“Punk has never been my favorite genre. I am not sure if it’s the rough and ready vocals that often help define the punk sound, or if it’s just something about punk songwriting that doesn’t enthuse me. Either way, it’s something I struggle to love. That is, until I went to my first Cam Girl show only about a year ago.” Punk in a tight place.
![Otoboke Beaver – Super Champon [Things You Might Have Missed 2022]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/cover-2.jpg.webp)
“It never ceases to bum me out when people will champion (rightfully, I may add) one band for their characteristically wacky, zany antics and tight musicianship, but somehow let another, similar experience slide through the cracks. Case in point: we here at The Church of the Metal Guy of Angry have our fair share of Beaten To Death fans, and it’s not hard to see why. Their off-beat harmonies, blast-happy histrionics, and hilarious song titles won over a number of our jaded, blackened hearts in no time. That said, not many of us can say the same for (or at least listened to) the quirky, bubbly, and yet utterly batshit insane stylings of Kyoto’s Otoboke Beaver.” Leave it to Beaver.
“Is there anything better than a horror-themed album? I think not. But, being the mentally unstable King Diamond fan that I am, I’m sure that’s no surprise to anyone. But you won’t find soaring falsettos and soloing as old as Steel on Black Cross Hotel’s debut record, Hex. Instead, you’ll discover Killing Joke-inspired industrial metal mingled with punky vocals and synths that you’d swear came from a John Carpenter movie.” The horror….
“We’re no stranger to bands who claim more sub-genres than they have members (or fans). You’ll routinely see tags for things like “symphonic doom” and “blackened death” and “hardcore Viking sludge.” It’s also not surprising when musicians change course from one album to the next. We’ve all perused reviews about a band with an established sound veering off into wildly new directions. Really, adding new sub-genres seems to come with the territory. But what happens when a non-metal band takes a running leap into the dark side? Such is the case with New York-based act American Anymen, a group that, up until very recently, played a vitriolic form of anti-folk on a slew of singles, EPs, splits and one full-length. Now, it appears they’ve leapt headlong into the metal game with Cities Changing Names.” Duct tape-core.
“I’m kind of obsessed with hammers. Write a song about hammers, and I’ll probably like it. Include “hammer” as part of your band name, and I’ll probably like your band. In a roleplaying game, make hammers a wieldable weapon, and, by god, I’m going to wield one (or two). I don’t know how to build shit, but I own a framing hammer and sleep with it next to my bed for personal protection. I use a twenty-pound sledge for my conditioning workouts, often while Asphyx’s “Deathhammer” plays in the background on repeat. Anyway, now you know why I felt so compelled to give Cleveland’s Hammr a swing.” Hammr time.
“Are you a bastard? Have you ever wandered outside your house and, I don’t know, be grabbing a Monster Pipeline Punch and a corn dog or some shit and all the sudden it dawns on you: “I’m a bastard”? We get abused regularly over here at AMG HQ, with phrases such as “overrating bastards,” “everyone shut up,” and “no, Doom_et_Al, Deafheaven still sucks” being hurled this way and that like swarms of angry bees armed with mini-javelins: doesn’t kill or seriously injure, just hurts a little more each day. As such, Wolfbastard is the soundtrack of our workplace, because us overrating bastards are getting hammered regularly – both in the good and in the bad.” Hammer time.
“Gloop is a trio from West Virginia but currently based in Baltimore, having released two full-lengths since 2017. A truly disconcerting brew of noise rock by way of no-wave with a healthy dose of bluesy rock and upbeat punk, Crayon Sun takes Gloop to darker depths with in-your-face dissonance, angular riffs, and a defiant punk attitude. A shapeshifting beast both apathetic, frenetic, and abrasive.” The Glooper.
“Noise-rock and mathcore haters need not listen to
“Neptunian Maximalism took the metal world by storm last year. Éons was an absolute monument of an album, fusing drone, jazz, and psychedelia into one of the most evocative listens in recent memory. It spoke to something primal, something ancient that lived at the bottom of a listener’s subconscious, and snuck its way into my year-end list at number 2. Conjuring the likes of Sunn O))), Sun Ra, Swans, and Miles Davis, it was a concept album regarding the fate of Earth and its inhabitants, resulting in mass extinction and planetary destruction. Only nine months later, we’re treated with a new offering; can Solar Drone Ceremony continue where its predecessor left off?” Maximal effort.
“Chain Gang Grave are dressed in the grit and grime of their home: Brooklyn. Cement Mind is an unhinged creature that fires out a thumping hybrid of death metal and punk. In a sense, Cement Mind sounds like a crusty late 80’s demo unearthed, for the first time, from the basement of an old school tape wizard.” Blockheads.
