Tag Archives: Metal Blade

Chicago Open Air Spotlight: WHITECHAPEL

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*Every Tuesday and Thursday from now until Chicago Open Air gets here we will be releasing an article about a band playing the festival to get you familiar with them.*

Today’s artist is Whitechapel.

On Friday, July 14th, yet another massively popular deathcore band hits the Chicago Open Air stage alongside Suicide Silence. Since forming in 2006, Whitechapel has consistently released great, heavy material and evolved slightly throughout each record. Phil Bozeman is considered to be one of the best vocalists in the wide variety of extreme metal with his mind boggling low screams. While being recognized for that, Bozeman also has a pretty solid singing voice. On the new record, ‘Mark of the Blade’, the band incorporates the clean vocals more often on tracks such as “Bring Me Home” and “Decennium”. You can check out the highly emotional video of “Bring Me Home” below. It has been a long time coming for Whitechapel to hit the US festival circuit. I saw them at Rock on the Range and they exceeded expectations. With one of the largest crowds on the third stage that weekend, they delivered a blistering setlist that tightly grasped the crowd for the entirety of the show. If you haven’t seen them already, you’re in for a treat. Continue reading →

BYZANTINE Release New Video For “New Ways to Bear Witness”!

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On July 28th, Byzantine will release their new album, ‘The Cicada Tree’, via Metal Blade Records. Heralded as the most underrated band from the New Wave of American Heavy Metal Movement, Byzantine has slowly gained a cult-like following after releasing 5 genre-bending albums. 16 years underground, it’s finally time for the world to hear Byzantine! For a first preview of The Cicada Tree, a new video for the single “New Ways to Bear Witness” (featuring a cameo by Skeletonwitch’s Dustin Boltjes, as well as ex-Byzantine drummer Matt Wolfe) has been launched online. Directed/edited by Holly Siders, the filming of “New Ways to Bear Witness” resulted in Chris “OJ” Ojeda (vocals, rhythm guitar) suffering a concussion. OJ comments about the experience:

“So, we came up with an idea of having our old drummer do a cameo appearance in the music video. Matt Wolfe left the band right before we signed with Metal Blade and had occupied the drum seat for the last 12 years. We felt it was a perfect opportunity to let fans know that we still love Matt and he’s still welcome and important to our band. What’s the best way to have an ousted band member make a cameo? To hit me with a vehicle, of course! We set up the scene and did about 5 or 6 takes of Wolfe hitting me with the vehicle and me rolling off the vehicle. I didn’t know until we wrapped shooting the next day that something was wrong and had a very hard time driving home. I contacted an ER doctor friend of mine who told me I needed to come see him ASAP. After a CT Scan and an EKG, he let me know I had a standard sports type concussion from repeatedly hitting my head during the video shoot. I got 3 days off work and a cool story out of it! Rock!” Continue reading →

An Interview With Dan Briggs of BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME

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I just recently had the chance to interview bassist/keyboardist Dan Briggs of Between the Buried and Me, Orbs, Trioscapes, and Nova Collective. This is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time as BtBaM are one of my favorite bands in the progressive genre. Briggs gives us the scoop on what to expect to see on the upcoming ‘Coma Ecliptic Live’ DVD, what we might hear on the next album, playing ‘Colors’ again later on this year, his new project titled Nova Collective and more. The ‘Coma Ecliptic Live’ DVD will be released via Metal Blade Records and Good Fight Entertainment on April 28th. You can pre-order it here. Continue reading →

The Bucketlist With BYZANTINE’s Chris “OJ” Ojeda!

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Byzantine

West Virginia’s best hidden secret Byzantine have long been the underdog in the metal world. Their last album ‘To Release Is To Resolve’ along with the powerful single “The Agonies” really propelled the band out of the Appalachian Mountains and into the ears of metal heads worldwide. The band self released the album and it was well received and got tremendous airplay on Sirius XM radio. The hard hitting progressive band also snagged a record deal with powerhouse label Metal Blade. The band has wrapped up recording and are set to release their Metal Blade debut ‘The Cicada Tree’ in June. Byzantine also has a Pledge Music Campaign For album pre-order which includes some exclusive bundles and even guitar lessons or person phone calls from the band. You can pre-order and check out the bundles here. Byzantine also recorded their first music video for a track from the upcoming album ‘The Cicada Tree’ at The V Club in Huntington, West Virginia on March 19th. We can’t wait to see what the guys came up with, and eager to hear the new material. The bands founder/singer/guitarist Chris “OJ” Ojeda is one of the nicest guys and a true ambassador for metal heads everywhere. In addition to being in Byzantine OJ is also a true music lover. We couldn’t think of anyone better to kick off our new segment THE BUCKETLIST with. As music obsessed fans we always keep a list of bands we want to see live that we haven’t had the chance to see. Touring musicians have the opportunity to see a lot more bands than the common band through friends in the industry and while touring. OJ recently sat down with Metal Nexus to let us know some of the bands and artists that he has on his own personal bucketlist. Without further ado we give you the inagural segment of THE BUCKETLIST with Byzantine’s Chris “OJ” Ojeda. Continue reading →

Oni Premiers Their Video for “The Only Cure” Featuring Mr. Randy Blythe!

