AMRB is Twitterpated
Jun 23
Another Metal Review Blog is further succumbing to the entanglements of social media and now has a Twitter account. Follow it at @somemetalblog for announcements, randomness, and of course, drunken ramblings on all things noisy. Feel free to tweet your metalness at me, especially if you’re in a metal band as I will retweet for you to spread the metal love. Oh yeah, and...
And now for something completely different
Jun 10It’s not music related, but I’ve just started a Kickstarter campaign for my new quarterly graphic novel horror anthology, The Bad Dream Reliquary. Check it out and thanks in advance for any support you might decide to give. This is going to be a pretty killer book when it’s done, lots of artists, lots of spooky stuff. If it gets fully funded, I will be publishing it under my new small-press indie publishing company, Bad Dream Entertainment. I’ve set up Facebook and Twitter accounts for it as well, so check those out to follow the project as it comes to life. Kickstarter Bad Dream Entertainment Twitter...
New Band Watch: Barren Oak
Jun 09Barren OakCheck out some new music from this Boston black metal band, Barren Oak. The group, an interesting three piece comprised of two bassists and a drummer, plays an atmospheric brand of black metal that travels between slow and haunting bass melodies and ambient vocals to aggressive plateaus of scathing growls, blasting drums, and bass…lots of bass. The music is textured and the songs are expansive and constantly evolving as they play out, making for a pretty interesting experience.The guys have recently released their first album Dead to all Sensory Perception independently and it deserves a listen, so check it out below, and on their Bandcamp site.Dead To All Sensory Perception by Barren Oak Barren Oak Merch Barren Oak on...
Dark Tranquility Interview
May 24If you head over to Louder Than Hell.net, you can check out an interview I did with Niklas Sundin of Dark Tranquility for their upcoming studio album Construct, out next week via Century...
New Band Watch: Grande
May 19Equal parts hard rock, stoner metal, and groove, Swedish up-and-comers Grande provide a great listen on their recently released first album. The self titled release features a mountain of thick riffs and a heavy groove that slaps you in the face like a sweaty tit. Think Black Label Society and Down with a little Mustasch thrown in for good measure. The album rocks, so check ’em out and raise a fist.Grande on SpotifyOfficial...
Review: Russkaja – Energia!
May 13Russkaja – Energia! Dancing may not be the most ‘metal’ of urges, but sometimes headbnaging and horn raising just doesn’t quite cut it. A band who knows this perhaps more than most is the Russian/Ukrainian/Austrian band of Kazatchok dancing maniacs known as Russkaja. The group has been practising their self-branded form of “Russian Turbo Polka Metal” for a few years now, and have recently released a third album “Energia!”, which showcases an infectiously fun and raucous tableau of music that demands much more than a mere shuffling of the feet. Energia is both the Russian word for energy and the name of the Soviet rocket which graces the cover for Russkaja’s newest effort, and both connotations are more than fitting for this collection of party-fueled foot stompers. The title track fittingly opens the album and sets the tone of rambunctious energy that characterizes the album, with a few exceptions of slower and more laid back tunes on the disk. The characteristic amalgamation of styles and instrumentation is key to the band’s sound; the mix of Roma, polka, world, rock, and metal come together for a unique melding of boisterous party music that is driven by horns and strings just as much as it is by guitars and drums. At the forefront of the ensemble is mainman Georgij A. Makazari whose eccentric and charismatic vocals can swing smoothly from the maniacal to the heartfelt. The unruly Makazari is like a deranged and exuberant ringleader for a traveling circus act, conducting the group as it traipses from one traditionally inspired motif to another. The energy of the album, while not entirely a constant as it does allow for some breathing room here and there, is the definite strong point of the release, aside from the unique mixture of styles. Songs like the chant-along drinking tune “Radost Moja” and polka-fueled “Autodrom” keep the beat up, while more subdued tracks such as “Violina Mia” offer a lighter and even somewhat sensual flavor. The quirky and often off-beat nature of “Energia’s” is hard not to get into, and you will be hard pressed to keep yourself from becoming infected with involuntary head bobbing and foot tapping while listening to it. Some tracks will seem to bleed into others, and the listener might confuse one or two for the other at times, but that is not entirely a bad thing as chances are that you...
Why I Spent Last Thursday Trying to get Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
May 12When I started playing guitar at the age of fourteen, it was a solitary affair when it came to learning the ropes. Lessons did not interest me, nor did even trying to simulate the styles of established players of the instrument; it was a purely DIY venture undertaken by a hermitic teenager with no social aspirations. I suppose my lack of any real ‘guitar heroes’ came from the fact that I was not initially drawn to lead guitar playing styles, which is the generally the pursuit that engenders the more iconic and ultimately recognizable figures for the instrument. It was all about the riff for me, making me a rhythm player through and through; to me it was the riff that builds the song, the driving force of the music, and, most importantly to a youth succumbed to the lure of the devil’s music, it is the riff that bangs your head. As a budding metal head, that mysterious property of the music that possesses the listener with such subliminal force as to induce a nearly involuntary motor function was both fascinating and seductive in its power. This lead to an attraction to players not generally known flashy playing, intricate techniques, or the hallowed title of ‘guitar god’. Max Cavalera, Eric Peterson, and especially Jerry Cantrell who, till this day retains a style of riffing that is more dynamically heavy than most modern metal guitarists without even necessarily participating in the genre itself. Of course, much the same as any other horn raiser, it was only a matter of time before the force of nature know as Slayer captured not only my attention, but a little piece of my soul. For a band known for so many facets: frenzied solos, heretical themes, and a ferocity of music known only to themselves, it was the riffs of Jeff Hanneman that garnered my obsessive study. They were just so fucking killer. What drew me into the music more than anything else was the unrestrained power behind it, that subconscious force that carries with it the sense of fervent intensity and energy. It was the magic of heavy metal, the thing that triggers the ancient and vestigially primal segment of the brain which induces involuntary head banging, delivered in its most pure, unrefined form. I had to have it, in all ways; to hear it and to play it. So I got...
