“What more is there to say about a prog supergroup? How about one that exists as a re-tooling of the now-defunct Sons of Apollo. Part of the melodic core of that group remains the same, with Derek Sherinian (Planet X, ex-Dream Theater) and Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal (Art of Anarchy, ex-Guns n’ Roses) returning on flamboyant keys and virtuosic fretted and fretless guitar madness, respectively, to helm the adventures of Whom Gods Destroy.” Smote by prog?
Another year has reached its close and Angry Metal Guy is still standing—both the metal review site and the man. Come inside for reflections and rampant, unbridled listing.
One of the problems with the Record(s) o’ the Month post is that I, apparently, cannot escape the glass cage of emotion that has been my life for a few years. Unfortunately, said glass cage doesn’t have an internet connection and that makes it difficult to keep up with everything. In reality, Record o’ the Month posts take a lot of work. So, I’m here to fix that! March is hardly done and I’m posting the Record(s) o’ the Month!
“Assignment is a horrible name for a band, especially when one is assigned reviews. The obvious joke could fill the entire review’s word count. “What’s my assignment this week?” “Assignment.” “Yeah—what is it?” “Assignment.” A dog ate my Assignment.
“Extinction Six is the full-length debut of the symphonic power metal band Dialith. Hailing from Connecticut, I took interest in Dialith because good symphonic power metal is rare. And, frankly, good unsigned symphonic power metal is even rarer. Symphonic power has a high bar to reach a “passable” grade; one of the highest in metal. Symphonic bands putting out mediocre albums are filled with musicians who are orders of magnitude more talented than many of their counterparts. But in order to create great symphonic power record, everything must fit.” Does it all fit? Well, we’re debuting the thing, so I guess there’s not a lot of tension.
“Luca Turilli—the primary composer and guitar hero of various versions of [Luca Turilli’s] Rhapsody [of Fire]—represents one of two types of successful musicians, for me. I suspect that if one groups successful artists by attitude toward music, you’ll find two attitudes that can be grouped as either high or low openness to experience.” Guess who’s back to wax poetic about the new Turilli/Lione Rhapsody record? This motherfucking guy!
“Rhapsody’s history has all the operatic drama required of its Italian heritage. Rhapsody, one of the ‘90s and early-aughts’ finest power metal bands, rose to prominence on the back of outstanding material before suffering a string of setbacks in the mid-2000s. After some legal drama and a triumphant return with two brilliant albums in two years, the band’s primary composers—Luca Turilli and Alex Staropoli—split the world in two.” Now Rhapsody of Fire is back with its third post-split album and first with a band new vocalist. What could go wrong?
We’re getting to the nitty gritty of the lists, and now Lord Protector Steel Druhm‘s list must be weighed, measured and accepted as gospel. Let no man question the Steel of Approval!
The top tens are marching, and Huck N’ Roll and Eldritch are ready to spread the gospel of good metal across the land. You wanted lists, you got lists!
Below you have my Record(s) o’ the Month for July of 2018 drawn from July’s embarrassment of riches. Normally, July is a throw-away month. It’s the heart of festival season—everyone is torturing me with their pictures from Wacken and GenCon right now—and labels are careful about releasing new stuff. So it was a happy surprise that there was an intense crop of stand-out records that we enjoyed here at Angry Metal Guy Industries, LLP. Alas, we can only choose so many and—alas (for everyone but me)—my will is law.
