Metal Riot

Swedish doom band Below return with new Metal Blade release Upon A Pale Horse, an album that will land on you like ton of bricks yet carry you to heights of feeling usually reserved for metal classics at the same time. A more traditional heavy metal influence courses through the veins of this doom outfit than, say, death-doom or the currently all the rage alternative melodic metal/doom of Pallbearer (for example), but it is certainly as powerful in a different way.

In many ways it is terrific to hear a band who carry on and bolster the durability of classic time-honored metal forms, while finding endemic roads of their own amidst well tread riff lands. Below are one of the best bands Metal Blade has in their stable for fans of true metal, certainly no flavor of the week signing like some labels toss out these days to appeal to trends. This is just a cool and real group for die hard metal followers.

Zeb from Below took time out to fill me in on the new album, uh, BELOW.

In the microcosm of friends that I live in there are many women coming together to support and exalt one another in the arts. This is a marked shift from what you see in pop culture which is women competing with one another, exploiting their selves and each other for success, and approval from our patriarchal culture. – Sera Timms

Ides Of Gemini are one of the more deserving bands in the underground, always searching for both revelatory experiences and the breaking of new ground within their art. While the band have benefited from strong support from major players within the scene, from early support from Neurot to a tour with Ghost to finding a new coveted home with Rise Above Records, the band have also faced their share of setbacks that have forced their momentum to sort of develop via ebb, flow and word of mouth despite their hard work. Original drummer Kelly Johnston-Gibson incurred a career-threatening injury while on tour in the US in 2015, causing founding members J. Bennett and vocalist (and then-bassist) Sera Timms to reassess their next move. After enlisting Scott Batiste of Saviours as a stand-in drummer for a short West Coast tour, things clicked and Scott soon became a permanent member. The band then expanded to a quartet for the first time, as Sera relinquished her bass-playing duties to newcomer Adam Murray.

The band have never shied away from making their own path and now return with an album called Women, a simple celebration and study of the sacred feminine perfect for these times when the President sexualizes his own daughter while cutting off all funding to UN Family planning or when just the other day one of the premiere and most dedicated writers in metal – who happens to be female – was attacked deplorably by a site for having a disability . It is great to see some bold art from a band that is far more respectful and also features a woman in a primary – not token/ fashion appendage – role. Sera’s drifting vocals on the hook of new song “Mother Kiev” are positively consuming yet far from predictable, while many still gush about the band’s bold recent take on “Strange Fruit” as a doom dirge. You can hear a mid tempo new track “The Rose” now at Cvlt Nation.

Women is produced by the talented Sanford Parker and features guest appearances from Tara Connelly of Clay Rendering (on Queen Of New Orleans) and Marriages and solo singer-songwriter Emma Ruth Rundle (on She Has A Secret), a personal favorite of mine. Nicola Samori’s cover art looks like something out of a museum, delicate and yet strong and romantic despite being interpretively marred by a partial smear. But perhaps that is up to the viewer or listener to decipher if the art or songs indicate damage, obscurity or survival.

Read my latest interview with the band, this time with vocalist Sera Timms, below.

Death metal fans are raving about the new self-titled Obituary release for excellent reason. From the hysterical video for “Ten Thousand Ways To Die” that picks up where their Inked In Blood “Violence” clip left off and is bound to get a chuckle out of almost anybody, to more rock solid songwriting that builds on one of the most impeccable musical legacies in death metal, Obituary are both writing for themselves and pleasing die hard fans at the same time. The results will have fans crashing down doors like the zombie hordes the Florida greats seem to fear most.

Next year will mark thirty years since the group changed their name from Xecutioner and made metal heavier forever. It seemed about time for a self-titled album under those circumstances, but I spoke with one of the founders, Trevor Peres, to get to the bottom of it all.

More below.

When I first heard Paralandra I knew they had a great chance of becoming one of my new favorite hard rock bands. The commercial crossover appeal of Lacuna Coil or Halestorm married to a deeper strain of bluesy hard rock and alternative groove gives this Springfield, Missouri act an edge that has many eyes on them already.

You can catch them on The Alive Tour this April or on a great opportunity slot playing Rocklahoma  alongside many acts including Three Days Grace, The Cult, Taking Back Sunday and more this May.

