Oct21

Ember Sun – On Earth and Heaven Review

Ember Sun – On Earth and Heaven Review

“Here at Angry Metal Guy and His Amazing Super-Friends, we’ve all seen our fair share of one-person black metal. Seemingly every January, they all come out of their cocoons, sprout wings, and greet us all en-masse like the loveliest and most rewarding of locust swarms. But one-person funeral doom? Now that’s a treasured rarity, and not something that makes its presence known or felt all that often, if ever. And yet Lorthar, former guitarist for Greek black metallers Order of the Ebon Hand, felt that his prior band didn’t quite satisfy his needs, so he ventured off on his own to form Ember Sun, handling all duties and offering us On Earth and Heaven. Enter sad man.

Hex A.D. – Funeral Tango for Gods & Men Review

Hex A.D. – Funeral Tango for Gods & Men Review

“Much like a first love, a first review will always hold a special place in your heart. I popped my AMG cherry on Hex A.D.’s cheeky 2018 offering, Netherworld Triumphant. While dad-metal isn’t usually my thing, the confident and eclectic blend of influences the band served up, ranging from Cathedral to Sabbath, may not have been original, but it sure was a lot of fun. 2020’s follow-up, Astrotongue in the Electric Garden, dialed up the sex references even further, doubled down on the psychedelia, and signposted a band on the cusp of something great. When Funeral Tango for Gods and Men dropped, I took one look at the zany cover and figured this was it: these Norwegians were ready to ascend.” Funerary fuzz.

Deviant Process – Nurture Review

Deviant Process – Nurture Review

“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: technical death metal can be a fickle mistress. For a genre so overflowing with talent, much of the actual music can come across as rather soulless, and despite all the intricacies, a lot of releases appear surprisingly formulaic. In short, I’ve been burned before. But then I look to recent releases from bands like Alustrium, Symbolik, and Allegaeon; releases that serve as a potent reminder that not all is lost, and that when the tech-death hits, it hits hard. It was with this sunny outlook that I plucked Nurture, the latest release from Deviant Process, from the promo pit.” High hopes and technical problems.

Massacre – Resurgence Review

Massacre – Resurgence Review

Massacre is a death metal band I’ve always rooted for and got very little in return for my efforts. Though one of the creators of the entire genre, they were unable to get their long-delayed From Beyond debut out until 1991. By then they’d been scooped by a ton of acts and demoted from innovators to also-rans. Though their tardy debut was awesome, the band utterly failed to follow up on its potential.” The return of the return of the death progenitors.

She Said Destroy – Succession Review

She Said Destroy – Succession Review

“Sifting through the depths of the Angry Metal Guy promo trough recently, I realized I was still riding the high of listening to and processing the new Seven Spires album. I came to the conclusion that I needed a change of musical scenery for my next review. When I came across She Said Destroy’s promo describing genre-bending melodic death metal, I determined the Norwegian band’s latest release might be the album I need to cleanse my musical palate.” Morbid arrangers.

Kolossus – K Review

Kolossus – K Review

“As I do with all bands that have a discography, I started from the top. It was only last year that Kolossus dropped their debut record, The Line of the Border. In those forty-plus minutes, my lips would involuntarily mouth, ‘What the fuck?’ Each song is nothing like the last. Each brings something new to the plate, and none cared what came before or went after. It refused to follow the rules—it’s own or anyone else’s. And, to an extent, K is no different.” K is for Klosers.

Knife – Knife Review

Knife – Knife Review

“Over the past few years, I’ve found myself growing increasingly fond of the blackened speed metal subgenre. Something about the mix of simple, unrelenting riffs, vicious vocals and gleefully evil subject matter speak to my soul in a profound and fundamental way. But instead of exploring any of that in therapy, I just keep an eye out for the next morsel of Motörhead-worshipping, Venom-venerating filth that bobs to the surface of the promo sump. That’s exactly how I happened upon Knife, a blackened speed outfit hailing from Germany that traffic in this (un)heavenly concoction.” Blades of steel.

The Breathing Process – Labyrinthian Review

The Breathing Process – Labyrinthian Review

“A phenomenon risen in the last decade is the concept of “blackened deathcore.” While Winds of Plague’s cheesy keyboard licks copied and pasted atop chug-happy deathcore is business as usual, it wasn’t until bands like Make Them Suffer and Abigail Williams cranked up the moody -core brutality with black metal tropes in songwriting, drumming, and keys. More recently represented by bands like Lorna Shore or Mental Cruelty, blackened deathcore (if you accept it as a style) has become one of those quasi-sub-genres that fuses the oft-maligned “scene-core” and those of the “trve” style – a trve clvsterfvkk if you will. Quietly riding the wave is collective The Breathing Process, whose string of releases have contributed in small ways to this weird-ass style.” I see a mall kid and I want to paint him black.

Green Lung – Black Harvest Review

Green Lung – Black Harvest Review

“Does innovation matter in metal? I often seem to find myself saying something along the lines of: “[insert band name here] isn’t really doing anything new here but perhaps they’re not really trying to.” Is ‘not doing anything new’ inherently a criticism? There’s no point asking London, UK’s Green Lung, as they’ve been too busy to care, absolutely nailing their brand of Black Sabbath worship.” Ancient airs.