#avantasia — Public Fediverse posts

AVANTASIA – The Metal Opera Part I & II return 25th Anniversary Vinyl Editions & Review related published by La Factoría del Ritmo ('Sun And Thunder Fest 2026'). Only confirmed date in Spain! #Avantasia #MetalOpera #VinylRelease #symphonicmetalband collectorseriesdiy.blogspot.com/2026/04/avan...

https://www.europesays.com/es/469516/ SOEN cierra el cartel de Sun And Thunder, el festival de Heavy Metal de Fuengirola #Avantasia #BlackMetal #DeathMetal #Entertainment #Entretenimiento #ES #España #FolkMetal #HardRock #HeavyMetal #MetalProgresivo #Music #Música #PowerMetal #SOEN #Spain #ThrashMetal #TWISTEDSISTER

When last we saw Sweden’s Evermore, they arrived within these halls, wielding a platter of power metal that was as muscular as it was melodic. The songs on 2023’s In Memorium hit me right in the feels, the crunch of its guitars hit me right in the nuts, and overall, I really enjoyed the record and its beefy, Avantasia-with-the-fat-trimmed-off vibe. While I had some issues with the vocal performance on In Memorium, I saw enough potential in Evermore to be legitimately excited when I saw the promo for follow-up Mournbraid splash into the sump. Once again sporting a be-womaned cover, said promo touts a “sound made of aggressive guitar riffs, soaring epic vocals, and unforgettable hooks—all amplified by a massive, neat production.” It’s a bold claim, but can the music live up to it?

It doesn’t take long for that question to be answered. On first proper track “Underdark,” Evermore sounds heavier than ever and hookier than one of those full-body Velcro suits that sticks you to the wall. In the review for In Memorium, I pointed out that that album’s lead single recycled elements of an Amon Amarth song, and interestingly enough, I can make a similar claim this time around, albeit with even more brutal source material; both “Underdark” and its preceding instrumental intro seem to rehash a melody from The Lion King soundtrack. But no worries! Once again, the pieces work so well together to kick things off that I can’t even be mad.

If you’re like me, when you saw the color palette used for Mournbraid’s cover art, you expected the music to take a turn for the darker, and if you’re like me, you were right. Each iteration of Evermore gets heavier, while still residing squarely within the confines of “melodic power metal,” and they are undoubtedly at their best when they lean into that heft. The more aggressive tracks, like “Mournbraid,” the aforementioned “Underdark,” “Ravens at the Gates” (whose melo-death riffing places the emphasis on ‘At the Gates’), and my personal anthem for 2026, the Dream Evil-esque “Armored Will,” are Evermore’s sweet spot, and they are only made more powerful by Mournbraid’s stellar production—I can’t remember the last time I’ve heard a guitar tone this mighty.

But the deliciousness of the beef makes the blandness of the more subdued side dish all the more glaring. Plopped right in the middle of Mournbraid is “Oath of Apathy,” an unfortunately titled, 7-minute slog of emotion that fails to grab my heartstrings and pulls the emergency brake on the album’s momentum. I won’t count closer “Old Man’s Tale” against Evermore since it’s labeled as a bonus track, but it suffers the same fate, even if it did manage to bring a tear to my eye once when I realized that I am officially the old man in the tale. Fortunately, every other song here is a banger, so I found it relatively easy to overlook this one blunder, although it did keep me from whipping out and slapping down my 4.0.

With Mournbraid, Evermore did just about everything I asked them to do. The vocals seemed to work much better this time around, the band dialed up the heaviness, and that guitar tone, oh God, the guitar tone! These guys have struck the perfect balance between savory and sweet in the world of power metal, and not even a mid-album detour from said balance could keep me from enjoying the hell out of this record. Greatness is coming for these guys. I can feel it in my old bones.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 256 kbps mp3
Label: Scarlet Records
Website: facebook.com/evermoremetal
Releases Worldwide: March 20th, 2026

Angus McSix – Angus McSix and the All-Seeing Astral Eye Review

When last we saw the mighty power metal heroes of Angus McSix, they were a fledgling group with…
#NewsBeep #News #Music #2.5 #2026 #AngusMcSix #AngusMcSixandtheAll-SeeingAstralEye #Avantasia #Entertainment #FreedomCall #Gloryhammer #InternationalMetal #Manimal #Mar26 #NapalmRecords #PowerMetal #review #Reviews #RhapsodyofFire #SymphonicMetal #TurmionKätilöt #UK #UnitedKingdom #VanCanto
https://www.newsbeep.com/uk/474672/

When last we saw the mighty power metal heroes of Angus McSix, they were a fledgling group with a noble aim and a mighty quest: the titular starlord offered promises of adventure and whimsy, with epic aims and a glorious future that had nothing whatsoever to do with Gloryhammer, thank you for asking. Angus McSix could do no wrong on his epic trajectory. Then Thomas Winkler (vocals and the titular Angus McSix) opted to leave the band after their debut, so now McSix’s brother Adam (Samuel Nyman, Manimal) will lead in his stead. So that was a surprise. Still, I have nothing against a new hero, so, like Adam himself, I’m happy to roll with the punches and see what Angus McSix have up their sleeves for their descriptively-titled sophomore, Angus McSix and the All-Seeing Astral Eye.

Unsurprisingly, the core of the Angus McSix sound is pretty much the same. Nyman even sounds uncannily like Winkler on vocals, and the band’s approach to “join our D&D session, the drinks are already here” metal is largely unchanged. It’s a fairly open session too; joining Angus McSix are Rhapsody of Fire (“I Am Adam McSix”), Van Canto (“Dig Down”), Turmion Kätilöt (“Techno Men”), and Freedom Call (“The Power of Metal”).1 Winkler himself makes a brief appearance in opener “6666” for just long enough to say “help me brother, for I am trapped in a block of ice”2 and pass the torch to Adam. It’s a big number3 too, with exactly the kind of over-the-top, bombastic chorus and structure that made Angus McSix and the Sword of Power such a great album. It seems at first that Angus McSix has not missed a step; they pick up exactly where they left off, which is fine by me.

Unfortunately, the rest of the album is not so consistent, with the songwriting oscillating between classic Angus McSix and shakier ground. In particular, the guitars are pushed way back in the mix. The keyboards are similarly brought way up, and, in contrast to the previous album, focused on synths rather than orchestrations, giving several songs a vague ’00s-dance-pop-meets-power-metal feel. “Techno Men,” for example, plays to the industrial metal feel the Turmion Kätilöt singers bring to the song. The chorus, however, is classic Angus McSix, with Nyman singing his heart out on catchy vocal melodies this band does so well. Still, without a strong guitar presence—and the drums don’t pack much punch either, I’m sad to say—a lot of Angus McSix and the All-Seeing Astral Eye feels passive. “I Am Adam McSix” and “Dig Down” are good examples of this; in both songs, Angus McSix slow things down a bit, but only the latter one brings the energy needed to maintain an adventurous feel. This poppier Angus McSix can be a little hit-or-miss.

One of said misses was really unexpected: contrary to their debut, it feels like Angus McSix are trying to be funny. Many of the narrations are intentionally silly; at one point, a narrator describes Adam’s aims as “utterly impossible,” “even more impossible,” and “all in all, a rather questionable plan, except it wasn’t even a plan” (this all from “The Power of Metal,” an otherwise strong song that would be at home on an Avantasia record). Songs like “Ork Zero” embrace the inherent silliness of Angus McSix’s storytelling without overtly acknowledging it and largely succeed; when they do, it falls flat. I love the story of the uber-ork with a heart of gold, but why do Van Canto comment of Adam, “honestly, his tune is really catchy”? Does the phrase “orkish mumbo jumbo” have to appear at all? These feel like unneeded distractions from a group that actually does storytelling fairly well.4

There are great moments and baffling moments on Angus McSix and the All-Seeing Astral Eye. I strongly believe we need more fun in metal and adore Angus McSix for their success in that department. But I feel they missed a step here, leaning too far away from solid songwriting and too much into on-the-nose humor. I remain fully in Angus—and Adam—McSix’s corners, and will be back for the next chapter. But I hope things will feel more like they did back in the day.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: NA | Format Reviewed: Crappy STREAM!
Label: Napalm Records
Websites: angusmcsix.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/angusmcsix
Releases Worldwide: March 13th, 2026

When last we saw the mighty power metal heroes of Angus McSix, they were a fledgling group with a noble aim and a mighty quest: the titular starlord offered promises of adventure and whimsy, with epic aims and a glorious future that had nothing whatsoever to do with Gloryhammer, thank you for asking. Angus McSix could do no wrong on his epic trajectory. Then Thomas Winkler (vocals and the titular Angus McSix) opted to leave the band after their debut, so now McSix’s brother Adam (Samuel Nyman, Manimal) will lead in his stead. So that was a surprise. Still, I have nothing against a new hero, so, like Adam himself, I’m happy to roll with the punches and see what Angus McSix have up their sleeves for their descriptively-titled sophomore, Angus McSix and the All-Seeing Astral Eye.

Unsurprisingly, the core of the Angus McSix sound is pretty much the same. Nyman even sounds uncannily like Winkler on vocals, and the band’s approach to “join our D&D session, the drinks are already here” metal is largely unchanged. It’s a fairly open session too; joining Angus McSix are Rhapsody of Fire (“I Am Adam McSix”), Van Canto (“Dig Down”), Turmion Kätilöt (“Techno Men”), and Freedom Call (“The Power of Metal”).1 Winkler himself makes a brief appearance in opener “6666” for just long enough to say “help me brother, for I am trapped in a block of ice”2 and pass the torch to Adam. It’s a big number3 too, with exactly the kind of over-the-top, bombastic chorus and structure that made Angus McSix and the Sword of Power such a great album. It seems at first that Angus McSix has not missed a step; they pick up exactly where they left off, which is fine by me.

Unfortunately, the rest of the album is not so consistent, with the songwriting oscillating between classic Angus McSix and shakier ground. In particular, the guitars are pushed way back in the mix. The keyboards are similarly brought way up, and, in contrast to the previous album, focused on synths rather than orchestrations, giving several songs a vague ’00s-dance-pop-meets-power-metal feel. “Techno Men,” for example, plays to the industrial metal feel the Turmion Kätilöt singers bring to the song. The chorus, however, is classic Angus McSix, with Nyman singing his heart out on catchy vocal melodies this band does so well. Still, without a strong guitar presence—and the drums don’t pack much punch either, I’m sad to say—a lot of Angus McSix and the All-Seeing Astral Eye feels passive. “I Am Adam McSix” and “Dig Down” are good examples of this; in both songs, Angus McSix slow things down a bit, but only the latter one brings the energy needed to maintain an adventurous feel. This poppier Angus McSix can be a little hit-or-miss.

One of said misses was really unexpected: contrary to their debut, it feels like Angus McSix are trying to be funny. Many of the narrations are intentionally silly; at one point, a narrator describes Adam’s aims as “utterly impossible,” “even more impossible,” and “all in all, a rather questionable plan, except it wasn’t even a plan” (this all from “The Power of Metal,” an otherwise strong song that would be at home on an Avantasia record). Songs like “Ork Zero” embrace the inherent silliness of Angus McSix’s storytelling without overtly acknowledging it and largely succeed; when they do, it falls flat. I love the story of the uber-ork with a heart of gold, but why do Van Canto comment of Adam, “honestly, his tune is really catchy”? Does the phrase “orkish mumbo jumbo” have to appear at all? These feel like unneeded distractions from a group that actually does storytelling fairly well.4

There are great moments and baffling moments on Angus McSix and the All-Seeing Astral Eye. I strongly believe we need more fun in metal and adore Angus McSix for their success in that department. But I feel they missed a step here, leaning too far away from solid songwriting and too much into on-the-nose humor. I remain fully in Angus—and Adam—McSix’s corners, and will be back for the next chapter. But I hope things will feel more like they did back in the day.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: NA | Format Reviewed: Crappy STREAM!
Label: Napalm Records
Websites: angusmcsix.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/angusmcsix
Releases Worldwide: March 13th, 2026

When last we saw the mighty power metal heroes of Angus McSix, they were a fledgling group with a noble aim and a mighty quest: the titular starlord offered promises of adventure and whimsy, with epic aims and a glorious future that had nothing whatsoever to do with Gloryhammer, thank you for asking. Angus McSix could do no wrong on his epic trajectory. Then Thomas Winkler (vocals and the titular Angus McSix) opted to leave the band after their debut, so now McSix’s brother Adam (Samuel Nyman, Manimal) will lead in his stead. So that was a surprise. Still, I have nothing against a new hero, so, like Adam himself, I’m happy to roll with the punches and see what Angus McSix have up their sleeves for their descriptively-titled sophomore, Angus McSix and the All-Seeing Astral Eye.

Unsurprisingly, the core of the Angus McSix sound is pretty much the same. Nyman even sounds uncannily like Winkler on vocals, and the band’s approach to “join our D&D session, the drinks are already here” metal is largely unchanged. It’s a fairly open session too; joining Angus McSix are Rhapsody of Fire (“I Am Adam McSix”), Van Canto (“Dig Down”), Turmion Kätilöt (“Techno Men”), and Freedom Call (“The Power of Metal”).1 Winkler himself makes a brief appearance in opener “6666” for just long enough to say “help me brother, for I am trapped in a block of ice”2 and pass the torch to Adam. It’s a big number3 too, with exactly the kind of over-the-top, bombastic chorus and structure that made Angus McSix and the Sword of Power such a great album. It seems at first that Angus McSix has not missed a step; they pick up exactly where they left off, which is fine by me.

Unfortunately, the rest of the album is not so consistent, with the songwriting oscillating between classic Angus McSix and shakier ground. In particular, the guitars are pushed way back in the mix. The keyboards are similarly brought way up, and, in contrast to the previous album, focused on synths rather than orchestrations, giving several songs a vague ’00s-dance-pop-meets-power-metal feel. “Techno Men,” for example, plays to the industrial metal feel the Turmion Kätilöt singers bring to the song. The chorus, however, is classic Angus McSix, with Nyman singing his heart out on catchy vocal melodies this band does so well. Still, without a strong guitar presence—and the drums don’t pack much punch either, I’m sad to say—a lot of Angus McSix and the All-Seeing Astral Eye feels passive. “I Am Adam McSix” and “Dig Down” are good examples of this; in both songs, Angus McSix slow things down a bit, but only the latter one brings the energy needed to maintain an adventurous feel. This poppier Angus McSix can be a little hit-or-miss.

One of said misses was really unexpected: contrary to their debut, it feels like Angus McSix are trying to be funny. Many of the narrations are intentionally silly; at one point, a narrator describes Adam’s aims as “utterly impossible,” “even more impossible,” and “all in all, a rather questionable plan, except it wasn’t even a plan” (this all from “The Power of Metal,” an otherwise strong song that would be at home on an Avantasia record). Songs like “Ork Zero” embrace the inherent silliness of Angus McSix’s storytelling without overtly acknowledging it and largely succeed; when they do, it falls flat. I love the story of the uber-ork with a heart of gold, but why do Van Canto comment of Adam, “honestly, his tune is really catchy”? Does the phrase “orkish mumbo jumbo” have to appear at all? These feel like unneeded distractions from a group that actually does storytelling fairly well.4

There are great moments and baffling moments on Angus McSix and the All-Seeing Astral Eye. I strongly believe we need more fun in metal and adore Angus McSix for their success in that department. But I feel they missed a step here, leaning too far away from solid songwriting and too much into on-the-nose humor. I remain fully in Angus—and Adam—McSix’s corners, and will be back for the next chapter. But I hope things will feel more like they did back in the day.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: NA | Format Reviewed: Crappy STREAM!
Label: Napalm Records
Websites: angusmcsix.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/angusmcsix
Releases Worldwide: March 13th, 2026

When last we saw the mighty power metal heroes of Angus McSix, they were a fledgling group with a noble aim and a mighty quest: the titular starlord offered promises of adventure and whimsy, with epic aims and a glorious future that had nothing whatsoever to do with Gloryhammer, thank you for asking. Angus McSix could do no wrong on his epic trajectory. Then Thomas Winkler (vocals and the titular Angus McSix) opted to leave the band after their debut, so now McSix’s brother Adam (Samuel Nyman, Manimal) will lead in his stead. So that was a surprise. Still, I have nothing against a new hero, so, like Adam himself, I’m happy to roll with the punches and see what Angus McSix have up their sleeves for their descriptively-titled sophomore, Angus McSix and the All-Seeing Astral Eye.

