Why do a lot of bands today like to experiment with electronic, symphonic, and crunk mixes which enable thousands of kids to embrace a new melodic metalcore/post-hardcore band with open arms? Well, whatever the answer is San Diego natives, IN FEAR AND FAITH do exactly that with their second full-length release, Imperial.
Opening for the THE BLED throughout May and the beginning of June, and playing all of summer on the Warped Tour, does not promise any improvement on either lead singers’ performance. On Imperial, the band’s all-embracing sense of melody fails due to horrible vocal tones and poorly executed transitions between Cody Anderson’s obnoxious harsh vocals and Scott Barnes’ nails on a chalkboard “clean” vocals. The second track “Bones” and the eighth track “Heavy Lies the Crown”, exemplify on the band’s ability to write a catchy tune for Warped Tour kids to love, yet, their overall singing ability is definitely questionable.
The eleventh song on the album, “Afterthought”, repetitive pandemonium of ridiculous, exaggerated guitar riffs by lead guitarist Ramin Niroomand and rhythm guitarist Noah Slifka, fade into the background easily with Barnes’ singing garbage. Niroomand’s use of keyboards and electronic rhythms sometimes yields intriguing results in tracks “Pursuit” and “Live Love Redeux”, just sometimes though. Although, optimistically speaking for the most part they are at their best when they are at their most metallic in “I Know You Know”, “Enough Is Enough”, and “Let It Out”, but that tracks are forgettable. “Eleventwentyfour” ascends the ruin of the album in its entirety. (more…)
Alaskan metallers 36 CRAZYFISTS are pleased to name their first single ‘Reviver’ ‘from their new Ferret Music release, Collisions and Castaways,poised for release on July 27th of this year. The track will be available for purchase digitally starting today, across all digital providers, including iTunes. Click the iTunes link to download the track! ‘Reviver’ has begun airing on Sirius XM Liquid Metal this week, and one listen is sure to bring back memories of 36 CRAZYFISTS tracks of the past, as well as turn the heads of new fans. Head over to the 36 CRAZYFISTS MySpace to listen to ‘Reviver’ now!
36 CRAZYFISTS TOUR DATES:
w/ FEAR FACTORY, AFTER THE BURIAL
7/7-West Hollywood, CA @ House of Blues
7/9- Portland, OR @ Roseland Theatre
7/10-Seattle, WA @ Studio Seven
7/11 Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
7/13-Calgary, AB @ Flames Central
7/14-Edmonton, AB @ The Starlite
7/15-Regina, SK @ Riddell Centre
7/16-Winnipeg, MB @ The Garrick
7/17-Maplewood, MN @ The Rock
7/19-Des Moines, IA @ People’s Court
7/20-Chicago, IL @ Metro
7/21-Detroit, MI @ Harpo’s Concert Theatre
7/23-Toronto, ON @ The Opera House
7/25-New York, NY @ Irving Plaza
7/26-Towson, MD@ Recher Theatre
7/27-Allentown, PA @ Crocodile Rock
w/ STRAIGHT LINE STITCH, DIRGE WITHIN
7/28-Albany, NY @ Bogies
7/30-Grand Rapids, MI @ The Intersection
7/31-Dayton, OH @ McGuffy’s House of Rock
8/1-Lake Station, IN @ Lake Station Eagles Club
8/3-Englewood, CO @ Gothic Theatre
8/4-Salt Lake City, UT @ Club Vegas
8/6-Couer D’ Alene, ID @ The Grail Event Center
8/7-Olympia, WA @ The Vault
TESTAMENT OFFERS VIP PACK FOR AMERICAN CARNAGE TOUR!
TESTAMENT TO OFFER EXCLUSIVE VIP PACKAGES ON THE HISTORICAL ‘AMERICAN CARNAGE TOUR’
Bay Area thrash lords TESTAMENT are set to deliver the heaviest metal on AMERICAN CARNAGE TOUR with MEGADETH and SLAYER, as all three bands hit the same stage for the first time in over 20 years on the historical AMERICAN CARNAGE TOUR! In celebration of this heralded event, TESTAMENT is offering an amazing chance to meet metal’s legendary thrash kings on tour before they head into the studio to record the follow up to their Golden God Album of the Year, Nuclear Blast release titled The Formation Of Damnation. Now, the TESTAMENT VIP package offers some great additions, including an exclusive TESTAMENT T-shirt.
