Mastodawn

I have an idea; to organize Valhalla openair in Feankleaster with Norwegian Black Metal and CJ mcCreery has to do the production. Fryslân going Orthodox! #cjmccreery #feankleaster #fogelsanghstate #dokkmopenair #takingdownforge #valhallaopenair #jarlborg #saintboniface #blackmetal #burzum #monstranceclock #patriarkh #batushka #orthodox #frisianwoodlands #magnafrisia

j43147 :pentagram:Sep 4

If only #patriarkh #greydelisle #johnnycash and #batushka could grab a cup of coffee together....

Angry Metal Guy Aug 13

Angry Metal Guy Speaks: 10,000 Posts

By Angry Metal Guy

There’s almost no good way to mark these anniversaries without getting a little self-referential, maybe a little maudlin… or without tooting your own horn until you’re red in the face and everyone’s embarrassed. Still, it has come to my attention that this is the 10,000th post of AngryMetalGuy.com. Actually, as of this writing, the number of posts in the entire system is supremely metal 10,666. Also, we have something like 600 drafts that never saw the light of day and 49 pending posts that have never been published.1 To say that we’ve been productive carries with it a drunk Bilbo Bagginsesque tone of bemusement.

“My, we have been productive.”

During the 16ish years of unbound fecundity that it took for us to reach this dubious landmark, many a writer or would-be writer (over 60, at this point) has spilled internet ink within these unhallowed halls. We have extolled the virtues and excoriated the shortcomings of wonderful records and forgettable platters. We’ve opined, and raged, and littered the page with so many puns and dad jokes that you’d think this website was the patriarch of a family of 10. The total result of this hard work has resulted in been 8,032,385 words that have been written.2 Divide that by 10,000, and that’s an average of about 803 words per post—53 more than our max review length.3 The Year of Our Angry Overlord, 2019, was our most productive year ever. It saw us jam through 983 posts—a mind-numbing number if you think about it for long enough. Our longest average posts to date were last year, in 2024, where our average post had 955 words. I can’t even imagine how that’s possible, but there you go.4

And what are the core bits of writing that really drive readership? Well, here’s where the horn tootin’ comes in. Of our Top 20(ish) posts, 10 are Angry Metal Guy’s Top Ten(ish) Record(s) o’ the Year lists (with 2015 taking the cake for the most read post of all time). Three more of those are other lists: songs 50-41 of my Top 50 Heavy Metal Songs list; 10-1 of that same list; and my Top 15(ish) of the 2000s. The most viewed non-list was Steel Druhm‘s April Fool’s post from last year about Ripper Owens leaving KK’s Priest for BB’s Maiden. And then there’s the reviews. El Cuervo‘s review of Opeth The Last Will and Testament,5 my review of In Flames’ Foregone, Druhm‘s review of Megadeth’s The Sick, the Dying…and the Dead!, both Veil of Imagination and Epigone (landing very close to each other in terms of views and written by El Cuervo and myself), Batushka’s Litourgiya (TYMHM from 2015, penned by our dear [not actually] deceased Roquentin), and my review of Opeth’s Pale Communion round out the Top 20 posts.6

And even after all this time, we are still changing the world and keeping up with the times by spreading disinformation about incorrigible self-Googler Ripper Owens. That Ripper Owens post that was posted on April 1st, 2024, has moved from parody into objective fact, as it has been picked up by Google’s AI as the answer to the question: “Is Ripper Owens still in KK’s Priest?” The answer? “No, Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens is not currently with KK’s Priest. He left the band in early 2024 to pursue a new project with former Iron Maiden vocalist Blaze Bayley.” A round of applause for both Druhm and the superiority and inevitability of AI!7

What do I take away from this list? Well, aside from pride at what I—nay, we—have wrought, it pays to review big bands’ records if you want a lot of views. I know that’s tough to imagine, but there we are. Better, however, than the super obvious thing is that I’m particularly proud of how we helped to spread the word about Wilderun and Batushka. But this list also brings with it some melancholy and nostalgia. Seeing Druhm and me as the only active writers on this list is a bit of a bummer. But as time moves on, we’ll make new memories with new exploited writers who will pen review after review without compensation, only to watch us feast ourselves even fatter on the spoils of our seniority.

And the raft of contributors who have come and gone deserve recognition. In the end, I want to thank everyone who has contributed to making Angry Metal Guy what it has become over the years—from the Potatoes Jim of the world to the Steels Druhm.8 Without you, this would never have happened. I appreciate the blood, sweat, and/or tears that you have put into carrying my boulder up that hill every day. And so even though your names aren’t at the top of this list, know that I tolerate each one of you with the same cold-hearted disinterest that I always have. Your service has been noted.

As for you readers? Without you, it would’ve taken a lot of refreshing my browser and switching between VPNs to get enough daily readers, so as to result in a desire to keep pushing on until we hit 10,000 posts. So, thank you for your loyalty over the years. We love (most) of your comments. We enjoy (most) of your opinions. And we are (entirely) happy that you spend your hard-earned money on the bands we love, and thank you for your trust. You reading, listening, and supporting the scene means we’re all making the world a better place one overwritten review or blog post at a time.

