Reviews

Assassin – Breaking the Silence Review

By Steel Druhm on March 2, 2011 in 2011, 3.0, German Metal, Reviews, SPV, Thrash Metal, Thrash Metal, 0 comments

It’s old folks week at the Angry Metal Guy offices. That’s because I, Steel Druhm, am officially old and I’ve been tossed assignments for Tankard, Jag Panzer and now, Assassin, the long running, though unproductive German thrash troupe. Along with the aforementioned Tankard, Assassin was part of the German wave of thrash that hit in the mid 80s. Also like Tankard, these guys were in the back of the pack, far behind luminaries like Sodom, Kreator and Destruction. Their 86′ debut The Upcoming Terror was solid, reminded me of a poor man’s version of Artillery (who were amazing on their first two albums by the way) and some even considered it a cult classic. Their 88′ follow up Interstellar Experience was actually less than stellar and passed without much fanfare. After that there was a long period of inactivity due to equipment theft and they didn’t resurface until 2005’s The Club which was uninspiring to say the least (flaming coyote poo to say the most). Now they’re back with album four, Breaking the Silence and a nifty looking cover featuring the return of those bad ass tanks from their debut. So, did these gents fare better than those booze-hounds in Tankard whose album I only just defiled via review? Has the worm turned for these stoic thrashers or was their reformation as unfortunate an idea as wasabi flavored gummy bears? All these questions and more shall be answered so read on intrepid metal fans.

Jag Panzer – The Scourge of the Light Review

By Steel Druhm on February 28, 2011 in 2011, 4.5, American Metal, Heavy Metal, Power Metal, Reviews, SPV, Heavy Metal, Power Metal, 0 comments

Jag Panzer has been an American metal institution since the early 80’s and they’ve always been a band that you could rely on to clobber you with enormous, powerful, top-notch heavy metal of the traditional school. They’re also the original American power metal act. Their take on power metal being far different than the textbook European approach, Jag Panzer were always much heavier, tougher and had more balls than the Helloweens, Gamma Rays and such of the Euro-school. Built around the mammoth, masculine and powerhouse vocals of Harry “the Tyrant” Conklin, the Panzer sound was always hard-edged, large and much closer to the NWOBHM style of Iron Maiden or Judas Priest. After a wait of nearly seven years since 2004’s Casting the Stones, The Panzer finally rolls again and we get album eight (nine if you count the long shelved Chain of Command opus), The Scourge of the Light. Was it worth the long wait? Does Moonsorrow piss in the snow? [Was the Pope a Nazi? – AMG] Of course it was worth it! Scourge is a welcome and mighty return to the metal throne by Jag Panzer and they brings us ten new slices of old school metal glory.

Tankard – Vol(l)ume 14 Review

By Steel Druhm on February 27, 2011 in 2.0, 2011, AFM Records, German Metal, Reviews, Thrash Metal, Thrash Metal, 2 comments

Wow, back in the day when the first few Tankard albums stumbled into the light like a wino from a dark alley, I never imagined these guys would be around very long. While amusing, they were the essence of a third tier act and didn’t stand out all that much even in the heyday of thrash. Well, since I now find myself reviewing album fourteen by these alcohol fueled Germanic thrashers, I would say I was pretty wrong about my initial impressions. While these guys were never in the same league as Sodom, Kreator or Destruction they still managed to become an enduring and productive minor league team. Unlike their bigger peers in the German thrash scene, Tankard was always silly, tongue-in-cheek and largely wrote on the few topics they knew best: drinking, partying and alcohol. Since I myself was a hard partying youth, I casually enjoyed their Chemical Invasion and The Morning After releases for their good humor and frantic pace. After that they dropped off my radar and only in the past week did I start getting to know the Tankard again. Although the goofy, “anything goes” feel is still there, the music and writing doesn’t hold up like I remember it. Once the nostalgia factor wore off, things started tasting a little skunky.

