FullMetalEll has 0 Horns 2 Eyes: 7 Horns 7 Eyes Review!
So this is my first time listening to 7 Horns 7 Eyes. They shall be known forthwith as 7H7E, as i, my dear friends, am a lazy cunt. I’ve written one article already today so be damn fucking grateful you get another one. Forming in 2006, they released an EP that caught the attention of Nevermore‘s guitar god Jeff Loomis. Long story short, they got fans, they got signed by Century Media Records in the US and our very own Basick Records for Europe. Now there is a debut hitting the shelves very soon!
This album shall be released April 23rd via Basick Records and is going to be the fucking tits, man. There is a guest appearance by Loomis himself, as well as a crack team consisting of Jens Bogren (mastering), Andy Sneap (guitar re-amping) and Travis Smith (artwork). This team have taken part in a multitude of impressive works, including Amon Amarth, Opeth and Megadeth. So you know they’re pretty damn good at what they do.
For a small teaser of the album, check out their EP Convalescence. Vindicator and The Winnowing will both appear on the album, so consider it a preview. Free listens, guys.
Describing this band is difficult. They are within the realm of death metal, with one foot in the orchestral/symphonic area and another in the progressive sector. Add in some ambient, a tinge of sludge and a hint of tech; Voila! You have this hard-to-define band. While sticking it in a genre is difficult, describing the feel of the music is a different thing entirely. Lisa Coverdale of Hold Tight! PR described the album as “rich with atmosphere, technical proficiency and tasteful restraint”, which is an elegant way of putting it. I can’t agree more. Many wouldn’t describe death metal as “tasteful” but i think it hits home with this release. Its very atmospheric and ambient in its own way, like a soundtrack, but with more punch.
The skill of the musicians on this record is impeccable. The songwriting is interesting, packed with odd structures and unique riffs. I went into this album with a feeling of distrust and did not get my hopes up at all. I love it when i do that. I get a brilliant surprise when i find myself a fantastic band, especially at the expense of my own past self.
Realization: Past self Elliot is an idiot.
Wow. Seattle is a forest. I never knew that.
Here is guitarist Aaron Smith with his statement;
“7H7E has been on quite a journey since we embarked on recording this album, full of some big ups and downs-‐-‐not the least of which being signed to Basick Records/Century Media, enduring a front-‐man change, re-‐recording all the album vocals, and sharing the stage with some great bands…and let me tell you—it feels amazing for us to know that we finally get to release this thing out into the world. Many of our fans have waited patiently for years for this record to drop, likely wondering at times if it ever even will, and we can’t thank them enough for sticking by us!”
Sounds like a rough ride, but they made it! I guess you’re expecting me to give a rundown of a few tracks, but I’m going to honest here. I can’t remember any specific tracks. This is one of those albums that you listen to as a whole. If i seen them live, i would want them to play the album start to finish in the same order. It flows so well, in and out of each song with intensity, ferocity, tranquility and beauty. If there is one track i must mention, it is the incredible final track Regeneration. I would like to personally thank the band for bringing that song into my life. It is impeccable, in every sense of the word. Such instrumentals. I can’t describe it at all, its just a masterpiece in its own form.
Available on April 23rd, ladies and gentlemen, i give you the fantastic piece of work that is Throes of Absolution by 7H7E.
And thus brings an end to my reviewing for the day. Im going to crack open my bottle of Jack Daniels, my friend Tam Robbie, editor-in-chief of fellow Scottish Blog Heavy Metal Spotlight, will be joining me with his bottle of Jagermeister and we shall be drinking some Black Tooth Grin before venturing forth to Opium nightclub for a metal night. Fare thee well, readers.
-FME
Worlds Awaken: Reviewing Bleeding Skies!
Bleeding Skies. Yet more quality progressive metal/djent from bonnie Scotland. Now, you guys have heard Entrosolet, right? Another fantastic Scottish djent band. Bear with me, this has relevance. Well…Darren Cruickshank, one of the guitarists, is the mastermind behind this EP. Isn’t that fucking interesting??!
Commence the review.
Now, Bleeding Skies have been around since 2008, posting various songs on forums etc just like the all-time greats Misha Mansoor and Chimp Spanner. Over 30 songs have been in circulation over the years, all of them very good, but this is the first real release Bleeding Skies has put forward. And its pretty good.
After a tranquil intro, the EP bursts into life with Another World – an epic chordy anthem that has some serious punch to it. You really notice the quality of the production straight off. No fuzziness. No peaking. Nothing, each note sounds as clear as a hippopotamus fart. In a good way. There are the usual djenty rhythms in there, but performed with more skill than the majority of small-time punters out there. The structure of this song is intricate and intelligent, forming a melodic storyline that you just have to follow. I would like to put more emphasis on the fantastic chord use – they just keep coming, like a shock-wave of pure, intense power that you can’t help but bop your head to.
Another musician that makes me go “fuck it, i give up on music, i won’t be this good. ever.”
0…3…5, 0…3..6..5
Fuck it, i’m just going to write reviews.
As if that wasn’t enough face-raping groove, Yuno kicks in with a riff of such aggression that you feel you’ve just had your insides ripped out and stood on by Nemesis from Resident Evil. No, wait, Pyramid Head from Silent Hill. Megatron? Make your own metaphors, dammit. This is my favourite tune on the EP – it has power, it has melody, it has more power, it has heavy as fuck, it has more power. Did i mention more power? Well, more power. Riffs, all over the place.
It’s one of those songs that you need to hear yourself. Buy the EP.
Hopefully i can get an interview with Darren in the future, which shouldn’t be so hard considering we’re both in Scotland, and Scotland is roughly the size of a small bedside table. Living in le capital also helps, most bands end up playing there at some point. i look forward to it.
