Should I be concerned about this aggressive behavior?

The other night, my boyfriend stopped by my apartment after the Superbowl. Not surprisingly, he had a bit to drink there, but was not seemingly intoxicated at this point. I had an exam the next day, and he just wanted to come over and sleep.. After a bit, I woke him up and told him to go home – as I had to study and he was a bit distracting. Somehow this turned into an argument about our relationship, and got really nasty, really fast. This is very unlike him.. he is one of the mildest tempered people I know..

Once the words got really personal and low, I just told him to leave and looked away. This made him even angrier, as he smacked what was in my hand towards the wall and yelled at me for not looking at him. He continued with it, seemingly getting angrier, as I just sat there completely caught off guard – and, quite frankly, pissed that he was acting that way. I’ve never been afraid of a man before this point.

Long story short, he finally left. Two days later, he apparently feels terrible and doesn’t know why it happened. I’m really concerned that it did… and worried that it is an indication of what’s to come. He came very close to, but did NOT touch me, or else the solution to this would be very clear.

What are your thoughts? Is it common for men to get angry when drinking? How should I handle this? I don’t want to crucify him for it… as I have no doubt in my mind that he genuinely feels terrible.. but I also don’t know how to feel now.