Join us for the second part of our look behind the bands themselves, into what the independent metal labels do to get music to your turntables.
Hypnotic Dirge Records
The Art of Labelling – Pt I
“The more time I’ve spent reviewing stuff on this here blog, the more I’ve begun to take note of record labels, to the point now that certain labels generate certain expectations for an album. With that realization, I became more interested in labels, how they work and the people behind them.” Behind the music lies the work.
Forlesen – Hierophant Violent Review
“A hierophant – a word I was dimly aware of but confess that I had to look up – is a person who leads the religious into the presence of that which is deemed holy by the relevant congregation. It also a card in the tarot deck and at least one of its meanings is that of a teacher or counselor who aids the seeker in the acquisition of knowledge. Both of these meanings are wholly appropriate for Bay Area trio Forlesen’s debut, Hierophant Violent. I would estimate that, since beginning my tenure serfdom here at AMG, my musical consumption has increased by upwards of 80% and I was listening to a lot before I started. And yet it’s rare indeed that an album hits me like Hierophan Violent did.” Elephantine Hierophant.
![Nachtterror – Judgement [Things You Might Have Missed 2019]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Nachtterror-Judgement-01-768x768.jpg)
Nachtterror – Judgement [Things You Might Have Missed 2019]
“Earlier this year, I channeled all the might that my status as an exalted AMG writer imbues me with and demanded the promo Maeskyyrn’s Interlude from Hypnotic Dirge (read: I sent a politely-worded email). They obliged and sent not only Maeskyyrn but also Nachtterror. Reviewing schedules being what they are, we couldn’t get to symphonic black metal six-piece Nachtterror‘s record in time for its release. And that is a damn shame because Judgement is a seriously good and incredibly varied slab of metal.” Metal cup runeth over.
![NONE – Damp Chill of Life [Things You Might Have Missed 2019]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/NONE-Damp-Chill-of-Life-01-768x768.jpg)
NONE – Damp Chill of Life [Things You Might Have Missed 2019]
“Let’s get one thing straight from the get-go: I trvly don’t give a fuck about you, never have and never will. When I share something wonderful here, it’s because awesome Muppet is awesome, not because I want to improve your miserable lives; you deserve nothing and I hope you get less, yo. Accordingly, I write these TYMHM pieces not because *you* might have missed any gems I cover, but because *I* missed *my* chance to properly babble about them during the year.” Muppets unbound.
Maeskyyrn – Interlude Review
“I normally dislike interludes intensely – the recent, very good Tool album, for example, I recreated as a playlist minus the four interludes because they annoyed the crap out of me. So an album called Interlude, with three tracks actually titled “Interlude,” plus an “Introduction” and final track “The End,” put me somewhat on edge. Despite having really liked the advance tracks for Maeskyyrn’s Interlude, I was expecting to have to report that here is yet another really promising album ruined by bloat and plinky … well, interludes.” Interludes, man.
Altars of Grief – Iris Review
“In 2004, a close friend of mine lost not one but both of his parents in the Indian Ocean tsunami that claimed nearly a quarter of a million lives. While I hope I will never experience tragedy as dramatic and profound as his, the impact reverberated throughout our small group, and to a comparatively infinitesimal degree, we shared in his loss. Without wanting to cheapen such sorrow, doom metal — particularly in its more extreme iterations — has always offered me a similar catalytic capacity to know its author’s pain.” Tragic beauty.
Obitus – Slaves of the Vast Machine Review
“Post-black has often struck me as expressing a decadent sort of misery, one which is more malaise than malice, an effeminate whimpering against the dying of the light. It seems to cry out to the God it vehemently denies exists and beg for a purpose, painting a bleak sort of hopelessness; a musical version of an off-brand Sartre, if you will. Like Sartre’s Roquentin, post-black bands create to find a purpose, but they end up stuck in the slime, accepting the hilariously overstated “death” of God and tradition, whining like Nietzsche’s Last Man for the dull pain of a meaningless existence to stop.” Feel the Nietzsche.
Obsidian Tongue – A Nest of Ravens in the Throat of Time Review
“Say what you like about the U.S. black metal scene, they know how to make so much out of so little. The number of American bands taking black metal in its arguably most minimalistic form and taking it in much more ambitious directions with long and winding song structures is quite staggering. But when you consider the roots of the black metal scene in the US, and the opus that made arguably the biggest impact on it, it doesn’t seem so surprising that so many bands follow almost directly in the footsteps of Weakling‘s widely acclaimed album, Dead as Dreams. Noctus traces the family tree of USBM and gives a little insight on how it influences the new opus from Obsidian Tongue. BTW, that name sounds like a fruity tropical drink that comes with a tiny umbrella.
