State Of The Art: Utah – Truce In Blood

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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 Utah!

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Utah was my pick for this month’s SOTA series. Tons of good Metal available from this western state surrounded by Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Nevada. Being the 45th state (January 4, 1896), Utah is known for the natural beauty of its deserts, Wasatch mountain range and The Great Salt lakes it also serves as the main hub for the Morman church whose choir is internationally lauded. Utah’s population sits just below 3,000,000 spread over 84,899 square miles, ranking it as the 31st most populated state in the U.S., 80% of whom live in the center of the state, along the Wasatch Front. In addition, Utah is considered to be the best state to live in, based on a 2012 Gallup poll, due to its low income inequality, and a variety of economic, lifestyle and health related metrics. Well, coming from the state capital of Salt Lake City comes my first State of the Art: Utah pick: Truce in Blood.

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A Celebration of Central Florida Metal With Seven Kingdoms, Martyrs Asylum, Kill The Sound, Arakara, Armor of God and Ornimental

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“What happened to the Metal scene here?” “Man, this sucks! I gotta drive to <pick a town> to see any good shows anymore.” “Nobody is playing around here this weekend.” “There are only a couple of good bands here and I have seen them a million times. Uhhhghh!” “We never get any good shows here anymore.” These are all statements that I constantly see, hear and read just about every day, from folks all over the world. Thankfully, these sentiments do not apply to my home state of Florida. No matter where you live here, there are almost too many shows to choose from on any given evening, especially on the weekends. The more difficult decision usually becomes “Do I go to see ‘X’ or do I see ‘Y’ or drive a little further to see ‘Z’?” We have also seen the rise of legendary bands like Death, Deicide, Obituary, Nonpoint, Trivium, Shinedown, Savatage, Cynic, Iced Earth, Kamelot, Six Feet Under, Molly Hatchet, Alter Bridge, Limp Bizkit, A Day to Remember, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Black Tide, Creed and many, many others over the years. The pool of talent seems to be bottomless here. All of these bands had to start somewhere and the next generation of bands continue to emerge in Florida at an exponential rate. Such was the case with the Halloween show at The Haven in Winter Park, FL, Saturday, October 29th, 2016 which highlighted some of the premiere Metal acts available from Central and South Florida. Although it is exhilarating to see national and international acts in a large venue, local bands have the fire and talent at a comparable or higher levels in our own back yards.

As a special treat, all pictures are credited to my guest photographer Matthew Degele!

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Oblivion’s “Cyclogenesis: Songs from the Apocalypse”: Breathing Fresh Fire Into A Twenty Year Old Dragon

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Recently, Divebomb Records had the brilliant idea of remastering and re-releasing all-but-lost Metal gems from the eighties and nineties in their Bootcamp Series. Albums like Aftermath’s Killing the Future, Holosade’s Hell House, Intrinsic’s “lost album” entitled Nails, Swedish Thrash Metal masters Apocalypse for their debut and Faithless albums, Skeptic Sense’s Mind Versus Soul: The Anthology, Miasmal’s third album, Tides of Omniscience (first time it has been made available in North America) and many, many others seeing the light of day once again, with plans to continue these releases well into the future. Many of these bands have, unfortunately, disappeared into obscurity, broken up and been usurped into other bands or even gotten back together; picking up where they left off years ago. One such band that falls into the third category is Oblivion, who recently released their double CD Cyclogenesis: Songs from the Apocalypse as Divebomb Boot Camp Series #27. What was once old, becomes new again and, in this case, lightening strikes twice as brightly!

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Dropkick Murphys’ Announce New Album, Tour & Release Lyric Video!

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Dropkick Murphys today announced that their ninth studio album 11 Short Stories Of Pain & Glory will be released on January 6th through their label Born & Bred Records. The album is available for pre-order now and the band has shared an incredible lyric video for the song “Blood,” from the album. Ted Hutt, who has previously worked with the band (and Gaslight Anthem and Old Crow Medicine Show), produced the new album. Continue reading →

Cannibal Corpse Records Theme Song For Halloween Episode of ‘Squidbillies’!

