Author Archives: Low Gain

About Low Gain

I'm just a teenager, living in Southern Illinois, that loves music in general. I love attending festivals as it feels like everyone comes together as a giant family. I also look forward to hearing new music and passing it onto the masses. In my free time I play guitar, basketball, and attend high school.

Chicago Open Air Spotlight: DRAGONFORCE [New Song Streams]

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*Every Thursday from now until Chicago Open Air gets here we will be releasing an article about a band playing the festival to get you familiar with them.*

This week’s artist is DragonForce.

On Saturday, July 15th, these power/speed metal legends will be taking the Chicago Open Air stage for their first Danny Wimmer Presents festival. Like many from the States, I became familiar with DragonForce sitting at home as a kid playing their songs on Guitar Hero like “Through the Fire and the Flames” and “Fury of the Storm”. They’ve produced epic material consistently with symphonic elements while Herman Li is shredding at the speed of the light. There is also something in their sound that makes you think of old school video games tunes (some have even referred to them as “Nintendo Metal”). The band has went through several lineup changes since forming in 1999 but original guitarists Herman Li and Sam Totman still remain a part of the group. DragonForce is releasing a new album titled ‘Reaching Into Infinity’ this year and details can be found about it here. You can stream two tracks off of it below right now! Continue reading →

An Interview With Dan Briggs of BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME

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I just recently had the chance to interview bassist/keyboardist Dan Briggs of Between the Buried and Me, Orbs, Trioscapes, and Nova Collective. This is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time as BtBaM are one of my favorite bands in the progressive genre. Briggs gives us the scoop on what to expect to see on the upcoming ‘Coma Ecliptic Live’ DVD, what we might hear on the next album, playing ‘Colors’ again later on this year, his new project titled Nova Collective and more. The ‘Coma Ecliptic Live’ DVD will be released via Metal Blade Records and Good Fight Entertainment on April 28th. You can pre-order it here. Continue reading →

Chicago Open Air Spotlight: PIG DESTROYER

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*Every Thursday from now until Chicago Open Air gets here we will be releasing an article about a band playing the festival to get you familiar with them.*

This week’s artist is Pig Destroyer.

On Saturday, July 15th, one of the heaviest bands on the planet is set to take the stage at Chicago Open Air in Bridgeview, IL. Pig Destroyer is a deathgrind five-piece hailing from the city of Alexandria, VA that was formed around 20 years ago by J.R. Hayes and the legendary Scott Hull. The music consists of a high mix of brutality and ferocity sure to annihilate anyone in its path. There are highly disturbing lyrics sure to appeal to any horror lover as the band blasts through a ton of songs on each record (there are 23 tracks on ‘Prowler in the Yard’ in under 40 minutes). Continue reading →

Review: HARLOTT – ‘Extinction’ [Song Stream]

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Sounding like something straight out of the 80s thrash era, Melbourne band Harlott have produced yet another incredible record. There are not many thrash bands in any era of the genre that match up with the ferocity that these guys bring. There is no mixing in different genres, it’s just straight in-your-face, kick ass speed/thrash metal! The band formed in 2006 and has released 2 EPs and 2 full length albums aside from this new album. Harlott began writing for ‘Extinction’ last year in 2016 after coming off a tour with Annihilation in Europe. The end result is yet another contender for album of the year as the superfluous amount of shredding fills your ears. Prepare for 51 minutes of intrepid, ravishing heavy pleasure. ‘Extinction’ is Harlott‘s third studio album and was recorded at Monolith Studios and mastered by the legendary Jens Bogren (Opeth, Paradise Lost, Sepultura). The record drops this week on April 7th via Metal Blade Records and you can pre-order it here. Continue reading →

Review: WARBRINGER – ‘Woe to the Vanquished’ [Song Stream]

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This week in metal, highly praised thrash band Warbringer released their fifth full length album, ‘Woe to the Vanquished’. This was the quintet’s first release not on Century Media Records, instead they partnered with Napalm Records. This record debuts two new members (Jessie Sanchez on bass and Chase Becker on guitar) and it is the first Warbringer album without founding member John Laux. The 8 tracks leave no room for filler and kick your ass throughout the duration. You can buy ‘Woe to the Vanquished’ here. Continue reading →

Chicago Open Air Spotlight: Night Verses

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*Every Thursday from now until Chicago Open Air gets here we will be releasing an article about a band playing the festival to get you familiar with them.*

This week’s artist is Night Verses.

