“Colosso occupy a strange perch in the metal world. While they’re obviously huge Meshuggah fans, their groovy, mid-paced metal is a far cry from the tech-prog peddled by djent bands. Yet the group’s history fits the bill quite well, beginning as a one-man band before gradually accruing members to flesh out their current sound.” More members do not a success make.
“C.B. Murdoc’s claim to fame, as anyone who has heard of them will tell you, is that Tomas Haake called them cool once. And they’re cool in a groovy, idiosyncratic way, as telegraphed by their grungy ’50s bop album artwork both here and on their Spinefarm-released debut, The Green. But cool doesn’t get you very far with a guy who cares not for Deafheaven and ignored the mirrored-aviators-wearing shenanigans of the last Shining album. Kronos may not be cool, but he is more brutal than you.” Brutal is as brutal does.
“I’ll be honest: as a reviewer, I often don’t care how original a band is. Give me a thousand groups like Nails, who take a well-tread style and play it damn well, over any wacky group that artificially cobbles together disparate influences in vain pursuit of originality. To me innovation is something that should result from a band playing the music they love and want to hear, not an end goal in itself. And that’s exactly why I find Sektemtum’s sophomore LP Panacea so refreshing – not because it isn’t original, but because it seems to achieve originality without really trying that hard.” There is nothing new except what has been forgotten.
“Coming across In Mourning’s The Weight of Oceans was a great surprise. I knew nothing of the band, but the album art stole my breath away and for that reason alone, no matter what it sounded like, I needed to posses The Weight of Oceans. I grabbed the album and hit play, within seconds captivating waves washed over me, I was sold. Four years on, The Weight of Oceans still ranks as one of my most loved albums. Along comes Afterglow and I’m brimming with hope that it’ll be a solid continuation of its predecessor.” High expectations can be a frigid bitch.
“With two and a half decades under their belt and a generation of bands aping their sound, one wouldn’t be surprised to see Gorguts rest on their laurels for a while. But Gorguts’ time of rest is over, and Luc Lemay has made it abundantly clear that his pioneering death metal vision didn’t stop with From Wisdom to Hate.” No rest for the gutted.
“I know this Belgian dude who acts as my barometer for judging a band’s obscurity. The man’s knowledge of all things metal never ceases to amaze me. Whether it’s the newest grindcore band from Kuala Lumpur or a NWOBHM act that only ever released a live demo, he’ll have heard of them and, provided they aren’t too kvlt for social media, have “liked” them on Facebook. So when I look at a band page and don’t see his name on their fan list, it’s usually because they are so fresh you can suck their nuts.” We do not advocate nut suckery.
![VOLA – Inmazes [Things You Might Have Missed 2015]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/12371041_10208087369732906_1742163103346762917_o-768x768.jpg)
“VOLA are highly unusual in their approach to modern progressive metal. The most apt description I can define is prog-power by way of djent, offering the catchy melodies of Anubis Gate and Voyager but executed with the staccato, modern heaviness of a post-Meshuggah era.” Some things just sell themselves.
“Hardcore largely exists as a reaction to things in the world that invoke the ire of an angry singer. This can range from society as a whole (Pro-Pain), the government (Sick of It All), or some unnamed person who wronged the narrator so often and so consistently that it literally must be their job to anger the guy (Terror).” More music for Leg Day at the local gymnasium.
“Sometimes I’ll pick a band from the promo list just because they have an interesting name. So it was with Pyramids on Mars, who I dearly hoped were a bunch of Richard C. Hoagland inspired conspiracists writing metal for martians.” Here at AMG we’ve brought you the scoop on goblin metal and troll metal. Why not add martian metal to the list.
“Anyone passingly familiar with the Chicago metal scene in the past few years will have at some point encountered Immortal Bird. In Dr. Fisting and my neck of the woods, they’re one of the better groups to grace the dingy ex-speakeasies and frostbitten holes-in-the-wall. Their tight live performances do their sludgy, blackened death metal great justice and a full-length release has been awaited for a while in la casa de Kronos.” La casa de Kronos has a big old birdbath.
