Review: FIRE FROM THE GODS – ‘Narrative Retold’

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Unlike any other band in recent memory, Fire From The Gods have springboarded onto the music scene with recognition all around the metal community. The quintet’s combination of rap, hardcore, and metalcore brews a familiar but original sound. From Austin, TX, the band has set out to bring a bigger, more important message to metal that they feel has been lacking. Lead vocalist AJ Channer had this to say about the upcoming record:

“This album is the personal narrative of a minority man living in major cities and being American, there’s a socio-economic theme throughout the whole record that carries from each song to song. It’s all about the underdog. We’ve all had to fight for everything we have in this band. The political climate in our country is quite racially and socially charged. There are a lot of issues and energy people are expressing along with misguided hate and anger. I want to channel this in music that can resonate. This is where we come from and who we are as a band.”

‘Narrative Retold’ is Fire From The God’s second record and their debut on major label Rise Records. The album drops this Friday on May 19th; you can pre-order the record here. They are already building a well-established fan base touring across the country while making stops at large festivals like Carolina Rebellion and Rock on the Range. Continue reading →

Chris Cornell Dead At The Age Of 52

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Picture taken at Carolina Rebellion 2017 just weeks before Cornell’s death.

The New York Times has reported that Chris Cornell of Soundgarden, Temple Of The Dog & Audioslave has died as of 5/17/17 in Detroit as stated by his representative Brian Bumbery, he died at the yound age of 52. Brian has stated that the death was ”Sudden and unexpected” and that the family would be ”Working closely with the medical examiner to determine the cause”.

It’s very sad to hear this news, realising he actually died moves me quite a lot. You forget how precious life is and how quickly it can be taken away. When you have a family as Chris did, it’s so important to have life insurance. Since hearing the news, I have been reading things like this bestow review. You should always have insurance to protect your loved ones in case of a tragic loss of life.

For those of you that don’t know, Chris was born in 1964 in Seattle and started the band Soundgarden just 20 years later. He has been called one of or even the architect of grunge music. He has without a doubt meant a lot for the genre, he was the vocalist of Soundgarden since the beginning of the band and also after they got back together in 2010. Besides that he has been the singer of Audioslave from 2001 till 2007 and he has a solo carrier as well which people may know him of. Soundgarden has been one of the reasons grunge is a thing now and we should be really thankful for that. He moved so many people with his musical style, personality and appearance that many people got inspired to make music just because of Chris so after hearing this sad news I really am devastated.

All my thoughts go to his family, friends and the people he worked with. He may not be longer amongst us but his music will always live on. May Chris Cornell rest peacefully.


Review: SEETHER ‘POISON THE PARISH’

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Seether’s new album ‘Poison the Parish’ is now out! Released 5 days ago (May 12th, 2017) it’s already generating a blizzard of positive reviews from fans. Being the first album under front man Shaun Morgan’s label, Canine Riot Records, it’s a good sign not just for the album, but also for the label.

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The Bucketlist With Dylan And Steve Of I Prevail! [Video]

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I PREVAIL has been taking over stages all across the country since their cover of Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space” went viral. That certainly isn’t the only thing the band has up their sleep either. Prior to the release of ‘Lifelines on October 21st, 2016 via Fearless Records the band released 3 incredible singles. “Scars”, “Stuck In Your Head” and the incredibly heavy track “Come And Get It”. Prior to that album releasing the band also got the news that their cover of “Blank Space” went gold. The band really has been able to showcase the power of the single, and have more original music as well to back it up. Since the release of the album the band has been on tour with Islander, Wage War, and also had a headlining tour supported by Starset, Vamps, and As Lions. After closing out the festival season last year at Louisville, Kentucky’s Louder Than Life Festival we was able to catch them early on the festival circuit this year at Carolina Rebellion. Again they shared the stage with numerous legendary acts like In Flames, Sum 41, Def Leppard, Rivals Sons and Dillinger Escape Plan. It’s easy to see that I Prevail get the opportunity to enjoy a wide array of bands while they are on tour across the globe. Continue reading →

DYING FETUS Release Second Single “Panic Amongst The Herd” From Upcoming Album [Official Music Video]

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Technical death metal‘s biggest outlaws DYING FETUS are doing the rounds and getting fans all warmed up and excited for the new studio album after 2012 release, ‘Reign Supreme’. Their new album hits the stores on June 23rd, 2017 via Relapse Records, going by the name of ‘Wrong One To Fuck With‘. April 20th saw them releasing their first single off the above mentioned forthcoming album, titled, ‘Fixated On Devastation‘, if you haven’t heard the first single yet, you’re living under a rock and missing out. Go check it here.

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BYZANTINE Release New Video For “New Ways to Bear Witness”!

