In Case You Missed It: Visions – Home

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Visions – Home (Basick Records, 18 July 2011).

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Dear Reader, I have a confession to make.

I know this has the potential to forever diminish your opinion of me as a music critic, as a metalhead, and perhaps even as a person, but it’s something I need to get off my chest. 

Here goes… I’m just not that into Dillinger Escape Plan.  I never have been, and to be honest, I fail to understand why this band is held in such universally high regard by critics and fans alike, just as I fail to understand the majority of the music they make.

I accept that there are surely listeners out there who thrive on such frenetic chaos and see a complex beautiful sense of order in what appears to be only random madness to my simple ears.  But on the other hand, I expect that there must be some like-minded souls out there, nodding in agreement as they read these words, but afraid to ever speak publicly for fear that (like in the case of the Emperor’s New Clothes) they would be ridiculed by the others who DO get it (or at least who claim to).

Anyway, the reason this discussion is sort of relevant stems from my decision to listen to Peterbourian band Visions‘ debut LP Home, which was released earlier this year.  Since they are a relatively new band (formed in 2009), and given that this is their first album, I didn’t really know what to expect beyond what is written in the official press release and some other advertisements I’ve seen.

First, we have the fact that they had been signed by UK label Basick Records (and the fact that the album itself was mixed and mastered by members of labelmates Monuments and Chimp Spanner), which sort of hints at some proggy/techy/melodic-y leanings.  But at the same, I kept seeing that infamous marketing phrase “for fans of…” and in every case, it seems to include Dillinger Escape Plan.

Well, if any of that made me feel apprehensive at all, I decided to plow ahead anyway (or I guess I should say “plough ahead” since we’re talking about a British band here), and let me just say, I’m really glad that I did.

Keep reading after the jump for some more in-depth analysis, plus your chance to listen to some of the songs (including one available for free download)…

Continue reading →

Out Tomorrow: Phase Reverse – Phase Reverse

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Phase Reverse – Phase Reverse (Aural Music, 16 December 2011)

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If you enjoyed yesterday’s dose of heavy rock with a metallic edge, now I’d like to introduce you to Phase Reverse, the debut full-length from Athenian trio Phase Reverse. Originally available in a limited Greece-only release in December 2009, the album is now being made available to audiences worldwide on CD and digital download via Italian label Aural Music. Continue reading →

Just Released: My Ruin – A Southern Revelation (Free Download!)

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My Ruin – A Southern Revelation (self-released, 7 December 2011)

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Imagine this: your band has just been offered a deal with a record label, to include help with promotion, distribution, and touring support for the new album you’ve just recorded.  You’re happy with your new music and thrilled with the new contract and all the benefits that the head of the label promised you.  Then suddenly, without warning, the rug gets pulled out from underneath you, and nothing is happening according to the agreement, resulting in delays to releasing your record, cancelled tourdates, huge losses in profits, and eventually, nasty messages sent through lawyers.  What would you do?  Run off in a corner somewhere and cry?  Decide that life as a musician is too hard, and that you might as well just give up?

Well, according to southern-fried-hard-rock/alt-metal duo My Ruin, that’s exactly what happened to them, but their reaction to the situation was to write and record another whole album full of kick-ass, angry music. And then as a great big “fuck you” to the whole industry, they decided to give it away for free!  Keep reading to learn more about this band, their new album A Southern Revelation, and where you can pick up a copy absolutely free of charge…
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Get ’em While They’re Hot: Basick Records Offering a Free 2011 Sampler!

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Okay, I realize it isn’t 2012 yet, and I’m pretty sure Basick Records knows it too, but this sampler represents a cross-section of the British prog-tech-metal label’s roster going into the new year.  Several of the tracks here are swiped from Basick bands’ latest (i.e., 2011) releases, including “Oceans” from Visions‘ debut album Home (of which, coincidentally, I am in the middle of writing a review), and several others; however, also included are sneak peeks at a couple of the label’s recent signings who haven’t yet put out a record through Basick, such as Blotted Science and Skyharbor.

Best of all, it’s absolutely free!  Check out the announcement on Basick’s website  for additional information.  Or if you’re really impatient, you can just skip on over to Amazon to grab a copy.  However, if you aren’t able to download MP3s from Amazon.co.uk due to country restrictions, they have also made it available to download via their Bandcamp page (just see the embedded widget below).   Also free!  You can’t lose, either way.

