It’s good-natured small gigs like these that make one remember how alike Punks and Thrashers (and to a point, all Metalheads) are when you get them together. Think on it: Both wear black a lot, both are societal outcasts with atypical haircuts, they both wear patches and ripped clothing, etc. To say nothing of the music itself. Thrash Metal is essentially IRON MAIDEN and JUDAS PRIEST fans mainlining punk rhythms and throwing the resulting brew into a pressure cooker to ferment and sweeten. And now onto the show review before I turn this into an essay on how Thrash and Hardcore fans should hang out more.
Opening this festival of the damned was METH VALLEY, a gang of talented local thrashers fronted by some crazy guy I’ve seen at mad shows, MDF included. Thrash is a hard genre to innovate in without turning it into something else by accident, so these longhairs played it safe and by the book, albeit without inducing yawns. If you like RAZORMAZE, check ‘em.
Next up were Boston Hardcore guys DRAIZE, alternating between the slow and punishing and the fast and punishing extremes with equal skill. Everyone’s favourite bespectacled baldie decided to go at this gig barefoot, which is a ballsy as fuck move considering how much punks usually love to wear boots or something. Nary a toe was injured, luckily, as the walls churned with heat, leather, and fist while the dance floor surged with pent-up anger and good times.
DRAIZE. Boston. Hardcore. Emphasis on the core.
Oh how I missed my poetic verve.
It’s not very often one gets to see DRAIZE, much less hear them, since a certain amount of mystery prevents them from posting tracks online, despite the many available avenues with which a band may do so today. If you don’t know the songs, you don’t know them, and you never will unless you buy their stuff, so there’s that. It’s all good and dark, and makes you want to kill, so it hardly matters in the end, as long as you don’t act a fool. Highlights of the set: A huge fat guy herkie-ing like nobody’s business, and getting full-body lifted and placed back down by a guy half my height while I was in the middle of a graceless two-step.
IRON REAGAN. Not your momma’s Punk/Metal super group!
IRON REAGAN, featuring TONY FORESTA from MUNICIPAL WASTE and some other guys because fuck it, it’s Tony Foresta and that basically makes it MUNICIPAL WASTE by proxy, followed to bring some groovin’ Thrash served in a radioactive barrel. Or something. This being their first tour as a band, it’s amazing how quickly they’ve all settled into the whole live dealie. Granted, they are seasoned musicians, and probably all hang out, but my word, you’d think they’ve been doing this as IRON REAGAN for years already. Tony’s charismatic control of the crowd’s friendly violent fun, the vicious axe attack of fellow ‘Waster LANDPHIL, bass duties gregariously filled by a certain guy named Paul, and drum noise made by DARKEST HOUR’s own RYAN PARRISH (editor’s note, Ryan quit DH last year). You’ve got yourself a crew that’s ready to rock, and has a CRO-MAGS cover to lay on you troglodytic fucks. It’s pretty rad. The circle pit isn’t a frequent sight at the D.C., so get educated and run around.
RAMMING SPEED, Thrash with a purpose. Unintentional jokey name. Or is it?
Imagine you took the Party Hard attitude of ANDREW W.K. but turned party rock into party thrash, with a good helping of pizza and perhaps carrots, and proclamations of ’SHANE EMBURY being the Brad Pitt of grindcore’. It’s true, go listen. While RAMMING SPEED do everything they do in good fun, there’s some serious talent bubbling under the comedic skin. Major shreddage, vocals that vary from Thrash shouts to Death Growls and even some well-done highs, drumming that can go from standard speed-metal to extreme blasting, and not to mention the fact that they can keep up with themselves and not fuck up. It’s a recipe that’s best drunk in large quantities and with friends around.
RAMMING SPEED’s new album “Doomed To Destroy, Destined To Die” drops on Prosthetic Records later this spring!
