State of the Art: SwitchbacH

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

This month’s State is Arkansas!

SwitchbacH-Logo2

Hard to believe we are already in the month of May as we move onto the state of Arkansas for this month’s State of the Art series. As is the case with the other states that we have covered, it is always fun to search for new music where I would not normally look. A few of my current go-to bands have stemmed from my searches and have a definite feeling this is going to be another such case. The band is SwitchbacH.

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State of the Art: Glass Delirium

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

This month’s State is Colorado!

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When I was asked to pick the state to be covered by our State of the Art series for the month of April, I chose Colorado specifically to cover this band, based out of Denver. I first discovered them about a year and a half ago by creating a “sounds like” radio station on a stream for one of my favorite Florida bands: Mr. Bella. “Tranquility” was selected at some point and I was literally stopped in my tracks; quickly drawn into this powerful and moving Progressive Metal song. Continue reading

State of the Art: Khemmis

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

This month’s State is Colorado!

KhemmisLogo

Named after an ancient, Egyptian city comes Khemmis from Denver, CO. Doom, while admittedly not my usual cup of tea, this band had me hooked from my first listen. So much more than just slow, ominous, sludge that I normally find boring after about two or three songs. Hell, Khemmis has a number of songs that are over six minutes each that never approach being monotonous and demand to be listened to again and again. I have literally worn out their debut album “Absolution” trying to codify their sound and musical direction in my head. *Please note that I am not “bashing” Doom and am attempting to broaden my Metal horizons here. Music is purely subjective and I have just never found a Doom band that has spoken to me like Khemmis has.

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State of the Art: Cellador

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

This month’s State is Colorado!

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On this, the second week of our State of the Art: Colorado and in the vein of our coverage of International Guitar Month comes the resurgence of the band Cellador. The band was started in Omaha, NE in 2003 under the name Aposte by guitarist and vocalist Chris Petersen. By 2004 the band had been renamed and released their first, self-recorded demo EP “The Burning Blue”. The following year, they released “Leaving All Behind” which caught the attention of Metal Blade Records who signed Cellador and quickly released “Enter Deception” in 2006. This album was hailed by fans and critics alike, often comparing them to DragonForce and the like. By 2009 this stellar, established band had splintered due to differing interests and desired directions. With only a few original members left and an uncertain record contract, Cellador packed up and moved to Denver, CO, where they remain today, in search of a bigger stage for their musical inclinations. After a five year hiatus, interviewing potential band members to regrow the band, “Honor Forth” was finally released in 2011. This vaulted the band to new heights and put them on festivals, tours and shows with notable bands such as Trivium, All That Remains, Bullet For My Valentine, Marty Friedman, Queensryche, Hatchet, Exmortus, Huntress and many, many others. To date, they have extensively toured the United States, Mexico, Canada and even played the Loud Park Festival in Japan. Taking their time in the studio over the course of 2015 and early 2016, their much-anticipated new release is due out sometime in 2016. With a cohesive, new lineup and management, Cellador is ready to set the world alight once again!

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State of the Art: Source

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

This month’s State is Colorado!

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Starting this month’s State of the Art: Colorado off with one hydrogen bomb of a bang: Source. Right out of the gate, this triumvirate of fine musicians from Boulder confound with dazzling, atmospheric and technical Progressive Metal in the vein of other notably uncharacteristic Metal bands like Opeth, Tool and Porcupine Tree. So good, in fact, producer Scott Wilson described them as a supergroup shortly after meeting with them in the studio even though Source was formed only three years ago.

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State of the Art: Dreaming Dead

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

This month’s State is California!

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Coming to us from Los Angeles, CA this week is the killer, Melodic Death Metal band Dreaming Dead. Founded by front-woman vocalist and exceptional guitarist Elizabeth Schall and drummer Mike Caffell in 2006, this band has garnered fans from around the world and has toured much of the United States, but generally plays in the Southern and Mid-California areas. Comprising the rest of the band is guitarist Chris McCarthy and former Manslaughter bass player William Palacios-Toledo.

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State Of The Art: Vegas Rockers SIN CITY SINNERS

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

This month’s State is Nevada!

Nevada_Road_Sign You can’t think about Nevada without thinking about Sin City. Now these days you can’t think about Sin City without thinking about the SIN CITY SINNERS! Formed in 2007 the SIN CITY SINNERS started as a just for fun jam band but quickly turned into something much bigger. Now in 2015 they are Las Vegas’s top drawing rock act. Their reputation has grown so much that rock legends will not visit Vegas without catching a performance from the rockers, very often joining them on stage. In fact, Hundreds of rock stars have jammed with the “Sinners” including members of iconic bands like Guns N’ Roses, KISS, Motley Crue, Journey, Motorhead and Pantera to name just a few. The band claims that if you took every artist who has performed on stage with them and added their record sells together, the total sells would eclipse 500 Million albums sold worldwide. Continue reading