Oh yeah i was reviewing. Well, another fantastic tune on this here EP is the crushingly heavy Please Don’t Forget Fuko, which combines some lovely ambient backing with some insane guitarwork. Guitar bends of doom. Moar epic chords. The outro is another of those heavy yet tranquil chord progressions, mixed with incredible groove and riffage. I hope there is a full length available in the future, because i’d certainly be all over that.
The EP will be out on April 28th via Myriad Records and i hope some of you guys will check it out and buy it. Also, keep an eye on Entrosolet as well. I hope to hear more.
Also, check out Bleeding Skies youtube channel!
-FME
The Djperiodic Djtable. I Can’t Think Of a Hydrodjent Joke, Fuck You: Reviewing Skyharbor!
Hello, loyal minions readers, how goes it?
Well, enough about you. One of the most anticipated albums of the proggy djenty scene is out very fucking soon. And i got myself an advance copy, so i can tell you guys how fucking good it is, so you go buy it.
It’s a fairly simple process.
The Band is Skyharbor and the album is Blinding White Noise: Illusion & Chaos by the Indian djent mastermind; Keshav Dhar, with guest appearances from incredible musicians such as Megadeth‘s Marty Friedman, Ex-TesseracT vocalist Daniel Tompkins, Amogh Symphony architect Vishal J. Singh and Sunneith Revankar of Bhayanak Maut. That’s a lot of epic squashed into two cds. The first disc, Illusion, is fucking awesome. The Second disc, Chaos, is also awesome. Just read on. It will be released on the 23rd of April via Basick Records.
The album blasts open with the impressively powerful chords of Dots, the opening track, interwoven with the haunting harmonies of Daniel. This song is actually my favourite song on the album, as those fucking chords are just so goddamn awesome. The vocals are among the best I’ve ever heard and the way the song majestically evolves into a heavy, yet tasteful groove. The whole feel of the song, and most of the album, is calm. Even the heavy parts. They have a strange, tranquil aura to them. Also the only acceptable time to use the term ‘aura’ is when referring to the feel.
Don’t be this bitch.
Skyharbor consists of permanent members Keshav Dhar, Anup Sastry (drums) and Nikhil Rufus (Bass). And these guys can write, bro. This album is surely going to dominate the Indian metal scene, in a way that has never really been done before, and i think that is absolutely fantastic. The musicianship flows intricately in and out of itself, riffs moulding into melodies, clean passages paving the way for cyclopaean grooves. It is as complex as it is experimental. It is insane to think that this started out as a small bedroom DIY one man band, similar to Misha Mansoor‘s original Bulb recordings. Now, it has grown into a huge part of not just the indian metal scene, but the worldwide metal scene and has gathered admiration from many of metals finest.
Keshav has this to say regarding the album;
“After 4 years of epiphanies and disappointments, frustration and jubilation, I’m thrilled to finally be getting our debut album out. It has taken three years to write and another to produce, and what I am most proud of is that I feel each song stands on its own, and while they span a wide range of ideas, sounds and stories, they all belong. Having been able to collaborate with some of the finest names in modern music was the icing on the cake, and I hope people enjoy this album as much as I have enjoyed creating it.”
It’s good when a plan finally comes together.
Catharsis oozes grooves from your speaker system or headphones of choice. The drumming holds interesting rhythms throughout the song, often implemented oddly timed snare rolls, which add to the epic djent feel. Did i mention the chords? They’re good too. The Rhythm section as a whole is like a wall of sound, like a tidal wave carrying Daniel‘s voice. And what a voice, especially in this song. Dem high notes, man. As a djent record, it’s fantastic. As a metal record, it’s groundbreaking. Marty Friedman does what he does best in this song, ripping!! It feels good to hear his signature style in a completely new form of music. I certainly never expected an esteemed member of the Big Four to end up doing guest guitars on a djent record. It is an absolutely huge combination.
The serene passage of Celestial is eased into our ears like the musical equivalent of silk toilet paper. Covered in honey. And sex. Now i know i use the term ‘epic’ a lot, but i have a genuine meaning for it.
I’m not all like “Dude, that toast was epic”.
It wasn’t, It was mediocre at best. Toast peaks at mediocre. There will never be an epic piece of toast unless it was cooked by a lightsabre wielded by Bruce Lee‘s ghost.
So, when i say “these chords are epic” or “that riff was epic”, i mean it physically sounds epic. It sounds huge. The same way we would describe Wagner as epic. A gigantic sound that gives you that feeling of butterflies, because its SO. FUCKING. EPIC.
That is this song. The chords and riffs just battle it out, with beautiful solos, tapping galore and bluesy bends. Soaring above all this is Daniel‘s voice, like a prog metal angel, exhaling awesomeness and crafting some of the most intricate and vibrant vocal melodies i’ve ever heard.
Words cannot truly describe how much i like this album. As a djent piece, i would rate it at just as good as the founding giants, Meshuggah (shut up, i don’t care if you don’t think they’re ‘djent‘, they helped create it whether they or you like it or not), Periphery and Textures. This is the next stepping stone for progressive metal. Listen, bask in it’s glory. Also, buy it. The band would like money for all this work, they had a hard time. And the album is pretty sweet looking, would fit in your collection just nicely wouldn’t it.
Also look at this bunny.
“BUY THE SKYHARBOR ALBUM, YOU CHEAP BASTARDS!”
That’s exactly what the bunny said. True Story.
It is available for preorder here.
GOOD NEWS EVERYONE! I shall be getting an interview with both Keshav Dhar and Daniel Tompkins in the next short while. Can’t wait for that!