The exclusive AMERICAN CARNAGE TOUR VIP package includes:
- One general admission ticket with early entry (where available)
- Exclusive Meet & Greet with the members of TESTAMENT
- Personal photograph with the band
- Autograph session (includes 8X10 photo)
- Exclusive TESTAMENT Shirt
- Collectible Tour Poster (limited, numbered)
- Exclusive TESTAMENT Music Skin
- Official VIP Meet and Greet Laminate
- Official set of TESTAMENT Guitar Picks CATCH TESTAMENT ON THE 2010 AMERICAN CARNAGE TOUR
7/23 Quebec City, QC @ Pavillon de la Jenuesse
7/24 Montreal, QC @ Heavy MTL @ Parc Jean Drapeau
7/26 Halifax, NS @ Metro Centre
7/27 Moncton, NB @ Moncton Coliseum
7/29 Toronto, ONT @ Molson Amphitheatre
7/30 London, ONT @ John Labatte Center
8/11 Albany, NY @ Glen Falls Civic Center
8/12 East Rutherford, NJ @ Izod Center
8/14 Boston, MA @ Tsongas Center at UMASS Lowell
8/15 Camden, NJ @ Susquehanna Bank Center
8/16 Wallingford, CT @ Chevrolet Theater
8/18 Cleveland, OH @ Time Warner Cable Amphitheatre
8/19 Detroit, MI @ Joe Louis Arena
8/20 Chicago, IL @ UIC Pavilion
8/21 Minneapolis, MN @ Roy Wilkins Auditorium
8/23 Kansas City, @ Cap Fed Park @ Sandstone Arena
8/24 Denver, CO @ Magness Arena
8/25 Albuquerque, NM @ Tingley Coliseum
8/27 Phoenix, AZ @ Dodge Theatre
8/29 San Diego, CA @ Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre
8/30 Long Beach, CA @ Long Beach Arena
8/31 San Francisco, CA @ Cow Palace
9/1 Sacramento, CA @ Arco Arena
9/3 Seattle, WA @ Wamu Theatre
9/4 Portland, OR @ Washington County Fairgrounds TESTAMENT INTERNATIONAL TOUR DATES
EUROPE
7/2 Helsinki – Finland – Tuska Open Air Festival
7/4 Plezen – Czech Republic – Basin FireFest
AUSTRALIA
8/6 Melbourne, AUS @ Billboard
8/7 Sydney, AUS @ The Manning Venue
8/8 Brisbane, AUS @ HiFi
EARLY MAN debuts their new album via The End Records (same label as the new Danzig release). “Death Potion” is produced by Seattle super producer Jack Endino (Nirvana, High On Fire, Three Inches of Blood). Of course, being all evil and shit, they’re selling their album for… $6.66. Classic.
The deal is that if you dig bands like FINTROLL and ELUVEITIE then it is a good bet that you’ll dig the Latvian pagan metal of SKYFORGER’s Kurbads. It is one of those albums where folk melodies and metal muscle sit side by side, although in this case the metal brawn is more of a central element.
In fact, more than anything else Kurbads is a big tough metal album that also happens to include folk instrumentation (often as lead melodies) and vocal patterns, the result being both heavy and catchy. And if you’re into storylines, Kurbads is “a conceptual album about the legendary Latvian fairytale hero, Kurbads, who was born magically from the white mare and did many great deeds.” Sounds like an interesting fellow this Kurbads. Born of magic and mares, I’m willing to bet his deeds are just dandy.
