Comments Off on State Of The Art: Alabama’s ORACLE [Video/Album 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 Alabama!
Hailing from Mobile, Alabama, Oracle offers extreme metal with intention. Ranging from melodic to outright bludgeoning brutality, it’s the elaborately well-conceived song structures that bring together all of the interesting musical elements for a truly exciting listening experience. Like an intricately crafted movie plot with multiple twists and turns, Oracle takes the same approach with their music. Tracks transition through multiple moods, tones, and tempos not simply because they can, but because they need to in order to achieve such monumental levels of depths and dynamics this band delivers. Continue reading →
Comments Off on State Of The Art: SPACE CADAVER [Album + Video 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!
New Orleans’ Space Cadaver are a band that have fury and finesse, with a groove that stomps all over their songs. They have a sci-fi style and power to match the best in the universe. Guitarist/vocalist John Baleine, bassist Beto Arias and drummer Jason Meserole bring dark and light in equal measure. Formed in 2015, Space Cadaver have shared the stage with heavyweights such as Conan, Acid King and Ufomammut. Their message of spacey doom is spreading quickly!
Their debut self-titled album has been available since 2017. Guitarist/vocalist Baleine commented that “this album is a benchmark of 3 years of hard work and determination – an opportunity to grow…and have closure with a lot of dark things… It was a cleanse to purge the pent up frustrations around the suicide and murders of loved ones, drug addiction and the struggle to break free from the things that are no longer serving me.”
Space Cadaver have a sound that melds Death, Doom and Stoner in a rock hard package. Their self-titled debut album is a tour de force of genre-defying metal. They may only have a bass, guitar and drums to work from, but they know how to work that to make an amazing cinematic sound that sonically destroys everything in the mainstream metal world.
The album kicks off with the riffy ‘The Infinite Black Sun‘. This sets the band’s stall out, with Baleine’s growling vocals and thoughtful lyrics. The sound that a three piece make is genuinely impressive. The bass is high in the mix and the drums splatter through the fuzz storm of guitar. There are light passages that bring the sound into a different sphere and the dark parts take you to a back alley and mug you.
The guitar dominates “Day Ruiner“, as the groove is augmented by a superb guitar solo that is full of heart and power. “Storm” follows with the sound of hell coming out to play. A grunge-type melody lends the song a spirit that cannot be dismissed easily.
“Insufficient Reward” is a masterpiece in cinematic metal. It ebbs and flows with an approach that composers of movie scores love. I can imagine a video of someone escaping evil forces, running down dark corridors in space. The drumming is superb on this tune.
The commercially accessible “Clock Hoarder” continues with its fantastic bass/guitar interplay. It also manages to tip its hat to old school thrash. “Nowhere, Now Here” continues the album with a progressive, minor key insurgency. Once again, a cinematic sound, focusing on a picture in space of desolation and regret.
The closing two numbers, “Sword of the Lord” and “Draco’s Revenge” are urgent, epic sound songs that veer from blast beats to progressive jazz in the space of minutes.
Overall, Space Cadaver are a band that everyone should check out, before they check out (in space, naturally).
Comments Off on 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 →
Comments Off on State Of The Art: GREYLOTUS [EP + Video 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 Maryland!
Welcome to the final installment of this months SOTA! I thought I would end this one with an artist that I believe will quite literally blow your mind. This is songwriting at its highest conceivable level, but what is most remarkable, is the fact that it is solely the work of one man! From Baltimore, Maryland, let me welcome the technical/blackened deathcore project Greylotus. January saw the release of the explosive debut EP ‘Savior’ which in my opinion is undoubtedly one of the most exciting releases of this year (up there with the likes of Inferi and Slugdge who have both dropped AOTY contenders) and forms the first part of a total 3 installments. Collectively the 3 EPs will form Greylotus’ debut full-length album, with work already underway on the second installement ‘Dawnfall’. Continue reading →
Comments Off on State Of The Art: Maryland’s LOUDER THAN QUIET [Videos + 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 Maryland!
Hailing from Upper Marlboro, Maryland, melodic death metal/post-hardcore band, Louder Than Quiet brings a unique brand of high-decibel, eclectic variety. Since originally forming in 2010, the quintet consisting of Urico (vocals), Domo (bass), Anthony “Airospace” (drums), Danny (lead guitar), and Alireza (guitar and vocals) came together while in high school when they discovered their common interest for heaviness in music. They’ve since greatly expanded their fanbase through consistently performing in Washington DC and surrounding areas. Continue reading →
Comments Off on State Of The Art: VACANT [Debut EP Stream + Video Stream]
Photo Credit – U.V. Photography
*This is a part of our State Of The Art series, showcasing bands every Monday from the featured state.*
This month’s state is Georgia!
