This November/December, WHITECHAPEL will embark on a North American tour, entitled “Decade of Defilement”, to commemorate the 10th anniversary of ‘The Somatic Defilement‘. Featuring CARNIFEX, RINGS OF SATURN, ENTHEOS, and SO THIS IS SUFFERING as support, this trek will also include a set list with select tracks from ‘The Somatic Defilement‘ (some of which have not been played since the album’s release!), making this is one show not to be missed! See below for all dates.
Welcome to this week’s state of the art! I’m proud to introduce you to the Chicago, Illinois instrumental metal band RUSSIAN CIRCLES: a metal outfit that isn’t constrained by the conventional rules many other metal bands religiously adhere to. Where most metal musicians try to pummel the listener with heavy riffs and pure aggression, instrumental trio RUSSIAN CIRCLES (which formed in 2004 and consists of guitarist Mike Sullivan, bassist Brian Cooke, and drummer Dave Turncrantz) opt for the more subtle and nuanced approach of creating music that emphasizes atmospherics over pure brutality, and the result is emotionally stirring heavy metal that ferries the listener on a musical journey through spiritual highs and lows.
Technical death metal giants Origin just announced their Bloodletting North American headlining tour, presented by MetalSucks, IndieMerch and Blakhart Guitars, with Canadian death metal band Archspire, german death metal act Defeated Sanity, Dyscarnate, Visceral Disgorge and last but certainly not least The Kennedy Veil!
Gravemind is a six piece Deathcore band originating from Melbourne, Australia. Having formed in 2015, the past two years they have been busy pushing out harsh, in your face content regularly and touring through Australia. Leaving what I can only imagine to be piles of rubble left over from any standing structures that were unlucky enough to have been ground zero for a Gravemind show.
Gravemind managed to get me interested right from the get go. Their music is enough to pull you in and keep you interested and the fact that they write concept albums is very cool if you ask me! Having this be their third release they have only gotten better at honing in on their craft. The Hateful One released back in 2015, featuring five slamming songs. The Death Of Teyolia which is a single song released in 2016. These are definitely worth checking out because they are solid releases and it will somewhat prepare you for ‘The Deathgate’. But trust me…. you won’t be ready for this monster!!
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It’s cliche to designate a heavy metal album as “epic.” The raging guitar riffs, thunderous bass, thrashing drums, and high pitch screams all create a sound that’s larger-than-life both sonically and thematically, and this go-big-or-go-home mentality was present at the genre’s inception with Black Sabbath and has continued into modernity with bands like Ghost and Avatar because let’s be honest here, if a metal band isn’t “epic” in some capacity or another then it isn’t worth its salt.
With that said, “epic” is the only proper descriptor that encapsulates my feelings on the wonderfully named symphonic death metal band Septicflesh. Originating from Athens, Greece in the mid 1990s and currently consisting of Seth Siro Anton on bass/vocals, Christos Antonou playing the guitar and writing the orchestrals, Sotiris Anunnaki V providing an additional guitar and clean vocals, and Kerim “Krimh” Lechner on drums, Septicflesh is one of the very few metal bands that can gracefully blend the rough brutality of death metal with the awe-inspiring sound of a sweeping orchestra, and this dark yet beautacious sound is ever-so present on Septicflesh’s 10th and most recent studio album ‘Codex Omega’ which is a more than worthy follow-up to their 2014 LP ‘Titan’ due to it being stunning in its scale and punishing in its ferocity.
GONE IN APRIL, the symphonic melodic death metal ensemble from Canada-USA, releases a WW II inspired music video for ‘As Hope Welcomes Death‘, filmed and edited by Norwegian artist Thomas Mortveit. The song ‘As Hope Welcomes Death‘ is taken from the band’s sophomore album ‘Threads of Existence‘, recorded at WaveTransform Studio, USA.
Galloping bass riffs, driving percussion and rock-solid guitars have taken their spot at the vanguard of PORTRAIT’s new sound; – and it’s most certainly a fresh one. For almost two years now the Swedish heavy metal group have been working incredibly hard on their newest studio LP, titled ‘Burn the World’, which has finally been released as of 25 August via Metal Blade Records. PORTRAIT as a group have consistently drawn up mixed opinions since their formation, with some bestowing great critical acclaim and others merely citing them as “KING DIAMOND copyists” – but is the latter statement really the case? Originally, perhaps so, but I really think after this album hits the stores those earlier comparisons will cease to exist. Long gone are the eerie undertones that plunged 2011’s ‘Crimen Laesae Majestatis Divinae’ release and there’s very little tapping into the realms of conceptual horror. What you get here is a somewhat unlikely product consisting of numerous foot-tapping thrash-influenced songs categorized by exceptional percussion. Continue reading
Sweet & Lynch – the melodic Metal mega-project led by Stryper’s Michael Sweet and longtime shred god George Lynch – will release ‘Unified’ on November 10 via Frontiers Music SRL. The follow-up to their 2015 debut ‘Only to Rise,’ ‘Unified’ finds Sweet and Lynch once again joined by Dead Daisies drummer Brian Tichy and Hard Rock stalwart bassist James Lomenzo on eleven tracks that promise a combination of slashing riffs and melodic sensibilities, guitar heroism and a Pop-Metal heart of gold. Continue reading
We all have Skeletons in the closet right? Well, September 15th guitar legend BOB KULICK (KISS, MEATLOAF, LOU REED, ALICE COOPER, MOTORHEAD, W.A.S.P. and various others) is unleashing his skeletons upon the world with the release of his first solo album titled… you guessed it ‘Skeletons In The Closet’ available from Vanity Records.
Alice Cooper
Finally I had a chance to photograph and review a show of the legendary Alice Cooper, who brought the horror to Jiffy Lube Live in Bristow, Virginia. This is the third time I’ve seen Alice Cooper in Bristow, and I have enjoyed every single one of them, for there is never a dull moment in his show. Here is a guy who sent bone chilling shock waves through the spines of many a 70’s parents. Alice Cooper has been in the music industry for over fifty years. Here is a guy who redefined the world of shock rock, and is still delivering rock and horror with aplomb to the legion of his fans around the globe. And one can clearly see that here is a guy who truly enjoys being on the road playing in front of his fans. Alice Cooper needs no new spectacle, the classic ones are still as good as they used to be in the heydays of the 70’s. They need no improvisation. The theatrics and the energy on the stage flow effortlessly as it always has, the show is just perfect. All Alice Cooper needs to do is to show up on the stage with his band, and pick up the microphone. Continue reading
