Artist Showcase

One of our main goals here at Metal Nexus is to turn you on to new bands that you haven’t heard before.



Aftershock 2018 Spotlight: SLOTHRUST [Video Stream]

*This is part of our “Aftershock Festival 2018 Spotlight” where we branch out and focus on some of the up-and-coming bands that fans can see at this year’s Aftershock Festival on October 13th & 14th.  This week, we’re checking out Slothrust.*

Earning a slot on the impressive roster for this year’s Aftershock Festival is Boston indie rock trio, Slothrust.  Since the band’s formation in 2010, Leah Wellbaum (vocals/guitar), Kyle Bann (bass), and Will Gorin (drums) have been busy writing, recording, and playing their captivating brand of rock that also includes a 2017 EP (‘Show Me How You Want it to Be’) of wildly inventive cover versions of some well-known hits of the past. Be sure to check out their take on The Turtles “Happy Together” with its awesomely maniacal twist. Their original material is equally impressive on tracks like the brand-new single, “Peach.” The sound harkens back to a time of great female-fronted alt-rock of the nineties such as The Breeders and Veruca Salt. Continue reading

State Of The Art: LAVABORNE [Live Video & Demo Stream]

*This is a part of our State Of The Art series, showcasing bands every Monday from the featured state.*

This month’s state is Indiana!

The firey five piece Lavaborne was born in the cold month of February in 2017. Originally formed by Chris Latta (vocals) and Brandon Signorino (guitars). The duo spent a few months writing and composing what would become their demo as a way of recruiting and filling out the band. Chris and Brandon released the demo on September 15, 2017 with Chris Latta handling vocals duties as well as bass guitar and Brandon Signorino on lead and rhythm guitars, and setting up the drum programming. With their demo and classic influences like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Dio, Mercyful Fate, Candlemass it wasn’t long before the band had retained 3 additional members to fill out their band which would include Brandon Davis on bass guitar, Freddie Rodriguez riffing out guitars, and Max Barber on drums. The members are by no means new to the music scene in Indiana either and have played in various other established bands including Spirit Division, Steel Aggressor, and Mask of Sanity Continue reading

State Of The Art: Indiana’s GORGANTHERRON [Album Stream]

Photo Credit: JJ Koczan @ The Obelisk

*This is a part of our State Of The Art series, showcasing bands every Monday from the featured state.*

This month’s state is Indiana!

 

Hailing from Evansville, Indiana, Gorgantherron is a trio of mass destruction. They take you back to the early days of metal with a modern twist and with the modern studio techniques. Consisting of Clint Logan riffing on guitar and vocal duties, Toby Richardson slapping the bass, and Chris Flint hitting the skins, Gorgantherron has unleashed two releases, their full length album, ‘Second Sun’ in 2015 and a 6 song EP in 2012. The band creates music that would fit best within the stoner and doom genres but, they should appeal to any audience that loves a good riff and heavy vocals. Opening for the bands; BloodTribe, Seize The Empire, The Alphaincident, Blizaro, King Snake, and performing at the inaugural Doomed & Stoned Fest in their home state of Indiana in 2016 they have captivated audiences for the last 3 years. Continue reading

State Of The Art: Indiana’s WOLFTOOTH [Album Stream]

*This is a part of our State Of The Art series, showcasing bands every Monday from the featured state.*

This month’s state is Indiana!

What do you get when you mix equal parts ‘Master of Reality’-era Black Sabbath with ‘Stained Class’-era Judas Priest, and then add a few generous splashes of ‘Meantime’-era Helmet? Hailing from Richmond, Indiana, Wolftooth are delivering bluesy stoner metal through a fuzzy haze of modern freshness. Continue reading

State of the Art – Indiana: Zephaniah

*This is part of our State Of The Art series, showcasing bands every Monday from the featured State*

This month’s state is Indiana!

Fort Wayne, IN. Not exactly the first place I think of for killer Metal, I have to admit. Been there a few times when I was going to college in Cincinnati but not exactly the bastion of music as I remember it. Well, I happened to make a detour to it on the Internet while looking for a band to cover for my State of the Art coverage this week. Thank goodness too, because I discovered a very heavy, melodic Power/Thrash band called Zephaniah

Continue reading

State Of The Art: I AM TERRIFIED [Album Stream]

*This is a part of our State Of The Art series, showcasing bands every Monday from the featured state*

This month’s state is Alabama!

The band I AM TERRIFIED was formed as FIXED TIL TUESDAY in Birmingham, Alabama by guitarist Jeremy Folse, vocalist Patrick Schefano, and drummer Joel Bailey.  They got together from meeting at local schools and churches. Influenced both by the sound of church hymns and hardcore rock, the three formed the band and released an independent self-titled EP containing six songs.