Quotes on Skyharbor
“I think you do some amazing work. Would love to hear more – it’s awesome.” – Marty Friedman (Megadeth, Cacophony)
“Right now, I am very much into a band called Skyharbor from India” – Chris Adler (Lamb of God)
“The stuff Keshav plays will blow your mind; not merely because it’s super complex in the patented “djent” stylee, but because of the number of ideas he inserts into the music. The fact that Keshav manages to record – and perform – the music as a solo artist is mindblowing. He must have four hands and three brains, and the thought of him joining a band of likeminded musicians is rather frightening. Remember Hammer’s recent trip to India to check out the local metal scene? Well, with artists like this, it won’t stay local for long.” – Joel McIver
“Skyharbor might be a band dubbed with the Djent genre moniker but they are so much more than the sum of their sound!! This is an album whose beauty is without question and the song writing is masterful…check them out!!” – Rock n Reel Reviews
“With its fast-growing metal scene, is it any wonder that India has its foot in the door with this nascent scene? Skyharbor is, incredibly, just one guy: Keshav Dhar.” – Metal Hammer (UK) Magazine
“Prog-metal fan or not, the ambience and warmth from one end and relentless surge of adrenaline from the other converge perfectly and will make you hear this album now and 20 years later with the same zeal – timeless in every sense.” – Metal My Religion
“I met a guy in India, Keshav Dhar, […] he is writing some fantastic music; almost Chimp Spanner meets Textures. It’s like a combination of everything that’s going off at the minute.” – Daniel Tompkins (TesseracT, First Signs of Frost, PIANO)
“If you’re looking to get into your first Indian band, I’d recommend (Keshav’s) stuff, Skyharbor!” – Jamie Postones (TesseracT, Heights)
“Our friend Keshav Dhar from India is creating some cool stuff with his band Skyharbor” – Bart Hennephof (Textures)
“Love Skyharbor!” – Uri Dijk (Textures)
“Keshav’s riffs scare the crap out of me” – Vishal J. Singh (Amogh Symphony)
“Orchestrated swirling genius with a thumping heartbeat” – from the Harmony Central Online Community
-FME
Flying Whales n’ Shit: New Gojira Album!
The new album is coming very soon. It shall be named L’enfent Sauvage (which means WIIIILD CHIIIIIIILD) and it shall be released on the 25th of fucking June through fucking roadrunner fucking records.
I get tourettes when i’m excited. Fuck.
Metal hammer enlightened us to the tracklisting;
1. Exposia
2. L’enfent Sauvage
3. The Axe
4. Liquid Fire
5. The Wild Healer
6. Planned Obsolescence
7. Mouth of Kala
8. The Gift of Guilt
9. Pain Is A Master
10. Born In Winter
11. The Fall
They also described some tracks as being “acid-marinated ” and “psychedelic, sickeningly heavy”. It looks like this album is going to rip our faces off. Here’s hoping for a tour!
-FME
Keep in the Loop: Lost In Echoes, Exigency, Descension, Final Silence and MJTimo
Wassup guys! Still busy as fuck with university shit, but i went out to a gig last night and thought i might as well write an article, considering the rich selection of bands we had on offer. I’ve mentioned a few of these guys before, namely Descension and Final Silence.
This is going to be a very short review, as i’m still super busy and now add in super-hungover. Fuck. Also, Gary Taylor of Exigency tackled me and bruised my rib. Fuckin’ hardcore kids.
The night opened up with Lost in Echoes, however i didn’t catch their entire set. They play a kind of hardcore/metalcore mix with energy and aggression, the kind of thing you want hardcore bands to have i assume. I’m not too big on the hardcore scene, i just don’t get the appeal, but apparently this is the “in” thing at the moment for all dem young hooligans with their newfangled touch screen phones and xbox-station 5.
The riffage coming from the Lost in Echoes dudes was pretty good, if somewhat simple. The emphasis in this style of music is on the breakdowns and the chunkiness. And that is what this band did, their music was essentially periods of breakdowns occasionally punctured by riffs. Just as i was periodically rocking out with occasional beers. Very occasional beers. An occasion occurred roughly every 5 minutes, actually.
Next up was Exigency, a hard-hitting vaguely metalcore band who managed to capture the atmosphere of the venue pretty well. Will and Paul‘s guitar flabberdashery was top notch, even though they were both clearly hammered. I’m sure i seen Will downing a full bottle of a red alcoholic liquid in between songs. Not as wrecked as Gary Taylor was though. He had a beard drawn on with permanent marker, the Exigency logo down his neck and HXC TIL I DIE on his cheek. He flopped about the stage, on the floor, on the couch, all while clutching the mic to his face and roaring the house down. Woulda been fine if he hadn’t tackled me…i’ll get you for that, Gary!
Their set was fantastic, though, with Gary‘s brOOtz complemented by Paul Moran and Michael McPherson‘s cleans and some brilliant drumming from Ronnie Woodward. I even bought a tee!
By this stage, i was pretty drunk and rocking out to Severed Ties!
Next up was Descension, and although i had heard these guys before, it was my first time meeting them and they were pretty cool! Their live set was intense, with some hefty grooves and djentastic rhythms. Keiran‘s vocals weren’t done justice as the PA system appeared to be having problems and cutting out a lot, but from what we could hear it seems that he can replicate the sound on the CD pretty well! The instrumentals were great too, and they got a brilliant reaction from the crowd. Especially when March of the Mammoths hit, it seemed the majority of people there were going pretty mental. Including me. My mate, Will, managed to grab a video of the set so hopefully i can get a hold of that at some point, maybe make a post about it. I also bought a tee for this band too!
