“What’s in a name? For Obscurity, an awful lot. Two decades of hammering away in their Viking forges have produced an armory’s worth of albums, but none particularly sharp. Their Amon Amarth-worship has suffered steep decline since 2010’s Tenkterra, but eighth entry Streitmacht is girding itself for a long raid up the coast.” Gone coasting.
“If perhaps, you have had the misfortune of laboring through any of my previous reviews, you may have picked up on my shameless love of death metal. You may have also noticed I’m a little picky when it comes to that genre’s melodic side. There’s nothing insightful in my complaint – I just find a lot of it to be somewhat toothless, and death by gums is no way to go. Beyond Grace, know these tenets well, and if debut album Seekers is anything to go by, won’t be happy until we’ve all been consumed by an omnidirectional wave of death metal to bleed the brain and skin the soul.” Melodeath, camels and conquest.
“How do you feel about keyboards? Do you like ’em gloomy and atmospheric? Synthy and cheesy? Perhaps the classic piano flavor does it for you. Whatever your tastes, X.Kernel have got you covered. Their debut Face the Truth follows eight long years of melodic rumination and, if the album art can be believed, enough Phoenix Wright to cause nightmares.” Keys to the kingdom.
“When I read words like “Canadian” and “female-fronted,” my mind invariably goes to Unleash the Archers. Without trying, I’ve somehow trained my weak mind to do this. Not that I’m upset about it. Unleash the Archers fucking rule. But, it isn’t the promo sheet for the new Unleash the Archers record I’m reading. Instead, I’m reading the one from Canadian melodeath outfit Karkaos.” Wake up and smell the Karkaos.
“We at AMG live for finding the next big thing. There’s nothing quite like picking a random promo and finding yourself immersed in a monumental album of epic scope and peerless execution. But there’s something to be said for a tasty bout of hard, fast, and stupid.” Come for the riffs, stay for the stupids.
“One of the coolest things about writing for Angry Metal Guy is the chance of discovering a great new band. Sure, getting new music from your favorite bands earlier than everyone else is an awesome thing in and of itself, but nothing beats getting blindsided by an up-and-coming group of youngin’s chomping at the bit to be seen and heard. Denmark’s Wrath of Belial are those chompin’ youngin’s.” Talented youts.
“Music is a lot like food. Both are nourishing: food for the body and music for the spirit. There’re no accounting for taste, but there’s semi-predictable consensuses (consensi?), such as nu-metal and tofurkey are both hellspawn that should be scorched from the face of the Earth. Sometimes you feel in the mood for a big, luxury five-course meal, so you load up Ayreon, sometimes you crave the greasy slop of Vader, and sometimes you prefer a salad so you throw yourself out the sixth-floor window. With all this said, who’s ready for a medium-sized bag of popcorn?” Kernels of truth.
“Sentient Ignition burst onto the death metal circuit one year ago, dropping a two-track demo that caught the ears of everyone from MetalSucks to Toilet Ov Hell. Mixing melody, technical skill, and progressive intent, the demo delivered a product equal parts surprise and success. Enthroned in Gray is now tasked with living up to expectations set dangerously high for a band whose career spans 15 minutes and 52 seconds.” The confidence of youth and the wankiness of tech-death.
“One of the things I admire most about metal, aside from its obvious ability to inform and compel, is the genre’s inherent capacity for escapism. Flinging itself from that cosmic top turnbuckle, sometimes life descends on us hard. Between a career trajectory that, when I can look at it without wincing, appears disturbingly Escher-like, and some life decisions you’d be forgiven for thinking only a brain aneurysm could inspire, you better believe I don’t say no when a little distraction wanders my way. Enter God Dethroned, Dutch overlords of all things death and war-like, with their first release in seven years.” The Dutch masters…of war.
“Noumena is the little Finnish melo-death band that never says die. After cranking out three quality albums in relatively quick succession from 2002 to 2006 (including the awesome Anatomy of Life), they went into cryo-limbo for six years, finally emerging with 2013s Death Walks With Me. The long layoff didn’t derail their charming approach to melancholic death metal, and I welcomed them back with open arms and hearse while hoping for another extended bout of regular releases. Well, I had to wait some 3 years and change to get the next installment, but they’re finally back with Myrrys.” Hibernate then eradicate.
