Plebeian Grandstand is a name destined for immortality. Over the course of two albums – 2011’s How Hate is Hard to Define and 2014’s Lowgazers, the Tolousian group have annihilated any doubt as to their supremacy in extremity. How Hate is Hard to Define’s distillation of noise, black metal and mathcore proved their worth as ‘the angriest band on the planet,’ but the sheer ambition of Lowgazers propelled the group somewhere further.” Prepare to be destroyed.
“Myrath makes what they call “Tunisian metal.” While this is a totally legit way of framing it, it’s also fair to say that they really make a kind of orchestral power metal laced with the sounds and stories of North Africa. Despite having debuted in 2007, I’ve only previously listened to 2010’s Desert Call. It might be that I had just gotten to the album directly after reviewing the absolutely transcendent The Never Ending Way of ORwarriOR by Orphaned Land, but the album didn’t stand up for me and I didn’t really ever follow up on them.” So what’s 5 years distance do for Angry Metal Guy’s opinion of the only Tunisian metal band you’ve ever heard of?
“It was on a tepid spring night that I witnessed, for the first time, the show put on by three mysterious French shamans going by the name of Aluk Todolo. A psychedelic, trance-inducing “krautblack” assault washed over the audience, permeating and shaking each molecule and atom of their beings. An unforgettable experience.” Darkness, beauty and brutality.
“In Nietzsche’s Twilight of the Idols, there’s a section called Skirmishes of an Untimely Man. In France’s metal scene, there’s a group called Mortuary whose career may as well have been called Expeditions of an Untimely Band. Unleashing their first full-length in 1996, already eight years old as a band, their deathy and thrashy style was long since out of vogue and death metal had moved on to graze in different pastures. They also managed to release a whopping four whole full-length records in the span of twenty-five years.” The slow knife cuts the deepest.
“I first came across the nightmarish raptures of Spektr in 2006 with Near Death Experience. That album was perhaps the most unsettling record in my music collection at the time, and served to worsen my already-horrific insomnia. Since then I’ve been captivated by every one of Spektr’s disturbing soundtracks.” To sleep, perchance to scream?
“Having finally stepped out from the shadow of Roman numerals and single-track full-length albums, the French Monolithe has returned with their fifth LP, Epsilon Aurigae. I considered Monolithe IV a slight regression from the monumental Monolithe III, and it seems the decision taken to step away from the established formula (which had already been more-or-less perfected by III) was a smart one.” Attach the Rock of Triumph again!
“Melted Space. A project with more vocalists than Avantasia and more guests than a free beer and sex party. An ambitious metal opera, Pierre le Pape draws together myriad musicians and vocalists in depicting his epic vision on this debut, The Great Lie. It’s a monumental work….” And off to Finishing School we go to get some much needed culture.
“While other bands focus on heavy hits and constant pummeling, Gorod have made themselves the Muhammad Ali of death metal: light on their feet and surgically precise, and incredibly fun to bear witness to.” But will this be a Thrilla in Manilla or fall flat on its face? Anything can happen in a fight.” Kronos vs. Tech-death. FIGHT!
“VI. Yes, yet another band with a name that’s not easily Google-able, but after a month of nothing but doom and “space metal,” I decided I was due for some rather bleak, black artistry. What I didn’t know upon grabbing De Praestigiis Angelorum for review was that the band was comprised of former members of Antaeus and current members of Aosoth and The Order of Apollyon.” It’s like a French pasty full of kvlt!
“France has become quite the hub for memorable extreme music in recent times: Deathspell Omega front a dissonant black metal current; Blut Aus Nord fluctuate between various avant-garde stylings but have been a driving force in modern black metal; Cowards fiercely object to perceived façades of beauty and political correctness in their hardcore-influenced anger. Now Antropofago has stepped up to the mark, attempting to wrestle the tech-death reins from their compatriots Gorod, new material from which has been notably absent.” France wants to be the new Sweden.
