![LiveWire – Under Attack! [Things You Might Have Missed 2022]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Livewire_UnderAttack_01.jpg.webp)
“I don’t remember how I heard about LiveWire’s debut record, Under Attack!, but I do know that its album artwork caught my eye as I scrolled through my Bandcamp feed, and, well, here we are. The Aussie troupe used to operate under the moniker Fenrir, but in 2019 they rebranded and shifted in style. Since then, a few singles trickled out of the pipeline until April, when this absolute supernova of a record exploded into existence.” Hardwired to sponge destruct.
“I came into this promo selection fresh off an ArcTanGent high. Post-metal? Sign me up! With a space rock twist, and themed around Laika, the ill-fated first animal in orbit? Interesting. Also, some gorgeous album art. And Until We Rest Beneath the Winter Way is out ten years after Earthrise’s previous album, debut Eras Lost.” Rise from the grave!
“Stefanie Duchêne sang for gothic metal band Flowing Tears in the 90’s and early 00’s, making some small waves by bucking the trend of Nightwishcore sopranos, but when she left that band she did not return to the style for decades. Now, 20 years later, she fronts Behind your Fear, hoping to reclaim her seat. Does she still know her way into the hearts of metalheads or did she get lost along the way.” Exchanging tears for fears.
Last year, in the midst of endless lockdowns, I got my lucky mittens on King Buffalo’s excellent The Burden of Restlessness. I had not heard another record that more perfectly encapsulated the experience of isolation resulting from the pandemic, nor have I since. The album was announced to be the start of a rapid-fire trilogy, the finale supposed to come out before the year was through. The vinyl crash elongated that schedule a tad, which caused part two, Acheron, to drop in the middle of list season and tumble between wall and ship. It had deserved better; not only is it a wondrous and otherworldly psychedelic trip, the whole album was recorded live in an actual cave for a unique sound not easily reproduced. So let me make it up to the band by at least addressing the closing chapter of the pandemic trilogy: Regenerator.” Royal animals.
“The odds of getting bitten by a shark are 1 in 3,748,067, significantly lower than the chances of being killed by fireworks (1 in 340,733) or normal, non-selfie related drowning (1 in 1,134). Indeed, if you want a good reason to stay out of the water, it’s lightning, which is 47 times more likely to kill you than a shark. What then are the chances of St. Catharines, Canada natives Eaten by Sharks catching lighting in a bottle on their self-released debut album, Eradication?” Sharkratio: Eaten by Stats.
“Ah, Aeternam. Ever since a rush order on their third album, Ruins of Empires, was foisted upon me early in my career as an Angry Metal Serf, the Canadians have become a reliable mainstay in the world of MENA-infused death metal. Ever armed with grit, heft and rock-solid songwriting, any release from this band has been cause for celebration. With Heir of the Rising Sun, we’ve reached album number 5 since the band’s inception in 2007.” Putting on heirs.
“Moonshade treads a fine line between derivation and imitation with their brand of melodeath. Primarily pulling from the teachings of such stalwarts as Omnium Gatherum and latter day Amorphis.” Moon landings and sponge rantings.
“What does New Zealand have to do with Ancient Sumeria? Not a damn thing, but then again, the Brits didn’t play much of a role in the conquests of Alexander the Great and no one batted an eye when Maiden wrote a track about him. So the subject of choice for Nin-an-ak, an ancient Sumerian goddess of kink and war, doesn’t require much justification. Not as much as the name postcards from new zealand, anyway, nor their preference for not using capitals. And definitely not as much as the genre this promo came tagged with: post-sumerian-chamber-death-prog-core.” Dead tongues, dead letters.
“Sludge metal has been a frequent bedfellow of serious, art-y post rock almost since the beginning of the genre. I’m not exactly sure why, but as a product of multiple art schools myself, I can confirm that I and other likeminded insufferable wanks folks are generally drawn to the resulting aesthetic thanks to its confrontational formal elements. Seminal groups like Neurosis and Isis built a template of harsh elegance decades ago that many contemporary bands, Cult of Luna, for instance, are happy to follow. Meanwhile, acts like Vile Creature, The Body, et al up the esoteric factor by injecting drone, noise, or electronics for downright disconcerting sonic textures. New York’s HUSH fall somewhere between these two approaches.” Suave sludge.
“Timōrātus is a deathcore project comprised primarily of David and Courtney Napier. They started out back in 2006 as a decidedly serious evangelical Christian band—their name means “full of reverence towards God; devout” in Latin—until just a couple years ago when they turned to parody in 2020’s My Life In a Mediocre Metal Band. This would explain why the jokes, such as they are, remain doggedly G-rated. One could call them youth pastor-y.” Spinal Pap.
