Heavy Metal

Armored Saint – Win Hands Down Review

By Steel Druhm on May 31, 2015 in 2015, American Metal, Heavy Metal, Metal Blade, Reviews, Heavy Metal, 43 comments

“When you look up the term “underdogs,” there’s a band photo of Armored Saint looking back at you. They’ve struggled since 1983 to eek out a foothold in the metal market and in the process released some great albums like Raising Fear and Symbol of Salvation. And they were easy to root for as the quintessential blue-collar metal band stubbornly staying true to their sound, but they were always held back by bad timing, musical trends and personal misfortunes.” The Saint is marching back in and you may want to be in that number.

Nekrogoblikon – Heavy Meta Review

By Madam X on May 22, 2015 in 2015, American Metal, Folk Metal, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Metalcore, Music Box, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Folk Metal, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Metalcore, Progressive Metal, 13 comments

“We all have a little touch of crazy inside us. You know what I mean; trapped laughter that rumbles out with such force it makes your belly hurt. Sadly with all the hullabaloo and day-to-day grind we forget to stop and breath, but more importantly, we forget to laugh. American melo-death merchants, Nekrogoblikon have made it their mission to remind us that tapping into our crazy and embracing the silly is just downright necessary and I support that!” Goblins are the medium, meta is the message.

Yer Metal is Olde: Some Personal Reflections from an Olde-ish Guye

By Dr. A.N. Grier on May 21, 2015 in American Metal, Century Media, Danish Metal, Heavy Metal, Metal Blade, Power Metal, Yer Metal Is Olde, Heavy Metal, Power Metal, 53 comments

“The Yer Metal is Olde segment here at Angry Metal Guy has always been one of my favorites. If you’re looking to expand your repertoire with some classics or need a reason to shuffle back through your library, clatter through your jewel cases, or dig through cracked cassettes for nostalgia, this is a segment for olde and younge alike.” 1995 was a tough year for kings and patriots alike.

Civil War – Gods and General Review

By Steel Druhm on May 16, 2015 in 2015, Heavy Metal, Napalm Records, Power Metal, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Heavy Metal, 44 comments

“Civil War bears an amusingly ironic moniker as they’re made up of four fugitive members of Sabaton who fled the mother ship and essentially created Sabaton’s evil twin band. They even appropriated the exact same sound, song structure and overdone military/battle shtick before launching a struggle for Cheesy War Metal supremacy using their former act’s own sound against them.” War is hell, but people sure love writing songs about it.

Ironsword – None But the Brave Review

By Steel Druhm on May 15, 2015 in 2015, Epic Metal, Heavy Metal, Portuguese Metal, Reviews, Shadow Kingdom Records, Heavy Metal, 36 comments

“It’s hard to remain trve in such false times. Wear a broadsword into the local supermarket and you’ll get many a suspicious glance. Build an enormous stone monument to Ye Old Gods on your front lawn and you’ll invariably run into trouble with the town Zoning Board. Sacking weaker neighbors and carrying off their daughters? Forget all about it. Such are the cursed times we live in. But when the going gets tough, the trve get going, and that’s why Ironsword is so damn important.” It’s time to hold those war hammers high. Higher! HIGHER!

Cain’s Offering – Stormcrow Review

By Steel Druhm on May 14, 2015 in 2015, Finnish Metal, Frontiers Records, Heavy Metal, Power Metal, Reviews, Heavy Metal, Power Metal, 39 comments

“It is written that man greatly displeased his finicky but beneficent Creator, and thus did God come to curse Mankind with various and sundry plagues of pestilence, locusts, skinny jeans and metal super groups. Over time some of these curses have proven more tolerable than others, but I’ll take a good locust swarm over the typical half-baked, so-called super group.” Super groups may annoy, but Cain is certainly able.

Six Feet Under – Crypt of the Devil Review

By Steel Druhm on May 7, 2015 in 2015, American Metal, Death Metal, Metal Blade, Reviews, Death Metal, Heavy Metal, 48 comments

“After a few decades in the music industry, Chris Barnes may have his share of enemies, but none can cause the mammoth career damage he regularly inflicts on himself. After what seems like a lifetime of sub par and outright terrible releases from his Six Feet Under project, he finally stumbled onto something decent with 2013s Unborn. Sure, it was still rudimentary, groove-heavy Neanderthal death, but the writing and playing was a big step forward and for once, things didn’t feel like a parody of the genre.” Cup thy hands and shout at the devil.

Kamelot – Haven Review

By Steel Druhm on April 29, 2015 in 2015, American Metal, Heavy Metal, Napalm Records, Power Metal, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Heavy Metal, Power Metal, Progressive Metal, 72 comments

“It can be a herculean challenge to replace a vocalist synonymous with the core sound of a band. Judas Priest and Iron Maiden certainly couldn’t do it, but AC/DC and Accept managed it quite nicely. With Haven, album number two with “new” singer Tommy Karevik (Ayreon, Seventh Wonder) replacing Roy Khan, it seems safe to add Kamelot to the latter group.” Ready for some really classy metal? Tuck in your damn shirt!

Blackwelder – Survival of the Fittest Review

By Steel Druhm on April 29, 2015 in 2015, American Metal, German Metal, GoldenCore Records, Heavy Metal, Power Metal, Reviews, Heavy Metal, Power Metal, 23 comments

“A new power metal super group? Oh joy! You know how we love super groups around here. This star studded lineup features vocal powerhouse Ralf Scheepers (Primal Fear, ex-Gamma Ray) and his Primal Fear band mate Aquiles Priester on drums, rounded out by Bjorn Englen (Yngwie Malmsteen, Quiet Riot) on bass and the brutally unheralded Andrew Szucs on guitar.” Guitar-heavy power metal by a mostly unknown crew of power players and we’re supposed to call it a “super group”? Yes we are.

Raven – ExtermiNation Review

By Steel Druhm on April 24, 2015 in 2015, English Metal, Heavy Metal, Reviews, SPV, Heavy Metal, 22 comments

“Raven is somewhat of a metallic riddle. Having been around since 1974 and considered one of the banner bearers of the NWoBHM invasion of the early 80s, as well as a major influence on the thrash genre, they never gained as much traction as one would expect. Like Anvil and Krokus, they seemed poised on the precipice of greatness, but a combination of bad timing, poor decisions and the fickle mistress that is metal fandom conspired to bring them low and deny them their due.” But they’re still here, and they can still metal. Can you say the same?