Evergrey – Glorious Collision Review

By Steel Druhm on February 23, 2011 in 2011, 3.5, Heavy Metal, Reviews, SPV, Swedish Metal, Heavy Metal, 11 comments

Doom metal is theoretically designed to make you feel sad and sorrowful. Some of it does the trick, some doesn’t. Oddly, the band that always manages to kill my happy happy joy joy moods completely and utterly isn’t even a doom act. Instead, its “dark metal” masters Evergrey. These guys have made their bones writing increasingly depressive, raw and emotionally crippling music and here on their eighth album, the sorrowful Swedes still haven’t picked up their prozac prescriptions. Yes, Glorious Collision is another massive dose of buzzkilling, fetishistically downcast heavy metal that will make you feel bad about yourself, others and life in general. Doesn’t sound like much fun does it? Well, I doubt anyone will ever argue that Evergrey makes good times music and no, they aren’t much fun to listen to. They are however, very good at what they do and they craft some excellent and beautifully tragic music with powerful feelings.

Before the Dawn – Deathstar Rising Review

By Steel Druhm on February 21, 2011 in 2011, Death Metal, Finnish Metal, Gothic Metal, Heavy Metal, Nuclear Blast, Reviews, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Gothic Metal, Melodic Death Metal, 10 comments

Ah, the life of a reviewer. It has it’s share of perks for sure. The promos, the forum for spouting self-righteous opinions, the money and of course, the women. However, all of that glory fades when compared to the thrill of reporting that a beloved band’s new album is fantastic. This right here was a release I’ve been waiting eagerly for and I had to beg, harass and harangue Angry Metal Guy into letting me review it. Because he’s a harsh but fair employer, he finally relented and let me address the sixth album by these gents from Finland (although that probably means I have to review a crapload of cheesy metalcore albums in the near future [How’d you know!? – AMG]). For those unfamiliar, Before the Dawn is a little difficult to pigeonhole neatly into one genre. They’re essentially a melodic death metal unit with a fair amount of gothic, and at times, doom metal added in. It’s been a successful and highly enjoyable combination and these guys always impressed me with how they blended heaviness with melody and huge hooks. I’m very happy to report that Deathstar Rising is another big success for these guys, contains some of their best material so far and is one of the best releases of the still early year.

Flotsam and Jetsam – The Cold Review

By Steel Druhm on February 19, 2011 in 2011, 3.5, American Metal, Driven Music Group, Heavy Metal, Reviews, Thrash Metal, Heavy Metal, Thrash Metal, 5 comments

OK, I’m gonna be brutally honest here. Flotsam and Jetsam hasn’t been good for a long long time. Although they get huge points for durability, perseverance and stick- to- it- ness, their last truly good record was Cuatro which came out way back in 1992. Few bands demonstrate the Angry Metal Guy’s Law of Diminishing Recordings in such a stark fashion. Their debut, graced with the presence of the soon to be long gone Jason Newsted, was great and considered a classic in some circles. The follow up was angry, thrashy and showed a young, hungry band with scads of potential and a limitless future. Sadly, after that the Flots hit the fan and album three was a directionless, amorphous (not in the good way) blob. Although Cuatro righted the ship, it was also their qualitative high water mark. Since then these Arizona based gluttons for punishment have soldiered on, releasing five albums worth of sub-par metal to ever dwindling patronage. With that tale of metallic tragedy behind us, welcome to album number ten, The Cold. Long ago I learned to approach new Flotsam records with low and/or no expectations so as not to be pummeled by disappointment most cruel. Usually, there were a few respectable tracks per album with the rest being throw aways. Naturally I approached The Cold armed with my standard Flots protocol and to my surprise, the thing ain’t half bad (or 2/3rds bad as they’ve generally been). Do we call it a comeback for the Flotsmeisters? Let’s not get ahead of ourselves just yet huh.

