Category Archives: Artist Showcase

Into The Grave Spotlight: EMBER FALLS

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Ember Falls is a Finnish metalcore band that I bet you haven’t heard about yet, if you have then you know what we are in for. They released their first ever single ”Shut Down With Me” on the 20th of August 2015 without a record label. As soon as people found out about the song they went crazy, the songwriting is exceptional and their sound is unique. Duo to this huge succes the record label Spinefarm / Universal Music Group got in touch with them and gave them a spot on their label. After this crazy start they decided to release their debut album ‘Welcome To Ember Falls’ and I got to tell you, I do feel very welcome. It got out on the 20th of February this year and it for sure got them higher into the game. (Listen to it on spotify HERE). I have never heard anything similar, really looking forward on hearing them at Into The Grave this August!

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Chicago Open Air Spotlight: METAL CHURCH

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*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 METAL CHURCH.

 

There are various legendary metal bands playing this years Chicago Open Air. One of those acts have been creating head banging riffs and incredible hooks for over 3 decades. That’s right Metal Church one of the most iconic and legendary bands in heavy metal will be playing Saturday at this years Chicago Open Air Festival. Metal Church first formed in 1980 in San Francisco, California. The band has a strong traditional heavy metal sound that also included some thrash elements which became more prevalent later on in their career. It wasn’t long however before they packed up and headed north to Aberdeen, Washington the following year. During a brief time after moving they also played under the name Shrapnel. If you think about the two words “metal” and “church” its the two things a lot of people find comfort in. Those of us that are die hard metal heads consider live shows, festival grounds and hole in the wall venues to be our personal church. The bands namesake is really what metal is all about. The band has released 11 studio albums. The founding members vocalist David Wayne, guitarist Kurdt Vanderhoof, drummer Kirk Arrington, bassist Duke Erickson, and guitarist Craig Wells released the bands self-titled debut album in 1984. It was first released independently through Ground Zero Records and because of how successful the album was it re-release via Elektra Records a year later. “Beyond The Black” was the opener on the album and one of the standout songs. In 1986 the band released their sophomore album ‘The Dark’. In 2005, the album was ranked number 389 in Rock Hard magazine’s book of The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time.  Continue reading →

State Of The Art: BLACK RITUAL [Videos]

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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 North Carolina!

Welcome to the fierce world known as Black Ritual. Coming from Charlotte, North Carolina the band consists of: Charlie Calebro (Vocals), Gary Rackley (Guitar), Eddie “E-Rock” Cousins (Bass), Jody Gibson (Guitar) and Brad Sellers (Drums). They have been around 10 years playing in the local music scene and supporting their fellow musicians, Black Ritual is firmly grounded in their own unique style. With their original hardcore, thrash, southern, power groove metal, and melodic sounds and influences, this band aims to stand apart from the rest. Guitarist Gary Rackley is quoted, “We just want to make every song its own, our own. For each song to sound different in more ways than the last” Always ready to throw down whether in the studio or onstage, this band brings the energy and the passion of music. With all the members having a rock solid history in playing live music, they bring heavy rhythms, blood curdling vocals, chunky guitars, and a stage performance that’s sure to get the crowd pumped and moving. In 2008, the band released their debut album ‘1,000 Yard Stare’. After a six year hiatus and trying different avenues the band knew that Black Ritual is where they belonged. The beginning of 2017, Black Ritual released a three song EP named ‘Resurrection’. One thing that the crowd can be certain of is that they are going to see an amazing and unforgettable show by this band. Black Ritual have created their mark in the metal scene and will continue to do so for years to come. Continue reading →

State Of The Art: SUPPRESSIVE FIRE

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

This month’s State is North Carolina!

 

Hello, fellow metalheads! Welcome back to our weekly edition of the State Of The Art series. I know it is Monday and you’re probably all lagged up, reluctantly waking up from you slumber and contemplating the cesspool of existential crisis Monday brings. It’s annoying I know, everyone hates Mondays. Well, that’s when Metal Nexus comes in and plays its card, the SOTA card. To cheer up your dull day, we bring to you today one of the rising forces of American thrash metal, bellowing from the deepest gorges of hell, hailing from the capital city of Raleigh, we present to you SUPPRESSIVE FIRE. They bring with themselves a relentless wall of sonic barrage, coupled with speed and aggression of 80s teutonic German thrash and the modern technicality and brutality of the sub genre. Let’s get this straight, if you are looking for or are expecting that one melodic filler song per album kinda band, then I am sorry, in the words of the legendary Pantera, “Walk on home boy!”. This is as thrash as it gets, teutonic monstrosity and Bay Area aggression makes them the band that they are today!

Joseph Valhal, the band’s guitarist put up an classified ad and was almost on the brink of stalling the idea, that is when Brandon Smith revived the hope and joined him as a drummer as narrated by the frontman in an interview with Wonderbox Metal. The building foundation being now laid strong, all they needed was now a bassist and a vocalist. Aaron Schmidt soon fit the last missing puzzle and decided to do the double duty of a bassist and vocalist, thus helping in the birth of a new three piece band that would soon go on and create major ripples in the NC metal scene from 2011 onwards. Albeit, later the band would see themselves branch out into a four piece till date.

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State Of The Art: ALEPH NAUGHT [EP Stream]

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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 North Carolina!

