Falconer

Angry Metal Guy’s Top 10(ish) of 2011

By Angry Metal Guy on December 30, 2011 in Blog Posts, Record o' the Month, 71 comments

And here it finally comes. I want to take a little time to gaze at my navel before heading off to the races here. 2011 has been a hard year for me and for AngryMetalGuy.com. Without the help of Steel Druhm, this website probably would have gone under due to serious burnout. It stands that there are other options for both of us as reviewers, but we both love this site and the little community it has become and don’t have any desire to see it go anywhere. And, frankly, due to blood, sweat and more blood, we just don’t feel like we can really stop working on this website. So when I say to you all, that we don’t want to stop doing this largely because you guys keep coming by and reading this I seriously mean it. It’s a great feeling–even when sometimes the music industry gets goddamned lame.

Angry Metal Guy’s Top 10 Songs from 2011

By Angry Metal Guy on December 28, 2011 in Blog Posts, 13 comments

We made it through another year here in Angry Metal World. We overcame Terminal Reviewer Burnout Syndrome, careers and personal lives, just to bring you more of our self-righteous, ego-driven babbling and blathering. Why did we do it? Because we care so damn much! Now, as the year grinds us all towards inevitable doom, it falls to me to get the metal wheel a rollin and name my picks for the best albums of 2011. This was a pretty solid year, so it was tough to figure out which albums belonged where, but you demanded it, so I’m delivering the goods, Yeah!

Rhapsody of Fire – From Chaos to Eternity Review

By Angry Metal Guy on June 10, 2011 in 2011, 5.0, Nuclear Blast, Power Metal, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Power Metal, Progressive Metal, 21 comments

Rhapsody of Fire is like the kyrptonite of Angry Metal Guy’s Law of Diminishing Recordings™. While they did have diminished recordings when they signed with Magic Circle Records (PRO-TIP: the “magic circle” in question is your anus… which will get fucked by Joey DeMaio), the last two years have been tremendously productive for these Italians. First, they came back with 2010’s The Frozen Tears of Angels which was an amazing success by all accounts and received a raving 5/5 review from me. Then they released The Cold Embrace of Fear which wasn’t exactly the greatest thing they ever did, but it was good and had some solid songs even if it contained far more voice acting than I’d’ve liked (“IT’S AN AVALANCHE!!”). And they managed to drop a guitarist and pick up another one (by the name of Tom Hess) on the way. But now this. From Chaos to Eternity.

Falconer – Armod Review

By Angry Metal Guy on June 1, 2011 in 2011, 5.0, Folk Metal, Heavy Metal, Metal Blade, Power Metal, Record o' the Month, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Folk Metal, 14 comments

hate Falconer. Okay, that’s not really true, but I have never liked Falconer, let’s put it that way. I first got wind of these guys with the publication of their second album Chapters of a Vale Forlorn and I was very unimpressed. Since then I’ve heard a things here and there, and nothing convinced me away from my previous conviction. I didn’t think what I heard was particularly good, nor did I think it was particularly interesting. In spite of the fact that I’m a huge fan of guitarist Stefan Weinerhall and drummer Karsten Larsson’s previous project Mithotyn (an absolutely underrated band), the power metal tinged Falconer never did anything for me at all.

That is, until I heard Armod.

King of Asgard – Fi’mbulvintr Review

By Angry Metal Guy on September 20, 2010 in 2010, 3.0, Black Metal, Death Metal, Folk Metal, Metal Blade, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Folk Metal, Melodic Black Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Viking Metal, 1 comment

Few names rate as highly among fans of “viking metal” and melodic death metal as the classic Swedish act Mithotyn, which sadly went defunct in 1999 after three excellent full lengths (In the Sign of the Ravens, King of the Distant Forest and Gathered Around the Oaken Table, all of which come highly recommended). Since then, they have gained a near cult status as one of the leaders in the genre and one of the best to ever touch the folk-viking metal legacy. For fans of the band, or at least for this fan of the band, Falconer was never an appropriate replacement for what was a unique and fresh band that went sadly under the radar during their tenure. So you can imagine my excitement upon receiving a copy of Fi’mbulvintr (which, btw, shouldn’t this be FÃmbulvintr?), from the new incarnation containing the former guitarist from Mithotyn as well as the band’s drummer.