Review: Hateure – Body & Soil

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Doom and sludge music usually has ties to the South. Something about our lifestyle and relaxed slow paced lives always churned out some of the slowest sludge around. There is a new destination in sludge. Pateros, Philippines is the home of sludge masters Hateure. The band actually started out as a progressive style metal band in 2007. They Released two albums in that vein of music (Makabagong Anyo ng Galit, 2010 and A Lustrous Danseur, 2013). It wasn’t long after that the band started to morph and change their sound. Eventually evolving into a doom/sludge/post metal band. They have released their new EP on July 13th, 2015 called “Body and Soil” and are in the process of finishing a full length album to release by the end of the year or early 2016. The EP currently out is 3 tracks, but it is more than enough music to let you know the direction this band is headed. Let me go ahead and tell you now that these guys aren’t playing around, they have found their true sound with sludge/doom and they will soon be climbing to the top of every metalheads favorite bands. The EP was mixed and mastered by guitarist Ronnel Vivo. The first track of the EP is an instrumental. I may be a little impatient but I couldn’t wait for the vocals to chime in even though the instrumental song and title track “Body & Soil” really is true to the sludge sound we all know. Track 2 “Reptilian Blues” is where we really get to business. The song spanning almost 12 glorious minutes is like music from a demented song bird to my ears. (That is a compliment by the way). The guitar work starts the song and these deep chords bellow out so low I can feel the vibrations in my chest. Suddenly we hear the might roar of singer Earl Palma and it was well worth the wait. He holds his own when it comes to comparing him to other sludge vocal legends. The guitar work is a perfect example of sludge, but it also has these groove based tones in it as well giving the track a feel that is truly the Hateure sound. One thing that is surprising is the sound they are able to get with just the one guitarist. The bassist Genesis Trinidad helps set pace in tandem with the solid rhythmic drum beats by Ronaldo Vivo Jr. The band as a whole is a group of musicians that have an amazing chemistry together. The EP is a great teaser for what we can expect in a full length. Anyone that even remotely likes Sludge or doom needs to give these guys a listen because you will become a fan instantly.

Artwork by Ronaldo S. Vivo Jr.

Body & Soil Tracklisting:

1 – Body & Soil
2 – Reptilian Blues
3 – Koleoptera

You can hear and buy the EP on Bandcamp.

Follow the band on Facebook.

Here is a video of them from Sinfest performing the first 2 tracks from the new EP Body & Soil.

Bonehawk!

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

This month’s state is Michigan!

The newly discovered beast called Bonehawk has escaped the confinement of the zoo. By zoo I mean Kalamazoo, Michigan. They are somewhat of a new band releasing their debut album in October of last year (2014) called “Albino Rhino”. One thing albino indicates is a rarity and that is what Bonehawk is. Every song has this simple yet complex arrangement. The first song I heard was ” Desert Sun” and I was hooked. I listened to it maybe 3 times before I moved on to another song. Vocalist Matt Helt sings with this overwhelming authority. It demands your attention but he makes it seem so natural at the same time. This is one of those bands that makes you want to kick your own ass for not knowing about them sooner. They released the debut album through Hornacious Wax Records, and it was recorded with Jim Diamond at Ghetto Recorders in Detroit, Michigan. You may be familiar with Jim Diamond as he worked with The White Stripes on their first two albums.

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Bonehawk is a band that everyone should give a chance, I promise you will not be let down. They have this vibe and sound that crosses barriers from rock to metal to psychedelic and blues. The guitar harmonies just bring everything together. The vocal style has this sense of calmness to it that is hard to explain. Songs like “Sexy Beast” are perfect examples of how everything can come together in a song. I am not normally a fan of instrumental songs. However, the title track “Albino Rhino” may have changed my mind. When you don’t include vocals in a song you really have to bring something special and they have done just that. The song immediately grabs your attention with these Sabbath like bass licks leading into the song.  Then the riffs kick in. The song is able to stand alone without lyrics, and that is a hard thing to do. We are hoping to catch these guys on the road soon if they come within a three state radius of us we will be there. We can’t wait to hear more of what they have to offer and I’m sure once you listen to them you will feel the same way.

