Articles by jangelfatph

John Angel Reviews

The Z-List Vol 3: Anna Pest, Atvm, Chimera Cult, Optical Delusion

May 21, 2021 jangelfatph

Hello to all the wonderful, underground theydies and djentlethems! Today I’m bringing you the third installment of The Z-List, a column dedicated to bringing some much deserved attention to the underground of underground music and celebrating the people that make up our small community. We’re after the smallest, most obscure bands and projects that lack institutional support. No label? That’s Z-List. One person band? Z-Lister band. Mainstream music journalists say liking this band is elitist?? Oh baby, that’s the most Z-List of all! Our third entry in the Z-List column features a fantastic one-girl project, a creative death metal quartet, some eclectic metal from Shanghai, and a prog group from my hometown. Let’s dive in! […]

2021

Album Review: Millstone – “Isle” 6.9/10 (Death Groove)

May 13, 2021 jangelfatph

Looking to the past for inspiration and instruction is as natural in music as any other human endeavor. For instance, one of the selling points of classical music, as many elitist nerds tell me, is that it’s a continuous tradition going back hundreds of years (I’ve never heard these folks talk about the 60,000 year continuous culture of Aboriginal peoples in so-called Australia but I digress) Metal listeners have a habit of canon-worshipping-navel-gazing almost as bad as classical fans. Ask any boomer metalhead what their favorite band is and you hear a band formed any later than 1994. Annoying gatekeeping aside, many musicians in metal bands tend to be well-versed in the styles and bands that came before them and it makes for wonderful reinterpretations and synthesis of older sub-genres. Hailing from Siberia, Millstone is one such band offering up a tasty blending of many the sub-genres that originally came about in the 80’s and 90’s. […]

2021

Album Review: Screaming Banshee – “Pierceive” 7/10 (Prog Death)

April 30, 2021 jangelfatph

Let’s talk about the differences between string quartets and symphony orchestras. Yes, this is an album review for a death metal band. Just hear me out for a paragraph. In the classical music world, symphonies are the expressive zenith for composers. Think of Beethoven’s monumental symphonies and the massive works of Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss. A wide range of instrumental colors and dynamics are available in the crafting of a symphony and one can make damn near any sound they want if they know what they’re doing. A string quartet on the other hand is but two violins, a viola, and a cello. A severely limited color palette compared to a symphony orchestra but ask any fan of Johannes Brahms and talk your ear off about how much music you can fit in a string quartet. Where a symphony is bombastic and emotionally over-the-top, a string quartet is often esoteric and rewards close listening to discover the music’s secrets.  […]

John Angel Reviews

The Z-List Vol 1: Gabe Is A Unit, Winterleaf, no sky can blind us & MoonBurial

April 17, 2021 jangelfatph

Hello to all the wonderful, underground theydies and djentlethems! Today I’m bringing you the first installment of The Z-List, a column dedicated to bringing some much deserved attention to the underground of underground music and celebrating the people that make up our small community. We’re after the smallest, most obscure bands and projects that lack institutional support. No label? That’s Z-List. One person band? Z-List. Mainstream music journalists say liking this band is elitist?? Oh baby, that’s the most Z-List of all! Our first entry in the Z-List column features some one and two person projects of diverse genres as well as the swan song of an Ohio band. Let’s dive in! […]