New Band Watch: Lucifer
Mar 24Lucifer – Feeding the MachineBlasting straight out of eastern Europe, Lithuanian band Lucifer has been crafting their brutal assault for several years and now have a second demo out, ahead of a debut LP that you should all be looking forward to. The sound is aggressive thrash metal that blends both the classic and modern; furious riffs, pummeling drums, driving bass lines, and death-like vocals all come together for a respectfully vicious attack on the ears. Do yourself a favor and check out Feeding the Machine which you can stream below and here. A free download of the demo is available here. Lucifer on Facebook Learn how to get your music heard at...
Review: Celtachor – Nine Waves from the Shore
Mar 19Celtachor – Nine Waves from the Shore For as popular and widespread as folk and Celtic flavored metal is nowadays, there seems to be suspiciously few bands making a tangible impact from the very island nation that epitomizes the cultural inspiration behind the movement. There are a few hallowed names from Ireland that have their place in the annals of the sub-genre, a few even on the first page, but lately the greatest enthusiasm seems to come from across the stretch of water in Scandinavia, Germany, and a few other places. Much of this outward spread probably has to do with some of the first bands bearing the label of ‘folk metal’ having hailed from the Celtic nation, inspiring the first seeds of Viking metal to the east. Which makes for an interesting reversal of history, as it had been the Norse invading Ireland so many centuries ago, implanting hints of their culture along the way. But while a discussion of cyclical cultural anthropology in regards to heavy metal may be tempting, we’ll stick with the music for now. Which brings us to the blackened Celt band Celtachor and their newest effort, “Nine Waves from the Shore”.The first thing you will notice when playing “Nine Waves” is the form with which the young Irish band weaves their folk flavored songs. Both lyrically and structurally, the songs are constructed in the vein of epics and sagas, long form poems of voyage, conquest, and other historically inspired chronicles. Rasped out in a guttural black metal voice are stories of Irish folktales and mythology, and behind that a thick wall of guitars and drums. The music is progressive in nature, written with variety and exploration in mind; stretching from the soft and melancholic melodies of acoustic guitars and Irish whistles found in Tar eis an Sidhe, to the ferocious and pummeling calls to arms like Conn of the Hundred Battles and Anann, Emmas’s Daughter. Most songs on the album stretch the gamut, offering an interesting and full-flavored listen both as a whole and from song to song, especially considering that some of them are granted up to ten minutes to divulge the full story they have for the telling. The general tone also compliments the form and subject, with climbing chord progressions that herald the epic and grand. Which is not to say that there are not plenty of helpings of straight...
New Band Watch: Depth Beyond One’s
Feb 15Depth Beyond One’s – Monuments of Control Check out some brain twisting prog death metal from Finland, courtesy of Depth Beyond One’s. Their newest release is the Monuments of Control EP, which you can stream below and even download for free here. Their sound is a crazy mix of crushing metal, discordant melodies, odd rhythms, and plenty of strange, so give them a listen and tell ’em what you think! Find DBO at: Facebook Main Site...
Review: Hate – Solarflesh
Feb 13Hate – SolarfleshIn the world of extreme metal, Poland seems to be the only country that is almost exclusively identified with the genre. From the thrash minded Vader to the blackened aggression of Behemoth, the nation has developed some noteworthy armament in heavy metal. For several years now, sibling rage-spewers Hate have brought up the flank of Poland’s most horns worthy export, and they continue to do so with their brand new offering of blackened death metal, Solarflesh. While certainly as aggressive and ferocious as their past efforts, this new album comes somewhat short of doing much else beyond those previous releases by refraining to expand on their sound or to explore any new territory. Nonetheless, Solarflesh does prove to be a solid listen worth lending your ear to, granted that you do not mind getting it back bruised and burnt.If the album has one distinct feature beyond its brutal assault of the senses, it would be the ominous mood of foreboding and despair. This anguishing aura is set in place right from the get-go with the opening piece “Watchful Eye of Doom”, a haunting instrumental intro track with tribal drums and female chanting. What immediately follows is the extreme aggression of pummeling drums, furious growls, and frenetic riffing that defines not only the album as a whole, but Hate as a band. A name which clearly is as appropriately garnered as any band’s. The style of blackened death metal is not necessarily unique to the band themselves, especially considering their national counterparts, but it is one that they have down rather solidly. The mix of components are equally vicious, ear-searing, and forcefully in-your-face, making for dominating cacophony of extreme metal.While the sound and style of their brand of unholy metal may be tight and practised however, there is not much in the way of variations on that sound to be had on Solarflesh. There are some moments of change on the album, and the songs are written dynamically enough to open up every once in awhile; for example, when the wall of assault and battery falls away to allow the guitar to weave some occultishly meandering melody. But on the whole, the effort seems one dimensional, like a long forceful note played with a few breaths taken here and there, leaving the listener with few memorable impressions of individual moments. In essence, the main point of the album...
New Band Watch: Nonsun
Jan 31For all you dwellers of doom out there, take some time to check out the new EP from Ukrainian sludge stalkers Nonsun. The music is thick, heavy, and all around crushing as it slowly burns its way through 48 minutes of textured doom. The EP, Good Old Evil, is available free through Bandcamp, and you can stream it below, so check it out and find the band on Facebook!Good Old Evil by...