The Final (hahahahahahaha geddit?) metal band for the night was the mighty Final Silence, who have torn up the central Scotland metal scene for fucking ages. This was my first time seeing them with their new guitarist, Mike Weir, and it really added a new dimension to the band. The riffs sounded more like the debut album, with more kick than with the single guitar that Dave handled beforehand. Leaves room for some lead work too! Next thing you know they’ll have 6 guitarists and Willie will be singing about dragons and wizards.
Well done to Willie for making the gig, seeing as he was clearly ill as shit beforehand. Still gave it his all and we were going mental to tunes like Riding a Redhead and Jon Kandi. The crowd enjoyed it so much they demanded an encore. And by that i mean i started shouting encore until everyone did. So we got to hear their metalled up cover of cotton-eyed joe. Which is always fun.
I even did guest vocals for a bit, but the mic wasn’t working very well. Either that, or my brutal death metal growls were too much for the PA to handle. I like to pretend it’s the second one.
And that was the end of the gig. OR WAS IT?
After the majority of people had left, MJTimo set up his decks and put on a pretty good dj set. As a metal fan, i don’t really delve much into dance music – HOWEVER recently i have started discovering that some House music and dubstep stuff is HEAVY AS FUCK. Its like a fucking breakdown in a rave. He played a mix of beats from his own arsenal and from others like Skrillex. I didn’t know much of the songs he played, as this is not my territory, but i loved the majority of them.
And that’s the end of my short-ish review. Probably more silence from me now, until Meshuggah on April 15th! i won’t be able to keep quiet about that gig!!
-FME
Abhirag Interviews Max Karon!
BUT FIRST A REVIEW OF THE ALBUM!
Well, call it prog metal, call it djent, call it whatever the fuck you want to call it but the bottom-line is that I am loving this new instrumental metal album by Max Karon. The best thing about the whole djent [revolution/frenzy, I leave the decision to the reader] for me has been the DIY [Do-It-Yourself] approach to metal music that came with it. I mean, with the advent of djent, many one man projects came into light. I am not against bands but I love the fact that the absence of one is no longer a hindrance to a person’s creative expression. This is inspiring a whole new breed of musicians who know no limits.
Max Karon is one prime example, a music producer and audio engineer based in California, who has released his instrumental debut entitled Will to Exist under the label of Qapla Productions, owned by him. His eventual goal for the project is to team up with like-minded musicians and form a band. Quoting him “If you or anyone you know would be interested in doing vocals for this music, let me know! (drummers / bass players also quite welcome). I released this instrumental under my name, but I want to re-release it with vocals under a band name. My eventual goal is to play shows, etc etc…” so yeah, if you are a musician reading this and have similar goals, I suggest you take this opportunity very fucking seriously because judging by the quality of the music on the instrumental album, this man means serious business.
The album consists of 8 tracks of which [N]ever Present is my favorite track. The Meshuggah influence is very evident especially on some of the solos [if you think that’s a bad thing, go fucking kill yourself, seriously just die, world would be a better place without you]. The riffs are basically the definition of groove [my feet go fucking bizzark tapping to them]. The incorporation of atmospheric cleans with the riffs, like in the outro to Rude Awakening , sounds great. This is music that needs no djent sub-genre hype for its survival, the compositions are intricate, non repetitive and most importantly display a superior level of musicianship. The production is good but I still see headroom for improvement in that but well, I guess the more support the guy will get, the better the production will get. So my last words for this review will be–You need this in your life, don’t wait and hit download without any guilt [yeah it’s free, it shouldn’t be but well, it is].
Well, I love the music by Max and interviewing him has been an absolute privilege. Here is how it went– [ It was more like a nice little chat, so I will keep it that way
Me– I love the guitar work in “Will To Exist” so first of all, major influences as a guitarist?
Max– Major influences–I think there have been a few different players which shaped my ‘path’, if you will. Korn was the most formative sound in my early guitar days, back at 13 years old .Then came guys like Lamb of God, my gateway ‘metal’ band and eventually Meshuggah. Fredrik Thordendal is probably the biggest influence, and I feel like such a tool for that, but ~~wAtEvA gUrL~~ .
Through a genuine love of that lead tone on Destroy Erase Improve, I found myself digging the fuck out of Allan Holdsworth, especially the secrets album. My parents also played Pat Metheney albums through my childhood, and I have a very special place in my heart for the stuff he did in the late 70′s.
Other than that, I tend to keep a very selective, bordering on closed mind when it comes to listening to music. Everything I hear has the potential to influence me. If my room mate is listening to the pop radio station really loud, I do everything I can to -not- listen, because that shit WILL get stuck in my head and drive my neurotic ass into a frenzy of hatred and sociopathy.
Oh yeah… Definitely Scarve, too \m/
Me– I also really want to know how is it being a musician now? I mean how did you come up with the decision that u want to do this?
Max– Hmmm, I’m still doing battle with this idea every day. I’ve been afraid of it for years. ”BEING A MUSICIAN” standing behind that and really taking it in as ‘me’. Lately it’s been good to get feelings of validation here and there. Album this, project that, etc. So I guess I’m coming around to ‘BEING A MUSICIAN’ more than I thought. For a while I never thought it possible. I thought being a musician was incredibly selfish. All the self promoting, all the time I need to make for me… and especially if there is a nuclear holocaust, being a musician doesn’t give me any transferable skills. I think about that shit.
Me– hahaha nuclear holocaust..seriously?
Max– not really. but in other words, I’m no doctor.
Me– Yeah I got that, but in my honest opinion you have all the skills necessary to make it through as a musician
Me– Plans for the future?
