Reviews

Arkona – Goi, Rode Goi! Review

By Angry Metal Guy on November 2, 2009 in 2009, 4.0, Folk Metal, Napalm Records, Reviews, Folk Metal, 8 comments

Sure, folk metal is Europe’s deathcore, but somehow it’s so much more enjoyable as a genre! It probably has something to do with the accordions. Oh, and the lack of breakdowns. If folk metal is Europe’s deathcore, than I’d have to say that Arkona is the equivalent of The Red Chord or Between the Buried and Me: so much better than the genre-title implies. Many have come to associate folk metal with the silliness of Korpiklaani and written it off as too much for their tastes. Then there are other people who get a little bit nervous about the sort of nationalistic shit that could easily be associated with a band like Arkona in a land where right wing extremists are definitely an issue. But as far as this Angry Metal Guy is concerned: Arkona is not your average folk metal band and Goi, Rode, Goi! is definitely not your average folk metal record.

The Red Chord – Fed Through the Teeth Machine

By Angry Metal Guy on November 2, 2009 in 2009, 3.0, American Metal, Deathcore, Metal Blade, Metalcore, Reviews, Deathcore, Metalcore, 0 comments

The Red Chord has been one of the best respected bands that really came out of the metalcore scene a few years back. I’ve got plenty of friends who dig these guys and dig this stuff and I can definitely understand why. For fans of the breakdown and the chug, there are few bands out there who do it with the kind of proficiency and.. well, lack of boringness that The Red Chord have managed to do it with. Fed Through the Teeth Machine is another example of the fact that metalcore has produced some bands that don’t make the metal gods sad inside.

Three – Revisions Review

By Angry Metal Guy on October 28, 2009 in 2009, 3.5, American Metal, Metal Blade, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Progressive Metal, Progressive Rock, 3 comments

Progressive rock and metal have been looking for a new band to update the genre with something new and original for a long time. While the progressive metal sub-genre has expanded outward, it seems like progressive rock has been left to whiny emo kids and their pretentious and totally incomprehensible space odysseys. Though in recent times bands like The Dear Hunter have started to appear, they tend to be far more eclectic, and rock oriented than I think many fans of progressive guitar rock are really looking for. So when Three burst onto the scene a few years back and was, really, the first band to do something new and interesting with progressive rock since the mid-90s, they began getting some well-deserved attention.

Nile – Those Whom the Gods Detest Review

By Angry Metal Guy on October 26, 2009 in 2009, 3.5, Death Metal, Nuclear Blast, Reviews, 3 comments

Nile has long been one of the few brutal death metal bands, in that sort of Hate Eternal vein that I’ve ever been a real big fan of. They have, probably due to the judicious use of their musical talent, been able to make a type of brutal death metal that is interesting and varied enough that it doesn’t feel like a waste of time to listen to. Actually, that’s the understatement of the year. These masters of grindy death metal have produced some of the most memorable death metal albums of the modern death metal era starting in earnest with their classic record Black Seeds of Vengeance in 2000, but continuing through to today. 2007’s masterpiece Ithyphallic made my top 10 list and I have been greatly anticipating my chance to listen to the new opus, entitled Those Whom the Gods Detest.

Gorgoroth – Quantos Possunt Ad Satanitatem Trahunt Review

By Angry Metal Guy on October 26, 2009 in 2009, 3.5, Black Metal, Regain Records, Reviews, Black Metal, 0 comments

Gorgoroth is almost more infamous than famous these days. Known for the extremity of its members, its outrageous and genuinely evil and offensive stage shows and, most recently, its law suit, the band has gained the respect of the black metal scene in recent years for moving ahead of the pack with a calculated but extremely raw sound. 2003’s Twilight of the Idols and the band’s 2006 release Ad Majorem Sathanas Gloriam had seen the band slipping from the hands of the former primary writer into the hands of King ov Hell. With that, the sound of Gorgoroth became far more aggressive, blasty and chaotic. Of course, with the split, Gorgoroth reverted to Infernus who wasted no time in producing a new ode to Satan: Quantos Possunt Ad Satanitatem Trahunt.

