Tag Archive: After the Burial


Songs You Might Have Missed

Have you ever noticed how some bands have a few songs that are different from the rest of the band’s catalog? Songs that are really awesome, but are unnoticed because non-fans of the band aren’t interested enough to dig for them? Well, thankfully you have me, and I can point such songs out to you. Here we go!

Trivium – Shogun

Most people know Trivium as Metallica wannabes or an above average metal band. Those people probably didn’t listen to their 2008 album Shogun closely enough. This album is a love letter to progressive metal, thrash, and classic heavy metal. The most interesting track in the album is without doubt the title track, which is a 10+ minute progressive epic, with an Opeth-like interlude with acoustic guitars, a great buildup and a fitting release to that buildup. Listen to this song, and it might change your opinion of the band.

Winds of Plague – Approach the Podium

Much like Trivium, Winds of Plague is also a band that is hated by a lot of people. They have the whole bro-core thing going on, and their songs have terrible breakdowns. Or at least that’s what you would think. Their 2009 release, The Great Stone War is barely even deathcore at times, it’s quite progressive, it’s epic and intricate. “Approach the Podium” is probably a track that most skip, because it begins with what most would consider a bad breakdown. The song becomes quite interesting after that though. It’s very symphonic and progressive. The buildup near the end is very baroque and epic, and the ending breakdown is perfectly set up. It’s not for everyone, but if you can get past its shortcomings the song feels like the audio equivalent of watching The Lord of The Rings.

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For some time, After the Burial have been sitting on their new video for “Pendulum” from last year’s In Dreams, which I cited as one of my fifteen favorite albums from the year. Apparently, the video’s premise saw the band performing at an all-girl catholic school in Minnesota. The girls were encouraged to get a little rowdy, as to coincide with the lyrics “we lose control.” Apparently the plan worked, as the ultra-conservative Catholic chaperons at the shoot were so appalled by what was going on, the school slapped a cease-and-desist on the production company, putting the video’s release on hold.

The band posted a few pics from the shoot on facebook, but nothing seems too incredibly out of the ordinary. In fact, the few stills from the shoot that were made available look much tamer than any pop video you might see nowadays; all of the girls seem to be fully clothed in uniform, something you probably wouldn’t see in any given Lady Gaga video. Unless there was a large satanic lesbian gangbang and abortion party going on behind the scenes, there’s absolutely no reason why a Catholic school should be allowed to halt the release of a video that was already bought and paid for solely on the basis of religious and personal moral beliefs. I could see the excuse of stopping the video because it may make the school look bad, but they should have thought of that before they allowed a metal band to film a video on campus in the first place. They’ve also apparently never heard of the Streisand Effect before either, where by attempting to cover things up and keeping them out of the public eye, controversy is stirred up and even more attention is drawn to the subject. The irony is delicious.

Sexually repressed Christians ruin the fun for everyone, and this particular school has a major stick up its ass. I’m not exactly sure what school this is, but I’m fairly sure it’s in St. Paul, MN. Maybe we can track down the school and tell them how we feel about their decision, eh? After the jump, listen to “Pendulum”!

- JR View Full Article »

 

Alright, so the lineup for the Scream The Prayer IV has just been announced. As usual with a tour of this size, it’s a mixed bag, and you also have to consider that these are all christian bands, and therefore they are more likely to suck. However, I do believe that this year the good may actually outweigh the bad, unlike last year. Thank goodness. Lets have a look at the lineup shall we?

 

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Throw in the technical riffs of August Burns Red, mesh it with some ambient keys and orchestrations, throw in leads and sweeping that recall The Human Abstract as well as After The Burial, and top the formula with some powerful, intense drumming as well as odd time signatures.  What do you get?  Well, you get Hope For The Dying, of course!

Hope For The Dying (otherwise known as HFTD) is an American Christian metal band from Jonesboro, Illinois.  However, their sound spans so many different genres of music.  Here, take a listen to a single from their upcoming record, Dissimulation:

Pretty awesome, right?  Right.  You can also hear the track “Transcendon their official MySpace, which is an even better track, in my opinion.

The album Dissimulation will be released April 26th on Facedown Records.  Get your body ready.

- GR

Sumerian Records recently dropped word of a collaboration album being made with Sumerian Records artists under the name Sumerian Nation. I’m running under the assumption that it will be similar to Roadrunner United and Nuclear Blast All-Stars collaborations where a hodge-podge of different artists from Sumerian-signed bands write songs together. This could be both great and lackluster—the Sumerian roster has a few unsavory bands tucked into the fold, to put it lightly. Here’s a list of bands signed to the label.

