“Howling Giant occupies such an odd place within its scene. The Nashville collective is stoner metal and psych rock to the core in an energetic way that recalls the down-and-dirty acts like High on Fire or Mastodon, but layers of melody and creative chord usage feel progressive a la Intronaut or Baroness and the triple vocal harmonies are catchy yet evasive, not unlike Torche or Helmet. They also don’t take things too seriously, with a solid sense of humor and a relatable relationship with fans to bring their formidable technical skill to earth.” Howls from the south.
Anciients
Angry Metal Guy’s Top Ten(ish) of 2024
Starting 2025 with a bang was always important, and I elected the “being 26 days late with your Record o’ the Year post” as the best possible way to give everyone that patented Angry Metal Guy feeling of waiting and waiting only to be smacked in the face with 5000 words that you disagree with entirely. Welcome to the Wonderful World of Executive Dysfunction™! Let’s make a list!
GardensTale’s Top Ten(ish) Album Art of 2024
It’s time for art appreciation, you bunch of uncultured dolts! Join us as we run down the best (and worst) album art of 2024 and learn to appreciate the finer things in strife.
Saunders and Felagund’s Top Ten(ish) of 2024
Saunders and Felagund continue Listurnalia with another set of lists. MOAR lists for the Blood Godz!
Carcharodon and Cherd’s Top Ten(ish) of 2024
Carcharodon and Cherd roll out their Top Ten(ish) of 2024 for all the metaverse to gawk at. Pay first!
Anciients – Beyond the Reach of the Sun Review
“Canada’s Anciients made an explosive impact on a pair of ambitious albums, courtesy of 2013’s promising Heart of Oak debut, and 2016’s flawed though frequently great sophomore opus Voice of the Void. Displaying a fresh penchant for chunky, intricate progressive metal featuring sludge, stoner and psychedelic elements, Anciients displayed influences like early Mastodon, Intronaut and Opeth as touchstones to a vibrant sound they could call their own. Then shit went dark as a series of personal events and line-up changes halted momentum. News of a long-awaited return filtered through, resulting in the release of their eagerly awaited third album Beyond the Reach of the Sun, featuring striking Adam Burke cover art. Hardships and the passage of time perhaps places question marks on whether Anciients can expand upon their formula to achieve prime career results.” From limbo to sunless voids.
Turbid North – The Decline Review
“If you’re looking for thick-stringed pummel somewhere on the heady but heavy spectrum between Anciients and Today Is the Day with a kiss of Machine Head, you might be in the market for Turbid North. I know that sounds like mouthful, but these extreme metal frontiersmen make it a point to switch from Southern rock drones to chug-led beatdowns on a dime.” Trve north?
Woodhawk – Violent Nature Review
“Woodhawk’s debut, 2017’s Beyond the Sun, slipped by all of us, but thanks to some friends who I can reliably state are stoner rock aficionados, that album ended up in my collection. If I had reviewed it here, it would have received a healthy 3.5, as it was loaded with catchy, energetic, desert rock songs, and I simply love Turner Midzain’s voice. For Violent Nature, the band reconvened in Vancouver to record once again with Jesse Gander (Anciients), a relationship that clearly pays rich dividends.” Canadian deserts, man.
Dark Ocean Society – Hymns for the Last Man Review
“As a metalhead, I always feel way behind on doom metal and its various offspring genres. It was the last genre I discovered, and further the last one I gained a bone-deep understanding of. Imagine my surprise to find an untouched, independent stoner prog album sitting in the promo bin. Chicagoan band Dark Ocean Society is one of those projects—one-man, home recorded, totally independent; it is the brainchild of one C.M. Tedor. You know, the kind of project you’d expect to spit out a shitty black metal record. Instead, we have Hymns for the Last Man, a piece on alienation and the pain of life in the modern era.” One Hymn, some waiting.
Angry Metal Guy’s Top 10(ish) Records o’ 2016
Twenty-sixteen was a year that started so well. I’d recently performed a counter coup, reorganized things, appointed Steel Druhm to my Internet Banana Republic Enforcer for Life and I was reviewing a lot of stuff. The Record(s) o’ the Month were landing on time, and the trains were on schedule. Then tragedy struck… Alas, the good that was the beginning of the year turned into a fucking bullshit slog where I became progressively overcome by life. Longtime readers will know that I have been much less involved on the back half of this year than at any point in our long history. And I’ll just be honest, I’ve been considering even setting aside the mantle of Angry Metal Guy altogether. This year has been a year of endings, in a way. The end of my faith in humanity. The end of Agalloch’s post-Ulver reign of terror. The end of a lot of famous lives.

