#2025 #AngryMetalGuySpeaks #Batushka #BlogPost #BlogPosts #Disillusion #InFlames #Landmarks #Megadeth #Opeth #Wilderun

ϐ k3v1n 🇺🇦🇮🇱Jul 27

So, habe die 5 Alben von #GAEREA jetzt als .AIFF auf dem Gerät. Außerdem die 50 Sommer 50 Winter von #DinneraufUranos, die Panihida von #Batushka und die Bulwark von #OpaqueMass. Die knapp 41 Minuten Laufzeit der Bulwark machen bei .AIFF Dateien die in 24 Bit 96 KhZ vorliegen direkt mal eben 1,41 GB aus.

Vicente Precio

Jun 1

Buf!! Vaya cremón!! 💀

#TKZmusica #Musica #Batushka #BlackMetal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2hDXc-Lzog

БАТЮШКА - ЧЕРНАЯ ЛИТУРГИЯ (FULL LIVE STREAM) BATUSHKA - BLACK LITURGY

YouTube

Vicente Precio

Jun 1

Defenitivamente Batushka es el grupo perfecto para jugar al Kingdome Come Deliverance.

#TKZgaming #TKZmusica #Gaming #Musica #Batushka #KingdomeComeDeliverance #BlackMetal

https://youtu.be/73jvwDftQKI

Batushka - Live Graspop 2018 (Full Show HD)

YouTube

Angry Metal Guy May 3

Alukta – Merok Review

By Dear Hollow

When the phrase “ritualistic” is used in metal, my immediate thought is darkness. Haunted fire, pulsing rhythms, eerie chanting, and the opaque blessings of hateful gods spring to mind, a noisy and terrifying descent into madness. Rarely do I think of the music Alukta offers. While tagged as “ritualistic black doom,” this is no Batushka or Death. Void. Terror. You won’t find the same emphasis on diminished chord progressions, the frightful voices cursing the pitch-black abyss, or the shadow of religion casting a pall across the proceedings. Alukta instead offers a sound that is transcendental and gentle, a representation of grief and passage with the dead among the living.

Alukta is a Belgian/French duo consisting of the renowned Déhà, whose long list of quality projects goes without saying,1 and Marie of Brouillard and 1927 – both of whom are also sole members of atmoblack band Transcending Rites. The act formidably utilizes Déhà’s history of doom, whose weight is derived from emotive progressions, as well as Marie’s knack for hypnotic blackened passages converging in a graceful expression of grief and devastation. Debut Merok takes influence after the Torajan people of Indonesia, particularly their funeral rites: from the placement of mummified bodies among everyday routines, elaborate and lengthy rituals to ensure their safe and gradual passage to the afterlife Puya, to the mass machete slaughter of water buffalo, pigs, and chickens as gifts to the dead on their journey. While Merok lacks the teeth you typically think of in doom-inflected black metal, Alukta’s melodic signature and sonic representations of grief and devastation warrant a look.

First and foremost, Alukta feels remarkably respectful in its debut. Guided by sustained guitar melodies and raw production anchored by thunderous dirge-like doom percussion, it feels ritualistic without feeling unnecessarily sinister. The Torajan people’s relationship with death is complex, an expression of crippling grief and uproarious celebration in equal measure, and Merok succeeds in capturing this in a sound that feels nearly gentle in its rendezvous. Déhà and Marie both lend their harsh vocals and cleans, and the tremolo is unmistakably influenced by second-wave, but that melody and a heavy dosage of ritualistic elements in chanting and pulsing percussion add dimension and complexity that represent it well. That’s not to say that there aren’t moments of fury or darkened progressions, but Alukta ensures balance and restraint. From explosive crescendos building ritualistic elements (“Matampu’,” “Kombengi”) to heart-wrenching melodies (“Lassez enter ceux qui pleurent,” “Des Teintes d’éternité”) and the more ominous and haunting leads that sway between yearning and furious (“Aluk To Dolo,” “Exuvia”), the album is purposefully written and gracefully executed.

While it is very much the point of the album, Alukta lacks the teeth that give doom its impact or black metal its rawness. You will find few riffs within Merok’s particular ritual, and the “heavier” passages owe their weight to more minor chord progressions and diminished leads, and that can drag over the album’s relatively short runtime. Those looking for the next Death. Void. Terror. or The Ruins of Beverast, will be disappointed in the relatively toothless sound, but may be swayed by the shifted focus – the gravity is implied through the emotion it invokes rather than the riffs Alukta offers. Its multilayered attack makes its sound mammoth in overlapping ritualistic chanting or vocals and drums, but aside from the thundering snare, the weight is not a metallic one, recalling more so the likes of Ianai or Heilung.

While Alukta does not meet expectations for your latest trek to scream into the abyss, that does not necessarily mean it’s not worth your time. Merok is evocative and devastating in its own way without utilizing black’s rawness nor doom’s weight to communicate ritual and grief, relying on yearning melodies and chord progressions instead. For those expecting to be slaughtered like water buffalo in the traditional trademarks of the genre hallmarks, look elsewhere. However, suppose you’re intrigued by the prospects of a beautiful and gentle expression of devastation and pain in another culture’s complex relationship with death, through Déhà and Marie’s patient songwriting and performances. In that case, Merok holds treasure abound – for this life and maybe the next.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Transcendance
Websites: Too kvlt for webz
Releases Worldwide: May 2nd, 2025

#1927 #2025 #30 #Alukta #Batushka #BlackMetal #Brouillard #DeathVoidTerror_ #DoomMetal #Folk #Heilung #Ianai #InternationalMetal #May25 #Merok #Review #Reviews #Slow #TheRuinsOfBeverast #Transcendance #TranscendingRites #Yhdarl