Tag Archives: melodic

Album Review: Adora Vivos – Toward the Empyrean

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adora vivos

Adora Vivos intrigued me instantly because it was the name of a song on Woods of Ypres’ final album. I HAD to listen to it. Woods is one of the best bands to ever exist and after listening to one single song from Adora Vivos, it’s clear that they are incredibly influenced by Woods’ style and song writing. Ever since Gold’s death, there has been a void left within my soul and it’s hard to find a band to fill that spot again. Well after many “spins” of this new EP from Adora Vivos, it’s left me with a great sense of fulfillment and excitement. Many more bands will come and many more will go. Another band will grant me pure enjoyment and satisfaction like Woods of Ypres once did…..and Adora Vivos have definitely done just that.

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Album Review: Road To Horizon – Road To Horizon EP

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road to horizon

Road To Horizon released this little piece to show off that they are coming back in 2013. New tunes, new riffs and some pretty aggressive moments for this type of music. Clean singing that will swoon any pre-teen girl and screams that will call to boys of the same age. This EP just plays out to the younger generation and I know the next time I walk into a Hot Topic I’ll be hearing this over the PA.

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MUSIC VIDEOS: ODIUM (Metal), Mandroid Echostar (Progressive Rock), Every Time I Die (Hardcore) & Over Your Threshold (Melodic Technical Progressive Death Metal, lol)

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Odium, an unsigned Canadian band that has potential. The music is pretty good but I don’t like the vocals singing on the track. The growls are fine but the singing makes it too close to Five Finger Death Punch to me. Which I can’t stand. The song/video is still worth checking out so DO IT!

Odium – “At the Bottom”

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KATAKLYSM Release New Music Video & Release More Tour Dates

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KATAKLYSM WITH ORIGIN, FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE, AND ROSE FUNERAL

8/11 – Montreal, QC – HEAVY MTL
8/12 – Toronto, ON – HEAVY TO
8/14 – Lansing, MI – Blackened Moon
8/15 – Des Moines, IA – People’s Court
8/17 – Regina, SK – The Exchange*
8/18 – Calgary, AB – The Distillery*
8/19 – Kelowna, BC – Sapphire Night Club*
8/20 – Vancouver, BC – Rickshaw Theatre*
8/21 – Prince George, BC – The Generator*
8/22 – Edmonton, AB – Pawn Shop*
8/23 – Brandon, MB – North Hill Inn*
8/24 – Winnipeg, MB – Park Theatre*

KATAKLYSM WITH FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE, VITAL REMAINS, AND ROSE FUNERAL

8/25 – Saint Paul, MN – Station 4**
8/26 – Chicago, IL – Reggie’s Rock Club**
8/27 – Cleveland, OH – Peabody’s
8/28 – Poughkeepsie, NY – The Loft
8/29 – Worcester, MA – The Palladium
8/30 – Amityville, NY – Ollie’s Point
8/31 – Springfield, VA – Empire (previously known as Jaxx)
9/02 – Tampa, FL – The Orpheum
9/04 – Houston, TX – Numbers Night Club
9/05 – Dallas, TX – Trees

MORE DATES COMING SOON

*with Diabholico (feat. ex-Kataklysm member)
**with Origin

Music Videos: VEXT & MISS MAY I

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Vext….it’s like when Ivan Moody went from Motograter to Five Finger Death Punch.

Miss May I are impressive live. The crowd ate them up and loved every minute of it. Honestly they were really close to stealing the show from Whitechapel when they were here last. Here is their music video for the song “Hey Mister”. I get the appeal, they are like a deathcore version of Killswitch Engage. Not too bad honestly! I dig it. Enjoy the video!

A Wanted Awakening: Catharsis Pre-Release Trailer

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Here is a trailer for the band A Wanted Awakening, a metal band similar to The Black Dahlia Murder, Wretched and Last Chance To Reason. I’m new to them but I really like what I hear on this small teaser trailer. The music is good and I like the vocals, both harsh and clean. I hope to hear this album soon because I’m highly interested, be sure to check them out on Facebook.

Concert Review! OCCUPATION DOMINATION TOUR 2012 – Lawrence, KS – Final Night!