After The Burial
Animals As Leaders
Asking Alexandria
Bizzy Bone
Born of Osiris
Circle of Contempt
Conducting From The Grave
Enfold Darkness
The Faceless
I See Stars
I, The Breather
Lower than Atlantis
Periphery
Stick To Your Guns
Stray From The Path
TRAM
Upon a Burning Body
Veil of Maya

Obviously, The Faceless and Periphery could write a hell of a song between them, but Asking Alexandria and I See Stars coming together on a song could spell disaster. We’ll see how it goes, as it’s pretty split even as far as ratio of good bands to bad, but I’d like to think there’s a high volume of talent on board.

Keep an eye out for more information. This is an interesting idea, and I’d like to hear more about this.

- JR

Not content with calling it quits after their current Explosions II tour, Norma Jean will be embarking on the Explosions II Part Deux tour across North America this spring, alongside After The Burial, Motionless In White, For The Fallen Dreams, and Stray From The Path. Personally I’d be most interested in seeing Norma Jean and After The Burial, but it looks like they’ll be getting the most stage time on this tour anyways so it’d be worth it. Plus, thanks to Peter we already know that Norma Jean put on a great show. I myself had the pleasure of seeing After The Burial recently and I enjoyed their set, although I’m more of a fan of Rareform and they played mainly newer material. Even though the tour dates are displayed on the flier, I’ll go ahead and post them after the jump to make it a little easier on your eyes. Aren’t I such a sweetheart?

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The Algorithm – CRITICAL.ERROR

The Algorithm

CRITICAL.ERROR

01. Reverse
02. Calculated Movements
03. Access Denied
04. CRITICAL.ERROR
05. Kernel Pt. 1
06. Kernel Pt. 2
07. Kernel Pt. 3
08. Boucle Infinie

[07/08/10]
[Self-released]

So there is some very weird music in the world.  Hunab Ku and Pin-Up Went Down are two examples of bands that are exceptionally weird, but retain that something that make them undeniably awesome.  Only a few groups can pull it off, and with a couple of listens to CRITICAL.ERROR, you can add The Algorithm to the list.

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So I’m fucking stoked for the Abysmal Dawn, The Human Abstract, and Omnium Gatherum records to bless my ears this winter.  And then I realized, “Damn. I’m short on material.”  I was thinking about a “Guilty Pleasures” article, but figured I’d save that for a later date.  I was inspired by Gein’s new article on Songs I Like by Bands I Don’t, and figure I’d chime in again with some more bands I can’t listen to except for that certain gem.  So let’s do this!

After The Burial – Berzerker

Beast Vocals.  Shreddy guitar.  Monstrous drums.  On paper, I should be obsessed with this band.  But I’m not.  And I have no idea why.  I’ve tried to get into Rareform and In Dreams forever, but I never have gotten myself to like them, except for the incredible song “Berzerker”.  The way the song is constructed always get me.

Enslaved – Ethica Odini

I can’t say that I am a fan of black metal.  Save for a few choice albums, like Agollach‘s Marrow of the Spirit, I stray from anything blackened. Enslaved is no different.  “Ethica Odini” is a masterpiece, but I’ve failed to enjoy anything else by them, which is a bummer, because they are extremely talented.

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After The Burial – In Dreams

After The Burial

In Dreams

01. My Frailty
02. Your Troubles Will Cease and Fortune Will Smile Upon You
03. Pendulum
04. Bread Crumbs & White Stones
05. To Carry You Away
06. Sleeper
07. Promises Kept
08. Encased in Ice

[Sumerian | 11/23/10]

Ever since the re-release of Rareform in 2009 with new (and improved) vocalist Anthony Notarmaso, this particular corner of the metal scene (where the microgenres dubbed sumeriancore and djent reside) has been anticipating new music from the Minnesota based quintet. After two years and seemingly endless teasing, After The Burial are dropping the highly anticipated In Dreams.

As any After The Burial fan would come to expect, In Dreams is a very rhythmically driving record, with much emphasis on Meshuggah-influenced fast-paced grooves that, while unoriginal, work very well in coaxing the listener to bob along as the record spins. While breakdowns are the banality that plagues the genre, After The Burial keep things interesting enough in their complexity and overt focus on rhythmic delivery as opposed to having an excuse to throw down in the pit.

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As our dear site owner Alkahest mentioned, there really isn’t a whole lot coming out the next few months. Universum has a new album in December that has Christian Alvestam on like 4 tracks so I’ll be over that shit, but beyond that, After the Burial‘s newest album, In Dreams, is the last thing I can think of. As such, I can’t be the only one that’s itching for this so here’s some samples to tide you over, courtesy of Amazon. It sounds purrrrrrty good.

In Dreams drops November 23rd.

-MK

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