Louder Than Life Spotlight: BLACK MAP

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*Every Tuesday and Thursday from now until Louder Than Life gets here we will be releasing an article about a band playing the festival to get you familiar with them.*

Today’s Artist is Black Map

Black Map has been making the rounds this year on the festival circuit. This years Carolina Rebellion was actually one of the bands first festival appearances of the year. We were there to see their dominating performance and the fans there loved them just as much as we did. Again we were able to see them at Chicago Open Air in July and once again they were one of the most dominating bands of the day. 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 90’s 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’ dropped across the US on March 10th via eOne Music. The album was produced by Aaron Hellam at Hellman Sound. Consisting of members from the bands Far, The Trophy Fire, and dredg, the band does a solid job combining all of the project’s sounds into one.

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THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER Reveal Tour Dates For North America w/ SUFFOCATION, DECREPIT BIRTH, NECROT & WORMWITCH

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THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER just a day ago released their all new music video for the title track from the upcoming eighth full length ‘Nightbringers‘, which you can check it out HERE! Now, they are back with another update and this time it is about a massive North American trek with fellow death metallers SUFFOCATION, DECREPIT BIRTH, NECROT and WORMWITCH. This October/November THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER will go out on this headlining tour in support of their all new album ‘Nightbringers‘ coming out via Metal Blade Records on October 6th, this year. Starting the tour off on Rochester, NY on the 6th of October, the tour will encompass major North American cities like New York, Baltimore, Las Vegas, Toronto, Ottawa including many others spanning just over a month. This is a must attend tour for every extreme metal fan alike. Check out the tour dates below and all the details regarding the same!

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The Bucketlist With Raf Salazar From LOADED GUNS!

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*In this series we pose the age old questions to a wide array of music lovers. As fans of music most of us keep a mental list of active bands we want to see live that we haven’t yet seen. The Bucketlist brings to you those lists of your favorite artists and why those bands mean so much to them*

Loaded Guns is a Miami, Florida based rock band with a stylistic mixture of rock & roll and modern heavy metal. The band was founded in 2011 by vocalist Rafael Salazar and quickly picked up his brother Andrew Salazar on bass. The duo began to audition the best of the local talent and soon enough Loaded Guns had a full line up. In late 2015, the rock quintet signed a record deal with Century Media Records and shortly after headed to the studio to record their debut EP. Engineered and produced by the Grave Brothers (Asking Alexandria) of InnerSound Studios, the band is now geared up to release their new EP titled, ‘Unstoppable’ on August 25th. From the catchier, anthem driven songs like ‘Bring Us Down’ to heavy metal driven songs like ‘Masks’; Loaded Guns has a lot to offer to the music community and brings a fresh new sound many have been craving in the rock world. Continue reading →

Review: PARADISE LOST – ‘Medusa’

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Paradise Lost are an eclectic bunch. Sure, the metal outfit originating from West Yorkshire, UK has consistently released melancholic and depressive doom metal with a bleak nihilistic worldview that allows the listener to ponder the fruitlessness of their own existence (It’s wonderful!), but Paradise Lost have never been afraid to fuse disparate subgenres such as death metal, goth, symphonic black metal, and even electronic dark pop with their Black Sabbath inspired sound.

Indeed, Paradise Lost’s sonic flexibility has ensured every album in their discography sounds fresh and is easy to differentiate from one another, and this was definitely the case with their previous album ‘The Plague Within’ which was a critically acclaimed beast of an LP that ended up being my favorite album of 2015.

However, despite the rave reviews, Paradise Lost only basked in the praise for a limited amount of time before they embarked on the unenviable task of crafting a dynamic and worthy follow-up. Consisting of vocalist Nick Holmes, guitarists Greg Mackintosh and Aaron Aedy, bassist Steve Edmondsen, and new drummer Finn Walttery Vayrynen, Paradise Lost have created a more than worthy successor in their 15th album ‘Medusa’ which is an LP where the band has decided to strip the symphonic black metal elements that were present in ‘The Plague Within’ in favor of focusing on the doom and sludge sound that made the band so successful in the first place, and with the aid of producer Jaime Gomez Arellano, ‘Medusa’ is a great album with crushing riffs that wallop the listener akin to a strike from a ten ton hammer. Continue reading →

LINKIN PARK Working On A ‘Special Public Event’ In Los Angeles To Honor Chester Bennington

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R.I.P. CHESTER BENNINGTON

With just over a month of the sad demise of one of the 21st century’s greatest rocker, Chester Bennington, former vocalist of LINKIN PARK, tributes from fans, artists and celebrities around the world know no limit and are still coming in hordes expressing their grief and memory with the beloved man. Acknowledging the same, LINKIN PARK has tweeted a message out today(Aug. 22) stating their thankfulness to all fans worldwide for all the support and “tremendous outpouring of love, which has strengthened our spirit during this incredibly difficult time“.

The message was quoted by bassist Dave “Phoenix” Farrell and the rest of the band as they went ahead to mention that they are “working on a special public event in Los Angeles to honor Chester’s memory” and once it all works out, they will relay back the same and confirm all details as soon as possible.

