Category Archives: Artist Showcase

State Of The Art: Hawaii’s KINGS OF SPADE [Official 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 Hawaii.*

Today we are leaving mainland U.S.A to talk about one of Hawaii’s best kept secrets Kings Of Spade! The band founded back in 2008 in  Honolulu, Hawaii. They were previously named X Factor but later changed their name to Kings Of Spade. The band was built around the bluesy vocal prowess of KC and the rest of the band is equally as impressive creating a psychedelic rock sound that will have you re-living the heyday of rock n roll. Kings Of Spade is filled out with Jesse Savio on guitar, Matt Kato on drums, Tim Corker and on bass, auxiliary members include  Ken Lykes  on the keys and DJ Packo. The band has played the mainland on several occasions including SXSW. I personally became familiar with the band after speaking with former Headbangers Ball host Riki Rachtman when he mentioned how impressed he was with the band during a conversation at Carolina Rebellion in 2017. The band since has became even more well known to fans even outside of the island state of Hawaii. On December 8th they were tapped to be the opening band for Guns N Roses first ever performance in Hawaii. So prior to Guns N Roses kicking off their 3 hour set Kings Of Spade got the packed crowd at Aloha stadium pumped up.  Continue reading →

State Of The Art: Missouri’s SORRY, SCOUT [Album 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 Missouri.*

Sorry, Scout describe themselves as an “Indie rock/pop punk/ Americana” hybrid out of St. Louis that write songs about “love, gentrification, police brutality, bigotry and survival in an increasingly oppressive reality.”

The band is made up of Randi Whitaker (vocals), Nate Jones (guitar), David Anson (bass) and Zack Schultz (drums).  They are fresh, melodic, powerful and driven. They hammer home their ideas about society with the charm of a well versed poet, armed with a supreme sense of purpose.  Their one release to dste is the anthemic artistically authentic EP ‘Never Asked For It’, which was issued in August 2018. Continue reading →

State Of The Art: Missouri’s THE STROPPERS [Track Stream]

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Hailing from Kansas City, Missouri, The Stroppers serves you a great combination of blues and garage rock. The two-piece band, consisting of Joel Monroe riffing on guitar and screaming vocals, and Jasmina Bonilla creating the thunder on drums, has recently gone under some major changes: A name change, new image, and rebranding of their debut album. Recently known as Play Pretend, they released their debut album in the spring of 2018 on CD and major streaming sites. The band has been on a rocket ride to success ever since. Continue reading →

State of the Art – Missouri’s SAVAGELAND [EP Stream]

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Hungry and visceral with a hint of southern edge. SavageLand is a beautiful sip of aged bourbon, followed by a punch in the face. Hailing from Kansas City, Missouri they sound more like they are straight from the heart of New Orleans. The band was formed in 2016 and has since released one six song, self-titled EP, with tremendously impressive production value.

Picture groove riffs with guttural stoner vocals. Fans of Crowbar and Corrosion of Conformity meet fans of Baroness and also meet a calloused hard working slide guitar player by a campfire. The EP opens with said slide guitar, and a Mastodon quality riffs. SavageLand crafts these pseudo-stoner anthems with such ease. Down and Pantera influences, too, leak into the blueprints of their songwriting. “Animal Kingdom” has a wiry riff strung through the verses, swelling behind the chorus. The kind of jams to smoke a joint and enjoy a beer to. It’s aggressive but not disruptive.

SavageLand teased the early stages of new material mid 2018, after stating in 2017 they are inactive. Fingers crossed that 2019 will be the year the band gets in gear and releases some new music because this stuff is really something.  

