Japanese power metal maestros, Lovebites dropped their latest album, Outstanding Power and certain AMG staffers decided it merited a double review. Let the love nibbles commence.
Napalm Records
Tailgunner – Midnight Blitz Review
“After staggering off four crazy days at sea for the 70000 Tons of Metal cruise, my ears and brain are fried unto merciless death. Luckily, I anticipated this contingency and left myself a fairly easy bounce-back to reality with the sophomore album from England’s classic metal rockers, Tailgunner.” Shooting for and at the sky.
Lord of the Lost – Opvs Noir Vol 2 Review
“Little did I realize when Napalm announced that Lord of the Lost was recording a 33-song trilogy that each album would release so close to one another. A mere four months following the release of Opvs Noir Vol 1, we get Opvs Noir Vol 2, and it’s just in time for stocking stuffer season. Vol 1 was my introduction to this one-time Eurovision finalist, and I came away impressed. So I was pretty excited to see this in the doldrums of our December promo bin. With the quick release of Vol 2, I can only assume Lord of the Lost wrote all 33 songs of the trilogy together, Lord of the Rings-style.” Lots of lost.
UUHAI – Human Herds Review
“It is well-established at this point that Mongolia is metal as fuck. Who would have thought that a landlocked country with a population of approximately 3.5 million people would have such a significant impact on culture? From the legends surrounding Genghis Khan to the fact that major IPs like Dune and Predator are incorporating throat singing to enrich their soundscapes, Mongolia has had a lasting impact that far surpasses its relatively small footprint. While Mongolian metal isn’t storming the charts consistently, bands like The Hu have seen massive breakthrough success, with hits listened to by a fanbase that dwarfs the population of their native country. Jumping in on the train is a new band from those storied steppes, UUHAI.” Why no Fleshgod uuhai.
![Aephanemer – Utopie [Things You Might Have Missed 2025]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Aephanemer-Utopie-01.jpg.webp)
Aephanemer – Utopie [Things You Might Have Missed 2025]
“I first encountered Aephanemer between Prokopton and A Dream of Wilderness, and it was love at first listen. Their classical flourishes seamlessly converge with aggressive riffing to develop complex layers of hook-infested earworms so inescapable that no prescription can rid me of their iron thrall. Four years after their last outing, Aephanemer returns with a mature interpretation of their signature sonic stamp.” Apes and hammers and melodeath.
Bloodbound – Field of Swords Review
“Bloodbound has always been a band with a confusing identity. These Swedes lit up a storm with debut Nosferatu in 2006, an underappreciated heavy/power gem fusing the best of Iron Maiden’s gallops with the hooks of Helloween and HammerFall. The golden pipes of Urban Breed (ex-Tad Morose) were the cherry on top. However, the curse of unstable lineups would strike. Urban Breed would leave for one album, rejoin for the odd-but-good, progpower-meets-Kalmah melodeath sound of Tabula Rasa, and promptly leave again. A decade of struggles followed.” Blood on the 20-sided dice.
1914 – Viribus Unitis Review
“1914 has never shied away from the ugliness of war and death. Since Where Fear and Weapons Meet was released in 2021, the Ukrainian outfit has witnessed the horrors of that ugliness on their own soil. On Viribus Unitis, the quintet from Lviv maintains the poise and brutality of earlier material while imbuing their latest opus with deft poignancy.” War is always Hell.
Stuck in the Filter: August 2025’s Angry Misses
August is but a warm, sunny memory and All Hallows Eve is upon us. Good thing we finally de-gunkified those August Filters to avoid tricks.
Ambush – Evil in All Dimensions Review
“Back in the Year of the Great Plague, Sweden’s Ambush ambuscaded me with Infidel, knocking my noggin with an electrified baseball bat of 80s metal nostalgia. It hit that sweet 1981-1984 classic heavy metal spot so hard, it almost created a time vortex that allowed me to bail on COVID and drink shitty beers with my ne’er-do-well teenage self. Infidel sounded like a perfect fusion of Dokken, Europe, Accept, and the early Ozzy solo stuff, and that shit sells itself to geezers like me. Album high point, “Hellbiter” is one of my favorite metal tunes of the last 10 years, and I still spin it regularly. I’ve been patiently waiting for the follow-up for what seems like an eternity, and now we finally get Evil in all Dimensions.” No one expects the Swedish Ambush!
Månegarm – Edsvuren Review
“Månegarm has never stopped. With the impending release of Edsvuren (Oathbound or Sworn), their thirteenth full-length and fifth since signing with Napalm Records, this Swedish trio stands as one of the last standard-bearers of this once-ferocious scene.” Mixed metaphors. Long paragraphs. This is Angry Metal Guy!