Just Released: MorgueMart – Skeleton of the American Dream

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MorgueMart – Skeleton of the American Dream (Deadslab Records, 25 November 2011)

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At a time when the world of heavy music is bemoaning so many of its heroes falling from grace, whether that means abandoning any remaining metal characteristics in favor of a hard rock sound (sometimes not even all that hard, either!), watering everything down with shitty electro-industrial garbage, or trying to spice things up by adding the semi-coherent ramblings of an aging beat-poet, it can sometimes be a refreshing change of pace to see some consistency.

Skeleton of the American Dream, the latest release from Charleroi (PA, USA) grind/crust/punk band MorgueMart, literally picks up where its predecessor, 2008’s Ten Cent Cadavers, left off. Continue reading →

Out Today: Cormorant – Dwellings

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Cormorant – Dwellings (self-released, 6 December 2011)

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First off, let me just say, I fucking hate Tuesdays. If I worked with that obnoxious lady from payroll or whatever in Office Space, she’d surely tell me I have a case of the Mondays every Tuesday. See, most people complain about Mondays because they don’t want to go back to work after the weekend, and they’re still a bit groggy throughout that morning. Well, I take this to a higher level, because I basically sleepwalk through Monday, go through the motions without really accomplishing much; you could say I’m virtually dead to the world for the entire day, so I’m more or less numb to how truly awful Monday really is. Then, after getting by on just vapors, I end up completely out of fuel by that night, and start out Tuesday feeling the way most people do on Monday. Anyway, that’s pretty much my story so far today.

There is one good thing I can say for Tuesdays though: that’s most often the day new music gets released. Ordinarily that would not be much of a consolation, but every once in a while, a Tuesday will roll around where there is a new release I have been looking forward to so much, that I almost forget how dreadful it is to be alive that day. Almost. And today is one of those rare days, because I’ve been counting down the days for the past few months, since I first saw the announcement from Californian blackened metal band Cormorant‘s bassist/vocalist/lyricist/spokesperson Arthur von Nagel, and now their new LP, Dwellings, is officially here.

For those out there who are already familiar with this band, and who have heard their earlier releases, you probably pre-ordered this weeks ago, and you are probably already listening to the digital copy while anxiously awaiting the CD (and all its fantastic artwork) to be delivered. If you know their past discography but you haven’t bought the new one yet, then probably you just missed seeing the news or you don’t know where to get it, so here you go: click this link.

If you’re still with me, then I assume you’ve never been exposed to Cormorant or their music before, so keep reading and we’ll go on a little trip through history.
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Just Released: Enid – Munsalvaesche

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Enid – Munsalvaesche (28 November, 2011 – Code666 Records)

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Last weekend, my wife and I traveled to enemy territory* to catch the Korpiklaani+Arkona show.  Because my mother’s farm is about three hours closer to Cleveland than the Valley of Steel is, I had arranged for us to spend Thanksgiving weekend at her place.  Well, I think mom saw through my thinly veiled ruse, because in exchange for a couple days’ worth of free food and shelter within easy driving distance from Peabody’s, she decided that I needed to help put up her Christmas tree and hang the lights on it (she has an enormous nine-foot artificial tree, and lately it has become more difficult for her to get up and down a ladder). 

Anyway, during all this decorating nonsense, we were treated to a variety of Christmas-themed music from mom’s extensive collection.  This included a number of albums by Mannheim Steamroller, a multi-platinum selling, new-agey, electro-orchestral project of which she’s always been fond.  Anyway, during the process of assembling the tree, my wife remarked to me that some of the music we’d heard the night before (i.e. the concert) was not too far removed from what was being played at the house that morning.  I can see where she was coming from here — for example, the incorporation of traditional folk melodies and styles, and instruments such as the flutes and bagpipes used extensively by Arkona, into a more modern format, might superficially resemble the methods employed by Mannheim Steamroller.  However, to me the pagan/folk metal movement seems to take the folk/traditional instruments, melodies, song structures and attitude, and directly blends these with metal instrumentation (and often, metal vocals). On the other hand, the traditional folk Christmas carols that are reinterpreted on the albums we heard, seem to be rearranged in more of a classical orchestration and then reproduced with modern, synthesized instruments. I would be more inclined to compare this with something like Wendy (née Walter) Carlos‘ Switched-On Bach series of albums, although the correllation would be more apt if it were electronic versions of works by classical composers who, unlike Bach, often incorporated traditional folk tunes (either of their own cultural heritage, such as Dvorak’s “Slavonic Dances,” or those picked up elsewhere, such as Tchaikovsky’s “Cappriccio Italien”).

