“A supergroup of sorts—featuring members of Temperance, Serenity, and Even Flow, among many many others—Wonders play a triumphant, uplifting, adventure-bound sort of heavy/power metal. That means belted cleans, big stadium-crushing choruses, sparkling synths, speedy guitar chugs and noodles, double bass runs out the ass, and ten thousand metric tons of shredded cheddar.” If Wonder Bread was cheese.
“It feels like ages since I last reviewed Tarchon Fist. Nearly four years ago, Apocalypse provided a fun but deeply flawed heavy metal experience, despite the wonder that is “Proud to be Dinosaurs.” Now it’s 2023 and these Italian steel addicts forge ahead with The Flame Still Burns, their fifth full-length, filled with new stories of war, wengeance, wictory, and, of course, 9/11—more on that later. With great excitement, and perhaps a small scoop of trepidation, I enter the Tarchon arena.” If at Fist you don’t succeed…
“If I’m being completely honest, I snatched up Xul from underneath the illustrious Kronos because of that artwork. I’ve held a special place in my heart for Devangelic, of course, as one craves banging one’s head into a wall periodically, but the massiveness of the artwork is the best representation of this Italian quartet. While the reach exceeded the grasp in the concept albums of years past in the Anunnaki reverence of Ersetu and Dante’s Inferno-inspired Phlegethon, third album Xul keeps things simple. While the Sumerian theme of Ersetu spills across, the emphasis is brutalizing. And brutalizing, as mother always said, is best.” There is no Dear Hollow, only Xul.
“Established in 2009, Maze of Sothoth toiled underground, swirling amongst eldritch soil devoid of all life, carefully awaiting their time to emerge. Emerge they did with a twisted debut, Soul Demise, in 2017. Reveling in a grimy, horrid tech death reminiscent of Origin and Kronos, Soul Demise showed great promise for the fledgling band, fast and vicious were its crooked tendrils. Six years later, Maze of Sothoth emerge again from the inky void with the even grimier Extirpated Light,” Tentacle whap, tendril slap.
“It’s a dreary, overcast March afternoon as I type this review. The ground remains caked in mud, the air battles between the dampness of southern humidity and the frigidity of winds that blowing in from the north, and even though it’s not raining yet, the weather-induced migraine that I’m currently nursing indicates that it desperately wants to pour any given minute now. Needless to say, it would be par for the course for the last, oh, couple of weeks here in weather-temperate Florida. Normally, I would also say it would be an ideal day to review The Loss of Beauty, the fourth full-length by Italian doom merchants Shores of Null.” Metal for all seasons.
“In the early days of Frozen Crown, I was unsure exactly what they wanted to be. Hell, I’m not sure they knew the answer themselves. I described their formula as “awkward” in my review of The Fallen King back in 2018, and as much as I love that debut, its mashing together of Sonata Arctica, Wintersun, and Nightwish feels as charmingly disjointed today as it did five years ago.” The Crown and the bling.
“Say what you will about atmospheric black metal, its popularity is not undue. It was the gentle stream in which I was baptized before giving myself to the rapids, the whispers in the breeze that signaled the storm, and the view of the frigid mountain crest before the cruel ascent. I ventured into unclaimed mysterious wilderness with the likes of Wolves in the Throne Room, Imperium Dekadenz, and October Falls, leading me the cliffs for the view before greeting my plummeting death to the forest floor, laid to rest in the dark soil littered with pine needles. Enisum speaks like the wind in the trees.” Pinecones and pain.
“Bosco Sacro is an Italian quartet whose style is unclear, ranging from doom to trip-hop to psychedelic, with drone, post-rock, and of course, ambient tied in there. For their debut, expect lush atmosphere, dark distorted bass, and Giulia Parin Zecchin’s formidable vocal performance, ranging from post-punk slurs to soprano siren croons, recalling the duality of This Is Oblivion’s Lulu Black.” Sacro blue.
“Let’s address the elephant in the room. Ropes inside a Hole is a weird name. The sexual connotations are impossible to escape (Just how many ropes fit inside this particular hole? for example). But the band appears to be playing things seriously, calling A Man and His Nature a meditation on (yawn) quarantine and the pandemic.” Knot your dad’s metal.
![Sadist – Firescorched [Things You Might Have Missed 2022]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Sadist-Firescorched-01.jpg.webp)
“Nearly 30 years into their career, Sadist still manages to fly under the radar. For the olde and young who dig through the single-word glossary of 90s tech/prog/weirdo death metal, Sadist falls curiously along the progressive spectrum. True to the Italian horror spirit that Sadist embodies, their work tiptoes the line between abstract and abrasive to unsettling effect, and just plain meandering and ineffective.” Sadistic biscuits, firescorched.