You know, this marks a rare occurrence; I’ve reviewed a show the day after it happened. Golly, I’m making my comeback. This is the year of the gutter rat, and I’m doing well everywhere except mothafuckin’ school. Kill pigs, have fun.
HOLY GRAIL may be a fairly new band but they have not wasted any time in making quality music and getting recognized for it. The band was originally formed by three previous WHITE WIZZARD members of whom only two remain, singer JAMES PAUL LUNA and drummer TYLER MEAHL. Other members include ALEX LEE, formerly of BONDED BY BLOOD, and BLAKE MOUNT. The band is set to perform on The Metal Alliance Tour alongside ANTHRAX, EXODUS, and MUNICIPAL WASTE this spring.
One of the first things the listener notices about the first album is how it sounds like it was made by a young IRON MAIDEN. The band combines different subgenres of metal such as power metal and thrash metal. This gives them a classic sound and makes them accessible to a wider audience. JAMES PAUL LUNA’s voice is a great match for the music. He treads the line between classic and modern metal perfectly.
The instrumental “Archeus” serves as a great opener for the album. It establishes an energy that never wavers. However, the middle of album is where it is best. Songs such as “Too Decayed to Wait” and “Crosswinds” are ones that can be played on repeat without the listener ever tiring of them. “Dark Passenger” is the track that was chosen as the first single. It was a great choice to introduce new listeners to the band and its sound. Almost all the tunes are sure to get the audience going at shows. The album flows in such a seamless way that the listener can get enjoyably lost in the songs.
The only “flaw” is that the second to last track, “Wake Me When It’s Over” is a bit out of place. It sounds like the background music one hears when dining at an Italian restaurant. Other than that, the album ends on as high of a note as it started.
Ride the Void’s cover artwork captures the classic influenced sound the band produces in visual form. The lettering for the band’s name has a slightly retro yet polished look to it. The scene does not attack you with little details but instead gives a picture of what the album sounds like: getting sucked into awesome metal.
HOLY GRAIL created a great album that is sure to satisfy fans and gain them more. Seeing them on the Metal Alliance Tour will be a treat for any sort of metal fan. Ride the Void leaves the listener looking forward to the band’s next release.
HOLY GRAIL: Starts 2013 by releasing a statement album.
ANCIENT VVISDOM, pronounced ‘Wisdom’, unless you’re German. This here be the semi-acoustic project of Jake and Nate from INTEGRITY, along with Justin from a band named IRON AGE, which I haven’t heard yet. With this supergroup-esque gathering of guys from some well-respected Crossover Thrash/Hardcore bands, you’d be forgiven for assuming this project would be a brainchild that shared at least some trace of DNA. What we have here is, in the parlance of our times, a curve-ball from hell in the form low-key paeans to the “Dark One” ideal for a drinking circle with wild woodsmen around a fire rather than a circle of moshers.
“Alter Reality”
As I mentioned earlier, with members hailing from Metallic Hardcore bands, one would be fooled into thinking this is one of those “calm before the storm” tracks. After all, this album is called “A Godlike Infucken’ferno“, so it’s gonna be a firey hellstorm of blazing riffs, machine gun double bass, and larynx punishing shouts, correct?
Instead you’re treated with some softly sung, yet eerie vocals over a steady mid-tempo guitar riff. To use a clichéd word, haunting lyrics take the stage, and soon after comes an electric guitar playing a riff that you’d probably hear on the radio had it not been accompanied by lyrics that are definitely a bit too Pagan for your local Rock Block. Some odd metallic clanking chimes in with the electric guitar almost like pickaxes hitting iron or a sword being forged, along with a sort of marching drum cadence to seal the deal as far as the militaristic vibe goes.
