Our staff has shifted quite a bit since we posted our first aggregate AOTY list back in 2014. From refocusing our content to implementing The Brooklyn Plan™ to publishing our 2017 AOTY list, our roster of contributors has fluctuated substantially in terms of numbers and genre preferences. This ebb and flow…
The year winds down. The stream of news, releases, and overall music community activities begins to slow as we prepare for the heart of winter. As if remembering days when winter’s darkness had a stronger hold on us than it does today, people’s minds turn to introspection, eyes moving away…
There have been previous attempts at integrating flamenco elements into metal. There have even been successful, good attempts at doing so. However, there are few that have been successful at blending them seamlessly. This applies not just to flamenco, but any influence outside of metal. It’s either the case where a regular metal song suddenly erupts into an irrelevant genre break, or it’s barely a metal album. The latter case usually happens, for example, when jazz musicians get together and write an album that’s mostly in their own wheelhouse, with some minor metal elements. Even further, the most extreme of metal subgenres are usually spared these excesses. Enter Impureza, a band that skirts the line between progressive and technical death metal, and perfectly fits flamenco into that picture. The end result is just delightful.
Yay normal episode! This week we have a bunch of weird/grim news to talk about. Jay-Z suing journalists, Taylor Swift suing journalists, Marilyn Manson pointing a fake gun at an audience after a shooting, Jesse of Brand New being accused of sexual assault. Then some new music, like Impureza and Bloodshot Dawn. Then we talk about what we’ve been listening to lately, and have an extended discussion about Eden’s recent editorial on the aesthetics of abrasive vocals in metal. Then cool people time on The Evil Within 2, Wolfenstein 2 (spoilers!) and Endless Space 2. Enjoy!
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.
It was only suitable that we kick off things in the avant-garde metal week by starting with the genre’s progenitors and capital influences. However, that’s done with, and now we move on to examine a more modern form of this type of music. Or, to be more precise, one of…
