Tag Archives: Arizona

Aftershock 2019 Spotlight: SPIRIT ADRIFT [Video Stream]

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*This is part of our “Aftershock Festival 2019 Spotlight” where we branch out and focus on some of the up-and-coming bands that fans can see at this year’s Aftershock Festival on October 11th – 13th.  This week, we’re checking out SPIRIT ADRIFT*

Phoenix, Arizona’s Spirit Adrift will be offering a taste of darkness and doom under the hot Northern California sun this October. Originally formed in 2016, the quartet consists of Nate Garrett (vocals/guitar), Marcus Bryant (drums), Chase Morgan (bass), and Eric Wagner (guitar). Spirit Adrift’s late 70s/early 80s, retro metal vibe is a sharp contrast to the more extreme death metal project, Gatecreeper, of which Garrett, Mason, and Wagner are also members. Impressively, both bands are devastating in their own right; but where Gatecreeper takes its influences more in the form of bands like Entombed and Bolt Thrower, Spirit Adrift’s inspiration seems to lie somewhere within the stoney realms of Black Sabbath and Candlemass. Continue reading →

Louder Than Life Festival Spotlight: DED [Official Videos]

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Welcome back to our ongoing series of LOUDER THAN LIFE 2019 artist profiles, our weekly guide through the lineup of acts who’ll take the stage at Louisville, Kentucky’s Highland Festival Grounds at Kentucky Expo Center September 27-29 in what’s sure to be one of the biggest concert events of the year. This week, we’re checking out DED.*

If you haven’t had a chance to hear or see the band DED you have truly been hiding from all the good things in the world. The band released their Fred Durst directed video for “Anti-Everything” in March of 2017 and it was like a haymaker to the metal world waking us up from the same old generic regurgitated metal we have had for years. DED had a fresh new sound that re-awakened the nu-metal scene and had everyone screaming for more. The band formed in Phoenix, AZ in 2016 with the goal of putting listeners on edge. They have achieved various other goals in the process as well. The band has been one of the best up and coming bands of the past couple years and has helped revive the nu-metal scene that once was considered endangered. Over the course of their first year they have took the music scene by storm with their first two singles. They were collecting fans from all over the world even prior to their album dropping. Their live performances and EP led to a quick amount of success including shows with Beartooth, Atreyu, Every Time I Die, and then a massive tours with Korn and Stone Sour. They will be one of the must see bands at this years Louder Than Life Festival performing on Sunday September 29th. Of course the lads are no stranger to festival stages and have previously played Carolina Rebellion and played Epicenter’s inaugural year this year, Chicago Open Air, Shiprocked, Rock Allegiance, Revolution Rock Fest, Rocklahoma, Aftershock, Knotfest, and they are also Louder Than Life veterans after performing on the festival in 2017.

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State of the Art: BEG FOR LIFE

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

This month’s state is Arizona!

We are on our final week of State of the Art in the great state of Arizona! There’s no better way to end it then with Yuma’s Beg For Life. The band was formed in 2006 and refers to their genre on Bandcamp as “Prison Hill Hardcore”. The band released their only full length in 2009 titled ‘Doomed’. It comes at you with full force for the entirety of the record. You can check out their video they did for “Means To An End” (the opener on the record) below. Three years later, the band released their EP ‘Mare Miseria’. The four songs on the EP showed the band’s capability to become heavier, faster, and better as they continued. Both records were released via Westcoast Worldwide Records. The band has been somewhat inactive since then, but it appears that they are gearing up for more music soon. Continue reading →

State Of The Art : AMERICAN STANDARDS

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

This month’s state is Arizona!

 

When we found out what state would be featured for our weekly series of STATE OF THE ART, I automatically knew who I wanted to introduce to the world, the fantastic guys in American Standards. American Standards is a chaotic hardcore band that you probably do not know and will kick yourself for not knowing them before today. But don’t be saddend by this, even I was late to the party, not discovering them until sometime in late 2016 when meeting their vocalist Brandon Kellum through the Facebook fan group for Dillinger Escape Plan, The Dillinger Compound. American Standards story is that of separation, loss and the adaptability that allows us to preserver. Formed in Phoenix, AZ in the summer of 2011, the band released their first album ‘Still Life’ through We Are Triumphant, an imprint of Victory Records. Musically, the record walked a fine line between subtle melody and raw chaos providing a platform for vocalist Brandon Kellum’s emotionally and politically charged lyrics. The band quickly became known for their intense live shows and undeniable work ethic playing over 300 shows to date.

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State Of The Art : WARHEAD

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

This month’s state is Arizona!

