Glory left my hammer
But now I wield the sword
Of primal power!
Created once by the Gods
My body was dead
I couldn’t have been deader
But I came right back
One better!
But now I wield the sword
Of primal power!
Created once by the Gods
My body was dead
I couldn’t have been deader
But I came right back
One better!
An unspecified age ago, a legendary hero defeated a multiverse-spanning evil with a fiery Heroic Sacrifice. Against all odds, he survived: now one step stronger than ever before, he continues his epic quest against the forces of darkness as Angus McSix.
Angus McSix
is a UK-based Symphonic Power Metal supergroup formed by former Gloryhammer vocalist Thomas Winkler in 2021. They are signed to Austrian label Napalm Records.
Much like Gloryhammer, Angus McSix performs intentionally ridiculous Heavy Mithril songs, detailing the swashbuckling Science Fantasy adventures of its namesake character (Winkler) as he battles evil across the universe with his stalwart companions Skaw! the Buff Berserker from the North (Manu Lotter, formerly of Rhapsody of Fire) and Thalestris, Queen of the Lazer-Amazons of Caledonia (Thalìa Bellazecca, formerly of Frozen Crown). Rounding out the cast is the Arch Demon Seebulon, the Origin of All Evil (Sebastian "Seeb" Levermann of Orden Ogan).
The band's debut album Angus McSix and the Sword of Power came out on 21 April 2023.
Lineup:
- Thomas "Tom" Winkler as Angus McSix - lead vocals
- Sebastian "Seeb" Levermann as Arch Demon Seebulon - guitars, bass
- Thalìa Bellazecca as Amazon Queen Thalestris - guitars
- Manu Lotter as Skaw! the Buff Berserker from the North - drums
Discography:
- Angus McSix and the Sword of Power (2023) - Singles: "Master of the Universe", "Sixcalibur", "Laser-Shooting Dinosaur"
Tropes:
- Affectionate Parody: Much like Gloryhammer before it, Angus McSix is an intentionally silly send-up of Heavy Mithril Power Metal bands with the cheese turned up to eleven.
- Ambiguous Situation: Angus is one of the Starlords born from "first cosmic sparks" whose memories were erased. It's unclear whether his previous backstory as a prince of the Fife space empire is still true, was just a cover story, or just doesn't apply to this version of the character.
- All Drummers Are Animals: It would be the drummer who gets described as "the Buff Berserker from the North".
- Alternate Band Equivalent: Two band members are obvious parallels to Gloryhammer characters: main character Angus McSix equals Angus McFife, and Amazon Queen Thalestris is a Distaff Counterpart of Ser Proletius: the guitarist, who is also the leader of an initially independent allied force of eagle-riding heroes. By extension, her kingdom of the Amazons of Caledonia are Distaff Counterparts to the Knights of Crail.
- Awesome McCoolname: Pretty much everyone and everything, so far; par for the course, really, for bombastic self-aware Heavy Mithril.
- Badass in Distress: In the video for "Master of the Universe", Thalestris first meets Angus while she's imprisoned by Seebulon. Once freed, she joins him as an archer (and guitarist).
- BFS: Angus is only One Head Taller than the Sword of Power.
- Bittersweet Ending: Angus is tricked into freeing Sebulon, but his memories of his true nature as a Star Lord are restored and Thalestris manages to stop the Fireflies of Doom.
- Character Name and the Noun Phrase: Befitting the pulp Action-Adventure theme of the band, their debut album is titled Angus McSix and the Sword of Power.
- Cool Sword: The Sword of Power, pushed to a ridiculously awesome degree when its name is revealed: Sixcalibur.
- Doomy Dooms of Doom: Played for Laughs in "Fireflies of Doom". It Makes Sense in Context, as the eponymous fireflies are Animalistic Abominations, but that doesn't stop the singers from chanting "Doom, doom, doom doom! Doom, doom doom doom!" at the start of the bridge of the song.
- Eldritch Abomination: The Fireflies of Doom are giant, radioactive insect-horse hybrid things from Hell that are so powerful they can wipe out a kingdom and even Angus can barely hold them off. Thalestris and her Amazons manage to stop them (presumably with their nuke tipped arrows) but only after most of the dwarves have been slaughtered.