 

State Of The Art: Missouri’s ECHOES FROM ASHES [Track Stream]

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Photo Credit: Money Shotz Photography

*This is part of our State Of The Art series, showcasing bands every Monday from the featured state. This month’s state is Missouri.*

Hailing from Saint Louis, Missouri, Echoes From Ashes delivers their soulful hard rock tinged with early 2000s post-grunge sensibility. The four-piece, consisting of Matt Kelly (guitar/vocals), Michael Wallis (guitar/vocals), Dan Stefl (bass/vocals), and Derek Keller (drums/percussion) formed the band in 2017 and have just recently released their debut self-titled EP in 2018. With the help of Michael Bivens as engineer and producer, along with Stefl, the five-track EP was recorded at Redwood Studios and released to solid local airplay and rotation on major streaming platforms. One of the more powerful singles from the release is “Victim (In Your Hands)” that starts off with a Pantera “5 Minutes Alone”-influenced opening riff and progresses into a melodically heartfelt verse and chorus, reminiscent of genre veterans Chevelle and Breaking Benjamin. Continue reading →

State Of The Art: Missouri’s BUMMER [Album Stream & Live Video]

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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 Missouri.*

Bummer hails from Kansas City, Missouri. Their name is quite ironic as their music and style is in no way a “bummer” its quite the opposite. Bummer slips into the genre of noise rock, but they aren’t your run of the mill noise rock band. Their music is honest and a straight forward punch to the face. The band formed in 2012 and is a trio which includes Matt Perrin pulling double duty on guitar and vocals, Mike Gustafson laying down the bottom end on bass, and Sam Hutchinson behind the kit on drums. Bummer is currently signed to Learning Curve Records. The bands first release was a 3 track EP titled ‘Young Ben Franklin’ that was recorded in vocalist Matt Perrin’s parents basement. That EP was released in April of 2013 and quickly the band followed that up with another EP ‘Milk’ in October of 2013. The band would then take some time before they would release ‘Spank’ in 2015. Since then the band has been pretty consistent with their releases pumping out a 12″ Split with Pinko in April 2017 followed by the release of the single “Beautiful People” several months later. Bummer’s most recent release is ‘Holy Terror’ which dropped in August of 2018. It is the band first full studio album which includes 10 thundering tracks. The album was Recorded at Westend Recording Studios, Kansas City, Kansas, produced by Bummer & Justin Mantooth, engineered by Justin Mantooth and was mastered by Mike Nolte at Eureka Mastering, Portland, Oregon.

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State Of The Art: Iowa’s SPACE BURIAL [Album 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 Iowa.*

Space Burial formed in 2015. They are a psychedelic/stoner/prog rock band from Dubuque, Iowa. Created as an outlet by singer/guitarist Pinky, Space Burial became, in their own words, “an excuse to stay out late and buy vintage instruments and recording gear.“

Space Burial‘s self titled EP, along with their sophomore release ‘Celestial Seed’ is available on BandCamp.

The band eat heavy musical food, with a mind-altering content. They have successfully fused modern sounds with Seventies prog influences. In addition, they write tunes that matter and have urgency. They pepper spray the listener with spoken word parts in songs and know when to put the hammer to the floor and drive off into the stratosphere.

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State of the Art: Iowa’s BLEEDCHAIN [Track Stream]

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Barking vocals, chugging bass and anger. Waterloo, Iowa natives, Bleedchain find balance between new school death metal, old school groove and partying. Keeping the band on tempo, Joe Bartruff on the drums. Scott Carey holds down the low end on bass and vocals. Guitar duo consists of Mike Tucker and Michael Tucker and Lucus Johnston fronts the band.

The band has been around for a little over a decade and have released one demo and two full lengths: 2010’s “Rise of the Goddess” and “Martyrs Throne” from 2016. Bleedchain are hard hitting, fast paced and unforgiving. Experimenting with layered vocals and excessive shredding on top of some NOLA influences, check out the songs, “Viliscas Axe” and “Pile Hammer” Influences from Pantera and DevilDriver are present. Anyone seeking chugging riffs and chugging beer, Bleedchain is the here.

Bleedchain are often playing local gigs in Iowa which can be found on their Facebook page. Listen to their music on ReverbNation.

State Of The Art: Iowa’s JIM JONES [Track 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 Iowa.*

Named after the infamous cult leader who initiated the mass murder-suicide of hundreds of his followers during the Jonestown Massacre of 1978, Jim Jones is “a good old-fashioned metal band out of Waterloo, Iowa.” As the rest of their tagline reads, “We play loud, we play heavy. Drink the fucking Kool Aid!” For those familiar with the original Jim Jones, the Kool-Aid reference is just pure metal in its blatant callousness. Continue reading →