Ne Obliviscaris

The Night Watch – An Embarrassment of Riches Review

The Night Watch – An Embarrassment of Riches Review

The Night Watch bill themselves as “violin fronted instrumental progressive folk metal,” which certainly isn’t inaccurate. However, An Embarrassment of Riches feels first and foremost like a soundtrack album. It’s just one that adopts folk and metal as part of its sonic palette, in the vein of some of Bear McCreary’s work. As an instrumental concept album, it’s looking to tell a story.” Telling tales.

Embrace of Disharmony – De Rervm Natvra Review

Embrace of Disharmony – De Rervm Natvra Review

“Stagnation is a problem. In this wondrous day and age where music can be shared across the globe at a mere few clicks, you’d think that “too much of the same” in metal would be a laughable concept. Instead, it’s an actual problem. An uncountable number of fledgling bands are being influenced by the same big acts and creating essentially the same sound over and over again. There is nothing more exciting in this musical sphere than a band that breaks the cycle of stagnation, who smashes through stereotypes and clichés both to rise above the rest and revitalize their sad, tired genre. Symphonic metal, I give you Embrace of Disharmony and their sophomore effort: De Rervm Natvra.” Symphonies of slickness.

Piah Mater – The Wandering Daughter Review

Piah Mater – The Wandering Daughter Review

“The pia mater, Latin for “tender mother,” is one of three meninges that surround and protect the brain from damage. So as you’re headbanging at your local metal show, your pia mater keeps your delicate, spongy brain tissue from dashing itself against the inside of your skull and knocking you out cold.” Keep your mothers close and your Opeth-core closer.

Great Leap Skyward – Map of Broken Dreams Review

Great Leap Skyward – Map of Broken Dreams Review

“‘Cinematic progressive metal.’ Now there’s a tag rife with possibilities. Theatrical djent? Dream Theater 2.0? Coheed Jr and Cambriette? Prior to this review, I’d never heard of Australia’s Great Leap Skyward. Subsequently, I had no idea what I was in for when I rescued Map of Broken Dreams from Angry Metal Guy‘s Home for Wayward Promo.” Prog, broken dreams and depressed Muppets.

Firtan – Okeanos Review

Firtan – Okeanos Review

“Categorization eludes Firtan. Okeanos, the second record by this German four-piece, is an album of vast fluctuations. Ever immutable and indefinable black metal rests at its core, but its proceeding layers are a lot more complex. Okeanos is a swirling cauldron of flavorsome sounds: profusely potent and pungent. Inspired by avant-garde intellectuals like Nietzsche and Lovecraft, Okeanos is a ‘dazzling display of epic black metal grandeur, suffused with autumnal atmosphere and winding-yet-captivating compositions.’ Firtan well and truly blow their own trumpet.” Pretentiousness and the void.

El Cuervo and Diabolus in Muzaka’s Top Ten(ish) of 2017

El Cuervo and Diabolus in Muzaka’s Top Ten(ish) of 2017

“Making a successful and popular Top Ten list involves a series of complex calculations, comprised of, but not limited to the following: a tallying of recorded scores, estimated scene cred, a precise proportion of big and underground bands, a spot for that one record universally praised during the year, and a pathological need to seem like one has not missed anything.” Making a list, checking it thrice.

Ne Obliviscaris – Urn Review

Ne Obliviscaris – Urn Review

Ne Obliviscaris have proven one of the more controversial bands that I’ve reviewed during my incarceration tenure at AngryMetalGuy.com. My review of Citadel split the crowd with AMG Himself, an outspoken critic of the Aussies’ modern aesthetic. I, on the other hand, love their dynamic duality of blasting black and death metal, with softer, classically-influenced progressive tendencies. My youthful inexperience with imparting opinions on controversial matters ensured I lingered on the dissenting commentary provided by others and did, in fact, give it some consideration. Nonetheless, others’ doubts were set aside by the end of the year as I happily awarded the record my coveted Album of the Year. Three years passed, my skin thickened and now they’ve written their third full-length: Urn.” Even rhinos get lonely.

Xanthochroid – Of Erthe and Axen: Act I Review

Xanthochroid – Of Erthe and Axen: Act I Review

“Finally, Xanthochroid return with a detailed prequel narrative to the storytelling events of the debut, split into two albums to be released in 2017, beginning with Of Erthe and Axen: Act I. Do they have what it takes to craft a prequel story with the musical output to match their ambition? Or is Act I destined to become the metal equivalent of The Phantom Menace?” Jar Jar-core?

Katakomb – Chained to a Wolf Review

Katakomb – Chained to a Wolf Review

“I love progressive metal fusions. To name just a few: Opeth, Cormorant, and Ne Obliviscaris are among my favorite bands. So the prospect of getting on board with a young and allegedly progressive black metal band early was certainly enticing. I say allegedly as our promo-meisters have been known to be deceptively liberal with genre labeling in the past, but I cut them some slack and acquired Chained to a Wolf by Katakomb with interest.” Wolves, chains and intrigue.

The Furor – Cavalries of the Occult Review

The Furor – Cavalries of the Occult Review

“The patriot in me gets a little warm and fuzzy when contemplating the healthy state of the Australian metal scene. Whether it be divisive big guns Ne Obliviscaris and King Parrot, head-scratching experimental acts like Portal and Hope Drone, the thrashy old-school goodness of Hobbs’ Angel of Death and Deströyer 666, cutting edge modern tearaways Départe and Deadspace, or reliable tech death stalwarts Psycroptic, there’s a hugely satisfying selection of Aussie metal to satiate a wide variety of extreme tastes.” Is it just me or do Aussies like their D’s and P’s?