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Epistasis – Light Through Dead Glass

Epistasis – Light Through Dead Glass

“Imagine that you mated Gorguts and Dodecahedron and left their bastard progeny on the doorstep of The Ocean. By the time Light Through Dead Glass flies out the F1’s mouth, nature and nurture have taken their course in shaping their grubby offspring. Passed down from their father are incoherent shrieks and furious black metal riffs, complementing the intricate bass lines and scintillating guitar tone contributed by their mother. Both parents passed on the recessive atonality and strangeness alleles, and somewhere along the line a mutation occurred giving rise to the novel trumpet player feature. Despite Epistasis’ breeding, their adopted parents have taught them some manners, instilling upon the young band a sense of melody and introspection. With such a colorful bouquet of attributes, Epistasis is an impossible specimen to miss in a screen, even for the amateur metal geneticist.” In our ongoing quest to marry ivory tower academia with metal analysis, here’s Kronos discussing insect genetics and their relation to progressive and black metal. Huh?

Abyssal – Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius  Review

Abyssal – Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius Review

“The latin phrase “Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius” comes from an incident in the early 13th century known as the Massacre at Béziers. The ironically named Pope Innocent II had declared a crusade against those he identified as heretics in Northern France, and the first town his assembled force attacked was the well-fortified town of Béziers. As the siege developed, it became a massacre, with more disciplined soldiers losing control of the mercenaries in the force who massacred the people, pillaged the town and ultimately burned it to the ground. The Massacre at Béziers has become emblematic of religion gone mad, persecution in its most extreme and dangerous incarnation, not just for the degree of the bloodshed, but for its indiscriminate-ness.” This is late, but also good. Nat knows her black metal!

The AMG Staff Picks the Top Ten Records o’ 2013

The AMG Staff Picks the Top Ten Records o’ 2013

This year the plebs get a say. While I have fought against this with every fiber of my body, Madam X‘s caring, feeling, and ultimately populistic, womanly touch has poisoned this blog by allowing people who aren’t me (including herself) to have lists. Frankly I’m offended. No one comes to Angry Metal Guy to read these guys’ lists. But hey, you know how it goes. Times, they are achangin’. As I no longer have time to be the site’s lone dictator, and Steel Druhm has proven incapable of keeping the mustache twirling hipsters underfoot despite his enormous gun collection and tough talk, you, dear reader, get extra Top 10 lists.

I hope you’re happy.

Ihsahn – Das Seelenbrechen Review

Ihsahn – Das Seelenbrechen Review

Ihsahn records used to get a breathless introduction about how incredible the former Emperor frontman’s solo career was. While this might still be true for some breathless fans, it is not the case for me. While I am still a huge fan of The Adversary and angL, both Eremita and its predecessor After left me cold.” Das seelenbrechen is Ihsahn’s newest crack at a solo record. Will it leave this Angry Metal Guy as cold as the man’s last two records?

Gorguts – Colored Sands Review

Gorguts – Colored Sands Review

“Let me know if you can find a metal band that utilizes dissonance and technicality to a large degree that doesn’t cite Gorgut’s masterful work as an influence. I’ll probably be waiting a long time so I’ll bring a good book – it’s called “The Band That Pioneered Dissonance and Technicality in Death Metal” and it has the word ‘Gorguts’ repeated over and over. But it’s that huge sense of respect for the band and the enormous anticipation for this release that made it such a tricky one for the legendary act. 12 years is not only a long time for hype to build around a record, but it also gives newcomers and pretenders a chance to overtake the legends should they prove unable to live up to their own mammoth legacy. After all, a lot of bands are remembered for their creative peak, even when they can’t maintain that level indefinitely. So perhaps Obscura and From Wisdom to Hate era was their peak and all they’ll really conjure up this time is a solid record, right?” And here is the other neglected gem we wanted to get to, but didn’t until now. You’re welcome!

Ulcerate – Vermis Review

Ulcerate – Vermis Review

Ulcerate’s emergence was rather inauspicious. Their first work, The Coming of Genocide, didn’t hold much promise. It was pretty standard for mid-aughts uber-blast brutality, assaultive to the point of redundancy. But there were some gnarly guitar squalls nestled in their amateurish blastfuckery, and on their first true album, Of Fracture and Failure, things started to get wild. Then, Everything is Fire happened, and things got real.” First Carcass and now this? It’s all big releases, all the time and and Jordan Campbell is on the job with his always insightful musings.