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The Granada Theater….May 18th 2012….Lawrence, KS…..The final night of this ultra heavy tour makes it’s way to the middle of the U.S. I enter right as Battlecross is setting up the stage for their set. Apparently I missed the two opening acts (One of them being Troglodyte, god damn it) and I found out Decrepit Birth wasn’t going to make it. Which I was fine with because that meant I was going to enjoy Aborted and Cattle Decapitation sooner than I thought! Battlecross set up their instruments and suddenly just began playing with no light dimming or weird intro. They broke straight into “Push, Pull, Destroy” and I wanted to headbang so bad (I was working photo) and the crowd loved it. Battlecross again sounded amazing and they ripped through their set. Playing favorites such as “Man of Stone“, “Breaking You” and “Kaleb“. They had a great time playing and they were down to party as well as play some kick ass music. Battlecross‘ modern thrash style blended with a little bit of death metal is so good and they were definitely a pleasure to see again. With energy this massive and looking like they are having a blast, it was a good start to my night.

Next up was Rings of Saturn, a deathcore meets technical death metal kind of band whom I’ve never really listened to before this show. Their roster included 2 lead guitarists rocking 7 strings each with no bass guitar….however even without the monster thunder of a bass guitarist they still impressed the shit out of me. When I say technical death metal I mean TECHNICAL DEATH METAL. It was awesome because after all of the crazy fretwork they bust out a balls to the wall breakdown and it’s more respectable due to the fact these cats can shred like motherfuckers. Rings of Saturn are great and I’m now a fan of their music. I’m glad they were on the bill because they brought something different to the table, of course it was a technical death grind tour but their sound and style is different from the rest of the bands.

After Rings of Saturn raped our faces clean off, Aborted took the stage and played a set I wasn’t ready for. I’ve seen some live performances from them online before but NOTHING compares to seeing them live in person. They flat killed it and their setlist was fucking gnarly. Calling their set “heavy” or “brutal” just isn’t good enough. Their energy while playing this magnificent death/grind is god like. Sound was killer, so clear and so loud. I feel so privileged to have seen Aborted, they put on such a great show. Sven’s vocals were fucking dead on with how they sound on the albums. So god damn good.

Next up was Cattle Decapitation and honestly I’m even more glad Decrepit Birth couldn’t make it because I think Cattle would have had a short set. It took them awhile to get set up with PA systems not working and Derek’s cord to his amp not working correctly. However, once all was set up the band took off with  new material from their latest album. Their set was mostly new material and it sounded so damn good live. Travis’ vocals have never sounded better and Josh, David & Derek performed with fierce intensity. David’s drum work is out of this world. His blasts, double bass and stamina is unmatched. Josh’s riffs and crazy leads are always fun to witness live. Derek dominated that beautiful 5 string bass guitar and his sound was clear and ominous. This was the best performance I’ve seen from them, ever. The guys put on one hell of a show and the fact their set was mostly new songs (Only 2 songs were older) made it even more special because I fucking love the new album. I think the only songs they DIDN’T perform from the new album was “Gristle Licker” and “Do Not Resuscitate”. Cattle Decapitation stole the show in my opinion.

However, the bulk of the building was ready for the headliner. The technical death metal gods from right down the road…..ORIGIN. I’m not heavy into this band and I’ve never seen them live so I didn’t know what to expect. Well, to say the least….pure fucking chaos. Their set was the loudest (of course) and both Paul and Mike’s hands were all over the place…while performing vocals. They put the “tech” in technical death metal for sure. I’ve never seen such furious fretwork before. Not only that, John’s drumming was fierce as fuck. Merciless blasting, killing it behind that drum kit. Oh and to top it off, Jason was a maniac on vocals. Doing his duties perfectly…but not only that. He was the director of chaos. He formed 2 walls of death (In a tiny area nonetheless), a few circle pits, requested headbanging, told everyone to move and made people crowd surf. He wanted movement, no doubt about it. He wanted a good time! Jason would even grab peoples hands and pull them onstage. It was fun watching all of the people stage dive. One guy did the most wussy ass dive, just curled and fell lightly and Jason called him out on it: “Really?!” Origin blew the fucking doors off of the building and they did a phenomenal job. I’ve never seen such intensity in a live performance before. Sure I’ve seen headbanging and movement….but Jason and the guys were over the top and impressive. I loved it and so did the entire crowd. Non stop moshing ensued and hardly anyone stood still. So much brutality during the last song “Portal” that a chick was knocked out cold, while the band didn’t stop playing (as if nothing happened), Jason made DAMN sure that the crowd formed a circle around her until help arrived. It wasn’t until AFTER the song was over though that a medic showed up to check on her.

