State Of The Art: COSMIC WOOL [Official Videos]

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

Cosmic Wool is straight from the Heartland Of America, Oklahoma City to be exact. The band formed in 2013 by brothers Nevada (Guitars/Backing Vocals) and Larado “Rado” Romo (Lead Vocals/Bass) who both are formerly of the band Anti Mortem and Nevada has been the guitarist for Texas Hippie Coalition since 2016. In 2018 Texas Hippie Coalition bassist and co-founder John Exall parted ways with the band, it was at that time Rado Romo joined his brother in the band and replaced Exall. I believe the Romo brothers being in 2 bands together allows them to constantly keep their chemistry alive and well both on stage and in writing new music. The remaining members of Cosmic Wool are John “Drew” Williams (Guitar/Keyboards) who met the brothers through a mutual friend, and Tom Frizzell (Drums) who responded to an ad by the band seeking a drummer. The band initially like most bands do started out as a jam band. Cosmic Wool was something for the Romo brothers to do with their breaks between tours. With the dissipation of Anti Mortem in 2014 it freed up more time and Cosmic Wool was moved up as a priority. The band first released a 3 track EP ‘Over Your Eyes’. The band tested their sound with local Oklahoma crowds and they seemed to love the direction the band was going in. The next step was to step further out of their region and see if the country was ready for the comforting sounds of Cosmic Wool. In 2016 the band released another EP titled ‘White.’ The band further developed their “cosmic” psychedelic sound and intertwined amazing melodic choruses within their newer songs creating the sound they have today. Cosmic Wool spent the spring of 2015 until the summer of 2017 writing and reworking the songs that would make up their debut full length, working with Chainsaw Kittens guitarist Trent Bell perfecting the sound they were looking for. The band has stated “We met Trent through another producer we’re friends with named Dustin “Provo” Provenzano who did the first Cosmic Wool demos as well as the Anti Mortem demos. Bell Sound is a huge facility,” points out Rado Romo, “so we took full advantage of that and recorded most of the guitar, bass and drum tracks together in the same room. We also experimented with state of the art synths and keyboards to round things out.” The bands sound has been described as various things, space rock, desert rock, psychedelic rock, groove metal, but one thing is for certain; the band has moved out of the hard rock genre and created a sound that is uniquely theirs. The bands debut self titled full length was released on December 19, 2017 and is available at most online music merchandisers. Pick up a copy on Amazon here, or check it out on spotify. Continue reading

HYDE (Vamps) Feels That He Has Become Freer Going Solo! [Video Interview]

Hyde

Hyde is best known as lead vocalist of the rock band L’Arc-en-Ciel as well as the lead vocalist of Vamps. L’Arc-en-Ciel was founded in 1991. From 91′ until 2000 the band released 8 albums. In 2001, the band went on an unofficial hiatus as each of the members began work on solo careers. The band reunited 3 years later and have went on to released another four albums the latest ‘Butterfly’ released in 2012. Vamps was formed in 2008 with Hyde and K.A.Z. (Oblivion Dust, Hide With Spread Beaver). Just a year after forming the band went on an international tour including 10 dates in the U.S.. They have released four studio albums, the last of which was ‘Underworld’ released on April 26, 2017. The band has also released 12 live concert dvds one of which includes an MTV Unplugged performance in 2016. All of the bands singled charted #8 or higher in Japan. Hyde and Vamps have amassed a huge following in Japan and some of that fandom has trickled down into the United States with his fans here being very passionate about his his music. On December 1, 2017, Vamps announced that they were temporarily ceasing all activities; and released the statement “Our engines have overheated and we need some time to cool down. As soon as we are at our best temperature and the time is right for our return, we plan to kick back into action in top gear!” Hyde released his first solo album, Roentgen, on March 27, 2002. An overseas edition featuring English lyrics was released in July the same year. He just released his new solo album ‘Anti,’ his first solo album in 10 years. ‘Anti’ is Hyde’s fifth solo album. Hyde in recent years has made appearances on the American festival circuit with Vamps and also went on a U.S. tour with I Prevail in 2017. Now as a solo act Hyde has been on tour supporting In This Moment and Light The Torch as well as making festival stops at Welcome To Rockville in Jacksonville, Florida and Epicenter Festival in Rockingham, North Carolina as well as a few headline dates in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Boston.