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Nothing pairs better than cartoons and metal right? Well the creators of Squidbillies just kicked things up a notch. For the Halloween episode of ‘Squidbillies’ (entitled “Squash B’Gosh”), Cannibal Corpse recorded a special theme song for the show, which aired on October 30th, 2016. Producer and Hate Eternal vocalist/guitarist Erik Rutan comments about the collaboration: “The producers of ‘Squidbillies’ contacted Cannibal Corpse and asked them to record the theme song for their Halloween episode that just aired. I was fortunate enough to be able to record and mix it for them before I went on tour. Was two days of fun, total blast, enjoy!!! Happy Halloween!!!”

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To watch “Squash B’Gosh” online, click here.

Cannibal Corpse released their 13th studio album, A Skeletal Domain, in 2014 via Metal Blade Records and debuted at #32 on Billboard’s Top 200 chart (the highest chart position in the band’s storied history)! Produced by Mark Lewis (The Black Dahlia Murder, DevilDriver) at Audio Hammer Studios in Florida. The record boasts twelve ravenous tracks of confrontational, meticulously-executed, ill-omened brutality as only Cannibal Corpse can deliver. To preview and purchase A Skeletal Domain, click here.

Cannibal Corpse online:
http://cannibalcorpse.net
https://www.facebook.com/cannibalcorpse
https://twitter.com/CorpseOfficial
https://www.youtube.com/user/cannibalcorpse

Footage From Canceled Metallica Game Now Online!

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In 2005 a post apocalyptic Metallica tie-in game was in development called Damaged Inc. Ultimate Classic Rock states that the game would have been based around players driving around a dystopian wasteland in a selection of modified vehicles. The visual aesthetic of films such as Mad Max and The Road would have been a huge influence on the game according to the site. And while Metallica fans knew about the canceled game (with some investing in the graphic cards pro gamers use to get ready for it), this month is the first time that actual game play footage has been released. Continue reading →

Nachtmystium Sign With Earache And Prepare To Enter Studio!

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Nachtmystium has signed a new deal with Earache. Recently the independent record label also acquired the majority of the back-catalog of Nachtmystium as well. Earache‘s new deal with Nachtmystium includes the rights to five of the band’s studio albums, four EPs, a demos collection, and a remixes and rarities album which was previously only released on YouTube. Founder and vocalist Blake Judd comments: “I am proud to announce a new cooperation in the lengthy release history of Nachtmystium. I have teamed up with the folks at the legendary, UK-based metal label, Earache Records, to reissue the majority of Nachtmystium‘s back catalog recordings. Earache will also be releasing a brand new compilation LP of unreleased studio tracks, covers and remixes, titled ‘Retox‘. Earache ensures fans that there will be never before seen artwork included and there is something special for the fans that purchase the release(s). In the not so distant past Judd suffered from drug addiction and caused turmoil among his fan base when orders though him were undelivered. Judd adds: “Many people on the internet, understandably due to some issues that occurred in the past that I am very ashamed of, will be quick to jump on me personally and most likely Earache as well for announcing new releases without having directly addressed and taken action regarding the past issues mentioned above.” Judd is now clean and is trying to put the best foot forward and correct his past mistakes. We have not always condoned his actions but will always support his music. Blake writes and composes some of the best black metal ears have ever heard and we are certainly glad he is back doing what he does best.  Continue reading →

Prog Super Group TILT Announces Plans for Vinyl Release of “Hinterland” and New HD Video Edit of “Against the Rain”

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Tilt, one of the best new, Progressive Rock bands out of the UK released their masterpiece, entitled Hinterland on the 30th of June this year to raving reviews including one of our own that can be found here: MN TILT “Hinterland” Review.

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Review: OOLUU ‘Ophus’ [Stream]

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OOLUU was forged from the remains of the band Oompalunatiks. Eric Davindra and Asa Holloh were members of the band and Wychdoktor later joined the band during a lineup change. The three had an unbreakable chemistry that remained standing even after Oompalunatiks ceased to exist. In 2013 they rechristened themselves Ooluu and in December of that same year the band truly found their sound and released their first single and video for “Powder-White”. Since that first single the band’s sound has evolved and progressed exponentially. A few months later in February of 2014 the band released their debut EP ‘Mannequin’. The band continued to compose music for future releases but took a hiatus from live performances to further hone their craft. Ooluu has elements of industrial and alternative metal within their sound. The band recently emerged once again and released their latest album ‘Ophus’ on January 23rd, 2016. Continue reading →