Metal Riot

With simply one listen to ’68’s thunderous opening track “The Knife, The Knife, The Knife” from new (third) record Give One Take One you will know you are not only witnessing a special moment in the band’s development into something even more formidable but it is also very obvious that this crowd pleaser in waiting for live shows is destined to be a complete free for all when people can enjoy raging to it safely.

Produced by Grammy-winner Nick Raskulinecz (Foo Fighters, Rush, Alice In Chains) has managed to help coax the band into catchier territory that renders them even more anthemic without losing ANY of their immediacy. Few bands out right now could pull off what “Life And Debt” does without sounding overly earnest or self-conscious.

Give One Take One combines the band’s penchant for two man carnival showmanship with higher than ever octane Black Flag meets Blues Explosion spiritual adrenaline highs. The whole thing leaves competition in the dust and shows better than ever the insane chemistry of this duo.

Josh Scogin grew by leaps and bounds as an entertainer during the reign of the fabulous and chaotic post hardcore band The Chariot (who surpassed Norma Jean in quality quite rapidly). ’68 however continues to stake a claim for the most theatrical project from Scogin yet, which is saying something! Nikko Yamada is unstoppable, combining Lightning Bolt-esque jaw dropping feats of daring with finesse and groove and a very adept talent for knowing when less is more and more is even more.

Speaking on the album release, Scogin said:
“This album has been a long time coming. We recorded in the summer of 2019 and had to sit on them until now, the next step in to see these songs fulfilled live. I’m hoping that comes sooner than later.” 

He further commented on the creation of the documentary:
“While we sat in limbo during the 2020 shutdown, I gathered all my footage that I had and created a documentary. It was mostly done for fun, to keep me from losing my mind because I’m not good at sitting idle.  The end product shows a small glimpse into the world of ‘68 and how winging it by the seat of your pants can be a real adventurous way to live.”

Seriously, this record is pure rock’ n roll, about as good as it gets in 2021 or any year.

The new release Void & Decay from WITHIN NOSTALGIA drops today, a well produced yet spirited blend of creative expression, oppressive musings and glimmers of hope. The five song effort is a cool late year addition to a 2020 that was stuffed with impressive material from many artists in the metal world, as worthy as anything else out there of your time and more so than many. The digital album is just $5 on Bandcamp and could appeal to fans of colder USBM or psych metal. I would kill to see them play a concert with Cardinal Wyrm, who also just released a super trippy and killer late 2020 effort.

There is a video for my favorite track from the release called “Desideratum” you can vibe with below.

Refusing to be restricted to a single sub-genre, Within Nostalgia flirts with a wide range of influences, including black, doom, and death. The band comments on the album:

“We’re very excited to put this release out. Not only for fans but for ourselves as well since we’ve really found our sound and direction. You can obviously tell there is a black metal influence but it’s so much more than that on this album. We’ve really embraced the strangeness of our sound and let go of any preconceived notation of what “metal” is to us.”

I am gonna be sure to crank this a bunch as I channel the weird energy building up to the important December 21st, 2020 Jupiter and Saturn conjunction, baby.

On October 16th, Rivers of Nihil will release LP re-issues of their sophomore album, 2015’s Monarchy, via Metal Blade Records. Pre-order your copy now at: https://www.metalblade.com/riversofnihil – where hoodie, t-shirt, guitar tab book and flag bundles are also available!

US prog metal outfit OCEANS OF SLUMBER release the second single, “The Adorned Fathomless Creation”, today off their forthcoming self-titled album out September 4th via Century Media Records worldwide. The song opens with a chaotic tempest before the hypnotic clean vocals enter on top of a frantic riff for powerful effect. One of the most innovative band of songwriters on the planet.

“Violence, revenge, retribution, repeat. The adorned fathomless creation that is humanity, that is society, that is each of us. Warped and blinded by this eye for an eye mentality, we stumble along the path of this insidious and cyclical nature of violence and pain. Hate begets more hate. Fear a contagion. Compassion a lost art of emotional bending. Outcry, anger, rage, repeat. We long for the gentle embrace of compassion, hope to be soothed by a love that is no where to be found. So the machine churns, spewing smoke along a degenerative wasteland. Victim, valor, vengeance, repeat. Our only hope is to remember that among ourselves is an ability to connect, an ability to heal, an ability to grow. To break the machine and free ourselves from its corrosive and cancerous nature. Teach, acknowledge, heal, repeat,” states Oceans Of Slumber about the track relese.

Oceans Of Slumber is available as a standard CD jewelcase, gatefold black 2LP+CD, digital album. Pre-order the album HERE.

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Here she is, in all her dark and disgusting splendor! “Violence, revenge, retribution, repeat. The adorned fathomless creation that is humanity, that is society, that is each of us.” Check out the link in our bio to watch the new video, preorder the new album and more! Artwork: @remedyartdesign

A post shared by Oceans Of Slumber (@oceansofslumber) on Jul 10, 2020 at 7:04am PDT

NYC extreme metallers Pyrrhon have released their earth shattering new full length Abscess Time via Willowtip. Some how they defy and embrace death at the same time. This is some of their most impressive technical and vivid songwriting yet. “Human Capital” is one of the most timely and savage songs of 2o2o in experimental death metal with killer lyrics about modern class inhumanity.

Throughout the entirety of Abscess Time, PYRRHON explore the turbulent and ripping darkness of everyday survival. “This album is about watching the human world slowly slide towards collapse while you’re too busy trying to survive until the next day to do anything about it,” comments PYRRHON vocalist Doug Moore. “The process seems to take forever, even though little things change every day. And since you’re constantly straining to keep your head above water, it’s all just the background against a foreground of more immediate dangers.”

PYRRHON entered Menegroth: The Thousand Caves studio in January 2020 with mastermind engineer, Colin Marston (Krallice, Gorguts, Dysrhythmia) at the helm. “Colin Marston has worked on every Pyrrhon record so far – he’s mastered all of them, and mixed our last three. We do a pretty unusual combination of things during our recording process, and he’s about the only engineer out there who’s got experience with all of them,” explains Moore.