New “One With the Storm” album teaser. This album will rule my life for months after its release. Ghost Brigade’s style of Melodic Death Metal is something ethereal, something haunting, something I’ve never heard before in music. Check them out.
music
New Fantastic Scar Symmetry Track
Scar Symmetry have a brand new track out today, off of their multi part album “Singularity Part 1: Neohumanity”. Their new album is everything the fans love from the Swedish metal band, just refined into an epic long concept album. The “Singularity” series is based on Artilects, artificial intelligent that are advanced beyond human mental capabilities. I compare this album in particular a cross between Fear Factory, Soilwork, and Omnium Gatherum.
Check out their new “Cryonic Harvest” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbEn-WhB_k0
Job For a Cowboy Release New Funky Track, Sun of Nihility
Job For a Cowboy release new track Sun of Nihility, off their new album released November 11th, 2014. It’s a funky, dark, death metal track that their fans will foam over. I personally am not a fan of the vocals, the lyrics are unintelligible and the vocals become abrasive after awhile. The best part about this band for me is the bass lines by Nick Schendzielos. It is rare to hear a prominent bassist these days in rock/metal. The band stems from hardcore punk and death metal, but this new song is something else. At first listen, I thought it was Opeth or Mastodon, until the vocals came in. Check it out and don’t be afraid to say what you think.
Listen to Sun of Nihility here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDo-VEam_JA
New album, Sun Eater, comes out November 11th
Review of the New Hammerfall Album Revolution
I’ve been talking about Gothenburg metal a lot lately with new At The Gates and In Flames albums coming out this year as well as Amaranthe. Being a huge fan of what Gothenburg has to offer in the metal scene, I surely cannot look over Hammerfall. The Swedish Power Metal band has been creating anthemic metal since 1993. Hammerfall began a new era in Power Metal and began my crusade for European in America. Hammerfall is one of the most influential Power Metal bands ever, Glory To the Brave and Legacy of Kings attribute to their powerful reign of metal all over the world. Those are two of my favorite albums of all time. Hammerfall is certainly not Swedecore, but their own genre alone.
After an almost two year long hiatus, Hammerfall are back in 2014 with (r)Evolution, their brand new album. Their ninth album is a huge departure from their last, Infected (2011). It is a throwback album to Hammerfall’s roots and their best characteristics. The album is a perfect cross between Glory To the Brave, Legacy of Kings, and heavier guitars from Nikas and Pontus. The guitar solos are screaming, fast, and placed perfectly in the pocket. (r)Evolution just has that powerful sound that takes you back to the days of sword battles and the fantasy world of conquest and dragons. It has every ingredient that the fans wish for in the typical Hammerfall album. Joacim Cans is of course the biggest contributor to the band’s sound, with his mighty and powerful lead vocals, perfectly executed on every song. (r)Evolution is the best album from Hammerfall we may ever get.
The album opens with the epic anthem, Hector’s Hymn, with a powerful viking edge to it that their last album was absent of. The trackhas absolutely amazing vocals, epic Speed Metal guitars, and perfectly executed technical drums. The title track, (r)Evolution, is spot on with Hammerfall’s anthemic sound. The second track starts out slowly building, then a great powerful high note, and then building faster and heavier into another amazing fist pounding anthem. The softer verses on this song are what makes this song perfect, giving a great dynamic to the album. Bushido is reminiscent of their first album, but so much cleaner and well produced. This song has the typical dynamic and does tend to fall flat after the first two songs. However, Bushido is true to the story of the warrior. Live Life Loud is yet another slow building power anthem, but the guitars are harder hitting and more interesting on this song than Hector’s Hymn. Live Life Loud sounds like a tip of the hat to Judas Priest and Iron Maiden.
