While we are a couple of days late with this bit of news, in our defense it’s hard to remember to mention new songs for you folks to hear when we’ve heard them weeks ago. Yes, this whole intro paragraph was my way of gloating. Sorry about that.
Decibel Magazine is hosting the stream for the new Cannibal Corpse track ‘Encased In Concrete’, and in true Cannibal Corpse fashion, the song is as heavy as the title implies. I mean, it’s Cannibal Corpse — what would you expect?
Torture will be available to stab you in the ears on March 13th via Metal Blade Records.
Sometimes we’re late to the party around here and news & bands just happen to fly under our radar, especially when the band in question has only been mentioned by us once. Yeah, it was in an article from the summer of 2010. That’s what the search function yields, anyway, so hopefully it makes sense we missed this. In any case, Colorado-based melodic tech death outfit Allegaeon posted a new song from their upcoming album Formshifter last week and it’s pretty awesome. Check it out:
The song title seems to be referencing, after a quick Google search, some kind of city (Tartessos) from long ago and crystals (xenocryst). Sounds rad to me! The song itself, though, seems to be one of their most cohesive tracks to date. Relatively speaking, of course, as Allegaeon’s greatest strength is their ability to actually write memorable riffs and melodic leads whilst maintaining technical proficiency. Conversely, it also feels a lot less death metal-y, which could be good or bad depending on your taste. I’m not the most versed person in Allegaeon fandom, though, so a die-hard fan could maybe provide insight to how the song truly stacks up to their previous album, Fragments Of Form And Function. For me, however, it’s solid and I have definitely added their upcoming release to my most anticipated death metal albums of the year (joining Spawn of Possession and The Faceless).
Formshifter drops May 8th in the U.S. and May 7th in Europe via Metal Blade. I’ve also added the closing track to their debut album after the jump just for reference!
Job For A Cowboy are one of those bands you just can’t seem to shake no matter how much you hate them. Personally, I’ve seen them twice and either time it wasn’t really intentional. I don’t hate Job For A Cowboy, nor do I think they suck; I just like my death metal on the technical and progressive side. Their growth over the years has been fascinating though; going from a band that popularized deathcore to a legitimate death metal act, it’s always nice to see a band go through some growth in their career. Their latest release, 2011′s Gloom EP, was definitely some of the band’s best work yet, and boded well for the band’s next full length assuming they continued the trend.
Demonocracy, the upcoming Job For A Cowboy record, will likely pick up where Gloom left off, stylistically. The political imagery and the visuals remain intact as well; in the record’s new album art (above), we can see the continued use of their mascot skull. I love it when bands carry a motif throughout their discography. It’s a nice little bow that ties it all together in continuity.
The tentative tracklisting for Demonocracy is as follows:
01. Children Of Deceit
02. Nourishment Through Bloodshed
03. Imperium Wolves
04. Tongueless And Bound
05. Black Discharge
06. The Manipulation Stream
07. The Deity Misconception
08. Fearmonger
09. Tarnished Gluttony
Demonocracy is due out April 10th on Metal Blade Records.
Edit: Speaking of the devils, Metal Blade has posted a brand new song, ‘Nourishment Through Bloodshed’ available for streaming below:
I’ve never heard of San Diego-based psychedelic prog band Astra before, but when I heard their new song ‘Quake Meat‘ from their upcoming album The Black Chord, I was blown away. Astra is a throwback to classic progressive rock bands of the 70′s, like Yes and King Crimson. Almost everything about the band is a nod to the genre’s innovators, including the dated production to the vocals. I can’t be completely sure that Astra are not some sort of time travelers sharing their stoned creations or aliens that are just now catching up to the 70′s, but either way Astra are fucking GOOD. Check out ‘Quake Meat‘ below.
Astra’s sophomore album The Black Chord is due out March 27th on the always awesome Metal Blade Records and Rise Above.
Cannibal Corpse have finally given us a peek into the new album Torture, set to be released March 13th through Metal Blade, with a new track ‘Demented Aggression‘ and well… it’s Cannibal Corpse isn’t it? The biggest selling death metal band in the US and the second biggest in the world. Their name is synonymous with death metal, owning a back catalog that stretches all the way back to 1990 through eleven full length albums and I’m sure by now every metalhead is at least familiar with their name, if not the sound.
Cannibal Corpse do pure unadulterated death metal with no gimmicks and it hasn’t really changed much in the last 20 years. Steering clear of the blastbeat fetish that most other bands seem to have, they simply keep up the tempo through proficient and cutting riffs and the rapid quickfire growl of George Fisher, all backed up by a naturally killer production from Erik Rutan (Hate Eternal). There’s a smattering of technicality about it that they previously capatalised on in recent full lengths Evisceration Plague and Kill but nothing too overpowering and ‘Demented Aggression‘ is simply another chapter in the book of Cannibal Corpse that will keep long time fans happy but won’t convert any non-believers.
