*This is a part of our State Of The Art series, showcasing bands every Monday from the featured State*
This month’s state is Arizona!
Hello hell raisers! Welcome back to another weekly segment of State Of The Art series where every week we go a bit heavy metal Santa Claus and shower some much deserved spotlight to the lesser known and underground bands who already are wrecking shit up at you local town or city. Monday can be asphyxiating and SOTA is your caffeine to start off your week. If you love digging up new bands and are always on the run trying to hit the gold, this segment is totally yours. Last month I highlighted SUPPRESSIVE FIRE, a thrash band from Raleigh NC, which you can check it out HERE. Today, this Monday, we present to you another thrash metal quartet who are taking giant strides in the underground circuit. Okay, you might be thinking, “does this bloke know anything other than thrash?” Well, I know, but thrash is where my heart is and I mean come on who doesn’t like thrash metal. So coming back to the artist, welcome the old school, fast and furious WARHEAD from Phoenix, Arizona!
*In this segment we put guitarists and bassists from every metal genre you could imagine in the spotlight!*
Welcome to the second guitarist that I will talk to you about today from our brand new segment Kings Of Strings, this will be a weekly segment that I will put out for you guys every Saturday. It main purpose will be to put the spotlight on a bassist or guitar player from every metal genre you could think of. Last week was about Jared Dines from Rest, Repose, check it out HERE, but this week will be all about Rob Scallon!
Comments Off on Chicago Open Air Spotlight: CLUTCH
*Every Tuesday and 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.*
Today’s artist is Clutch.
This Saturday, Maryland rockers Clutch are bringing a barrage of fantastic music to Chicago Open Air. The quartet will be headlining the BlackCraft Stage at 7:20. Personally, I’m looking forward to these guys as much as anyone else playing at the fest. They have released 11 albums and every single one of them kick ass. The pure rock fury that they deliver is unlike anything I’ve ever heard. Neil Fallon has the perfect voice for a mix of blues and rock and roll and is one of the most unique vocalists I’ve heard. Tim Sult overloads our minds with extremely catchy riffs that make for fun jam sessions. Check out our interview with Tim at the Louder Than Life festival last year here. Jean-Paul Gaster is severely underrated on the drums. To fully appreciate Gaster, I recommend checking out his work in The Bakerton Group. The Bakerton Group is literally all four members of Clutch except it’s an instrumental band instead. Dan Maines also drives several grooves of the band on the bass. His work is especially strong on their debut record ‘Transnational Speedway League’ on songs like “A Shogun Named Marcus” and “El Jefe Speaks”. Continue reading →
*This is a part of our State Of The Art series, showcasing bands every Monday from the featured State*
This month’s State is Arizona!
Ded is one of the best upcoming Nu-Metal bands from the state. While listening you will instantly recognize some of the greatest parts about Nu-Metal with some insanely good additions. They make you want to start your own damn pit in your living room, that is how crazy good they are. I have only found out about them recently yet I have already fallen in love with their sound. Vocalist Joe Cotela is inhuman, his screams have the same feeling to them that a lot of older bands had that just started out with a bunch of agression. That isn’t all, the guitar work of David Ludlow is everything you are looking for in a Nu-Metal riff. It sounds raw and it has clear influences on a lot of other great Nu-Metal bands that are out there. Bassist Kyle Koelsch fits his role perfectly, the bass in the mix of their 3 songs is just right. It doesn’t dominate and it also doesn’t disappear in thin air. All these musicians are talented but a band wouldn’t be anything without an energetic drummer, that is where Matt reinhard jumps in. Luckily for us they have already released 3 songs from their upcoming debut album ‘Mis•An•Thrope’. The whole album will be available on the 21th of July. Those 3 songs are called ”FMTY”, ”Anti-Everything” and ”Dead To Me”. They have all been self released and they have all made me realise what I was missing out on before. These songs are full of power, hatred and filled with a bunch of head banging moments. I suggest you listen to them before we go any further in today’s State Of The Art, they are all linked at the very end! Continue reading →
*In this segment we put guitarists and bassists from every metal genre you could imagine in the spotlight!*
Welcome to the first guitarist that I will talk to you about today from our brand new segment Kings Of Strings, this will be a weekly segment that I will put out for you guys every Saturday. It main purpose will be to put the spotlight on a bassist or guitar player from every metal genre you could think of. Last week was about Eugene Kostyuk from Jinjer, check it out HERE, but this week will be all about Jared Dines!
Comments Off on Chicago Open Air Spotlight: AVERSED
*Every Tuesday and 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.*
Today’s artist is Aversed.
