One up-and-coming alt-rock band to keep an eye on is Eye Ra Haze, a female-fronted group from New York that combines the eight string guitars and floating atmospherics of Deftones with the melodic cadence of Chevelle. The group are releasing a new EP Eye Of The Storm in the coming weeks, and in preparation, the group are releasing a series of vlogs and guitar playthroughs which will be posted exclusively to Heavy Blog!
Somewhere between the massive gritty riffing of sludge and the pissed-off fury of hardcore lies Boston’s Zozobra, a project started in 2006 by Cave In and Old Man Gloom‘s Caleb Scofield. Initially concerned with more upbeat atmospheric sludge along the lines of Baroness and Intronaut, the project has since turned towards powerviolence levels of aggression, not out of place on a playlist featuring the likes of Nails or Early Graves. The band’s new album Savage Masters — out now on Brutal Panda Records — is the band’s most aggressive and blistering album to date. Scofield wrote up a track-by-track breakdown of the album for us, which you can read below.
Scandinavian progressive metal tends to have a certain grandiosity and bombast about it that seems unparallelled by the rest of the world. We’ve been singing the praises of this particular subsection of music for some time now, what with Ihsahn, Enslaved, SHINING, Vintersorg, and more coming out over the years with strong records that capture the region’s unique musical nuance. One band in particular that has engrained themselves as a part of the growing attention brought to the region is Norway’s Leprous. Breaking out with the critical hit of their sophomore record Bilateral in 2011 and gaining notoriety as Ihsahn’s designated live band, they became a band to watch in 2013 as they prepared their follow-up, Coal. It’s certainly one of our most anticipated records this year, and we’re proud to present the band’s first single from the album, ‘Chronic,’ below.
We are excited to present up-and-coming prog acolytes Ever Forthright‘s new video, ‘Lost In Our Escape.‘ Directed by Andrew Pulaski of Abstrakt Pictures (also known for directing Born of Osiris‘ ‘Follow the Signs,’) this stellar video is a testament to small bands and indie labels’ abilities to come up with videos with great production value. Whoever said the art of the music video was dead? You can watch the stunning video below:
‘Lost In Our Escape’ appears on Ever Forthright’s self-titled debut album, which is out now on Myriad Records.
- JR
Thanks to Live Nation, we’re giving away two pairs of tickets to see Soilwork in New York City on March 15th at Gramercy Theatre with Jeff Loomis, Blackguard, Bonded by Blood, and Hatchet! In order to win, we’re gonna ask you to help beef up our Facebook activity by liking our Facebook page and liking/sharing this image. Two people will be randomly selected to win a pair of tickets to the show on Tuesday, March 12th at Midnight. Hop to it and spread the word!
Check out the list of dates for the epic two-month trek below:
We are proud to announce the Heavy Blog Is Heavy sponsored Arsonists Get All The Girls mini-tour. Taking place this weekend, the prog/experimental deathcore group will make their way through three cities, taking them to Never Say Never Festival next Wednesday, March 13th in Mission, TX. Here are the dates, short but sweet:
3/9 – Las Vegas, NV @ Cheyenne Saloon
3/10 – Phoenix, AZ @ Joe’s Grotto
3/11 – Albuquerque, NM @ Gasworks
If you live out west, crawl your asses out of the desert and into one of these three venues. If you weren’t aware (though you should have been), Arsonists Get All The Girls are also hard at work on a new album, of which we’ll have word for you soon enough. Check back here and on AGATG’s Facebook for up to date info as it comes in.
- JR
We are proud to present death metal five-piece Demented‘s sophomore record Across The Nature’s Stillness! Demented are a promising band to watch out for in the already highly impressive French metal scene, featuring infectious grooving brutality and technical musicianship that fans of Decapitated, Gojira, Cryptopsy, and perhaps even Fleshgod Apocalypse (sans symphonic elements) should find highly desirable. This is our kind of death metal, which is why we didn’t hesitate at all when approached concerning an exclusive premiere. Across The Nature’s Stillness is due out February 22nd on Klonosphere Records, but you can stream the entire record below right now:
Show Demented some love by following them on Facebook.
- JR
Hey everybody, it’s Shjon Thomas and Ryan Mattheu from The Deadstation! We’re a dystopian progressive metal band based out of Boston, MA. The awesome guys at Heavy Blog have given us the opportunity to write another article on whatever we wanted… so we put on our thinking caps and tried our hardest to narrow down the infinite possibilities to ONE idea.
We decided to list five bands that are, in our humble opinion, the FIVE MOST IMPORTANT bands in metal right now. These bands are the ones who are shaping metal music of the future, by kicking major ass in the present.
We have to reiterate though that this is just our opinion, and that we are not stating it as fact in any way! Everybody will have their own opinion on this subject, and they are all just as valid as ours.
In fact, why don’t you post YOUR list in the comment section below! We love to hear about what bands people are digging these days.
If you’re interested in checking out The Deadstation, you can download our free EP “Episode 01” here. It was mastered by the one and only Jens Bogren (Devin Townsend, Opeth, Katatonia)!
So anyways… here we go!
Hometown shows are the best. Living in South Florida, I never really got to see any hometown shows save for local bands, but I always heard how different they were. It’s especially fulfilling for the bands playing in their hometown, because you’re on your home turf, with your friends and family, and you can have so much fun. Underoath, hailing from Tampa/St. Petersburg, played hometown shows every year since the late 90s when they were just starting out. At the end of last year, they announced their breakup, and released the dates or one final tour, featuring Letlive, As Cities Burn, and mewithoutYou. St. Petersburg was the last date on the tour. A show in a town that helped define them, and supported them from their inception to present. A show attended by their wives, parents, siblings, and music celebrities (Jeremy and Kevin of A Day To Remember among them). One final performance in a city that had been so good to them. Their last notes as a band would be played there, so I made sure to get a ticket.
If you’re unfamiliar, Hateform are a band to keep an eye on in 2013. Featuring past members of Mors Principium Est, Hateform blend thrash, prog, and death metal for a package that should sit well among fans of Death, Revocation, and Obscura. Top shelf melodic death metal is getting harder to come by over the years, but Hateform are keeping the genre alive with technical guitar work and stellar songwriting. Their forthcoming new album Sanctuary In Abyss is seeing release through Spinefarm Records this March, but you can hear the first new track from the record ‘Perpetual Cold’ below:
Mixed and mastered by Thomas “Plec” Johansson (Watain, Scar Symmetry, Mors Principium Est) and featuring artwork from Jon Barmby (Architects, Devil Sold His Soul), Sanctuary in Abyss will see release March 1 (Europe) and March 6 (North America; Digital only) on Spinefarm Records. Visit Hateform on Facebook for more on the band and Sanctuary In Abyss!
- JR
