Saturday 18 May 2013

Anata. Nuff said.

Tomorrow my review will be for Doom Metal band Invitado De Piedra

Friday 17 May 2013

The Faceless

Here's another great band, The Faceless. These guys are a Progressive Technical Death Metal band that have some seriously beautiful music! Check em out!
Seriously, they got a fucking Saxophone solo in there!

Thursday 16 May 2013

Tech Death Day 4

So I'm hopping you've all heard about the quite unknown gem known as Beyond Creation. Check out their Technical Progressive art!
~Tyler

Wednesday 15 May 2013

Tech Death day 3

Todays Tech Death song is by the great band Decapitated, and just to think that their drummer Vitek (R.I.P) was only fifteen years old when they recorded this album!

Tech Death Day 2

So Technical Death Metal has to be one of my favourite genres of Metal but one thing annoys me, and that's when people say Progressive Metal and Technical Death Metal are interchangeable. Yes there are plenty of Tech Death bands that are Progressive but just because they are Technical does not mean they are progressive. For example Aeon are a Tech Death/Brutal Death Metal band and have very little if any Progressive elements in their music.
(This song has one of the most brutal screams in existence!)


Tech Death Week

From Today onwards I'll be posting Tech Death and nothing but it, and to kick it off I'll give you one of my personal favourites - 'The Evangelist' by Spawn Of Possession.
When I first listened to this song I was overwhelmed and disliked it but after time the song grew on me. After starting to love the track I would find a new spectacular element to the song.

Monday 13 May 2013

Der Bernds???

So I am a big fan of some very looked down on bands, for example I'm a fan of Korn. To me Korn is one of those go too teen angst bands that just get out all the frustration out, the lyrics and simplicity are what make it so easy for me to listen to.
This song is the song that has ever invoked enough raw emotion in me to bring me close to tears.

Another band that I listen to that are frowned upon is Five Finger Death Punch, both Korn and FFDP both were bands that helped get me into Metal so my opinion on the two might be far more lop sided. FFDP have only a few bad sides, for example some of their lyrics can be a bit idiotic and 'tough guy' but lyrics aren't what you look for most in music though is it? I think their vocalist Ivan Moody is one of the best Metal vocalists (check out his other work with Motorgrater and Ghost Machine too) I personally see FFDP as the next Metallica.

Their song 'Remember Everything' is very Nickleback-ish too which may make people look down on them.

Job For A Cowboy still sadly get looked down on for their earlier Deathcore work (which I thought wasn't that bad). They have a brilliant straight forward Death Metal sound now that is incredible.

Remember every thing I say is personal opinion and musical taste is subjective.

~Tyler


Aussie Metal

So here in Australia we have some extremely great bands and here are a few.

Destroyer 666

They have a unique sound that is heavily Thrash, Black and Death Metal inspired. They originated in Melbourne around 1994 and relocated to Europe in 2001.

Ne Obliviscaris (a.k.a. NeO)
This is one of Australia's best and most unique bands hailing from Melbourne, they have an extremely melodic sound heavily influenced by Progressive Metal and Black Metal. They formed in 2003, and incorporate a violin into their music and utilize clean and harsh vocals.

Twelve Foot Ninja


This is another Progressive Metal band from Melbourne but they incorporate a far more 'simplistic'  sound then NeO. They don't have the technicality of most other Progressive bands but they gain their unique sound through their simple yet effective Metal and their usage of other genres such as dub, jazz fusion, prog-rock and experimental music. They are definitely worth the listen.

Psycroptic

Psycroptic are a Technical Death Metal band from Hobart and formed in 1999. They have toured with Decapitated, Nile, Origin, Misery Index, Incantation and Deicide. They have an extremely technical yet pleasing sound that isn't just pure nonsense.



Miazma

This is a Death Metal band hailing from my home town Alice Springs and they are definitely an act to watch out for, when they released their album 'Bacteria Of This Earth' it hit #16 on the top metal albums on iTunes. They put on an insane live show and are all round great blokes.

King Parrot

These guys largely play Grindcore but they also incorporate Thrash and Punk into their sound. These guys are another band that put on an insane live show and they invoke fear into you because when they are on stage they turn into animals, especially their vocalist.

