And now you come to me and you say, “AMG, give me the Record(s) o’ the Month.” But you don’t ask with respect. You don’t offer friendship. You don’t even think to call me Dr. Metal Guy or compliment my excellent taste. Instead, you come into my house on the day my daughter is to be married, and you ask me to give you the Record(s) o’ the Month—for free.
A new Paradise Lost album merits double focus. Will Ascension ascend beyond expectations?
“Those of you hoping to turn your ancient civilization cosplay group into a power metal band, sorry to burst your bubble–Warkings has beat you to it. Including Armageddon, this prolific German outfit has released five albums since their founding in 2018. Perhaps realizing that one new LP per year is not sustainable, Warkings waited three years to record Armageddon.” A war worth the wait?
“Veonity has undergone some crucial changes since they last graced these hallowed halls, notably the addition of vocalist Isak Stenvall (Lancer), which allows former vocalist Anders Sköld to focus solely on guitar. With the extra firepower that Stenvall provides, Veonity hopes to get you pumped up for their epic saga of power metal anthems.” Was Stenvall The Final Element they needed to complete their sound? See what I did there? ;)
“In recent months I’ve been mulling over the virtues of concise songwriting. Thanks to its inherent pop appeal, power metal benefits most from diligent self-editing. The style’s inclinations towards grandeur and virtuosity mean short-form power metal is uncommon, yet tasteful restraint can lead to breathtaking gut punches of concentrated genre excess. On their fifth LP, War Hearts, Frozen Crown seems to agree. Their preceding effort, Call of the North, was defined by long songs that accommodated adventurous songwriting. In contrast, War Hearts feels like a throwback to the band’s earliest efforts.” Is that a good thing?
Listurnalia 23 comes to its close as a particularly perplexed and disconcerted El Señor Cuervo counts everything up and makes a list of the albums which garnered the Angry Metal Groupthink™ seal of approval. Needless to say, this year has portended some disturbing developments.
Kenstrosity ’s waitied patiently to uncork his first ever big boy list upon the world, and here it comes! Get ready to be convinced.
“Unfurl adhere to the school of posts—post-grind, post-death, post-hardcore—that also gives us such bands as Full of Hell and Wake, and Ascension is their third full-length LP. Grindcore is the base of their sound, but these knotted compositions can suddenly swerve into sludgy doom trudges or ethereal clean flourishes on a dime. A handful of genres can be heard at any given time, but Ascension is really a tale of two albums.” Fly the flag of grind.
“Eleven years. Eleven years since Scotland’s Ascension released their debut record, Far Beyond the Stars. While shreddery and wank found a cozy little home on that record, the songs were there, the talent amongst all involved abundant. It was clear from the very start that Ascension were a band to watch for, primed and ready to unseat DragonForce for hyper-speed cheese supremacy after Inhuman Rampage exploded in the mid-aughts. But eleven years is a long time to wait.” Tick tock….
“Regarde les Hommes Tomber’s soundscape is a vertical stack of black-, post- and sludge metal. The sound is dense and relentlessly insistent, a colliding pile of tremolo rhythms supporting ominous, towering riffs. The vocals are one part black metal screams, two parts hoarse shouts filled with desperation. The effect is like getting caught in a mudslide: unexpected speed, suffocating darkness and crushing weight, surrounded by the screams of the other unfortunate souls dragged to their deaths by the unflinching flow.” It’s the rise and fall.
