Have you ever wondered what it would be like if Jon Nödtviedt decided to put Dissection to rest after the highly-influential Storm of the Lights Bane and decided to join Dark Tranquillity? Yes, I know, total blasphemy, but weirder things have happened. I mean, W.A.S.P. put out a better record last year than Slayer, for crying out loud. Nothing is completely out of the realm of possibility, right?
“I’m inclined to jump at the opportunity to review any music that surfaces out of the Icelandic metal scene. Their strong talent, adventurous spirit, desire to cross or mix genres and their overall quirkiness usually makes for an exciting listen. That was my expectation with Naðra.” Feel the Icelandic burn!
“Given the early buzz around the band (maybe I just had clued-in metal buddies) and their obvious talent this seems pretty strange, especially as several of their less consistent peers enjoyed much greater industry support. But while their output has been of high quality, it has also lacked personality: their early records were a little too indebted to My Dying Bride, and it was only on 2005’s A Murderous Circus that they developed their sound into something less derivative by incorporating hints of the driving Celtic metal style pioneered by Primordial. So is 2016 going to be the year that Mourning Beloveth finally live up to their early potential and take their place among doom metal royalty?” Can Jean-Luc Ricard make it so?
“My flailing interest in grindcore has been reinvigorated over the past couple of years, due to a handful of excellent bands combining intelligent songcraft with the genre’s typical blasting, white knuckle intensity. So when the opportunity arose to review the latest output from long running grinders Agoraphobic Nosebleed, perpetrators of gleefully brilliant past offerings such as Frozen Corpse Stuffed with Dope, I was stoked for what these drum machine wielding maniacs would have in store for us.” Let the nose run red!
“Every promo to hit my desk receives an initial listen without the reading of websites, promo sheets, or any such fuel that would result in premature judgment. Sometimes absorbing myself in the artwork or the musical theme of the album transforms a mediocre first-listen into something worthwhile. Other times it does not.” Will such a fair and even-handed approach make Evil Drive a pleasure trip?
“This is quite a surprise, as I never expected to hear from these guys again. Manimal (who’s name I hate because it reminds me of the ultra cheesy 70s sci-fi show) dropped a promising debut in 2009 then proceeded to fall off the edge of the world. I forgot them, life went on and then, BOOM! A new Manimal album arrives in my promo bin.” No one knows when the Manimal may strike!
“It’s sometimes hard to keep up with the entity we call [Luca Turilli’s] Rhapsody [of Fire]. Starting in the late ’90s, these Italian cheese-mongers took the power metal world by storm with their bombastic, orchestral power metal. The young, bright-eyed Italian maestros reeled off four albums that added an epic, operatic flair to the neoclassical metal of the 1980s they’d grown up on. While the band’s near-demise is one of the greatest scares of my adult fandom, Rhapsody of Fire’s return from the near annihilation was celebrated with two excellent records and an EP in short succession. Then tragedy struck. Luca Turilli and Alex Staropoli would each get their own version of the band—with Turilli’s staying on Nuclear Blast, and Staropoli’s moving on to AFM.” What became of these poor, Italian maestros in the big, cold, dark world? Click to find out!
“Every now and then, amidst the non-stop barrage of mediocre death and black metal we review here at AMG, we get something that’s a little bit out of the ordinary.” And since we’re all such elitist snobs, we like that.
“When AMG himself dropped a promo on me from a new band from former Gypsyhawk members called Gygax, named after the Godfather of D&D himself, E. Gary Gygax, I was both intrigued and skeptical. I love my metal and nerd tendencies, and Gygax had better come in with a decent THAC0 and saving throw if they wanted to withstand a lashing from yours truly.”
![VOLA – Inmazes [Things You Might Have Missed 2015]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/12371041_10208087369732906_1742163103346762917_o-768x768.jpg)
“VOLA are highly unusual in their approach to modern progressive metal. The most apt description I can define is prog-power by way of djent, offering the catchy melodies of Anubis Gate and Voyager but executed with the staccato, modern heaviness of a post-Meshuggah era.” Some things just sell themselves.