“The Opposition”
Continuing along in the wooden direction, we have our second in a line of 8 songs about challenging God to a rock’n'roll showdown and being damn proud of being a sinner. This one’s a tad bit heavier than the last, with a bit more of a stomp’n'clap set-up. Where the last was a march to a battlefield, this is a rallying cry to Lucifer, unabashedly Satanic with lyrics like “Hail to thee, God of the Underworld/I sing praises to thee, and I suffer no more.” Not exactly grade-A poetry, but it gets the message across. Boasting a larger hook than “Alter”, this comes across as a hit single gone to the dark side.
“Necessary Evil”
A bit more of a dusty, sun-burnt country vibe opens this track, with a little bit of tambourine giving an out-of-place celebratory feel. The atmosphere just screams abandoned old-Western town, and I dig how well they managed to capture both the spooky and accessible, making combining them look easy. If BIGELF didn’t employ weird accents and made morose country, this is probably how it would come out. Completely eschewing the electric guitar this time, it maintains an organic body throughout, allowing the rumble of bass drums to resonate all the more clearly.
“Forever Tonight”
What could this track possibly sound like? Folksy acoustic guitar driven Blues rock with lyrics about Satan and the occult? Perhaps, but let’s not jump to conclusions, and move on to uncovering Atlantean ruins.
“Lost Civilization”
This song makes no bones about opening up with a rockin’ riff and a plodding drum beat. My one complaint about this otherwise very catchy and well-done track is that the lyrics are so base that you’d be better off ignoring them. If you can get past that, then you may enjoy your reward of the first guitar solo on the album, which comes as a pleasant surprise after the release was starting to drag into the Doldrums of monotony and tunnel visions of Satan. Too bad it’s the track that’s written in such a way you want to sing along. Even though it’s half a minute shorter than “The Opposition”, which is the longest track, it feels like it drags on for a couple too many.
“Devil Brain”
Oh Satan, how I missed you for five minutes. This song continues the hard rockin’ formula of the last one, and with even cheesier lyrics, and a cheddar-drenched title. I really hope they didn’t just run out of ideas for good songs near the end of the album writing process, because that would be a huge disappointment. The chorus riff reminds me a little of the main riff from GEORGE THOROGOOD’s “Bad To The Bone”, so I get some odd imagery of Satanic biker gangs.
“VVorld Of Flesh”
Another guitar solo, though nowhere near as bombastic as that on “Lost Civilization”, opens up under some chilly acoustic noodling. The vocals on the chorus kind of hearken to another Doomy rock’n'roll band, GHOST, with the same chilling effect. ANCIENT VVISDOM’s strength is in the slow and brooding songs, though there is some heavy riffing and pounding drums, but it’s never allowed to rev up too high for its own good. Around the 3 minute mark the song speeds up a bit, and manages to not topple over itself. Another searing solo, this time piercing the heavens! Starts strong, ends strong, is strong, like Mother RRRussia.
“Children Of The Wasteland”
With a completely mellow closer, a real ‘one sad man and his guitar’ feel takes over for the conclusion. If COREY TAYLOR were a better musician, this is the song he could’ve written for SLIPKNOT’s Vol. 3 album instead of the excessively wimpy “Vermilion Pt. 2″.
THE VERDICT: A strong release with a lot of potential, with room for improvement, mainly in the lyrical department.
If depressive black metal hooked up with grindcore and woke up the next morning to find crust, then you would have Mutilation Rites. Their new album Empyrean isn’t too long (six songs at thirty five minutes), but it’s not too shabby.
Starting off with “A Season Of Grey Rain,” there’s a lot of distorted screaming and blast beats, but it’s done with the type of production you would see in crust punk as opposed to black metal. The guitars are purposely out of tune at times, but that rounds out with the tremolo picking that comes later. There is also a decent amount of slower paced thrash metal thrown in as well before it heads off into a death metal sort of groove. The vocals just don’t win this song though.
So as you can see, they cover a fair amount of bases here. On the next track “Realms Of Dementia,” they give off a heavy doom/death crossover blend over the black metal style vocals. These guys have created something wholly unique, but the crust-type production tarnishes this a bit, though one can see where this can actually win over some people. After a while, it goes into a complete black metal binge.
