It’s out and about, a week in advance. Subtly melodic polyrhythmic chugfest GET. If you care, give it a listen, and then maybe buy it if you like it.
Veil of Maya’s [id] comes out April 6th on Sumerian Records. Here’s their song “Namaste”, via YouTube:
- JR
Take members of Between the Buried and Me, Cradle of Filth, and Fear Before (The March Of Flames), and what do you get? You get fucking ORBS.
Orbs is a prog rock supergroup of sorts, consisting of Dan Briggs of Between the Buried and Me (on guitar this time!), Adam Fisher and Clayton Holyoak of Fear Before the March of Flames on vocals and drums, respectively, Ashley Ellyllon, formerly of Abigail Williams and now of Cradle of Filth doing keys, and Chuck Johnson (of Nightbear) on bass.
The reason I bring up this group destined for awesome? They are releasing their first album, “Asleep Next to Science”, this year! And what’s better, they are offering two free songs, “A Man Of Science” and “Megaloblastic Madness”, on their official website. And you should check them out on MySpace, while you’re at it.
It’s about time, too! This stuff was in the works after Colors came out, if I recall correctly. According to Danny Briggs, more details are coming, and we’ll get back to you when they do.
- JR
Why is it that good bands (ie, Refused) stay broken up and bands nobody particularly cared much about from the 90s and early 00′s are suddenly coming back. It’s been happening left and right. I’m afraid the 10′s will see a nu-revival.
The band in question today? Orgy, the industrial band who were signed to Korn’s Elementree Records label and generally had nothing to contribute to music as a whole.
Nothing is 100% yet, but Ryan Shuck, the group’s guitarist, mentioned Orgy when speaking on tour plans with Julien-K and Dead By Sunrise.
“I probably shouldn’t say a lot of about this, but I’ve kind of got a stick up my ass about doing something with Orgy,” Ryan can be heard saying in the clip, which is available for viewing below. “We’re gonna be doing a tour — Julien K — most likely, I’d say, in June, maybe after, in Europe, and if we do something with Orgy, that means we will have played a full tour with three different bands in one year. Pretty awesome. All original bands, all original content. It’s starting to become a sort of a challenge and something I really wanna do.”
Just what we need, more mediocre industrial music with three chords and electronic buzz. Nine Inch Nails should start touring again in a few years out of spite.
- JR
Rumours have been abound the past couple of days that hardcore pioneers Refused are reforming, thanks in no small part to the above website‘s main page.
Hype is a dangerous thing, especially where these guys are concerned. Refused are the punk equivalent to The Beatles, minus the assassination and conspiracy theories. I nearly browned my tighty-whities earlier today before brain engaged to override the fanboy and actually do some research.
Unfortunately it’s merely a sly ruse on Epitaph’s part, who are re-issuing The Shape Of Punk To Come in deluxe form. Whatever that means.
In an email to Buddyhead, Frontman Dennis Lyxzén expressly stated that there will be no reunion, as he and former Refused drummer David Sandström focus on new band Ac4.
Sorry folks. Refused are still fucking dead. You can check out Ac4′s Myspace here. Not my cup of punk, but then again I don’t even like Minor Threat.
-CG
You’ve more than likely never heard of the band Promethee, and that’s pretty much a given. Promethee are a Swiss metal band with a sound swinging between metalcore and deathcore, depending on whatever mood they’re in. There’s a slight progressive undertone, so maybe you could toss them into the Sumeriancore subgenre. Promethee gave the world a sampling of their music recently with their self-titled five-track EP, Promethee.
It went largely unnoticed, as it tends to happen to small foreign bands; they only have 127 listeners on last.fm. How I came across this EP is a bit serendipitous, finding myself browsing deathcore music blogs on blogger for bands with the tag “progressive deathcore”. I didn’t really expect to find anything overly enjoyable that I haven’t already heard of. While Promethee aren’t exactly pushing musical boundaries with their EP (they really aren’t), it can actually be a very fun listen.
I don’t ever want to go to Australia. It’s not that I hate Australians, it’s just that everything in Australia will kill you in a heartbeat. If I were to ever go to Australia, I will not step foot outdoors. The outback is a brutal fucking place. Everything’s either venomous or big and strong enough to tear you limb from limb.
Pictured: My Worst NightmareSo is it just a mere coincidence that extreme thrashers Truth Corroded share the same continent with some of the world’s deadliest creatures?
More than likely. But you should check them out anyway, because they are really good. Truth Corroded’s influences are firmly rooted in thrash and death metal bands such as Sepultura, Dark Angel, Slayer, Obituary, The Haunted, Testament, and more, with dark melodic aspects and an aggressive and unrelenting attitude. I’d highly recommend them if you’re into any of the aforementioned bands, especially The Haunted.
Their latest album, Upon The Warlords Crawl, was mixed and mastered by Jonas Kjellegren of Scar Symmetry. It’s out now via Truth, Inc. Records. You can, and totally should, check them out on MySpace, if you are to be so inclined.