 

Raleigh, North Carolina is home to the newly formed Aleph Naught. The band was formed in Feburary of 2016 by vocalist/guitarist David Sanchez and drummer Brandon Smith. David also contributes vocals and guitar to the Raleigh based melodic black metal band Grēves. No stranger to the music scene, Brandon was formerly the drummer of Suppresive Fire. With just these two member intact they recorded a 3 track demo on September 17th, 2016 which would be used to establish their sound and help recruit members to complete the bands lineup. That process worked as well. The lineup would be completed with Robin Foster on guitar, and Brandon was also reunited with his former bandmate in Suppresive Fire with the addition of bassist Aaron Schmidt. The band is described as New melo-death, but they do have a strong blackened death metal style. David incorporated some very Swedish metal style riffs to the band’s sound that gives their blackened sound an outside the box element truly making them unique to the style of music they play. Brandon adds an immense talent behind the drum kit and his pounding double bass beats are one of the core elements in the bands overall sound. The band was initially started out of a project that didn’t truly come together. However, their musical talents just on the three tracks they have recorded thus far prove that the members of Aleph Naught are destined for success with this lineup. Continue reading →

Chicago Open Air Spotlight: DEMON HUNTER

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*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 Demon Hunter.

It all began in the year 2000 in Seattle, Washington for the band Demon Hunter. Formed by brothers Don Clark and Ryan Clark. Although the brothers created the band, only one remains, since Don Clark has left the band back in 2009. Demon Hunter is a Christian band that combines nu metal, groove and some metalcore to create their unique sound. The bands self titled debut was released in 2002 via the Christian record label Solid State and it was recorded entirely in drop c tuning. The debut was produced by Aaron Sprinkle (MxPx, New Found Glory). Every album the band has recorded has been released through Solid State. The label isn’t their only loyalty either, each release was also either produced or co-produced by Aaron Sprinkle. It shows that the band truly found a sound and process that works for them and they’ve stuck with it.  Continue reading →

Chicago Open Air Spotlight: BEHEMOTH

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*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 Behemoth.

On Sunday, July 16th, Chicago Open Air gets a taste of one of the world’s most acclaimed black metal bands, Behemoth. Since forming in 1991, the Polish black/death metal band has been known for their polarizing, intense live shows that sweep the crowd off of their feet. Typically meant for playing in the dark for the atmosphere, it will be interesting to see how Behemoth adjusts to bringing their full power into the sun. They are hitting the road here in the US with Lamb of God and Slayer so they definitely are not to be taken lightly. They are also one of the few bands that still put a great amount of thought into their music videos. Videos like “Ben Sahar”, “Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel”, and “At The Left Hand Ov God” contain very vivid imagery rather than only showing the band performing like most bands do now. Some people may be turned away from them because of the satanic content but I encourage you to give them a chance live. I know several people that did not appreciate them until watching one of their incredible live shows. Continue reading →

State Of The Art: BLOODY HAMMERS

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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 North Carolina!

Hailing from Transylvania County, North Carolina, Bloody Hammers span a variety of genres from gothic rock to psychedelic doom metal.  Anders Manga, the band’s founder/singer/producer/instrumentalist, formed the band in 2012 and released the self-titled album, ‘Bloody Hammers’ that same year.  Although the band has a revolving lineup of touring members, Manga and his wife, Devallia (also the band’s pianist/organist) are the only permanent touring members.  However, this hasn’t stopped them from releasing a string of great albums since their genesis, such as 2013’s ‘Spiritual Relics’, 2014’s ‘Under Satan’s Sun’, 2016’s ‘Lovely Sort of Death’, and the upcoming 2017 release ‘The Horrific Case of Bloody Hammers’, set to hit stores July 14. Continue reading →

State Of The Art: DAEDALVS

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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 North Carolina!

Today we are going to be talking about the death metal band Daedalvs from yet again North Carolina. They are a 4 piece band that consists of vocalist Pancho Mortem, drummer Aaron Charlton with assistance on the guitars from Spencer Starnes and Christian Chadwick. Daedalvs has been one of the most unique sounding upcoming bands I have ever seen. There is a lot of competition in the death metal scene but these guys push the boundries like no other band does, in no time they will be on the top! So far they have released 1 EP named ‘Apotheosis’, this masterpiece has been around since the 24th of February via the biggest death metal label SLAM WORLDWIDE. Just 4 days before this release they released their single ”God Machine” which is from that very same album, this song really got death metal fans talking about the band. For everyone that hasn’t heard of SLAM WORLDWIDE before I will introduce you to them real quick. As quoted by the owner the page is about ”ONE MAN PROMOTING MACHINE BRINGING YOU ONLY THE HEAVIEST UNDERGROUND MUSIC AROUND THE WORLD SINCE 2014.”. So any underground heavy band is welcome on this brutal page, luckily for us Daedalvs has claimed their spot and we can only hope for more awesome music!

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State of the Art – NC’s own Sun of Nile!

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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 North Carolina!

Sun of Nile is a progressive metal band based out of Raleigh, North Carolina. They have been hitting the scene hard since 2015. After talking to these guys, I feel confident that Hollywood will someday make a movie about them. Their origin story is something to behold! You know how most bands come together because the founding members are childhood pals who ditched 3rd period English class to get stoned together? Well, that’s not the case for them. Get out your Kleenex because this is a story of woe, passion, determination, and saving the world like in that movie, Armageddon.

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