Nightwish

Light and Shade – The Essence of Everything Review

By Zephyrus on November 21, 2016 in 2016, Italian Metal, Power Metal, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Scarlet Records, Symphonic Metal, Power Metal, Progressive Metal, Symphonic Metal, 24 comments

“My short tenure with everyone’s favourite Angry Metal website has already changed my views on music in profound and mysterious ways. Forming an opinion on an album used to be instinctual; I either liked what I heard (and thus listened to it repeatedly), or I did not. I have since realized things are not quite so black and white. What happens when faced with an album that is not enjoyable? Disregarding it is not an option. As great as it would be to write “this shit stinks” and call it a day, such a review be in rather poor taste and probably land me squarely in front of HR.” Ask HMG how that went….

Dark Sarah – The Puzzle Review

By Treble Yell on November 20, 2016 in 2016, Finnish Metal, Inner Wound Recordings, Reviews, Symphonic Metal, Symphonic Metal, 57 comments

“I’ll be honest with you, my first blush with Finland’s Dark Sarah, upon receiving their promo folder had me wallowing in despair, my lamentation palpable through gritted teeth for the seemingly poor choice I had made. Wading through publicity photos with the aesthetic charm of an easel that has been beaten to death by a rainbow, reading the insufferably trite album bio that speaks of mysterious caves and split personalities and the aforementioned laughable album cover all served to shrivel my hopes that I had discovered a ziggurat filled with wondrous music.” Dark Sarah has a dragon (and a cave troll).

Sirenia – Dim Days of Dolor Review

By Zephyrus on November 9, 2016 in 2016, Epic Metal, Gothic Metal, Napalm Records, Norwegian Metal, Reviews, Symphonic Metal, Gothic Metal, 20 comments

“Sirenia hasn’t been getting much love from AMG Industries of late, and perhaps rightly so. The bands 2015 release The Seventh Life Path was criticized harshly for both its cheesy, formulaic approach to symphonic metal and its abundance of beautiful women. The 2011 offering, The Enigma of Life, fared absolutely no better. While I will never be one to condemn the inclusion of sexy band photos (female or otherwise), I did find myself agreeing with the general sentiments; both albums were trite, shallow, and boring.” Sex sells, but who’s buying?

Sonata Arctica – The Ninth Hour Review

By Angry Metal Guy on September 30, 2016 in 2016, Finnish Metal, Nuclear Blast, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Power Metal, Progressive Metal, 91 comments

“The Ninth Hour marks Sonata Arctica’s fourth full length since Unia. In 2016, that means that half the band’s career is post-Unia and since that monumental album Sonata Arctica has gone through a tense relationship with its history and—if the comments on this blog are anything to go by—their fanbase. This has led to these veterans of Europower reintroducing wolf shirt and their old logo. But for me it’s The Days of Grays—an album distinctly lacking in both—that remains the band’s best since 2007.” So after all this time has Sonata Arctica produced a worthy successor to The Days of Grays?

Epica – The Holographic Principle Review

By Diabolus in Muzaka on September 20, 2016 in 2016, Dutch Metal, Eurocore, Nuclear Blast, Reviews, Symphonic Metal, Eurocore, Symphonic Metal, 94 comments

“The cultish devotion to contemplating endless variations of Descartes’s “evil demon” question mixed with Hume’s ridiculous skepticism has led some philosophers to seriously contemplate if saying “I have hands” is a valid assertion because we can’t definitively prove that we’re not just brains in vats (BIVs) imagining the whole world, our hands included. Somehow this line of thought is still taken seriously, and it’s given us plenty. It’s given us proof positive that if your philosophy abandons Aristotle and Aquinas, it’s going to be terrible. It gave us The Matrix; a good action flick. It’s also given us a record based around wondering whether our world is actually just an elaborate VR simulation in the form of Epica’s The Holographic Principle.” To glee or not to glee.

