The almighty French metal band Gojira has just added five more shows to their already large US tour. Two of these shows will feature heavy metal trio Kyng while the other three feature shoegaze black metal band, Deafheaven and hardcore punk band, Code Orange. You can find all the ticket links here. You can find the rest of the US dates below. Continue reading
*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.
*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
Long time readers know our affinity for Sin City’s, Meade Ave. We have been behind the Militia for quite a while now after showcasing the band and reviewing their killer live show over the course of the last year or so. Their sound is a modern take on old-school Hard Rock often bordering on Traditional Heavy Metal that deserves a very high spot on any playlist. Having a broad spectrum of accessible and honest music puts them in a sweet spot that attracts fans across many genres. On top of their undeniable musical talents, the band is extremely hard working and driven to support their fan base as much as we support their band. They have to be one of the coolest groups of people you could ever meet, happy to engage everyone that graces their presence. Zero attitude zone around the entire band. This carries over to contemporary bands as well. Drummer/Producer/Editor and all-around great guy, Aaron Paoletta runs The Cave Recording Studio and has developed a mobile platform, allowing them to record anywhere they land on their extensive tour schedule which can then be mixed and mastered at home base in Las Vegas, NV. He offers this advanced service to others at a very reasonable cost in an effort to promote his entire scene, not just Meade Ave. I don’t one thin dime from this statement and don’t intend this as an advertisement. This is truly how this man roles. Big kudos for his ongoing support of the entire music scene! Think about it. If it were not for fans and bands willing to put skin in the entire game, the music dies. Aaron gives us all a high bar to live up to wherever we live!
Last week on Talk Toomey, our friend Josh Toomey had a chance to interview Battlecross guitarist Hiran Deraniyagala. Josh and Hiran discussed what it was like to be out on the road with Phil Anselmo of Superjoint, including a running joke of creating a A Flock of Seagulls cover band. They also talk about Slayer’s ‘Seasons in the Abyss’, GWAR, who they might cover next, and the future plans of Battlecross. You can stream the full interview below. It begins around the 25 minute mark. Continue reading
Canadian death metal band Ex Deo has just released their second song from their upcoming album, ‘The Immortal Wars’, set to release on February 24th on Napalm Records. ‘The Immortal Wars’ will be the band’s third release, following up ‘Caligvla’ (2012). The band then went on a hiatus starting in 2014, making another release unlikely, but they returned in late 2015 to announce they were working on new material. The band has received high praise for their stories of Roman History throughout their discography. Ex Deo had this to say about “The Roman”: Continue reading
Krystos is:
Billy Thornock – Lead vocals/lead guitaris
Dan Johnston – Backing Vocals/lead guitar
Adam Brimhall – Drums
Nick Lugo – Backing vocals/bass
So we return to Boise, ID from last month’s State of the Art series. After highlighting the killer band, Krystos (SOTA), I was allowed a pre-release listen to their upcoming release of “Lolth Domain”, due out February 15, 2017 and was not to be disappointed. With underpinnings in old-school Thrash, European Power Metal and a raw, visceral tone not often found in Modern Metal, there is nothing this band does that is not done to absolute perfection and this album is further proof that Krystos has finally distilled their desired sound on this album and has what it takes to stand out among contemporary bands, no matter where they may hail from around the world.
Battle Beast is a band from Helsinki, Finland. Their sound is often described as Heavy or Power metal and they have been a band since 2008. Their new album entitled ‘Bringer Of Pain’ will be released via Nuclear Blast Records on February 17th 2017. On with the review….
This entire album is like an epic journey. From start to finish you feel like you’re conquering foes or slaying dragons or just in a crowd of people chanting about your victories. It’s an interesting album through and through. Extremely high energy and songs that have you belting out at the top of your lungs singing along. This is easily the bands most outstanding accomplishment up until this point. The only issue now being, the bar they have set is incredibly high and with with this bands track record I don’t think they will have an issue next time around.
British power metal band DragonForce has just announced details for their upcoming release on Metal Blade Record. ‘Reaching into Infinity’ will be released in the USA on May 19th; it is the new band’s 7th studio album. The band feels very confident about this album, as it does a great job showing the ferociousness and speed with melody and fun. The record was made across several locations including Fascination Street Studios, Sweden, Lamerluser Studios, (London, UK), Dark Lane Studios (Witney, UK), and the band’s own studio in Evil1 Studios in Charleville-Mezieres, France and Shredforce One Studios (CA, USA). The record was produced by Jens Bogren. Bass player, Frederic Leclercq has this to say about the album: Continue reading
Final Drive is a St. Louis based thrash metal band. Their new album was released on February 3rd 2017 and was produced by Charlie Bellmore (Jasta, Kingdom of Sorrow) mixed by Nicky Bellmore (Dexter’s Lab Studio, Toxic Holocaust) and mastered by Zeuss (Rob Zombie, Hatebreed). ‘Dig Deeper’ is the follow up to the bands 2011 release ‘Lifes Work’ (also a great record). Now that the formalities are out of the way, let’s get this review started! Continue reading