After much consideration, FIXED TIL TUESDAY changed their name to I AM TERRIFIED sometime between 2006 and 2010. The name comes straight from the verse in the Bible’s Book of Job 23:14-15 which reads, “He carries out His decree against me, and many such plans He still has in store. That is why I am terrified before Him; when I think of all this, I fear Him.

The band was signed in 2007 to Mono Vs Stereo Records and began work on their debut EP. When Mono Vs Stereo was put on hiatus by its parent company Gotee Records, the band was transferred to Gotee’s roster. ‘I Am Terrified’ was released in July 2008.  This is their only recorded output to date.

This is a therefore seemingly a strange choice for the State Of The Artist, as the band periodically goes on hiatus (last heard of in May 2017 for some select dates), but they are worthy of being discussed, due to the strength of their songs on their EP released back in 2008.

The current lineup is Patrick “Paddy” Schefano on vocals, Brandon Henderson on lead guitar, Joel Bailey on drums, Jeremy Folse on rhythm guitar and Matthew Stagner on bass guitar.

They have been called Metalcore, but this is a label that hangs somewhat uneasily around their neck.  The EP fills your speakers with a joyous celebration of heavy, but very melodic, music.  They are Christian rockers, but their humanity speaks to those casual listeners who do not follow any belief-driven genre.

The EP contains six songs of a quality that stands the test of time.  The songs have an accessibility that transcends the genre and places more of a foot in the pop punk movement of the 1990’s.  Yes, they have some screaming vocals, especially on “To The Service”, but that song also has passages which sound like New Wave bands and background harmonies that really make it a hymn in many ways.

The interesting part of this story will be whether the band will reconvene and work on any new material.  It would be a shame to leave their sizeable fanbase without any new tunes (they have over 6,000 likes on Facebook still).  The latest gigs appear to have been in the summer last year.  Therefore, this is an artist spotlight that only feels half fulfilled.

Great band – catch a listen and then get talking to them on Facebook, if you want them back.

State Of The Art : STONED COBRA [Album Stream]


*This is a part of our State Of The Art series, showcasing bands every Monday from the featured state*

This month’s state is Alabama!


Hey! It’s ‘State Of The Art’ day again, and it’s been a while I have been developing an affinity for stoner metal and rock music lately. Last month, I brought to you Louisiana’s absolute bonkers band MARS and today I continue my spree of stoner metal bands. This month we have Alabama as the SOTA state and I present to you STONED COBRA, arguably the best stoner metal/rock band from the Yellowhammer state. Emancipate yourself from all of the Monday blues stress, sit back, hit a joint and start medicating yourself with some good, heavy and raw STONED COBRA.

Continue reading

State Of The Art: Alabama’s HEEL TURN [EP Stream]

Heel Turn

*This is a part of our State Of The Art series, showcasing bands every Monday from the featured state.*

This month’s state is Alabama!

 

Formed in Huntsville, Alabama this 4 man band pays tribute to the hey day of wrestling. Heel Turn is a 80’s and 90’s wrestling themed dark hardcore band. You heard that right. The glory years of wresting are rejoiced and moshed to in their breakdowns. The band also keeps their face concealed wearing wrestling masks as well, which you can also purchase yourself one from the band at their merch table when you see them live. The band formed sometime last year and it was around October when they played their first couple live shows. The band of course asked their fans what they wanted to see in regards to their performance and there were some comments made about possibly doing a Frog Splash (Eddie Guerrero’s signature move) onto the drum kit, and the people’s elbow (The Rock’s signature move). The band only drew the line in regards to the people’s elbow drop being a little too modern for them as they are much more old school and instead offered some more old school moves. The band certainly knows their stuff when it comes to old school wrestling and even welcomes fans to come drink beer and talk to them about wrestling after the show. Metal has seen various themed bands, like pirates, clowns, executioners, aliens, dinosaurs but I believe Heel Turn is the most concise wrestling themed band I have encountered.  Continue reading

State Of The Art: Alabama’s EMBER [Official Video]

 

 

*This is a part of our State Of The Art series, showcasing bands every Monday from the featured state.*

This month’s state is Alabama!

One would not expect beautiful Birmingham, Alabama to be pumping out some seriously dark sounds. Ember has managed to create an approachable, drony doom sound with vocals that channel early European symphonic metal elements. In fact, Alabama is the last place one might guess this band is from. Continue reading

State Of The Art: Alabama’s ORACLE [Video/Album Stream]

*This is a part of our State Of The Art series, showcasing bands every Monday from the featured state.*

This month’s state is Alabama!

Hailing from Mobile, Alabama, Oracle offers extreme metal with intention.  Ranging from melodic to outright bludgeoning brutality, it’s the elaborately well-conceived song structures that bring together all of the interesting musical elements for a truly exciting listening experience. Like an intricately crafted movie plot with multiple twists and turns, Oracle takes the same approach with their music. Tracks transition through multiple moods, tones, and tempos not simply because they can, but because they need to in order to achieve such monumental levels of depths and dynamics this band delivers. Continue reading