Delain – Moonbathers Review

By Diabolus in Muzaka on August 14, 2016 in 2016, Dutch Metal, Eurocore, Hard Rock, Napalm Records, Reviews, Eurocore, Hard Rock, Melodic Metal, 45 comments

“Metal bands sure like to take baths in a wide variety of places, be it in the sun, in blood, in ghosts, in wombs, in entrails, or in whatever “slaughtb” is. Me, I’m more of a shower guy. A nice cold shower helps you think, and tons of great ideas come to be in there, but sometimes you get this introductory bit. It seems that the Dutchmen and Dutchwomen in Delain have suggested a new place for our metallic hygienic niche to take place on their fifth album: the moon.” Delain got a tongue lashing from AMG for being normcore back in 2012. Will DiM be nicer than he was?

Demonstealer – This Burden Is Mine Review

By Grymm on March 21, 2016 in 2016, Death Metal, Demonstealer Records, Indian Metal, Metalcore, Reviews, Thrash Metal, Death Metal, Metalcore, Thrash Metal, 26 comments

“In my almost three years of reviewing for AngryMetalGuy.com, very few things surprise me anymore. Yet, while doing research for This Burden Is Mine, the second album by Indian one-man project Demonstealer, I hopped onto their Facebook page, and realized just how prolific one Sahil Makhija, aka The Demonstealer, is. Not only is he the guitarist and vocalist on here (as well as in his main band, Demonic Resurrection), but he also runs his own eponymous record label (which is also India’s first extreme metal label). He also has his own online cooking blog. In fact, the first thing I saw on Facebook was was a link to a YouTube video for making bacon cake. I didn’t know such a concoction of magnificence even existed on this lowly plane, proving that magic does indeed manifest on Earth.” Bacon cake impresses even the jaded staff of AMG.

Serenity – Codex Atlanticus Review

By Angry Metal Guy on January 27, 2016 in 2016, Austrian Metal, Napalm Records, Power Metal, Reviews, Power Metal, 48 comments

Serenity is an Austrian symphonic power metal that I’ve just recently learned our very own Steel Druhm has been fawning over, thus once again sullying my hard-earned reputation by rubber-stamping anything that reminds him of his wasted youth. In an effort to put a stop to this travesty, I decided to review Codex Antlanticus myself. Having never heard the band—certainly the facts pursuant to Druhm‘s overzealous ratings aren’t necessary in order to feel offended—I immersed myself in Serenity’s 5th full length release bracing only for the worst. Hilarity, as one might expect, ensued.

Angry Metal Guy’s Top 10(ish) of 2015

By Angry Metal Guy on December 30, 2015 in 2015, Blog Posts, Lists, 234 comments

Twenty-fifteen has been a hell of a ride. It’s been one of my favorite years for music in quite a long time, and I’ve been struggling to prune this list down to 10(ish) records that I really love. But in some ways, the top 5 has never been easier for me to choose. What I find most fascinating about this list is how completely out of step I feel with what I see as being touted as the coolest parts of the underground. I seem to be pretty far afield while everyone else seems to be fawning over the latest ’70s retro doom phenomenon, hope drones, or the latest example of black metal kids missing that intensity not 15 minute songs was the cool part of black metal. This is what it feels like to have been left behind by a scene; to have lived long enough to be that old guy shaking his fist at new trends in metal.

Graveshadow – Nocturnal Resurrection Review

By Dr. A.N. Grier on November 15, 2015 in 2015, American Metal, Mausoleum Records, Power Metal, Reviews, Symphonic Metal, Power Metal, Symphonic Metal, 60 comments

“While the name Graveshadow would suggest a band dabbling in a number of genres, the album art pretty much narrows that list down to a select few. Just seconds into Nocturnal Resurrection and all your wonder transforms into 100% certainty. This album clearly bleeds with the Nightwish-washy inklings of symphonic keys and power-metal attitude. I suppose this makes sense being that this sextet hails from the magical forests of Finlannnn… oh wait.. Sacramento.” Hamster, a dentist! Hard porn, Steven Seagull!