Releases

Gaerea – Limbo Review

Gaerea – Limbo Review

“Is black metal good? The answer is no. Or at least, I would have said no when I started writing here. Flippantly, sure, but I was a different man and back in 2013 black metal was a different beast. Most of the mass clogging the drain of the promo sump was of the two-waves-one-man variety, and with the exception of luminary avant-garde acts like Sigh and Dodecahedron, it seemed like the only alternative to reliving the early Norwegian days was playing blast beats over Slowdive.” Time changes a man.

Alizarin – The Last Semblance Review

Alizarin – The Last Semblance Review

The Last Semblance is the second Alizarin album, and the first that is not instrumental. That’s an important note, because Alizarin is the passion project of a one Josh Kay, who wrote the songs, played the guitar parts, made the album art for, and mixed The Last Semblance.” One man army.

Aseitas – False Peace Review

Aseitas – False Peace Review

Aseitas are the Northwest’s death metal answer to the Northeast’s black metal alchemists in Genevieve, twisting the most experimental threads of metal into sleeker, stronger songs. The Portland quintet’s eclectic experiments began with 2018’s Aseitas, a record that seemed woven from every strand of extreme metal’s experiments in the decade before it.” No brutality, no peace.

Voidceremony – Entropic Reflections Continuum: Dimensions Unravel Review

Voidceremony – Entropic Reflections Continuum: Dimensions Unravel Review

“With heavyweights like Tomb Mold and Blood Incantation drowning in the love of the underground, proggy OSDM has never been so widely celebrated or practiced. If you’re a player in the death metal underground, that makes it an ideal time to switch focus from your nasty death metal band to your proggy death metal band and release your inscrutably titled debut album.” Void where prohibited.

Pyrrhon – Abscess Time Review

Pyrrhon – Abscess Time Review

“Where do Pyrrhon go next? It’s a question that, to my surprise, I had not truly considered. In pushing the walls as far out as they would go with 2017’s stunning What Passes for Survival, the band became torch-bearers in death metal’s unexplored corridors. The quartet synthesize techniques from technical death metal, noise rock, and free jazz to craft ungainly structures and cut winding new paths through the labyrinth, resulting in two of the most original and contentious records of the 2010s. In Abscess Time, the band have a chance to explode into the new decade with a bold new direction.” Time, tide, and transformation.

Abysmal Dawn – Phylogenesis Review

Abysmal Dawn – Phylogenesis Review

Abysmal Dawn play a lunch pail, nine-to-five style of death metal that gets the job done on time and within the budget. You can’t expect miracles out of them, but the band are nothing if not dependable, barely changing their style over six albums with Phylogenesis. And hey, if it ain’t broke, why fix it? Good riffs, confident solos, and an attention to presentation have been a winning formula for the band for about a decade and a half and have served the genre well since 1985.” Unfoolish consistencies.

Shards of Humanity – Cold Logic Review

Shards of Humanity – Cold Logic Review

“There may not be any band out there that all the Angry Metal Guy staff like. I suppose that’s not surprising once you consider how many writers we have and the heathenous poseurdom among those whose prose is not currently caressing your fovea. Consensus is a tall order for this crew, the kind you only get when work is paying for it. If we really got our shit together to pick a favorite, we performed the kind of rigorous internal study necessary – laproscope and all – it would trigger years of bloody sectarian violence. In the end, even if Iron Maiden emerged atop the highest pedestal, Death would command the most zealous supporters. Since our website is the sole source of metal criticism available, I am forced assume our views are universal. Death-worship bands like Shards of Humanity confirm this.” All hail the new olde Gods.

Azusa – Loop of Yesterdays Review

Azusa – Loop of Yesterdays Review

Loop of Yesterdays enters with a burly thrash riff that gives way in seconds to a lull of shady jazz chords. Two minutes later, Azusa are playing both at once. The record’s dichotomous approach spawns many such treasures, oddities that are hardly surprising considering the source. An Extol/The Dillinger Escape Plan supergroup could hardly produce a pedestrian sound.” The future is fleeting.