Follow these guys on Facebook here! You can check them out on Bandcamp and buy the album here!

Review: Lynch Mob “Rebel”. [New Song “War” Streaming.]

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The namesake of the catchy hard rockin’ riff filled band Lynch Mob comes from none other than Dokken guitarist George Lynch. The band is releasing the new album entitled “Rebel” on August 21st via Frontier Music. You also have Oni Logan at the helm with his powerful vocal style that has become the voice of Lynch Mob. George has made several appearances on Vh1 Classic’s That Metal Show as a guest musician. He wowed the audience with his guitar work, which helped him attain a new generation of fans. The rest of the band is rounded out with Jeff Pilson (ex-Dokken, Foreigner, Dio) on bass and Brian Tichy (ex-Whitesnake, Ozzy Osbourne) on drums.

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“Rebel” track listing:

01. Automatic Fix
02. Between The Truth And A Lie
03. Testify
04. Sanctuary
05. Pine Tree Avenue
06. Jelly Roll
07. Dirty Money
08. The Hollow Queen
09. The Ledge
10. Kingdon Of Slaves
11. War

George Lynch of course spent a lot of time in hair metal bands throughout the 80’s. There may be some expectations for this album to have some hair metal elements. Let me tell you now, this is not a hair metal album. This album through and through is a melodic hard rock masterpiece. The track ” Testify” will put you into a groove induced coma. The lyrics can hit home with most anyone and will have you singing along instantly. One of the standout tracks on the album is “Pine Tree Avenue”. This track is a blues crazed fast paced anthem. Oni sings ” when we lit the fuse” and it breaks into the riff and cymbal crashes, then later slows down the pace just to hear George tickle the strings with some intricate guitar work. Moving on to the song “Jelly Roll”, it has this melodic harmony that makes the hair stand up on your arms and reminds you of Alice In Chains. All the fat has been trimmed from this song, its the purest form of what Lynch Mob dominate at; hard nosed rock n roll.

Lynch Mob is currently on tour, make sure to go see them on the road. We will be seeing them in the great mountain town of Whitesburg, Kentucky on August 7th with Pikeville, Kentucky’s hometown metal heroes in Downtrend. (www.downtrendmetal.com).

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They also new song “War” today which is available for streaming.

You can keep up with everything Lynch Mob at the following links:

Facebook

Frontiers Music

Highway To Jail: AC/DC Drummer Phil Rudd Sentenced

(Photo by Joel Ford/Getty Images)

(Photo by Joel Ford/Getty Images)

Phil Rudd was in Tauranga District Court in New Zealand on Thursday (July 9). The report by Stuff explains that the rock drummer pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis and methamphetamine and one charge of making a threat to kill. Of course, it is important to remember that different countries, and their states, have different laws when it comes to possession of cannabis. For example, the Arkansas cannabis laws explain that medical marijuana is legal for qualified patients who have been registered with the Arkansas Department of Health, whereas possession of recreational cannabis is strictly prohibited. This is an occurrence in many states due to recreational use being frowned upon as it can sometimes be used recklessly, however medical cannabis is acknowledged to be an important medication for many illnesses. Skin, gut health and immune boosting to name a few. Which is why you can access things like a CBD oil private label supplement drop ship from manufacturer straight to your door. This easy access in so many different areas is the reason more common issues like acne and general ill health are able to be cured or soothed with the use of these products. Of course if the cannabinoid compounds such as CBD (Cannabidiol) then CBD products such as you can find a code here for, can actually be found to be legal or decriminalized in many states, as well as countries across the world. This may mean that a similar level of punishment will have been enforced if the act was carried out there, unless they had been finding cannabis seeds and using them for medical purposes. But as this happened in New Zealand, Rudd’s punishment will be left in their hands. He had been out on bail. The judge advised Rudd if he didn’t comply with the sentencing there would be further punishment. Rudd was sentenced to 8 months of in-home incarceration. Of course, it could be much worse. Being a prisoner in your own home isn’t great but its much better than being in a New Zealand jail. One reason for the ruling is most likely because of Mr. Rudd’s status as a rock icon would make it much harder to house him and he would have to be segregated from the prison population. It’s much safer and cost-efficient for Rudd to spend his 240 days at home.

