Opeth

Record(s) o’ the Month – February 2013

Record(s) o’ the Month – February 2013

By Angry Metal Guy on March 15, 2013 in 2013, Blog Posts, Record o' the Month, 31 comments

So as everyone from the southern hemisphere has apparently noticed, a record of the month for February has not actually be chosen. This is, honestly, because the month really didn’t shine like one would hope it would have. Not to say that none of the records were good or even very good – they were! — but while others at the blog were fairly enthusiastic about certain releases, none of them really reached the heights that I think they should have to be awarded with the Record o’ the Month with ease. Still, a tradition is a tradition, and Angry Metal Readers have been pestering me non-stop about it. So, here it is.

October Falls – The Plague of a Coming Age Review

October Falls – The Plague of a Coming Age Review

By Angry Metal Guy on March 13, 2013 in 2013, 4.0, Black Metal, Debemur Morti, Epic Metal, Finnish Metal, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Atmospheric Black Metal, Black Metal, 22 comments

Back in ’10—when I was wearing an onion on my belt ’cause that was the fashion in those days—I reviewed a record from Finnish atmospheric black metallers October Falls called A Collapse of Faith. At 40+ minutes of a single song, my Angry Attention Deficit Disorder hindered me from loving this record. While it was good, had great melodies, interesting ideas and an old school production that added a fuzzy atmosphere to the whole thing, I was never able to really bring myself to come back to it. It might have been perfect for some of the depressing, snowy days that we get here in Sweden, but I’ve got a quite bit of go-to music for that. Still, I was curious was when I received the promo for The Plague of a Coming Age. With its fantastic cover art, and its 9 easily distinguishable songs, I thought this might be a step in a direction I could enjoy.

In Vain – Ænigma Review

In Vain – Ænigma Review

By Angry Metal Guy on March 6, 2013 in 2013, 3.5, Death Metal, Indie Recordings, Melodic Death Metal, Norwegian Metal, Progressive Death, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Melodic Death Metal, 19 comments

In Vain hails from Norway, famous for its black metal, its fjords, its oil, its social democracy, but certainly not its progressive death metal. It’s actually a little strange that the land that brought us Borknagar, Enslaved, Ulver, and Solefald has never really produced its own Opeth or In Mourning, instead outsourcing that to its less affluent and pampered neighbor to the east (that’d be Sweden for the geographically challenged). Without getting too much into regional politics, it’s safe to say that given how high on the hog these Norwegians live—exploiting their Swedish workers and guzzling crude oil at the state’s expense—it’s surprising that none of them have wandered into the melodic, progressive death metal genre. They certainly have access to enough subsidies for the arts to do so if they wanted to.

The Fall of Every Season – Amends Review

The Fall of Every Season – Amends Review

By Noctus on March 2, 2013 in 2013, 4.0, Doom Metal, Grau Records, Norwegian Metal, Reviews, Doom Metal, 13 comments

“It’s probably best you let go of every possible expectation of this record that you may have had, because this album simply won’t meet them. Stylistically, anyway. The Fall of Every Season,, the moniker of Marius Strand, has decided to change the idea behind the music so far beyond recognition of his dreary, depression-filled beginnings, that Amends sounds like a completely different band, thank goodness.” Noctus would like to explain this album to you in loving detail, but first he requires you to clear your mind. That means stop thinking of food and sex too!

Steven Wilson – The Raven that Refused to Sing (and Other Stories) Review

Steven Wilson – The Raven that Refused to Sing (and Other Stories) Review

By Alex Franquelli on February 18, 2013 in 2013, 4.0, Kscope, Not Metal, Reviews, Progressive Rock, 33 comments

“Steven Wilson coming up with a new album in 2013; it’s pretty much a progressive affair. As simple as that. There is nothing here that manages to stretch itself out of the canons of such a well-defined genre. On the contrary, the music on The Raven that Refused to Sing (and Other Stories) revolves around what has made prog rock what it is today: complex dynamics, a wide range of styles harmoniously compressed to form a variegated compound and digressions; lots of them.” Alex Franquelli wanders through the maze that is the new Steven Wilson release and tries not to take too many digressions himself.

New Keepers of the Water Towers – Cosmic Child Review

New Keepers of the Water Towers – Cosmic Child Review

By Madam X on February 15, 2013 in 2013, 4.0, Doom Metal, Epic Metal, Listenable Records, Non-Metal Metal Things, Progressive Metal, Rating, Releases, Reviews, Sludge, Swedish Metal, 6 comments

“Cosmic Child came through a little thin on the promo information (and in fact prior to listening to it for the first time, I didn’t even know the name of the album – so much for embedded album info) at any rate, I figured alright, close your eyes, hit play and go from there – how bad can it be right? The band name conjured up images of something with a Finntroll flavor – tell me a band name like New Keepers of the Water Towers doesn’t sound even remotely folky and troll-like right? It actually ended up being absofuckinglutely nothing like Finntroll, go figure!” But…if it isn’t like Fintroll, what the hell is it like??? Calm down. Madam X will now answer your questions.

Cult of Luna – Vertikal Review

Cult of Luna – Vertikal Review

By Alex Franquelli on January 19, 2013 in 2013, 4.5, Hardcore, Indie Recordings, Reviews, Sludge, Swedish Metal, 10 comments

I started listening to Cult of Luna with The Beyond. The year was 2003, the city was quiet and the light had been swallowed by the sound of an unspecified frequency – an electric wall of sound that made everything glow. And it burned so bright that I remained silent for the following, painful 67 minutes. I stopped listening to Cult Of Luna a year later. It was 2004, the album was Salvation and I couldn’t help but think that everything that had to be told had already been told. I resumed listening to Cult of Luna in 2013. Resistance became futile. And, yes, giving in was the right thing to do.

Riverside – Shrine of New Generation Slaves Review

Riverside – Shrine of New Generation Slaves Review

By Angry Metal Guy on January 12, 2013 in 2013, 3.5, InsideOut, Polish Metal, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Progressive Rock, 1 comment

Back in 2009 when I started this website, I was really getting back into metal and music in general, after having spent the previous year working on my own music and being really invested in learning a new language and trying to integrate into a new country. Upon having done this, I started up Angry Metal Guy with the purpose of giving myself something to do and a crash course in new music. One of the first labels I actually got a hold of was InsideOut (via Century Media) and received several very cool promos at around the same time. 2009 was actually a really good year, with several awesome releases that still stick out for me. One of these is the modern rock tinged opus Anno Domini High Definition with the slightly embarrassing acronym of ADHD. The record was modern, heavy and progressive. I was impressed and have been looking forward to the band’s follow up since.