Category Archives: Artist Showcase

State of the Art: Virginia – Iris Divine

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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 Virginia!

Here we go! Onto the great state of Virginia for our March State of the Art series. The tenth state of the union, nicknamed “Old Dominion” by King Charles II of England at the time of the Restoration, Virginia boasts Jamestown, founded in 1607 and claiming one of the oldest cities in the United States, the birthplace of eight U.S. presidents and a prominent place the country’s overall history. Surrounded by Maryland, Washington D.C., the Atlantic Ocean, North Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia and Kentucky, Virginia covers some 42,774.2 square miles, 65% of which is forestland and has a current population around 8.5 million. In addition, the state contains the natural beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the Cumberland Mountains, Allegheny Plateau and Chesapeake Bay. While known for the production of coal and tobacco over time, computer chips have recently surpassed both combined as the top grossing exports. Virginia also has one of the top ten school systems in the States but sits near the bottom of public spending on the arts. Thankfully it has done no apparent harm because the state has spawned acts like Gwar, Iron Reagan, Lamb of God, Arsis, Pig Destroyer, Municipal Waste, Alabama Thunderpussy, Pentagram and many, many other top notch Metal bands. Oh, right, we can now add Iris Divine to this illustrious list of bands.

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Chicago Open Air Spotlight/Album Review: BLACK MAP – ‘In Droves’

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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.*

Our first artist is Black Map!

Black Map will be taking the Chicago Open Air stage on July 15th this year at Toyota Park and we couldn’t be more excited. This will be the first Danny Wimmer Presents festival that Black Map will be a part of . We are kicking off the artist spotlight in a special way as we also include an album review of their new release: ‘In Droves’. The alt metal trio unleashed their first songs in 2014. First, their 4-song EP titled ‘Driver’ was released in February and all 4 songs were included later on that year on their first full length album ‘…And We Explode’.  They put off a heavy 90s rock vibe with huge, blasting riffs and raw emotion all packed into one punch. Last year the band made a large breakthrough with the premiere of a new song “Run Rabbit Run”.  This song took the airwaves by storm and told us to get ready for 2017 because Black Map is quickly on their way to the top. ‘In Droves’ will drop across the US on March 10th via eOne Music. The album was produced by Aaron Hellam at Hellman Sound. You can pre-order ‘In Droves’ here on the band’s website. Continue reading →

State Of The Art: New York – Trigger Pig

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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!

So, with this week’s SOTAs, New York is in the bag. This state ended up being one of the easiest to choose killer Metal bands from and no one on our staff had any difficulties finding a plethora of deserving bands to spotlight. Hell, the difficulty for me was only covering four. This scene is nothing short of spectacular and should leave no Metal fan in the cold, looking for local talent to get behind. Overwhelming really. Well, this week, I did not even have to look because my friend David LaMay already had a band ripe for the picking sitting in his band list. Knowing his impeccable taste in music, Trigger Pig was an automatic hit with me as well! Simply blown away… Just, damn…

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Milestones In Music: King Diamond ‘Abigail’ 30th Anniversary

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King Diamond – vocals, producer

Andy LaRocque – guitar

Michael Denner – guitar, assistant producer

Timi Hansen – bass guitar

Mikkey Dee (Micael Kiriakos Delaoglou) – drums, assistant producer

Roberto Falcao (Roberto Johansson) – engineer, keyboards

What an honor and a privilege to cover the thirty year anniversary of one of the most beloved, important and influential Metal albums of all time: Abigail by the almighty King Diamond! AThirty years. Man, how time does fly. I can remember listening to Mercyful Fate as a kid, loving King’s first solo album, Fatal Portrait and the first time I heard Abigail shortly before graduating from high school back in 1987. Like many others from that time, my jaw dropped into my lap and has still not fully recovered to this day. It never comes close to getting old and is the album that scared the shit out of my girlfriend (now my wife of almost thirty years), shying her permanently away from the darker side of Metal this thing gave rise to. Hell, I was jamming it shortly before I learned that I would have this rare indulgence to cover a timeless Classic! It just always manages to snake its way into just about every playlist I listen to and/or create. Like many from my era, Abigail remains one my most loved albums of all time.

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State Of The Art: New York’s DRY KILL LOGIC

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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!

