The Dillinger Escape Plan

The Armed – Untitled Review

The Armed – Untitled Review

“Detroit’s The Armed caught fire in 2012 with their second EP, Spreading Joy and haven’t lost momentum since then; successive years have seen EPs, splits, and singles, but until now an LP has been elusive. Now we know why. This LP, left untitled, is an out-of-left-field insurgency, absolutely decimating the group’s previous output and reinventing the mosh-friendly and hard-hitting mathcore that made “Cop Friends” and “Sterling Results” smash skulls and wreck cervicals.” And worst cover of the year goes to….

Kronos Comments: On Sampling Bias and the Seedy Underbelly of the European Metal Scene

Kronos Comments: On Sampling Bias and the Seedy Underbelly of the European Metal Scene

“Just about every day, Angry Metal Guy pushes out a review of an upcoming or recently released album, producing press for the album whether we love it or hate it. It exposes readers to a lot of material, but disadvantages artists who aren’t putting out music at any given time. Given a small temporal window, this creates a very biased sample of the music scene. I love reviewing albums, but a lot of great and criminally overlooked bands are in between releases right now, and it kills me to see their hard work go unseen. So in order to rectify their invisibility, they’re being talked about here, where you can be held captive by the unbreakable bonds of html and subjugated to my terrible opinions.” Next stop, Europe!

Sylosis – Dormant Heart Review

Sylosis – Dormant Heart Review

Sylosis have been one of the few bands bridging ‘popular,’ festival-headlining, metal with self-proclaimed high-brow or underground metal in recent years. You’re just as likely to encounter flat-cap toting hipster types as you are long-haired, neck-bearded ‘purists’ in the crowds of one of their gigs.” The state of modern metalcore isn’t great, but these blokes look to change all that, or distance themselves from it.

Quartered – Eyes And Ears Review

Quartered – Eyes And Ears Review

“Is there a better way to start a review of a metal album that with a brief discussion of semantics? Yes, there is, but I’m going to do just that anyway, written hooks be damned. Can anyone accurately define what “progressive” metal, or even “progressive” music, is? Is it letting everyone within earshot know that you listened to and enjoyed the entire discographies of King Crimson, Camel, and The Mahavishnu Orchestra?” Semantics? This here website is getting too damn educated these days!

Yer Metal is Olde: The Dillinger Escape Plan – Miss Machine

Yer Metal is Olde: The Dillinger Escape Plan – Miss Machine

“In my experience, there are two kinds of people; the ones that love The Dillinger Escape Plan, and the ones that don’t really get what all the fuss is about. Among the former group, there are those who say that they peaked early and have been cruising since Under the Running Board or 2002’s brilliantly strange Mike Patton collaboration Irony is a Dead Scene. These fans will claim that, after one of these two albums, the band either stopped being abrasive enough or stopped being inventive. In scientific circles, we tend to call sentiments like these “Wrong.” In reality, the zenith of the world’s most beloved mathcore band came in 2004, with a bold and bold-faced album named Miss Machine.”

The Dillinger Escape Plan – Option Paralysis Review

The Dillinger Escape Plan – Option Paralysis Review

The Dillinger Escape Plan’s fourth record, Option Paralysis, has been one of the most anticipated records of this year so far. And for good reason, people are really taken by this band and their unique style. DEP has released some seriously wacky, sporadic records in the past that are both crazy and challenging and yet so very enticing and addictive, even teaming up with Mike Patton (and others) on an EP called Irony Is a Dead Scene. They’re a very hard band to stick into a genre, bordering on technical metal and hardcore as well as pulling in influences from industrial, jazz, acoustic rock and well, you name it, they can do it. That makes them feel very fresh, but can they maintain that freshness on Option Paralysis.