And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
After the jump, check out the track list for Torment.
I can hardly contain my excitement and anticipation. This weekend, Between the Buried and Meposted the above picture on their Facebook with the caption “It has started.” The band have started work on Parallax 2, the full-length follow up to the concept that began on last year’s EP Parallax: The Hypersleep Dialogues. This might just be my record of the year, if it’s as great as the EP, which I’m sure it will be.
There’s not much to tell now, but we’ll keep you posted on the details when they become available this year. Expect a late spring/early summer release on Metal Blade records.
And now for the juiciest of news. Late last year, The Summer Slaughter Tour Facebook page announced that 2012 was going to be the biggest lineup yet, with the cryptic status message on New Years Eve being “Hammer Smashed Mordecai.” Could this mean that Cannibal Corpse and Between the Buried and Me (both signed to Metal Blade, an annual sponsor of the tour) are co-headlining Summer Slaughter 2012? Both bands have new albums coming out this year, so I couldn’t imagine what else this teaser could mean. ‘Hammer Smashed Face’ and ‘Mordecai’ were both bands’ respective break-out singles. We’ll be sure to fill you in as soon as the lineup is announced. This is so exciting. If it’s true, this will really be the tour’s biggest year yet and you’d have to be an idiot to miss it.
01. Paralyzed
02. From Shapeless to Breakable
03. Moving Forward
04. War Ensemble (Slayer cover)
05. Hellion (Judas Priest Cover)
06. Electric Eye (Judas Priest Cover)
07. Coffee Mug (Descendents cover)
08. Beneath the Encasing of Ashes (Re-Recorded Medley)
09. The Blinding of False Light (Innerpartysystem Remix)
10. Wrath Upon Ourselves (Benjamin Weinman Remix)
11. Confined (Kelly “Carnage” Cairns Remix)
12. Elegy (Big Chocolate Remix)
[11\08\11]
[Metal Blade]
As I’ve stated numerous times, metalcore is a stagnant genre. It’s so full of bands with rip-off styles of music that so easily hark to their influences that you’d rather listen to the original. One of these “original” bands is As I Lay Dying, who are undoubtedly one of the originators of the modern metalcore style. Ever since their first album Beneath the Encasing of Ashes, they’ve been proving their dominance in the genre. Now As I Lay Dying has been a band for 10 years, and to celebrate, they’ve rewarded us with Decas, an album with three originals, four covers, a medley from their first album, and four remixes from the likes of Ben Weinman to Big Chocolate. The ultimate question is, is it a good reward to the fans for all their dedication and love?
01. Sirenum Scopuli
02. React
03. Sparrow
04. High Times
05. Numbers
06. On With The Sun
07. The Ghost You Gave To Me
08. Pretty
09. Afterglow
10. It’s Alive
11. Only Child
12. The Barrier
[10/11/11]
[Metal Blade]
This is a band that I was just recently exposed to. Like most metal fans I’m constantly seeking out new musical endeavors and possibilities, and I was more than pleased when I first heard the title track from 3’s The Ghost You Gave To Me a few weeks ago over at Metalsucks, and whilst I was excited to hear this record, it’s not exactly what I was hoping for.
I thought there was way more than this, but apparently we’ve only got one album stream of note for you today: 3‘s The Ghost You Gave To Me, on the bastion of metal that is AOLol. It’s out today on Metal Blade, if it takes your particular fancy.
Fairly topically, I’ve just been reading Juular’s review, which will be posted this afternoon. Apparently it’s none too shabby, but I’ll let him tell you later. Wind, sails, and all that.
01. Watch It Burn
02. Ruination of the Lost
03. Shadows in the Light
04. Eyes of Black
05. Last Wish
06. Arise The War Cry
07. Equinox
08. Coming of the Dark
09. The Fallen
10. Overcome
11. Disillusion
[Metal Blade Records]
[7/5/2011]
I can honestly say that the first time I heard Unearth, it was a life changing experience for me. I can still remember driving home after picking up The Oncoming Storm on a whim, having not heard a single lick of the band’s music, and just going (in Chris Farley voice) “SWEET MOTHER OF MERCY! WHAT IN THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE!?” Okay, so maybe it wasn’t quite like that, but suffice it to say it was absolutely jaw dropping for me. It was so huge, sounded so good, and the songs made me want to walk through walls.
I’m pretty sure that was also the first time I heard proper breakdowns, which I absolutely loved at the time. I’ve been a fan ever since. Unearth have been the soundtrack to a million workouts, one-man mosh pits, and great drunken times for me, and The Oncoming Storm is still a top five ‘desert island disc’ for me, without question. Hell, the guitar playing and guitar tone on the album are a huge part of why I decided to switch to 7-string guitars.
As I Lay Dying
3