Be'lakor

Be'lakor are undoubtedly Australia's top Melodic Death Metal band. They are extremely talented and have  a unique sound that can compete with the top Melo Death bands like Amon Amarth, Dark Tranquility and the other kings.

Thy Art Is Murder 


These are one of Australia's top Deathcore bands and they have an awesome sound that Core fans and Metal fans can all appreciate.

I hope you find a band that you like out of this list, enjoy!
Remember to comment, recommend some more Aussie Metal maybe?

~Tyler

Saturday 11 May 2013

I've been blasting this song 24 seven for the past couple of weeks. \m/ Opeth master race \m/

Death Metal Tracks

These are some of my all time favourite Death Metal tracks:

Make Them Suffer - Cannibal Corpse

Empty Words - Death 

Post Organic - Decapitated
Eaten - Bloodbath 

I hope you enjoy some of these!
Remember to comment, be it a suggestion or an observation.
~Tyler

Intervals - In Time

This weeks bandcamp.com review is for Intervals album 'In Time', it is an instrumental Progressive Metal album.
Track listing:
1. Alchemy
2. Mata Hari
3. Tapestry
4. Momento
5. Epiphany

Track 1 'Alchemy' is pretty much a 2 minute intro to the album and is a short but fairly solid track. The album as a whole largely focuses on the lead guitar more than the other instruments.

Track 2 'Mata Hari' has some great riffs and an erie dissonant ring in the background at parts that gives this track that extra little bit of uniqueness. But I personally think that this song is too long for it's own good, I think there's not enough going on in the song before the solo comes up leaving you a tad bit bored. The solo in the song is very "soulful" and not an extremely technical shredding one which is a pleasant surprise as many bands now days go for solos that are nothing but notes played really fast.\

Track 3 'Tapestry' is the second longest track on the album at 5:19 and it makes incredible use of it's time by having blazing solos and riffs. The drum work can be fairly boring at times with it's simplicity compared to the  guitar work, but there are times when the drums do hold their own on this track.

Track 4 ' Momento has one of my favourite solos (starts at 2:30) from the album but the riff that starts about 25 seconds in feels a bit disjointed and "core-ish". The song as a whole is held together almost completely by the lead guitar work and wouldn't be what it is without the incredible solos.

The final track on the album 'Epiphany' is just like the rest of the album with strong lead guitars and soloing and yet again the drums don't take my breathe away. But in saying all this the lead guitar almost makes up for this by being so great.

Bass guitar: 6/10
Guitars: 9/10
Drums: 6/10
Overall: 7/10

The album is a solid listen for an instrumental album but could use more work on the drums and more prominent bass lines. Definitely worth a download.

http://intervalsmusic.bandcamp.com/album/in-time

Sorry for the lateness of this post, thank you for reading. And don't forget to comment!

~Tyler

Saturday 4 May 2013

BANDCAMP.COM

Okay you all would have heard of the website bandcamp.com, but if you haven't it's basically a website  that up and coming artist can use to promote their music. You can download music from many artists on there, there are quite a few astonishing bands on the site. Downloading albums, EPs, LPs, tracks and other music can be either free, name your price (basically free but you can choose to pay for it), or it has a solid price.

This week I've stumbled across the band Montezuma and their album 'II', and let me say that it is a true masterpiece of Death Metal. And after finding this album I've decided that each week I'll be writing a review for an artist on bandcamp.com, and to kick it off I'm going to review 'II'.

Montezuma is a five piece band from Newhall, California.
'II' is Montezuma's 2nd album and it has 4 tracks:
1. Prehistoric Hyperblast
2. Tombs
3. Bone Dust
4. Psychotic Astronomy

The first track 'Prehistoric Hyperblast' is a truly groovy straight forward Death Metal song with rich bass lines, galloping drums, brutal riffs and crushing vocals. The bass lines on the song are what first caught my attention because in a lot of bands now days they just mix the bass guitar out completely whereas this band have found the perfect balance of the guitars and bass. The drumming at the start of this song got me head banging from the get go and the riffs in 'Prehistoric Hyperblast' are extremely groovy and gets your blood pumping. The only let down in my opinion is that the vocals aren't explored enough, yes the vocals are low, crushing and brutal but you get almost nothing else. If there were some blood curdling highs or at least some mids to mix things up it would make this track far better.

