I was doing a bit of moaning last week when I found out that Norwegian avant-garde metallers SHINING are releasing their new album One One One this week in their native land and nowhere else. I had assumed the band were working on international distribution deals, and I was right. Prosthetic Records have announced that they will be releasing One One One digitally on April 23rd, with physical formats due out in late May/early June.
People theorize Jim Morrison is still alive, while others strive to prove Paul McCartney died. Some people stay closer to believability and posit ideas about tours or upcoming albums. There’s always some wild speculation going around to some degree, and I’m presently guilty of it.
I think progressive metal legends Extol are coming back.
Here’s where my theory kicks in.
Beneath the Massacre01. Symptoms
02. Hunted
03. Left Hand
04. Hopes
05. It
06. Light
07. Incongruous
08. Pedestal
09. Grief
10. Damages
11. Unheard
When it comes to overtly technical metal, I drew the line in the sand long ago; if you’re going to be proficient in your instrument, you’d better be able to construct a coherent song out of it instead of an unstructured mess of wank. This concept of the song being more important than how hard it is to play seems to be lost on some bands in the genre, and many times it’s nigh on unlistenable. Beneath the Massacre have ended up dangerously close to the line over the years, but remain firmly on the side of reason in their highly technical approach at songwriting. 2010′s Marée Noire EP hit the sweet spot in the band’s evolution and sound, and they’ve built upon it for Incongruous, their most challenging record to date.
Everything Went Black01. XI
02. Gods Of Atlantis
03. Halo Of Vultures
04. Lifeless
05. Parades
06. Thorn Feeders
07. Amongst Wolves
08. Kingdoms
09. Baptists
Crossover, metalcore, metallic hardcore, all these are subgenres of heavy metal, which combine the various elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk. Now like most genres of music, it’s flooded with mediocre and lackluster drivel, but every once and a while a band comes along and reassures you that everything will be alright, and that the genre hasn’t completely fallen into disarray. And for one such band that hails from St. Louis, and who play a straightforward brand of fast and heavy aggressive music, Everything Went Black not only pay homage to the hardcore/punk sensibilities of the 80′s and 90′s, but are also able to satisfy the metalhead in all of us.
It looks like Heavy Blog’s favorite record label Basick Records are becoming more accessible. No, it’s not because they’ve stopped signing experimental/prog bands in favor of autotuned genericore, but because they’ve partnered up with Prosthetic Records and SONY’s RED Distribution to bring their catalog of music across the pond to North America!
Here’s a statement from Basick big-guy Nathan “Barley” Phillips:
“There’s so much synergy and mutual respect between BASICK and PROSTHETIC, that when the opportunity arose to partner up and launch the label fully in the USA, we just knew that we had to make it happen.
This deal enables us to offer our bands and releases a fully dedicated U.S. staff throughout their touring and retail cycles, as well as providing us with the perfect opportunity to sign some more US bands and to also bring some of our European talent to American shores!”
Bringing Basick acts to America!? Finally! Hopefully we can get Uneven Structure and Chimp Spanner over here once Basick’s presence grows into the new year. Prosthetic are also no strangers to the advancing of prog, snatching up the likes of Last Chance To Reason and Scale The Summit, and at one point, Gojira. This pairing makes sense to me!
Basick have plans of opening an office in LA this year. I can’t wait to see their growth. The first release to take part in this deal is Chimpy’s upcoming EP All Roads Lead To Here, which is due out February 14th.
- JR
There’s a fine line between tech death I love and tech death I hate. There’s something about overindulgent structureless wank that I just can’t stand listening to. Beneath the Massacre are a band that’s close to the line, but ultimately, I’d consider myself a fan. I thought their 2010 EP Marée Noire was quite excellent, because it was well produced and had technically assaulting songs that were still somewhat catchy. Since then, I couldn’t wait for more music, and now we’re getting it!
Terrorizer is streaming the new Beneath the Massacre track ‘Symptoms,’ and Metal Hammer is streaming another new track titled ‘Left Hand.’ Both tracks are absolutely killer, and are exactly what I wanted to hear from them after their last EP. Their forthcoming new album Incongruous will be out on February 20th on Prosthetic Records. Here’s the tracklist:
01. Symptoms
02. Hunted
03. Left Hand
04. Hopes
05. It
06. Light
07. Incongruous
08. Pedestal
09. Grief
10. Damages
11. Unheard
- JR
I think we must have missed a few of these already, but we’ve got another new Animals As Leaders song for you, called “An Infinite Regression“. It’s streaming over at Guitar World.
Their sophomore album Weightless comes out Tuesday 8th November through Prosthetic Records. Read the review here, and get on that shit if expansive instrumental-type stuff is your thing.
- CG
It’s not long now until Animals As Leaders‘ hotly anticipated sophomore album Weightless is released, and the excitement builds with the release of the track “Cylindrical Sea” via AV Club.
Jimmy’s review, which has quickly become one of our most viewed articles ever, and he said it was “everything I’ve wanted in an Animals as Leaders album since the band’s inception”. I still can’t get on with them myself, but I was much more impressed with Weightless than I was with the self-titled.
If this happens to be your particular bag, baby, then it’s out November 8th on Prosthetic Records.
- CG
Junius01. Betray the Grave
02. All Shall Float
03. Dance on Blood
04. A Universe Without Stars
05. Haunts For Love
06. The Meeting of Pasts
07. (Spirit Guidance)
08. A Reflection on Fire
09. Transcend the Ghost
10. Eidolon & Perispirit
I’m at an impasse, you see? Allow me to pose an example which may make my predicament make sense to you. I’m listening to Junius’ sophomore full length. I can point out the marvelous voice of Joseph Martinez, the stellar production, the unique atmosphere. Everything seems to be set for a super high score. After listening through the album two times, I’m in the mood for something different. I get off the computer and head into my bedroom to check up on some college football. After about 30 minutes, I start to recollect moments from this album so I can starting forming the basis for a review. However, something odd happened, which startled me, as it has never happened to me before. I can’t remember a single moment from this album. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the problem.
Because their album is called The Apologist, right? No? Fuck you.
Well, as Alkahest reported on Wednesday, East Of The Wall‘s new effort is really good, in a complex, not-really-sure-why-but-what-the-hell sort of way. BrooklynVegan have the stream, so get over there for starters. It’s out Tuesday 25th October through Translation Loss Records.
Junius kind of took everyone by surprise, but it seems Ghost having to drop off the Enslaved 20 Years Of No Compromises Tour was the best thing that could have happened for the Bostonian four-piece. Taken the Swedes’ place has taken them from being generally ignored to keenly watched, and you can find out why for yourself with AbsolutePunk’s stream of their new album Reports From The Threshold Of Death, which is also out on Tuesday through Prosthetic Records.
That’s a nice end to the week for album streams; make sure you get on both this weekend.
- CG
