“Those who remember my review of Vreid’s rambling Welcome Farewell will remember that they arose from the tragic end of Windir. Vreid’s sound bears some similarities to Windir’s warring black metal roots, but it also goes beyond that. They’ve honed a black ‘n roll sound that’s loaded with repetitively catchy riffs and melodies that bludgeon in their familiarity and overuse.” Who’s up for some overused bludgeoning?
“Beaten to Death: standard grindcore band name, anything but a standard grindcore band. Featuring ex-She Said Destroy vocalist Anders Bakke, ex-The Cumshots guitarist Tommy Hjelm, and Tsjuder drummer Christian “Bartender” (aka AntiChristian aka Jorn’s drummer since 2014, so you know he’s epic), Beaten to Death formed in 2010 and wasted no time putting out their first record Xes and Strokes just a year later. I missed this at the time because I am a tool, but fortunately Angry Metal Guy (or rather Jordan Campbell) was on hand to enlighten me come 2013 and the release of the band’s sophomore Dødsfest!” Relax, this isn’t really unplugged.
“When nearly half of your band includes key Svarttjern black metal misanthropes, a marriage of Pagan Altar and King Diamond’s heavy metal Mercyful Fate-alism is not what you expect to burst forth from your speakers. And yet it does.” In the Olde School you still need chalk and fountain pens.
“When I heard Tchort put together a black metal band that combined elements of Carpathian Forest and Blood Red Throne with those of Gorgoroth, Immortal, Bathory, and even Motörhead, I nearly shat myself. After a decade trying to fill the empty crater in my achy-breaky heart with more of Nattefrost’s sadomasochism, I’m stoked to hear the master-behind-the-riffs unleash a sultry combination of all he is; black thrash, blackened rock ‘n’ roll, Scandinavian death, and a variety of surprising twists.” Its time to strap on the assless chaps again and take a run through the forest.
“Composed largely of musicians from Extol’s old line-up, Mantric took up the progressive mantle with technical fervor on 2010’s The Descent. They’re now back with Sin – one of those difficult-to-categorize modern metal releases.” More prog for you wankers!
“Apart from a fierce weather condition, Orkan refers to a Norwegian four-man atmospheric and blackened thrash force, formed back in 2008 by ex-Byfrost drummer Rune Nesse and Taake’s own live guitarist Gjermund Fredheim. With an interesting connection between two bands established and the fact that Hoest (Taake) and V’Gandr (Helheim) guest, this album all but demanded a review. How could I say no!” A copy of a copy….
“While there are some who would have ol’ Kronos trapped in a padded room reviewing deathcore and only deathcore for the foreseeable future, one of the perks of Angry Metal Guy’s preoccupations is that I’m able to slip in a review every now and then that doesn’t quite fit the death/grind beat that I usually work.” Hey. Who approved this review?
“Russian tech-death machine Defect Designer had an interesting couple of years since their 2009 debut, Wax. Bassist, guitarist & vocalist Dmitry Soukhinin decided to relocate from the Russian city of Novosibirsk to the much-easier-to-pronounce Olso, Norway, taking everything but his band with him. To help round out his recording line-up, Dmitry enlisted members of SepticFlesh, Trollfest, and Cryptopsy to aid in recording what would become the oddly spelled Ageing Accelerator. Now, you would think that having people from the aforementioned bands perform for your record would have the masses salivating for progressive tech-deathy goodness, and in words on a screen, it does look inviting, doesn’t it?” So where’s all the drool?
“Watching Gorgoroth grow up is like watching your dipshit nephew grow up. Getting busted for stealing Bazooka bubblegum as a child, knocking up his high-school girlfriend, marrying her, divorcing her, running out on his kid, and then fighting his ex for full custody of a child he hates. The biggest difference between the trials and tribulations faced by Gorgoroth and your asshole nephew is that Gorgoroth’s are worse.” Those wacky Satanists….
“It’s really no secret; I fucking love Arcturus. There is nothing that can be done about this fanboyism of mine and I don’t care to fix it. Since the first time I heard The Sham Mirrors in 2002, I have not only loved them, but find Mirrors to be one of my favorite albums ever. I don’t expect everyone to agree with me and, again, I’m not going to fix it.” Well look who’s back!