Continue reading

The Bucketlist With AUTOPILOT


*In this series we pose the age old questions to a wide array of music lovers. As fans of music most of us keep a mental list of active bands we want to see live that we haven’t yet seen. The Bucketlist brings to you those lists of your favorite artists and why those bands mean so much to them*


Hey there! It’s been a while since we’ve done one of these and its time to spin the bucketlist wheel again. Yes, bands consists of people like us and they also same the affinity for fellow bands or idols, so to speak. Today, we bring you our brothers from across the border up north. Hailing from Canada, AUTOPILOT has become a staple in the Sasktatoon Indie music scene. Known for their thoughtful lyrics, powerful hooks, dynamic stage show, and obsessive hard work, they somehow seem to effortlessly walk the line between passionate art and massive appeal. Over the course of 3 full-length records, and one EP, they’ve become road warriors, touring relentlessly across Canada and the US.

And today, we host them on our million dollar section of The Bucketlist. We ask them one simple question whose answers begs the metal idols they still haven’t had the privilege to check them out live. Some interesting answers await you, go find out and see if they match any of your idols.

  • METAL NEXUS:  “As a touring band/musician you get the chance to see a lot of bands up close and personal. A luxury not everyone has. A lot of music lovers keep a “Bucketlist” of bands that we want to see perform live. What are the top active bands you would like to see live (in order) and why?

AUTOPILOT:

RADIOHEAD
One of my favourite bands that I’ve never seen live. They are one of the most creative mainstream bands that have been around forever. They are amazing songwriters, but seeing video of their shows doesn’t do it justice. I imagine it would be a mind-altering experience kind of like the experience you have at a Flaming Lips show.

THE STROKES
Who knows if they will get it together long enough to put out another album and tour, but they have been a big influence on our band.

WILCO
One of my favourite albums is Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Our bass player, Jordan, saw Wilco a few years back in Chicago. I’m still hearing about how amazing the show was.

MARK LANEGAN
Perhaps the most under-rated musician that came out of the whole Seattle thing. After hearing him with Queens of the Stone Age and his album Bubblegum, I’ve always wanted to see him live. He puts out albums every few years still and we were too young to even know about the Screaming Trees at that time.

Meanwhile, the band has released the official music video for their single, “Undisguised.” Directed by Kevin Van Witt, “Undisguised” is off of the band’s latest album, ‘Afterglow. Go check that out down below.

Review: KRANE – ‘Pleonexia’ [Album Stream]

    

Swiss Metal act KRANE bring instrumental darkness across their 2017 sophomore effort, ‘Pleonexia.’ Combining elements of droning guitar efforts and driving drum rhythms to compile towards a sound that is both unique and dark all together, it’s a hopeful ambition that KRANE continue to make music that fulfills listening pleasure to fans across the world apart from their Russian home audience. Deriving elements from their three members styles to incorporate and eerie sound unlike most things that many bands in their genre can achieve, while thus continuing their efforts from their first release in 2013, it’s no secret as to how simply talented these guys are just by simply listening to the music. Continue reading

LOUDER THAN LIFE 2019 Full Lineup Announcement & Preview!

Louder Than Life is back with yet another star studded lineup after being forced to cancel the festival in 2018 due to flooding at Champions Park, which also caused the Bourbon & Beyond Festival to cancel the final day of that festival as well. The flooding caused immense damage to the festival grounds so the team at Danny Wimmer Presents and the city of Louisville found a new home for not only Louder Than Life and Bourbon & Beyond but also the new country music festival Hometown Rising. The new home for the 3 consecutive weekends of music and spirits will be held at the Highland Festival Grounds At the Kentucky Expo Center. Keyword being “Highland,” so the rains won’t stop us in 2019. Just a week ago it was leaked and then announced that one of the worlds most popular bands Guns N’ Roses would be headlining the festival. That band alone is enough to have Loudmouths already packing their bags in anticipation to head to Louisville or should we say “Paradise City.” Continue reading