Cattle Decapitation

This was the show that I was waiting for. Each band performed very well and the energy was amazing. This show will be hard to top. Occupation Domination 2012 was a complete success. Thank you to all of the bands that played and thank you to all of the guys I spoke to. Every single member in Battlecross is genuinely nice and awesome people. Thank you Josh Elmore for not shooing me away when I stopped you, thank you Derek Engemann for bullshitting with me while setting up your equipment (Monolithic Merchandise ftw!), thank you Sven (Aborted) for the merch and talking with me and hope to see you all again soon. Great show!!! \w/

Photography and Review by Thomas Mergel

Album Review! Allegaeon – Formshifter

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So to clear my soul of the horrible music I just listened to, I decided to pop in Allegaeon’s new album, Formshifter. Oh what a nice warm shower of awesome this was. You know that superhero/villian feeling you get when you listen to Arch Enemy, Devin Townsend, Gojira, Nevermore & Meshuggah? You get that same feeling when you listen to this album. This album is just relentless heavy metal. 100% pure heavy fucking metal. It’s catchy as hell, it’s melodic and devastating. Formshifter just blows me away and is impressive each time I listen to it. Those leads man! Wow. This melodic death metal band shows exactly how this type of music should sound. Formshifter’s sound is just massive and the production is very clear. The bass emitted from the speakers is immense but not overly done to the point where it’s obnoxious. The band overall is just impressive with their style, writing and execution. If you enjoy metal, you’ll absolutely love this.

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MUSIC VIDEO ROUNDUP – UNEARTH, KATAKLYSM & TRIOSCAPES

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First up is Unearth with a multi camera performance from New England Metal Fest. The song of choice for this video is “My Will Be Done”, off of their latest album “Darkness In The Light”.

Next up is Kataklysm with their new song “Iron Will”.

Then we have an unusual but appreciated band that put out this video featuring nothing but a drummer, a bass player and a saxophone player and they make some really neat sounding progressive jazz rock. Not the norm on this blog but this is talented musicianship right here. Just check out the video and enjoy. Enjoy, Trioscapes “Blast Off”.

Album Review! GOD FORBID – Equilibrium

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God Forbid hath returned with Equilibrium, the new melodic heavy metal album that is actually incredibly satisfying. It’s stacked with fun riffs, interesting leads/solo’s, fantastic drum work, punishing bass rhythms and really good singing/screaming. Equilibrium is actually unexpectedly good, the mix between heavy music and Byron Davis’ screaming and melodic writing with Doc Coyle’s clean singing abilities really adds a nice touch to the album, something I’ve been craving since the early days of God Forbid. They are mature now, they are great writers and they are still relevant after all of these years. Their sound has not really changed that much, however there is a big big difference in what I am hearing. If you enjoyed their metalcore sound from 7 years ago, it’s still there! It’s just not as prominent with all of the layers of sound and creativity now. With things sounding this fresh and the album as a whole being this exciting, you would never think that they have been on this heavy metal grind since the mid-late 90′s. Bravo God Forbid, because you wrote a really good album.

In a world where it’s chaos, brutality and breakdowns every fucking 30 seconds, it’s nice to hear carefully constructed riffs and songs. God Forbid doesn’t fall into any trends and they play what comes out naturally. It’s not exactly 100% metalcore, it’s not 100% death metal, it’s not even 100% Djent (I say this because yes, they are using lower tuning/7 string guitars, but they are not Vildhjarta/Meshuggah-ing their riffs at all) or anything of the sort. It’s just straight up metal!!! Also, I have more respect for Doc for writing those sick solo’s and keeping it rhythmically interesting on the leads and random things he does. Not only that, his singing on the album is really really good. FINALLY someone who can clean sing without sounding all whiny and bitchy!

Equilibrium is a great trip through metal lane. I get all nostalgic because this IS God Forbid, I’ve been into them since before I was able to legally drink and now all of these years later, God Forbid is still able to put out an album that I can enjoy. Get this album, pop it in your player and turn it the fuck up. It’s a good time. These guys make New Jersey look good!

Pros: Good writing, playing, production, execution and every song is rather good.

Cons: A couple of parts on the album are “meh”, melodic metalcore nay sayers may shun this immediately.

4 out of 5

Behind The Kit: Carlos Cruz of WARBRINGER

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Today’s percussive person of interest is Carlos Cruz from the band known as WARBRINGER. Below we can see him jam out to Warbringer tracks “Demonic Ecstacy” and “Treacherous Tongue”. I like Carlos’ style….not just constantly blasting on that thing. His liquid movements and sense of rhythmic mastery is just fun to watch. Enjoy Carlos Cruz and Warbringer!