Max– WELL, as it turns out I’ve got a few things coming up. After releasing this album, I felt really, really relieved! Like a big cork has been pulled out of my spiritual ass. I was able to take the most relieving soul shit of all time. Making music now feels so much less… weighty. No emotional baggage telling me I don’t count for anything because I haven’t made my grand entrance statement (album). Now I feel like I can get away with fucking around Funny thing is, I’m the only one judging that, it’s all in my head. But it feels much better now. TWO projects at the moment: One ‘clean’ project, probably going to have a real drummer, me on ‘clean’ guitar doing holdsworthy chords, and a bass player doing either highly rhythmic stuff, or really … juicy fretless stuff. The other one is a rocky metal thing I have going with Chela Rhea of Coal Chamber! She’s a GREAT singer, if you didn’t know that already
Me
–Great!! you must be really excited about collaborating with her
Max–You BET I am!
Me – And yeah one more thing, I noticed Kevin Suter is a friend. Any plans of collaboration in the future?
Max– Have tried a couple of things here and there right now he’s REALLY wrapped up in Warp Prism and he’s also got a very time-consuming job now but we, inevitably, will be making music together at some point. We’re both quite DAW and dropbox savvy, so it only takes the spark on both sides to make something happen. We started something that sounds just WEIRD, guitars with more sub bass than an 808 at a dance club… stuff like that. We may yet continue.
Me– I hope u do, killer stuff will come to existence and how do you go about song writing?
Max – Just takes the spark, I tell ya. hahaha and I guess that applies to both Kevin and I… but song writing: I get my recording situation all set up guitar on me, daw open, channel strips loaded (for maximum belief in the sound AS you are making it), keyboard in front of me for drums. I start noodling eventually it congeals and I have a first riff of the day, record it. If I’m feeling directed by it, a second riff may come by a combination of noodling and mental inspiration maybe a third then drums. The first and second riffs are never ever as good “Will to Exist” for example, I just shat as many riffs as I could per sitting as I never knew my work schedule. being on call SUUUCKS. I made a spreadsheet designed to meet my personal needs. The Y column were the songs, the X were the things I need to do I believe they were things like ”Riffs Shat?” Arranged?” ”Drum Fills?” ”Re tracked?” ”Bass?”
Me– Well it seems you have laid down quite a system for it, great
Max– I’d like to get out of it though… I want to write stuff that flows more. Impatience is probably my worst fucking enemy…. so letting the music direct ME would be good. Hope to focus on that.
Me– And which are the bands you would say that influenced you the most in your music and songwriting?
Max– Well… I don’t listen to much. Which is highly, highly hypocritical of me, I think. But let see… I guess you could say this ”I don’t always listen to music, but when I do:… Stam1na, Stone, Chimp Spanner, Kveltertak, Pat Metheney (!!!), Allan Holdsworth… let me think of more… Mats/Morgan, Aphex Twin, The Tuss (same guy), Bjork,Mokoma. Little periods of everything, longer periods of nothing. I enjoy all your standard fare metal bands. Immortal, Bloodbath, oh FUCK SCARVE DEFINITEILY lkjdfalksjdflakjsdf DEFINITELY* SCARVE.
Me– I noticed you didn’t mention Meshuggah
Max--That’s OBVIOUS. My licence plate is IMESHUG. I have one tattoo…. C33 snakes between my shoulder blades. Yeah. I’m just a bit of a whore. Got a BIG ASS Meshuggah sticker on the back of that same vehicle. Big flappy whore I am.
Me– Well that takes me to the next question– How do u think has Meshuggah changed metal, I mean kinda reinvented it and your thoughts on all the djent frenzy around.
Max– I think this one fascinating too. They strike me as introspective dudes that also sit in front of computers for hours and hours and make this music. Something about catch 33 changed my life personally, and it has so much to with with their mindsets making the music, I think. The nature of being alone, introspective, your own hardest critic, HIGHLY LEGIT. Soooo much metal is just FLAWED with its attitude problems. Meshuggah is just real. The djent thing is where the hardcore kids went after about 2008. Well also Meshuggah can permeate your mind. I think that really happened to a lot a lot a lot of people, maybe not on the same scale as it did for my mega tool ass, but alas. If you’ve seen Meshuggah interviews you know why they’re the best.
Me– Yups they might very well act as Gods but are very down to earth
Max– Understanding that they’re weird swedes goes with the attitude of metal thing. American metal ~2005 was very, very lame. hahaha
Me– hahaha yeah
Max–Lately I have been hyper analyzing my own demos…I don’t like sounding like anyone else. I guess I’ve been trying to nurture whatever individual / weird sound there is in my head.
Me-– Yeah with influences such as Aphex Twin I can imagine weird stuff in your mind . Do you have a side job or something or full-time musician?
Max– Well I might as well just admit it, I think deep-deep down I DO want to be a musician because thinking about this other stuff feels like ‘oh this is my SIDE job, or my SIDE priority just to pay rent’ I’m a freelance audio engineer. I do live production work here and there and I’m really getting into mastering. I just finished a master JUST finished for Annihilated, with the drummer from Abysmal Dawn and the ex-bass player of Decapitated very brutal shit.
It’s just a pain in the ass. I’ve had a bunch of time to think about this kind of stuff. When I’m driving a box truck, stuck in traffic for hours making deliveries for a live production company, I have time to mull over this crap. But I’ve been thinking about art, its place in society, validation, how you have to promote and convince people you are worth it. I was really anti-self promotion because it seemed really empty only very recently am I coming to terms with the fact that, if don’t tell anyone, no one will know, and I will be a small cog for the rest of my life. I can’t live with that.