Ex Inferis is a darker, more intense, harder hitting song and breaks the album up from the typical anthemic song. This song specifically shows Hammerfall went for a lyrical and vocal based album than Infected. We Won’t Back Down speeds things up and finally turns the bass up more. The song features vocals from the brilliant and powerful James Michael from American rock band, Sixx Am. He is featured throughout the album singing the lower parts, adding contrast to Joacim’s soaring high vocals. James was also featured on Infected. In true Hammerfall style, (r)Evolution has it’s well executed beautiful ballad, Winter Is Coming. This song takes me back to Legacy of Kings in such a vivid way. Winter Is Coming is one of the best written songs on this album, however I expected it to be a little more long and epic. Origins is a very interesting Celtic Speed Metal song that I absolutely love on this album, having a more rhythmic feel to it than other tracks. Tainted Metal is a stomping track, having guitars a bit more in the forefront to keep the vocals from being too repetitive throughout the album. The snare however gets repetitive on the verses and drowns out the other instruments too much. Evil Incarnate is a dragging, technical heavy song, that delivers adequately with typical Hammerfall sound. The album closes with a bang at the track Wildfire, a fast intense ride that brings (r)Evolution to life, giving every musician their final say It is a perfect epic jam to close a well produced Hammerfall album to an end.
Overall (r)Evolution is a well executed and well performed album from Hammerfall, however it lacks the typical energy the band usually attributes to their albums. The dynamic truly falls flat and the vocals tend to be at one level throughout most songs, making for a boring listening experience. Although this isn’t Hammerfall’s best album, it is everything I love about the band and makes for a reminiscent experience. I liked everything they put into this album and I am glad to hear them go back to their roots. Their root sound is what makes them truly great and is the biggest factor to why this album is overall perfect.
Rating; 7/10
Also Listen To: High Priestess by Kobra and the Lotus, Maximum Overload by Dragonforce, The Human Contradiction by Delain, Heroes by Sabaton, Fallen Leaves & Dead Heroes by Amoral
Nightwish Announce 2015 North American Tour With Delain!
Exciting news in Symphonic Metal today! Nightwish announce a huge North America tour in 2015, with special opening guests Delain. Nightwish are also releasing a new album estimated to be released early next year, probably before the tour begins. The band are currently working on the album in Finland, whilst Delain are still in North America touring with Sonata Arctica and Xandria. Marco Hietala, bassist for Nightwish, made an exciting statement about the tour:
“Hi to all! Our work on the new album has been going with serious productive speed and comfortable ease at the same time. It´s going to be great to get it out to you and play these pieces live. And with this announcement it will obviously happen quite soon! Here are the dates for the North American shows. Come on over and we´ll raise hell and kick some arses together!”
Confirmed dates for the upcoming NIGHTWISH 2015 tour with Delain are:
04/09/15 Hammerstein Ballroom – New York, NY
04/10/15 Electric Factory – Philadelphia, PA
04/11/15 Palladium – Worcester, MA
04/13/15 Capitole Theatre – Quebec City, QC – CANADA
04/14/15 Phoenix Concert Theater – Toronto, ON – CANADA
04/16/15 Town Ballroom – Buffalo, NY
04/17/15 Agora Theatre – Cleveland, OH
04/18/15 Concorde Music Hall – Chicago, IL
04/19/15 Val Air Ballroom – Des Moines, IA
04/21/15 Ogden Theatre – Denver, CO
04/22/15 In The Venue – Salt Lake City, UT
04/24/15 Knitting Factory – Spokane, WA
04/25/15 Orpheum Theatre – Vancouver, B.C. – CANADA
04/26/15 Crystal Ballroom – Portland, OR
04/28/15 Warfield Theatre – San Francisco, CA
04/30/15 House Of Blues – Las Vegas, NV
05/01/15 Greek Theatre – Los Angeles, CA
05/02/15 Marquee Theatre – Phoenix, AZ
05/03/15 Tricky Falls – El Paso, TX
05/05/15 Bomb Factory – Dallas, TX
05/06/15 Warehouse Live – Houston, TX
05/08/15 House of Blues – Orlando, FL
05/09/15 Revolution – Fort Lauderdale, FL
05/11/15 Marathon Music Work – Nashville, TN
05/12/15 Expo Five – Louisville, KY
05/13/15 Filmore – Charlotte, NC
05/14/15 Filmore – Silver Springs, MD
I am personally estatic about this tour. Both of these bands are at the top of Symphonic Metal and release some of the best music of all time. In my opinion, these are two of the best live bands of the 2000s. They both are flawless live and have two of the most talented female vocalists I’ve ever heard (Floor Jansen from Nightwish/Revamp and Charlotte Wessels of Delain). I saw Floor with Revamp in April of this year and her performance blew me away, her presence on stage is unlike anything I’ve experienced before. So, don’t miss out on this tour or you will definitely miss a legendary show. By your tickets as soon as possible, I expect a sell out tour!