WRECK-OMMENDATION! LAST CHANCE TO REASON – LEVEL 2

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Making a return to the weekly Wreckommendation is Last Chance To Reason’s album from last year entitled “Level 2“. This album has been stuck on my mind again! I can’t get enough. The writing is phenomenal, the singing is friggin breathtaking and the entire concept of the album as a whole is so much fun and unique compared to the other metal acts out there today. Last Chance To Reason have been touring their butts off and doing some writing in the process for their new album, which I hope they call it “Level 3″ or “Warp Zone” or something video game related like they have with the last 2 albums. The reason this album makes another appearance and not the other one is the fact that I really didn’t care for their first album. Level 2 won me over immediately and it’s one of the only albums from last year I still play on a regular basis. Turn this on, pump up the volume and sing along! I will post up some live footage as well as some studio audio for you to jam out to.

Last Chance To Reason – Level 2

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THE ATLAS MOTH – Your Calm Waters (Music Video)

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Impressive, creative, dark…The Atlas Moth release a music video through Scion A/V for their song “Your Calm Waters” and it left an impression on me. The video is dark, tragic and emotional. Something about the visuals, the way it’s shot and just the music over it all blends together so well that you can’t help but feel overwhelming sorrow. This song is great and so was their entire album from last year. Enjoy The Atlas Moth’s video for “Your Calm Waters“.

WRECKOMMENDATION: BATTLECROSS – Pursuit of Honor

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This week my wreckommendation is for a band I’ve recently become a fan of. I saw Battlecross open up for Hate Eternal and Goatwhore and they won me over and they were just fun, entertaining and overall a good time. That didn’t stop there because I kept listening to them and their newest album called “Pursuit of Honor“. They are a melodic thrash metal band featuring a vocalist who has a good range and uses primarily harsh vocals. They are just a beer drinkin, mosh startin, headbangin good time. Check them out!

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DEE SNIDER’S Daughter Is In A Band & She Is The Lead Vocalist; THEY ALL FLOAT

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They All Float is not entirely bad. Harsh ocals sound a little throaty, like a frog trying to do them but they aren’t bad at all. Music sounds like a cross between hardcore/metalcore with a touch of Killswitch Engage’s melodic sense of the genres and the elegance of what In This Moment tries to capture. They All Float’s debut EP is alright for a new band, there is definitely room for improvement, I think they’ll find their way soon. However for now they need to focus on their own sound because blending a few influences from 7 years ago is rather boring. Also, the clean vocals are just off key and the harmony of both clean vocalists do not sound right at all. Stick to the harsh vocals, find your own style and run with it. This isn’t working and after one listen to the EP I’ve had enough.

 

SHTURM – Solitude Beside (Music Video)

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Melodic thrash/death metal from Russia! Shturm’s new song “Solitude Beside” is off of their new album, “Karmaruna“. I’ve never heard of them before but I do like what I am hearing. Shturm combines the furious sounds of both thrash and death metal, adds a little melody and executes it with a style that is different from the usual combination of the two genres. Vocal style fits in well with the music and altogether I’d say this is a solid band.

Check them out on Facebook!

Album Review! Exotic Animal Petting Zoo – Tree of Tongues

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The name itself, Exotic Animal Petting Zoo, is enough to spark interest in many things. Especially if it’s a rock band, with a name like that you HAVE to see what they are about. I think it’s an incredible strategy because it immediately makes you want to read about the band, listen to the band and see what they have to offer. Well, once the music starts, Exotic Animal Petting Zoo come in and give us exactly what we should expect for the rest of their new album, “Tree of Tongues“. It’s a forceful impact of energy and just a huge wall of sound that isn’t like what I usually listen to. I’m usually the death, black, grind and doom kind of guy. With a few exceptions of course so when I saw that EAPZ was compared to bands like Deftones and Dillinger Escape Plan I was like “Yeah, fucking right. That’s some ballsy shit saying your sound is similar to their sound.” Well, they are pretty fucking close and so much more. Exotic Animal Petting Zoo’s “Tree of Tongues” is new, fun, fresh and really really really good. It’s an entirely new genre of music, due to the fact they have no barriers. The sound on Tree of Tongues is a unique sound and I am literally blown away after each and every listen.

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FALLUJAH Wrecks Their Van/Trailer, Equipment Is Fucked But Everyone Is OK. Donate And Help Them Out!!!

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Ultra talented technical death metal musicians that make up Fallujah were involved in a wreck last night in Wyoming while driving on Highway 80. The guys hit a patch of black ice and lost control, flipping their vehicle. No word on their equipment or their ability to continue on the tour yet (God dammit I was going to see them tomorrow!!!!!) but my guess is that their gear is fucked. Please visit their Facebook page and show some support and if you want to show even more support, donate to their Paypal!