“Last time around, Steel Druhm summed up both Emerald’s Unleashed and career with one line: “You’ve heard it a zillion times before from far superior bands.” Reckoning Day makes strides towards memorability, but old habits die hard….” Precious.
Sabaton
Stormhammer – Welcome to the End Review
“Life’s a wild, fucking adventure that’s about as satisfying as it is annoying. For every high, there’s a massive low. For every milestone, there’s a setback. For every breakthrough, there are countless failures. Sometimes it gets to the point where all you remember from one day to the next is the bullshit. What does this have to do with Stormhammer and their sixth LP Welcome to the End? A hell of a lot.” Life is pain and power metal can be too.
Pyogenesis – A Kingdom to Remember Review
“Oh, I’ve heard death and I’ve heard black. I’ve heard prog metal albums that I thought would never end. I’ve heard so much shit that it’s all started to blend, but I never thought I’d see Pyogenesis again.” The cease and desist letter is inbound.
Bloodbound – War of Dragons Review
“Bloodbound has been altering their approach from album to album in an attempt to find some mythological metallic sweet spot. Starting life as a cracking traditional metal group, they subsequently drifted into borderline Euro-power and back several times with varied results. On 2014s Stormborn they took things quite deep into D&D Euro-puffery territory with a threadbare Game of Thrones concept.” When you play the Game of Cheese, you win or you fry. Mmmm, fried cheese….
![Wardrum – Awakening [Things You Might Have Missed 2016]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Wardrum-Awakening-768x768.jpg)
Wardrum – Awakening [Things You Might Have Missed 2016]
“With few exceptions, last year sucked for power metal. Sabaton made their first real whiff, Rage dropped their worst album in ages, and Twilight Force tarnished an otherwise solid record with dreadful production. And then came Wardrum.” Bang on the Wardrum all day.
Civil War – The Last Full Measure Review
Copycatting is behavior generally reserved for little twerps on a mulch-surfaced playground at recess (and only slightly less annoying than asking “Why?” non-stop). Imitation naturally extends to metal as well, though it typically has to transcend influence and homage into rank apery before bands get a strike against them. Even blatant mimicry can earn a […]
Pain – Coming Home Review
“I’ve never quite got my head around open-plan office space and those waist-height cubicles. Yes, your hive of corporate activity looks wonderful photographed from seven different angles; prominently displayed on your enterprises website. Oh and let’s not forget about the collaboration! But what’s the cost? Stress-induced irritability, hostility towards creativity and productivity, anxiety and ongoing health issues. Oh wait, collaboration just flew out the window… Where am I going with this? Music. More specifically, metal. Pain have proved themselves inconsistent over the years and as with most things in life, with the good comes the bad.” Good pain, bad pain, you know we’ve had our share….
Gloryful – End of the Night Review
“Those looking for great prose don’t turn to a dictionary. Instead, a writer opens up the ol’ Merriam-Webster tome to get himself a clinical definition of whatever word he happens to be unsure about. With that step out of the way, our writer can hopefully make something great using the technical knowledge he gained. While he’ll remember the dictionary definition, it will never be inspiring to him; it will just be a reminder about what the word means and how to use it correctly in context. When listening to Gloryful’s third record, End of the Night, I kept coming back to dictionaries. It sounds like heavy metal and I suppose it technically is.” Glory is for winners.
Sabaton – The Last Stand Review
“Few people know this about me, but I am fascinated by war. I wouldn’t call myself a “buff” by any means, but I have done my fair share of research on the topic. In particular, my interests lie with the American Civil War. A fascination sparked by my family history. My mother’s side founding Manassas, Virginia and fighting alongside neighbors and friends within the ranks of Mosby’s Raiders. My father’s side hailing from Michigan and fighting for the infamous Iron Brigade.” With that lineage you almost have to like Sabaton.
Gloryhammer – Space 1992: Rise of the Chaos Wizards Review
“I have been accused of being boring and touchy because I dislike parody heavy metal bands. Whenever a band like Steel Panther or The Darkness shows up, I get defensive. “Metal is alive and well,” I argue, and honestly, there are bands that are putting out great power metal and hard rock that gets ignored by mainstream press outlets that rave over parody bands and they sell lots of records. I also tend to get annoyed by comedy lyrics; for the most part those songs are funny once or twice, but after a while they just stop being funny and they become uninteresting because, well, that’s the point. Put this together, and a parody band seems like it should have a lot of strikes against it here at Angry Metal Guy. Not only are Steel Druhm and I firmly anti-fun, but I’m defensive about metal because I don’t want real, talented metal bands getting short shrift next to bands who are just making fun of the sound.” Fun will be had.
