![Howling Giant – The Space Between Worlds [Things You Might Have Missed 2019]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Howling_Giant-The_Space_Between_Worlds-768x768.jpg)
“A true sleeper hit in every sense of the word, The Space Between Worlds’ style may not be the most innovative, but damn is it tasty. Introducing themselves with three tauntingly brief EP’s since 2015, including the hella fun two-part Black Hole Space Wizard arc, Nashville trio Howling Giant fuses the fuzz of stoner doom with the ambition of prog rock.” Between rock and a vast space.
![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.
![ShadowStrike – Legends of Human Spirit [Things You Might Have Missed 2019]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/ShadowStrike-Legends-of-Human-Spirit-01-768x768.jpg)
“Legends of Human Spirit, the debut LP from Long Island’s ShadowStrike, does the unthinkable: it places the intro track second. The record’s opening track explodes forth with an instantly gratifying blast of power metal, and only upon its completion does the band indulge in 95 seconds of overwrought narration backed by symphonic bombast. I loathe intro tracks, yet this simple restructuring of Power Metal’s Worst Trope is one of my favorite moments on this record. The act of postponing the intro, while bizarre, exemplifies what makes ShadowStrike so successful.” We’re easily pleased.
![Suldusk – Lunar Falls [Things You Might Have Missed 2019]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Suldusk-Lunar-Falls-01-768x728.jpg)
“Spotify’s Discover features serve me well. For without my Discover Weekly playlist or the Artist and Playlist radio station features, I do not know whether I would have stumbled across Suldusk’s stunning debut album Lunar Falls in time to join the flurry of this year’s Things You Might Have Missed posts. Suldusk is the one woman neo folk blackgaze project of Emily Highfield of Melbourne, Australia.” Lunar folk.
![Troldhaugen – Idio+syncrasies [Things You Might Have Missed 2017]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/a2452319573_10-768x768.jpg)
“Are you ready for absolute fucking madness?! Troldhaugen sneaked into view in 2014 with their sophomore album Obzkure Anekdotez for Maniakal Massez, a madcap rollercoaster that blended insane genre-hopping avant-garde with a touch of folk into a spiraling descent through a parody of an asylum.” Insanity is clarity.
![Timeworn – Venomous High [Things You Might Have Missed 2017]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/a1706746269_10-768x768.jpg)
“Like them or hate them, Mastodon have grown into one of the biggest metal bands this side of the millennium. But many pine for their pre-The Hunter era, when they were still playing dense, complex sludge metal instead of smooth progressive metal. If you’re like that, Timeworn should come as an absolute treat.” Snakes. Why’d it have to be snakes?
![Astronoid – Air [Things You Might Have Missed 2016]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Astronoid-Air-768x768.jpg)
“Fearless. That’s the word I keep coming back to when trying to describe this Boston quintet’s debut. Sure, there may be better ways to describe the music – carefree, blissful, soaring – but nothing captures the spirit of Air quite like “fearless.”” Fear is the mind killer.
![Latitudes – Old Sunlight [Things You Might Have Missed 2016]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Latitudes-Old-Sunlight-01-768x768.jpg)
“Very few genres have as clearly identifiable roots as post metal. Without fail, musicians under this label are always traced back to the same key acts. Neurosis. Isis. Cult of Luna. These are the bands that defined post metal for decades. For many, they also acted as the gateway into the genre itself, but not for me.” Gateways to education.
![Départe – Failure, Subside [Things You Might Have Missed 2016]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/cover-768x768.jpg)
“I’ve had my eye on Australian black metal unit Départe ever since they landed an opening slot on the most Kronos-approved tour Europe has seen in the last few years. Jet-setting around the continent with Wormed and Ulcerate is no laughing matte, and all of that exposure before release so much as a demo raised red flags all over the place.” The yearly miss lists are upon us. Take note.
“Supergroups make me weary. For every Down, Vhöl, or Borknagar that comes our way, we get subjected to bands that don’t vary much (if at all) from their more established main groups. The prospect of checking out yet another supergroup doesn’t exactly get my blood pumping, no matter how highly acclaimed that group is promoted by the critics and fans.” The prospects are definitely improving!