Unsurprisingly, the core of the Angus McSix sound is pretty much the same. Nyman even sounds uncannily like Winkler on vocals, and the band’s approach to “join our D&D session, the drinks are already here” metal is largely unchanged. It’s a fairly open session too; joining Angus McSix are Rhapsody of Fire (“I Am Adam McSix”), Van Canto (“Dig Down”), Turmion Kätilöt (“Techno Men”), and Freedom Call (“The Power of Metal”).1 Winkler himself makes a brief appearance in opener “6666” for just long enough to say “help me brother, for I am trapped in a block of ice”2 and pass the torch to Adam. It’s a big number3 too, with exactly the kind of over-the-top, bombastic chorus and structure that made Angus McSix and the Sword of Power such a great album. It seems at first that Angus McSix has not missed a step; they pick up exactly where they left off, which is fine by me.

Unfortunately, the rest of the album is not so consistent, with the songwriting oscillating between classic Angus McSix and shakier ground. In particular, the guitars are pushed way back in the mix. The keyboards are similarly brought way up, and, in contrast to the previous album, focused on synths rather than orchestrations, giving several songs a vague ’00s-dance-pop-meets-power-metal feel. “Techno Men,” for example, plays to the industrial metal feel the Turmion Kätilöt singers bring to the song. The chorus, however, is classic Angus McSix, with Nyman singing his heart out on catchy vocal melodies this band does so well. Still, without a strong guitar presence—and the drums don’t pack much punch either, I’m sad to say—a lot of Angus McSix and the All-Seeing Astral Eye feels passive. “I Am Adam McSix” and “Dig Down” are good examples of this; in both songs, Angus McSix slow things down a bit, but only the latter one brings the energy needed to maintain an adventurous feel. This poppier Angus McSix can be a little hit-or-miss.

One of said misses was really unexpected: contrary to their debut, it feels like Angus McSix are trying to be funny. Many of the narrations are intentionally silly; at one point, a narrator describes Adam’s aims as “utterly impossible,” “even more impossible,” and “all in all, a rather questionable plan, except it wasn’t even a plan” (this all from “The Power of Metal,” an otherwise strong song that would be at home on an Avantasia record). Songs like “Ork Zero” embrace the inherent silliness of Angus McSix’s storytelling without overtly acknowledging it and largely succeed; when they do, it falls flat. I love the story of the uber-ork with a heart of gold, but why do Van Canto comment of Adam, “honestly, his tune is really catchy”? Does the phrase “orkish mumbo jumbo” have to appear at all? These feel like unneeded distractions from a group that actually does storytelling fairly well.4

There are great moments and baffling moments on Angus McSix and the All-Seeing Astral Eye. I strongly believe we need more fun in metal and adore Angus McSix for their success in that department. But I feel they missed a step here, leaning too far away from solid songwriting and too much into on-the-nose humor. I remain fully in Angus—and Adam—McSix’s corners, and will be back for the next chapter. But I hope things will feel more like they did back in the day.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: NA | Format Reviewed: Crappy STREAM!
Label: Napalm Records
Websites: angusmcsix.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/angusmcsix
Releases Worldwide: March 13th, 2026

When last we saw the mighty power metal heroes of Angus McSix, they were a fledgling group with a noble aim and a mighty quest: the titular starlord offered promises of adventure and whimsy, with epic aims and a glorious future that had nothing whatsoever to do with Gloryhammer, thank you for asking. Angus McSix could do no wrong on his epic trajectory. Then Thomas Winkler (vocals and the titular Angus McSix) opted to leave the band after their debut, so now McSix’s brother Adam (Samuel Nyman, Manimal) will lead in his stead. So that was a surprise. Still, I have nothing against a new hero, so, like Adam himself, I’m happy to roll with the punches and see what Angus McSix have up their sleeves for their descriptively-titled sophomore, Angus McSix and the All-Seeing Astral Eye.

Unsurprisingly, the core of the Angus McSix sound is pretty much the same. Nyman even sounds uncannily like Winkler on vocals, and the band’s approach to “join our D&D session, the drinks are already here” metal is largely unchanged. It’s a fairly open session too; joining Angus McSix are Rhapsody of Fire (“I Am Adam McSix”), Van Canto (“Dig Down”), Turmion Kätilöt (“Techno Men”), and Freedom Call (“The Power of Metal”).1 Winkler himself makes a brief appearance in opener “6666” for just long enough to say “help me brother, for I am trapped in a block of ice”2 and pass the torch to Adam. It’s a big number3 too, with exactly the kind of over-the-top, bombastic chorus and structure that made Angus McSix and the Sword of Power such a great album. It seems at first that Angus McSix has not missed a step; they pick up exactly where they left off, which is fine by me.

Unfortunately, the rest of the album is not so consistent, with the songwriting oscillating between classic Angus McSix and shakier ground. In particular, the guitars are pushed way back in the mix. The keyboards are similarly brought way up, and, in contrast to the previous album, focused on synths rather than orchestrations, giving several songs a vague ’00s-dance-pop-meets-power-metal feel. “Techno Men,” for example, plays to the industrial metal feel the Turmion Kätilöt singers bring to the song. The chorus, however, is classic Angus McSix, with Nyman singing his heart out on catchy vocal melodies this band does so well. Still, without a strong guitar presence—and the drums don’t pack much punch either, I’m sad to say—a lot of Angus McSix and the All-Seeing Astral Eye feels passive. “I Am Adam McSix” and “Dig Down” are good examples of this; in both songs, Angus McSix slow things down a bit, but only the latter one brings the energy needed to maintain an adventurous feel. This poppier Angus McSix can be a little hit-or-miss.

One of said misses was really unexpected: contrary to their debut, it feels like Angus McSix are trying to be funny. Many of the narrations are intentionally silly; at one point, a narrator describes Adam’s aims as “utterly impossible,” “even more impossible,” and “all in all, a rather questionable plan, except it wasn’t even a plan” (this all from “The Power of Metal,” an otherwise strong song that would be at home on an Avantasia record). Songs like “Ork Zero” embrace the inherent silliness of Angus McSix’s storytelling without overtly acknowledging it and largely succeed; when they do, it falls flat. I love the story of the uber-ork with a heart of gold, but why do Van Canto comment of Adam, “honestly, his tune is really catchy”? Does the phrase “orkish mumbo jumbo” have to appear at all? These feel like unneeded distractions from a group that actually does storytelling fairly well.4

There are great moments and baffling moments on Angus McSix and the All-Seeing Astral Eye. I strongly believe we need more fun in metal and adore Angus McSix for their success in that department. But I feel they missed a step here, leaning too far away from solid songwriting and too much into on-the-nose humor. I remain fully in Angus—and Adam—McSix’s corners, and will be back for the next chapter. But I hope things will feel more like they did back in the day.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: NA | Format Reviewed: Crappy STREAM!
Label: Napalm Records
Websites: angusmcsix.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/angusmcsix
Releases Worldwide: March 13th, 2026

The answer is #Helloween, #MachineHead, #LacunaCoil, #Aephanemer, #Avantasia, #ArchEnemy.

What’s the question?

🔥 Twisted Sister y Avantasia encienden el Sun and Thunder 2026: el metal toma la Costa del Sol

Toda la info en 👉 https://www.guitarcalavera.com/twisted-sister-y-avantasia-encienden-el-sun-and-thunder-2026/

#Avantasia #Destruction #Lordi #PrimalFear #Suna...
https://www.guitarcalavera.com/twisted-sister-y-avantasia-encienden-el-sun-and-thunder-2026/?utm_medium=Guitar%20Calavera%20&fsp_sid=1955&utm_source=Mastodon%20&utm_campaign=twisted-sister-y-avantasia-encienden-el-sun-and-thunder-2026%20

⚡️ ¡Sube el volumen y alza la espada!
Estas son las 10 canciones más legendarias del power metal: Helloween, Blind Guardian, Rhapsody, Stratovarius, Avantasia y más.
#PowerMetal #Helloween #BlindGuardian #Rhapsody #Avantasia #DragonForce #Stratovarius #HammerFall #GammaRay #MetalMelodico

https://rockandblog.net/las-10-mejores-canciones-de-power-metal-de-la-historia/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=jetpack_social

Cea Serin – The World Outside Review

By Mystikus Hugebeard

The game of finding the right words to describe your music is one that all bands must play. Do you tow the line, allowing a reader’s mind to fill in the blanks with something easy like “heavy metal” or “black metal?” Or will you stand out from the crowd with a challenging label, and risk confusion? Thus do we arrive at today’s topic, the Louisiana two-piece Cea Serin1. In some circles, the enigmatic term “mercurial metal” has been coined to described Cea Serin. A tricky turn of phrase that could indeed mean anything! However, I’ve become an expert metal translator after my time spent with Cea Serin. My team of expert analysts have helped me decode that into human language. The direct translation: the Proggiest Prog to ever Prog. Rejoice and/or mourn, depending on your taste for prog, because it’s prog time, baby!

Ah, all in good fun Cea Serin, you proggy boys, you! Anyone who listens to even a moment of The World Beyond would easily clock it as competently written and engaging prog. To steal a term I hadn’t heard before Dolphin Whisperer said it2, Cea Serin play comfy jam prog. Cea Serin aren’t quite as twisting or noodling as Haken or Dream Theater, but more riff-forward in the spirit of Vanden Plas and Threshold. The riffs are often aggressive and straightforward, though there’s plenty of complexity in the sinew binding them together to reward active listening. Supporting these comfy jams are two damn good musicians. Rory Faciane’s work on the kit is precise and expressive, and Jay Lamm, who also effectively covers the keyboards, bass, and rhythm guitar, is a thoroughly talented vocalist. His growls get the job done, but his cleans are a soaring delight. He reminds me a fair bit of Avantasia’s Tobias Sammet but with a deeper heft.

Cea Serin earnestly boasts all the trademarks, cliches, strengths and weaknesses, whatever-you’d-call-them of progressive metal. Gargantuan in scope, The World Beyond is 70 minutes spread across six tracks, none of which fall below the 10 minute mark. Each song builds and maintains a fun sense of momentum; an emotive verse drifts into a righteous chorus (“The Rose on the Ruin”), mournful pianos grow into shredding guitars (“All the Light that Shines”), or a keyboard solo shifts into violins and then into a bass solo (“Until the Dark Responds”). In fact, the ludicrous abundance of shredding solos across The World Beyond are easily the album’s strongest aspect, especially how they glide across the riffs from one to the next with such gleeful abandon. These long, winding sequences are all across the album, but they’re particularly memorable in “Until the Dark Responds” and “The Rose on the Ruin.” A whopping eight different musicians are credited as providing solos, and they do excellent work, always keeping me excited for the next bout of wild guitar-work (or violin, in “Until the Dark Responds”).

Since The World Beyond leans so heavily into its progressive nature, so too does it carry the genres downsides. There are standout moments here and there—soaring choruses in “Where None Shall Follow” and “When the Wretched and the Brave Align,” or the slick shredding introducing “All the Light that Shines”—but truthfully, if someone selected any song at random and started playing it somewhere in the middle, it would be difficult to determine exactly which song is playing. Riffs can begin to blur and blend across the album. There are few real surprises or meaningful shake-ups to song structure, and attention can waver by the end. “All the Light that Shines” especially begins to feel long as it barrels through its movements without any falling action since it leads directly into the following song. The momentum is often exciting, but with consecutive songs of such length, more strongly defined peaks and valleys would not go amiss.

Depending on your appetite for capital-P Prog, however, nothing is really a deal-breaker. The World Beyond is, through and through, just plain fun. The World Beyond is best consumed as whole, surrendering to the journey and losing yourself in the swirl of solos and riffs. Cea Serin are talented musicians who’ve crafted a kickass album that’s sure to appeal to any fan of comfy jam prog, and I look forward to their next album.

Rating: Good!
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: FLAC
Label: Generation Prog Records
Websites: bandcamp | facebook
Releases Worldwide: September 12th, 2025

#2025 #30 #Avantasia #CeaSerin #DreamTheater #GenerationProgRecords #Haken #ProgressiveMetal #Review #Reviews #Sep25 #TheWorldBeyond #Threshold #VandenPlas

Cea Serin – The World Outside Review

By Mystikus Hugebeard

The game of finding the right words to describe your music is one that all bands must play. Do you tow the line, allowing a reader’s mind to fill in the blanks with something easy like “heavy metal” or “black metal?” Or will you stand out from the crowd with a challenging label, and risk confusion? Thus do we arrive at today’s topic, the Louisiana two-piece Cea Serin1. In some circles, the enigmatic term “mercurial metal” has been coined to described Cea Serin. A tricky turn of phrase that could indeed mean anything! However, I’ve become an expert metal translator after my time spent with Cea Serin. My team of expert analysts have helped me decode that into human language. The direct translation: the Proggiest Prog to ever Prog. Rejoice and/or mourn, depending on your taste for prog, because it’s prog time, baby!

Ah, all in good fun Cea Serin, you proggy boys, you! Anyone who listens to even a moment of The World Beyond would easily clock it as competently written and engaging prog. To steal a term I hadn’t heard before Dolphin Whisperer said it2, Cea Serin play comfy jam prog. Cea Serin aren’t quite as twisting or noodling as Haken or Dream Theater, but more riff-forward in the spirit of Vanden Plas and Threshold. The riffs are often aggressive and straightforward, though there’s plenty of complexity in the sinew binding them together to reward active listening. Supporting these comfy jams are two damn good musicians. Rory Faciane’s work on the kit is precise and expressive, and Jay Lamm, who also effectively covers the keyboards, bass, and rhythm guitar, is a thoroughly talented vocalist. His growls get the job done, but his cleans are a soaring delight. He reminds me a fair bit of Avantasia’s Tobias Sammet but with a deeper heft.

Cea Serin earnestly boasts all the trademarks, cliches, strengths and weaknesses, whatever-you’d-call-them of progressive metal. Gargantuan in scope, The World Beyond is 70 minutes spread across six tracks, none of which fall below the 10 minute mark. Each song builds and maintains a fun sense of momentum; an emotive verse drifts into a righteous chorus (“The Rose on the Ruin”), mournful pianos grow into shredding guitars (“All the Light that Shines”), or a keyboard solo shifts into violins and then into a bass solo (“Until the Dark Responds”). In fact, the ludicrous abundance of shredding solos across The World Beyond are easily the album’s strongest aspect, especially how they glide across the riffs from one to the next with such gleeful abandon. These long, winding sequences are all across the album, but they’re particularly memorable in “Until the Dark Responds” and “The Rose on the Ruin.” A whopping eight different musicians are credited as providing solos, and they do excellent work, always keeping me excited for the next bout of wild guitar-work (or violin, in “Until the Dark Responds”).

Since The World Beyond leans so heavily into its progressive nature, so too does it carry the genres downsides. There are standout moments here and there—soaring choruses in “Where None Shall Follow” and “When the Wretched and the Brave Align,” or the slick shredding introducing “All the Light that Shines”—but truthfully, if someone selected any song at random and started playing it somewhere in the middle, it would be difficult to determine exactly which song is playing. Riffs can begin to blur and blend across the album. There are few real surprises or meaningful shake-ups to song structure, and attention can waver by the end. “All the Light that Shines” especially begins to feel long as it barrels through its movements without any falling action since it leads directly into the following song. The momentum is often exciting, but with consecutive songs of such length, more strongly defined peaks and valleys would not go amiss.

Depending on your appetite for capital-P Prog, however, nothing is really a deal-breaker. The World Beyond is, through and through, just plain fun. The World Beyond is best consumed as whole, surrendering to the journey and losing yourself in the swirl of solos and riffs. Cea Serin are talented musicians who’ve crafted a kickass album that’s sure to appeal to any fan of comfy jam prog, and I look forward to their next album.

Rating: Good!
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: FLAC
Label: Generation Prog Records
Websites: bandcamp | facebook
Releases Worldwide: September 12th, 2025

#2025 #30 #Avantasia #CeaSerin #DreamTheater #GenerationProgRecords #Haken #ProgressiveMetal #Review #Reviews #Sep25 #TheWorldBeyond #Threshold #VandenPlas

Cea Serin – The World Outside Review

By Mystikus Hugebeard

The game of finding the right words to describe your music is one that all bands must play. Do you tow the line, allowing a reader’s mind to fill in the blanks with something easy like “heavy metal” or “black metal?” Or will you stand out from the crowd with a challenging label, and risk confusion? Thus do we arrive at today’s topic, the Louisiana two-piece Cea Serin1. In some circles, the enigmatic term “mercurial metal” has been coined to described Cea Serin. A tricky turn of phrase that could indeed mean anything! However, I’ve become an expert metal translator after my time spent with Cea Serin. My team of expert analysts have helped me decode that into human language. The direct translation: the Proggiest Prog to ever Prog. Rejoice and/or mourn, depending on your taste for prog, because it’s prog time, baby!