Me– Yeah word has to reach people somehow, you are doing great man and general music taste in my country is all crap, so making money out of playing metal is still a long shot here. But good metal projects are still cropping up
Max– I’ve heard some indian mega hits. They’re marginally better than the shit they play on the radio here!
KHUDA JJAAAANNNEEEE
Me– WHAT THE FUCK? I wasn’t expecting that. Where did u learn that from?
Max– Well I was eating indian food, one of my favorites, and it was playing over a quiet system. I found the chorus QUITE captivating. I was also drinking a big Taj Mahal. Good shit. So I asked. That song is on my phone. I’m guilty of that… yes… hahaha fuuuck
Me– hahaha I don’t know which song you are talking about, I am kinda oblivious to most music my country produces anyways any advice to the DIY musicians?
Max– DIY musicians: nurture your own weirdness fuck trends. Fuck trends REAAAL hard. Make that weird noise just because, roll around in the mud, so to speak nurture that juicy ass creative space where no one is judging you.
Me– And any luck on finding the vocalist for will to exist stuff?
Max– No, I think will to exist will stay instrumental. The very idea behind will to exist sort of suggests that I move on. I feel like explaining that, so I will. Will to exist is about that force in the universe which makes expressions out of matter the artwork should explain that, if you think about it hehe that +1 constant related to, but not quite time, old shit is old shit. I can’t stand behind it forever. That guitar tone can only bring me the personal reassurance I need for so long… hahaha
Me– Yeah I am sure new stuff will be even more awesome , so I guess that’s pretty much it. It was great talking to you
Max– You too man \m/
Well, I know the interview was a bit long, what can I say, when it comes to music, I am a chatty bastard
Here is a link to his debut Will to Exist
-Abhirag
Devin Godsend.
What better to write about after my absence than some news about the king of music himself, Devin fucking Townsend. He has brought forth more news from the beyond (Canada) to grace our mortal ears.
Praise be to Devin.
“Hmm, how can i render every musician obsolete today?”
Terrorizer informed us of fantastic news. The acclaimed By A Thread box set i have mentioned a few times will be released on June 18th. That’s not that far away, so i’m pretty fucking excited. Damn right i am buying that the second it hits the shelves. And you should too. As if that wasn’t enough, his Deviness also granted us the privilege of viewing the artwork so we know what our wank material is going to look like in the next few months.
Woooooooooooooooo.
Also, i have heard rumours that his new album, Epicloud, will be released in September! These ‘rumours’ came as a result of a twitter post he made. He has also issued a description of this new album.
f I was to equate it to anything: A touch of Queen, a bit of the movie ‘Titanic’, some Def Leppard, with crushing guitars and drums through.
Surely i am not alone in my excitement. Bring on June! and then bring on September!
-FME
P.S Chances are there will be another absence of articles due to increased university work for yours truly. Hopefully i can get some articles off my other writers, but if not then prepare to suffer Great Northern Withdrawal Symptoms. It’s genuinely a disease. I said so, and I’m a reputable source. Honest.
Also, if anyone feels like becoming a writer for the blog then hit me up on the facebook page!
A Night of Intense Italians and Death Metal: Fleshgod Apocalypse, Dyscarnate, Bloodshot Dawn, Scatorgy and Scordatura
Let me set the scene for you.
Bannermans bar in Edinburgh.
Good, now that’s over i can start reviewing the gig.
This is a pretty damn good lineup. Unfortunately, Edinburgh Tech Death machines Zillah pulled out. Which sucks, because i want to see them live pretty fucking bad. But that aside, we got ourselves a fantastic lineup. The night began with Glaswegian death metallers and The Great Northern Blogkill favourites Scordatura. They stormed the stage with their stand in vocalist, Hamish Maguire of Laceration, and laid fucking waste. Although it was a short set, they annihilated the crowd like only they can. Hamish was a perfect stand in for this band, his guttural growls are the audio equivalent of a lava soaked drill to the face. And i mean that in a good way.
Then we get to the instrumentals. Riffs. Riffs all over the place. Visceral Disembowelment hit the crowd like Hiroshima-
If Peter can, i can.
– and after Tam Moran‘s second attempt at a drum intro (LOL), the fantastic bass-driven, crushing heaviness blew me apart. The tremolo melody (as its death metal, i use the term melody very loosely) paved the way for the intense slam that always gets me. Their set was brutal and impressive, which is exactly what i expected.
I managed to catch up with Owen McKendrick and Dave Coia after their set. It wasn’t really a full interview with questions, but rather a chat about what’s going on with the band. I did bring up the question on most Scordatura fans lips; Why did Daryl leave? As far as the band knew, he just wasn’t feeling it any more. He left on his own terms and there is not an ounce of hard feelings at all between the band and their ex-vocalist. While this causes some problems, such as having to have stand in vocalists (and the band will do their best to maintain the touring schedule that they had organised) and pushing back the debut album that was advertised a while back. Dave stated that if they haven’t found a new vocalist by the end of summer then they were going to hit the studio anyway and record the instruments until they found a vocalist. Makin’ the most of it then? Yeah. Hamish will be filling in for whatever gigs he can, which is an incredible mix. The mental riffs of Scordy with the gut-crushing vocals of Laceration. Holy fuck.
Oh yeah, the band wanted to give a message. “Minge n’ arseholes”. That is all.
Oh wait, also “RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR” (They asked for more a’s).
If you think you’re up for the task of vocals, then hit them up on facebook. I did link to their facebook up there, but im guessing you lazy fucks cant be bothered scrolling up can you? So you want ME to go out of MY way to help you? What?
