Shining

Ihsahn – Arktis. Review

By Angry Metal Guy on April 3, 2016 in 2016, Candlelight, Melodic Black Metal, Norwegian Metal, Progressive Metal, Spinefarm, Black Metal, Progressive Metal, 58 comments

“Ihsahn is always in motion. Following a storied career in one of the premier black metal bands of all time, he’s released five full-length albums. Nearly all of those records have been critically acclaimed, but only one has been critically acclaimed by me. While I enjoyed The Adversary, Ihsahn’s post-Emperor zenith was angL. Starting with After, however, Ihsahn started to lose me. What made his earlier material so good—riffs, riffs, more riffs, and slick composition (also riffs)—began to be replaced by increasingly abstract compositions. And when songs like “Scarab” started getting replaced with tracks like “M,” I stopped enjoying new Ihsahn albums. Yet Arktis. marks the next phase for Ihsahn, having finally left the Nihilists behind him.” Praise Zarathustra!

Cobalt – Slow Forever Review

By Madam X on March 17, 2016 in 2016, American Metal, Avante Garde, Black Metal, Profound Lore Records, Reviews, Black Metal, Sludge Metal, 39 comments

“How does one sit down and write a followup album when your discography includes not only Eater of Birds but Gin? The former regarded as “2007’s landmark album” and the latter acclaimed as “a pillar in American extreme metal.” Colorado’s Cobalt put themselves in that very position, and I suspect the process saw them battered and bruised in places they never thought possible.” It’s tough to be a trendsetter.

Urgehal – Aeons of Sodom Review

By Dr. A.N. Grier on February 12, 2016 in 2016, Black Metal, Norwegian Metal, Reviews, Season of Mist, Black Metal, 20 comments

“Without a doubt, Urgehal’s final release, Aeons in Sodom, has to be the toughest review I’ve yet written. It’s not difficult because it sucks or lacks anything worth writing about; rather, it’s difficult because of the strong personal and emotional attachment I have to Urgehal. I am a fanboy, in the truest sense of the word. What makes it worse is that Aeons of Sodom should have never happened.” The Doctor needs a therapist, stat!

Angry Metal Guy’s Top 10(ish) of 2015

By Angry Metal Guy on December 30, 2015 in 2015, Blog Posts, Lists, 234 comments

Twenty-fifteen has been a hell of a ride. It’s been one of my favorite years for music in quite a long time, and I’ve been struggling to prune this list down to 10(ish) records that I really love. But in some ways, the top 5 has never been easier for me to choose. What I find most fascinating about this list is how completely out of step I feel with what I see as being touted as the coolest parts of the underground. I seem to be pretty far afield while everyone else seems to be fawning over the latest ’70s retro doom phenomenon, hope drones, or the latest example of black metal kids missing that intensity not 15 minute songs was the cool part of black metal. This is what it feels like to have been left behind by a scene; to have lived long enough to be that old guy shaking his fist at new trends in metal.

Dodsferd – Wastes of Life Review

By Madam X on December 7, 2015 in 2015, Black Metal, Greek Metal, Moribund Records, Reviews, Black Metal, 32 comments

“Wastes of Life hit me at my most unprepared. Billed as “unapologetically defiant and shockingly melodic” including a statement from Wrath to the effect of “My new album is one of my most soul-destroying albums. It was written under feelings of frustration and disgust.” my expectations were high.” You know, there just aren’t enough soul-destroying albums out there these days.

Melted Space – The Great Lie Review

By El Cuervo on October 20, 2015 in 2015, French Metal, Reviews, Sensory Records, Symphonic Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Symphonic Metal, 28 comments

“Melted Space. A project with more vocalists than Avantasia and more guests than a free beer and sex party. An ambitious metal opera, Pierre le Pape draws together myriad musicians and vocalists in depicting his epic vision on this debut, The Great Lie. It’s a monumental work….” And off to Finishing School we go to get some much needed culture.

Vaee Solis – Adversarial Light Review

By Madam X on August 15, 2015 in 2015, Black Metal, Doom Metal, Mordgrimm, Reviews, Signal Rex, Black Metal, Doom Metal, 20 comments

“Portugal’s Vaee Solis don’t have much experience administering slow tempo lashings steeped in thick doomy riffs, or for that matter, flogging you mercilessly with shrieks and snarls loaded with blackened ideology. It makes sense then that they’d turn to the guidance and creative output of seasoned veterans like Celtic Frost and Venom to light their path.” Whip it good!

Svärta – Sepultus Review

By Dr. A.N. Grier on July 13, 2015 in 2015, A Sad Sadness Song, Black Metal, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Black Metal, 11 comments

“Oddly enough, when I was dropped Svärta’s Sepultus, I immediately thought of last year’s debut from Madmans Esprit. Not that the Swedish black metal outfit is completely comparable to the gothic/black metal band from South Korea, but they share their love for disrupting standard black-metal frenzies with perfectly executed transitions of melody and pure sadness.” Sad boy black metal? Let’s kick sand on it!

Total Negation – Zeitzeuge Review

By Dr. A.N. Grier on June 13, 2015 in 2015, Black Metal, German Metal, Reviews, Temple of Tortorous Records, Black Metal, 6 comments

“Those that know Total Negation know that Wiedergaenger can do more than just play the drums. New release, Zeitzeuge, continues down the road of weird, depressive black metal that Wiedergaenger built; full of depression, German lyrics, oddball percussion instruments, and even some of those stringed ones.” Can the stringed ones carry these tunes above mediocrity?

Shining – IX: Everyone, Everything, Everywhere, Ends

By Angry Metal Guy on June 1, 2015 in 2015, Black Metal, Reviews, Season of Mist, Swedish Metal, Black Metal, 43 comments

“As child of the ’80s, and metal fan of the mid-to-late ’90s, Sweden was a signpost that meant “great metal.” Sweden was a magical haven of everything my neighborhood wasn’t: filled to the brim with amazing bands. Ironically, by the time I moved to Sweden, the things that were left over were the things I liked the least….” That doesn’t sound like a promising start to a review.