- Excalibur in the Stone: When Angus finds the Sword of Power in "Master of the Universe", it's embedded in a giant skull; naturally, he pulls it out, prompting his Super-Empowering.
- Fate Worse than Death: If Seebulon wins the coming fight against Angus, he'll destroy everything good in the universe creating a world of only evil.
- Guys Smash, Girls Shoot: Angus uses a Cool Sword, while Thalestris prefers a longbow.
- Heavy Mithril: Power Metal about swashbuckling Science Fantasy adventures through space against an evil arch demon.
- Heroes Prefer Swords: Angus McSix takes up the Sword of Power to battle Seebulon, discarding the hammer that glory left.
- Horse of a Different Color: The Laser-Shooting Dinosaur, a cyborg theropod with an arsenal of laser guns and a Laser Sword in its tail, which Angus rides into battle with Sixcalibur in hand.
- Human Alien: Angus himself is this, being one of the Starlords born in the earliest moments of the universe.
- Humongous-Headed Hammer: Angus briefly wields a long-hafted hammer with a huge blocky head at the start of the first song "Master of The Universe", but as a Take That! at Gloryhammer, it's quickly cast aside in favour of the Sword of Power. It still makes a massive explosion when it impacts the hill behind Angus, showing its size and power.
- Meaningful Name: The name of the band and the lead character is a play on "Angus McFife", Winkler's character in Gloryhammer: the surname sounds like "McFive", so "one better" (from "Master of the Universe") makes him McSix.
- Mook–Face Turn: Skaw! is a former mook of Seebulon who changes sides when he meets Angus in "Master of the Universe".
- Named Weapon: The Sword of Power. Its name? SIXCALIBUR.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Angus removing Sixcalibur from the skull is what allows Seebulon to revive.
- Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: "Laser-Shooting Dinosaur". A cyborg dinosaur with laser guns and a lightsaber in its tail, and Angus riding on its back. Built by dwarven samurai, no less.
- Peggy Sue: The first album, especially "Master of the Universe", describes a Bad Future where Seebulon won, only for Angus to travel back in time to Set Right What Once Went Wrong.
- Physical God: Angus is really a Star Lord, and all his previous adventures were only testing him to make him strong enough to fight Seebulon.
- Recursive Reality: Seebulon was slain with Sixcalibur in Hell, condemning him to the Hell of Hell. And, thanks to Angus he came back.
- Shout-Out: "Master of the Universe" has more than a passing resemblance with Masters of the Universe. Namely:
- The name of the song (obviously).
- The hero (Angus McSix) is a prince who wields a Sword of Power. His first name is 2 syllables long and starts with an A, like Adam.
- The villain (Seebulon, appearing post-music in the videoclip) is a demon with a Skull for a Head who wields a ram-skull-tipped staff. His name is 3 syllables long and starts with an S, like Skeletor.
- The hero's friend and possible love interest (Thalestris) is a female warrior whose name starts with a T, like Teela.
- Stylistic Suck: The music videos for "Laser-Shooting Dinosaur" and "Ride to Hell" are both drawn in a style aping mid-2000s flash animations.
- Supergroup: All the members of the band are well-known in European Power Metal: Winkler from Gloryhammer, Levermann from Orden Ogan, Bellazecca from Frozen Crown, and Lotter from Rhapsody of Fire.
- Take That!: Angus McSix and the Sword of Power throws a whole bunch of shade at Gloryhammer:
- "Master of the Universe", at the same time it establishes Angus's triumphant return, has lyrics like "Glory left my hammer" and "I came right back / One better!" Angus discards the Hammer of Glory in favor of a Cool Sword and trades his green leathers for golden armor, while Angus McFife itself sounds like "Angus McFive", so "one better" = "McSix". Even the song title could be interpreted as a dig against Gloryhammer's song "Masters of the Galaxy".
- "Laser-Shooting Dinosaur" has a blink-and-you-miss it comment about Angus's eponymous Horse of a Different Color devouring unicorns—sympathetic creatures in several Gloryhammer songs.
- "Starlord of the Sixtus Stellar System" retcons everything in the Gloryhammer albums to being just Angus training for his real quest.
- Time Abyss:
- Angus was born from the first cosmic sparks. Assuming this means the Big Bang, he must be billions of years old.
- Sebulon is the source of all evil in the universe, so he might be even older than that.
