Josh Scogin, ex-lead singer of The Chariot and Norma Jean has announced a new band, '68. This comes just a few weeks after The Chariot's last show ever in their hometown of Douglasville, Ga.
This was recorded live. To get a studio version of this song and 1 other, go to velvetpress.com to pick up our debut 7" vinyl. We are only doing a very limited number of these, once they are gone, they are gone. A very special thanks to Lights Out Industries for shooting this video for us.
Parkway Drive have announced a string of West Coast dates. Upon A Burning Body and Betrayal will joining the band. Dates can be seen below
Iced Earth have partnered with Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles to premiere "Among the Living Dead," the latest track to be unveiled from their upcoming new studio album 'Plagues of Babylon'. Check out a video stream of the song, complete with artwork from the album packaging, here: http://www.bravewords.com/news/215195
Through Tragedy are back with new music! View a message from the band along with the exclusive stream of the album!
Here is our new album! It took a while to get here, but we are extremely proud of it! Hope you enjoy it - Merry Christmas!
It's the end of year (well, almost) so we're counting down our favorite records and games from this year. Be sure to leave a comment and complain if your favorite band didn't make the list! If you can't be bothered to read this wall of text, a more in-depth audio/video version will be at the end of this post.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse have been nominated for a 2013 Grammy Award on for "Best Rock Album" for their album Psychedelic Pill, which was released by Reprise Records on November 19th, 2012. The album is Young's second collaboration with Crazy Horse (Billy Talbot, Ralph Molina, and Poncho Sampedro) after Americana, and first original work with the band since the Greendale album and tour in 2003 and 2004.
After The Burial are one of those bands which you aren't quite sure what type of music they're meant to be. One minute they're playing Melodic Metalcore, the next they're a strange mix between Melodic Death Metal and Technical Metalcore. Although catergorized into the Metalcore genre, After The Burial are still one of the more versatile bands around, producing nothing short of hard-hitting slabs of progressive, melodic and interesting Metal. This is a band which takes the best of standard Metal genres and of the Core genres and blends them together. 'Wolves Within' is the bands fourth studio album (5th if you want to include their E.P) and nine tracks packed with Metal goodness. 'Wolves Within' is probably the most interesting and unique Metalcore album of the year, featuring so many different elements from other forms of Metal and being able to blend it all effectively together.
The nine track affair begins with 'Anti-Pattern'. This song immediately cuts out any nonsense and just gets straight on with it. It has a creepy and daunting build up that kicks into some fine chugs. It's strange to go from creepy, melodic intros into chug-chug riffs but yet After The Burial make it seem like a match made in heaven. There is the perfect balance between heaviness and melody to keep the song interesting and exciting. Although this sets the template up for the album, don't be fooled into expecting the formula being the same throughout every song. Every song has something new to offer, making it a consistent, exciting and often mind-blowing album. The album moves into Technical Metalcore-meets-Melodic Death Metal track 'Of Fearful Men'. Lasting nearly four and a half minutes, this track has the excellent riffs, hints of technicality, the melodies, the progressive side of Metal, the solos and, of course, the chugs.
All of this crammed into a song that isn't even four and a half minutes in length is a huge challenge but the track goes on so flawlessly, creating the perfect balance. It's everything a modern Metal band should be aiming for. The next few tracks, 'Pennyweight', 'Disconnect', 'Nine Summers', 'Virga', 'Neo Seoul' and 'Parise', are all heavy hitters. Songs here range from Sylosis-styled Melo-Prog-Thrash-Death to Metalcore-Power Metal crossovers, creating an epic album that doesn't fail to deliver. Final track, 'A Wolf Amongst Ravens', starts with a sense of hauntingly beautiful atmosphere before going into chugs, under-lined with atmospheric melodies. The rest of the track speaks for itself... In terms of musicianship, this album proves that the band are versatile whilst still remaining faithful to the Metalcore roots wedged deep into their DNA. The bass on the album is intense and always present, helping to beef up the album. It has fast parts, melodies and even some technical parts, keeping the bass-lines interesting. The guitar work is insane, with serious amounts of time being spent to help make the riffs, breakdowns and solos as versatile as possible whilst still remaining within the confines of the Metalcore sub-genre.
They are the what adds the atmosphere, the crunchiness and the melody to the entire album, forcing it's listeners to keep on listening. The drumming is what provides the back bone of the album. Instead of trying to astonish us with blast-beats or three-hundred beats-per-minute double bass pedals, the drumming is planned, fitting perfectly with every track. It helps to provide the constant, often infectious, sense of groove and melody that dominate throughout the album. As for vocals, they seem similar to the vocals of Lamb Of God's Randy Blythe, yet with a bit more added bite to it. The vocal performance is terrific and is something for any vocalist to admire.
After a long year in the music scene, it has been rare that a Metalcore has really grabbed me in ways I never thought were possible. However, with 'Wolves Within', After The Burial not only grabbed me, they took me on a lesson on how to create a quality, versatile Metal album. With the amount of albums released this year, it is astonishing to think how amazing this album is compared to most other recent releases. With an intense sound, progression, technicality and melody dominating on every track and a feeling of brutal, haunting atmosphere, After The Burial have crafted the perfect Metalcore album in recent years, making this a triumph for the band. If you're a fan, you'll love this. However, if you've never listened to them but love Metal, than I recommend you do. Don't let the Metalcore tag fool you, there is so much more to this album than meets the eye. Surprising, mesmerizing, refreshing.
10/10
- Asa
Germany's CALIBAN are by no means rookies to the metal circuit. Still they have maintained a fresh approach to every new album and will take some people by surprise with GHOST EMPIRE, which is set for release on February 4 via Century Media. Check out the first single from the album.
No Sleep Records has released its second annual holiday compilation titled No Sleep till the Holidays 2 today! Fans are invited to download seven festive new tracks that are exclusive to this release for FREE from NoSleepRecords.com or No Sleep Record’s Bandcamp.
No Sleep till the Holidays 2 Track List:
01. Allison Weiss - Sounds Like Snow
02. Daisyhead - O Holy Night
03. Grey Gordon - Colors of Youth
04. Maps for Travelers - War is Over
05. Sean Nelson (of Harvey Danger) - Work on Christmas
06. State Faults - Mookie’s Last Christmas
07. What’s Eating Gilbert - My Favorite Time
Joey Jordison and Slipknot have parted ways. A message from the band can be seen below. I hear Dave Lombardo is sitting around...
To our Maggots and fans around the world,
It is with great pain but quiet respect, that for personal reasons Joey Jordison and Slipknot are parting ways. We all wish Joey the best in whatever his future holds. We understand that many of you will want to know how and why this has come to be, and we will do our best to respond to these questions in the near future. It is our love for all of you, as well as for the music we create, that spurs us to continue on and move forward with our plans for releasing new material in the next year. We hope that all of you will come to understand this, and we appreciate your continued support while we plan the next phase of the future of Slipknot.
Thank you,
The ‘Knot