Currently his bandmates in AC/DC aren’t speaking to Rudd and earlier this year at their Grammy performance drummer Chris Slade took Phil’s place behind the drum kit. The band is currently on their The Rock Or Bust World Tour and are playing tonight (July 9th) in Imola, Italy. Slade has been the drummer on the tour as well. Also to note that Malcolm Young is currently out of the line-up with his illness and may never return to the band. Stevie Young is taking Malcolm’s place at guitar. Stevie is Malcolm and Angus’s nephew. The tour ends on July 25th in Warsaw, Poland. They have referred to this set of dates as the first “round” of dates, so you may expect more dates to come.

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Clutch Release Album Art & Track Listing For Upcoming Release

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Clutch is known as one of the hardest working bands in the business. The Maryland based group has announced their next masterpiece titled “Psychic Warfare”. Mark your calendar for an October 2nd release date. The band is releasing the album on their own label Weathermaker Music. The label was formed in  formed in June of 2008. The label mostly consists of Clutch side projects like The Company Band, and The Bakerton Group. Outside of Clutch they have their managers legendary band The Mob, and groove rockers Lionize. The band is very well known for putting on an amazing show and always having great caliber bands on the bill with them. Clutch has already released 10 studio albums, and the material continues to impress. The new album will have alot of shoes to fill in comparison to the last hit album they released “Earth Rocker”.

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Album Art by: Dan Winters

 

“Psychic Warfare” track listing:

01. The Affidavit
02. X-Ray Visions
03. Firebirds
04. A Quick Death In Texas
05. Sucker For The Witch
06. Your Love Is Incarceration
07. Doom Saloon
08. Our Lady Of Electric Light
09. Noble Savage Clutch
10. Behold The Colossus
11. Decapitation Blues
12. Son Of Virginia

 

 

You can follow Clutch at the following links:

Facebook

Twitter

Weathermaker Music

 

Interview with “We Are The Riot” guitarist Cheyne Fritts!

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We had the honor of catching up with “We Are The Riot” guitarist and co-founder Cheyne Fritts. The band has released a demo along with a hard hitting single and music video for “It’s Not What You Wanted.” The band includes two members of Coal Chamber, guitarist Meegs Rascon, and drummer Mikal Cox. The band was formed in 2010 and was the first time Meegs and Mikal had played together since the Coal Chamber split in 2003. The material released so far is a fresh new sound that will appeal to a wide range of audiences. In a recent interview on Bods Mayhem Hour, Mikal referred to We Are The Riot as a “baby band”. Even though the band released material a year ago they are still considered a “newborn” in the music world. The band has all the right pieces and is in the writing process of capturing what will eventually become an album I’m sure we will all grow to love.

 

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Cheyne Fritts

Metal Nexus: You and Meegs formed We Are The Riot in 2010, Did you have a specific sound in mind when you first started?

Cheyne : Not really. We just wanted to have fun and not have any rules. Our only rule was that there were no rules. No idea could be shot down unless we tried it. We try and stick to that as much as we can. I don’t give a shit if one of the guys wants to play a flute in a song as long as it sounds good.

Metal Nexus: The Hollywood Demos was released in 2014, as well as the video for “Not What You Wanted”, How did that material go over with everyone?

Cheyne : I think it did ok. We only really put that out so that we could have something to give away and sell when we went on tour with Wayne Static. We have been hard at work with new material recently.

MN: You have recently been working on new music, When can we expect a debut album?

Cheyne: I really have no idea. We are just trying to write as much as we can right now . I’m hoping to have at least 20 good songs to choose from for an album. We will definitely have more of a idea of a timeline in the next few months. Sometimes our writing process feels like we are taking as long as Tool . Sorry.

MN: Do you have a title in mind for the album or know who might produce it?

