…t compared to the other. I’ve bought certain thrash and death metal records- meaning actual vinyl records- that just sound like absolute garbage on vinyl. I learned a long time ago from working with various engineers and producers that things that are put onto vinyl, especially when you start getting into music- they need to be mixed and mastered for vinyl specifically. It’s not going to translate right. That’s why with Hamartia, we are going to d…
…hat the owner of such materials expressly grants) Dead Rhetoric.com a world-wide, perpetual, royalty-free, irrevocable and nonexclusive right and license to use, copy, adapt, transmit, communicate, publicly display and perform, distribute and create compilations and derivative works from such submitted materials, for the limited purposes of publishing and promoting such materials in connection with the Forum or other Service through which the mate…
…id you get on the radar screen for Rise Above Records? They seem to be the best label for a band like Saturn that has a lot of eclectic influences from doom to progressive rock to metal with a decided old-school 70’s flavor to things… Tidebrink: We released Ascending as a ‘name your price’ deal on Bandcamp in 2013. A person from Greece who somehow knew Lee Dorrian really liked us and wrote to Lee about us. A couple of days later we got mail from L…
…tal rush, but each track on Adveniens appeals to a more calculated and well-crafted strike. Not that the band can’t simply go balls-out, as shorter cuts like “When Flesh Unfolds” and “Messianica” gleefully illustrate. It’s just that the insidious riffs of a song like “Future in Red” benefit from a multi-faceted approach that can still be relentless in brutality, yet without numbing the mind. “Future in Red” is also a good exemplar for the band’s v…
…uences – most of which percolated in the UK scene in those pivotal early to-mid 1970’s. “Orbital Command” opens with a reflective, bluesy guitar passage straight out of the Gary Moore school of emotion before the high- energy vocals (which can move zero to banshee call instantly) and ripping rhythms plus guitar/bass tandem action lifts the arrangement to outer space. It’s tricky to get those harmonic principles in motion when the bass also holds d…
…raved (well, they missed making music together too). After their first self-titled album was released on Roadrunner, the band threw in the towel after being unceremoniously dropped. They returned independently with a follow-up Synchronicity in 2013 and again pulled a vanishing act. This brings us to the present time, with the band coming together once more to craft their third album, Origins. The Origins title works, with the album feeling more ak…
…rial around it, even a few more technically-proficient components are used from time to time. A few of the breakdowns have a more generic, deathcore-ridden feel, but these are few and far between. Death metal fans who are also groove-lovers will rejoice with Reign of Terror. While it may be a little one-note for some with the very groovy emphasis, it’s something that the band has a clear grasp of and use it for all its worth without cheapening it….
…ng energy that the Gothenburg era was famous for, without the feeling of a cheap rip-off or simple regurgitation (they do go so far as to cover the In Flames classic “Stand Ablaze”). Check out the addictive melodies of a track like “Endgame,” which effectively takes some nods from the thrashier side of the equation while delivering some keys to offset the galloping riffs when needed, as does the clean vocals of van Beest. The symphonic elements ar…
…nt to it. How is the song quality, how are the vocal lines, how is the songwriting- and does it actually work, over-processed or not. Dead Rhetoric: To me in the digital age, it seems like people aren’t making as deep of an investment into a record collection as in the 1980’s, when it was more about going to the record store and not even knowing a single song on the record, you had to go based on the artwork… Spencer: The digital thing is a free d…
…y thing. I come from the old school of leaving metal in the mindset of 1988-89- that’s the pocket of metal that is my favorite time. I got into other genres of music- but I could always go back to (Megadeth’s) So Far, So Good…So What! and Peace Sells. So joining the band back in 2012 I’m just going from 1988 to 2012 and that big hopscotch where I didn’t really pay attention to a lot of metal bands and the transitions. Me playing now is like being…
…her bands had done – and what Ne Obliviscaris had done. We watched this TED-talk/Skype-style thing that he had done, which was like an hour long, that took place down in Australia. He explained the situation – being a touring band and trying to come back and find work…the things that have been talked about by everyone in touring bands. As soon as you see it, you just say, “Yeah, that’s what we are doing.” Beyond that, at this point in Allegaeon’s…