If you were listening to metal in the late 90’s and early 2000’s there is a good chance you are familiar with the band DRY KILL LOGIC. The band formed in Westchester, NY in 1995 under the name HINGE. It was in 1997 that the band would release their first EP titled ‘Cause Moshing Is Good Fun’ via Psychodrama Records – the band’s own label. The second EP ‘Elemental Evil’ (1999) is when the band truly started garnering attention. The impact of that EP led them to opening for some well-known bands including Coal Chamber, Incubus, Anthrax and System of a Down. In 2000, (still performing under the name HINGE) they signed a record deal with Roadrunner Records but soon after signing with the label, they were forced to change their name due to a recording studio owning the copyright to the same name. They briefly changed their name from HINGE to HINGE A.D., but ultimately settled upon DRY KILL LOGIC after the studio threatened legal action if they used the word “Hinge” anywhere in their name. It was around this same time that ‘The Darker Side Of Nonsense’ was released. The album was released both under the name HINGE, as well as DRY KILL LOGIC. From then on Dry Kill Logic singer Cliff Rigano, guitarist Scott Thompson, bassist Dave Kowatch, and drummer Phil Arcuri were known as DRY KILL LOGIC. The band boasted a huge amount of groove in their music and were sometimes placed in two genre categories; Nu metal and New Wave Of American Heavy Metal. Both genres are very fitting but the band is a multidimensional band that really exceeded the limitations of any genre. ‘The Darker Side of Nonsense’ went on to become one of the heaviest and most revered albums of the year. On October 5, 2004, the band released their second major album ‘The Dead And Dreaming’, via Psychodrama Music Group. This album included one of the bands’ all-time greatest hits, “Paper Tiger” which showcased the bands ability to be incredibly heavy while still having those melodic anchoring moments that made their music special. In June of 2006, the band produced, designed and directed their first DVD/EP combo, ‘The Magellan Complex’. By this time the band had wrangled in a huge fan base and the DVD had a tremendous amount of behind the scenes footage, interviews and exclusive content filmed while the band was on tour. It also included the music video for “Paper Tiger”. The band was often compared to Pantera throughout the years and especially during their rise to popularity. DRY KILL LOGIC always remained humble and in regards to the comparison stated “I am just delighted people are liking the record and I have heard and read some great comparisons with great bands. It is humbling to be in the same breath as Pantera” during an interview with MetalRage.com. Continue reading →

State Of The Art: New York – Born Of Scars

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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!

This week we head over to East Meadow and Queens, New York, out in the bay on Long Island. Here we find a Modern Hard Rock outfit that has been around since around 2007 with current members being Pietro Sirianni on guitars, keyboards and vocals, Nicky G. on bass and vocals, Steve Papa covering drums and Victoria Parkin on lead vox who call themselves Born of Scars.

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State of the Art: New York – CAR BOMB

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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! 

If you’ve been keeping up with the heavy music scene, you’d know that Car Bomb is about to take it by storm. The experimental mathcore band from Long Island released what was widely considered one of the best released of 2016 in metal with ‘Meta’. The band has a very raw, but technologically advanced sound that very few bands have perfected. The forming of the band started as early as 2000 when two New York bands Neck and Spooge shared a studio together. Soon, two members from each band decided it was time for something new and Car Bomb was formed as a side project in 2002. Impressively, the band has managed to keep the same lineup throughout all these years. They build their own equipment which allows them to create a sound exactly how they want it. Car Bomb has definitely gotten some high recognition having played shows with the likes of Dillinger Escape Plan, Gojira, Meshuggah, Ion Dissonance, and Ulcerate. The quartet has slowly but surely made their way up and are ready to dominate 2017. Continue reading →

State of the Art: New York – The Last Alliance

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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!

New York, take two. This week we head off in a completely different direction. Progressive Instrumental last week, Traditional Power Metal this week. So good, in fact, that one would expect to hear this quality of music over the pond in Europe and not from Queens, New York. Hell, there are even songs sung entirely in Italian! This week’s State of the Art: New York goes to The Last Alliance.

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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 →

State of the Art: New York – The Mantle

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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!

Moving on from Idaho, we travel to the Northern, East Coast state of New York. Named after the 17th Century Duke of York and having the capital of Albany, it is bordered by New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, Rhode Island and the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario, it is the fifth most densely populated state with a population estimated to be about 8.55 million and boasting the most populated city in the United States. New York city also serves as the premier gateway for legal immigration and is considered a hub for international trade and diplomacy. Would you like to learn more about the legal immigration process? There are a few ways to immigrate to the US legally, but one of the most common involves spousal sponsorship. For more information about sponsoring a spouse, check out this useful guide to form i-130a from Nova Credit. While 40% of the population resides within the city, Upstate New York is dominated by the Appalachian Mountains which include Allegheny Plateau, the Catskills, the Adirondack Mountains, Thousand Island archipelago and Saint Lawrence Seaway. Waterways include the Hudson River, Mohawk River valleys, the Erie Canal, the Finger Lakes and, of course, world famous Niagara Falls. In addition New York houses internationally known landmarks such as Times Square, Central Part, Grand Central Terminal, Columbia, Cornell, New York and Rockefeller Universities and the Statue of Liberty. Not forgetting the amount of different real estate options they have in the city, such as these luxury apartments upper west side so residents can find themselves living the dream in The Empire State. New York would be such an amazing place to live, so more people should really consider moving there. Those with a healthier budget might even want to rent a private jet from Jettly when they move. That way, they could bring their pets over too. Once people arrive in New York, they will be greeted by so many amazing things, such as toursit attractions and opportunities. New York is also a haven for legendary Metal bands like Anthrax, Type O Negative, Helmet, Carnivore, Prong, KISS, Agnostic Front, White Zombie, Biohazard, Nuclear Assault, Manowar, Stormtroopers of Death, Living Colour, Black Anvil, Beastie Boys, Candria, Winger, Foreigner, Liquid Tension Experiment and many, many others. This opening week, I would like to add The Mantle to this list of greats.

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