Melodic Death Metal

Things You Might Have Missed 2010: Vex – Thanatopsis

By Angry Metal Guy on December 3, 2010 in 2010, American Metal, Death Metal, Progressive Death, Reviews, Things You Might have Missed 2010, Black Metal, Death Metal, Melodic Death Metal, 1 comment

In my opinion this is one of the more painfully overlooked records of 2010. In fact, I’ve seen pretty much no press on this album at all, and yet somehow it has just been rockin’ my world since I got my hands on it. Released in September via Horror, Pain, Gore, Death Prod-uctions, Thanatopsis is largely reminiscent of the mighty The Chasm, but has plenty of originality to throw around. The riffs are sometimes blistering and blackened, laden with trem picking and melodic passages, and sometimes the band breaks it down to harmonious doomy, atmospheric parts. In both cases, everything feels in its place and the record flows expertly making for a fantastic listening experience that is both heavy and emotionally evocative.

King of Asgard – Fi’mbulvintr Review

By Angry Metal Guy on September 20, 2010 in 2010, 3.0, Black Metal, Death Metal, Folk Metal, Metal Blade, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Folk Metal, Melodic Black Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Viking Metal, 1 comment

Few names rate as highly among fans of “viking metal” and melodic death metal as the classic Swedish act Mithotyn, which sadly went defunct in 1999 after three excellent full lengths (In the Sign of the Ravens, King of the Distant Forest and Gathered Around the Oaken Table, all of which come highly recommended). Since then, they have gained a near cult status as one of the leaders in the genre and one of the best to ever touch the folk-viking metal legacy. For fans of the band, or at least for this fan of the band, Falconer was never an appropriate replacement for what was a unique and fresh band that went sadly under the radar during their tenure. So you can imagine my excitement upon receiving a copy of Fi’mbulvintr (which, btw, shouldn’t this be FÃmbulvintr?), from the new incarnation containing the former guitarist from Mithotyn as well as the band’s drummer.

Winterhorde – Underwatermoon Review

By Angry Metal Guy on September 15, 2010 in 2010, 4.5, Avante Garde, Black Metal, Progressive Death, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Melodic Death Metal, 1 comment

It isn’t often these days that I review something that I found on my own. In fact, given that the amount of time that we here at Angry Metal Guy for reviews has gone down immensely compared to the huge numbers of promos we receive, it’s probably irresponsible for me to do so. But this Angry Metal Guy is always worried that we’re still not getting every CD of golden worth and highest quality. Once again this fear has been vindicated, but fortunately for you guys, I still love metal enough that I actually go looking for shit that we haven’t received here. And because of that, I stumbled upon Winterhorde a melodic or orchestral black metal band from… Israel? Yeah, turns out, even Israel which lacks for snowy winters has black metal guys who think that snow is the ultimate eviiiil. But don’t let the silly name fool you, because Winterhorde is not just your average melodic black metal band and Underwatermoon, while excitingly ESL in name, is anything but lackluster.

Equilibrium – Rekreatur Review

By Angry Metal Guy on June 15, 2010 in 2.0, 2010, Nuclear Blast, Reviews, Folk Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Power Metal, 0 comments

Equilibrium hit the world right in the face when Sagas was released a couple years ago and they really became a folk metal (pagan metal, viking metal, whatever the fuck you want to call it) sensation. And sensational is really how many people experienced that record. It was like a cross between Finntroll, Ensiferum, Turisas and Rhapsody of Fire: unceasingly melodic, over-the-top, ridiculously happy and engaging as hell. In 2010, now, this elite German act is returning with a follow-up to what is already considered to be a classic in the genre, with their third record entitled Rekreatur. How could it possibly live up to all the expectations?

Arise – The Reckoning Review

By Angry Metal Guy on March 31, 2010 in 2009, 2010, 3.5, Death Metal, Regain Records, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Thrash Metal, Death Metal, Melodic Death Metal, 0 comments

Arise was a little late on the uptake on the first go around of the Gothenburg sound, forming in 1996, but really getting their first demo out there in 1998 and getting signed about the time that all the death metal elitists I knew were already writing off the sound as “done”. However, unlike most of the bands from that era, they are still alive and kicking and putting out music of the style that was popular at the time. There’s some confusion about this record, which according to some sources came out last year, but it’s being promoted right now by Regain with a release date of the 22nd of March (which means it’s out now). It has, indeed, been a few years since Arise put out their last album, but even with the departure of two members, they don’t seem to have lost any steam.