…and show them our appreciation for them being there – and slinging those t-shirts! The more t-shirts people wear, the more the name gets out there and the more shirts people buy, the more gas goes in the tank to get to the next show. I love having these cool designs – we have a design out right now that says “Motor City Thrash” on the back, and on the front we have this guy who is from like Mad Max meets Freddy Kruger and he is riding a Mustang t…
…such an endeavor can certainly be misleading, but ‘tis not the case with up-and-coming doom crew Northern Crown, who saw fit to cover Candlemass’s enduring “Crystal Ball” on their 2014 In the Hands of the Betrayer EP. It was an instant acknowledgement the band had their (doom) hearts in the right place, something that is reflected even more so on their full-length debut, The Others. The album is a collection of song-oriented, well-arranged, someti…
…were a semi-surprising reversal in fortunes for a band who threatened to re-write the entire Euro thrash map upon their entrance in the late ‘90s. Whether the Swedes’ ills were a product on continual lineup changes or the riff well drying up for Patrik Jensen (also of the Haunted) is up for debate, but, it’s certainly of some relief and/or encouragement that In His Infernal Majesty’s Service is such a stormer. Joined by new vocalist Angus Norder a…
…mpting this pairing. “Lights Out” also brings this dynamic up, and the wall-of-sound riffing at play here is the type that shakes your bones to the core – elevated by the build up from more atmospheric moments. While avoiding the cheap melodies, Car Bomb build their sound upon more genuine song dynamics, which have a tendency to stick with the listener far longer than one might expect. Thick, Meshuggah-esque grooves of “Black Blood” are bound to t…
…let their songwriting chops do most of the work – whether zipping through faster tempos or lumbering along at near doom-ish rates, there are sizable melodies to be found. The band seems most at home with the mid-tempo, where the riffs earn the generic but fitting “crushing” tag (“Rot in Confinement”). Also adding to the sound is the subtle usage of some ‘80s inspired synths, which works quite well in regards to the horror themes that the cover ma…
…ce for other bands who do accept the terms, and we will continue seeing eye-to-eye into the future. I know if we stick together for some years, then I can put everything I have into promoting the band alongside the artist(s) without ever considering “how does this benefit me?” cause it makes me feel like part of the band for a few years, after which point they are free to go off and explore other options. I’ve had a good record so far of ‘breaking…
…the album with the beautiful sorrowful “Persona” and previously mentioned closer “Station,” which builds from strings upwards to powerful and depressive riffing. Nur ein Moment manages to pull on the heartstrings without being melodramatic or using cheap ploys. A somber album that reels the listener into a cold and bleak landscape that yields some resonating feelings once the album is complete. And as the first of a two-album concept, rightly get…
…the Seas” and the title track seem to fit the feeling best, being able to best service the melodic demands, though faster cuts like “Conjure the Lost” do a good job of diversifying the flow. As does the use of clean vocals from track to track – never going into the predictable “clean chorus” syndrome that some bands employ. If there’s one fault to be had, it’s the length of the album (slightly over an hour), which itself suffers from a 13-minute…
…chance that they will be receptive to it. I’ve even noticed over the past 6-12 months that more Euro-style metal bands have been popping up around the New England area, so there’s that. Dead Rhetoric: What did you learn from your solo journey with ORCumentary and why are you retiring it? Is it because of where you want to go with Virus of Ideals? Adams: Basically everything I know about songwriting, booking, performing, etc. I learned with ORCumen…
…ne. I went to go see Toxik- there was five bands on the bill, and they were five different bands. A power metal band, a thrash band, a death metal band, another power metal, and Toxik. This is great, good variety, all the bands played very well. The crowd, 19-20-year old kids were singing along to Mercyful Fate through the P.A. system, I was like what? It’s there, it’s a matter of not oversaturating things and quality over quantity. Part II of Mat…
…ome crowd participation before a track started by having them do a quick “1-2-3-4,” someone shouted that they couldn’t count, and frontman/guitarist Justin Suitor quickly and drolly quipped, “I guess you’ll have to sit this one out.” The Mastodon meets Alice in Chains vibe is an interesting approach to doom metal, and while it may not be for everyone, they proved themselves to be a formidable act in the live arena. Another band who would be stream…
…the most majestic and soaring you’ll hear this year. Occasionally hard-hitting and always leaving an emotional impact, In Pieces is easily Oak Pantheon’s strongest effort to date. There’s so much that the band gets right here, particularly in their writing of the multiple 10-minute plus tracks, that so many other bands in this style completely botch. Those seeking an album with triumphant riffs and resonating melodies will find much to celebrate….