In any event, s one cannot downplay the burliness of this album, whether it is the thick/gruff vocal treatments (check out a 39-second acapella interlude called “In the Yard of the Father’s Son” in particular) or the fat-ass, ball crushing riffing on songs like “Curse of the Witch,” “Son of the Mare,” and “In the Underworld” (one with a mid-paced steamroller groove). The title track serves as a great way to end the proceedings too, as it features the album’s most classic heavy metal structure; almost like ACCEPT playing folk metal. The guitar solo bursts that appear throughout are always worth the attention too; not for the technicality, but for the passionate heavy metal hotness. (more…)
The much anticipated new album, Keepers of The Faith from LA’s TERROR, is a worldwide call to the community and an attempt to hear back from the faithful on the front lines. Hear the new track “Stick Tight” now, as this is the shit that is sure to get your blood pumping and fists flying. Look for the new album on Sept. 14th
www.myspace.com/terror
Vogel further comments, “It’s fucking crazy how this world works. We went to do a cool radio show on the third day of this tour and played a new song without even thinking. Hours later it was online so I guess we might as well just launch this new track everywhere. This way people can get the true version. The lyrics are on the blog too. I also just heard the test press of the 7 inch single for Keepers of The Faith and it sounds fucking great.”
“This is the record we put everything we have into, from the music to the lyrics, the layout to the title and to the direct hand to hand street marketing approach, we are putting it all on the line. We took all the rules of what’s going on in the industry today and washed them from our minds. We wanted to capture those early days of hardcore. This is the record we were destined to make. This is TERROR at its best and I’m so excited to get this out and start touring surrounding its energy and passion.”
TERROR earned quite a reputation since forming at the turn of the millennium. Their melding of no-frills, breakneck hardcore and the fervor of new generation metal bridges the gap between young and old, and it makes for one hell of a pit no matter what city or stage the band leaves in ruins. Vogel has been a key figure in the scene’s survival, having given up a normal home life to slug it out on the road despite broken limbs, slipped discs and everything else that comes with hosting a TERROR show.
We had the opportunity to catch IN THIS MOMENT as they recorded their brand new Fuel TV video session, where they performed two new tracks from A Star-Crossed Wasteland; “Just Drive” and “The Promise.” Maria Brink, in her wasteland-glam, rocked it hard alongside band mates Chris Howorth, Jeff Fabb, Blake Bunzel and Kyle Konkiel. Adrian Patrick made a guest appearance to the event in vocal support of the song “The Promise.” He appears as guest vocals for this track on the album, out July 17, 2010.
Check out the photos of the event, and keep a look out on MAA for the Fuel TV video when it becomes available. (more…)
Seeing the terms “symphonic” and “metal” side by side is anything but unusual these days, even in North America where a style that had mainly found widespread favor in Europe caught fire on these shores the past few years. Crunching guitars and tough rhythms mixed with operatic female vocals and strings (actual or effects) is the simplistic encapsulation of an entire sub-genre and one that will surely cause a rousing retort among diehards pointing to the diversity within. Don’t get so excited; it is just a generalization. But quite honestly in the case of Secrets by Spain’s DIABULUS IN MUSICA, is it pretty damn accurate. If it makes you feel any better, you can toss the words “goth” and “classical” in there as appropriate.
In any case, Secrets is a good representation of the style and offers listeners more than a few moments of charm and class, as well as hefty riffing and diesel-powered drumming (serene piano piece “Lonely Soul” is bereft of the latter). The classical/symphonic aspects are more than window dressing; indeed they are key, along with the angelic soprano of show-stealer Zuberoa Aznárez. Given that collaboration on the album came from “soprano Maite Itoiz (John Kelly and Maite Itoiz), the tenor Ariel Hernández (Spanish National Choir), members of the professional Early Music ensemble “Nova Lux”, the violist Laura Vallejo (London Philharmonic Orchestra) and the violinist Sergio Ramírez (Spanish National Broadcast),” you can be sure that the songs of Secrets are more than Aznárez with symphonic garnish, for the most part anyway.
The immense talent involved on Secrets is undeniable. There are even a few tracks – namely “Come to Paradise” – that warrant appreciation beyond the arrangement particulars (e.g. a catchy refrain). Others like “Lies in your Eyes” focus on meaty ‘n modern riff-groove to go with contrasting operatic choruses. The occasional pattern catches one’s ear too, as is the case on the Middle Eastern sounding “Ishtar.” Truth be told, there is not much about Secrets that will automatically appeal to those outside of dedicated symphonic metal circles. Neither is there that one blockbuster tune that you just can’t get out of your head (“Come to Paradise” does come close). Those notations aside and considering to whom it will appeal, Secrets is recommended with little in the way of reservation.