Hypocrisy – A Taste of Extreme Divinity

By Angry Metal Guy on October 26, 2009 in 2009, 3.5, Death Metal, Nuclear Blast, Reviews, Swedish Metal, 0 comments

Hypocrisy – A Taste of Extreme Divinity Rating: 3.5/5.0 Label: Nuclear Blast (EU | USA) Website(s): hypocrisy.tv | myspace.com/hypocrisy Release Date(s): USA: 11.3.2009 | EU: 23.10.2009 Hypocrisy is a band that should need no introduction in the world of modern death metal. But, surprisingly to me, many in the American scene still are not aware […]

Claustrofobia – I See Red Review

By Angry Metal Guy on October 14, 2009 in 2.5, 2009, Candlelight, Death Metal, Reviews, Thrash Metal, Death Metal, Thrash Metal, 0 comments

Claustrofobia – I See Red Rating: 2.5/5.0 – Drop the scale runs and make it shorter, and this would be a better album Label: Candlelight Website(s): myspace.com/claustrofobia Release Date(s): EU: 19.10.2009 | USA: Release date unclear Anyone who’s ever been a guitarist knows that guy who shames you.Â Well, maybe not everyone, ’cause sometimes you […]

Marionette – Enemies Review

By Angry Metal Guy on October 12, 2009 in 2.0, 2009, 2010, Deathcore, Metalcore, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Deathcore, Metalcore, 0 comments

Marionette may well be Sweden’s very first deathcore band! Well, I guess there could be others, but i’ve not been exposed to them (and frankly, I’m pretty OK with that). Some trends miss Sweden, like nu-metal did for the most part, but unfortunately this one didn’t. So there are a couple of things that I need to say up front, for people not familiar with the context with which Marionette will be dealt. First, the biggest thing in the Swedish underground right now is Japanese stuff. Kids are running off and learning Japanese; everyone and their dog is listening to bands like Dir En Grey and girls decked out in lolita garb are running around in parks playing with dolls and having picnics with every piece of pink they can gather together. This is a trend, and it is a matter of conforming to specific things that are very specific to individuals in that scene. In fact, people from that scene are, in my experience, highly judgmental, obsessed with outward appearance, cliquey and lame. So something in my brain breaks when I have 5 over-dressed glam kids with too much hairspray and neckties screaming “YOU CONFORM!” at me, while playing music that sounds like a blend of In Flames and good ol’ American deathcore. That is to say: ugh.

Belphegor – Walpurgis Rites Review

By Angry Metal Guy on October 12, 2009 in 2009, 3.5, Black Metal, Nuclear Blast, Reviews, Black Metal, Death Metal, 1 comment

Austria’s Belphegor are evil. Really, really evil. They have long been the darlings of the underground for a lot of people and had a reputation for being that old school brand of blackened death metal that was raw and evil as hell. Of course, as big evil pissing contests have never been my thing personally, Belphegor is a band that I have no personal experience with. This is actually the first album I’ve heard from these guys and so I’m coming at this from the perspective a total n00b. That’s right, I used the word n00b in my blog.

Scar Symmetry – Dark Matter Dimensions Review

By Angry Metal Guy on September 29, 2009 in 2009, 4.5, Death Metal, Nuclear Blast, Progressive Death, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Melodic Death Metal, 9 comments

I remember the first time I heard Scar Symmetry very clearly. I was checking out some stuff on MySpace when I saw that they were going to be playing the House of Metal festival and I was blown away. Not blown away with how good they are, though talented one cannot deny they are, but how sickly sweet their melodic stuff is. I sat their and listened to it with my mouth agape thinking “really? Does this pass for death metal these days? How are these guys not a Top 40 band?” The answer to that is actually quite obvious: instead of dropping the death metal vocals, these guys have blended death metal vocals in with what I think is probably the most pop sensible writing I’ve ever heard in a metal band.