…ey are always a welcome addition. Also welcome is the addition of more post-hardcore driven atmosphere, with “I Watched the Snow Fall and Bury Your Bones,” which adds to the more standard chugging riffs. There’s also some heavy moments, as in “A Murder of Crows,” which gives some added dynamic and never resorts to cheap breakdowns. While there are some breakdowns, they build them appropriately and deliver a sense of urgency to them. Lionheart take…
…there at the same time, or Fox and Nico. For vocals, all you need is a top-end microphone and for guitars a great amp and good micro-phoning techniques. We don’t need a fancy room for that. Having said all this, we will try new approaches in the future. Maybe (even) record totally live like we did on the first album. Dead Rhetoric: Tell us the thought process behind the cover of the record – it’s striking yet quite natural, embodying a lot of the…
…and proper understanding of background harmonization to make choruses sing-a-long conducive. Check out the slower, mid-tempo anthem “Rain of Paradise” or the twin guitar harmony laced “Thorn in My Hand” for all facets of his power/ progressive oriented range, the stuff that makes listeners abuzz and other musicians beam with pride. The Jan Yrlund cover re-design plus Erik Tordsson re-mastering beef up probably brings Deliverance of Soul a little…
…h so familiar’ guitar buzz that all fans know and love. Firing through a 40-ish minute setlist that included just as many Entombed tunes as A.D. ones, it was a solid mix of both eras. Being this writer’s first Entombed (A.D.) live experience, it was nice to see a focus on some older tracks, “Wolverine Blues” and “Left Hand Path” in particular, being played alongside the new material, which included “Dead Dawn,” “The Winner Has Lost,” and “Midas in…
…s voice is sounding tired. He looks after his voice and he knows about warm-ups and warm-downs. He did bring new ideas and new energy into this band, which has been going for a long time. To have a fresh mind to come in with an overview, seemed to really work. Dead Rhetoric: You’ve reached 40 years as a band. Was naming the album self-titled symbolic? Tatler: I hadn’t considered it with the 40th anniversary. I wanted to come up with a name and I h…
…chine-gun guitar/drum riffing pattern. It’s all there, other than the super-fast blastbeats. It may sound like a critique, but it’s not really. Few could replicate that sound in such a manner without coming off as cheap or gimmicky. Not many bands veer into this direction, and it was actually refreshing to hear a band moving back towards this sound. And some tracks go a bit farther with the atmospheric elements, such as the almost dreamy sounding…
…ideas as they are their songsmanship and keyboard flourishes. The soft ebb-and-flow that carries the album’s first two jams – “Satellite” and “Greed” are simply marvelous, particularly in how Votum clenches hold of various atmospheric elements that are subtly reminiscent of Mr. Devin Townsend. Vocalist Bart Sobieraj can often be found working it in the smooth, mid-range ville, although he’s got a bit of persuasiveness to his voice, hence the more…
