“Say what you will about Sunn O))), they are iconic. While the music is arguably the stuff to fall asleep standing to or hear in the laundry, the duo is the epitome of metal consistency. Nearly twenty-five years of droned-out, doomed-up, and heavy-as-fuck riffs later, and the duo is still kicking in slow motion. Member Greg Anderson, owner and proprietor of Southern Lord records, offers his own take on the low and slow with a new moniker The Lord, and debut album Forest Nocturne.” O))) God!
“I was surprised how unknown Nadja is around AMG Headquarters. I was parading around the new promo like a goddamn peacock, like “WAOW NADJA’S GOT A NEW ONE GUISE” and was met by a chorus of “uh, who?” The Canucks’ offerings like debut Touched, Radiance of Shadows, and The Bungled & The Botched made regular appearances on my playlist before I lost touch with 2013’s dolphin-themed Flipper. Since, the duo has released five albums, culminating in 2021’s Luminous Rot, which attempts to bring “post-punk, cold-wave, shoegaze, and industrial” influences into the limelight alongside their trademark “dreamsludge” approach.” Dreamsludge on a sunny day.
![High Command – Beyond the Wall of Desolation [Things You Might Have Missed 2019]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/High-Command-Beyond-the-Wall-of-Desolation-01-768x768.jpg)
“I soon began to hear rumblings about Beyond the Wall of Desolation both in the comments here and in the metal community abroad, so I finally forced myself to taste of the fruit that the record has to offer. It’s a good thing that this fruit comes pre-pulverized in smoothie form, because High Command’s brand of thrash lands like a swift punch to the mouth and I found myself sans teeth in short order.” Teeth are for closers.
“I slink out of the Double R Diner booth I’m seated in and saunter over to where Audrey Horne is swaying in the center of the restaurant. Eyes closed, head back, fingers loosely splayed out, I join her in an unhurried groovy dance and lose myself to the music. I watch as a wash of color on the back of my eyelids slowly morphs with the ebb and flow of the music. The soundtrack to our dance, however, is strangely not Angelo Badalamenti’s jazz instrumental but “Muted Shifting of Space,” the hypnotic opening track on BIG|BRAVE’s new fourth full-length album A Gaze Among Them.” Stranger, louder things.
“Mythology has always been a popular subject of metal. Of these, Norse legend is the first and foremost, to the point of cliche, by anything ranging from cheesy power to pummeling death metal. But Sumerian and Egyptian have their fans as well, and even a few Asian and South-American wellsprings have proven fruitful. One underused source of ancient stories is that of Native American culture, a loose collection of mythologies of the many tribes that once roamed the North-American continent, which often worshipped the great beasts of the plains and the elements that provided for them. Eagle Twin, consisting of singer/guitarist Gentry Densley (Iceburn) and drummer Tyler Smith, sought to correct this lack of appreciation with the Native American inspired The Thundering Heard (Songs of Hoof and Horn).” Tribal thunder.
“The metal world is far different than it was just seven years ago. Agalloch was still a band, people still took Wintersun seriously, and this new beast called “metallic hardcore” was first rearing its HM2-powered head. Spearheaded by groups like Black Breath, Enabler, and (arguably) Nails, the style rejected the Gothenburg-inspired metalcore of the mid-00s by instead delivering a violent combination of frenetic metal riffing and pummeling hardcore fury. It was a sound that Massachusetts’s All Pigs Must Die embraced with open arms.” Long story snort; they’re back.
“Ardor, the third full-length by Montrealers BIG|BRAVE opens with a sustained, unending riff. As it reverberates eerily, it suggests that the trio picked up right where they left off with their sophomore release Au De La, veering even further into fields of textures and sparse instrumentation. Their signature sound is a combination of elements from multiple genres and idioms, from post-rock to drone, shaped into an experimental, caustic, and often hermetic concoction.” Bliss in the abyss.
“Crust punk is an interesting beast. Stylistically speaking, its bludgeoning, relentless nature is closer to metal than perhaps any other style of punk, but only a handful of metal acts have dabbled in the genre. Vhol and modern Darkthrone have made admirable attempts at bringing crust to the metal masses, but ultimately the genre has flown under the radar of most fans.” Run with the crust pack.
“If there was ever a band that by all accounts should have broken big when the New Wave of American Heavy Metal took over nu-metal’s spot in terms of popularity and Ozzfest playtimes, Washington, D.C.’s Darkest Hour would be that band.” Ozzfest must not be spoken of.
“The music of American drone metal duo Sunn O))), even though structurally simplistic, is anything but easy to consume. The richness of their sound still pours through layered subtleties that require attentive listening lest they be drowned out by the incisively crumbling riffs.” It’s all about that riff, that riff, that riff.