Destruction – Day of Reckoning Review

By Steel Druhm on February 17, 2011 in 2011, 4.0, German Metal, Nuclear Blast, Reviews, Thrash Metal, Thrash Metal, 5 comments

Some bands age like fine wine, some like sushi. It’s a fact of life and we see it demonstrated time and time again. Today we examine the shelf life of Destruction. These gents have been around forever and started life as one of the big three of the Germanic thrash invasion of the early 80’s along with Sodom and Kreator. Their early releases were classics and seminal reference points within the genre. After being dead for the better part of the 90’s, they reformed in 2000 and started life anew as part of the reawakened thrash scene. Since then, Destruction proved themselves to be firmly on the wine side of the aging formula and the reunion albums ranged from good to great with none better than 2008’s D.E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N. Here on Day of Reckoning, their eleventh platter, Destruction once again prove they’re seasoned elder statesmen of thrash with no sushi in sight. This is yet another slab of righteous, riotous thrash with tons of hooks and it demands the horns be raised high in homage.

Ava Inferi – Onyx Review

By Steel Druhm on February 16, 2011 in 2011, 3.5, Gothic Metal, Not Metal, Portuguese Metal, Reviews, Season of Mist, Gothic Metal, 7 comments

Gothic metal, or as I’ve come to think of it, hot-babes-with-epic-pipes metal. I used to love it but admit to getting burned out on it over the last few years due to the over proliferation of these types of female fronted acts. Of course, some bands do it way better than others but it just seemed like there were a million generic, plastic imitations running around and I eventually washed my hands of the whole style. So when I was assigned the new Ava Inferi album, I didn’t have high expectations to say the least. Onyx is the third album by this Portugal based crew which features the guitar work and song writing of Rune Eriksen (Aura Noir) and the vocal stylings of Carmen Susana Simoes. Although these folks are usually classified as gothic/doom, there’s really no doom in their sound in the conventional sense. No crushing riffs, no mournful dirges. Instead, they strive to create a somber, melancholy feeling by playing sedately, with minimal aggression. While I wasn’t blown away by their previous material, this one managed to get under my skin and really grew on me. I must caution however, although I liked it more than expected, I get the feeling many metal minded individuals will not feel the same way.

Deicide – To Hell With God Review

By Steel Druhm on February 12, 2011 in 2.5, 2011, American Metal, Century Media, Death Metal, Reviews, Death Metal, 9 comments

The evil one is back. Yes, he of the upside down cross branded on his forehead. It’s every one’s favorite Christ hater Glenn Benton and his buddies in Deicide and they bring us album number ten, the unsubtly monikered To Hell With God. Now, I’m all about giving these guys their due props and concede their legendary status in the death metal universe. They, along with Morbid Angel and Obituary put the Florida death metal scene squarely on the map in the 90’s. That said, they’ve been wildly inconsistent in terms of quality studio output. You never know what Deicide is going to show up, the brutal and impressive or the brutally shitty (more often the latter making the appearance). Look no further than their past two releases for proof. 2006’s The Stench of Redemption was monstrous while 2008’s Til Death Do Us Part was a steaming heap of buffalo poo. So where does the new one fall, right or shite? Let’s discuss, then we can Deicide together (sorry, had to be done).

Svart Crown – Witnessing the Fall Review

By Steel Druhm on February 9, 2011 in 2011, 4.0, Black Metal, Death Metal, French Metal, Listenable Records, Reviews, Black Metal, Death Metal, 1 comment

Well, I clearly didn’t see this one coming. Never heard of these guys, expected nothing, popped it in and HOLY SHIT! Insane, claustrophobia inducing, vicious, ugly, hateful blackened death of very high quality blasts you into assdust. Apparently, Witnessing the Fall is the second album by this brutal French unit (it seems weird to say brutal and French in the same sentence). Although I know nothing of their first release, I know this one should be labeled “Break in Case of Apocalypse” because that’s exactly what this reminds me of. Although they inhabit the same stylistic space as black/death acts like Behemoth and Belphegor, Svart Crown generate a gripping, uneasy vibe that the others lack and there’s a real aura of fear and dread generated on certain tracks that takes this to a darker, more disturbed place. One thing is for sure, this thing thing will rip and tear at your brainial areas if you let it (and you should).