Cheyne: As far as a album title; I think I’d like Jimmy to come up with one after we finish it. He might have a certain direction he wants to go with as far as lyrics. Who knows. We have worked on a couple of songs with Ulrich Wild and I think we might be sticking with him. He has a pretty awesome group of artists and bands that he has worked with, and he’s just a really cool guy.

MN: One of the last tours you went on was the Static-X “Wisconsin Death Trip Tour” celebrating 15th anniversary of that release. The tour ended in June and Wayne passed away around 5 months later, was that something hard to handle after being on tour with him so recently?

Cheyne: I didn’t get to know him as well as Mikey, Meegs and Andy but it definitely came to everyone as a surprise. It always sucks to loose a close friend to addiction or accidents.

MN: What is the earliest we can expect a tour from you guys? And will you be making it to the east coast as well?

Cheyne: There are no plans for tour right now. We are looking for booking agents for the near future. So those things will come when we find the right one. Trust me; we want to go EVERYWHERE!!

MN: If you had to describe how We Are The Riot sounds to someone that hasn’t heard you guys before how would you describe it to them?

Cheyne: Maybe If Helmet had a bastard child with Deftones but was raised by Bring Me The Horizon and The Cure.

The satisfaction of knowing the debut album will not take as long as the new Tool album is a great piece of information. We are looking forward to hearing the new material and have our fingers crossed it doesn’t include a a flute player. Make sure to follow these guys as they put alot of hard work into their writing process. You can purchase “The Hollywood Demos” via iTunes here. You can keep up with them on social media through Facebook, Twitter, or their website http://www.wearetheriot.info/ We would like to thank Cheyne for the interview, we know he is a busy guy and we are very gracious for his time.

Audiotopsy Release Album Art, Track Listing & Debut Song [Streaming]

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The band comprised of several hard hitting late 90’s early 2000’s bands known as Audiotopsy has released the first taste of what we can expect from their forthcoming album entitled “Natural Causes”. The album will be released via Napalm Records on August 28th. The members of the band are guitarist Greg Tribbet formerly of Mudvayne and Hellyeah, ex-Skrape vocalist Billy Keeton, Matt McDonough former drummer of Mudvayne and bassist Perry Stern. The album was self-produced by the band at The Porch Studio in Orlando. The band is planning an extensive debut tour which should coincide with the album release. Below you can hear the new track “Headshot”, go ahead get our ears full…

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Natural Causes Track Listing:
1. Headshot
2. All We Know
3. LYLAB
4. The Calling
5. H2O (Interlude)
6. Swim
7. Disguise Your Devils
8. Burn the Sky
9. Distorted
10. Darken the Rainbow
11. Frozen Scars
12. Natural Causes (Outro)

Follow Audiotopsy:

Facebook

Twitter

You can pre-order the album here.

Blue Snaggletooth [Video]

 

 

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*This is part of our State Of The Arts series, showcasing bands every Monday from the state of the month*

The month’s state is Michigan!

Everyone has memories of the old days. The band Blue Snaggletooth reminds me of the last day of high school. They are that band that makes you want to roll your windows down and crank that shit as loud as possible. They are from present day Michigan, but sound more like they are from the 70’s. They are this big mesh of psychedelic classic rock and fuzzed out heavy metal. Most of the lyrical content of the band is “far out”. They have quite the sci-fi theme, even down to their name. The band is named after an obscure character in the Star Wars universe. Lead singer and guitarist Chris Taylor was previously in the bands Mazinga, and Powertrane. Chris formed the band in 2009 and he is the sole original member of the band. They currently have two albums out. The debut album “Dimension Thule” that was released in 2011. They then spent some time playing shows around Michigan and quickly built a fan base. They have this sound that makes listeners both young and old love them. Songs like “Star Flight” from the debut album are throwbacks to the early 70’s. The songs are so clean and classic, but it still has that grunge and grit that makes it stand out. The second and most recent release is entitled “Beyond Thule”. It came out in November 2014. There has been some progression from the rookie release, but it’s still that mash up of great sounds that they have truly honed and made their own. Its bands like this that prove continuously over and over that rock and roll is still alive and kicking ass. Gene Simmons (Kiss) famously said months ago that rock n roll was dead, if he would take the time to listen to bands like this he would be eating his words. Music is no longer the lazy man’s game, you have to search for the really good stuff. The harder they are to find the greater the reward. Blue Snaggletooth is currently in the process of booking an upcoming tour. Tell your local venue they need to book these guys… Give these guys a listen and bang your head to the sweet reward!