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On July 28th, Byzantine will release their new album, ‘The Cicada Tree’, via Metal Blade Records. Heralded as the most underrated band from the New Wave of American Heavy Metal Movement, Byzantine has slowly gained a cult-like following after releasing 5 genre-bending albums. 16 years underground, it’s finally time for the world to hear Byzantine! For a first preview of The Cicada Tree, a new video for the single “New Ways to Bear Witness” (featuring a cameo by Skeletonwitch’s Dustin Boltjes, as well as ex-Byzantine drummer Matt Wolfe) has been launched online. Directed/edited by Holly Siders, the filming of “New Ways to Bear Witness” resulted in Chris “OJ” Ojeda (vocals, rhythm guitar) suffering a concussion. OJ comments about the experience:

“So, we came up with an idea of having our old drummer do a cameo appearance in the music video. Matt Wolfe left the band right before we signed with Metal Blade and had occupied the drum seat for the last 12 years. We felt it was a perfect opportunity to let fans know that we still love Matt and he’s still welcome and important to our band. What’s the best way to have an ousted band member make a cameo? To hit me with a vehicle, of course! We set up the scene and did about 5 or 6 takes of Wolfe hitting me with the vehicle and me rolling off the vehicle. I didn’t know until we wrapped shooting the next day that something was wrong and had a very hard time driving home. I contacted an ER doctor friend of mine who told me I needed to come see him ASAP. After a CT Scan and an EKG, he let me know I had a standard sports type concussion from repeatedly hitting my head during the video shoot. I got 3 days off work and a cool story out of it! Rock!” Continue reading →

Review: WHEN ICARUS FALLS – ‘Resilience’ [Album Stream]

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Formed in 2007 in Lausanne, Switzerland. When Icarus Falls materializes the exploration of dark musical universes, oscillating between hazy atmospheres and heavy riffs. When Icarus Falls‘ musicians are well known for their intense stage performances. The band released their debut EP ‘Over The Frozen Seas’ in 2000, and followed that up with the incredible concept album ‘Aegean’. That release is based on the work of Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, a famous psychiatrist who described the five stages of dying: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance; five steps defining the atmosphere of the five main songs of the album. The band then went on to release another EP ‘Circles’ in 2014. The band has now release yet another EP via Czar Of Bullets titled ‘Resilience’. It was recorded in July 2016 by Chris Noth at the Bikini Test in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. Mixed and mastered by Magnus Lindberg in Stockholm, Sweden. It released April 21, 2017. Continue reading →

Review: NUCLEAR OATH ‘TOXIC PLAYGROUND’

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Nuclear Oath is a heavy hitting metal band from Medicine Hat, Alberta. The 5-member group will release ‘Toxic Playground’ on June 9th, 2017. It is a follow-up to their EP ‘Ashes of the Unborn’, which was released February 26, 2016.

They’ve stated that their intention is to create an experience for the listener where everyone takes away something different from the band.

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State Of The Art: WITCH MOUNTAIN

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

This month’s State is Oregon!

Witch Mountain was formed in 1997 and became a household name in the city that keeps it weird, Portland, Oregon. The doom crew had just released mostly likely the best album thus far since the formation of the band in the 2014 release ‘Mobile of Angels’ their 8th album. Singer Uta Plotkin was belting out all the vocals on the most recent albums. Her voice became the definition of doom to most within the scene. Uta announced she would be leaving the band prior to the release of ‘Mobile of Angels’ in September of 2014. If that wasn’t already enough bassist Charles Thomas was leaving the band as well. This left only drummer Nathan Carson and guitarist Rob Wrong. Uta left some huge shoes to fill for whoever would eventually take her place. The band had a few months to look around for a singer prior to Uta leaving the band. They were in no immediate hurry to fill the spot and just wanting to ensure they had the right person. Less than a week after receiving a video audition from Kayla Dixon she was to become the new singer of Witch Mountain. Dixon spent some time with the Cleveland based band Demons Within, but the majority of her career was in theatre acting. The 19 year old Dixon was flown out to join the band and newly added bass player Justin Brown from the Portland band Lamprey. Once again the band was complete. Continue reading →

REVIEW: LEGACY OF EMPTINESS – ‘Over The Past’ [Official Song Stream]

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What is it that invades the sanity in your mind once when you stumble across the word, ‘Norway’ ? If you’re a trve bred metalhead, ‘black metal‘ is the only thing that will take over your mind. The grim, dark and blasphemous genre has a really deep connection with the country of Norway and why not, that is where the genre started to sprout into a global epidemic of unholy cacophony. Bands like Mayhem, Darkthrone, Enslaved, Burzum, Dimmu Borgir etc have created a niche for the genre so deeply engrossed, it’s almost like Norway is the face of the genre. Whether be it an old band or a new kid on the block, they surely know their black metal very well. It has also seen the face of diversification and a lot of experimentation, many bands have taken a different approach than the genre flag bearers, incorporating elements of majestic symphony, eerie surrealistic ambience, or just adding folk elements indigenous to their viking and pagan heritage. Whatever blend of black metal they churn out, it’s always great to listen to and connect.

Today I bring to your notice an excellent album by one of the rising symphonic black metal bands from Norway, LEGACY OF EMPTINESS. As the name suggests, they are a three piece band playing the blend of black metal I love the most, i.e., ‘Symphonic black metal‘ or ‘Ambient Black Metal‘ with a lot of folk and avant garde elements sprinkled here and there. The founding members Eddie and Kjell-Ivar formed this group as a “tongue in cheek” BM-project previously known as ‘Permafrost’, back in 1995. Recording a couple of demos for their self interest just like the way many bands start out, a few years later Øyvind joined in on keyboards and completed the line-up. They went on to record a couple of more demos, and disbanded in 2000. 2010 saw them make a comeback and gel up together again, as they realised the previously recorded songs were “too good to be left behind”. So they re-recorded them and released it as their debut in 2011.  Continue reading →