…gun, a debut album that sits firmly in the more recent breed of traditional, power, and speed categories similar to artists such as Enforcer, Skull Fist, and Accept – as well as that melodic hard rock throwback knowledge template that put Dokken and W.A.S.P. on the map. The hook-oriented main chord/riff choices align to the ideals of classic heavy metal – Rodriquez as well as second guitarist Daniel Dobbs delivering tough as steel passages beyond…
…have done so far, with a fresh coat of new ideas added in to continue to bring them up to the next level. It’s a visceral, yet thought-provoking experience that will last with you after the music stops. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rANU9O9QR7c&pp=ygUNaW5mZWN0ZWQgcmFpbg%3D%3D https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7t9SspFWKA&pp=ygUNaW5mZWN0ZWQgcmFpbg%3D%3D Infected Rain on Facebook Infected Rain on Instagram…
…month, we will look at the following groups: ALMONDot, Dreamwake, Fate Gear, Gore., Hanabie., Kaleido, Kuroguro, PaleNe0 (pictured above), Schrodinger’s Dog, STMLT, Sypha, Togenashi Togeari, and Without Warning. ALMONDot “I’ll Go First, Sorry” The debut single from this industrial metal act, there’s a fresh element that blurs together a few different things with ALMONDot’s sound. There’s heavy, industrial-laden riffs and soundscapes, more upbeat s…
…t Michael Bastholm Dahl comfortably conveying his words/melodies in a clean, commanding delivery that is infectious as it is metallic – it’s an eleven-song chronicle into the vast, fruitful discography of the group. The latest studio album X of course garners decent attention – although the band smartly spread out the content between opener “The Devil’s Symphony”, “Turn Up the Rage”, and “In Thrash We Trust” as songs one, three, and seven respecti…
…ary? Görtz: There’s so much that we did differently. Lukas is our main songwriter, so he comes up with all of the riffs. For Solitary, I would say the songs that he wrote were almost finished – like 99% finished as far as arrangements go. This time, the songwriting was more open towards the band. More people contributed. We played around with the arrangements more. I think one of the biggest influences on Dormant that we didn’t have was that to pl…
…ay be progressive power metal at its core, but also branches out into black, death, thrash, and traditional heavy metal pastures. Favorite records in the discography for this scribe include 2004’s 8 Deadly Sins as well as their previous two album conceptual outings 2018’s To Kill to Live To Kill and 2020’s To Live to Kill to Live. The ninth studio album Mycelium is another conceptual offering, streamlined in a ten-track, 48-minute odyssey – illust…
…e time, we didn’t want to limit ourselves. We didn’t start writing thinking, “ok, we have to do another metalcore album now” or something like that. We just naturally wrote what we wanted to write – it came out authentically. I think that is a great jump forward or a push to higher levels, because there are a lot of bands who just want to go into one direction. But I think there are a lot of other bands who just do what they want. Those are the ba…
…e you normally buy your music, crack a beer, pour a shot or five, and go nuts! Standout Tracks: “Now and Forever”, “Wolves At the Door”, “Hearts of Steel” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sp9X4w19aM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWx_u0O7U_Q The Rods on Facebook…
…h co-producer Andy Sneap, how things are with latest guitarist Brian Tatler, upcoming tour hopes with Uriah Heep, what it will take for the younger bands to elevate themselves to bigger arena headline status, a few underrated Saxon albums in the catalog to check out, plus touring plans for the next year. Dead Rhetoric: Hell, Fire and Damnation is the 24th studio record for Saxon. Where do you see this record sitting in the rich catalog of albums f…
…n up to the current day standards. It’s ‘blaze of glory’ melodeath, but with just enough somber introspection to shake up the dynamic to keep you on the edge of your listening seat. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NH8DWtig-Cw&pp=ygUGaGlyYWVz https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnFwBzDtpoc&pp=ygUGaGlyYWVz Hiraes official website Hiraes on Facebook…
…all of 2022 as they prepared to write/record this debut album entitled Born, Suffering, Death. The ten tracks serve up volatile, groove-oriented death ‘n’ roll, lyrically touching upon human social conflict, environmental devastation, and the turbulent life of humans in the current society that should assault all senses in the best way power trios deliver for this genre. The stripped-down nature of the instrumentation beyond the natural, in your f…
…was like you can do anything with this. You can do progressive vocals, funk, pop, to me it was like I could choose so many genres as there are so many aspects to progressive metal. It’s also paradoxical, because when I follow some various Facebook forums there are so many generations. If you go back to the early 60’s and 70’s progressive rock bands, some fans of those genres won’t even recognize progressive metal as a genre. And then progressive m…
…n’t really get me going. But hey, I guarantee you that someone will be going nuts on release day. So enjoy!! Standout Tracks: “Monstrous”, “Silent Running” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-Rto6DysMo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1ftXDLgxZY Cobrakill on Facebook…
…arrived in the malevolent form of Cerebral Purgatory. Resin Tomb’s chaotic, no compromises style immediately reminds of Gravesend, whose latest Gowanus Death Stomp has a similar to-the-point feel, though Resin Tomb isn’t as grind-oriented. Vermin Womb is another apt comparison overall, along with the likes of black/death merchants Ruin Lust. The massacre commences with the tightly wound “Dysphoria” and its meticulous riffs, black metal inspired l…
…eration clamoring for something they can hold onto. Hailing from Manchester, England, the quintet has released a few EPs plus a full-length Bang to Rights in preparation for the latest EP Warriors of Madness. At three tracks in just under 13 minutes, the execution of bluesy based hard rock/metal possesses numerous 70’s/early 80’s overtones, steady in its pure attitude through whiskey-soaked vocals, rambunctious guitars, and four on the floor rhyth…
