One of my most dearly missed niche phase of extreme music was that “weird” phase of mathcore that brought us stuff like The Red Chord, Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza, Silent Circus era BTBAM, and the like? Wonky breakdowns, noodly guitar tech, and brutality that flirted with death metal and grindcore was the sound of a certain kind of person’s MySpace playlist circa 2005.
2018 has been the year of doom, and I’m loving every second of it. With releases from Sleep, YOB (IS GOOD), Mournful Congregation, Eagle Twin, and CHRCH clogging my ears with syrupy, doomy goodness it’s been a tad difficult to focus on records that fall outside the heaviest of metal…
Ever heard of Scholomance? Their tenure lasted between 1995 and 2003, and they were way ahead of their time. Helmed by keyboard player extraordinaire Jimmy Pitts (Eternity’s End, Equipoise, NYN), their brand of progressive death metal was fantastic. Unfortunately, they broke up, but that never stopped Jimmy. He’s been working with a host of talented musicians, including Hannes Grossmann and Danny Tunker of Alkaloid, Carl August Tidemann (ex-Arcturus), Tom “Fountainhead” Geldschläger (Defeated Sanity, ex-Obscura), Ron Jarzombek (Watchtower, Blotted Science), Vishal J Singh (Amogh Symphony), Phil Tougas (First Fragment), Jerry Twyford (Scholomance, Pitts Minnemann Project) and more! Does that line-up make you dizzy? If so, check out the song below the jump, and contribute to their crowd-funder here! Be quick, as there’s only a few days left!
Just this past Friday our resident overlord Eden reviewed Beyond the Reach of the Flame, the new release by American death metal band MICAWBER, and he thought it “plays all the right moves” and “has this immense flow to it”. Well, today you get to hear exactly what he’s on about as we premiere an exclusive stream of the whole record before its May 25 release date! Check it out below, and read on about what to expect after the jump.
It’s no secret that I’m a sucker for emotional music. I listen to music to feel something and it doesn’t matter whether that something is good or bad. However, it’s also no secret that I tend to gravitate towards the darker side of the spectrum, often preferring melancholy to happiness, contemplation to joy and coldness to warmth. Luckily for me (and unluckily for those in my life that have to deal with my moods), there are plenty of bands out there who are more than happy to indulge my penchant for feeling depressed. One of these bands is Spurv, a fantastic post rock group from Oslo, Norway. They trade in the kind of classic post rock made famous by Mono and leaning heavily on those titans for inspiration. They’ve been around for a while and have made consistently convincing post rock in the interim of their career. Now, we’re proud to premiere “Es Blekt Lys Lyder” from their upcoming album Myra!
Finland has a reputation for producing some of the strangest, most unique death metal on the planet. The likes of Demilich, Funebre, Abhorrence, and Sentenced have had an enormous impact on the trajectory and evolution of death metal, promoting sounds and sonic textures unique to the scene. Taking the famous…
There are several War and Peaces worth of words strewn about the internet in blogs and interviews and Facebook comments about how misused the term “screamo” has become in our century. Its birth as a term can be traced back to the 1990’s, when, as it was until the mid-2000’s, it…
You ever yearn for the return of the sludge scene from the late 00’s where Baroness’ Blue Album and Mastodon’s Blood Mountain were the prevailing style before the arena rock vibes took over? Look no further than Vancouver natives Black Wizard, who are working diligently to keep that flame alive,…
I’ve been telling you about Stargazer since 2014; last year, it was my pleasure to review their debut and shed some light on its intricacies and non-standard approach to its genre. In retrospect, now that I’ve had even more time with Tui La, what makes it work so well is the cohesion and organic momentum that the band have. They just seem to really enjoy playing with each other and that makes them gel in a way that’s rare for a relatively young act. The two videos we’re premiering today from them really solidify this fact; both “Animus” and “Skinwalker” are some of my favorite tracks from the album but, more importantly, the videos really showcase how well the band works together. Head on over the jump to see for yourself and we’ll talk more!
There’s something in the water in Australia. Outside of crocodiles, naturally. The country produces quality extreme metal on the regular, and particularly in the realm of death metal has no shortage of premium artists, with recent releases from Portal and Grave Upheaval once again cementing the scene’s weird, overwhelming dominance.…
