SLAYER, LAMB OF GOD, and BEHEMOTH Annihilate Nashville 7/30/17

“This is the grown man tour.” –Randy Blythe

For metal heads, going to a REAL metal show and seeing your favorite metal band is the ultimate goal.  Thankfully, that’s a goal I was able to mark off the list a week ago in Nashville, TN when Slayer, Lamb of God, and Behemoth paid a visit to the Nashville Municipal Auditorium.  In a city where country music is prevalent, it was a nice change to bring a metal touch to the city, and what better way to do that, than to bring the heaviest tour of the Summer right to its core?  Of course, Nashville has seen its fair share of metal bands, but none of which compared to the lineup it witnessed on the night of July 30, 2017. Continue reading

MARTY FRIEDMAN Reveals Cinematic New Music Video for “Whiteworm”

Pioneer of exotic guitar MARTY FRIEDMAN has released his scorching full-length opus, ‘Wall Of Sound’August 4th via Prosthetic Records. Recently, Marty began his U.S. headline tour with support from Houston’s top progressive outfit, Scale the Summit, along with Madison, WI’s incendiary power trio, The Fine Constant. VIP packs are available HERE.
 

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Louder Than Life Spotlight: BITERS

*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 Biters.

On Sunday, October 1st, hard rock band Biters brings their deadly, catchy sound to Louder Than Life. This is a band that has been highly regarded as the new forerunners of rock’n’roll by many websites like Classic Rock, TeamRock, BlabberMouth, and more. It all started back in 2010 when the Atlanta quartet released their self-titled EP. This EP drew heavy influences from 70s artists like Alice Cooper and Thin Lizzy. There is a cross on all of their records between glam rock, punk, and classic rock with big pop hooks to make for a very accessible sound. Their first three EPs were released on Underrated Records. Their fourth EP ‘Last of a Dying Breed dropped in 2012 via Pipeline Records. Although they were released on labels, Biters did most of everything on their own. They even had received notice from bands as big as Green Day at that stage in their career. Having four EPs out in just two years was a huge accomplishment, but many fans were getting anxious for a full length record. Three years later, they finally got that. Continue reading

State Of The Art: ANNIHILATE THE HERO!

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

                                                              This month’s state is Illinois!

Welcome to the kickoff of State Of The Art for August! I was the one who got the honor of selecting the state for this month and thought there’s no better of a time than now to showcase the talent from my home state of Illinois. I’d like to introduce you all to a band from my area of Southern Illinois, Annihilate The Hero. Annihilate The Hero is a three-piece metal band coming out of Carbondale, Illinois with influences coming from all types of metal : thrash, progressive, and death, with others sprinkled in. Their current line up consists of Thomas Henderson (Guitar/Vocals), Justin Malinee (Drums), and Tony Lamantia (Bass).

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US Black/Thrash Band AFFLIKTOR Announces New Single “Chaos Magick Totality” [Song Stream]

Underground metalheads are in for a treat as guitar virtuoso Toby Knapp, who previously was an ex-GODLESS RISING member, and also is in WAXEN, WHERE EVIL FOLLOWS, is back with his new solo band AFFLIKTOR. Playing a sacrilegous and dirty breed of black and thrash metal. Toby Knapp has been a reckoning force in the underground since the 90s, working in many bands and delivering genre crossing and boundary shattering metal albums. Be it progressive metal, classic metal, black or death or just pure thrash, you name it, it’s already there. The self titled debut AFFLIKTOR record is slated for its release in October 20, 2017 through Indian label Transcending Obscurity, which is one of the best underground metal record labels out there. Check them out, you won’t disappointed.

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Exclusive Stream: ORISSA Release Title Track From ‘Resurrection’!

Progressive/cinematic rock project, Orissa, drops the title track from the upcoming album, ‘Resurrection’, due out November 3, 2017. Mixed by Sahaj Ticotin, (RA, Meytal Cohen, Adekain, September Mourning) and mastered by Paul Logus, (Stone Sour, Steel Panther, Shadows Fall) the LP showcases, “progressive metal that demonstrates remarkable mastery.” (Codifiers) Mastermind behind the project, David Dodini, graduated with honors from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and completed his masters at the Biella Conservatory’s Scuola Niccolo Paganini in Biella, Italy. Orissa’s live band is a roster of NYC’s finest musicians from Trans Siberian Orchestra, Neal Morse Band, Stratospheerius, Book Of Mormon, Dyed In Grey, Haakons Fault, Emergence and Astronaut Down.
Orissa was created in 2010 by Dodini, a virtuoso singer, guitarist and bassist, who writes, arranges and performs all the parts on Orissa’s records. Born out the of desire to explore inner creative space and create a distinctive, cathartic, deeply personal and therapeutic art, Dodini abandoned the strictly classical background and delved into his own songwriting, fusing his classical training with his love for jazz, balkan and other ancient rhythmic traditions; these styles translated into Dodini’s immersion into metal and progressive music, as the genres carry numerous parallels. Orissa released its debut EP, Omens in 2012; on which Dodini played all the instruments and was backed by Dan Walsh (drums). Omens was mixed by Stacey O’Dell, (Killcode, Panzie, Awaken), and mastered by Chris Muth of Taloowa. Orissa launched two additional singles in 2013 as, The Musical Offering. They were mixed and mastered by Patrick Derivaz, (Jon Scofield, Jeff Buckley, Meshell Ndegeocello), and released to support a Kickstarter Campaign. In turn, the Kickstarter raised over $20K to fund the upcoming album, ‘Resurrection’, which features Dodini’s vocal and instrumental arrangements and performances as well as drummer Jason Gianni, (Trans Siberian Orchestra, Neal Morse, Book Of Mormon). In 2016, Orissa brought the music from the studio to the stage when Dodini attracted the best musicians from NYC’s progressive, metal and rock communities.

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HELL OR HIGHWATER’S Joey Bradford “We Had To Fight For Every Fan We Got” [Video]

Hell Or Highwater was formed originally as a solo project by Atreyu vocalist/drummer Brandon Saller in 2011 when Atreyu went on a brief hiatus. This material is definitely more upbeat and rock’n’roll while Atreyu was on the darker, metalcore side for most of their career. Hell Or Highwater new album ‘Vista’ released on May 19th. Since forming 6 years ago, the band released their debut record the same year titled ‘Begin Again’ and featured guest vocals on “Go Alone” from M. Shadows of Avenged Sevenfold. One of the things that really stands out to me from this band is the great classic rock sounding guitar work from Joey Bradford and Jon Hoover. Saller is typically behind the kit but he is only fronting the band here while Kyle Rosa is killing it behind the drum kit. Nick Maldonado rounds out the lineup presenting big fills on the bass and works with the synth parts that the band has in certain songs like “Terrorized in the Night”. Continue reading

Quiet Riot’s Frankie Banali – James Durbin First Learned Of Quiet Riot From A Video Game! [Audio Available]

 

You’re never to old to “Bang Your Head”. Here in 2017 QUIET RIOT are still giving fans a reason to keep their heads banging with their newest release “Road Rage”, Available today from FRONTIERS MUSIC. “Road Rage” marks the first release with new front man, and ex American Idol finalist James Durbin. The lineup is Rounded out with long time drummer Frankie “Boom Boom” Banali, long time bassist Chuck Wright and Guitarist Alex Grossi who’s been with the group since 2004. Continue reading