Ah, all in good fun Cea Serin, you proggy boys, you! Anyone who listens to even a moment of The World Beyond would easily clock it as competently written and engaging prog. To steal a term I hadn’t heard before Dolphin Whisperer said it2, Cea Serin play comfy jam prog. Cea Serin aren’t quite as twisting or noodling as Haken or Dream Theater, but more riff-forward in the spirit of Vanden Plas and Threshold. The riffs are often aggressive and straightforward, though there’s plenty of complexity in the sinew binding them together to reward active listening. Supporting these comfy jams are two damn good musicians. Rory Faciane’s work on the kit is precise and expressive, and Jay Lamm, who also effectively covers the keyboards, bass, and rhythm guitar, is a thoroughly talented vocalist. His growls get the job done, but his cleans are a soaring delight. He reminds me a fair bit of Avantasia’s Tobias Sammet but with a deeper heft.

Cea Serin earnestly boasts all the trademarks, cliches, strengths and weaknesses, whatever-you’d-call-them of progressive metal. Gargantuan in scope, The World Beyond is 70 minutes spread across six tracks, none of which fall below the 10 minute mark. Each song builds and maintains a fun sense of momentum; an emotive verse drifts into a righteous chorus (“The Rose on the Ruin”), mournful pianos grow into shredding guitars (“All the Light that Shines”), or a keyboard solo shifts into violins and then into a bass solo (“Until the Dark Responds”). In fact, the ludicrous abundance of shredding solos across The World Beyond are easily the album’s strongest aspect, especially how they glide across the riffs from one to the next with such gleeful abandon. These long, winding sequences are all across the album, but they’re particularly memorable in “Until the Dark Responds” and “The Rose on the Ruin.” A whopping eight different musicians are credited as providing solos, and they do excellent work, always keeping me excited for the next bout of wild guitar-work (or violin, in “Until the Dark Responds”).

Since The World Beyond leans so heavily into its progressive nature, so too does it carry the genres downsides. There are standout moments here and there—soaring choruses in “Where None Shall Follow” and “When the Wretched and the Brave Align,” or the slick shredding introducing “All the Light that Shines”—but truthfully, if someone selected any song at random and started playing it somewhere in the middle, it would be difficult to determine exactly which song is playing. Riffs can begin to blur and blend across the album. There are few real surprises or meaningful shake-ups to song structure, and attention can waver by the end. “All the Light that Shines” especially begins to feel long as it barrels through its movements without any falling action since it leads directly into the following song. The momentum is often exciting, but with consecutive songs of such length, more strongly defined peaks and valleys would not go amiss.

Depending on your appetite for capital-P Prog, however, nothing is really a deal-breaker. The World Beyond is, through and through, just plain fun. The World Beyond is best consumed as whole, surrendering to the journey and losing yourself in the swirl of solos and riffs. Cea Serin are talented musicians who’ve crafted a kickass album that’s sure to appeal to any fan of comfy jam prog, and I look forward to their next album.

Rating: Good!
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: FLAC
Label: Generation Prog Records
Websites: bandcamp | facebook
Releases Worldwide: September 12th, 2025

#2025 #30 #Avantasia #CeaSerin #DreamTheater #GenerationProgRecords #Haken #ProgressiveMetal #Review #Reviews #Sep25 #TheWorldBeyond #Threshold #VandenPlas

Cea Serin – The World Outside Review

By Mystikus Hugebeard

The game of finding the right words to describe your music is one that all bands must play. Do you tow the line, allowing a reader’s mind to fill in the blanks with something easy like “heavy metal” or “black metal?” Or will you stand out from the crowd with a challenging label, and risk confusion? Thus do we arrive at today’s topic, the Louisiana two-piece Cea Serin1. In some circles, the enigmatic term “mercurial metal” has been coined to described Cea Serin. A tricky turn of phrase that could indeed mean anything! However, I’ve become an expert metal translator after my time spent with Cea Serin. My team of expert analysts have helped me decode that into human language. The direct translation: the Proggiest Prog to ever Prog. Rejoice and/or mourn, depending on your taste for prog, because it’s prog time, baby!

Ah, all in good fun Cea Serin, you proggy boys, you! Anyone who listens to even a moment of The World Beyond would easily clock it as competently written and engaging prog. To steal a term I hadn’t heard before Dolphin Whisperer said it2, Cea Serin play comfy jam prog. Cea Serin aren’t quite as twisting or noodling as Haken or Dream Theater, but more riff-forward in the spirit of Vanden Plas and Threshold. The riffs are often aggressive and straightforward, though there’s plenty of complexity in the sinew binding them together to reward active listening. Supporting these comfy jams are two damn good musicians. Rory Faciane’s work on the kit is precise and expressive, and Jay Lamm, who also effectively covers the keyboards, bass, and rhythm guitar, is a thoroughly talented vocalist. His growls get the job done, but his cleans are a soaring delight. He reminds me a fair bit of Avantasia’s Tobias Sammet but with a deeper heft.

Cea Serin earnestly boasts all the trademarks, cliches, strengths and weaknesses, whatever-you’d-call-them of progressive metal. Gargantuan in scope, The World Beyond is 70 minutes spread across six tracks, none of which fall below the 10 minute mark. Each song builds and maintains a fun sense of momentum; an emotive verse drifts into a righteous chorus (“The Rose on the Ruin”), mournful pianos grow into shredding guitars (“All the Light that Shines”), or a keyboard solo shifts into violins and then into a bass solo (“Until the Dark Responds”). In fact, the ludicrous abundance of shredding solos across The World Beyond are easily the album’s strongest aspect, especially how they glide across the riffs from one to the next with such gleeful abandon. These long, winding sequences are all across the album, but they’re particularly memorable in “Until the Dark Responds” and “The Rose on the Ruin.” A whopping eight different musicians are credited as providing solos, and they do excellent work, always keeping me excited for the next bout of wild guitar-work (or violin, in “Until the Dark Responds”).

Since The World Beyond leans so heavily into its progressive nature, so too does it carry the genres downsides. There are standout moments here and there—soaring choruses in “Where None Shall Follow” and “When the Wretched and the Brave Align,” or the slick shredding introducing “All the Light that Shines”—but truthfully, if someone selected any song at random and started playing it somewhere in the middle, it would be difficult to determine exactly which song is playing. Riffs can begin to blur and blend across the album. There are few real surprises or meaningful shake-ups to song structure, and attention can waver by the end. “All the Light that Shines” especially begins to feel long as it barrels through its movements without any falling action since it leads directly into the following song. The momentum is often exciting, but with consecutive songs of such length, more strongly defined peaks and valleys would not go amiss.

Depending on your appetite for capital-P Prog, however, nothing is really a deal-breaker. The World Beyond is, through and through, just plain fun. The World Beyond is best consumed as whole, surrendering to the journey and losing yourself in the swirl of solos and riffs. Cea Serin are talented musicians who’ve crafted a kickass album that’s sure to appeal to any fan of comfy jam prog, and I look forward to their next album.

Rating: Good!
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: FLAC
Label: Generation Prog Records
Websites: bandcamp | facebook
Releases Worldwide: September 12th, 2025

#2025 #30 #Avantasia #CeaSerin #DreamTheater #GenerationProgRecords #Haken #ProgressiveMetal #Review #Reviews #Sep25 #TheWorldBeyond #Threshold #VandenPlas

Helloween – Giants and Monsters Review

By Steel Druhm

Steel was there 3000 years ago when Helloween dropped their debut EP in 1985 A.D. It was a rough, oddball dose of high-energy metal full of goofy charm. It wasn’t until their Walls of Jericho debut hit later that same year that jaws were really put on the floor. It was fast, frantic, over-the-top, and most importantly, insanely hooky. In a time when Metallica and Slayer were burning America down with angry macho man thrash, these crazy Krauts showed that metal could be fast, fun, and tongue-in-cheek. The Keeper albums cemented Helloween as a major force and defined the parameters of what would become Euro-power metal, and the rest is metal history. The band had ups and downs in the decades that followed, losing founder Kai Hansen and vocal titan Michael Kiske along the way. 2021s self-titled release had the novel concept of reuniting the band with Hansen and Kiske, and along with current frontman Andi Deris, they delivered a 3-pronged vocal attack. It worked way better than expected, and Helloween was a fun romp that flashed moments of long-forgotten power glory. Because I’m a cynical, jaded ape, I honestly didn’t expect the 3-way pumpkin bump to continue beyond a one-album stand, but here we are a few years later with Giants and Monsters, and all 3 vocalists are still hanging around. But can lightning strike the pumpKings twice?

Strangely enough, yes! Giants and Monsters is a strange collection of styles, and it’s only a power metal album about 30% of the time. It plays out more like an Avantasia album than something you’d expect from Helloween, but it works nonetheless. There’s a looseness to the writing, suggesting that the group has become more comfortable working together, and as a result, you get a wide-ranging set of songs covering everything from classic power metal to hair metal and stadium rock. Opener “Giants on the Run” is the perfect introduction as it’s stylistically close to the classic Kiske-era Helloween. It’s got that power metal energy and cheesy, cheery charm. The Pumpkin Pi Boys kill it vocally, and there’s a satisfying chorus. Kai has an especially cool vocal segment, and there’s even a spot where someone (probably Kai) does a dramatically raspy King Diamond-esque thing. “Savior of the World” lets Michael Kiske do his thing on a power-centric song that reeks of the Keepers era and has that big, soaring chorus Helloweenies live for. It’s hard charging and gourd, clean fun. After this happily familiar opening salvo, the band toys with hair rock in the vein of Kissin’ Dynamite (“A Little is a Little Too Much”) and dramatic power balladery (“Into the Sun”), and things just keep coming up plumpkin pumpkin!

There are some big standouts that really make the case for this power trio thing being the serum the band needed. “We Can Be Gods” is a super sticky power rocker that sits between Keepers and the Deris age. “Hand of God” is the progeny of albums like Better Than Raw and The Dark Ride, and it dabbles in Gothy-electronica before clubbing with you a winning chorus. “Universe (Gravity of Hearts)” is an 8-minute power metal bomb dropped at just the right time. The proven formula of soaring vocals over speedy riffs and pounding drums still holds up when the writing is sound, and here it works an iron charm. They make a similar statement on the 8-minute closer “Majestic,” blending their power metal roots with 80s-centric anthemic heavy metal. The guitar work across this track is stellar, and all 3 singers prove their worth. There are no duds present, and every song has its weird charms and endearing quirks. At 52 minutes, Giants and Monsters avoids feeling long despite the presence of multiple 8-minute epics. That’s no easy feat, but these tricky calabash wranglers pull it off with smart track ordering and a great ebb and flow.

On an album with 3 notable vocalists, the big star is the diverse and consistently sharp songcrafting. The absence of throwaway tracks is a win, and the way the album rolls from strength to strength is impressive for a band this long in the tooth. Naturally, Michael Kiske impresses, though he doesn’t often employ his roof-raising, higher-register wails. Andi Deris carries a lot of water and does a great job. His voice is tailor-made for the more rock-centric moments, but he shows his versatility. Some of my favorite moments belong to Kai Hansen, probably due to chronic nostalgia for the early days of Helloween. He can’t do the crazy things he once did vocally, but it’s very comforting hearing him, and he picks his spots well. Guitarists Michael “Ingo” Weikath, Sascha Gerstner, and Mr. Hansen travel through genres and styles, creating a captivating tapestry of leads and harmonies. The solo work across the board is impressive, and they show some balls and grit on the faster cuts.

I expected Giants and Monsters to be a comedown from Helloween, but Giants is actually a stronger, more refined album overall. Maybe the age of the Great Pumpkin really has come back around. Two strong albums back-to-back don’t lie, so something is up in the patch. The power of 3 has bound them and, in the darkness, ripened them. May their newfound youth be fertile and enduring.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 234 kbps
Label: Reigning Phoenix
Websites: helloween.org | facebook.com/helloweenofficial | instagram.com/helloweenofficial
Releases Worldwide: August 29th, 2025

#2025 #35 #Aug25 #Avantasia #GermanMetal #GiantsAndMonsters #HeavyMetal #Helloween #PowerMetal #ReigningPhoenixMusic #Review #Reviews

Damn it, is it christmas already?

A new #Avantasia album (Here be dragons) AND the new #DreamTheater album Parasomnia? AND a new single by #TheStreets? #Hellyeah

#music #musicnerd

Het is de eerste dag van februari en dus het perfecte moment om te kijken welke bands deze maand met nieuwe muziek komen. Niet alleen Dream Theater, ONE OK ROCK, Lacuna Coil en Avantasia brengen albums uit, maar nog veel meer artiesten! Klik op de link en bekijk het hele albumoverzicht. https://buff.ly/3W8N6mm

#DreamTheater #OneOkRock #LacunaCoil #Avantasia #Rock #Metal #Punk

Review: Masters of Rock 2024 – An epic metal anniversary:

#MastersOfRock #Avantasia #Amaranthe #JudasPriest #BruceDickinson #Review

https://metalinsider.net/reviews/masters-of-rock-2024-an-epic-metal-anniversary

Review: Masters of Rock 2024 – An epic metal anniversary:

#MastersOfRock #Avantasia #Amaranthe #JudasPriest #BruceDickinson #Review

https://metalinsider.net/reviews/masters-of-rock-2024-an-epic-metal-anniversary

Festival Review: Tons of Rock 2024 – Day 4

I always have mixed emotions on the final day of a festival - sad that it is coming to an end, but also a little relieved not to have further days of carrying around heavy photography gear! I honestly can highly recommend a litt

https://www.moshville.co.uk/reviews/gig-review/2024/07/festival-review-tons-of-rock-2024-day-4/

#GigReviews #Asinhell #Avantasia #Batushka #Bokassa #CavaleraConspiracy #Kreator #Seigmen #Thundermother #TonsOfRock

Festival Review: Tons of Rock 2024 – Day 4

I always have mixed emotions on the final day of a festival - sad that it is coming to an end, but also a little relieved not to have further days of carrying around heavy photography gear! I honestly can highly recommend a litt

https://www.moshville.co.uk/reviews/gig-review/2024/07/festival-review-tons-of-rock-2024-day-4/

#GigReviews #Asinhell #Avantasia #Batushka #Bokassa #CavaleraConspiracy #Kreator #Seigmen #Thundermother #TonsOfRock

Festival Review: Tons of Rock 2024 – Day 4

I always have mixed emotions on the final day of a festival - sad that it is coming to an end, but also a little relieved not to have further days of carrying around heavy photography gear! I honestly can highly recommend a litt

https://www.moshville.co.uk/reviews/gig-review/2024/07/festival-review-tons-of-rock-2024-day-4/

#GigReviews #Asinhell #Avantasia #Batushka #Bokassa #CavaleraConspiracy #Kreator #Seigmen #Thundermother #TonsOfRock

[MAJ] Motocultor 2024 : le running order définitif et une dernière grosse surprise à l’affiche https://www.lagrosseradio.com/webzine-metal/p162974-motocultor-2024-de-nouveaux-noms-a-laffiche/ #emmaruthrundle #infectedrain #webzinemetal #architects #motocultor #actumetal #avantasia #kvelertak #meshuggah #bobvylan #festival #clutch #igorrr #jinjer #myrkur #t:2024 #metal #opeth

AMG Turns 15: Senior VPs Speak

By Carcharodon

15 years ago, on May 19, 2009, Angry Metal Guy spoke. For the very first time as AMG. And he had opinions: Very Important Opinions™. The post attracted relatively little attention at the time, but times change and, over the decade and a half since then, AMG Industries has grown into the blog you know today. Now with a staff of around 25 overrating overwriters (and an entirely non-suspicious graveyard for writers on permanent, all-expenses-paid sabbaticals), we have written more than 9,100 posts, comprising over seven million words. Over the site’s lifetime, we’ve had more than 107 million visits and now achieve well over a million hits each and every month. Through this, we’ve built up a fantastic community of readers drawn from every corner of the globe, whom we have (mostly) loved getting to know in the more than 360,000 comments posted on the site.