- JR
A Hope For Home – Realis (Facedown)
Black Breath – Heavy Breathing (Southern)
The Daisy Antithesis – Surface And The Sky (Diminished Fifth)
Daniel Band – On Rock (Re-Release) (Retroactive)
Destinity – Reasons To See (Lifeforce)
The Dillinger Escape Plan – Under The Running Board (7″ LP) (Relapse)
Disaffection – Begin The Revolution (Bombworks)
Final Axe – Beyond Hell’s Gate (Re-Release) (Retroactive)
Floor – Below & Beyond (8xCD) (Robotic Empire)
Haken – Aquarius (Sensory)
Helloween – Unarmed: Best Of 25th Anniversary (The End)
Hour Of Penance – Paradogma (Unique Leader)
Hundredth – When Will We Surrender (Mediaskare)
Monument To Thieves – Monument To Thieves (12″/CD) (No Sleep)
Neurosis – A Sun That Never Sets (12″ LP) (Relapse)
Pantera – 1999-2000: A Decade Of Domination (Walmart Only) (Rhino)
Raven – Walk Through Fire (Metal Blade)
Rusted Dawn – The Black Tides Of War (Diminished Fifth)
Titanic – Maiden Voyage (Re-Release) (Retroactive)
Titanic – Screaming In Silence (Re-Release) (Retroactive)[via The PRP and About.com]
Nothing but re-releases and bands I’ve never heard of. Woo.
It’s the end of the month. Next month, we get a plethora of new and awesome metal albums. Looks like they should have made April Metal Month instead.
- JR
Local music scenes are funny things. For the most part they are wildly hit and miss, but growing up I was blessed with a fairly diverse and talented one: one that has inbred time and time again, recycling members, nurturing talent like some rapey old school janitor with a hunchback and a frog for a wife.
AZWAI are the six-fingered middle child of the Worcestershire music scene. There are hills. There are woods. Plenty of places to hide your incestuous progeny; perhaps in a cow shed in the middle of nowhere?
This is where I found Malvern’s very own bastard sons – [corresponding to the photo above] Dan Stokes, Adam Murkin, Craig Taylor and Dan Taylor [unrelated. Or so they say. See above paragraph.] – slavering over their instruments and sodomising a dead rat. Luckily they were in a ‘playful’ mood, and after placating them with the latest Hollyoaks calendar, they agreed to answer a few questions.
CG: AsZerosWeAreInfinite is not what you might call a usual name. How and why did you choose it in particular?
DS: It’s based on a mathematical theory known as ‘God math’, which talks about zero as being an infinite number. In the beginning we just wanted to write hardcore but the more we wrote, and specifically the more technical our music got, the more the name stuck.
AM: Well in honesty, it was either that or ‘I’m A Pterodactyl’. We went for the one with the better acronym.
How did you all get started in music? What drew you to the heavier end of the musical spectrum?
DS: We stumbled across rock music in high school like everyone else, and found like-minded people. I began writing music when I was fifteen. I found that my tastes became more and more violent the older and grumpier I got, and that I had a burning desire to constantly push myself to the very edge of my abilities; writing songs I could barely play. Eventually, we wanted the music we wrote to cause an emotional reaction out of the people listening and the easiest emotion to provoke from a crowd is anger. We’ve always thought that anger and passion go hand in hand and we’re all very passionate people.
CT: Slipknot. End of.
Between my crooked teeth
And self-prophecised lies
You will discover salvation for your ache
What is it about Malvern that produces such a plethora of brilliant bands and musicians?
AM: Must be the water…
DS: I think its because it’s ‘small town syndrome’. We all live in this town where there isn’t much to do apart from drink and listen to music, so eventually you have a whole gaggle of people in the same generation feeling the same frustrations of being from nowhere special. A band seems like the perfect place to vent those feelings and turn them into something constructive. Of course I could be way off and it could just be the water. The Queen does drink it. But I doubt she’s in a Converge cover band…
In a move that makes the most sense out of any of the news I’ve read today, Blabbermouth reported that Jonathan Davis confirmed rumors that Korn have signed to Roadrunner Records, home to big name metal bands Slipknot, Stone Sour, Soulfly, Killswitch Engage, DevilDriver, Trivium, and more.
Speaking on the move, Jonathan said in an interview with KQXR radio in Boise, Idaho:
“We’re going to be going with Roadrunner, but that’s all so fun. I’m really excited to be doing this because they’re one of the last real record labels left that lets bands do what they want to do. And all the great bands they’ve had on that label… it seems like a good home for us right now.”
Their upcoming album, Korn III – Remember Who You Are is due out this summer. I’ll admit I’m actually kind of excited about this album, as it’s supposed to be a return to the sound of their first couple of albums. And before you judge me and call me out, don’t forget that we were all blasting Korn in the 90′s. Korn was my first stepping stone into the world of metal, and I’m sure I’m not the only one who would be stuck listening to some other garbage if Korn hadn’t come along. I just happen to be more comfortable admitting it, I guess.
So there’s that. Bitch and moan now if you want, but remember, it’s Roadrunner Records. They signed Nickelback.
- JR
