Metal Riot

In a time when there is a lot of sad news to report from the tragic death of underground rock bassist hero Caleb from Cave In in an auto wreck to the break up of Seven Sisters of Sleep over horrifying things (best of luck to the other guys who must be in awful shock), I am glad I can put out some positive words today that hopefully will cheer some of you up a tiny bit. The new Sierra record is really, really good. I know it is just music and not serious like the other things I mentioned above, but good art underscores the beauty and cool parts of life and music is literally the soundtrack to our lives. With that in mind, it is awesome that in 2018 when temptation could lead the creative type to make any kind of sounds they want to, that some dudes from Ontario still care enough about rock n roll to make a near perfect hard rock album. When anyone says ,”No new rock is as good as the great old stuff” I will go so far as to say you could play them The Mirror and they will at least look a little sheepish and admit it was pretty god damned awesome even if not made in the late 1970s.

I am a huge Kylesa fan so checked out and enjoyed most of the bands Phillip Cope has given his thumbs up to over the years. Phil and Laura always have recommended awesome crust, psych and retro rockin stonery stuff to others in the scene and Sierra was one of the coolest newer bands I learned about because of them. On The Mirror (which Cope produced), the band have made their strongest statement to date. If a feel good but emotionally nuanced blend of alternative hard rock, 70s influences and even a little prog and thrash somehow melted into one seamless cohesive sound works for you, you need to check this out.

From start of the mellow acoustic and synth intro song (which doesn’t sound like it but for some reason reminded me of Mr. Crowley, if only because I know Sierra love the Ozzman and have done a rippin’ “War Pigs” cover with effin’ Wino, no less) you will want to hear where this goes. The track name “Falling” suits the cover art -which would be a great companion piece to The Jesus Lizard’s DOWN album if the Sierra guy falling ever wants a falling pet dog for company. The song itself sounds huge, big and dominant with melodic undertones like the large sound of the recent Bask Ramble Beyond stuff- for example. The guitar playing and songwriting are mature and fun and while the vocals aren’t show boaty they always fit the tunes.

My favorite lyric is probably on the anthemic “Rainbow’s End”, which exclaims relatably that ,”If you don’t fit into this world, it’s because you’re supposed to change it.” What a positive update to Saint Vitus’ “Born Too Late” message of not fitting in, haha. Just kidding. But for real, it is motivating and the song makes you feel optimistic and want to do good for the people you value or a little old lady, while rocking out hard. “The Last Time” is kinda thrashy and the solos on the record rip. The instruments sound massive and clear but not overdoing it. “The Mirror” even has slow drums that come in with the dominance of Killswitch Engage’s “The End Of Heartache” but in a different metal sub genre. All in all this is just a truly solid and enjoyable time and you will likely play it again all the way through often.

I am really into it. What else can I say? Can’t find a single damn thing wrong with it so I am giving it 5 stars.

Prog-heads The Contortionist have announced dates with outspoken rockers Nothing More, a one two punch bill that is sure to thrill fans of both young up and comers. These are both bands with huge potential for rock’s future and this pairing is overdue.

“We’re very happy to announce that we will be sharing the stage with Nothing More,” says vocalist Michael Lessard. “We have continually tried to tour with bands that excite us and push us to evolve, and Nothing More does both of those things. We look forward to seeing everyone soon!”

The Contortionist’s Clairvoyant reunited the band with producer Jamie King (Between The Buried And Me, Through The Eyes Of The Dead).

Click HERE for all tour dates!

I am getting a slow start posting today as I did a lot of non music related work today and am wiped out, plus wasted a bunch of time reading bad reviews of The Dark Tower movie. I actually thought the movie was pretty cool and while it was very, very streamlined, you’d have to be an idiot not to grasp the plot and it left set up to develop a lot more stuff from the books in the future or in the potential tv show as well. People should relax. The cast was cool and McConaughey whispering emotionless hate commands was fairly fear inducing. The film also serves as a canonical sequel to the novel series, which concludes with the revelation that Roland’s quest is a cyclical time loop; the presence of the Horn of Eld, which Roland carries in the film, indicates that this is the next cycle.

Anyway, this is not a movie review site but I always have tangents about comic shows and fantasy adaptations accidentally, haha. NOW here is some cool tour news for fans of the current bigger stars of the young crop of tech and extreme prog metal.

Australian progressive metallers NE OBLIVISCARIS have announced a headlining US tour! The “Urn North American Tour 2017” begins on November 1 in San Francisco, and sees the band traveling across the country, making stops in Los Angeles, Vancouver, Montreal, New York, Austin, and more, before concluding on December 4. Support on this tour comes from ALLEGAEON. A full list of confirmed tour dates can be found below.

Regarding the tour, the band comments: “We will be landing for this tour only a few days after ‘URN’ is released and couldn’t be more excited to present to you the first tour of our ‘Urn’ album cycle. You can expect a full 90 min. show featuring songs from all 3 albums!”

NE OBLIVISCARIS will tour in support of their new album Urn. The band’s highly anticipated album (Number 8 on our top ten most anticipated Metal Riot Fall albums list) will be released worldwide on October 27.  “Urn (Part I) – And Within The Void We Are Breathless” is streaming online now at the Season of Mist YouTube channel.

Urn is now available for pre-order across various CD and LP formats at the Season of Mist E-Shop.

Travelin Jack by Martin Beck

Well, if you can pull your eyes away from the shit show that is America 2017 for a minute, we thought it would be a good time to lift some spirits (or help you brood if you like doom metal) by sharing our top 10 albums of the Fall to look forward to!

This year has already seen some incredible releases from Limp Wrist to Dead Cross to Extremity to Fireburn and on and on, but here are a few yet to hit the streets that are gonna get the metal and rock world babbling in short order! Grab a spliff, swing your partner round and round and smash fascism/hail the riff lords above and below!!!

Check out who we picked BELOW.

NE OBLIVISCARIS are incredibly talented. Just a cursory listen to even the intro of new song “Intra Venus” would prove that, to say nothing of the band’s prior accomplishments musically. The Australian group is set to release new record Urn in October of this year!

Urn is now available for pre-order across various CD and LP formats at the Season of Mist E-Shop.

NE OBLIVISCARIS have premiered “Intra Venus”, the first new track off their forthcoming album. The video for “Intra Venus” is online now at the Season of Mist YouTube channel (or watch below). This powerful song and video has elements that could likely appeal to fans of Opeth, Cynic and Cradle Of Filth in equal measure. The guitar and violin solo sections are of course dope as heck and the drum and bass interplay on this song is also insane. A lot of cool stuff going on here.

Regarding the new album, NE OBLIVISCARIS frontman Tim Charles: “After almost three years of honing our craft in every way that we possibly could, we finally present to you the first track from an album of which we could not be more proud of. ‘Urn’ feels like the culmination of all our years of hard work; the delivery of everything that we have wanted to create. Music and art as our imaginations see it fit to be. ‘Intra Venus’ is more concise than much of our work and is in fact the only song on ‘Urn’ under ten minutes, but one that we feel is a great introduction to the record. We hope that you will enjoy it.”