Orphaned Land

Turisas – Turisas2013 Review

Turisas – Turisas2013 Review

By Angry Metal Guy on August 23, 2013 in 2013, 4.0, Century Media, Epic Metal, Finnish Metal, Folk Metal, Heavy Metal, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Folk Metal, Viking Metal, 19 comments

We all knew Turisas2013 was going to be a controversial record when the title was released. Turisas2013 doesn’t read like a particularly inspiring name for this Finnish ‘folk metal’ band’s latest record. One commenter quipped that it sounds like what they called the folder where you store the .wav files, not the title of the record itself. On top of that was the remarkably short turnaround time. Turisas isn’t a band known for its quick work, and they were coming off a remarkable and fascinating record from 2011 that I flat out loved. Recent history teaches us that ‘fucking with the formula‘ is generally a bad thing; if a band needs 5 years, give it to them! But just as Orphaned Land faced label pressure, it wouldn’t be a surprise at all if Turisas2013 was produced under pressure from a label that doesn’t want the world to forget that Turisas exists[1. Note: this is entirely speculation. No one told me shit.]. Whatever the reason for looking at a Turisas record in 2013 with the half-baked name of Turisas2013, it’s here… Is it everything you feared?

Orphaned Land – All Is One Review

Orphaned Land – All Is One Review

By Angry Metal Guy on June 25, 2013 in 2.5, 2013, Century Media, Progressive Metal, Reviews, 40 comments

Little has been new in the world of heavy metal for a long time. While the scene continues to crawl up its own ass with retro-this and retro-that and a naval gazing focus on the music of the past while waiting for new and fresh material, Orphaned Land has been one of the few bands that has branched out. These peacenik Israelis have been doing their own distinctive brand of ‘middle-eastern’ melodeath that breathed life into a scene. However, the band’s slow output has been a constant thorn in the side of their label, and after blowing the world out of the water with The Never Ending Way of ORwarriOR, there was increased pressure to get a record out in three years. Orphaned Land delivered, and All Is One is that labor of love (and label pressure).

Things You Might Have Missed 2012: Aeternam – Moongod

Things You Might Have Missed 2012: Aeternam – Moongod

By Angry Metal Guy on December 8, 2012 in 2012, American Metal, Canadian Metal, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Things You Might Have Missed 2012, 5 comments

The point of Things You Might Have Missed is to point out great records we didn’t cover in time, which wasn’t exactly the case with Tenacious D, but definitely is the case with Aeternam’s 2012 offering Moongod. We never received promo of this record ahead of time – but it appears to have been released […]

Sigh – In Somniphobia Review

Sigh – In Somniphobia Review

By Angry Metal Guy on March 6, 2012 in 2012, 5.0, Black Metal, Candlelight, Progressive Metal, Reviews, 21 comments

Bands really get the shit end of the stick sometimes, and one of the areas that this happens with is the concept of change. On the one hand, a band is never supposed to change their sound. Their fans will freeeeak out and everyone will call what they do a big pile of shit (how about that last Drudkh album, went from darling of the scene to whipping boy in the matter of a day). On the other hand, others will hear a record from a band that functionally the same and say something cocky like “Is Cannibal Corpse even remotely relevant anymore?” [Oh wait, that was me and everyone got mad. — AMG] Sigh is one of those bands that I think threads that needle perfectly—offering up records every couple of years that change their sound, while keeping the core in place. In Somniphobia is really no exception to this rule—and it triumphantly continues the band’s current success streak.

Orphaned Land – The Road to OR-Shalem Review

Orphaned Land – The Road to OR-Shalem Review

By Angry Metal Guy on November 11, 2011 in 2011, 4.5, Century Media, Progressive Death, Progressive Metal, Reviews, 6 comments

It’s no secret that right now my favorite band in the world is Orphaned Land. And if it was a secret, I guess it’s not really a secret anymore. Orphaned Land does what no other band alive does and they do it so very, very well. Mabool was fantastic, but 2010’s The Never Ending Way of OR’WarriOR was my record of the year and is really my standard for what a modern progressive metal record should be like. The mix and production from Steven Wilson was excellent, the song writing was tremendous and it’s one of the very few records over about 45 or 50 minutes that I can even handle these days. So I was super pumped when I got a promo copy of the band’s DVD The Road to OR-Shalem. I’m not a huge fan of DVDs, as I’ve said in the past, but this one is definitely worth your time, both as fans and non-fans.

Dibbukim – Az a Foygl un a Goylem Tantsn Review

Dibbukim – Az a Foygl un a Goylem Tantsn Review

By Angry Metal Guy on May 2, 2011 in 2.0, 2011, Folk Metal, Grandmaster Music, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Folk Metal, Heavy Metal, 15 comments

Dibbukim is the band that I have been waiting for. Ever since I first hear the Orphaned Land song “Norra El Norra,” I’ve been thinking to myself “Where the hell is the first Klezmer-metal band?” There are two reasons for this: the first is that I love Klezmer. It is a fantastic style of music, entertaining and beautiful, as well as being ripe for blending into heavy metal. The second reason that I’ve always wanted to call a band “Hebrewcore.” And now I can. That’s right, Dibbukim is the world’s first “Hebrewcore” band. Mind you, there’s no -core at all, and they sing in Yiddish, not Hebrew but let’s not kid ourselves. It’s SO much more fun to say “Hebrewcore” than “Klezmer Metal” or “Klezmer Influenced Folk Metal.” Give into the joy of it. Though, it’s not really accurate at all… So. I guess…. Klezmercore! That alliterates! OK, Dibbukim is the world’s first “Klezmercore” band.

Sonne Adam – Transformation Review

Sonne Adam – Transformation Review

By Angry Metal Guy on April 2, 2011 in 2011, 3.0, Century Media, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Reviews, 4 comments

Israel is a weird scene. Actually, a lot like the South African scene that we’ve done quite a few reviews of here on Angry Metal Guy, it feels like the Israeli scene is another one of those scenes that lacks a cohesive sound. Having produced Orphaned Land and Winterhorde as well as the much darker Salem, the bands and music doesn’t seem to have coalesced around a specific regionalized ‘sound.’ Sonne Adam shows that this is definitely the case, as they produce dark, atmospheric doom and old school death metal. To be frank, I’m fucking astounded that this record is coming out on Century Media at all. There is nothing even remotely commercial about Sonne Adam. Though, I guess the same is true of label mates Triptykon.

Raven Woods – Enfeebling the Throne Review

Raven Woods – Enfeebling the Throne Review

By Angry Metal Guy on April 1, 2011 in 2011, 3.5, Code666 Records, Death Metal, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Turkish Metal, Death Metal, Folk Metal, Progressive Metal, 2 comments

Middle-eastern tinged metal has become a slight trend. Since Nile really took off with the sound and influences, slowly but surely the metal scene has followed with. Behemoth played the Nile card and won big with it and Melechesh has grown to great popularity, releasing great records left and right. However, that bands from the middle-eastern or north African region are actually put out records influenced by their own culture, that’s pretty new. Sure, Orphaned Land has been around a long time, but they didn’t really catch the popular metal imagination until 2006. Myrath still hasn’t caught on and now we have Raven Woods of Turkish extraction.