Track number 2 'Tombs' is a stand out track to me almost purely for the awesome guitar solo in it, the solo put me in full eargasm mode. You know that feeling when you're listening to your favourite solo from your favourite guitarist? Yeah that's what I was feeling, the solo wasn't too boring and wasn't too technical that it lost all it's soul. Yet again the bass lines are immaculate, so are the drums and yes again the guitars were groovy.

'Bone Dust' The vocals on this track aren't anything different from the first 2 tracks but I think that the instrumentals and vocals complement each other very very well. The guitar work is yet again awesome and there are some very thrashy sounding riffs in there which sound great. The bass lines don't stand out on this song as much as the first two but still accompanies the rest of the instruments extremely well. My favourite part of the album would have to be the outro because the tone of the guitars and the bass just sounds awesome together.

'Psychotic Astronomy' is the fastest track on the album with an extremely thrash inspired sound, it still has some quite groovy passages to headbang too. This track has some truly awesome guitar sweeps, and to me is the stand out track drumming wise. Just like all the other tracks the bass lines are awesome, the vocals are yet again purely deep (yes they are very awesome lows) but there is no build up to an epic high or a lower low which is kind of a let down but the vocals are still great in their own respects, I just prefer a mix of highs, mids and lows.

Vocals : 6/10 (I would have liked to hear some more experimenting but the vocals still hold their own)

Guitars: 9/10 (Brilliant sweeps and riffs, the solo in Tombs is awesome)

Bass: 10/10 (Personally the bass guitar is my favourite aspect of the album)

Drums: 7/10 (The drumming is very accurate and very well done but it is fairly basic at times which is a let down)

Overall: 8/10

The album is about as intense as a four track album can be, with brilliant sweeps, bass lines and riffing. Vocals are brutal but don't show much besides lows (there are a few highs which are quite enjoyable).
The drumming is great but I have a habit of comparing drummers to Thomas Haake of Meshuggah and Brann Dailor of Mastodon. The band has some progressive elements too it as well which gives it some unique character.

The album is definitely worth a listen to!

Download here: http://montezuma1.bandcamp.com/album/ii
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Montezuma661?fref=ts

Thanks for reading and make sure to comment what you think of the album or suggest a band I should listen to and review.

~Tyler

Friday 3 May 2013

What are my favourite record labels?

Well my top 3 would have to be:

Earache Records, they have some of the best Extreme Metal bands out there and produce quality merchandise and music. Notable bands: Decapitated, Cerebral Bore, Napalm Death, Bolt Thrower, Deicide, Carcass, Municipal Waste, Hate Eternal and At The Gates.

Relapse Records, have you listened to Devourment's latest album???? God damn that album has some awesome producing on it! They never disappoint. Notable bands: Devourment, Obscura, Necrophagist,  Pig Destroyer, Dying Fetus, Cephalic Carnage, Spawn Of Possession and Revocation.

The Black Wreath, this is a small up and coming Metal label originating in Alice Springs, Australia. They have some of the best upcoming acts out of Australia including Miazma, Uncreation, Exdemission & The Horror. I must say that they hold a higher value to me due to them being my home towns best Metal label.
(this is in no particular order)
(Notable bands may not be currently signed to the label before mentioned due to this being just off the top of my head)

Speaking of Devourment, have you checked out their latest album? It is one of the best albums I've heard this year and Devourment are yet again showing that they are one of the biggest and best bands in Slam/Brutal Death Metal.

Favourite song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jR4lLJu_-wE
Entire album: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amG-jBH6mb4

~Tyler

Thursday 2 May 2013

So what's my view on Core?

Well I personally can't stand Metalcore, to me it's whiny, wimpy, pathetic and boring (there are a few bands out there that stand out though). But I do like Deathcore, Grindcore and other genres with Extreme Metal and Hardcore influences. Also I do consider it Metal (Deathcore, Metalcore etc.) as much as I hate having other kids coming up to me going "OMG Amity Affliction are sah BR00T4L!."
But I guess if I consider Nu Metal as Metal than I guess I really have to consider Metalcore Metal. There aren't any Metalcore bands I like but there some quite sick Deathcore bands out there like Veil Of Maya, Thy Art Is Murder, Rings Of Saturn and Impending Doom.

