White Arms Of Athena – TBA (Prosthetic Records)
The odd ones out in a sea of death metal on our last primer for 2013 are Texas progressive metal upstarts White Arms Of Athena, who made a few waves in 2011 when they dropped their debut album Astrodrama. Metalsucks, Decibel Magazine, and yours truly raved about the record’s ability to seamlessly (and seemingly effortlessly) throw shades of Cynic, Between the Buried and Me, and Blink 182 (yes) into a brand new sound of catchy and challenging psychedelia. For their second album however, the band are focusing more on a more straightforward White Arms psychedelic rock sound, if such a thing exists. Bassist and songwriter Tom Sifuentes (above left) writes:
Comparing the old material to new, I would say Astrodrama was our take on progressive music rooted in a very “metal” sound, with waves of prog that were more rock or jazz oriented. I’d say this album might just be the opposite; our brand of prog featured in rock and jazz styles we’ve come to enjoy more since recording Astrodrama, with flairs of experimental heaviness. Some songs are looking to be very simple in structure, while some are more erratic with flow and ideas. Not much is set in stone as far as themes or even a producer. Ideas are flying around though, and since the music will be somewhat rooted in a different style, don’t be surprised that those aspects might be different as well.
You can count on one thing though; new White Arms Of Athena by the end of 2013. I’m liking this year better already. The band’s debut album is available at Amazon for the low low price of $5. If you don’t have the record yet, get it now on the cheap. You can also stream it below via Bandcamp.