Review: JOYOUS WOLF – ‘Place In Time’ EP [Songs Streaming]

Photo Credit: Steve Thrasher


The present and the future is bright for Southern California’s rockers, Joyous Wolf. Since forming the band in 2014, they have been wowing audiences with their refreshing brand of bluesy, modern-style, classic hard rock sound and electrifying live performances. A huge part of that onstage electricity is powered by lead vocalist Nick Reese who impressively channels his inner James Brown and Jim Morrison as he shakes and shimmies like a bonafide old soul frontman – ladies beware. Throw in some jumps, a flip, and a few splits that would make David Lee Roth stand up and take notice, a tremendous voice that are equal parts Eddie Vedder, Bob Seger, and Robert Plant, and you have one dynamically entertaining individual in Reese. Continue reading

Review: THUNDERBIRD – ‘S/T’ [Songs Streaming]

Coming fully loaded with heavy artillery of rock, Thunderbird is back with a brand new album. After the success of 2016’s ‘Heavyweight,’ Thunderbird has spent the last two years recording another face melting album. The band showcases Marc Lafrance on vocals, Rob Becker on bass, Kelly Stodola on drums, and Brice Tabish replacing Rod Coogan on guitars due to other commitments. The bands self-titled album, ‘Thunderbird’ is a throwback to the classic days of rock. Thunderbird will be available everywhere digitally April 25, 2019. Continue reading

Exclusive Video Premiere: SOAWARE – “We Shall Be One”

Good day peeps! Today we bring to you an exclusive music video premiere from all the way across the shores of Italy. SOAWARE an alternative rock/electro rock duo is prepping up for the release of their all new upcoming self titled studio album. In celebration of the record release, the Italian duo has decided to unveil their debut single, “We Shall Be One“, which we are super glad to be helping them officially premiere it.

Continue reading

ANDY BLACK (Black Veil Brides) Still Launching Solo Tour Despite Emergency Appendectomy

 

Talk about the show must go on: despite suffering a ruptured appendix that required emergency surgery last Friday, singer-songwriter ANDY BLACK (aka Andy Biersack vocalist of Black Veil Brides) is moving forward with his Ghost of North America Tour, which kicks off April 7th at Ace of Spades in Sacramento, CA. Continue reading

Exclusive: POETIC DECENT Release “Pariah” Official Video Featuring Joel Holycross!

 

Poetic Descent is an Alt Metal band founded in 2018 in Dayton, Ohio featuring former members of Mayfly. Poetic Decent is the duo of Jared Lacey (vocals, guitar, bass) and Adam Thompson (drums). The pair entered Darkroom Recording Studio (Piqua, OH) to record six songs with Justin Moore shortly after Mayfly announced its end in March of 2017. Their music blends a lot of different elements that allows them to truly stand out. Poetic Descent isn’t your run of the mill Alternative metal band. Adam Thompson’s drumming often shows flashes of punk, thrash, rock, and hardcore influences. The same really goes for Jared Lacey’s vocal approach in the band as well. While he has a more melodic singing voice at times he can instantly belt out some harsh screams that immediately garners your attention.

Lyrically, his songs touch on topics such as the existence of God, addiction, his mother’s death, domestic abuse, martyrdom and homosexuality. These songs were released as singles online on all major streaming and download sites starting in March of 2018 with the final song being released in June of 2018. Since then, their debut single, “Close Encounter,” has had much success on the radio. In November of 2018, the duo re-entered the studio with Jake Bryant (former guitarist for Dangerkids) and Shaun O’Shaughnessy (Encore Recording Studios in Dayton, OH) to record a new single titled “Pariah” which the the band recently released the audio for. Today the band is releasing an accompanying video to go with the track which also includes guest vocals from Joel Holycross who was also previously a member of Mayfly with Jared and Adam. The video was directed by Jake Wisecup of Wiseup Entertainment.

 

Continue reading