Some Deathcore I enjoy:

Reign Of Darkness by Thy Art Is Murder
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47Plg93oJ1M

Awesome Deathcore from Australia with great production and some really unique tunes that aren't the typical generic ones you hear all the time. I do have one problem with these guys, well more so the fans because many consider them Tech Death which I completely disagree with. They are Technical Deathcore (I personally don't think they are that Technical)

Murderer by Impending Doom
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQVST5ubeTk

I personally think these guys should be the standard in Deathcore like Cannibal Corpse is to Death Metal, sure they're a Christian Metal band but does that diminish it's quality? But I still prefer Thy Art Is Murder and Rings Of Saturn over these guys.

Galactic Cleansing - Rings Of Saturn
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewyvCsHCU9E

Now this is what you call Technical Deathcore! The reason why I love this band so much is because I love technical wankery, it's why I love Necrophagist, Yngwie Malmsteen, Spawn Of Possession and other bands with insane technicality.

Now remember this is all personal opinion so don't get your panties in a twist if I somehow managed to annoy/offend you.

~Tyler

Welcome!

Hi let me introduce myself I'm Tyler and I fucking love Metal. I'm still in my teens and I have much to learn in the world that is Metal, but I am a Metal Head through and through. I listen to everything from Heavy Metal to Death Metal to Progressive Metal, I mainly listen to Death Metal and it's subgenres (Tech Death, Melodic Death, Brutal/Slam, Deathcore, Deathgrind etc.) and Progressive Metal. My favourite bands are Opeth, Metallica (the band that started it all for me), Decapitated, System Of A Down, Necrophagist, Meshuggah and Korn.

I'll be making 2 blogs a week MINIMUM, my blogs will consist of music, opinions, anecdotes, rants and other random shit.

To kick it off I'd like to show you guys the most important songs in my Metal journey!

Nothing Else Matters by Metallica
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tj75Arhq5ho

I found this song when my Mum played it and I was intrigued so I asked her for more songs and she lead me to the website Grooveshark.com where I found Metallica's gold. I loved every single album of there's from Kill 'Em All to Death Magnetic.
Funny story I was exposed to Metallica when I was younger when me and my two brothers stumbled across St. Anger in my Dads CD collection (A mate of his gave it to him) when I was about 6-7 years old. We put it in the stereo and just ran around our living room making a mess and wrestling like maniacs. We never read the cover of the album so we forgot who made it leading to the time years later when I fell in love with 'Tallica. One day we had to 'dispose' of the CD when my Dad had a skits at us but this is  a story for another time...

Bad Company by Five Finger Death Punch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_VsvZmIWxY

While on Grooveshark.com I stumbled across this band when it was recommended to me after listening to tonnes of Metallica. Needless to say I fell in love instantly and this solidified my growing love for Metal and Hard Rock.

There were plenty of other bands that were heavily influential to me like Disturbed, System Of A Down, KoRn, Breaking Benjamin, Seether, Nirvana etc. There was one song that brought me closer to Death Metal....

Pounded Into Dust by Cannibal Corpse
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3D194Zs6NM

I found this song after searching around for the most heavy and brutal music, I didn't like Death Growls and other harsh vocals except for some screams. I loved the crushing riffs and drumming and I LIVED for the 'Pounded Into DUUUUST!!!' line.

Stabwound by Necrophagist
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9RJXWxth5g

I have listened to this song more than any other song, more than 'Holy Diver', 'One', 'The Bleeding', 'BYOB', 'Got The Life' and any other song. I discovered shortly after finding Cannibal Corpse, I loved the instrumentals so much and at that time when I couldn't stand the vocals it was awesome because it had only a small amount of growling and a shit tonne of awesome technicality.

Got The Life by Korn
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAWjsVoDpm0

I found this song when I was grabbing songs for my iPod out of my Mums music library and this song was on there. Ughhhhhhhhh God I love this song and Korn so much!!!!! Nu Metal is one of my favourite genres.

Ghost Of Perdition by Opeth
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk6Q4FpW-sY

This is the most important song to me purely for the fact that it introduced me to Opeth. Opeth is the band that truly got me into Death Metal and Progressive music. Ghost Reveries was also the first album I had ever bought and I still love it to this day. The song has a perfect mixture of Death Metal and Prog, the soothing passages and heavy passages with clean vocals are what got me into the song and shortly after I started loving the Growls that Mikael Akerfeldt produced with his godly voice.

Thanks for reading!

Sincerely Tyler