Review: FUNERAL FOR THE MASSES – ‘Pitch Black’ [Official Video]

 

When we are talking about brutal Finnish death metal we are talking about Funeral For The Masses. This band is currently unsigned but has been rising higher and higher, so watch out! They are from the northern city of Oulu, Finland and I can tell you that this is a band you can add to the good Finnish bands. The band was founded in the winter of 2014 by Eemeli Bodde & Teemu Halmetoja. They have one vocalist, Teemu Halmetoja, guitarists Eemeli Bodde and Juho Näppä, bassist  Aleksi Statsevich and on the drums we have Niko Väärälä.They recorded and produced everything themselves, it got mixed & mastered by Timfy James (Hacktavist, Old School Studios). They have done some tours in the past with one of the biggest metal festivals in Finland. The last years they have been busy finding their sound and this EP shows what they are trying to create, a brutal mix of dark vocals with a feeling of revenge and terror. If you are a fan of their 2 EP’s before this, ‘’Deal With The Devil’’ or ‘’Blood Donation’’, you will be running for this one.

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Review: THE CHARM THE FURY – ‘The Sick, Dumb And Happy’ (Official Video)

The Charm The Fury is a metalband from Amsterdam, The Netherlands that doesn’t fit in 1 genre and that’s exactly why I like them as a band. They have melodic riffs with clean vocals as well as growling. This shows what Caroline Westendorp as a vocalist is capable of. They consist of 5 people. Vocalist Caroline Westendorp, bassist Lucas Arnoldussen, drummer Mathijs Tieken, guitarist Rolf Perdok and Martijn Slegtenhorst. It all started with their EP ‘The Social Meltdown’,This EP didn’t get by unnoticed, right after this EP they debuted with their first album called ‘A Shade Of My Former Self’. After this they played live on a lot of big festivals like Graspop, Download, Fortarock, Lowlands. They even played with Slipknot and Papa Roach, if this doesn’t get you hyped then I don’t know what will.

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Review: AVERSIONS CROWN – ‘Xenocide’ [Official Video]

Aversions Crown is a death metal band from Brisbane, Australia. The 4 piece consists of vocalist Mark Poida, bassist Steve, drummer Jayden Mason, guitarists Chris Cougan and Kevin Butler. They first started out really strong with their debut album called ‘Servitude’ back in 2011. 3 years later they released their second album ‘Tyrant’. From this point on their releases come via Nuclear Blast. This has been a really big deal for the band because this is one of the top labels out there. It really stepped up their game big time. Beginning this year they released their third album ‘Xenocide’. This album features a new vocalist and he fits the band perfectly, the album theme is really important for the band so that has to show in the vocal style and I can assure you that he is doing a great job on it.

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AT THE DRIVE-IN Announces New Album Details, Tour Dates, and New Song [Stream]

Legendary post hardcore band At The Drive-In has just announced details for their first full length release in 17 years. ‘in·ter a·li·a’ will be released on May 5th through Rise Records. It was produced by guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Rich Costey (Audioslave, Mastodon, Jane’s Addiction). This will be one of the biggest releases of 2017 considering the huge praise previous album ‘Relationship of Command’ has received over the years, being called by many one of the greatest records of all time. It will also be the first album without longtime guitarist Jim Ward, Keeley Davis of Sparta will be making his debut with the band on this record. You can order the new album here. Check below for the newly announced tour dates and for the new songs “Incurably Innocent” and “Governed By Contagions”. Continue reading

EX DEO Releases New Music Video For “The Roman”

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

DRAGONFORCE Announces New Album Details

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

Review: GRAVE DIGGER – ‘Healed By Metal’

Artwork by Gyula Havancsák

After 36 years of touring and writing new music, Grave Digger is still at it putting out fantastic power metal anthems. Their new album, ‘Healed By Metal’ dropped on January 13th, 2017 on Napalm Records. It is their fourth release with the label and their 18th album overall. ‘Healed By Metal’ lives up to the big expectations following their previous, stellar release, ‘Return of the Reaper’ (2014). This record also features the debut of new keyboardist, Marcus Kniep. The rest of the band remains the same from the last album including Chris “Reaper” Boltendahl on the vocals, Stefan Arnold on drums, Jens Becker on bass, and Axel “Ironfinger” Ritt on the guitars. The German power metal band continues to put out strong material consistently almost every 2 years. You can buy ‘Healed By Metal’ on Amazon  or you can get it on iTunes. Continue reading

2017’s Most Anticipated Albums!

With 2016 just barely behind us we are looking at the upcoming releases in 2017. Some of these albums already have specific release dates and titles and some haven’t been announced yet. These albums are not only by bands that we like but a release in which the band is reuniting or hasn’t released an album in a while, or just an album we think will have a huge impact on the band’s career. The albums that follow are in no specific order and our staff has all had input on the albums in which they think are the most anticipated of 2017.

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Review: CODE ORANGE – ‘Forever’ [Song Stream]

Critically acclaimed hardcore band Code Orange are set to release their 3rd LP, ‘Forever’ next week on January 13th, 2017. ‘Forever’ will be the band’s first release on major label Roadrunner Records. Their previous 2 records were released on Deathwish. It will be the follow up to their highly praised album ‘I Am King’ which was released in 2014. In my opinion, ‘I Am King’ was one of the best hardcore records in the last 10 years, so topping the record is going to be considered a huge challenge by many. The band formed in 2008 in Pittsburgh, PA. The lineup has changed a few times but has been consistent since 2012, the current members of the band are Eric Balderose on guitar and vocals, Reba Meyers also on guitar and vocals, Jami Morgan on the drums and vocals, and Joe Goldman on the bass. They changed their name from Code Orange Kids to Code Orange in 2014. You can pre-order the new album here. Continue reading