For this month’s final ‘State Of The Art’ for our featured state of Georgia, I thought I would take a look at a band that up until a year ago were a mindset, as opposed to a reality. Having thundered onto the scene quite literally out of nowhere after dropping their intense debut EP ‘In Retrospect’ in August last year, let me welcome Atlanta-based (yes, the place where it’s all happening!) metallers Vacant.
The quintet featuring Jaden Garrity (vocals), Christian Nowatzki (guitar), Daniel Norton (guitar), David Adler-Diaz (drums) and Gage Tindol (bass) have already created quite a storm in their hometown, which has seen them gain their place supporting Carnifex on the Atlanta date of the ‘Chaos & Carnage’ Tour. Featuring alongside Oceano, Spite, Buried Above Ground, Shadow of Intent and Shryne the event will take place on April 16th at the Masquerade, Atlanta – and I think it’s fair to say that they have certainly earned their place! (Tickets here)
Comments Off on State Of The Art: Georgia’s GUILLOTINE [Album Stream]
*This is part of our State Of The Art series, showcasing bands every Monday from the featured state*
This month’s State is Georgia!
Atlanta-based Guillotine offers bass-heavy, blackened death/doom metal with heavy doses of groove. Weaved seamlessly into the band’s sound are a unique blend of musical influences such as old school American death metal, Scandinavian black metal, and Southern sludge. Their songs often bounce between slow/doomy evilness to mid-tempo aggression. While typically never delving into super high-velocity thrashing speeds or blast beats, alternately their use of grooving riffs and double-bass rhythms gives Guillotine a signature sound of their own that is equally dark and punishing. Continue reading →
*This is a part of our State Of The Art series, showcasing bands every Monday from the featured state.*
This month’s state is Vermont!
“This band is so f**king good that I’ve already booked them for my funeral!!!” – Tim Morse (Anal Cunt/Horrible Earth)
Welcome to Februarys ‘State of the Art’! I thought I’d kick off the month with a band that will literally “eat you for breakfast”. From Chester, Vermont let me welcome the instrumental hardcore powerhouse that is The Aberration. The metal duo are made up of guitarist Travis O’Connell and drummer Jim Cole – proving that small can be big and mark my word, these guys can make one hell of a noise! The self-proclaimed “instrumental progressive, birth metal! Get off your ass and move now metal!” outfit formed in 2007, starting out like most bands in a filthy four walled-cement basement. They have performed most notably as support to Marc Rizzo and the Corrupters (of Soulfly, Misfits, Cavalera Conspiracy, & Ill Nino fame) alongside Urn, and have played festivals such as New England Blood Fest and Hothfest. Continue reading →
Comments Off on State Of The Art: Vermont Metal/Hardcore Band VOICES IN VAIN [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 Vermont!
Hailing from Northern Vermont, Voices in Vain offers “hard-hitting, experimental, metal/hardcore.” Originally formed in 2014, the band has released a self-titled EP and three singles. Their debut, full-length studio album, ‘Narcotics and Animal Instincts’ is anticipated to be released this summer. At times sounding a bit Lamb of God – mixed up with metalcore breakdowns, separated by erratic, squealing guitar patterns and odd time signatures – their style is definitely unique and exciting. Continue reading →
*This is a part of our State Of The Art series, showcasing bands every Monday from the featured state*
This month’s state is Kentucky!
Hello there mortals of the microcosm! A new Monday has dawned upon us and I can already tell most of you are already whining and frowning upon the inevitable. But, you’d be rather excited on the contrary to most of people if you’re an avid follower of our weekly State Of The Art segment. And today, I bring to you some horror laden and panic stricken death metal. From the state of Kentucky, today’s SOTA band is rising death metallers SURGIKILL. Remember the legendary Stevo de Caixao of the famed Illinois old school death metal band, IMPETIGO? Get outta the cave if you don’t and if you do then this is your jam. SURGIKILL is spearheaded by Stevo and treads along the similar lines of excruciating horrific death metal terror that his previous band were known for pulling off. SURGIKILL thrives on horror and gore based lyrical themes which are very common in the death metal genre but never old and stale, the plot and vibe is generally very dark, scary and sonically brutal and chaotic. Inspired by the Italian old-school horrors, revenge films, post apocalyptic imagery, and mental decay themes, the band successfully gels their theme and style of playing perfectly well. Heavy frenetic riffing, incessant , ruthless growling and hammering drums is what makes SURGIKILL the band they are today!
*This is a part of our State Of The Art series, showcasing bands every Monday from the featured state.*