 

Hello hell raisers! Welcome back to another weekly segment of State Of The Art series where every week we go a bit heavy metal Santa Claus and shower some much deserved spotlight to the lesser known and underground bands who already are wrecking shit up at you local town or city. Monday can be asphyxiating and SOTA is your caffeine to start off your week. If you love digging up new bands and are always on the run trying to hit the gold, this segment is totally yours. Last month I highlighted SUPPRESSIVE FIRE, a thrash band from Raleigh NC, which you can check it out HERE. Today, this Monday, we present to you another thrash metal quartet who are taking giant strides in the underground circuit. Okay, you might be thinking, “does this bloke know anything other than thrash?” Well, I know, but thrash is where my heart is and I mean come on who doesn’t like thrash metal. So coming back to the artist, welcome the old school, fast and furious WARHEAD from Phoenix, Arizona!

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State Of The Art: DED!

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

                                                                    This month’s State is Arizona!

Ded is one of the best upcoming Nu-Metal bands from the state. While listening you will instantly recognize some of the greatest parts about Nu-Metal with some insanely good additions. They make you want to start your own damn pit in your living room, that is how crazy good they are. I have only found out about them recently yet I have already fallen in love with their sound. Vocalist Joe Cotela is inhuman, his screams have the same feeling to them that a lot of older bands had that just started out with a bunch of agression. That isn’t all, the guitar work of  David Ludlow is everything you are looking for in a Nu-Metal riff. It sounds raw and it has clear influences on a lot of other great Nu-Metal bands that are out there. Bassist Kyle Koelsch fits his role perfectly, the bass in the mix of their 3 songs is just right. It doesn’t dominate and it also doesn’t disappear in thin air. All these musicians are talented but a band wouldn’t be anything without an energetic drummer, that is where Matt reinhard jumps in. Luckily for us they have already released 3 songs from their upcoming debut album ‘Mis•An•Thrope’. The whole album will be available on the 21th of July. Those 3 songs are called ”FMTY”, ”Anti-Everything” and ”Dead To Me”. They have all been self released and they have all made me realise what I was missing out on before. These songs are full of power, hatred and filled with a bunch of head banging moments. I suggest you listen to them before we go any further in today’s State Of The Art, they are all linked at the very end! Continue reading →

State Of The Art: GATECREEPER!

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

                                                                       This month’s State is Arizona!

GATECREEPER is a death metal band out of Tucson & Phoenix Arizona. They formed in 2013 with members Chase Mason on guitar, Metal Matt on drums, and Sean Mears on bass. In the early days they didn’t play a single show – they just wrote songs and recorded them. There was virtually no direction for this self-titled, 4 song EP, released in April of 2014. But, it turned out to be a great idea because they ended up with a fanbase before they played their first show.

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Review: WOUNDVAC – ‘Infamy‘ [Album Stream]

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WOUNDVAC is a hardcore/grind quartet from Phoenix, Arizona. The band formed in 2014 The band’s most predominant styles are hardcore and grind, but you also can hear some punk influence within their sound as well. The band has 7 varying format releases so far in short amount of time they have been formed. Everything was started with the bands ‘S/T’ EP that released in 2014, and then followed up with ‘DISGRACED CONVERT’ 7″ in 2015. In 2016 the band had 4 different releases. The first of which was a ‘WOUNDVAC // COLUMNIII Split’ 7″ that featured 2 tracks from WOUNDVAC and one from fellow the Arizona natives COLUMNIII. It was on this release that current vocalist Rich joined the band, taking the place of the bands original singer. The next release was the single “Sentient Cancer” which is features an array of political themed lyrics. Next was another split released in October of 2016, this time released on cassette. The ‘WOUNDVAC // GLITTERBOMB Split’ Cassette which featured 2 songs by each band. The 4th and final release of 2016 was a two track flexi disc release titled ‘They Eat Their Own Young / Rumination’. The flexi disc is a record made of a thin, flexible vinyl sheet with a molded-in spiral stylus groove, and is designed to be playable on a normal turntable. Though the flexi disc was created in the 60’s their popularity was brought back by Decibel Magazines monthly flexi disc series that features exclusive songs. Now WOUNDVAC has started off the New Year strong with yet another release. ‘Infamy‘ was released on February 17, 2017. Drums recorded at Arcane Digital Recording with Ryan Butler (Exhumed, Ghoul, Nightrage), the Guitars, bass, and vocals were recorded and mixed by Kiel Siler and Additional vocal mixing by Zachary Rippy at Sound Signal Audio. The album was mastered by Ronald J. Llewellyn (The Freeze, Destruction Unit) of Welshman’s Pride. WOUNDVAC has not only proven that they have achieved the sound in which they have been progressing towards, but their vast discography in less than 3 years as an active band shows the immense work ethic they have.  Continue reading →