Ok fine, here you go. Click on it. This thing right here. It’s the one thats a different colour. It’s all link-y. This one. But don’t click this one. I’m serious. This one is bad.
Up next on the roster was the impeccably titled Scatorgy. And despite the massive drumkit provided by Dyscarnate, and the Fleshgod Apocalypse kit sitting in the back, they felt the need to bring out their own kit. And i say kit in the loosest way possible. It was an electric bass drum, a snare, a hi-hat and a cymbal. In my opinion, i think that is completely pointless. Its like buying a guitar and removing the bottom 5 strings. But meh, apparently people enjoyed it. Oh yeah, there was also no bass player. Which annoys me all the time. Understandably, the sound was incredibly thin. Now, as a stickler for production and good sound, i didn’t really enjoy this bands set. By the looks of things, the drummer was almost passing out by the end of each song (don’t get me wrong, his blastbeats were good, but they’d fucking have to be seeing as he only had TWO FUCKING DRUMS), the lack of bassist made the songs lose all the heaviness that they should have in a band of their genre and they were pretty uncoordinated as a whole. The only redeeming qualities in my eyes was the unbelievable skill of their guitarist and the skullcrushing vocals. The guitar playing was technical as fuck for a grind project and i occasionally forgot about the lack of bassist due to his incredible riffing. The vocals were some of the heaviest i have heard, and they didn’t fall into the “Waking the Cadaver” pig abomination vocals, which was pretty impressive. The last song was a “Scataoke” and they asked a random dude from the crowd to sing the final song for them. Luckily, that random dude was Chris Lewis of Cancerous Womb! That went fairly well, considering.
Funny story, i informed my friend David Harvey, who isn’t into metal at all, of this bands name. He naively seemed to believe it meant on orgy of scat singing. It was entertaining seeing his face drop when i informed him of the actual meaning behind “scat”.
Overall, i didn’t enjoy this band, but i heard a lot of people saying that they were the highlight of the night. So they’re apparently doing something right. Maybe i just don’t get the grind thing.
Next up, was Bloodshot Dawn, and i have to say; these guys fucking surprised me. The bassist, Anthony Ridout, was wearing a Wintersun tee, so he instantly became my favourite person there. They started off with a symphonic intro, that reminded me a lot of the intro to Anterior‘s debut album. It was an interesting change, and i had hope for this band. I was rewarded.
They were melodeath.
I love melodeath. And i wasn’t expecting any on this tour. It was a welcome surprise. The grooves coming from this band were phenomenal and they had some guitar harmonies that created a fantastic feel. Very Mors Principium Est. The solos, by both guitarists, were simply top notch. Anthony had himself a very interesting Maverick bass, of which there is apparently only 20 of in the world. Oooooo, fancy. I can’t find enough good things to say about this band. This was my first time hearing them, and they blew me away with their skill and songwriting ability. They even had breakdowns. That were good. Not these kind of breakdowns.
THESE kind of breakdowns. The way they were meant to be done. I picked up a free EP, which isn’t a lot like their newer stuff, but was still pretty sweet. Said for fans of Scar Symmetry, Carcass, Vader and Arch Enemy, so you know they’re pretty good. You can pick up the album on bandcamp for cheapsies! Also you can pick up 2 free songs there too!
I also managed to catch Anthony and have a good little chat with him about the band. Found out that we are pretty alike! He mentioned that their self-titled debut was released in January and was recorded in Rome, under the same dude that recorded Fleshgod Apocalypse, at 16th Cellar studios. It has ten tracks of melodeath awesomeness and they also mentioned there will be a music video for the song Visions coming soon. I’m stoked!
I mentioned to Anthony that his band stuck out on this tour as being the least…brutal. He said that he realised this as well, but it turned out to be one of the best tours they had! Mixed genre tours always seem to turn out that way. Interesting.
The band as a whole want to thank all of those who came along and bought merch etc – also, if you see them in the future, come have a drink with the guys! They are all brilliant dudes, and i would love to have a drink with them next time they grace our northern country.
Next up was the straight up death metal tyrants Dyscarnate. While not overly technical, these guys churned out powerful riffs backed up by an incredible bass player with fingers from hell and an insanely good drummer, who made use of his huge drumkit. They were very hard hitting and vicious, creating a mood that the night hadn’t quite reached yet. They upped the ante and the crowd were right in on that. I had a little chat with drummer Matt Unsworth and guitarist/vocalist Tom Whitty and got a little insight to what the bands got planned. In 2012, they hope to tour their new album “And so it came to pass”, which was designed to be played live apparently. They will keep touring this album for a while, so i reckon you should try and catch one of their shows!
They claim influence from the usual American Death Metal bands like Origin, Dying Fetus and Suffocation, as well as bands like Behemoth too. Anything brutal and groovy, really. Which led to the creation of a new word, that they created. BROOVY. Its like a death metal Austin Powers.
Sweet. When inquiring about their influences as musicians, Matt replied with the many drummers that have graced the stage with Dying Fetus and Adam Jarvis from Misery Index. Tom replied with Dimebag Darrell. I like this guy. So much so that he claimed TGNBK intercontinental title. Yes i have championship belts in this blog. I like to pretend to be important.
And thus brings me to the stars of the night; Fleshgod Apocalypse. They brought all of their symphonic tinged heaviness and dropped some intense riffage. The drumkit shared the back of the stage with a piano, which was interesting. They stormed the stage in ripped tuxedos and faded black face paint, making them look like a mix between the subtly racist Drumchapel orchestra and the premiere of The Walking Dead. I expected them to just fucking bring it then, but they spent about 20 minutes arguing in italian. Which would be irritating if it wasn’t the funniest thing ever. My personal favourite was;
“YOU TAKE’A DE PISS!”
