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.

Review: DAMNATION PLAN – ‘Reality Illusion’ [Song Stream]

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Finnish progressive metal band Damnation Plan are here in 2017 to release a masterpiece for the masses. Damnation Plan formed in 2004 in Espoo, Finland. The band released their first EP in 2007, ‘Darker World’. They took a little bit of a hiatus after that but then regrouped in 2011 to begin work on their first full length album. In 2013, that album, ‘The Wakening’, was released on Coroner Records. The lineup of the band has not changed since 2012 and consists of: Tommy Tuovinen doing harsh and clean vocals, Asim Searah also on clean vocals, Antti Lauri and Kalle Niininen on guitars, Jukka Vehkamaa on bass, and Jarkko Lunnas on drums. Starting work on this new record almost two years ago, the time has finally come. Damnation Plan’s second full length album, ‘Reality Illusion’ will be dropping on March 10th 2017 on Inverse Records. The mixing was done by Dan Swanö at Unisound Studios. You can preorder ‘Reality Illusion’ here. Drummer Jarkko Lunnas had this to say about the new release: Continue reading →

Review: EX DEO – ‘The Immortal Wars’

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After what has seemed like forever, Canadian death metal band Ex Deo has returned to bless us with their third full length release, ‘The Immortal Wars’. After releasing ‘Caligvla’ in 2012 with a bit of touring, the band decided it was time for a break in 2014. It was soon being reported that the return of the band was unlikely. Lead singer Maurizio Iacono, Jean-Francois Dagenais, Oli Beaudoin, and Stéphane Barbe went back to their main project in Kataklysm. Also featured in the band is Jonathan Leduc on the keyboards and François Mongrain on the bass guitar. Only a year later in 2015, the band announced that they were to begin work on their follow up. In January of 2016, it was revealed that the band’s next release would be titled ‘The Immortal Wars’. It has been a long road since then, but the time has finally come. On February 24th, 2017, Ex Deo will be releasing the album on Napalm Records. It was produced and mixed by Jens Bogren in Sweden. The Roman themed heavy metal band is prepared to unleash hell. You can preorder the new album here. Continue reading →

Gojira Adds More US Dates w/ Kyng, Deafheaven, and Code Orange

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The almighty French metal band Gojira has just added five more shows to their already large US tour. Two of these shows will feature heavy metal trio Kyng while the other three feature shoegaze black metal band, Deafheaven and hardcore punk band, Code Orange. You can find all the ticket links here. You can find the rest of the US dates below. Continue reading →

State Of The Art: New York – MOON TOOTH

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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 New York! 

Hailing from Long Island, Moon Tooth took the local scene by storm when they formed in 2012. The band has been gaining a ton of national attention in the last two years since putting out their debut EP and first full length LP. The talent of the group has took them across North America with the likes of Intronaut, Entheos, Astronoid, Thank You Scientist, and Toothgrinder. They’ve even opened up for Killswitch Engage, and next month they will open for New York’s own, Candiria. Moon Tooth takes an eclectic amount of inspiration that you will hear in their music and it stands out. They blend in several different sounds but like to be referred to “aggressive progressive”. The four piece creates a chaotic sound that will please fans across different genres. Their unique style of progressive, blues, rock n roll, and just about any subgenre you can think of, provides something to like for any fan of music. Continue reading →

Hiran Deraniyagala Of BATTLECROSS: “Phil Anselmo Is A Big Inspiration To Me”

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Last week on Talk Toomey, our friend Josh Toomey had a chance to interview Battlecross guitarist Hiran Deraniyagala. Josh and Hiran discussed what it was like to be out on the road with Phil Anselmo of Superjoint, including a running joke of creating a A Flock of Seagulls cover band. They also talk about Slayer’s ‘Seasons in the Abyss’, GWAR, who they might cover next, and the future plans of Battlecross. You can stream the full interview below. It begins around the 25 minute mark. Continue reading →

EX DEO Releases New Music Video For “The Roman”

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Canadian death metal band Ex Deo has just released their second song from their upcoming album, ‘The Immortal Wars’, set to release on February 24th on Napalm Records. ‘The Immortal Wars’ will be the band’s third release, following up ‘Caligvla’ (2012). The band then went on a hiatus starting in 2014, making another release unlikely, but they returned in late 2015 to announce they were working on new material. The band has received high praise for their stories of Roman History throughout their discography. Ex Deo had this to say about “The Roman”: Continue reading →

DRAGONFORCE Announces New Album Details

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British power metal band DragonForce has just announced details for their upcoming release on Metal Blade Record. ‘Reaching into Infinity’ will be released in the USA on May 19th; it is the new band’s 7th studio album. The band feels very confident about this album, as it does a great job showing the ferociousness and speed with melody and fun. The record was made across several locations including Fascination Street Studios, Sweden, Lamerluser Studios, (London, UK), Dark Lane Studios (Witney, UK),  and the band’s own studio in Evil1 Studios in Charleville-Mezieres, France and Shredforce One Studios (CA, USA). The record was produced by Jens Bogren. Bass player, Frederic Leclercq has this to say about the album: Continue reading →

Review: KARABAS BARABAS – ‘Return Of The Sexy Demon’ [Song Stream]

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Today we step into the weird, wacky world of Karabas Barabas. The band has managed to create something unlike anything else I’ve ever heard. The alt rock trio combines elements of alternative, psychedelic, and punk rock to make for some epic driving music. ‘Return of the Sexy Demon’ was released last year on December 22nd, 2016 independently. It was recorded and mixed by Steve Albini (Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Neurosis, Helmet, Zao) and mastered by Bob Weston (Sebadoh, June of 44, Polvo). This band from Brooklyn, New York will take you on a strange, trippy journey throughout the 28 minute period of the record. Just sit back and take it all in. Check out their live performance of “Casino Tears” below and see what they had to say about it: “While the Sexy Demon ran amok, the angels whispered in our ear “Let it thunder let it rain, let the buffalo remain”. So we visited the people of standing rock, where we met a great chief, who was 133 years old. He told us his tale, and in turn we wrote “Casino Tears”. Now is the time to stand with the indigenous people of the world, because the demon is out for blood and revenge.” – Karabas Barabas Continue reading →

PHIL ANSELMO Joins BATTLECROSS For “Fucking Hostile” [Video]

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Photo Credit: Cindy Vogel

Last night on the final show of the “Caught Up In The Gears” tour in Pensacola, FL at Vinyl Music Hall, metal fans were treated to something very special. For the final song of Michigan thrash metal band Battlecross, frontman of Superjoint Phil Anselmo joined them for a shredding rendition of his own song from Pantera, “Fucking Hostile”. Video can be viewed  below courtesy of  Horns Up Video Productions. Make sure to follow the bands from the tour on Facebook. Continue reading →

Review: GRAVE DIGGER – ‘Healed By Metal’

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Artwork by Gyula Havancsák

After 36 years of touring and writing new music, Grave Digger is still at it putting out fantastic power metal anthems. Their new album, ‘Healed By Metal’ dropped on January 13th, 2017 on Napalm Records. It is their fourth release with the label and their 18th album overall. ‘Healed By Metal’ lives up to the big expectations following their previous, stellar release, ‘Return of the Reaper’ (2014). This record also features the debut of new keyboardist, Marcus Kniep. The rest of the band remains the same from the last album including Chris “Reaper” Boltendahl on the vocals, Stefan Arnold on drums, Jens Becker on bass, and Axel “Ironfinger” Ritt on the guitars. The German power metal band continues to put out strong material consistently almost every 2 years. You can buy ‘Healed By Metal’ on Amazon  or you can get it on iTunes. Continue reading →