Anyway, all of this rambling is leading up to my review of the latest album, Munsalvaesche, by German epic/fantasy/symphonic metal artist Enid, which was just made available last week (28 November) through Code666 Records/Aural Music. Continue reading and you shall see (and hear!) why this album should appeal to fans of the folk-metal approach as well as the modernized folk-music-via-classical-arrangement approach.
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Coming Soon: Cormorant’s New Album Now Streaming, and Once Again Available for Pre-Order!

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This is awesome news for anyone who, like myself, may have accidentally missed out on the deadline a couple months ago for pre-ordering the new album by Californian blackened progressive metal band Cormorant, Dwellings, due to be self-released on 6 December, 2011.

While we may now be out of luck in regards to some of the elements from their totally awesome packages that were being sold the first time around (a signed poster of the full album cover – one panel of which is visible above, but which can be seen in its full glory here; exclusive downloads of unreleased demo materials; inclusion of our names among the credits in the accompanying booklet; etc.), at least the meat of the previous offerings (digital download of the album, CD digipack, t-shirt or sweatshirt with the album artwork) are once again available to pre-order in various combinations.

If you’ve heard the band’s previous offerings – 2009 LP Metazoa or 2007 EP The Last Tree, then clearly you don’t need any more convincing that Dwellings is going to be a must-own.  No, all you need is a link to the preorder page, which is conveniently located here, at Bandcamp.

If, on the other hand, you are a newcomer to the Cormorant experience, well I’ve got a real treat in store for you to get yourself educated… Continue reading →

Get ’em While They’re Hot: Seventh Rule Recordings Offers Free Album Downloads for Cyber Monday!

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[W]e could have emailed you Friday about this awesomeness, but honestly we were too busy sleeping in…

So begins the announcement sent out by Seventh Rule Recordings last night.  The Chicago-based underground label then wastes no time getting to the meat of their message:

We figure that every year, all businesses try to grab every bit of money you have in your wallet. This year we wanted no part in that, in fact we just wanted to make it so you could enjoy Seventh Rule releases without spending any money at all. This is our thanks to you, our friends and supporters.

That’s right, well over a dozen albums full of high-quality stoner/sludge/doom/ambient/whatever metal are now yours for the taking, absolutely free of charge!  The only catch is, this appears to be a today-only offer, so get on it ASAP!

Seventh Rule official website is here, but to jump straight to the download section, you’ll want to visit their Bandcamp page here.

If you find the vast list of free downloads overwhelming, fear not!  Here are some suggestions that I’ve had in my personal library for quite some time, and which come highly recommended by yours truly:

Coming Soon: Undersmile Debut Album Promises to be ‘Hideous’

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Oxonian sludge quartet Undersmile have announced some new details for their forthcoming debut album Narwhal. 

First, near the end of last week, it was revealed on their Facebook page that producer/engineer Billy Anderson (whose impressive resume includes work on albums by such luminaries as Eyehategod, Melvins, High on Fire, and many others) is currently mixing the record.

Then, earlier today, a press release from Future Noise gave a tentative release date of 9 April, 2012.

Hel Sterne, one of the band’s two vocalists and guitarists, personally has assured me that the new release will be “hideous”.  She was also kind enough to provide the following video as a preview of what you can expect in April:

Narwhal will be the band’s first official full-length release, but is coming on the heels of their recent EP Undertaker (a split between Undersmile and Caretaker) which is available for streaming, or for purchase via either digital download or CD, at Bandcamp.

Also available for streaming or digital download at Bandcamp is last year’s EP A Sea of Dead Snakes, although sadly I have learned that the limited-run CD copies (which, like the split EP above, had been made available by Blindsight Records) recently have sold out.

Stay tuned right here for further information as it becomes available, or even better, “like” Undersmile on Facebook for updates direct from the source!