That was amazing. I wish it was a meme.
Once they finally got started, they fucking tore shit up. Their stage presence is amazing. The suits and metal went pretty well. They really take their gimmick seriously too. A little bit too intense, in my opinion. But i can understand the appeal. The vocalist had a metal face to rival Fredrik Thordendal. He was insane. Another thing that really stood out was the way they replicate their sound live. Even the odd, slightly out of key (but done in a good way) were spot on. I was a bit dissapointed that they never played their cover of Blinded by Fear, but ah well, i didn’t expect them to play it. The Violation was utterly jaw dropping live though.
Overall, this was a fantastic night. I have now bumped Fleshgod Apocalypse up from a good band to a fantastic band. Bloodshot Dawn are a new favourite of mine, Dyscarnate impressed me a lot and Scordatura never fail to impress. Scatorgy left a good impression on their fans and good on them for that.
Unfortunately i didnt manage to grab an interview with Fleshgod Apocalypse, which is probably a good thing. Strong scottish accents don’t work well with people who don’t speak english very well. Fuck, most english people don’t understand me.
Thanks for reading this review, i know it was a bit longer than usual.
-FME
Newserract: New Tesseract Album 2012!
I let you guys know about the new TesseracT EP the other day (released in Europe on May 21st and in the US on the 22nd) but now i have bigger news.
THERE’S GONNA BE A NEW TESSERACT ALBUM THIS YEAR. HOLY TITS FUCK.
Kudos to Heavy Blog is Heavy for informing me. While on the subject, everyone should go read that blog too, i check it every fucking day.
But HELL YEAH NEW TESSERACT. Now we can truly see what Elliot Coleman will add to the band, with all new material and most likely a tour of epic proportions. COME TO SCOTLAND!
-FME
Creating the Machine: Reviewing Elysian!
Today’s review comes from Down Under again, much like my recent interview with Daniel Luttick of Synthetic Breed. This time, however, it comes in the shape of Melodeath 5 piece Elysian, with their self-released debut album; Wires of Creation. It’s not often that i come across a relevant, new melodic death metal band. It seems like the genre has slowed down in the past few years. I blame this on the lack of Wintersun. I would openly curse Wintersun if it were not for the fact that i love them with the intensity of forty thousand suns.
MOVING ON FROM UPSETTING TOPICS SUCH AS THE LACK OF WINTERSUN.
This album has a driving force behind it that reminds me what it is about melodeath that is so good. The riffs of Gabriel and Nathan Hutchinson are intense and technical – they really have that melodeath groove down. From the pounding rhythms to the flowing melodies to the shreddilicous solos, these guys could very well be the new Michael and Christopher Amott. Such a thing would be marvelous, as these lucky guys are playing a show with Arch Enemy on April 31st in Melbourne. However, my imaginary battle of the axe brothers is ruined by the fact that Christopher has left Arch Enemy. Again.
I am currently experiencing this album for the first time. It is a good experience. I have already mentioned the fantastic guitarworks (which shines brightest in Machine), and this is backed up by some incredible bassticles from Tristan Tait. He really helps hold the riffs together. Some bassists are fairly boring. Root Note Retards, i call them. Then there are bassists who hit every note on the fretboard twice every ten seconds (and hey, there’s nothing wrong with that, but we can’t all be Jeff Hughell). And then there are bass players who know when to make their presence brutally known, but also can mellow the fuck out too. Occasional root notes is good. Tristan is one of these bassists – the type of bassist that shows Bass is like glue. Not enough and shit falls apart.
QUICK! SOMEONE FIND ME A BASS PLAYER!
All of this lovely riffage is solidified by the angry bashings of Jordan Trevan, a fantastic drummer who has got his art down, yo. A large part of the driving force of this band is solely down to Jordan‘s crushing beats. Well done, sir.
Then, on top of this, is the dark, harsh vocals of Ben Garner, who manages to assault your ears with a barrage of pounding vocals. There are little clean vocals, and this is reminiscent of pre-Gothenburg melodeath. There’s no melodic, clean vocal chorus. This is not necessarily a bad thing. It can be, if your harsh vocals are boring. But Elysian manage to pull off this no clean singing thing. Waheeey!
It’s been a while since i’ve heard a band like this.
The highlights of this album are Play the Hand and Climb From Fear. These are pretty awesome, but i recommend you take the album in as a whole in order to get the full experience. Start at track 1 and end on the last track, like CD’s are supposed to be played. At least for the first listen.
Gabriel issued this statement regarding the album, which drops on March 26th;
“Our main goal was to create a dynamic experience from start to finish whilst maintaining really heavy songs. The album soars from an instrumental Pink Floyd‐esque song with an electronic feel, later to a 200bpm speed metal song. As a band, we grew up listening to
music that incorporated acoustic ballads with blazing shred songs all in the one album, and it wasn’t called progressive; it was called a
good album. Some bands aim to have their songs sound disjointed by dramatically switching between genres, that’s not what we have
done, the whole album flows, it attacks and it releases, its aggressive but gives you time to breathe and take it in.”
This is a top-notch debut record and i recommend it to every fan of metal. For a self-released album, it is recorded impeccably to the point where i can’t find a single criticism for the production.
These guys are also playing @moshphere festival alongside the utterly unbelievable Sybreed, the innovative Circles and my newly found Australian buddies in Synthetic Breed!
Check them out on facebook. Like their page. Buy their shit.
-FME
ALBUM OF THE WEEK
SHINING (NOR) - ONE ONE ONE
The Great Northern Blogkill 