Virtuosity Defined – Raiju

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Illustration by Chasing Photons

Illustration by Chasing Photons

According to Wikipedia:

Raijū (雷獣,”thunder animal” or “thunder beast”) is a legendary creature from Japanese mythology. Its body is composed of lightning and may be in the shape of a cat, fox, weasel, or wolf. The form of a white and blue wolf (or even a wolf wrapped in lightning) is also common. It may also fly about as a ball of lightning (in fact, the creature may be an attempt to explain the phenomenon of lightning). Its cry sounds like thunder.

Raiju is the companion of Raijin, the Shinto god of lightning. While the beast is generally calm and harmless, during thunderstorms it becomes agitated and leaps about in trees, fields, and even buildings (trees that have been struck by lightning are said to have been scratched by Raiju’s claws).

Another of Raiju’s peculiar behaviors is sleeping in human navels. This prompts Raijin to shoot lightning arrows at Raiju to wake the creature up, and thus harms the person in whose belly the demon is resting. Superstitious people therefore often sleep on their stomachs during bad weather, but other legends say that Raiju will only hide in the navels of people who sleep outdoors.

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Having Words With Angerhead!

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Angerhead logo

Recently I was given the opportunity to interview San Jose, California’s own Angerhead. Beginning their quest in February of 2011, they have developed a very cool mix of Thrash Metal and Punk that harkens back to days of real music played by real musicians. Keeping up the tradition for over five years now, they have played with Exodus, Testament, Kittie, Loudness, Quiet Riot and a host of other national touring acts. Check out what they had to say and put them on your list of “must listen to bands” list. Turn it up and hang on for the ride!

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State of the Art: Burning Witch

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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 Washington!

burning witch 1

Featuring two of Washington (and metal’s) most prolific artists, the short lived doom/sludge cult known as Burning Witch stunned and repulsed with their strange Continue reading →

Chicago Open Air: Day 1 Review

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Butcher Babies!

Butcher Babies!

Chicago Open Air was by far the most exciting lineup of bands I had seen in a long time. Danny Wimmer Presents always has a great list of bands at all their festivals like Rock On The Range, Carolina Rebellion, Rocklahoma, Louder Than Life and more. However, this lineup put all the others to shame. All it really took to get me excited was Rammstein. At first that was the only band announced, and it would be their only U.S. date in 2016. They had long been at the top of my must see bucket list. Once the remainder of bands was added I was more than excited. Continue reading →

State of the Art: Mechanism

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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 Washington!

MechanismLogo2

So I was on vacation last week and, as a result, did not post a State of the Art: Washington showcase article. Well, when looking for Washington bands to cover this week, I was almost overwhelmed with the number of really good bands deserving some attention and have decided to make up for last week by posting two this week. So, let’s go to Tacoma, Washington, just northeast of Olympia, home of Melodic Hard Rock/Metal monsters, Mechanism.

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DEATH WILL TREMBLE “Mona” Review & Stream!

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deeeeeeee

Modern music and fans are always racing to put a title on a band. Genres and sub-genres have run rampant. Sometimes a band comes along and refuses to be tagged as one specific sound. Let me introduce you to DEATH WILL TREMBLE. They are a band that melds together a handful of elements from various genres. It’s impossible really to wrangle them into one specific category or two for that matter. I simply like to refer to their style as creative. Lots of bands attempt to create a whole new sound that hasn’t really been heard before and fail miserably. DEATH WILL TREMBLE call Austin, Texas home. The musicians that make up the band have played in various projects in the past. You can hear the chemistry within the band, breaking ground and musical barriers isn’t easily done and the band has already made amazing strides. Continue reading →

State of the Art: Elephant Gun Riot

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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 Washington!

EGRLogo2

After a week off, I am back with you here at MN. So we are off to Washington this month. Population of 7.062 million spread over 71,300 square miles in the upper, northwest corner of the continental United States. Known for its snow capped mountains of the Cascades and the rainforests of Olympic National Park, tech industry and cultural diversity in music, art and business, Washington definitely deserves a month in the spotlight. For my first SOTA lets head just a little north and all the way east from Washington’s capital of Olympia to Spokane and check out Elephant Gun Riot…

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Flaw “Divided We Fall” Review

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flaw_pic2

Flaw is one of the legends as far as Kentucky metal bands go. They put the Bluegrass State on the map for something other than country when they hit the airwaves in the late 90’s thru early 2000’s. Their last major release was 2004’s ‘Endangered Species’. The band has been back together and playing some live shows over the past couple years and we even got a taste of the new album pretty early with “Bleed Red”. At the Louder Than Life festival in 2015 we had a chance to speak with the band about the upcoming album and music in the current era. Singer Chris Volz and guitarist Jay Daunt both stated that rock and metal was on a 10 year cycle and that it was time for popularity to sway back towards rock rather than pop. After hearing the latest record by the band ‘Divided We Fall’ not only do I agree that rock is making its way back but I believe Flaw is leading the way. The new album will be released via Pavement Music. The album was recorded with Rick Lander (Dead Horse Trauma, Under Pike Skies) at Crisis Lab Studios. The album is the monumental comeback record we have all hoped for. It was always FLAW fans’ connection to their songs that carried the band on.  “We would not be where we are today without our hardcore fans,” says Volz. The Flaw Family is the motor that drives the band and this album will just double the size of that family once it’s released. ‘Divided We Fall’ is scheduled to hot stores August 19th. Make sure to pick the album up directly from the band on their upcoming tour with Dope and Motograter, or pre-order here.   Continue reading →

State Of The Art: Washington – Wolves in the Throne Room

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WA. sign

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

This month’s State is Washington!

wolves1

One of my all time favorite black metal acts, Wolves in the Throne Room make their home in the misty forests of Olympia, Washington.  Brothers Nathan and Aaron Weaver have been playing stellar ambient black metal epics since 2003, and released their first full length in 2006 with “Diadem of 12 Stars“. This album really made people reconsider what made black metal “BLACK METAL“.   WIITR effortlessly juxtapose haunting ambient and choral passages with the usual blasting and tremolo riffing that BM is so well known for. The addition of waterfalls, wind blowing, and other sounds one would hear whilst traveling across the Cascade Mountains bring life to a genre of music that is most often associated with the cold and the dead. Continue reading →