Drummer Nick Gray fills us in on band dynamics, their sound and work ethic, recording and almost getting to open for Scott Weiland.

Read more about this inspiring bunch of true believers BELOW.

I don’t know about you, but I just turned 38. Any chance to break out of the
mundane and remember the mysterious or esoteric wonder behind the veil of
everyday life is a welcome release. When it comes in the form of explosive,
ethereal or downright menacing and theatrical metal, even better. Polish dark
legends Behemoth‘s current US tour promoting their most ambitious album to
date, The Satanist, with the much hyped Myrkur in tow on their first really
proper stateside trek certainly falls into the category of awesome excuses to
get out of the house…and it sure was.

Read more and see some killer photos in euphoria BELOW.

Mother Feather shorthand themselves as ‘pop cock rock’ but that is a far too
insufficient capsule to contain their glam infused explosive energy within.
The Brooklyn based band are theatrical, melodic and hard hitting with an edge
not often seen these days, brimming with enough possessed pizazz to get them
inked to Metal Blade despite being a far cry from the rest of the current
roster like Abornamilty, Sourvein and Criminal.

Listening to their forthcoming full length (order HERE right nowwwww!!!) , arguably the most rock n roll
record that streets in May, you can’t help but feel like the East Coast is
finding a pulse again. It’s been awhile, maybe since The Star Spangles caught
my ear, that I have heard a band who can embody gutter garage meets arena
worthy punch within the same skin so well. Anybody sick of the pretensions of
all the micro blogged sub genres out there today who just wants to get fuckin’
rocked and maybe vanish for awhile in a golden cloud of sweaty club rock with
attitude should eat this shit up fast.

Restaurant personality Chris Santos was impressed with the band and was tweeting about them, bringing them eventually to the attention of Metal Blade owner and rock and metal tastemaker Brian Slagel.

“He kind of pointed Brian in our direction and Brian checked it out and was excited,” says vocalist Ann Courtney. “Our Twitter feed was blowing up with metal guys. We are definitely on one end of the spectrum of the label, which is cool. I think a lot of metal heads think Brian is being subversive or something, but really I think it is just that he is a sincere music fan! He’s said we remind him of the 70’s stuff like KISS and Thin Lizzy that he grew up with.”

It’s pathetic we live in a time where we have to have a show like Vinyl
(admittedly a good program, no slight against it) to remind assholes that rock
n roll even exists. Mother Feather are the real thing, though. Ann Courtney,
Elizabeth Carena, Matt Basile, Chris Foley and Gunnar Olsen are hopefully as
commited as they sound to the cause, but let’s enjoy it while it lasts and
while we have them because this is lightning in a fuckin’ bottle, after all.

Read More BELOW.

“We started off as a government experiment gone right for once. Designed by
naval science officers aboard the “USS who gives a shit” ~Montana (vox/guitar)

Gossip Girl, Megan Fox, Taylor Lautner, Sugar Ray, Jar Jar Binks. What do they
have in common? I’m pretty sure they all were on the cover of Rolling Stone in America before
the fucking Ramones ! Chew on that awhile, lovers of rock n roll.

Maybe it is because, like NYC’s Tournament, the Ramones were a band who arguably make rock critics less of a necessity. Just press play/drop a needle and the music packs so much punch that it tells your body and brain most of what it needs to know. It speaks for itself.

I nerd out a lot, and today at the dentist’s office waiting room I was reading Terry Goodkind’s Phantom. There is a part where the characters are discussing the magical Sword of Truth and someone says ,“It is not the weapon that matters so much as the man who wields the weapon.”

This is also very true of the guitar (with a disclaimer that it doesn’t just have to be a “man”). Proof can be witnessed when Tournament play The Acheron with Ex-Cult on May 28th.

Tournament take Brooklyn radittude to new heights and decimate mere hipster bands with antics, alcohol consumption and fiery live shows that have garnered them a reputation as great rockers and solid songwriters. Along with bands like PMS and the Mood Swings, Tower, Mother Feather and The Compulsions, Tournament prove the Big Apple can still be a place where rock n roll can’t be killed. We support this message and recommend you check out the following interview with Montana (vox/guitar) and Jordan (drums) from the group as well as purchase their The End Records debut Teenage Creature post haste.

Read on BELOW.