At the core of what motivations Richard Henshall to make his music lies something which he shares with his “main” project, Haken and, indeed, his “other” band Nova Collective. This is a fierce dedication to progressive music without apology and second-guessing, a deep-dive into what makes the sub-genre great. However,…
There are more than enough bands in this month’s Grind My Gears to keep you satiated for, let’s say at least an hour. Such is the fleeting, foxy nature of the genre that I commit fingers, keys, and wax-covered headphones to. Old, new, borrowed, blue – it’s all here. From…
North Carolina’s Violent Life, Violent Death released an outstanding slab of metallic hardcore last month in Come, Heavy Breath. The six-track album is packed from wall to wall (of death) with stomping hardcore riffs, custom designed to open up pits and get busy throwing down. Both band and record wear…
If you’re not convinced that we’re currently deep in the middle of the metalcore resurgence, then the simple fact that tomorrow sees the release of the first Bleeding Through record in over six-years should lay those doubts to rest. You’ll have to wait until then for Jordan to tell you just how good Love Will Kill All is, but this seems like as good an opportunity as ever to look back upon the career of a band who were foundational to the dominant heavy metal movement of the new millennium, and who certainly carved out a strong following for themselves, yet who—in retrospect—feel somewhat overlooked compared to their peers, especially considering the sheer quality and consistency of their output. You might say, that their genre’s Testament and, if new single “Fade Into The Ash” is anything to go by, it would also seem they haven’t lost any of that edge in the more than half-decade interim.
Homewrecker has always been about elevating their foundation. Always trying to take tried and true, moshpit catered listening experiences to the next level. On their debut album Worms and Dirt, there was a salad of influences. Pulling from Obituary, Morbid Angel, Merauder and old Hatebreed and integrating that into the same song…
Four years ago I was a proud member of the #defendentombedcore movement, hailing every band to use the HM-2 pedal prominently in their sound as the next best thing. If it didn’t buzzsaw, I didn’t care. Now, having matured significantly (slightly) as a human and appreciator of extreme music, I…
For those who missed our last installment, We post biweekly updates covering what the staff at Heavy Blog have been spinning. Given the amount of time we spend on the site telling you about music that does not fall neatly into the confines of conventional “metal,” it should come as no surprise that many of us on staff have pretty eclectic tastes that range far outside of metal and heavy things. We can’t post about all of them at length here, but we can at least let you know what we’re actually listening to. For those that would like to participate as well (and please do) can drop a 3X3 in the comments, which can be made with tapmusic.net through your last.fm account, or create it manually with topsters.net. Also, consider these posts open threads to talk about pretty much anything music-related. We love hearing all of your thoughts on this stuff and love being able to nerd out along with all of you.
Sometimes the first half of an album of cinematic folk ballads or an experimental hip-hop track encapsulating the career of a cult afrofuturist techno act are just what is needed to scratch that pervasive musical itch. What about all those other times though, when all you really want to do…
Eden is away colonializing, so we have fellow writer and regular substitute-Eden Ahmed back on this week! We have some really interesting discussions. We discuss how Jay-Z’s new album has a poor business model with its Tidal exclusivity. Funny thing is, in the day between the recording and release of this podcast, he managed to put his foot in his mouth and decided to release the album for free for non-Tidal subscribers! The salt during the episode is still interesting. We then discuss a questionable Hatebreed shirt, and the Nevermore stand-in Dead Season and their awesome new album Prophecies. Then we continue the deep segment on Devin Townsend, discussing Ziltoid, Deconstruction, Z2 and Transcendence. Spoilers: Ahmed is a MASSIVE Devin fan. Finally, we go into an extended freeform discussion about tunings in tech death which goes off the rails in many ways. Along the road we talk about the upcoming Wintersun album, the recently released Igorrr album, Andy McKee and more. Enjoy!
In 2016, if you’re still listening to Crowbar then you know what to expect: slow tempos, chugging riffs, raspy vocals, the occasional shifting time signatures, and – most of all – comforting, loud familiarity. The Louisiana sludge pioneers have been doing what they do best for thirty years after all, and even with their endless line-up changes, you can count on them to deliver the goods. After nearly three decades grinding away, they might not sound as fresh as they once were; often is the case with so many bands who don’t evolve significantly with time is they get stale. On the other hand, some bands try to evolve and end up worse because of it. But Crowbar are a band who’ve remained consistently good for the duration of their career so far without ever departing from their roots, and it’s never been to their detriment – nor is it now.
