So, this album is called A Somber Preclusion of Being (Independent), huh? Cool, I’ll give this Vacant Eyes band a try. They’re from Massachusetts too? Great, I like supporting artists from my neck of the woods. What’s the worst that can happen? About seventy-five minutes have gone by and I think I may need a nap. The brain can only take so much. Continue reading
The Acacia Strain is back with a new album, Slow Decay (Rise Records), are as pissed as ever despite their last LP being released (checks notes) just last Winter? If memory serves, It Comes in Waves dropped rather surprisingly at the end of December. Okay then, on to Slow Decay. Hold up, most of these songs have already been released in the form of singles throughout the year.
Chalk it up to me partaking more in the reefer these days and revisiting professional wrestling as a hobby again, but I feel like I took a chair shot to the back of the skull. Why am I feeling discombobulated? Have you tried listening to Blood Incantation‘s Hidden History of the Human Race (Dark Descent)? No? Then why don’t you go to your nearest highway and attempt to run across during rush hour traffic? Best of luck. Continue reading
Cannibal Corpse, Power Trip and Gatecreeper are currently taking part in one of the most brutal tours to ever hit the States. Last night they absolutely destroyed New York City, and show no signs of slowing down until the tours ends on December 8th. To help get you more excited for the remaining dates, or if you just want to relive the insanity, we have amazing footage from their recent show in Boston. Continue reading
Kirk Hammett’s world-renowned collection of horror and science fiction memorabilia will be on display from August 12th through November 26th at Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts. Continue reading
The music world is still reeling from the loss of Linkin Park‘s Chester Bennington, and several artists decided to pay tribute to the front man last night on stage. Continue reading
How cool is this!? Kirk Hammett’s world-renowned collection of horror and science fiction memorabilia will soon be on display at Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts. Continue reading
Over the years of American music, I am always proud to mention quite the list of bands from Massachusetts, my home state. However, I get to add another band to that list, Beverly, MA experimental post-rock group known as Caspian. This instrumental outfit just released quite the killer album entitled Dust and Disquiet (Triple Crown Records). From start to finish, Caspian puts you on an emotional, yet satisfying, journey. After my first time listening to Dust and Disquiet, I was completely blown away and even embarrassed that I had never heard of this band who is just a few miles away from where I live!
It was extremely hard trying to narrow down my favorite tracks across this pilgrimage of an album. ‘Arcs of Command’ is a perfect example when trying to explain the structure of a post-rock/metal song. The song starts off calm and slowly builds on itself up until the climax of the song, running on all cylinders. Then, they come off the gas pedal just a bit towards the end before a big finish. ‘Echo and Abyss’ is another great example of this as well, except one of the elements that comes in during the build-up is actually some vocals, something I did not expect when hearing this band was instrumental. Having said that, I think the vocals certainly fit for this track. ‘Darkfield’ is yet another prime example of this song structure as the first few seconds of the track sound as if a train is starting and slowly gaining speed of a station. This track also dips into the electronic elements a bit more than the rest of the tracks on the album but it allows for the album to stay fresh all the way through.
Dust and Disquiet is an album that will certainly be in my album of the year internal discussions/battles I am certainly going to have after this great year in music. Caspian has put out one of the few albums in my young life to allow passages where I can bang my head and then follow up with pulling my heartstrings yet there are no vocals or lyrics. This album just does not have a single blemish and will stand up in its genre for years to come. Moving forward, when I mention bands from MA I enjoy, Caspian will make the cut for sure.
9.0/10
TIM LEDIN
Massachusetts natives All That Remains have steadily remained in both heavy metal and mainstream music circles for over the past decade. They have had success on the Billboard chart with their past few albums they made with Killswitch Engage’s Adam D as producer. However, they decided to hire Josh Wilbur who has made albums with Lamb of God and Gojira in pursuit of a fresher sound on The Order of Things (Razor and Tie).
Album opener ‘This Probably Won’t End Well’ captures what the band’s staple sound is: a meeting between softer, more accessible metal and Massachusetts bred hardcore. It is in its own way iconic. There is something ballsy about starting off a new record with a song title like that. Unfortunately the depressing prediction comes true. The following song ‘No Knock’ is less iconic. One cannot help but feel that it could be any Massachusetts hardcore band that came up with it.
‘Divide’ shows more promise of the band heading towards the direction they set out in. It is very catchy and perfect for shows. The chorus sounds like it was written to be sung along to and it achieves that goal. Why it has not been released as a radio single, where it would do well, is a mystery.
‘For You’ is the heartfelt relationship song that one has come to expect from the band’s albums. This is not a bad thing, but it is not groundbreaking for them either. Anything new about the album dies off around ‘A Reason For Me to Fight’. All of a sudden it sounds like the band slipped back into their old territory. The closing song title ‘Criticism and Self Realization’ sounds more promising than the actual tune. Changing producers did have a small effect on the album but perhaps not what the band had hoped for.
5.5/10
MELISSA CAMPBELL