Keep up with Blue Snaggletooth!

Facebook

Twitter

Bandcamp

YouTube

http://www.bluesnaggletoothmusic.com/

Savi0r Invulnerability EP – Review [Video]

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Savi0r was a project created and founded by Adam V. Jones in 1997. He has since then added two other great musicians into the mix and formed this superior trio. The sound they have is like a melting pot of genres, just like city they hail from Los Angeles. The new three track EP “Invulnerability” was released in April. It brings together so many different elements, yet it works so well together. The album has an overall industrial feel musically that would remind you of Nine Inch Nails or Rammestein. The haunting yet melodic vocals by Adam Jones are what melds everything together. The song “Interlopers” starts out and just screams metal in your face, and before you realize it you are singing along to the song. Just like that throwback jam from the 80’s you like so much this song quickly has you head banging and moving around. The vocals change some on this track back and forth. He brings a sense of grit to his tone that brings out the metal edge in the song and then right back to those melodic sing along like lyrics. A video was just released for the track “Lead” which showcases some dark and eerie imagery which go hand in hand with the song. “Lead” is the stand out track on the EP, but the others aren’t very far behind. Each song features a somewhat different tone. Elements from metal, industrial, techno, alternative, synth, and black metal all seem to slither their way into each song. If you are a fan of Orgy or Skinny Puppy there is no doubt you will love this band and this EP, but they truly include something for everyone.

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Video Directed by: Anabel DFlux

Follow Savi0r:

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Bandcamp

http://www.savi0r.net/

 

Ash of Cedars: Debut Album – Review

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Ash of Cedars is a new band in a sense, based out of the Natural State; Arkansas. The members of this band are by no means new to the scene. They have a self-titled release that will only come in two mediums. Cassette tape and digital download. The sound they create in this debut release is an ambiance of sounds. The only way to describe it is “gadarene”. If you are wondering it means to engage in a headlong or potentially disastrous rush to do something. As each track plays through it gives you this overwhelming need to break things. At times like in the track “Anti Life Venom” the vocals move to the background and the music takes the center stage, and then they change positions letting the gut wrenching screams of CT aka Chris Terry whom you may know as the voice of Rwake. Surprisingly the next song “I’m Not Done” slows things down to almost a stand still. It’s the song that would be playing at a crusty gothic black metal prom. The instruments combine and make this singular orchestrated piece that you could really refer to as a black metal ballad. The band is comprised of veterans of metal professionals. Guitarist Dustin Weedle was in the Little Rock based band Snakedriver. Jeremy “Skullcrusher” Partin was the bassist for the amazing must hear death metal outfit Vore that celebrated their 20 year anniversary last year. Drummer Tino LoSicco is non-Arkansas native hailing from Memphis, TN and comes from the band Epoch of Unlight where his drumming is very well showcased. Of course then you have CT and Jeff Morgan of Rwake.

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The album has 5 tracks in total, 3 on side A and 2 on side B if you happen to pick up the cassette. “Mother Satan Bright” is the eerie B side track that really has this racing rhythmic tone that tranquilizes you. The 5 tracks are raw, unfiltered just as they should be. The little hints of feedback and drone noise just add to everything that you will come to know by Ash of Cedars. The album is being released by Handshake Inc, who is amazing and has a great love for underground music. The digital release of the album is available July 4th, and the cassette will ship around July 15th if you chose to go the route. Make sure to pick a copy up and support hard working musicians. Order here!

Follow Ash of Cedars on Facebook.

*More to come soon on the documentary A Dead Bee Makes No Honey, directed by CT.