We have done this under the careful (if sternly authoritarian) stewardship of our eponymous leader Angry Metal Guy and his iron enforcer, Steel Druhm, while adhering to strict editorial policies and principles. We have done this by simply offering honest (and occasionally brutal) takes, and without running a single advert or taking a single cent from anyone. Ever. Mistakes have undoubtedly been made and we may be a laughing stock in the eyes of music intellectuals, socialites and critics everywhere but we are incredibly proud of what AMG Industries represents. In fact, we believe it may be the best metal blog, with the best community of readers, on the internet.

Now join us as the people responsible for making AMG a reality reflect on what the site means to them and why they would willingly work for a blog that pays in the currency of deadlines, abuse, and hobo wine. Welcome to the 15th Birthdaynalia.

Thou Shalt Have No Other Blogs!

El Cuervo

AMG and me

When I reflect on what really matters at the end of each year, AMG.com always comes up trumps.1 Its benefits are many, its failings few, and I struggle to imagine my life had I never joined its crew a decade ago. Surprising though this may be to those familiar with my pride, AMG could be an unread blog and it wouldn’t matter. It represents a creative outlet, exercises my brain differently from my corporate career, rewards me with high-quality listening material, and even introduced some individuals that I now consider strong friends. Serving a not-for-profit organization operated by nerds for nerds, with a combined love for their esoteric interest grants me balance and perspective I would otherwise miss in my rigidly structured professional life. Even after thousands of hours of unpaid servitude, it energizes and excites me.

Sure, it satisfies my ego that Angry Metal Guy also attracts thousands of unique readers per article, and has sizable clout in the underground and mid-tier of heavy metal media. I love the bump bands experience following our praise, and even the incendiary comments when we criticize something popular. But these are just the cherry on the top of everything else it affords me. This site nourishes my soul; through creativity, community, and hubris.2

AMG gave to me …

Cormorant // Dwellings – In 2011, I was still relatively new to extreme metal but I already knew that Opeth was one of my favorite bands. A simple Opeth name-drop by AMG in his review was all it took to pique my interest. Shortly thereafter, Cormorant—especially their first two records, 2009’s Metzoa and this—became some of my favorite music too. So much so that a slice of the art from this second record is prominently tattooed on my body. Dwellings is an expansive, unpredictable treasure map of a record. It’s littered with dozens of obvious paths and landmarks, but also subtler trinkets you’ll miss until your tenth listen. There’s so much to admire here, from the burly riff and thunderous vocals opening “Junta,” to the wandering, shredding guitars narrating Kevin Rudd’s apology to Australia’s indigenous population (“The First Man”) and the beautifully delicate interludes on “Funambulist.” Dwellings is the earliest example of many albums introduced to me via AMG.com that have had a lasting impact on either my listening tastes or life generally.

Moonsorrow // Varjoina Kuljemme Kuolleiden Maassa – Although I’d already breached the realms of death metal prior to discovering AMG (via Opeth and In Flames, naturally), black metal had eluded me. It was a gap about which I was concerned, given my moves towards heavier music. Happily for me, the review of Moonsorrow’s sixth full-length blew that door wide open. Varjoina Kuljemme Kuolleiden Maassa is hardly entry-grade material, featuring a bleak atmosphere, alien vocals, and four main tracks each exceeding eleven minutes. But the grand melodies, sharp riffs, folksy slant, and EPIC song-writing scope offered the necessary bait for me. It basically ruined atmospheric and folksy metal for me from the outset; almost no other bands successfully write engrossing, long-form black metal like these guys, despite most of them trying. Listening to VKKM is less like hearing music and more like slowly wandering towards a freezing death in the Nordic wilderness. But in a good way! While the band has arguably produced other, stronger records—the mythological curiosity of Verisäkeet and monolithic Hävitetty are also exemplary—VKKM holds a special importance to me for opening up an entire genre.

Steven Wilson // Hand. Cannot. Erase. – At the age of 22/23, I would describe 2016 as the year that my childhood ended and adulthood began. I was preparing to enter employment at the end of my further education and went through a difficult break-up with a long-term partner. Although Hand. Cannot. Erase. released in 2015, I spent far more time with it the following year. Along with a few other artists outside my typical territory of prog and metal, it narrated that period for me. Progressive rock sits comfortably within my bailiwick3 but the mournful strains of pop found on the title track and “Perfect Life” are what stand H.C.E. apart from everything else. AMG‘s AotY summary was absolutely right in saying that “the emotional engagement that Wilson and co. are able to evoke in me is precisely what makes this album more than the sum of its parts.” It’s my emotional response to the music here that makes this record what it is. Even in the numerous ways my life has changed in the subsequent eight years, I find it a little difficult to return to this one. It’s a landmark album in my life.

I wish I had written …

Avantasia – The Wicked Symphony Review. This album represents not only the vehicle through which I discovered AMG but also one of my favorite albums from the 2010s. It’s the most raucous, overblown and catchy fusion of hard rock and symphonic metal I’ve heard. But my first listen also represented a turning point in my life. Pre-Wicked Symphony, so much of my listening was rooted in bands introduced to me by my dad. Post-Wicked Symphony, these roles were reversed and I now feed him new releases I think he’ll enjoy. I would have loved the contemporaneous opportunity to describe this phenomenon in relation to Avantasia.

I wish more people had read …

Geoff Tate – Kings and Thieves Review. The great Dr. Fisting is the most incisive, humorous writer to ever sit in our ranks, and his review of Kings and Thieves forms his best output. Framed as a letter, Fisting delivers a savage, but wholly reasonable, takedown of a problematic, wayward Mr Tate. The line “hearing you sing about getting laid is about as sexy as walking in on my parents” delighted me at the time and still delights me now. Read this.

Grymm

AMG and me

In all my years of listening to metal prior to writing about it, I was searching long and hard for anything that would come close to the magic that the late, great Metal Maniacs magazine brought to the world. Once I encountered Dr. Fisting‘s immortal(ly brutal) review of Kings and Thieves by ex-Queensryche vocalist Geoff Tate, I knew I had found it. Little did I know that I would call this place home for over a decade. To say this site is special to me, is to understate the impact it’s had on my life, my writing, and how I approach all music nowadays. The fact that I made a second family here among the staff and readers makes this all the sweeter. I don’t regret the time, energy, and tears spent here.

As I’ve said many times, onward…

AMG gave to me …

Reverend Kristin Michael Hayter // Saved! – The most recent and jarring album that I discovered since joining up here, the former Lingua Ignota took all the pain she experienced through abuse, and turned it into a religious, lo-fi cleansing, that was equal parts beautiful, stirring, and brutally uncomfortable. I often waver between experiencing this album to purge, and never wanting to touch it again because it’s that raw. When an album makes you feel those things, you know the artist(s) who crafted it did something right.

Lorna Shore // Pain Remains – I’ll admit, I’m not the biggest fan of deathcore out there, and it doesn’t help that I (unfairly, in hindsight) avoided New Jersey’s Lorna Shore due to the actions of their prior vocalist. What I didn’t know was that they gave said asshole the boot almost immediately after Immortal’s release, and were blessed with the golden throat of one Will Ramos. The rest, as they say, is history. Since then, they’ve been on a majestic ascent that many bands would give everything for, and they rightfully deserve all the success in the world that they’ve achieved.

Darkest Era // Severence – One of the earliest albums I discovered via another writer here at AMG, Irish minstrels Darkest Era deserve far, far more love than they’re currently getting … and from what I’ve heard, they’re getting some well-deserved love lately from all the metalheads. Rightfully so. For, as good as their debut The Last Caress of Light was, Severence saw a major improvement in terms of musicianship and songwriting, seeing them surpass many of their inspirations by leaps and bounds.

I wish I had written …

Any of Cherd‘s Christmas posts, especially the Tarja Christmas album. Sometimes, you’re feeling the Spirit of Christmas4 and you want to spread joy. Sometimes, you just can’t stand the fucking holidays, and just want to laugh your ass off at some damn good (piss)takes on the commercialized, uber-capitalistic holidays, and our holiday cheer-spreader has spent the last few years making us hurt our ribcages from ugly-laughing so damn much to his reviews of Christmas albums, and Tarja’s over-the-top Christmas album was beyond ripe for the taking. I wish I had his propensity for pain humor.

I wish I could do over …

Grymm Comments: On Coming Out and Acceptance in the Metalverse… Again. – Don’t get this twisted; everything I said in my second coming-out piece still needed to be said and, sadly, nothing’s changed. But if you knew even half of the bullshit I endured once it was published, you would too lose all motivation to support the very music that has people in it that want to see you either removed from the scene, or outright dead. My desire to write pretty much died after this went live…

I wish more people had read …

Grymm Comments: On Coming Out and Acceptance in the Metalverse… Again. …but I’m not at all sorry I did it. Metal, for all its acceptance of its wayward misfits, miscreants, and outcasts, still has a colossal problem in terms of racism and homophobia, and it’s only gotten more emboldened over the last decade or so. It’s heartening to see pushback against it though and if that means someone else will pick up the baton, after I laid it down, to call out that bullshit, then all the better. None of the other major players have the fortitude to do so, but there are those who can and will.

Kronos

AMG and me

Look, I don’t write here anymore; I’ve left that to the more capable. But when I did, the reason for it all was that someone gave a fuck whether I was capable or not. When someone first commented to say, “Hey, this is some bad prose” on a Kronos review, that was when I decided that I was going to keep writing for AMG. For all our sins as a website, we did—and those currently writing here still do—care to make what you read here good, and care to connect you with art that is good. The commentariat’s demand for quality pushed me as a writer to produce both the best criticism and the most entertaining writing I could muster, even when I didn’t have much to say. But there came a point when I found I had too little to say to keep saying anything. Seeing the rest of the staff continue to dish thoughtful commentary even on thoughtless art, made bowing out easy. I’m proud to have been a piece of the project for so long.

I hope it keeps going another fifteen years. That way, when I’m a Steel-level fogie and Defeated Sanity are as neolithic as Metal Church, I can return and correct Generation Alpha’s horrible taste.

AMG gave to me …

Dodecahedron // Dodecahedron – If I had never heard Dodecahedron’s opening chords, I may have had a very different life than I do now. Knowing that those sounds exist completely reshaped my relationship with music, shifting my interest from the technical to the visceral. Never before had I felt my stomach turn from sound alone. If there’s any overarching theme in my music writing, it’s the failure to completely capture this sensation in words, to properly express the importance of art that sparks the neurons below the neck.

Melted Bodies // Enjoy Yourself – Well, don’t mind if I do. I thought this sounded OK from GardensTale‘s review and didn’t get around to it until I’d turned in my year-end list for 2020 (after all, I know best, so why bother listening to what these bozos tell me is good). Then I spent 2021 listening to Enjoy Yourself on a weekly basis. Melted Bodies’ sardonic seapunk-infused thrash proved the perfect artistic vehicle to deliver a treatise on hypernormalization and the misery, and seediness of American culture. Far from being just a metal record with a political bent, Enjoy Yourself is more directly a political document printed with a gaudy mix of guitars, synthesizer boops, and blast beats, in which every annoying, hokey lyrical delivery hisses out through a rot-toothed sneer.

billy woods // Hiding Places5 – While I was actively writing, I pretty much knew if I’d like a new metal record well before the review came out. The writers look out for each other, you know? And few were more persistent and reliable gauges of my interest than Kenstrosity, who somehow just knew I’d love this album. Hiding Places carries more than a whiff of the care and crypsis of a great art-house death metal record without being anything close to one. Muted instrumentals creak and twinkle around woods, whose tangled lyrics squint suspiciously at love and belonging, paranoid from decades of imperial violence. Gloomy but electric, woods delivers his piece with a mix of resignation and reprehension that hooks me in every time. It’s not metal, but it is really fucking angry.

Dr. Wvrm

AMG and me

I’ve asked myself what AMG means to me far too often over the last few years. As I’ve fallen out, in and back out of love with metal, with reviewing, and with arguing with “writers” about the finer points of comma usage. As I’ve watched better and more dedicated reviewers slip away to the far side of the hourglass, I’ve wondered what my useless ass is still doing here.

I don’t write; no time, no drive. I don’t read the articles, but then again, who does? I stay in touch with current releases (mostly because Kenneth or Dolphin Fucker or Eldritch shove things they know I’ll like in my face) but am no longer a voracious consumer and cataloguer. My fixations have moved on to other equally meaningless pursuits. Yet here I stay, despite the guilt of missed deadlines and the shame of another broken promise of regular reviews, doing just enough to avoid unceremonious defenestration from The Hall, because I love these people.

This site, those who read it, and particularly those who staff it, are the only people I have ever had in my life who see what I see in this awful music; who understand the ways this awful music can take on a life of its own, suffusing relationships and memories like little else can; who have connected with me and supported me and been so good to me, simply because of this awful, this god-awful music.

AMG, more than anything else, means community, and I consider myself lucky to have found a place at its table.

AMG gave to me …

Wilderun // Sleep at the Edge of the Earth6 – Sleep is (a) an entirely unoriginal selection, (b) the first 5.0/5.0 record to which this site introduced me, and (c) the only metal record my father has ever appreciated. This is a man who once made me turn off Billy Joel.7 After 20 years of musical repartee boiling down to me blasting Cryptopsy’s “Crown of Horns” for laughs, Wilderun managed to bridge our gap. It surely has to do with the literal Berklee grads orchestrating a symphonic masterpiece more than anything heavy about the record, but if I’ve learned anything in this life, it’s to shut up and take your win. The image of the two of us listening to “Hope and Shadow” while driving through the hills of Pennsylvania Dutch Country is vivid in the way those special moments always are, even years later. I’m sure if asked, he couldn’t recall that afternoon. The memory is fine just the same.

The Night Flight Orchestra // Amber Galactic – As Sleep was to my father, so was Amber Galactic to my mother. In many ways, I owe my metal worship to her; if not for a childhood raised on nothing but soft rock, I likely wouldn’t search out the ugliest music humanly possible. While she was never as repulsed by my musical predilections as my father,8 she was also not the audience for Slayer or Children of Bodom, just as I was not the audience for Shania Twain, Rod Stewart or Seal.9 Our tastes diverged for good in the year 2004, leaving little but tussles over the radio knob, and eventually everything else. Our fights were, and are, legendary among our friends and family, which was a badge of honor as an asshole teenager and is now a marker of shame as an asshole adult. I don’t remember how she got wise to Amber Galactic – maybe through me, accidentally. But for the first time in the long-time search for a ceasefire, she was as into “Gemini,” “Domino”, and “Josephine” as I was. It was a good time. That detente didn’t last long, of course, but as a wise man once said, “Shut up and take your win.”

Amorphis // Under the Red Cloud – Under the Red Cloud topped the very first Top Ten I put together, in 2015, still a pre-staff wannabe. Even then, I wanted to foist my awful opinions on the world, and in many ways, that was the first step to my eventual membership here. That isn’t why this review matters to me though. I had no idea who Amorphis was before AMG Himself‘s review of Under the Red Cloud. In the years since, I’ve been grateful for their constant companionship, in the summer sun and on lonely nights like the one on which I write this. I reached for them on a January morning, as the last throes of a Nor’easter snowed me into the maternity ward. I’m passing the hours between bottles by staring out at crystalline whorls as “Enigma” plays. It’s one of my very favorites, in their catalog, in all of music, and I can’t help but share it. I turn the volume down and pass the headphones from my ears to my son’s. It’s only for a moment, and who knows how well you can hear less than a day removed from in vitro, but it’s our moment. It’s this moment, all these moments, that I want to flash before my eyes when my bell finally tolls, and I hope someone turns the speaker up to 11 when they do.

Eldritch Elitist

AMG and me

I’m not sure if any of my colleagues know this, but I have done most of my writing in my nearly 8 year tenure at Angry Metal Guy on my cell phone. I submitted my application to AMG on May 24th, 2016; exactly two weeks later, my first and only child was born. He was a particularly clingy baby, so for months when I’d arrive home from work, he was essentially glued to my arm for hours on end. When Steel Druhm and Madam X graciously brought me on as a probationary writer, I begrudgingly adapted to writing on a stupid-ass, tiny-ass screen with my stupid-ass, big-ass thumbs. The process has been second nature to me ever since.

Let me be perfectly clear: If I was doing this for a shot at writing for any other blog, I would have bailed immediately. But I owed Angry Metal Guy for singlehandedly revitalizing my passion for metal, after my interest in the genre had waned over a half decade of post-high school life. No other outlet compared when it came to treating melodic metal with the same respect and professional level of writing quality afforded to so-called “trailblazers” in the scene. Having the kind of music that made me fall in love with the genre in the first place legitimized by such a talented crew was revelatory. I can only hope my contributions in this space have resonated similarly with others like me.