At The Gates Reveal New Single and New Album
Gothenburg Melodic Death Metal band, At The Gates, released their title track today. Many people thought there would never be another studio album from the Swedes, but the band defied even their own expectations. The new album “At War With Reality” is based on a literary genre called Magic Realism. The genre integrates normal reality with magical things or people in great detail. The band said they would never release another studio album after “Slaughter To The Soul” because they didn’t think they could ever top that album after nearly a decade. The band from the beginning has had hiatuses, a break up, and several member changes.
The new album should be a large departure from their previous albums. I expect a very modern, dark, heavy, melodic, and complex album from At The Gates. Based on the tracks I have heard so far, I expect a high quality and diverse release from the band.
At War With Reality drops October 27th (US) 2014
Listen to the new track here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoJYZITMZAI
Randy Blythe Announces a New Memoir and Lamb of God Album
Randy Blythe was recently on Jamey Jasta’s Podcast and talked about his new Memoir and a new Lamb of God album. He says the Memoir recalls the events and thoughts from when he was arrested, to the final day when he is released. The memoir and album he expects will be released early 2015. The album will also contain lyrics Randy wrote while in prison, possibly making for a very dark and angry album.
The Jamey Jasta interview with Randy also recalls what happened in Czech Republic and what he would do if he could go back to that show.
You can listen to the full Podcast here: https://soundcloud.com/jameyjasta/episode-19-randy-blythe-lamb-of-god
Slipknot Show New Masks Up Close
Slipknot have updated and changed their masks for the new album, “5: The Gray Chapter”. Some are completely different and some are just altered a little bit, but they’re still signature to each band member. Obviously whenever a band changes their look or sound controversy arises, so there’s a lot of opinions on the new masks and songs from the band. Personally, I’m just glad Slipknot are back and carrying on with music after such a tragic loss.
5:The Gray Chapter comes out October 21st, 2014
See the new masks in detail here; http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=pG-IEE8apJY
I Talk About Gothenburg “Swedecore” and the New In Flames Album
Gothenburg, the birthplace of Melodic Death Metal and famous for its “Swedecore” sound is one of my personal favorite inspirations for metal. From the early to mid 90’s, the metal scene in Gothenburg has grown to be refined and full of variety, growing a heavy and huge metal scene in a beautiful city.
Gothenburg metal bands include Amaranthe, Arch Enemy, Amon Amarth, Dark Tranquility, and Entombed, At the Gates, just to name a few. There is no lack of talent in Sweden in general, but this one city has something magical. There is a recipe for brilliant metal written in Gothenburg; Melodic guitars, dynamic vocals that switch between a growl and soft delivery, hard and loud pounding drums, and lyrics that seem sad but are truly inspiring. This recipe never fails to wet my appetite for more Melodic Death Metal. When I came across another influential band, In Flames, my expectations were high when put in the same category as the first bands I listed. In Flames unfortunately fooled me into believing bands in Gothenburg will never stray away from the brilliance.
In Flames released Siren Charms on September 9th, 2014 as a very anticipated album. In Flames mixes Melodic Death Metal influence with a more modern flavor on this latest album. At first listen, I thought they were an American band influenced by Chevelle and Dark Tranquility. I was shocked to find this band was from Gothenburg, Sweden, because of how mainstream and radio friendly this album appeared to me. Upon more listens, Siren Charms does have its Gothenburg influences, you just have to listen harder to hear it. It is not In Flames best album by any means, but Siren Charms dares to break out of the mold of Swedecore.
