“Didn’t get tickets for next year’s Mr. Bungle shows? Feeling olde because Faith No More’s The Real Thing turns 30 this year? Fear no more, for we have you covered here at Angry Metal Guy, with the latest from the always-restless Mike Patton. Content neither to rest on his FNM laurels, nor to simply rehearse for upcoming concerts, he has teamed up with French composer Jean-Claude Vannier for Corpse Flower, a collection of classically-tinged pop songs.” Smell that carcass.
“V, a doomy post-metal band from Sweden, released their first album Pathogenisis in 2017 and are back this year with a six-track concept album. Inspired by a short story concerning the departure from the hustle and bustle of civilization into the wild and remote Finnmark in Dalecarlia, Sweden, Led into Exile chronicles a story of the hardships of living in Finnmark, a will to be secluded from the rest of the world’s insanity, and the ultimate disappearance of one who surrendered to the siren song drifting from the taiga-belt.” Lost in the woods.
“Alright everyone, take a look at that album art and raise your hands if you’re too kvlt for this shit. Cool: head outta the Hall and keep those hands up — you’ll need them for all the high-fiving that ensues as you elitists in exodus bond over your trve superiority. The rest of you should be ashamed ov yourselves try to keep Kenbellina restrained, this thing is pretty much tailor-made for the lil guy and the bulk of this review will be centered around why that’s a bad thing.” Stardusted.
“In Gareth Tunley’s haunting and haunted 2016 film The Ghoul, the whole of reality is bent and infected by the protagonist’s depression. He is trapped in a twisted, magically real manifestation of a Möbius strip. Here, all means of escape are soon revealed to be nothing but bottomless ladders that descend into the darkest craters of the human psyche. The beginning is the end is the beginning. There is no escape. But unlike The Ghoul’s main character who ultimately appears powerless, Portland, Oregon’s A.L.N. has the music of the project Mizmor (מזמור) on his side, both as a weapon and a vessel of catharsis.” WMDs for hope.
“Synergy is such an interesting concept. Take two things, add them together, and occasionally the resulting whole is far greater than the sum of its parts. This effect is rendered even more powerful when the constituent ingredients are seemingly at odds. In the same way that peanut butter slathered all over a bacon cheeseburger elevates it to another level of awesomeness, the curious mixture of hardcore/crust journeyman Todd Burdette (Tragedy, His Hero is Gone, Warcry, and many more) with jack of all metals Tim Call (Aldebaran, Mournful Congregation, The Howling Wind, and many more) has produced Portland, Oregon’s dark metal monstrosity, Nightfell.” Frankenstein lives!
“With multiple platinum records under their arms from the 00’s, the glam-turned-goth collective has been active since the early 90’s. One might assume they intended to be a Sisters of Mercy that actually releases new music. That lengthy career path is evident in some of the stronger tracks.” Goth by the numbers.
“I wish I was born with the ability to remain blissfully ignorant, especially when it comes to the music you and I enjoy. For starters, my output would increase exponentially from not saying “fuck this bullshit” due to bands promoting questionable beliefs this calendar year alone, and I would most likely review an album at face value. Oh, and I would relish in the sheer joy of ignoring the fact sheet that comes packed with about 75% of the music we review. What am I getting at, you may ask? Tetanus Mystique, the second album by French “blackened” death metal merchants Mithridatic, is based on writer Roger Gilbert-LeComte, and his getting high by injecting tetanus into himself. Lovely. Oh, and the album prides itself on being an unflinching look into mental illness and stability.” Bad science.
“After impressing the metalverse with 2013s The White Goddess, the band took their sweet time crafting a followup, and the long-awaited The Course of Empire definitely dials up the Bathory-esque epic Viking side of Atlantean Kodex’s mammoth heavy metal sound. Along with the band’s usual While Heaven Wept meets Manowar on Manilla Road take on oversized throwback metal, there’s a powerful Hammeheart influence under-girding the already titanic, soaring compositions, making for a heavier, darker sound.” Atlantean Empire rising.
“When I tell people I listen to black metal because I find it ‘relaxing,’ I’m often met by bemused stares. How could such ferocious, pummeling music, in any shape or form, be relaxing, they ask? Yet it is precisely the cacophony of noise and shrieking that allows, if only for a few blissful minutes, my overactive brain to rest. Much like children with hyperactivity, who take a stimulant to focus their restless minds, the anxiety, sadness, and worry that constantly swirl around in my brain are temporarily and gloriously cocooned in the chaos of furious blast beats and thunderous riffs that only the most extreme music can provide.” Lo-fi hi-five.
“Back in the early days of my tenure at AMG, I found myself reviewing a fair amount of black metal. As it was only AMG and myself writing reviews back then, it was all hands on deck regardless of genre, and that was how I came to cover a relatively obscure one-man Ukrainian black metal act named Raventale. The project of a mystery man named Astaroth (Balfor, Chapter V: F10, et al), Raventale’s awfully titled 2011 opus Bringer of Heartsore had me enjoying of deep atmosphere on long, meandering compositions that somehow held my attention and transported me to melancholy worlds at discount prices.” Dead gardens, newborn sound.