AMG gave to me …

Beaten to Death // Unplugged – I’m not a grindcore fan. The number of grindcore albums I’ve listened to in full likely ranks in the single digits. I also think that Beaten to Death’s Unplugged is one of the coolest, catchiest, and most compulsively listenable records of the last decade. Part of what makes Unplugged a special record for me is that—aside from its sheer kinetic brilliance—discovering this record through AMG is what made me want to write for this blog in the first place. Jean-Luc Ricard’s spot-on piece wisely zeroed in on this record’s decidedly un-grindy eccentricities, which was vital for enticing genre tourists like myself. Mirroring that review’s impact has been my mission with every positive review I’ve ever penned. For all the self-proclaimed power metal haters who thanked me in the comments for making them one-off converts to records like The Saberlight Chronicles: Thanks for the free dopamine!

Khemmis // Hunted – I used to be a casual appreciator of doom metal. That is, before Steel Druhm reviewed Khemmis’s 2016 opus Hunted, which more or less put me off the genre for good. Hunted is a perfect encapsulation of everything I enjoy in a doom metal record. So perfect, in fact, that everything I’ve heard in the realm of traditional doom metal since has failed to elicit a response stronger than “this is good, but I wish I was listening to Hunted.” This album excels through sheer simplicity and masterful melodic handling, filling any semblance of dead air in a genre where most compositions feel like a waste of space. The tragedy here is that Khemmis’ formula is so effective as to feel effortless in its construction, yet no other band has been able to match these heights, despite the formula for success sounding so obvious to my ears. Were it not for Steel Druhm’s rightfully glowing (if underscored) review, I might have never heard my favorite doom metal album at all.

Xoth // Invasion of the Tentacube – Much like Wilderun before them, I’m not sure Xoth’s recent underground success would have resulted in as strong of word-of-mouth had Angry Metal Guy not been hyping them up since their 2017 debut. Our staff’s collective enthusiasm for promoting unsigned gems like Invasion of the Tentacube is, at least in my eyes, unmatched in getting bands like Xoth the early attention they deserve. Sure, there are many examples of self-released albums that fit these qualifiers, but Invasion of the Tentacube might be my personal favorite. It’s also worth mentioning this record as a reminder for people to revisit Xoth’s early material. Though a bit unrefined (as Akerblogger pointed out in his otherwise glowing review), this album is every bit as entertaining as Xoth’s subsequent LPs, and a neat little time capsule that captures all of Xoth’s ambitions in a charmingly adolescent package.

I wish I had written …

Frostbite Orckings – The Orcish Eclipse Review. I maintain that it was a wise decision to retire the 0.0/5.0 score from our rating system, but for Frostbite Orckings, I should have lobbied to reinstate it for one last hurrah. Ideally, we wouldn’t have given this insulting crap the time of day to begin with10, but the only value this garbage could have had was as a warning example after I pilloried it to fucking death. AI art, whether visual or aural, is not art, and should have no place where real artists struggle to thrive. Oh, and Unleash the Archers can go to hell.

I wish I could do over …

Dunnock – Little Stories Told by Ghosts Review. Speaking of 0.0 scores… I was in a bad space mentally when I wrote this review, and I take full responsibility for giving Dunnock a platform as my personal punching bag. It didn’t feel good to write this, and it didn’t feel good to have people validating my scoring decision in the comments. If nothing else, writing this review changed my philosophy on writing negative reviews for the better. My tastes should have dictated that I had no business reviewing this record, which I’m sure has its fans. Somewhere. I still think it sucks.

I wish more people had read …

Tales of Gaia – Hypernova Review. While the comments section indicates many people read this review, I simply cannot allow this gem to be lost to time. Hypernova left me crying and borderline suffocating from laughter. I have amazing memories of subjecting friends to this record and watching them crumple into a state of helpless hysteria. Unless Tales of Gaia makes another record with the same singer11, you will never hear anything else like this in your life.

Saunders

AMG and me

Various circumstances have conspired to fuck with my 2024 so far, leaving me scrambling as whips are cracked to contribute to this momentous occasion. 15 goddamn years, hey? And going stronger than ever… I am forever grateful and humbled to be a long-term servant to this mighty blog since joining the team during the latter half of 2014. My fading memory cannot quite pinpoint the timeline when I stumbled onto the pages of Angry Metal Guy. However, I remember being struck by the positive and passionate community vibes, the quality, insightful writing, and the no-bullshit rating system. I rapidly became an avid reader and, when opportunity came knocking, I jumped aboard. It’s been an awesome journey to see the incredible growth and expansion over the years.

Initially, I struggled as I adapted to a tight operation and steep learning curve with my then awful formatting skills (surprised I didn’t get the axe right there). Yet it was the professional standards, the support networks, set processes and the ongoing inspiration of the outstanding writing talent adorning these pages over the years that has kept me on my toes, and pushed me to become a better, more rounded writer. I am grateful for the exceptional (occasionally intimidating) writing standards and creative flair that each writer brings, which keeps me honest and inspires me. Not to mention the ridiculous amount of great music I’ve been alerted to over the years.

Writing for AngryMetalGuy.com means the world to me and has been my rock since stumbling across these pages roughly a decade ago. Although I don’t write as much as I would like to, daily visits to the blog remain a steadfast routine. Also, the one-of-a-kind community kicks arse and my writing buddies and colleagues are an awesome bunch of people and an absolute pleasure to work alongside. Here’s to many more great years ahead.

AMG gave to me …

Soen // Tellurian – Just months after I joined the staff, Angry Metal Guy Himself reviewed the sophomore album from Swedish progressive metal band Soen. I had overlooked their debut, and it was the impassioned piece of fine critical writing and subsequent lofty rating that piqued my interest. Being a prog enthusiast and big Opeth and Tool fan (no, not one of those Tool fans), Soen’s emotive, melancholic, chunky, complex and infectious brand of prog metal touched my heart and gripped my soul. It wrapping up top honors on my first year-end list writing here in 2014. It began a love affair with Soen, especially through their golden stretch from Tellurian to 2019’s exemplary Lotus album. Furthermore, Tellurian opened my eyes more and more to the many wondrous bands operating in the modern progressive metal field. A decade later and Tellurian continues to resonate strongly and remains one of my treasured early discoveries on this blog.

Mutoid Man // War Moans – Mutoid Man’s 2017 album War Moans dropped at a challenging period in my life, where I was navigating a career change and plunging into the unknown. Shit got pretty hectic; thus, certain albums took on extra significance in my life. The much-missed Dr Fisting wrote a typically cool review of the zany supergroup’s sophomore album, inspiring me to dip into the crazy world of Mutoid Man and their ridiculously catchy, wild concoction of influences. War Moans quickly ascended to become a go-to album and modern favorite, igniting my rabid fandom of the band to this day. Mutoid Man transcend simple labels, skilfully meshing elements of metal, rock, prog, punk, math and hardcore into cohesive, speedy, rollicking jams. They possess massive crossover appeal, punching out A-grade tuneage with plenty of zip, technical skill, and a knack of cranking the fun factor, and embellishing their batshit, hyperactive formula with wickedly addictive earworm gems.

Bathory // Hammerheart – I am a big metal feature nerd and, though the reviewing game takes precedent, some of my favorite moments are the various feature pieces and passionate write-ups of classic albums. When the curmudgeonly Doc Grier wrote a Yer Metal Is Olde piece on Bathory’s 1990 album Hammerheart, my curiosity was sparked. Although I was a fan of Enslaved and had dabbled in Borknagar, Bathory’s much-adored Viking metal legacy was largely untouched in my historic metal explorations. Branching out of my comfort zone and exploring other styles and genres is an ongoing thrill as a metalhead. This piece triggered me to open my horizons and delve more fully into the battle-hardened, epic realms of Viking metal and associated styles. Hammerheart is a fucking epic monster of a classic opus, that opened further doors for me and broadened my appreciation of not only Viking metal, but certain overlooked black metal gems, including Bathory’s own early classics.

I wish I had written …

For shits and giggles, I could easily go to Dr Fisting‘s Indefensible Positions takedown of Slaughter of the Soul, just for the sheer ballsyness, despite disagreeing with the sentiment. In the end, Grymm‘s killer Yer Metal Is Olde write-up of Acid Bath’s underground classic When the Kite String Pops stands out. This album (and this band) is an all timer for me and Grymm did an outstanding job of conveying why this album is so special and unique. It’s a classic YMIO entry that I occasionally go back to read, giving me the warm nostalgic feels and reminding me why I fell in love with this album back in the day, and why it still holds a place in my heart.

I wish more people had read …

AMG Goes Ranking – Dying Fetus. The Dying Fetus Ranking piece was a special moment in my decade-long career writing on this blog. A long-time favorite and pivotal band in opening my ears to the wonders of the more brutal, slammy realms of death metal, this ranking feature was a proud moment. Despite the collective efforts of my comrades Maddog and Dolphin Whisperer, fewer than thirty comments at time of writing was a little disappointing for a band of Dying Fetus’ stature. I don’t know how many actual clicks it got but I was certainly expecting / hoping for more rabble, agreements, and fiery debates than what occurred.

#2024 #AcidBath #AMGGoesRanking #AMGTurns15 #Amorphis #Avantasia #Bathory #billyWoods #BlogPost #BlogPosts #ComingOut #Cormorant #DarkestEra #Dodecahedron #DyingFetus #GeoffTate #GrymmCommentsOn #LornaShore #MeltedBodies #Moonsorrow #MutoidMan #ReverendKristinMichaelHayter #Soen #StevenWilson #TarjaTurunen #TheNightFlightOrchestra #Wilderun

AMG Turns 15: Senior VPs Speak

By Carcharodon

15 years ago, on May 19, 2009, Angry Metal Guy spoke. For the very first time as AMG. And he had opinions: Very Important Opinions™. The post attracted relatively little attention at the time, but times change and, over the decade and a half since then, AMG Industries has grown into the blog you know today. Now with a staff of around 25 overrating overwriters (and an entirely non-suspicious graveyard for writers on permanent, all-expenses-paid sabbaticals), we have written more than 9,100 posts, comprising over seven million words. Over the site’s lifetime, we’ve had more than 107 million visits and now achieve well over a million hits each and every month. Through this, we’ve built up a fantastic community of readers drawn from every corner of the globe, whom we have (mostly) loved getting to know in the more than 360,000 comments posted on the site.

We have done this under the careful (if sternly authoritarian) stewardship of our eponymous leader Angry Metal Guy and his iron enforcer, Steel Druhm, while adhering to strict editorial policies and principles. We have done this by simply offering honest (and occasionally brutal) takes, and without running a single advert or taking a single cent from anyone. Ever. Mistakes have undoubtedly been made and we may be a laughing stock in the eyes of music intellectuals, socialites and critics everywhere but we are incredibly proud of what AMG Industries represents. In fact, we believe it may be the best metal blog, with the best community of readers, on the internet.

Now join us as the people responsible for making AMG a reality reflect on what the site means to them and why they would willingly work for a blog that pays in the currency of deadlines, abuse, and hobo wine. Welcome to the 15th Birthdaynalia.

Thou Shalt Have No Other Blogs!

El Cuervo

AMG and me

When I reflect on what really matters at the end of each year, AMG.com always comes up trumps.1 Its benefits are many, its failings few, and I struggle to imagine my life had I never joined its crew a decade ago. Surprising though this may be to those familiar with my pride, AMG could be an unread blog and it wouldn’t matter. It represents a creative outlet, exercises my brain differently from my corporate career, rewards me with high-quality listening material, and even introduced some individuals that I now consider strong friends. Serving a not-for-profit organization operated by nerds for nerds, with a combined love for their esoteric interest grants me balance and perspective I would otherwise miss in my rigidly structured professional life. Even after thousands of hours of unpaid servitude, it energizes and excites me.

Sure, it satisfies my ego that Angry Metal Guy also attracts thousands of unique readers per article, and has sizable clout in the underground and mid-tier of heavy metal media. I love the bump bands experience following our praise, and even the incendiary comments when we criticize something popular. But these are just the cherry on the top of everything else it affords me. This site nourishes my soul; through creativity, community, and hubris.2

AMG gave to me …

Cormorant // Dwellings – In 2011, I was still relatively new to extreme metal but I already knew that Opeth was one of my favorite bands. A simple Opeth name-drop by AMG in his review was all it took to pique my interest. Shortly thereafter, Cormorant—especially their first two records, 2009’s Metzoa and this—became some of my favorite music too. So much so that a slice of the art from this second record is prominently tattooed on my body. Dwellings is an expansive, unpredictable treasure map of a record. It’s littered with dozens of obvious paths and landmarks, but also subtler trinkets you’ll miss until your tenth listen. There’s so much to admire here, from the burly riff and thunderous vocals opening “Junta,” to the wandering, shredding guitars narrating Kevin Rudd’s apology to Australia’s indigenous population (“The First Man”) and the beautifully delicate interludes on “Funambulist.” Dwellings is the earliest example of many albums introduced to me via AMG.com that have had a lasting impact on either my listening tastes or life generally.

Moonsorrow // Varjoina Kuljemme Kuolleiden Maassa – Although I’d already breached the realms of death metal prior to discovering AMG (via Opeth and In Flames, naturally), black metal had eluded me. It was a gap about which I was concerned, given my moves towards heavier music. Happily for me, the review of Moonsorrow’s sixth full-length blew that door wide open. Varjoina Kuljemme Kuolleiden Maassa is hardly entry-grade material, featuring a bleak atmosphere, alien vocals, and four main tracks each exceeding eleven minutes. But the grand melodies, sharp riffs, folksy slant, and EPIC song-writing scope offered the necessary bait for me. It basically ruined atmospheric and folksy metal for me from the outset; almost no other bands successfully write engrossing, long-form black metal like these guys, despite most of them trying. Listening to VKKM is less like hearing music and more like slowly wandering towards a freezing death in the Nordic wilderness. But in a good way! While the band has arguably produced other, stronger records—the mythological curiosity of Verisäkeet and monolithic Hävitetty are also exemplary—VKKM holds a special importance to me for opening up an entire genre.

Steven Wilson // Hand. Cannot. Erase. – At the age of 22/23, I would describe 2016 as the year that my childhood ended and adulthood began. I was preparing to enter employment at the end of my further education and went through a difficult break-up with a long-term partner. Although Hand. Cannot. Erase. released in 2015, I spent far more time with it the following year. Along with a few other artists outside my typical territory of prog and metal, it narrated that period for me. Progressive rock sits comfortably within my bailiwick3 but the mournful strains of pop found on the title track and “Perfect Life” are what stand H.C.E. apart from everything else. AMG‘s AotY summary was absolutely right in saying that “the emotional engagement that Wilson and co. are able to evoke in me is precisely what makes this album more than the sum of its parts.” It’s my emotional response to the music here that makes this record what it is. Even in the numerous ways my life has changed in the subsequent eight years, I find it a little difficult to return to this one. It’s a landmark album in my life.

I wish I had written …

Avantasia – The Wicked Symphony Review. This album represents not only the vehicle through which I discovered AMG but also one of my favorite albums from the 2010s. It’s the most raucous, overblown and catchy fusion of hard rock and symphonic metal I’ve heard. But my first listen also represented a turning point in my life. Pre-Wicked Symphony, so much of my listening was rooted in bands introduced to me by my dad. Post-Wicked Symphony, these roles were reversed and I now feed him new releases I think he’ll enjoy. I would have loved the contemporaneous opportunity to describe this phenomenon in relation to Avantasia.

I wish more people had read …

Geoff Tate – Kings and Thieves Review. The great Dr. Fisting is the most incisive, humorous writer to ever sit in our ranks, and his review of Kings and Thieves forms his best output. Framed as a letter, Fisting delivers a savage, but wholly reasonable, takedown of a problematic, wayward Mr Tate. The line “hearing you sing about getting laid is about as sexy as walking in on my parents” delighted me at the time and still delights me now. Read this.

Grymm

AMG and me

In all my years of listening to metal prior to writing about it, I was searching long and hard for anything that would come close to the magic that the late, great Metal Maniacs magazine brought to the world. Once I encountered Dr. Fisting‘s immortal(ly brutal) review of Kings and Thieves by ex-Queensryche vocalist Geoff Tate, I knew I had found it. Little did I know that I would call this place home for over a decade. To say this site is special to me, is to understate the impact it’s had on my life, my writing, and how I approach all music nowadays. The fact that I made a second family here among the staff and readers makes this all the sweeter. I don’t regret the time, energy, and tears spent here.