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Here’s a real treat to make Tuesday burn! We are no strangers to Canada’s Oni. We have covered their live show (show), their newest offering of Ironshore on Blacklight Media/Metal Blade Records (review) and even landed on our Best of 2016 list (list).  F*ING LOVE THIS BAND, if it is not obvious!  Earlier today, Oni premeired their creepy video for “The Only Cure” featuring guest vocalist and frontman for Lamb of God, Randy Blythe. The song was written by Jake Oni and deals with someone getting their chest cut open (How much more Metal can you get?!?). With a “Hollywood” level of production we are taken for a wild ride as the main character is captured by a serial killer and being subsequently executed in just that manner. Definitely not for the squeamish and probably not something you want to show off to your buddies at work with your boss looking over your shoulder! After directing Oni’s first video for “Eternal Recurrence”, Abraham Roofeh returns to bring this nightmare to vivid life in all its campy and bloody glory! Metal fans and horror movie buffs will freaking love this! Check the video out below. If you are lucky enough to live in the U.K., Oni is also touring with Devil You Know throughout the month of January!

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Oni Announces The Release Of Their Debut “Ironshore” For November 25th, 2016

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Oni is:

Jake Oni – vocals

Martin Andres – guitars

Brandon White – guitars

Chase Bryant – bass

Joe Greulich – drums

Johnny D – Xylosynth

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The Technical Metal band Oni recently dropped my jaw when opening for Max & Iggor Cavalera on their Return to Roots tour in Tampa (my review to follow shortly). Recently signed with Blacklight Media/Metal Blade Records, Oni has just announced the release of their debut album entitled Ironside on Black Friday, November 25th.

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Interview with WOE OF TYRANTS Vocalist Chris Catanzaro!

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The Ohio based band Woe Of Tyrants have been on an extended hiatus. Their last album was released over 6 years ago, but what they done in the past has left a lasting impression on anyone who has heard their music. The band released their first album ‘Behold The Lion’ in 2007 and quickly garnered the attention of Metal Blade Records. Their next release ‘Kingdom of Might’ would be their Metal Blade debut in 2009. That album has long been a prime example of what most bands set forth to do and fail. The album is one of the best metal album put out in the last decade. The song “Break the Fangs of the Wicked” is the definitive metal song that jams everything your ears crave in less than 5 minutes. If you are unfamiliar with the band please use that song as your welcome package, because once you hear it you’ll be a fan. Once that album released it was getting worldwide attention and the band was hand selected to join Overkill’s 25th Anniversary Tour along side Vader, God Dethroned, Warbringer, Evile and of course the might Overkill. The band has found a way to meld thrash, and death metal in flawless fashion. Their 3rd release ‘Threnody’ (2010) is their last release as of now. The band however isn’t finished. The band has recently started up the engine of Woe and is in the process of creating new music. The creatively talented group couldn’t keep their hands idle any longer. They recently announced they are back together, practicing and plan to release new music in the not so far away future. We got the opportunity to speak with vocalist Chris Catanzaro and find out what’s going on with the untamed beast that is WOE OF TYRANTS! Continue reading →

Interview With Chris “OJ” Ojeda Of Byzantine

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Byzantine

Chris “OJ” Ojeda of Byzantine

We were fortunate enough recently to sit down with Byzantine founder/guitarist/singer Chris “OJ” Ojeda when the band headlined the Summer Slam Festival in Johnson City, Tennessee. The band was recently signed to Metal Blade Records after they received national success with their 5th and latest release “To Release Is To Resolve”. The band still has a handful of dates left on their short tour. Their next release is highly anticipated and will be the bands first release on Metal Blade. We’d like to thank OJ for his time as it was a pleasure to not only see him and the band perform live again but to speak with him one on one is much appreciated. Continue reading →

Getting To Know Byzantine’s Matt Bowles!

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bowles

The last month or so has been a very exciting time for West Virginia metal legends Byzantine. The band was auditioning for a new drummer, finishing up recording 2 cover songs, and on the verge of signing a worldwide deal with one of the best labels in the business; Metal Blade. In steps West Virginia native Matt Bowles formerly of the band Our Malignant Beloved. He is the newest addition to Byzantine. The band will soon begin the task of writing and recording a follow up to their highly successful album “To Release Is To Resolve”, which made several top 10 lists including ours. We were fortunate enough to catch up with Matt and get to know him a little better. Continue reading →

Byzantine Signs Worldwide Deal With Metal Blade Records!

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byz

West Virginian groove metal outfit Byzantine has signed a worldwide deal with Metal Blade Records! The band has really earned this achievement after being a do it yourself band for quite sometime. After releasing their music independently over the last three years, the quartet is ready to unleash their sixth, currently untitled album in early 2017 via their new label home.

Front-man, Chris “OJ” Ojeda had this to say about the band’s recent signing:

“For the last few albums, we have operated outside the fringes of the music community by necessity. I had almost lost hope that we would ever have the chance to showcase our music to the world on a bigger stage. With the help of Brian Slagel and Metal Blade Records, we feel like Byzantine has been given a 2nd chance to make our 1st impression. We are absolutely thrilled at the opportunity to share our brand of heavy music with the world on the world’s best metal label!” Continue reading →