaded with potential and questions in equal measure.” It takes a global village.
“Birmingham-based Alunah returns with their fourth album—Strange Machine—and second since the departure of founding members Sophie and David Day. As originally formulated, Alunah played straightforward—albeit folk-tinged—doom metal. Perhaps the biggest difference from doom in the vein of Saint Vitus is Alunah’s penchant for the bounce and swing of early Black Sabbath’s heavy blues.” Rage against the Strange Machine.
“Satan is the original Benjamin Button band. By this I mean the older they get, the better and more youthful sounding their output becomes. Part of the original NWoBHM phenomenon, their 1983 debut Court in the Act made the rounds at Casa Druhm back in the days of denim and high tops, but I was never especially taken with their sound, which felt like a less catchy version of Diamond Head or Angel Witch. I didn’t bother with their 1987 follow-up, Suspended Sentence, and I all but forgot about them as I got deeper into thrash and more extreme styles. Fast-forward 26 years to 2013 and they made a comeback with Life Sentence, and virtually nothing about them sounded the same.” Satan is real.
“Hailing from the UK, As the World Dies come with solid pedigree attached, featuring members of Memoriam and Pemphigoid. Eager to blast their own path of dominance, the band enlisted the services of several notable guest vocalists to add some beef and retro death metal charm to the bludgeoning proceedings.” The agonist and ecstasy of death.
“Cryptworm is a spectacular name for a death metal band. It was why I grabbed this promo on a whim when I felt the need for something heavy and nasty, and I certainly found both. A deathly duo from the UK like the recently reviewed Slob, this pair of twisted fellows focus less on anal abuse and more on classic death topics like bloody chunks of meat, dismemberment, and all things clinical/medical/awful.” Room with a spew.
“Meat n’ taters. It doesn’t get more basic, humble, and satisfying than that. The Manchester-based Brits in Absolva are the musical equivalent of that essential cuisine staple. Having the distinction of being the backing band for Blaze Bayley, the material they create on their own is very much in the Blaze school of classic British heavy metal – familiar, comforting, and satisfying. Fire in the Sky is their sixth album and finds Absolva playing to their strengths while sitting dead center in their comfort zone.” Back to basics.
