I’m on a roll with recommending new tech death this week, what with a rapidfire review for new EPs from Sutrah and Svengahli and now a full stream of the excellent debut from Aronious. As you’ll hear for yourself below, Perspicacity (available Friday, March 13, via The Artisan Era) is…
We’ve been singing the praises of the underrated Jinjer on the blog for a while now. That’s why it’s so much fun to see them finally getting the attention they deserve, with multiple excellent releases in the last few years and big tours. Jinjer’s music has always been to the…
As we did a short while ago with Shabti, let’s get questions of pedigree out of the way quickly so we can move onto the music itself. Eternity’s End, a furious prog/power generator, is made up of (deep breath): Iuri Sanson (from the excellent, if lesser known, Hibria in his…
Ever heard of Scholomance? Their tenure lasted between 1995 and 2003, and they were way ahead of their time. Helmed by keyboard player extraordinaire Jimmy Pitts (Eternity’s End, Equipoise, NYN), their brand of progressive death metal was fantastic. Unfortunately, they broke up, but that never stopped Jimmy. He’s been working with a host of talented musicians, including Hannes Grossmann and Danny Tunker of Alkaloid, Carl August Tidemann (ex-Arcturus), Tom “Fountainhead” Geldschläger (Defeated Sanity, ex-Obscura), Ron Jarzombek (Watchtower, Blotted Science), Vishal J Singh (Amogh Symphony), Phil Tougas (First Fragment), Jerry Twyford (Scholomance, Pitts Minnemann Project) and more! Does that line-up make you dizzy? If so, check out the song below the jump, and contribute to their crowd-funder here! Be quick, as there’s only a few days left!
Let’s take a deep breath together before we start; this one is a doozy. Breathe in. And out. OK, now we can get going. Do Alkaloid need an intro? They shouldn’t, at least not in Heavy Blog circles. Just in case you’re somehow unfamiliar, we’re talking about the supergroup to end all…
Felix Martin has and will always be a unique trailblazer for progressive and world fusion music. This Berklee-trained virtuoso taps out Latin-inspired riffs and melodies across his custom multi-fretboard 15 and 16 string guitars to create challenging compositions and unique performances. Martin’s new self released record Mechanical Nations is out now, and…
Microtonal music is a subject seldom tackled. First, it’s complex and pretty much endless, and then it’s also quite obscure, being only rarely used in day-to-day context. Therefore, it’s often never even encountered to begin with. With this article, I will try to demystify the theory behind microtonal music so you can understand it, and hopefully appreciate it. I will also hop between the terms microtonal and xenharmonic, as they are interchangeable.
Welcome to “Beyond the Veil“! In this feature, its name (partially) taken from the Gods of Eden track, we’re going to delve into some theoretical aspect of the music we love in an effort to elucidate the behind-the-scenes workings at play, but in a largely jargon-free manner intended to be accessible to those who…
Welcome to another edition of Connecting the Dots, and today we will be focusing on one of the most influential extreme metal bands of all time – none other than the legendary Cynic! Evidence of their influence is clear from the artists we speak with, for members of Ne Obliviscaris,…
For this week’s Beyond the Veil, I’ll be your substitute teacher. We’re going to look into twelve-tone technique, also called dodecaphony and twelve-tone serialism. It’s a technique used in some of today’s more “intellectual” metal writing. It’s a useful knowledge to possess, as it can add colour to your compositional palette and help you grow as a musician and as a listener as well. So, let’s lift the veil of obscurity on twelve-tone serialism, and let me introduce you to this technique, listeners and musicians alike!