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Review: I WILL KILL CHITA (IWKC) – ‘Hladikarna’ [Album Stream]

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IWKC or I Will Kill Chita (the band’s name jokingly refers to fraternal tensions between members in the past) was formed in 2008 in Russia when the Samarin brothers, Nikita and Nikolai started a chaotic punk-garage band. The search for their own style as well as competent partner-performers has continued through almost three years. After some years spent experimenting with the sound and line-up the band consolidated finally as a septet of Nikolai Samarin (keyboards, guitars), Nikita Samarin (drums, electronics), Andrei Silin (keyboards, electronics), Alexander Ivanov (bass), and Artem Litvakovsky (cello), Denis Smirnov (french horn), Ksenia Pluzhnikova (violin). The band released their 3 track debut EP ‘Better Days’ in December of 2010. The following year they released another EP titled ‘Not A Dream’. On January 28, 2012 the band released their first full length ‘Urban Fears’. It was a conceptual album dedicated to Moscow’s industrial outskirts and was uniquely recorded in an abandoned industrial building in Moscow Suburbs. Since that time the band has has 5 additional releases and a brand new release ‘Hladikarna’ which dropped on May 2, 2017 . The album was recorded & mixed by Nick Samarin @ Orange Studio, produced by IWKC & Vlad “Smack” Ponomarenko and mastered by Vlad “Smack” Ponomarenko. The album also includes a vast amount of guest vocalists Valentin Berezin, Roman Karandaev (extreme vocals), Julia Mityashova, Nicolas Perrault (German vocals), Vlad “Smack” Ponomarenko & Smackapella Choir, Gennadiy Lavrentiev (tabla), Khyung Nagpo (Gyuke voices), Shonchulai Hovenmei, Medved Boris (Full Power), these are in addition of course to the vocals by guitarist and keyboardist Nick Samarin. The band has been formed almost a decade and has more releases than most average bands that have been formed the same amount of time. IWKC doesn’t sit around, they are constantly creating music, and ‘Hladikarna’ is just the latest creative output by the band.

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THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER Reveal New Album Details, ‘Nightbringers’ & Video For Title Track

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From releasing their first album in 2003, they have come a long way in a very short amount of time. Carrying forward the aggressiveness and brutality along with the emotion filled music, THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER are all set to release their new album, ‘Nightbringers‘, via Metal Blade Records on October 6th, this year. ‘Nightbringers‘ will be the eighth full length album the band will offer after 2015’s equally hard hitting ‘Abysmal‘. To celebrate the new album, the band have already put out a new music video which is for the title track. You can check the video at the bottom.

The members recorded their own part in the album independently by splitting up, which helped bring out the best in the individuals. With former bassist Ryan Williams once again assisting, the drums were tracked at The Pipe Yard in Plymouth, Michigan and rhythm guitars and bass in the band’s practice space in Warren, Michigan. Ellis then recorded his many mind boggling solos in his home studio, while Strnad opted to record at his home in Auburn Hills, Michigan with Joe Cincotta (SUFFOCATION, INTERNAL BLEEDING) of Full Force Studios overseeing his sessions. The ghoulish cover art was the brainchild of Kristian Wahlin, aka Necrolord, who has designed seminal artwork for the likes of AT THE GATES, BATHORY, EMPEROR and also TBDM‘s 2007 release, ‘Nocturnal‘. “I think he’s the most prominent artist when it comes to classic releases in the melodic death metal genre, and kind of bringing things full circle with it being the ten-year anniversary of ‘Nocturnal’ felt right. By now people probably wouldn’t have expected us to go back to him, so it’s kind of a surprise, but at the same time it’s a very classic cover too.“, Strnad speaks.

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Louder Than Life Spotlight: ’68

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*Every Tuesday and Thursday from now until Louder Than Life gets here we will be releasing an article about a band playing the festival to get you familiar with them.*

Today’s artist is 68′.

 

For those of us who plan on attending Louder Than Life in Louisville, KY this year, we can all safely assume there will be plenty of great music from artists you know and love, and some that may not be so familiar, but amazing nonetheless.  Some are playing the festival for the first time, while some are returning for another year of good music, good food, and an all-around good time and of these, the name ’68 may be a little familiar – and for good reason. Continue reading →

Review: THE SKY IS – ‘Telepathie’ [Album Stream]

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Photo Credit: Jan Daciuk

 

The Sky Is formed in 2011 in Warsaw, Poland. The band released their self titled debut on November 9, 2012. Their sound is comprised of several influences from various corners of the music world. You will hear some stoner rock, doom, sludge and even post hardcore sounds within their music. The band retains two original members that were on the debut which is Maximilian Herbst, and Robert Pełka. Herbst and Pelka share guitar duties in the band and are a shredding duo that is a delight to hear. Their style at times is minimalist, but yet again there are moments they crank it up and truly show off their abilities. The Sky Is has now released their most recent work entitled ‘Telepathie’. The EP features two new members of the band, Rafał Szmidt on bass and Jacek Łaziuk on drums. Of course you wouldn’t know they are new to the band by the output of their talents on this EP. The bass and drum parts are a huge gear in the machine known as The Sky Is. Though the band is instrumental it doesn’t leave you wanting vocals. They have a way of composing the music so that is stays fresh, vibrant and is constantly entertaining with constant break neck tempo changes. The album was recorded and mixed by Przemysław Wejmann at Perlazza Studio and mastered by Matt Lynch at Mysterious Mammal Recording. Continue reading →