This post has been removed because it promoted Nazi or Nazi-adjacent metal bands or musicians. We apologize.
Morbid Angel
Ulcerate – The Destroyers of All Review
Being a well on the way to aging angry metal nerd, I have a stomach that is not quite as leadbellied as it used to be, and many of my friends and acquaintances are under similar circumstances. There’s only so much beer and whiskey a stomach can handle before it gets a little acidic (although I continually go back to testing the limits every now and then). Hence I’ve been quite amused by the band name Ulcerate since they stormed the realm of heavy music with 2009’s Everything is Fire, which was one of my favorite albums of that year. The title track of that album was very impressive (one of my favorite metal songs of recent memory), as well as the rest of it (that album is nasty!).
Morbid Angel – Illud Divinum Insanus Review
Morbid Angel is elite death metal and has been the standard for as long as I can remember. They have defined death metal for listeners of the genre for decades, influenced all of the great bands to come out of the genre after them, and have been away for 8 long years. 2003’s Heretic was not the best record they’d ever produced, this is most certainly true. But there was no reason not to believe after hearing “Nevermore,” the single that was released ahead of time, that the return of David Vincent would usher in the kind of catastrophic reaction that has ensued. I make it my business to never read reviews of any record before I write my own review, hell, I haven’t even read Steel Druhm’s (which is below this one) of this record. But it was hard to miss the fury, anger and disappointment that has been floating around the ether. I had to ask myself “could it really possibly be this bad?” You see, I’m a stalwart defender of some pretty hated records (most notably Iron Maiden’s The X Factor and Mayhem’s Grand Declaration of War), and I try to listen to every record with a clean slate. And I attempted to do so with this record, as well.
Pestilence – Doctrine Review
They say you can’t go home again. If the recent track record of Dutch deathsters Pestilence proves anything, it’s that you may get home again, but you can’t stay there long. Pestilence had a few significant contributions to the death genre in the late 80’s and early 90’s, most notably the excellent Consuming Impulse from ’89 (a nasty, vicious slab of ugliness and a top ten all time death album IMHO) and the very solid Testimony of the Ancient release in ’91. Then they radically shifted styles by incorporating copious progressive jazz fusion elements into the Spheres opus and alienated many fans in the process. That essentially closed the book on Pestilence until their 2009 reunion album Resurrection Macabre, which did indeed go home to their early death metal roots and kicked a fair amount of arse too. Now, we get their second post-reformation platter and much to my chagrin, back comes the progressive jazz-fusion elements to muddy the waters (though not to the extent they did on Spheres). This leaves Doctrine a squirming, writhing mutant offspring, half Consuming Impulse, half Spheres and it feels like an album tearing itself apart with inconsistent, incompatible ideas. Needless to say, I’m not very jazzed about this.
Hate Eternal – Phoenix Amongst the Ashes Review
Holy sheeeit man! I know the world sucks, times are hard and most people are dicks but whatever is pissing Erik Rutan off must be way worse than anything I’ve ever put up with. The clearly enraged Mr. Rutan and crew are back with another Hate Eternal platter of overly brutal death metal and this one’s a real doozy folks. While Hate Eternal always used and abused the basic Florida death metal sound pioneered by the mighty Morbid Angel (Erik contributed on some of their prime albums) and Deicide, Phoenix Amongst the Ashes is in a whole different league of sonic blight. This is some profoundly heavy, blasting, pummeling death played at light speed with very bad intentions. Offering little in the way of melody, catchiness or human compassion, you get nine songs akin to an aural carpet bombing. To say this is merely brutal is to do it a great disservice. This is enormously brutal and bordering on unlistenable. Even some die-hard death fans may throw up their hands at this album and say enough! It’s that crazy.
Angry Metal Guy’s Best Heavy Metal Songs of All Time 30-21
Closer and closer we draw to the best heavy metal song of all time, but indeed there is much in between and none of it has been come to lightly. I actually have spent a lot of time mulling over this list since its creation and I am pleased, thus far I can’t think of anything major that I’ve left out, which must mean that they are not indeed ‘top songs’ at all. But let me get to one note of concern that people have raised. They say that one of the reasons that a list like Gibson’s travesty is valid is because “it’s hard to know if these songs can stand the test of time!” I just want to take a minute to call bullshit.
Sonne Adam – Transformation Review
Israel is a weird scene. Actually, a lot like the South African scene that we’ve done quite a few reviews of here on Angry Metal Guy, it feels like the Israeli scene is another one of those scenes that lacks a cohesive sound. Having produced Orphaned Land and Winterhorde as well as the much darker Salem, the bands and music doesn’t seem to have coalesced around a specific regionalized ‘sound.’ Sonne Adam shows that this is definitely the case, as they produce dark, atmospheric doom and old school death metal. To be frank, I’m fucking astounded that this record is coming out on Century Media at all. There is nothing even remotely commercial about Sonne Adam. Though, I guess the same is true of label mates Triptykon.
Obscura – Omnivium Review
March has really been one hell of a month, hasn’t it? To think after Amon Amarth and Vintersorg we get to follow it all up with Obscura’s Omnivium. If any record counts as the most-anticipated of the year, Obscura is probably getting pretty close to that level. Having released in 2009, what was really a hell of a surprise for most listeners (including people who’d purchased their previous record) in Cosmogenesis, these technical death metallers built on their Necrophagist cred (and sound) and on the legacy of the mighty Death with their technical, progressive death metal, complete with awesome fretless bass attack. So, while this isn’t really a record that can fall victim of the sophomore slump (being the band’s third record), it certainly is an album that could fall victim to overly heightened expectations. And, I must admit, this Angry Metal Guy certainly had heightened expectations
Deicide – To Hell With God Review
The evil one is back. Yes, he of the upside down cross branded on his forehead. It’s every one’s favorite Christ hater Glenn Benton and his buddies in Deicide and they bring us album number ten, the unsubtly monikered To Hell With God. Now, I’m all about giving these guys their due props and concede their legendary status in the death metal universe. They, along with Morbid Angel and Obituary put the Florida death metal scene squarely on the map in the 90’s. That said, they’ve been wildly inconsistent in terms of quality studio output. You never know what Deicide is going to show up, the brutal and impressive or the brutally shitty (more often the latter making the appearance). Look no further than their past two releases for proof. 2006’s The Stench of Redemption was monstrous while 2008’s Til Death Do Us Part was a steaming heap of buffalo poo. So where does the new one fall, right or shite? Let’s discuss, then we can Deicide together (sorry, had to be done).
Svart Crown – Witnessing the Fall Review
Well, I clearly didn’t see this one coming. Never heard of these guys, expected nothing, popped it in and HOLY SHIT! Insane, claustrophobia inducing, vicious, ugly, hateful blackened death of very high quality blasts you into assdust. Apparently, Witnessing the Fall is the second album by this brutal French unit (it seems weird to say brutal and French in the same sentence). Although I know nothing of their first release, I know this one should be labeled “Break in Case of Apocalypse” because that’s exactly what this reminds me of. Although they inhabit the same stylistic space as black/death acts like Behemoth and Belphegor, Svart Crown generate a gripping, uneasy vibe that the others lack and there’s a real aura of fear and dread generated on certain tracks that takes this to a darker, more disturbed place. One thing is for sure, this thing thing will rip and tear at your brainial areas if you let it (and you should).
