MESHUGGAH & THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER Bring the Heavy To Nashville [Review & Photo Gallery]

Meshuggah

Swedish extreme metal innovators Meshuggah treated U.S. fans to a surprise when they announced they would hit the spring U.S. festival circuit and sprinkle in a handful of select cities across the states in between. In addition to Welcome to Rockville, the Epicenter Festival, the Sonic Temple Art & Music Festival, and the Chicago Open Air Festival, Meshuggah chose to destroy six other lucky cities as they traversed the southern and northeastern states before heading to Europe this summer. Joining them on these select dates were Detroit, MI death metal veterans The Black Dahlia Murder. Continue reading

DANCE GAVIN DANCE, PERIPHERY And More Light Up Chicago [Review & Photo Gallery]

Dance Gavin Dance

Last Friday, post-hardcore titans Dance Gavin Dance took the House of Blues stage by storm for a second consecutive night in Chicago. The night provided a wide array of metal and rock across many subgenres with support from Periphery, Don Broco, Hail the Sun, and Covet. Anyone that knows these artists can understand why they were able to sell out two consecutive nights at the venue within less than a week of their respective on sale dates. Check out our photo gallery from Kayla Gray along with our show review below!
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Review: PERIPHERY – ‘IV: Hail Stan’ [Official Video]

Words By: Masen Smith

For nearly a decade, DC prog metallers and forerunners of Djent; Periphery have been churning out album after album of tasty riffs and inventive songwriting. Few bands in the genre have been able to continuously and fluidly evolve for this long, constantly leaving fans guessing on which direction they’ll take next. No sentiment could be truer regarding their latest record, ‘IV: Hail Stan.’ After shockingly departing from Sumerian Records and subsequently launching their own label 3Dot Recordings, their creativity as a band was allowed to take centre stage. On their revamped writing process, guitarist Jake Bowen explained that this record was unique in that it took an entire year to write- something that the rushed schedule of major labels simply didn’t allow. The result is a polished, purposeful, textured and masterfully crafted album, one that was certainly worth the wait. Continue reading

State Of The Art: Hawaii’s NESTA [Track Stream]

*This is part of our State Of The Art series, showcasing bands every Monday from the featured state. This month’s state is Hawaii.*

In the land of tropical paradise with its picturesque beaches, near perfect weather, and aloha vibes, it may be hard to imagine heavy music coming from the Hawaiian Islands. It was certainly no easy task finding metal amidst the vast sea of island reggae and ukuleles for this month’s SOTA, but this pick from the Honolulu underground is one I’m sure metal fans will enjoy. Hailing from Waianae, Hawaii, Nesta proves that their volcanic brand of metal can not only compete with its mainland contemporaries, but also push the envelope in some unexpected and highly innovative ways. Continue reading

It’s 2019 and It’s Time To Djent with ROGUE [Video Streaming]

Louisiana band, R O G U E  are brand new and not something to overlook. They are a four-piece consisting of Jansen Nunez on vocals, Jeffrey Fisher of The Arbitrary on guitars, bass is Taylor Law and Nick Guidry on drums. This month the band will be releasing their debut EP, “Anomaly.” Continue reading

Review: JINJER – ‘Micro’ [Video Stream]

Ukrainian prog/metalcore act Jinjer return with ‘Micro,’ the band’s newest offering that essentially packs an entire album’s worth of punch into five devastating tracks. The EP, scheduled to be released on January 11th, 2019 via Napalm Records, combines many of the familiar elements that fans have come to know and love while, at times, diving a bit deeper into the prog realm, primarily in the form of more technical experimentation. ‘Micro’ is a clear indicator of Jinjer’s maturation as musicians and a solid milestone for what appears to be a band entering their sonic prime. Continue reading

Progressive Metalcore Group ROGUE Is Redefining The Genre! [Official & Lyric Video]

Metalcore is a genre that continues to reinvent itself. Though it may seem like another lifetime since the mid-2000’s, new ideas infiltrate, artists reinvent and arguably somehow create these intricate subgenres of subgenres. Sub-subgenres? Progressive metalcore has been on the up and up since. Exquisite musicianship and sophisticated songwriting allow these tremendous new acts to standout in a crowd where everything is tucked under one umbrella. Continue reading

State of the Art: West Virginia’s ASTRAEUS

 

Smart, yet intoxicating riffs travel through the speakers as an easy brush of arpeggios lift one into another world where all things are neatly and perfectly packaged into sonic bites of progressive wonder. Charleston, West Virginia is the homeland of Astraeus. If you can’t already tell, they are excellent. Continue reading

Watch AWAKE THE DREAMER’s Groovy New Video, “Believe”

Well this is a first for me. I mean I knew the Swedes have an incredible death metal scene out there, so amazing that they have carved their own genre, Swedish death metal. But today, I am not bringing to you something we know and hear very often from the Scandinavian nation. It did surprise me when I found out about this band called AWAKE THE DREAMER from Sweden, maybe cause I am not a big metalcore fan? But well, yes, the Swedes do have some really good diversity. From the buzzsaw death metal trademark sound to the modern day djent and metalcore, Sweden does house some incredible bands. And today, I bring to thee metalcore/post hardcore quintet from Stockholm, AWAKE THE DREAMER and their all new crushing single, “Believe“. Pictured in a vintage like video, the band can be seen dishing out their blend of progressive and melodic metalcore, which absolutely is crushing!

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State Of The Art: Louisiana’s THE ARBITRARY [Track Stream]

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

This month’s state is Louisiana!

Any fans of progressive instrumental are severely missing out if The Arbitrary is not a part of their lives. The New Orleans two-piece has been self-releasing since 2015. Together, Jeffrey Fisher (guitar) and Adam Sauter (drums) have continued to boggle the brains of prog fans, yet quench the thirst for musical excellence with their 2017 EP ‘Identity.’ It may only be four songs, but those four songs are all the listener needs. A touch a djent, a brush of tech; it’s about time for a Ph.D. in music theory. Continue reading