As I’ve said many times, onward…

AMG gave to me …

Reverend Kristin Michael Hayter // Saved! – The most recent and jarring album that I discovered since joining up here, the former Lingua Ignota took all the pain she experienced through abuse, and turned it into a religious, lo-fi cleansing, that was equal parts beautiful, stirring, and brutally uncomfortable. I often waver between experiencing this album to purge, and never wanting to touch it again because it’s that raw. When an album makes you feel those things, you know the artist(s) who crafted it did something right.

Lorna Shore // Pain Remains – I’ll admit, I’m not the biggest fan of deathcore out there, and it doesn’t help that I (unfairly, in hindsight) avoided New Jersey’s Lorna Shore due to the actions of their prior vocalist. What I didn’t know was that they gave said asshole the boot almost immediately after Immortal’s release, and were blessed with the golden throat of one Will Ramos. The rest, as they say, is history. Since then, they’ve been on a majestic ascent that many bands would give everything for, and they rightfully deserve all the success in the world that they’ve achieved.

Darkest Era // Severence – One of the earliest albums I discovered via another writer here at AMG, Irish minstrels Darkest Era deserve far, far more love than they’re currently getting … and from what I’ve heard, they’re getting some well-deserved love lately from all the metalheads. Rightfully so. For, as good as their debut The Last Caress of Light was, Severence saw a major improvement in terms of musicianship and songwriting, seeing them surpass many of their inspirations by leaps and bounds.

I wish I had written …

Any of Cherd‘s Christmas posts, especially the Tarja Christmas album. Sometimes, you’re feeling the Spirit of Christmas4 and you want to spread joy. Sometimes, you just can’t stand the fucking holidays, and just want to laugh your ass off at some damn good (piss)takes on the commercialized, uber-capitalistic holidays, and our holiday cheer-spreader has spent the last few years making us hurt our ribcages from ugly-laughing so damn much to his reviews of Christmas albums, and Tarja’s over-the-top Christmas album was beyond ripe for the taking. I wish I had his propensity for pain humor.

I wish I could do over …

Grymm Comments: On Coming Out and Acceptance in the Metalverse… Again. – Don’t get this twisted; everything I said in my second coming-out piece still needed to be said and, sadly, nothing’s changed. But if you knew even half of the bullshit I endured once it was published, you would too lose all motivation to support the very music that has people in it that want to see you either removed from the scene, or outright dead. My desire to write pretty much died after this went live…

I wish more people had read …

Grymm Comments: On Coming Out and Acceptance in the Metalverse… Again. …but I’m not at all sorry I did it. Metal, for all its acceptance of its wayward misfits, miscreants, and outcasts, still has a colossal problem in terms of racism and homophobia, and it’s only gotten more emboldened over the last decade or so. It’s heartening to see pushback against it though and if that means someone else will pick up the baton, after I laid it down, to call out that bullshit, then all the better. None of the other major players have the fortitude to do so, but there are those who can and will.

Kronos

AMG and me

Look, I don’t write here anymore; I’ve left that to the more capable. But when I did, the reason for it all was that someone gave a fuck whether I was capable or not. When someone first commented to say, “Hey, this is some bad prose” on a Kronos review, that was when I decided that I was going to keep writing for AMG. For all our sins as a website, we did—and those currently writing here still do—care to make what you read here good, and care to connect you with art that is good. The commentariat’s demand for quality pushed me as a writer to produce both the best criticism and the most entertaining writing I could muster, even when I didn’t have much to say. But there came a point when I found I had too little to say to keep saying anything. Seeing the rest of the staff continue to dish thoughtful commentary even on thoughtless art, made bowing out easy. I’m proud to have been a piece of the project for so long.

I hope it keeps going another fifteen years. That way, when I’m a Steel-level fogie and Defeated Sanity are as neolithic as Metal Church, I can return and correct Generation Alpha’s horrible taste.

AMG gave to me …

Dodecahedron // Dodecahedron – If I had never heard Dodecahedron’s opening chords, I may have had a very different life than I do now. Knowing that those sounds exist completely reshaped my relationship with music, shifting my interest from the technical to the visceral. Never before had I felt my stomach turn from sound alone. If there’s any overarching theme in my music writing, it’s the failure to completely capture this sensation in words, to properly express the importance of art that sparks the neurons below the neck.

Melted Bodies // Enjoy Yourself – Well, don’t mind if I do. I thought this sounded OK from GardensTale‘s review and didn’t get around to it until I’d turned in my year-end list for 2020 (after all, I know best, so why bother listening to what these bozos tell me is good). Then I spent 2021 listening to Enjoy Yourself on a weekly basis. Melted Bodies’ sardonic seapunk-infused thrash proved the perfect artistic vehicle to deliver a treatise on hypernormalization and the misery, and seediness of American culture. Far from being just a metal record with a political bent, Enjoy Yourself is more directly a political document printed with a gaudy mix of guitars, synthesizer boops, and blast beats, in which every annoying, hokey lyrical delivery hisses out through a rot-toothed sneer.

billy woods // Hiding Places5 – While I was actively writing, I pretty much knew if I’d like a new metal record well before the review came out. The writers look out for each other, you know? And few were more persistent and reliable gauges of my interest than Kenstrosity, who somehow just knew I’d love this album. Hiding Places carries more than a whiff of the care and crypsis of a great art-house death metal record without being anything close to one. Muted instrumentals creak and twinkle around woods, whose tangled lyrics squint suspiciously at love and belonging, paranoid from decades of imperial violence. Gloomy but electric, woods delivers his piece with a mix of resignation and reprehension that hooks me in every time. It’s not metal, but it is really fucking angry.

Dr. Wvrm

AMG and me

I’ve asked myself what AMG means to me far too often over the last few years. As I’ve fallen out, in and back out of love with metal, with reviewing, and with arguing with “writers” about the finer points of comma usage. As I’ve watched better and more dedicated reviewers slip away to the far side of the hourglass, I’ve wondered what my useless ass is still doing here.

I don’t write; no time, no drive. I don’t read the articles, but then again, who does? I stay in touch with current releases (mostly because Kenneth or Dolphin Fucker or Eldritch shove things they know I’ll like in my face) but am no longer a voracious consumer and cataloguer. My fixations have moved on to other equally meaningless pursuits. Yet here I stay, despite the guilt of missed deadlines and the shame of another broken promise of regular reviews, doing just enough to avoid unceremonious defenestration from The Hall, because I love these people.

This site, those who read it, and particularly those who staff it, are the only people I have ever had in my life who see what I see in this awful music; who understand the ways this awful music can take on a life of its own, suffusing relationships and memories like little else can; who have connected with me and supported me and been so good to me, simply because of this awful, this god-awful music.

AMG, more than anything else, means community, and I consider myself lucky to have found a place at its table.

AMG gave to me …

Wilderun // Sleep at the Edge of the Earth6 – Sleep is (a) an entirely unoriginal selection, (b) the first 5.0/5.0 record to which this site introduced me, and (c) the only metal record my father has ever appreciated. This is a man who once made me turn off Billy Joel.7 After 20 years of musical repartee boiling down to me blasting Cryptopsy’s “Crown of Horns” for laughs, Wilderun managed to bridge our gap. It surely has to do with the literal Berklee grads orchestrating a symphonic masterpiece more than anything heavy about the record, but if I’ve learned anything in this life, it’s to shut up and take your win. The image of the two of us listening to “Hope and Shadow” while driving through the hills of Pennsylvania Dutch Country is vivid in the way those special moments always are, even years later. I’m sure if asked, he couldn’t recall that afternoon. The memory is fine just the same.

The Night Flight Orchestra // Amber Galactic – As Sleep was to my father, so was Amber Galactic to my mother. In many ways, I owe my metal worship to her; if not for a childhood raised on nothing but soft rock, I likely wouldn’t search out the ugliest music humanly possible. While she was never as repulsed by my musical predilections as my father,8 she was also not the audience for Slayer or Children of Bodom, just as I was not the audience for Shania Twain, Rod Stewart or Seal.9 Our tastes diverged for good in the year 2004, leaving little but tussles over the radio knob, and eventually everything else. Our fights were, and are, legendary among our friends and family, which was a badge of honor as an asshole teenager and is now a marker of shame as an asshole adult. I don’t remember how she got wise to Amber Galactic – maybe through me, accidentally. But for the first time in the long-time search for a ceasefire, she was as into “Gemini,” “Domino”, and “Josephine” as I was. It was a good time. That detente didn’t last long, of course, but as a wise man once said, “Shut up and take your win.”

Amorphis // Under the Red Cloud – Under the Red Cloud topped the very first Top Ten I put together, in 2015, still a pre-staff wannabe. Even then, I wanted to foist my awful opinions on the world, and in many ways, that was the first step to my eventual membership here. That isn’t why this review matters to me though. I had no idea who Amorphis was before AMG Himself‘s review of Under the Red Cloud. In the years since, I’ve been grateful for their constant companionship, in the summer sun and on lonely nights like the one on which I write this. I reached for them on a January morning, as the last throes of a Nor’easter snowed me into the maternity ward. I’m passing the hours between bottles by staring out at crystalline whorls as “Enigma” plays. It’s one of my very favorites, in their catalog, in all of music, and I can’t help but share it. I turn the volume down and pass the headphones from my ears to my son’s. It’s only for a moment, and who knows how well you can hear less than a day removed from in vitro, but it’s our moment. It’s this moment, all these moments, that I want to flash before my eyes when my bell finally tolls, and I hope someone turns the speaker up to 11 when they do.

Eldritch Elitist

AMG and me

I’m not sure if any of my colleagues know this, but I have done most of my writing in my nearly 8 year tenure at Angry Metal Guy on my cell phone. I submitted my application to AMG on May 24th, 2016; exactly two weeks later, my first and only child was born. He was a particularly clingy baby, so for months when I’d arrive home from work, he was essentially glued to my arm for hours on end. When Steel Druhm and Madam X graciously brought me on as a probationary writer, I begrudgingly adapted to writing on a stupid-ass, tiny-ass screen with my stupid-ass, big-ass thumbs. The process has been second nature to me ever since.

Let me be perfectly clear: If I was doing this for a shot at writing for any other blog, I would have bailed immediately. But I owed Angry Metal Guy for singlehandedly revitalizing my passion for metal, after my interest in the genre had waned over a half decade of post-high school life. No other outlet compared when it came to treating melodic metal with the same respect and professional level of writing quality afforded to so-called “trailblazers” in the scene. Having the kind of music that made me fall in love with the genre in the first place legitimized by such a talented crew was revelatory. I can only hope my contributions in this space have resonated similarly with others like me.

AMG gave to me …

Beaten to Death // Unplugged – I’m not a grindcore fan. The number of grindcore albums I’ve listened to in full likely ranks in the single digits. I also think that Beaten to Death’s Unplugged is one of the coolest, catchiest, and most compulsively listenable records of the last decade. Part of what makes Unplugged a special record for me is that—aside from its sheer kinetic brilliance—discovering this record through AMG is what made me want to write for this blog in the first place. Jean-Luc Ricard’s spot-on piece wisely zeroed in on this record’s decidedly un-grindy eccentricities, which was vital for enticing genre tourists like myself. Mirroring that review’s impact has been my mission with every positive review I’ve ever penned. For all the self-proclaimed power metal haters who thanked me in the comments for making them one-off converts to records like The Saberlight Chronicles: Thanks for the free dopamine!

Khemmis // Hunted – I used to be a casual appreciator of doom metal. That is, before Steel Druhm reviewed Khemmis’s 2016 opus Hunted, which more or less put me off the genre for good. Hunted is a perfect encapsulation of everything I enjoy in a doom metal record. So perfect, in fact, that everything I’ve heard in the realm of traditional doom metal since has failed to elicit a response stronger than “this is good, but I wish I was listening to Hunted.” This album excels through sheer simplicity and masterful melodic handling, filling any semblance of dead air in a genre where most compositions feel like a waste of space. The tragedy here is that Khemmis’ formula is so effective as to feel effortless in its construction, yet no other band has been able to match these heights, despite the formula for success sounding so obvious to my ears. Were it not for Steel Druhm’s rightfully glowing (if underscored) review, I might have never heard my favorite doom metal album at all.

Xoth // Invasion of the Tentacube – Much like Wilderun before them, I’m not sure Xoth’s recent underground success would have resulted in as strong of word-of-mouth had Angry Metal Guy not been hyping them up since their 2017 debut. Our staff’s collective enthusiasm for promoting unsigned gems like Invasion of the Tentacube is, at least in my eyes, unmatched in getting bands like Xoth the early attention they deserve. Sure, there are many examples of self-released albums that fit these qualifiers, but Invasion of the Tentacube might be my personal favorite. It’s also worth mentioning this record as a reminder for people to revisit Xoth’s early material. Though a bit unrefined (as Akerblogger pointed out in his otherwise glowing review), this album is every bit as entertaining as Xoth’s subsequent LPs, and a neat little time capsule that captures all of Xoth’s ambitions in a charmingly adolescent package.

I wish I had written …

Frostbite Orckings – The Orcish Eclipse Review. I maintain that it was a wise decision to retire the 0.0/5.0 score from our rating system, but for Frostbite Orckings, I should have lobbied to reinstate it for one last hurrah. Ideally, we wouldn’t have given this insulting crap the time of day to begin with10, but the only value this garbage could have had was as a warning example after I pilloried it to fucking death. AI art, whether visual or aural, is not art, and should have no place where real artists struggle to thrive. Oh, and Unleash the Archers can go to hell.

I wish I could do over …

Dunnock – Little Stories Told by Ghosts Review. Speaking of 0.0 scores… I was in a bad space mentally when I wrote this review, and I take full responsibility for giving Dunnock a platform as my personal punching bag. It didn’t feel good to write this, and it didn’t feel good to have people validating my scoring decision in the comments. If nothing else, writing this review changed my philosophy on writing negative reviews for the better. My tastes should have dictated that I had no business reviewing this record, which I’m sure has its fans. Somewhere. I still think it sucks.

I wish more people had read …

Tales of Gaia – Hypernova Review. While the comments section indicates many people read this review, I simply cannot allow this gem to be lost to time. Hypernova left me crying and borderline suffocating from laughter. I have amazing memories of subjecting friends to this record and watching them crumple into a state of helpless hysteria. Unless Tales of Gaia makes another record with the same singer11, you will never hear anything else like this in your life.

Saunders

AMG and me

Various circumstances have conspired to fuck with my 2024 so far, leaving me scrambling as whips are cracked to contribute to this momentous occasion. 15 goddamn years, hey? And going stronger than ever… I am forever grateful and humbled to be a long-term servant to this mighty blog since joining the team during the latter half of 2014. My fading memory cannot quite pinpoint the timeline when I stumbled onto the pages of Angry Metal Guy. However, I remember being struck by the positive and passionate community vibes, the quality, insightful writing, and the no-bullshit rating system. I rapidly became an avid reader and, when opportunity came knocking, I jumped aboard. It’s been an awesome journey to see the incredible growth and expansion over the years.

Initially, I struggled as I adapted to a tight operation and steep learning curve with my then awful formatting skills (surprised I didn’t get the axe right there). Yet it was the professional standards, the support networks, set processes and the ongoing inspiration of the outstanding writing talent adorning these pages over the years that has kept me on my toes, and pushed me to become a better, more rounded writer. I am grateful for the exceptional (occasionally intimidating) writing standards and creative flair that each writer brings, which keeps me honest and inspires me. Not to mention the ridiculous amount of great music I’ve been alerted to over the years.

Writing for AngryMetalGuy.com means the world to me and has been my rock since stumbling across these pages roughly a decade ago. Although I don’t write as much as I would like to, daily visits to the blog remain a steadfast routine. Also, the one-of-a-kind community kicks arse and my writing buddies and colleagues are an awesome bunch of people and an absolute pleasure to work alongside. Here’s to many more great years ahead.

AMG gave to me …

Soen // Tellurian – Just months after I joined the staff, Angry Metal Guy Himself reviewed the sophomore album from Swedish progressive metal band Soen. I had overlooked their debut, and it was the impassioned piece of fine critical writing and subsequent lofty rating that piqued my interest. Being a prog enthusiast and big Opeth and Tool fan (no, not one of those Tool fans), Soen’s emotive, melancholic, chunky, complex and infectious brand of prog metal touched my heart and gripped my soul. It wrapping up top honors on my first year-end list writing here in 2014. It began a love affair with Soen, especially through their golden stretch from Tellurian to 2019’s exemplary Lotus album. Furthermore, Tellurian opened my eyes more and more to the many wondrous bands operating in the modern progressive metal field. A decade later and Tellurian continues to resonate strongly and remains one of my treasured early discoveries on this blog.