In Plain View opens the new album with a building heavy intro, breaking into a nice groove reminiscent of Arch Enemy’s guitar lines. The vocals are cleaner on this one, on the whole album to be honest, and lacks some solid emotion throughout. The album continues with Everything’s Gone, a faster and heavier track than the later with that same cool groove to it. Unfortunately what came to mind on the clean vocals to me, is Marilyn Manson, but maybe you hear something different and less grading. Paralyzed is dark and haunting with a dual guitar overlay and better sounding clean vocals from Anders. I found Paralyzed to be a little more on the Metalcore side, but with Sybreed like vocals. Next is one of my least favorite tracks on the album, Through Oblivion. I feel like this song falls flat and is a serious low point in the album, losing the power and groove other tracks have.
With Eyes Wide Open, picks the album back up from Through Oblivion, into a more melodic and better composed sound from In Flames. The song is begging to be one of those slow building epics and it achieves it well. With Eyes Wide Open is so good and different that it sounds misplaced on the album. The title track on the album follows the epic, with a rhythmic driving sound and desperate vocal delivery. Siren Charms inserts a much needed bit of emotion on the album. One of the highlights of the album, is When the World Explodes, as In Flames go back to a more European metal sound. This track features beautiful and enchanting vocals from Stockholm Opera Soprano, Emilia Feldt, which really add an amazing touch to this song. The single, Rusted Nail, pounds and drives just like it went high on the charts in Sweden and also North America. It is still one of the best songs on the album. After that, Dead Eyes comes in and once again Siren Charms falls flat. This song could honestly be left of the album and it certainly wouldn’t be missed. Monsters in the Ballroom picks the album back up a bit, but sounds to me like 90% of what’s being played on rock radio right now. The album finally closes with Filtered Truth, an apt disappointment of a generic song, lacking dynamics and anything to make me want to listen to this album again.
Siren Charms was disappointing and sounds like a complete departure from their legendary sound. I can only hope that they will return to their roots after this flop of an album.
I review the New Opeth Album, Pale Communion, A Gothic Tribute to the 70’s
Swedish mood setting Progressive Metal band, Opeth, are back in 2014 with Pale Communion. Over the years the band has had many lineup changes, but somehow stays the same in its glory and brilliantly composed music. Opeth is famous for their ability to mix Progressive music and Death Metal with a Gothic influence. Their music is some of the most dynamic and interesting music ever written. Thanks to frontman Mikael Akerfeldt, who started the band in 1992, Opeth dares to be unique, powerful, and unmatchable. Pale Communion is a good example of everything this band has to offer. The whole album is a throwback to the 60’s and 70’s, with a slow melodic and psychedelic sound. It is brilliantly composed and played, each song flowing to the next. This album doesn’t sound like anything I’ve ever heard in metal.
Pale Communion is another album from Opeth only featuring clean vocals, but they are as haunting and as beautiful as ever. Eternal Rains Will Come is a perfect example of Opeth’s dark and Gothic side, with a chest piercing organ and brilliant drumming from Martin Axenrot. The song twists and turns from a Gothic sound, to a late 60’s early 70’s sound reminiscent of Led Zeppelin and The Doors. I was pleasantly surprised with that song, but it does not set a tone for the whole album. Each song differs in a virtuous sense, onto heavier songs like Cusp of Eternity and Moon Above, Sun Below. Then it goes into a beautiful ballad, with a possible influence from Simon and Garfunkel, Elysian Woes. Goblin is as enchanting as the tracks before it, with a slow building funky sound to it that is almost indescribable.
Pale Communion continues with a lighter hearted song, River, that breaks the album into a whole new tone and sound. River is a perfectly crafted interlude to the album, with chilling and beautiful vocals. It reminds you of the classic Free Bird by Lynard Skynard, but better than that even. Voice of Treason has all kinds of different sounds and flavors; It’s a little symphonic, a little Gothic, and a little cinematic. These past two tracks prove why Opeth is one of the best bands of all time, because of their ability to write anything and everything with such immense quality. This fantastic album closes with the melodic ballad, Faith in Others, ending the album hopefully with goosebumps on your arms and hair standing on your neck. The album is short, but it delivers a brilliant cinematic collection of tracks.
Pale Communion is a must buy for all Opeth and fans of rock and metal.
Metal Valkyrie 