Review

Insomnium – Across the Dark

Insomnium – Across the Dark

By Angry Metal Guy on September 9, 2009 in 2009, 3.0, Candlelight, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Finnish Metal, Progressive Death, Reviews, Melodic Death Metal, Progressive Death, Progressive Metal, 5 comments

Insomnium is one of those bands that rides on the border of melodic death metal and progressive rock, straddling the fence between good, solid heavy music and the proggy stuff that all the sadboy metal guys listen to. Those guys who secretly love The Cure and Depeche Mode and end up making stuff that sounds like newer Katatonia, Anathema or Amorphis. This isn’t really a critique, but it lets you know right off the bat where these Finnish melodic metallers are standing in reference to the never ending “is melody metal” war that seems to be going on these days.

Leaves’ Eyes – Njord Review

Leaves’ Eyes – Njord Review

By Angry Metal Guy on September 2, 2009 in 2.5, 2009, Finnish Metal, Napalm Records, Power Metal, Progressive Metal, Reviews, 7 comments

Fame has its benefits. Getting signed immediately after you leave/get fired from your other band is one of those things. Of course, the inevitable problem with fame is that no matter how far away from what you got famous for, you will always be compared to it. And for me, Liv’s voice will live on forever in Theatre of Tragedy’s classic album Velvet Darkness They Fear. Leaves’ Eyes is not Theatre of Tragedy and Njord is definitely not Velvet Darkness They Fear, and while it doesn’t need to be that album all over again for me to like something she’s done, I know it can be better than this.

Amon Amarth – The Crusher (Reissue) Review

By Angry Metal Guy on August 29, 2009 in 2009, 3.0, 4.0, Death Metal, Metal Blade, Reviews, Swedish Metal, 0 comments

Amon Amarth – The Crusher (Reissue) Rating: 4.0/5.0 (Record) – 3.0/5.0 (Reissue) 4.5/5.0 (Live Record) Label: Metal Blade (EU | USA) Website(s): myspace.com/amonamarth | amonamarth.com Release Date(s): USA: 09.01.2009 | EU: 28.08.2009 Amon Amarth is on top of the fucking world right now. The Thor’s Hammer is the new pentagram and every kid is hailing […]

Havok – Burn Review

Havok – Burn Review

By Angry Metal Guy on August 27, 2009 in 2009, 3.5, Candlelight, Reviews, Thrash Metal, 7 comments

How could Havok be anything but thrash? One doesn’t even have to listen to the band to get an idea of what they sound like when one looks at the coloration and logo of the band’s debut album: Burn. And Havok truly lives up to their predecessors, need I name them? Kill ‘Em All era Metallica, Testament, and so forth.. actually, these guys sound like a re-birth of America’s most famous metal scene of all time: the bay area thrash scene.

Threat Signal – Vigilance

Threat Signal – Vigilance

By Angry Metal Guy on August 27, 2009 in 2009, 3.0, American Metal, Canadian Metal, Metalcore, Nuclear Blast, Reviews, Metalcore, 0 comments

Three years after their initial release, after being a true Internet success story, Threat Signal is back with a new album called Vigilance. I never got to review the first album, and I must admit that this style is a little bit too sugary sweet for my tastes, but I was pleasantly surprised with what I heard contained within the borders of Vigilance: a band comfortable in their own shell, producing music that skates the fine line between pop metal, metalcore and thrash. This record is sure to bring delight to those among us who aren’t fans of the more heavy hitting, brutal or technical things that are flooding the market these days.

Guilt Machine – On This Perfect Day

Guilt Machine – On This Perfect Day

By Angry Metal Guy on August 27, 2009 in 2009, 4.5, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Progressive Metal, 8 comments

The modern hero of the progressive rock concept album (that’d be Arjen Lucassen for those not aware) is back with a new project called Guilt Machine and this time, it doesn’t take place in space! I think he’s making steps forward, frankly, because I’ve had some previous experience with Arjen Lucassen. I was never a fan of Star One or Ayreon, despite the fact that many fans of both seem to have objected to many of my critiques. I’m a fan of concept albums, but I’m also a fan of consistent vocals, good melodies and non-embarrassing lyrics: things that do not describe Mr. Lucassen’s past work, in my opinion. Fortunately for the progressive rock/metal world, he’s made up for this with the highly excellent Guilt Machine.

Beardfish – Destined Solitaire Review

Beardfish – Destined Solitaire Review

By Angry Metal Guy on August 2, 2009 in 2009, 3.0, Progressive Metal, Reviews, SPV, Swedish Metal, Progressive Metal, Progressive Rock, 3 comments

“Apparently, someone forgot to inform Beardfish that 1970 has graciously left us behind to suffer without it. If they’re not careful, these guys are going to get lost in a pile of pet rocks, bell bottoms and turtle necks. Still, it’s hard to argue in matters of taste, so I’m going to try to be as fair about this record as I can be. While these guys aren’t really doing something that I enjoy intrinsically, I do appreciate certain things about them and their new album Destined Solitaire.” Angry Metal Guy weighs in on Swedish proggers who will never forget the feeling of ’68.

Valkyrja – The Invocation of Demise

By Angry Metal Guy on July 13, 2009 in 2.5, 2007, 2009, Black Metal, Metal Blade, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Black Metal, 1 comment

Valkyrja – The Invocation of Demise Rating: 2.5/5.0 – Nothing special Label: Metal Blade Websites: myspace.com/valkyrjaswe | valkyrja.swe.name Valkyrja hails from Sweden, where the ice-cold summers, and even colder winters, apparently breed tons of little metal kids. Everywhere you look here you run into a band, and many of them are good. But certainly not […]

Swashbuckle – Back to the Noose Review

By Angry Metal Guy on July 7, 2009 in 2009, 3.0, American Metal, Nuclear Blast, Reviews, 1 comment

Swashbuckle – Back to the Noose Rating: 3.0/5.0 Label: Nuclear Blast (EU | USA) Websites: myspace.com/swashbuckle | swashbuckle.info Release date: July 24th, 2009 (EU) | August 11th, 2009 (USA) Pirates are becoming an all-too-common and all-too-silly theme in our current society—sort of a strange zeitgeist, if you will. Everything from the pirates in Somalia to […]