On Saturday, July 15th, California/New York band Night Verses will be bringing their strange, varied sound to Chicago Open Air at Toyota Park. They formed in 2012 in Los Angeles when vocalist Douglas Robinson (The Sleeping) asked to collaborate with trio The Sound Archives. Later that year, they self-released their debut EP titled ‘Out of the Sky’. The quartet exhibits their wide range of influence extremely well in their releases. They are most prevalent in the post rock, alt metal, mathcore, and experimental categories. Night Verses carries an utterly dark, melodic sound that should make for a high intensity show not to be forgotten. Continue reading →

Danny Wimmer Presents Premieres Driven: An Exclusive Interview With Korn [Video]

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Korn at Chicago Open Air 2016

Via Danny Wimmer Presents, nu metal band Korn talks about what drives them in why they love playing music. Vocalist Jonathan Davis and guitarist James “Munky” Shaffer discuss some of their inspirations and how much the crowd means to them at shows. You can view the video below. Korn will be performing at Carolina Rebellion on May 6th, Rock on the Range on May 20th, and Chicago Open Air on July 15th. It was also just announced today that Korn will be opening for Rammstein alongside Stone Sour in Las Vegas on July 1st at the T-Mobile Arena. The show is also being presented by DWP and tickets go on sale Friday, March 31st. Be sure to follow the band on Facebook for tour updates and Danny Wimmer Presents for more exclusive content.

What Drives You?

Chicago Open Air Spotlight: WHORES.

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*Every Thursday from now until Chicago Open Air gets here we will be releasing an article about a band playing the festival to get you familiar with them.*

This week’s artist is Whores.

On Sunday July 16th, noise rock band Whores will be bringing their raw, massive sound to Chicago Open Air at Toyota Park. The trio formed in 2010 in Atlanta, Georgia and released their first EP, ‘Ruiner’ in 2011 via Brutal Panda Records. Following this, Whores released their second EP in 2013 titled ‘Clean’. It was produced by Ryan Boesch, who has worked with various bands like Helmet, The Foo Fighters, and Norma Jean (who is also playing Chicago Open Air). Last year, the band switched labels to eOne Music and released their first full length album, ‘Gold’. The record received a enormous amount of recognition from different websites and magazines like Rolling Stone, Invisible Oranges, and Metal Insider. The band delivers a loud, garage heavy sound that has caught the eye of several people. Continue reading →

TREVOR PERES of OBITUARY: “When We Used The Name Obituary, We Couldn’t Believe Nobody Used It Yet”

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Photo Credit: Grzegorz Furlaga

Last week on Talk Toomey Podcast, Josh Toomey interviewed Obituary guitarist Trevor Peres. Trevor and Josh discuss adapting to the digital age, why they went with a self-titled album for the new release, other great Florida death metal bands, working at Morrisound Studios with Scott Burns and the story behind their 1994 music video, “Don’t Care”. The interview starts at around the 20 minute mark and can be streamed below. Also check out Obituary‘s newly released video for “Ten Thousand Ways To Die” below. ‘Obituary’ is available everywhere now. Continue reading →

Review: MEMORIAM – ‘For The Fallen’

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Following the death of drummer Martin “Kiddie” Kearns, old school death metal band Bolt Thrower came to its end in 2016. A few weeks later, Frank Healy’s (Benediction) father passed away. Since then, Bolt Thrower vocalist Karl Willets and Healy have joined forces to create a new project featuring members of Benediction, Life Denied, and Bolt Thrower. Memoriam is in a similar vein to Bolt Thrower boasting their brutal death metal sound and super heavy guitar tone. Their main focuses in their songs are on themes like death, loss, and war. The UK band formed in 2016 and has since released two demos. The first full length album, ‘For the Fallen’ is set to be released via Nuclear Blast Records on March 24th. The album was recorded in about two weeks at Hellfire Studios but took four weeks to get the mix finished exactly as they wanted it done. ‘For the Fallen’ was produced by Ajeet Gill (Hellbastard, Dark Forest, Element) and artwork was created by Dan Seagrave (Benediction, Dismember, Hypocrisy, Suffocation). You can pre-order the album here.    Continue reading →