Back in 2018, armed with debut album Tū (Napalm Records) and a reputation for blistering live performances, teenagers Alien Weaponry arrived on the scene with a bang. Fusing groove metal with influences derived from their own Māori culture, the band possess a highly individual sound, but one that in some quarters has also appeared to earn them the disappointingly reductive nickname of “The New Zealand Sepultura”.
It is quite outstanding when we sit down to realize how human nature can easily adapt (for better or worst) to its surroundings and environment. Particular historic examples in the music industry like the shift of the typical major label model, to music piracy, to streamings platform era, and some more social events, like a pandemic, are some of the major challenges that musicians have had to deal with through history. How some musicians have been able to, somehow, stay on their feet and continue to deliver quality products to their fans it’s simply remarkable. Some bands have been able to release some formidable production, and an example of this is Tesseract’s latest livestream event P O R T A L S (Kscope Records), released in December 2020. Continue reading
Cape Town-based Rap Metallers Ill System have a brand-=new video for their new single “Rock Bottom” out now via Mongrel Records. Politically charged with killer grooves and great lyrical flows, the band also leans heavily on their use of native African instrumentations, such as Djembe and Bongo percussion. Rock Bottom was mixed and mastered by the legendary Andrew O’leary of Verona Walls. Watch the fiery video now!
Exploding with lurid technicolour noise and flooding your brain with nightmarish, acid-fuelled cartoon imagery, musician/director/writer/artist/sideshow freak Rob Zombie is back with his latest exercise in restraint and understatement, The Lunar Injection Kool Aid Eclipse Conspiracy (Nuclear Blast).
Despite being initially judged as a Xerox frontman when he joined Queensrÿche nearly a decade ago, Todd La Torre has proven to be so much more than a great Geoff Tate impression. Far from being a hired gun, La Torre has been a heavy player in the band’s creative process and even put his talents as a drummer to use on 2018’s The Verdict while also contributing guest vocals to other projects. Considering the recent pandemic-induced schedule opening, it was only inevitable for him to finish up his long-awaited debut as a solo artist.
The first part of a double release (the second half due next year), the latest offering from prolific Californian melodic death metallers DevilDriver finds the band in cathartic form, as each song on the band’s ninth album, Dealing With Demons I (Napalm Records) focuses on a different type of obstacle or demon to be faced and overcome.
While Nevermore never quite broke into the mainstream, they always seemed to be just under the radar ready to make an impression. The band’s signature combination of proggy rhythms, gothic vocals, groovy chugs, extreme drums, and shredding solos seemed to have something for everyone in the Metal sphere, but their eccentric execution also meant they never found belonging in any single demographic. That all seemed like it was poised to change with their sixth album, 2005’s This Godless Endeavor (Century Media Records), which saw them gain greater exposure compared to their earlier efforts and more unanimous acclaim.
Glasgow may not be considered a heavy metal hub, but the band Bleed From Within proves that Scotland can produce some pretty extreme musicians. Formed fifteen years ago, this young, charged-up group of guys sought to make a spectacle of aggression and severity. Their early works took on a very vengeful edge that was mainly categorized under the Deathcore genre. Now, these fresh-faced Scots present a more sophisticated take on the ‘Core’ genres while merging it with Modern Metal on their new fifth full-length album, Fracture (Century Media Records).Continue reading
Propaganda (Pelagic Records) is the first full length I’ve gotten my hands on from Belgian exports, BEAR. In description to their sound I see lots of online chatter about it being labeled as Progressive Hardcore which to me sounds very appealing as it conjures up thought of Botch or early Between the Buried and Me. And while there are moments of zonked out Prog on Propaganda, I’d say it was akin to Groove Metal even though I’ve never been particularly jazzed about that as a genre moniker. Continue reading
Within the Deathcore genre Whitechapel are one of the true originators of the sound and in 2016 they released an album called Mark Of The Blade (Metal Blade). To say it was a divisive album would be an understatement, in a story which has been told many times before the band chose to broaden their creative horizons with a cleaner production and clean vocals. In some corners new album The Valley (also Metal Blade) is being touted as a turning point.Continue reading