On Sunday, July 16th, students from the Berklee College of Music will bring their melodic death metal sounds to Chicago Open Air. Aversed is a 5-piece, female-fronted band that formed in Boston, Massachusetts in 2009. The band was added to the festival just a few weeks before the schedule was released so you won’t see them on the poster below. This was a much needed addition as the festival was lacking a female-fronted group. They hit the BlackCraft Stage on Sunday very early at 12:05 p.m. but it will be a performance you don’t want to miss. I’ve always found that some of the best performances of a festival will take place very early in the day. Read a little bit about how Aversed is preparing for the festival in this article from The Artery on WBUR 90.9 here.
Aversed released their debut EP last year in November titled ‘Renewal’. “Prison of Existence” opens the EP with a ferocity that shows they are more than just a band to get the day started off. Drawing influence from several bands playing the fest that day like Behemoth, Ozzy Osbourne, and Slayer, they create an extreme sound similar to that of the most recent Arch Enemy record. Even with only 5 songs, the EP clocks in at about 30 minutes with its epic combination of death metal growls, melodic vocals, fast-paced rhythms, and god-tier shredding from the guitarists. Check out “Prison of Existence” and a music video for the title track “Renewal” below. The video shows that the band puts a lot of energy into their live shows so I’m looking forward to seeing them own the stage very soon. This will be the quintet’s first time playing a Danny Wimmer Presents event. Buy your tickets to see Aversed make their festival debut at Chicago Open Airhere. Follow the band on Facebook for upcoming news on brand new music and tours. Also follow the festival page for updates and additions to the festival in the coming days. 8 more days people!!
Aversed is:
Haydee Irizarry – Lead Vocals
Sungwoo Jeong – Guitar/Vocals
Alden Marchand – Guitar
Martin Epstein – Bass
Jeff Saltzman – Drums
Comments Off on Chicago Open Air Spotlight: MUSHROOMHEAD
*Every Tuesday and 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.*
Today’s artist is Mushroomhead.
On Saturday, July 15th, the legendary seven piece brings their experimental metal sound to Chicago Open Air from Cleveland, Ohio. They hit the BlackCraft Stage at 4:15 right after Avatar crushes the Monster Energy Main Stage. I believe Mushroomhead will leave a strong impression among the crowd that will be deserving of a main stage spot in the future. Since forming in 1993, Mushroomhead has always had a bit of a cult following that has kept them on the map. Their devoted fans have stayed loyal after all these years because of the band’s extreme passion for their music. The segment they do in their show with the water drums is something that has to be seen live. It’s truly one of the most unique things you will see in a live setting. For many years, people have argued over Slipknot or Mushroomhead. Instead of doing that, I’ve learned to appreciate both with their similarities and also their vast differences as artists. Continue reading →
*This is a part of our State Of The Art series, showcasing bands every Monday from the featured State*
This month’s State is Arizona!
GATECREEPER is a death metal band out of Tucson & Phoenix Arizona. They formed in 2013 with members Chase Mason on guitar, Metal Matt on drums, and Sean Mears on bass. In the early days they didn’t play a single show – they just wrote songs and recorded them. There was virtually no direction for this self-titled, 4 song EP, released in April of 2014. But, it turned out to be a great idea because they ended up with a fanbase before they played their first show.
*In this segment we put guitarists and bassists from every metal genre you could imagine in the spotlight!*
Welcome to the first bassist that I will talk to you about today from our brand new segment Kings Of Strings, this will be a weekly segment that I will put out for you guys every friday. It main purpose will be to put the spotlight on a bassist or guitar player from every metal genre you could think of. This week will be all about bassist Eugene Kostyuk!
Comments Off on Chicago Open Air Spotlight: DEVILDRIVER
*Every Tuesday and 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.*
Today’s artist is DevilDriver.
On Sunday, July 16th, there will be Clouds Over Chicago as DevilDriver hits the BlackCraft Stage at 2:00 at Chicago Open Air. You’ll see in just about any live footage of DevilDriver that they bring ridiculously large mosh pits through their entire set. Dez Fafara is one of the best at making a crowd go crazy. There’s a reason they did two separate US tours with Hatebreed last year. Although he is the only original member left of the band, they still continue to put out fantastic material constantly. They took a short hiatus after releasing their first album via Napalm Record in 2013 (‘Winter Kills’) so Dez could focus on his other incredible band, Coal Chamber. Fafara has even mentioned bringing Coal Chamber material into DevilDriver sets. It would definitely be interesting to see a mix of both of his projects but we will more than likely only get DevilDriver material in Chicago. DevilDriver returned quickly in 2016 with their new album ‘Trust No One’ and have been touring since then. Sunday will include an abundance of moshing with bands like them, Lamb of God, Amon Amarth, and Slayer all hitting the two stages on the same day. Continue reading →