…roject will be what it is. And that’s how I would characterize Dissimulator, compared to Sutrah for example – the songwriting is free flow, let it happen. When in doubt, I just go with it. Dead Rhetoric: What do enjoy most about the power trio format for this lineup? Leduc: That’s a good question, actually. It wasn’t super conscious, just having this as a trio. I get along with Antoine (Daigneault) and Phil a lot. The way that Antoine plays and hi…
…c was the biggest and most powerful thing in my musical career. Getting to write, record, perform and tour the world with three of my best friends who also happened to be amazingly talented and like-minded individuals shapes me into the person I am today. Dead Rhetoric: What’s on the horizon for anything related to Domination Campaign, Psycroptic or other band/side activities over the next year or so? Peppiatt: Hopefully we should be looking at do…
…… I don’t know. We were pretty well-prepared with everything that we demoed, we write things down with sheet music too. We know what we are going to do when we get there. It makes the process go a little faster. Dead Rhetoric: And when it came to the singles and videos, were these easy choices to figure out what you were going to premiere from the record? How do you feel about visual mediums and their use through social media platforms these days?…
…y “The Descent to Hell is Easy”) may be the most disquieting entry on offer, comprised of vocalizations that snarl into your psyche and a ritualistic rhythmic sense that pulsates into oblivion. The descriptor of dissonant death metal has many forms and nuances; none of which are particularly easy to write and execute to a satisfying degree. Bands who do get it right are particularly satisfying, and Saevus Finis lands definitively within that categ…
…h four of your best friends, and that’s very important for me. To feel safe, comfortable, and we all know that everyone is doing their best at that time. I think that’s a nice thing about this group. Premberg: Totally agree! It’s also so much fun to meet the fans. Standing on the stage and being able to meet their eyes, or even meeting up and talking after the show. It’s really nice. Dead Rhetoric: With your sound, I imagine its pretty easy to get…
…with another one of my bands called Post Ghosts and, after some adjustments, completed the Away from Light lineup (me, Gianluca, Alessio Reggi/guitar, Marco Paparella/guitar and violin, Riccardo Ponzi/bass, Flavio Castagnoli/drums). I wrote most of the tracks for the album Away from Light that found its final form with the contribution of all the band members. The same happened for AbyssUs and probably will happen for the next ones. About the proc…
…their sound, they really stand out more effectively on this album. “Dragon, Fly Free” first demonstrates this with a strong folk sense added into their flashy melodic death metal riffage and a soaring chorus that urges a sing-a-long. The songs with Matthew Heafy in the mix offer more of a change-up as well, particularly standout “The Rainbow Song,” which jettisons harsh vocals entirely, shifting more into a glorious, jovial power metal track that…
…songs that we covered – we put more thought into that this time. As a songwriter, it was hard because we didn’t have references from the first album. So it was like starting something totally new. Sometimes when you have all the options, it makes it harder because you are wondering how to even start [laughs]. Comparing our original songs to pop/hits that are well known and have been successful meant that they had to be good. It has to be as good…
…that are well plotted, and even some occasional doom elements for emphasis, combining to form a record the listener doesn’t forget. “The Black Oak” is a fitting track to pluck out, boasting sweeping melodies and mesmerizing guitar work that will engrave upon your psyche. 5. 71TonMan – Conquest (from Of End Times) Heavy in both name and sound, Poland’s 71TonMan is proof of how mind-bendingly massive sludged up doom can be. With their third album O…
…just slightly… I wouldn’t say that Striker has changed our sound that much, compared to some bands. We played our first show in Germany, we had released our first album Eyes in the Night, and I had a guy come up to me and say he liked the singing on the Road Warrior EP better because I had a raspier voice on that. Dude, I just didn’t know how to sing, that’s why it sounds like that, because I was blowing my voice out all the time. On this album,…
…dose of The Great Cold Distance via live staple “July” is always always welcome, along with “Journey Through Pressure” to wrap up the pre-encore presentation. Katatonia had a strong finish planned, with the guitar heavy “Behind the Blood” infusing plenty of energy to get over the line. Crowd pleasers “My Twin” – which evoked an audience sing-along for the chorus, unsurprisingly – and the brooding “Evidence” left this darkened soul thrilled. Viva E…
…nto a bit of a rut with the sound from the last two EPs. I had just written, for fun, this little demo that was basically Strapping Young Lad worship. I thought “well… maybe? Maybe we could try Nina’s vocals on this. Don’t know if it will work, but…” and then two months later we had it recorded and it sounded very, very good. So, I wrote a whole album in this vein. My goal with this latest set of songs is to try and create our own little niche wit…
…album, we haven’t changed much. It starts with me layering keyboard tracks, coming up with melodies. From that the journey continues with our guitar player Rich recording guitars over my keyboard tracks, then drums, then bass, and Alina comes in with the vocal lines. The lyrics are split between her and me, she does most of the lyrics nowadays. There are a couple of lyrics on the new album that are mine, and we collaborated together on a couple o…
…rij, the drummer from Cryptosis, the thrash metal band from the Netherlands, helped us and did a hell of a job. He had to record it in his own studio, we couldn’t bring him to a very good studio because everything was closed, everything was in lockdown. We recorded this album at the end of the pandemic where it wasn’t as much of an issue. The process was pretty much the same. We recorded the guitars and bass and home. We do the reamping in the stu…
…into something more than fans of either could have expected. It’s beautiful, haunting, and adrenaline-pumping at various moments – the sort of thing that leaves you exhilarated to see how it all comes together. All in all, it’s simply spectacular to absorb. Even if you haven’t heard of Himari, if you enjoy metal that moves in directions that buck the norm, Isiliel should be on your short list of groups to check out. 1. Hanabie. – Raise wa Ijin! (S…