Mutoid Man // War Moans – Mutoid Man’s 2017 album War Moans dropped at a challenging period in my life, where I was navigating a career change and plunging into the unknown. Shit got pretty hectic; thus, certain albums took on extra significance in my life. The much-missed Dr Fisting wrote a typically cool review of the zany supergroup’s sophomore album, inspiring me to dip into the crazy world of Mutoid Man and their ridiculously catchy, wild concoction of influences. War Moans quickly ascended to become a go-to album and modern favorite, igniting my rabid fandom of the band to this day. Mutoid Man transcend simple labels, skilfully meshing elements of metal, rock, prog, punk, math and hardcore into cohesive, speedy, rollicking jams. They possess massive crossover appeal, punching out A-grade tuneage with plenty of zip, technical skill, and a knack of cranking the fun factor, and embellishing their batshit, hyperactive formula with wickedly addictive earworm gems.

Bathory // Hammerheart – I am a big metal feature nerd and, though the reviewing game takes precedent, some of my favorite moments are the various feature pieces and passionate write-ups of classic albums. When the curmudgeonly Doc Grier wrote a Yer Metal Is Olde piece on Bathory’s 1990 album Hammerheart, my curiosity was sparked. Although I was a fan of Enslaved and had dabbled in Borknagar, Bathory’s much-adored Viking metal legacy was largely untouched in my historic metal explorations. Branching out of my comfort zone and exploring other styles and genres is an ongoing thrill as a metalhead. This piece triggered me to open my horizons and delve more fully into the battle-hardened, epic realms of Viking metal and associated styles. Hammerheart is a fucking epic monster of a classic opus, that opened further doors for me and broadened my appreciation of not only Viking metal, but certain overlooked black metal gems, including Bathory’s own early classics.

I wish I had written …

For shits and giggles, I could easily go to Dr Fisting‘s Indefensible Positions takedown of Slaughter of the Soul, just for the sheer ballsyness, despite disagreeing with the sentiment. In the end, Grymm‘s killer Yer Metal Is Olde write-up of Acid Bath’s underground classic When the Kite String Pops stands out. This album (and this band) is an all timer for me and Grymm did an outstanding job of conveying why this album is so special and unique. It’s a classic YMIO entry that I occasionally go back to read, giving me the warm nostalgic feels and reminding me why I fell in love with this album back in the day, and why it still holds a place in my heart.

I wish more people had read …

AMG Goes Ranking – Dying Fetus. The Dying Fetus Ranking piece was a special moment in my decade-long career writing on this blog. A long-time favorite and pivotal band in opening my ears to the wonders of the more brutal, slammy realms of death metal, this ranking feature was a proud moment. Despite the collective efforts of my comrades Maddog and Dolphin Whisperer, fewer than thirty comments at time of writing was a little disappointing for a band of Dying Fetus’ stature. I don’t know how many actual clicks it got but I was certainly expecting / hoping for more rabble, agreements, and fiery debates than what occurred.

#2024 #AcidBath #AMGGoesRanking #AMGTurns15 #Amorphis #Avantasia #Bathory #billyWoods #BlogPost #BlogPosts #ComingOut #Cormorant #DarkestEra #Dodecahedron #DyingFetus #GeoffTate #GrymmCommentsOn #LornaShore #MeltedBodies #Moonsorrow #MutoidMan #ReverendKristinMichaelHayter #Soen #StevenWilson #TarjaTurunen #TheNightFlightOrchestra #Wilderun

AMG Turns 15: Senior VPs Speak

By Carcharodon

15 years ago, on May 19, 2009, Angry Metal Guy spoke. For the very first time as AMG. And he had opinions: Very Important Opinions™. The post attracted relatively little attention at the time, but times change and, over the decade and a half since then, AMG Industries has grown into the blog you know today. Now with a staff of around 25 overrating overwriters (and an entirely non-suspicious graveyard for writers on permanent, all-expenses-paid sabbaticals), we have written more than 9,100 posts, comprising over seven million words. Over the site’s lifetime, we’ve had more than 107 million visits and now achieve well over a million hits each and every month. Through this, we’ve built up a fantastic community of readers drawn from every corner of the globe, whom we have (mostly) loved getting to know in the more than 360,000 comments posted on the site.

We have done this under the careful (if sternly authoritarian) stewardship of our eponymous leader Angry Metal Guy and his iron enforcer, Steel Druhm, while adhering to strict editorial policies and principles. We have done this by simply offering honest (and occasionally brutal) takes, and without running a single advert or taking a single cent from anyone. Ever. Mistakes have undoubtedly been made and we may be a laughing stock in the eyes of music intellectuals, socialites and critics everywhere but we are incredibly proud of what AMG Industries represents. In fact, we believe it may be the best metal blog, with the best community of readers, on the internet.

Now join us as the people responsible for making AMG a reality reflect on what the site means to them and why they would willingly work for a blog that pays in the currency of deadlines, abuse, and hobo wine. Welcome to the 15th Birthdaynalia.

Thou Shalt Have No Other Blogs!

El Cuervo

AMG and me

When I reflect on what really matters at the end of each year, AMG.com always comes up trumps.1 Its benefits are many, its failings few, and I struggle to imagine my life had I never joined its crew a decade ago. Surprising though this may be to those familiar with my pride, AMG could be an unread blog and it wouldn’t matter. It represents a creative outlet, exercises my brain differently from my corporate career, rewards me with high-quality listening material, and even introduced some individuals that I now consider strong friends. Serving a not-for-profit organization operated by nerds for nerds, with a combined love for their esoteric interest grants me balance and perspective I would otherwise miss in my rigidly structured professional life. Even after thousands of hours of unpaid servitude, it energizes and excites me.

Sure, it satisfies my ego that Angry Metal Guy also attracts thousands of unique readers per article, and has sizable clout in the underground and mid-tier of heavy metal media. I love the bump bands experience following our praise, and even the incendiary comments when we criticize something popular. But these are just the cherry on the top of everything else it affords me. This site nourishes my soul; through creativity, community, and hubris.2

AMG gave to me …

Cormorant // Dwellings – In 2011, I was still relatively new to extreme metal but I already knew that Opeth was one of my favorite bands. A simple Opeth name-drop by AMG in his review was all it took to pique my interest. Shortly thereafter, Cormorant—especially their first two records, 2009’s Metzoa and this—became some of my favorite music too. So much so that a slice of the art from this second record is prominently tattooed on my body. Dwellings is an expansive, unpredictable treasure map of a record. It’s littered with dozens of obvious paths and landmarks, but also subtler trinkets you’ll miss until your tenth listen. There’s so much to admire here, from the burly riff and thunderous vocals opening “Junta,” to the wandering, shredding guitars narrating Kevin Rudd’s apology to Australia’s indigenous population (“The First Man”) and the beautifully delicate interludes on “Funambulist.” Dwellings is the earliest example of many albums introduced to me via AMG.com that have had a lasting impact on either my listening tastes or life generally.

Moonsorrow // Varjoina Kuljemme Kuolleiden Maassa – Although I’d already breached the realms of death metal prior to discovering AMG (via Opeth and In Flames, naturally), black metal had eluded me. It was a gap about which I was concerned, given my moves towards heavier music. Happily for me, the review of Moonsorrow’s sixth full-length blew that door wide open. Varjoina Kuljemme Kuolleiden Maassa is hardly entry-grade material, featuring a bleak atmosphere, alien vocals, and four main tracks each exceeding eleven minutes. But the grand melodies, sharp riffs, folksy slant, and EPIC song-writing scope offered the necessary bait for me. It basically ruined atmospheric and folksy metal for me from the outset; almost no other bands successfully write engrossing, long-form black metal like these guys, despite most of them trying. Listening to VKKM is less like hearing music and more like slowly wandering towards a freezing death in the Nordic wilderness. But in a good way! While the band has arguably produced other, stronger records—the mythological curiosity of Verisäkeet and monolithic Hävitetty are also exemplary—VKKM holds a special importance to me for opening up an entire genre.

Steven Wilson // Hand. Cannot. Erase. – At the age of 22/23, I would describe 2016 as the year that my childhood ended and adulthood began. I was preparing to enter employment at the end of my further education and went through a difficult break-up with a long-term partner. Although Hand. Cannot. Erase. released in 2015, I spent far more time with it the following year. Along with a few other artists outside my typical territory of prog and metal, it narrated that period for me. Progressive rock sits comfortably within my bailiwick3 but the mournful strains of pop found on the title track and “Perfect Life” are what stand H.C.E. apart from everything else. AMG‘s AotY summary was absolutely right in saying that “the emotional engagement that Wilson and co. are able to evoke in me is precisely what makes this album more than the sum of its parts.” It’s my emotional response to the music here that makes this record what it is. Even in the numerous ways my life has changed in the subsequent eight years, I find it a little difficult to return to this one. It’s a landmark album in my life.

I wish I had written …

Avantasia – The Wicked Symphony Review. This album represents not only the vehicle through which I discovered AMG but also one of my favorite albums from the 2010s. It’s the most raucous, overblown and catchy fusion of hard rock and symphonic metal I’ve heard. But my first listen also represented a turning point in my life. Pre-Wicked Symphony, so much of my listening was rooted in bands introduced to me by my dad. Post-Wicked Symphony, these roles were reversed and I now feed him new releases I think he’ll enjoy. I would have loved the contemporaneous opportunity to describe this phenomenon in relation to Avantasia.

I wish more people had read …

Geoff Tate – Kings and Thieves Review. The great Dr. Fisting is the most incisive, humorous writer to ever sit in our ranks, and his review of Kings and Thieves forms his best output. Framed as a letter, Fisting delivers a savage, but wholly reasonable, takedown of a problematic, wayward Mr Tate. The line “hearing you sing about getting laid is about as sexy as walking in on my parents” delighted me at the time and still delights me now. Read this.

Grymm

AMG and me

In all my years of listening to metal prior to writing about it, I was searching long and hard for anything that would come close to the magic that the late, great Metal Maniacs magazine brought to the world. Once I encountered Dr. Fisting‘s immortal(ly brutal) review of Kings and Thieves by ex-Queensryche vocalist Geoff Tate, I knew I had found it. Little did I know that I would call this place home for over a decade. To say this site is special to me, is to understate the impact it’s had on my life, my writing, and how I approach all music nowadays. The fact that I made a second family here among the staff and readers makes this all the sweeter. I don’t regret the time, energy, and tears spent here.

As I’ve said many times, onward…

AMG gave to me …

Reverend Kristin Michael Hayter // Saved! – The most recent and jarring album that I discovered since joining up here, the former Lingua Ignota took all the pain she experienced through abuse, and turned it into a religious, lo-fi cleansing, that was equal parts beautiful, stirring, and brutally uncomfortable. I often waver between experiencing this album to purge, and never wanting to touch it again because it’s that raw. When an album makes you feel those things, you know the artist(s) who crafted it did something right.

Lorna Shore // Pain Remains – I’ll admit, I’m not the biggest fan of deathcore out there, and it doesn’t help that I (unfairly, in hindsight) avoided New Jersey’s Lorna Shore due to the actions of their prior vocalist. What I didn’t know was that they gave said asshole the boot almost immediately after Immortal’s release, and were blessed with the golden throat of one Will Ramos. The rest, as they say, is history. Since then, they’ve been on a majestic ascent that many bands would give everything for, and they rightfully deserve all the success in the world that they’ve achieved.

Darkest Era // Severence – One of the earliest albums I discovered via another writer here at AMG, Irish minstrels Darkest Era deserve far, far more love than they’re currently getting … and from what I’ve heard, they’re getting some well-deserved love lately from all the metalheads. Rightfully so. For, as good as their debut The Last Caress of Light was, Severence saw a major improvement in terms of musicianship and songwriting, seeing them surpass many of their inspirations by leaps and bounds.

I wish I had written …

Any of Cherd‘s Christmas posts, especially the Tarja Christmas album. Sometimes, you’re feeling the Spirit of Christmas4 and you want to spread joy. Sometimes, you just can’t stand the fucking holidays, and just want to laugh your ass off at some damn good (piss)takes on the commercialized, uber-capitalistic holidays, and our holiday cheer-spreader has spent the last few years making us hurt our ribcages from ugly-laughing so damn much to his reviews of Christmas albums, and Tarja’s over-the-top Christmas album was beyond ripe for the taking. I wish I had his propensity for pain humor.

I wish I could do over …

Grymm Comments: On Coming Out and Acceptance in the Metalverse… Again. – Don’t get this twisted; everything I said in my second coming-out piece still needed to be said and, sadly, nothing’s changed. But if you knew even half of the bullshit I endured once it was published, you would too lose all motivation to support the very music that has people in it that want to see you either removed from the scene, or outright dead. My desire to write pretty much died after this went live…

I wish more people had read …

Grymm Comments: On Coming Out and Acceptance in the Metalverse… Again. …but I’m not at all sorry I did it. Metal, for all its acceptance of its wayward misfits, miscreants, and outcasts, still has a colossal problem in terms of racism and homophobia, and it’s only gotten more emboldened over the last decade or so. It’s heartening to see pushback against it though and if that means someone else will pick up the baton, after I laid it down, to call out that bullshit, then all the better. None of the other major players have the fortitude to do so, but there are those who can and will.

Kronos

AMG and me

Look, I don’t write here anymore; I’ve left that to the more capable. But when I did, the reason for it all was that someone gave a fuck whether I was capable or not. When someone first commented to say, “Hey, this is some bad prose” on a Kronos review, that was when I decided that I was going to keep writing for AMG. For all our sins as a website, we did—and those currently writing here still do—care to make what you read here good, and care to connect you with art that is good. The commentariat’s demand for quality pushed me as a writer to produce both the best criticism and the most entertaining writing I could muster, even when I didn’t have much to say. But there came a point when I found I had too little to say to keep saying anything. Seeing the rest of the staff continue to dish thoughtful commentary even on thoughtless art, made bowing out easy. I’m proud to have been a piece of the project for so long.

I hope it keeps going another fifteen years. That way, when I’m a Steel-level fogie and Defeated Sanity are as neolithic as Metal Church, I can return and correct Generation Alpha’s horrible taste.

AMG gave to me …

Dodecahedron // Dodecahedron – If I had never heard Dodecahedron’s opening chords, I may have had a very different life than I do now. Knowing that those sounds exist completely reshaped my relationship with music, shifting my interest from the technical to the visceral. Never before had I felt my stomach turn from sound alone. If there’s any overarching theme in my music writing, it’s the failure to completely capture this sensation in words, to properly express the importance of art that sparks the neurons below the neck.

Melted Bodies // Enjoy Yourself – Well, don’t mind if I do. I thought this sounded OK from GardensTale‘s review and didn’t get around to it until I’d turned in my year-end list for 2020 (after all, I know best, so why bother listening to what these bozos tell me is good). Then I spent 2021 listening to Enjoy Yourself on a weekly basis. Melted Bodies’ sardonic seapunk-infused thrash proved the perfect artistic vehicle to deliver a treatise on hypernormalization and the misery, and seediness of American culture. Far from being just a metal record with a political bent, Enjoy Yourself is more directly a political document printed with a gaudy mix of guitars, synthesizer boops, and blast beats, in which every annoying, hokey lyrical delivery hisses out through a rot-toothed sneer.

billy woods // Hiding Places5 – While I was actively writing, I pretty much knew if I’d like a new metal record well before the review came out. The writers look out for each other, you know? And few were more persistent and reliable gauges of my interest than Kenstrosity, who somehow just knew I’d love this album. Hiding Places carries more than a whiff of the care and crypsis of a great art-house death metal record without being anything close to one. Muted instrumentals creak and twinkle around woods, whose tangled lyrics squint suspiciously at love and belonging, paranoid from decades of imperial violence. Gloomy but electric, woods delivers his piece with a mix of resignation and reprehension that hooks me in every time. It’s not metal, but it is really fucking angry.

Dr. Wvrm

AMG and me

I’ve asked myself what AMG means to me far too often over the last few years. As I’ve fallen out, in and back out of love with metal, with reviewing, and with arguing with “writers” about the finer points of comma usage. As I’ve watched better and more dedicated reviewers slip away to the far side of the hourglass, I’ve wondered what my useless ass is still doing here.