Eternal Silence – The Arsonist Review

By Angry Metal Guy on March 16, 2010 in 2010, 4.0, American Metal, Death Metal, Reviews, Unsigned Bands, Death Metal, Melodic Death Metal, 0 comments

Eternal Silence is a death metal band that hails from New London, Wisconsin and has been around as long as this Angry Metal Guy has been into death metal. They started out in the late 90s, released a record in 98, an EP again in 2002 and then went silent, though they’ve been playing shows around Wisconsin and Illinois consistently. Like so many bands, they’ve suffered from issues surrounding labels, studios and band members, but somehow the core of this group has managed to stick together and stick it out. Sometimes stubbornness is really the best friend of a musician. Eternal Silence has shown that years of patience and hard work can pay off.

Kalmah – 12 Gauge Review

By Angry Metal Guy on March 3, 2010 in 2010, 3.0, Death Metal, Finnish Metal, Reviews, Spinefarm, Melodic Death Metal, 3 comments

It’s hard to imagine a modern metal without Finnish bands, isn’t it? These guys have been pushing the scene forward for quite a while after having burst onto it with such a forceful manner a decade (or more) ago. One of the bands that has been sadly overlooked in this process has been Kalmah. These guys, while popular, have often taken a back seat to bands like Ensiferum and Children of Bodom in the international scene. This is a shame, because at least The Black Waltz put everything that Children of Bodom ever put out to shame and they make some of the later Ensiferum stuff look pretty weak, as well. While For the Revolution was a pretty big letdown for many fans, Kalmah has returned in 2010 with a scorcher called 12 Gauge.

Aeternam – Disciples of the Unseen Review

By Angry Metal Guy on February 15, 2010 in 2010, 3.5, Canadian Metal, Death Metal, Metal Blade, Power Metal, Progressive Death, Reviews, Melodic Death Metal, Power Metal, 4 comments

Egyptian metal is apparently a genre now! I didn’t have any clue! I just thought it was kind of a thing that Nile did. And then it was Nile and Behemoth. And then it was Nile, Behemoth and SepticFlesh. And now it’s Nile, Behemoth, SepticFlesh and Aeternam! I think that counts as a genre! So, that’s pretty cool in and of itself. Oh, and it turns out that Aeternam is pretty cool themselves, leading to a generally all around happy feeling for a few fleeting moments before the general irritants that keep me so angry all the time come crashing back in.

Eluveitie – Everything Remains (As It Never Was) Review

By Angry Metal Guy on February 15, 2010 in 2.5, 2010, Death Metal, Folk Metal, Nuclear Blast, Reviews, Folk Metal, Melodic Death Metal, 0 comments

While not the first folk metal band to take the world by storm, Eluveitie has always been a bit of a unique thing in the folk metal scene. Really, the band has tremendous success when compared to other bands in the genre. After being picked up by Nuclear Blast, they’ve had three albums, big American tours (something that has only started recently for the genre) and become very well known and well loved among folk metal enthusiasts and just regular metal enthusiasts alike. Everything Remains (As it Never Was) is the band’s big third record from Nuclear Blast (5th total) and it is set to make a big metal splash.

Arsis – Starve for the Devil Review

By Angry Metal Guy on February 8, 2010 in 2010, 3.0, American Metal, Death Metal, Nuclear Blast, Reviews, Thrash Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Technical Death Metal, 1 comment

In the new wave of technical, fast, melodic death metal bands that have been coming out in the last few years Arsis has stood alone with its professional blending of melodic death, technical death and thrash. Basically an instant success story from their first CD A Celebration of Guilt, the band has gone through a lot of line-up changes and has been out there pretty much consistently since their break in 2004. Starve for the Devil follows on the heals of 2008’s We Are the Nightmare and there are a lot of expectations to be met and surpassed with this new album.