I don’t write; no time, no drive. I don’t read the articles, but then again, who does? I stay in touch with current releases (mostly because Kenneth or Dolphin Fucker or Eldritch shove things they know I’ll like in my face) but am no longer a voracious consumer and cataloguer. My fixations have moved on to other equally meaningless pursuits. Yet here I stay, despite the guilt of missed deadlines and the shame of another broken promise of regular reviews, doing just enough to avoid unceremonious defenestration from The Hall, because I love these people.

This site, those who read it, and particularly those who staff it, are the only people I have ever had in my life who see what I see in this awful music; who understand the ways this awful music can take on a life of its own, suffusing relationships and memories like little else can; who have connected with me and supported me and been so good to me, simply because of this awful, this god-awful music.

AMG, more than anything else, means community, and I consider myself lucky to have found a place at its table.

AMG gave to me …

Wilderun // Sleep at the Edge of the Earth6 – Sleep is (a) an entirely unoriginal selection, (b) the first 5.0/5.0 record to which this site introduced me, and (c) the only metal record my father has ever appreciated. This is a man who once made me turn off Billy Joel.7 After 20 years of musical repartee boiling down to me blasting Cryptopsy’s “Crown of Horns” for laughs, Wilderun managed to bridge our gap. It surely has to do with the literal Berklee grads orchestrating a symphonic masterpiece more than anything heavy about the record, but if I’ve learned anything in this life, it’s to shut up and take your win. The image of the two of us listening to “Hope and Shadow” while driving through the hills of Pennsylvania Dutch Country is vivid in the way those special moments always are, even years later. I’m sure if asked, he couldn’t recall that afternoon. The memory is fine just the same.

The Night Flight Orchestra // Amber Galactic – As Sleep was to my father, so was Amber Galactic to my mother. In many ways, I owe my metal worship to her; if not for a childhood raised on nothing but soft rock, I likely wouldn’t search out the ugliest music humanly possible. While she was never as repulsed by my musical predilections as my father,8 she was also not the audience for Slayer or Children of Bodom, just as I was not the audience for Shania Twain, Rod Stewart or Seal.9 Our tastes diverged for good in the year 2004, leaving little but tussles over the radio knob, and eventually everything else. Our fights were, and are, legendary among our friends and family, which was a badge of honor as an asshole teenager and is now a marker of shame as an asshole adult. I don’t remember how she got wise to Amber Galactic – maybe through me, accidentally. But for the first time in the long-time search for a ceasefire, she was as into “Gemini,” “Domino”, and “Josephine” as I was. It was a good time. That detente didn’t last long, of course, but as a wise man once said, “Shut up and take your win.”

Amorphis // Under the Red Cloud – Under the Red Cloud topped the very first Top Ten I put together, in 2015, still a pre-staff wannabe. Even then, I wanted to foist my awful opinions on the world, and in many ways, that was the first step to my eventual membership here. That isn’t why this review matters to me though. I had no idea who Amorphis was before AMG Himself‘s review of Under the Red Cloud. In the years since, I’ve been grateful for their constant companionship, in the summer sun and on lonely nights like the one on which I write this. I reached for them on a January morning, as the last throes of a Nor’easter snowed me into the maternity ward. I’m passing the hours between bottles by staring out at crystalline whorls as “Enigma” plays. It’s one of my very favorites, in their catalog, in all of music, and I can’t help but share it. I turn the volume down and pass the headphones from my ears to my son’s. It’s only for a moment, and who knows how well you can hear less than a day removed from in vitro, but it’s our moment. It’s this moment, all these moments, that I want to flash before my eyes when my bell finally tolls, and I hope someone turns the speaker up to 11 when they do.

Eldritch Elitist

AMG and me

I’m not sure if any of my colleagues know this, but I have done most of my writing in my nearly 8 year tenure at Angry Metal Guy on my cell phone. I submitted my application to AMG on May 24th, 2016; exactly two weeks later, my first and only child was born. He was a particularly clingy baby, so for months when I’d arrive home from work, he was essentially glued to my arm for hours on end. When Steel Druhm and Madam X graciously brought me on as a probationary writer, I begrudgingly adapted to writing on a stupid-ass, tiny-ass screen with my stupid-ass, big-ass thumbs. The process has been second nature to me ever since.

Let me be perfectly clear: If I was doing this for a shot at writing for any other blog, I would have bailed immediately. But I owed Angry Metal Guy for singlehandedly revitalizing my passion for metal, after my interest in the genre had waned over a half decade of post-high school life. No other outlet compared when it came to treating melodic metal with the same respect and professional level of writing quality afforded to so-called “trailblazers” in the scene. Having the kind of music that made me fall in love with the genre in the first place legitimized by such a talented crew was revelatory. I can only hope my contributions in this space have resonated similarly with others like me.

AMG gave to me …

Beaten to Death // Unplugged – I’m not a grindcore fan. The number of grindcore albums I’ve listened to in full likely ranks in the single digits. I also think that Beaten to Death’s Unplugged is one of the coolest, catchiest, and most compulsively listenable records of the last decade. Part of what makes Unplugged a special record for me is that—aside from its sheer kinetic brilliance—discovering this record through AMG is what made me want to write for this blog in the first place. Jean-Luc Ricard’s spot-on piece wisely zeroed in on this record’s decidedly un-grindy eccentricities, which was vital for enticing genre tourists like myself. Mirroring that review’s impact has been my mission with every positive review I’ve ever penned. For all the self-proclaimed power metal haters who thanked me in the comments for making them one-off converts to records like The Saberlight Chronicles: Thanks for the free dopamine!

Khemmis // Hunted – I used to be a casual appreciator of doom metal. That is, before Steel Druhm reviewed Khemmis’s 2016 opus Hunted, which more or less put me off the genre for good. Hunted is a perfect encapsulation of everything I enjoy in a doom metal record. So perfect, in fact, that everything I’ve heard in the realm of traditional doom metal since has failed to elicit a response stronger than “this is good, but I wish I was listening to Hunted.” This album excels through sheer simplicity and masterful melodic handling, filling any semblance of dead air in a genre where most compositions feel like a waste of space. The tragedy here is that Khemmis’ formula is so effective as to feel effortless in its construction, yet no other band has been able to match these heights, despite the formula for success sounding so obvious to my ears. Were it not for Steel Druhm’s rightfully glowing (if underscored) review, I might have never heard my favorite doom metal album at all.

Xoth // Invasion of the Tentacube – Much like Wilderun before them, I’m not sure Xoth’s recent underground success would have resulted in as strong of word-of-mouth had Angry Metal Guy not been hyping them up since their 2017 debut. Our staff’s collective enthusiasm for promoting unsigned gems like Invasion of the Tentacube is, at least in my eyes, unmatched in getting bands like Xoth the early attention they deserve. Sure, there are many examples of self-released albums that fit these qualifiers, but Invasion of the Tentacube might be my personal favorite. It’s also worth mentioning this record as a reminder for people to revisit Xoth’s early material. Though a bit unrefined (as Akerblogger pointed out in his otherwise glowing review), this album is every bit as entertaining as Xoth’s subsequent LPs, and a neat little time capsule that captures all of Xoth’s ambitions in a charmingly adolescent package.

I wish I had written …

Frostbite Orckings – The Orcish Eclipse Review. I maintain that it was a wise decision to retire the 0.0/5.0 score from our rating system, but for Frostbite Orckings, I should have lobbied to reinstate it for one last hurrah. Ideally, we wouldn’t have given this insulting crap the time of day to begin with10, but the only value this garbage could have had was as a warning example after I pilloried it to fucking death. AI art, whether visual or aural, is not art, and should have no place where real artists struggle to thrive. Oh, and Unleash the Archers can go to hell.

I wish I could do over …

Dunnock – Little Stories Told by Ghosts Review. Speaking of 0.0 scores… I was in a bad space mentally when I wrote this review, and I take full responsibility for giving Dunnock a platform as my personal punching bag. It didn’t feel good to write this, and it didn’t feel good to have people validating my scoring decision in the comments. If nothing else, writing this review changed my philosophy on writing negative reviews for the better. My tastes should have dictated that I had no business reviewing this record, which I’m sure has its fans. Somewhere. I still think it sucks.

I wish more people had read …

Tales of Gaia – Hypernova Review. While the comments section indicates many people read this review, I simply cannot allow this gem to be lost to time. Hypernova left me crying and borderline suffocating from laughter. I have amazing memories of subjecting friends to this record and watching them crumple into a state of helpless hysteria. Unless Tales of Gaia makes another record with the same singer11, you will never hear anything else like this in your life.

Saunders

AMG and me

Various circumstances have conspired to fuck with my 2024 so far, leaving me scrambling as whips are cracked to contribute to this momentous occasion. 15 goddamn years, hey? And going stronger than ever… I am forever grateful and humbled to be a long-term servant to this mighty blog since joining the team during the latter half of 2014. My fading memory cannot quite pinpoint the timeline when I stumbled onto the pages of Angry Metal Guy. However, I remember being struck by the positive and passionate community vibes, the quality, insightful writing, and the no-bullshit rating system. I rapidly became an avid reader and, when opportunity came knocking, I jumped aboard. It’s been an awesome journey to see the incredible growth and expansion over the years.

Initially, I struggled as I adapted to a tight operation and steep learning curve with my then awful formatting skills (surprised I didn’t get the axe right there). Yet it was the professional standards, the support networks, set processes and the ongoing inspiration of the outstanding writing talent adorning these pages over the years that has kept me on my toes, and pushed me to become a better, more rounded writer. I am grateful for the exceptional (occasionally intimidating) writing standards and creative flair that each writer brings, which keeps me honest and inspires me. Not to mention the ridiculous amount of great music I’ve been alerted to over the years.

Writing for AngryMetalGuy.com means the world to me and has been my rock since stumbling across these pages roughly a decade ago. Although I don’t write as much as I would like to, daily visits to the blog remain a steadfast routine. Also, the one-of-a-kind community kicks arse and my writing buddies and colleagues are an awesome bunch of people and an absolute pleasure to work alongside. Here’s to many more great years ahead.

AMG gave to me …

Soen // Tellurian – Just months after I joined the staff, Angry Metal Guy Himself reviewed the sophomore album from Swedish progressive metal band Soen. I had overlooked their debut, and it was the impassioned piece of fine critical writing and subsequent lofty rating that piqued my interest. Being a prog enthusiast and big Opeth and Tool fan (no, not one of those Tool fans), Soen’s emotive, melancholic, chunky, complex and infectious brand of prog metal touched my heart and gripped my soul. It wrapping up top honors on my first year-end list writing here in 2014. It began a love affair with Soen, especially through their golden stretch from Tellurian to 2019’s exemplary Lotus album. Furthermore, Tellurian opened my eyes more and more to the many wondrous bands operating in the modern progressive metal field. A decade later and Tellurian continues to resonate strongly and remains one of my treasured early discoveries on this blog.

Mutoid Man // War Moans – Mutoid Man’s 2017 album War Moans dropped at a challenging period in my life, where I was navigating a career change and plunging into the unknown. Shit got pretty hectic; thus, certain albums took on extra significance in my life. The much-missed Dr Fisting wrote a typically cool review of the zany supergroup’s sophomore album, inspiring me to dip into the crazy world of Mutoid Man and their ridiculously catchy, wild concoction of influences. War Moans quickly ascended to become a go-to album and modern favorite, igniting my rabid fandom of the band to this day. Mutoid Man transcend simple labels, skilfully meshing elements of metal, rock, prog, punk, math and hardcore into cohesive, speedy, rollicking jams. They possess massive crossover appeal, punching out A-grade tuneage with plenty of zip, technical skill, and a knack of cranking the fun factor, and embellishing their batshit, hyperactive formula with wickedly addictive earworm gems.

Bathory // Hammerheart – I am a big metal feature nerd and, though the reviewing game takes precedent, some of my favorite moments are the various feature pieces and passionate write-ups of classic albums. When the curmudgeonly Doc Grier wrote a Yer Metal Is Olde piece on Bathory’s 1990 album Hammerheart, my curiosity was sparked. Although I was a fan of Enslaved and had dabbled in Borknagar, Bathory’s much-adored Viking metal legacy was largely untouched in my historic metal explorations. Branching out of my comfort zone and exploring other styles and genres is an ongoing thrill as a metalhead. This piece triggered me to open my horizons and delve more fully into the battle-hardened, epic realms of Viking metal and associated styles. Hammerheart is a fucking epic monster of a classic opus, that opened further doors for me and broadened my appreciation of not only Viking metal, but certain overlooked black metal gems, including Bathory’s own early classics.

I wish I had written …

For shits and giggles, I could easily go to Dr Fisting‘s Indefensible Positions takedown of Slaughter of the Soul, just for the sheer ballsyness, despite disagreeing with the sentiment. In the end, Grymm‘s killer Yer Metal Is Olde write-up of Acid Bath’s underground classic When the Kite String Pops stands out. This album (and this band) is an all timer for me and Grymm did an outstanding job of conveying why this album is so special and unique. It’s a classic YMIO entry that I occasionally go back to read, giving me the warm nostalgic feels and reminding me why I fell in love with this album back in the day, and why it still holds a place in my heart.

I wish more people had read …

AMG Goes Ranking – Dying Fetus. The Dying Fetus Ranking piece was a special moment in my decade-long career writing on this blog. A long-time favorite and pivotal band in opening my ears to the wonders of the more brutal, slammy realms of death metal, this ranking feature was a proud moment. Despite the collective efforts of my comrades Maddog and Dolphin Whisperer, fewer than thirty comments at time of writing was a little disappointing for a band of Dying Fetus’ stature. I don’t know how many actual clicks it got but I was certainly expecting / hoping for more rabble, agreements, and fiery debates than what occurred.

#2024 #AcidBath #AMGGoesRanking #AMGTurns15 #Amorphis #Avantasia #Bathory #billyWoods #BlogPost #BlogPosts #ComingOut #Cormorant #DarkestEra #Dodecahedron #DyingFetus #GeoffTate #GrymmCommentsOn #LornaShore #MeltedBodies #Moonsorrow #MutoidMan #ReverendKristinMichaelHayter #Soen #StevenWilson #TarjaTurunen #TheNightFlightOrchestra #Wilderun

#TheMetalDogArticleList
#ThePit
The Ten Best Heavy Metal Concept Albums
Metal and storytelling go hand-in-hand, but weaving a narrative around songs is no simple task. These ten killer records will blow your mind!

https://www.wearethepit.com/2023/09/the-ten-best-heavy-metal-concept-albums/

#HeavyMetal
#ConceptAlbums
#KingDiamond
#IronMaiden
#JudasPriest
#Metallica
#DreamTheater
#Queensrÿche
#Kamelot
#CelticFrost
#Avantasia
#IcedEarth

Aujourd'hui sur Blog à part – Avantasia: A Paranormal Evening With The Moonflower Society

Je découvre vingt ans après tout le monde le power-metal symphonique d'Avantasia pour son nouvel album, A Paranormal Evening With The Moonflower Society.

#Allemagne #Avantasia #metalsymphonique #power-metal #TobiasSammet

https://erdorin.org/avantasia-a-paranormal-evening-with-the-moonflower-society/

📬 myGully.com – Registrierung zickt schon wieder herum
#Szene #Warez #Avantasia #elfmeterkiller125 #MyGullycom #Nginx #SpamBot #vbulletin https://tarnkappe.info/artikel/warez/mygully-com-registrierung-zickt-schon-wieder-herum-258330.html

I was going to do some writing, but instead decided to play around with #Krita after being a bit inspired by the #albumArt of #Avantasia's #Moonglow album: https://powermetal.no/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/43952791_10156310950273889_8173911767513038848_n.jpg

So, here's the result of playing around for the first time in @krita for 30-45 minutes or so. :)

#art #artwork #airbrush #drawing #painting #FiXatoDraws #DailyDrawing #peaceful

#RockTheCastleGreen has an interesting line-up for #2020 so far: https://www.rockthecastle.it/en/line-up/
Especially Saturday #June27 with #JudasPriest, #BeastInBlack and #Saxon, and Saturday #July4 with #TobiasSammet's #Avantasia, #Epica, #Stratovarius, #RhapsodyOfFire and #Alestorm, all performing in a #castle, sound awesome.

Very unlikely we'll be able to go there, but one can dream of winning a big prize. ;)

#musicFestival #event #metalFestival #metal #heavyMetal #concert #Rock #music