This is a completely new kind of crossover that few bands dare to mix. Definitely a must have for anyone who is a fan of music of anything from Norway.
I first encountered Landmine Marathon at a small subterranean club in NYC called Lit where every Monday curator (and Today is the Day drummer) Curran Reynolds puts on a series of gigs called “Precious Metal”. The female-led Phoenix five-piece was at home ripping up the cramped basement space like the bastard daughter of grindcore, and crustpunk. Suffice to say they impressed the shit out of me.
Gallows, Landmine Marathon’s fourth album, doesn’t deviate much from that manner of aural evisceration. It’s also pretty fucking good. The sound is unmistakably theirs: a collision of metal, crust, doom and thrash that eschews death metal’s technicality to flex their straightforward holy muscles of hate. Ergo: for all its great, thrashy riffs and grim interludes, it’s still pretty damn punk. But that’s punk in the way of Tragedy: deathly in the way of Obituary. Opener “Three Snake Leaves” yanks you in and within seconds is accelerating like that dimension-ripping rocket car in Buckaroo Banzai on an expressway to your skull. “Cutting Flesh and Bone”, the album’s second sermon, starts to confirm something that might get the Landmine faithful to raise a welcome eyebrow and rock out a little harder. This eight-songer has actual hooks.
That’s not to mention the fact that razor-gargling frontwoman Grace Perry is playing with a thicker deck of cards than she has on Landmine records past. Truthfully, that’s long been needed. There’s genuine dynamics in her anti-melodic screeds: they’re slower and lower than the puke of the priests when “Knife From My Sleeve” slides into low gear. One song later, she’s verging on the sort of audibility you’d never expect to hear from metal’s most unlikely librarian (apparently an off-the-road vocation) while still snarling like a cat in a hot tin microwave. Think Bolt Thrower’s Karl Willets meets Angela Gossow dueting ‘round the good ol’ Cenotaph.
This is whilst guitarist and producer Ryan Butler with fellow axeman Dylan Thomas play at a bit of King/Hanneman guitar-derring-do. It’s the acidic icing onto of “Beaten and Left Blind” that also benefits mightily from bassist Matt Martinez and new drummer Andy York’s (who vastly steps things up) stampede of riff n’ rhythms. Butler’s production is vastly sharper than on prior albums, lending the Gallows a vicious clarity. That allows the band to pile on the muck as the album slo-mo wormcrawls to its conclusion on “Mobidity” with degenerating into a pile of audio-dirt. It all leaves you with the distinct feeling that as good as Gallows is, it certainly isn’t all the Landminers have in their arsenal.
The faithful need not worry. A Revolver cover and plenty of “Hottest Chicks” accolades for Ms. Perry aren’t about to elevate Landmine Marathon to quasi-semi-kinda-sorta mainstream-ish status. They’re still making making an ugly bastard noise, it simply that Gallows steps the band’s game way up to and makes them a genuine contender. Phoenix’s bastard sons and daughters have clearly moved beyond the basement.
Once again I visited my musical home away from home (nine shows in the last eight weeks there) The Palladium in Worcester, MA. Once again I was looking forward to getting my head kicked in by ARCH ENEMY who never fails to impress live. This bill had all the makings of a tremendous good time, with a really eclectic group of artists who each could bring heads on their own. Credit to the labels and sponsors of this tour for matching up these four bands, all of whom I must say brought their “A” game on this night.
Doris Yeh holds it down for CHTHONIC.
There were a spate of locals playing tonight on the smaller upstairs stage, but I only got to see one of them due to my interview schedule. Local band NEMECIDE was playing their brand of melodic death metal and the crowd was going off like crazy for them. Led by brutal vocalist Stephen Wrathburn and shredding lead guitarist Buddy Teifert, these guys really tore it up and had songs with a ton of technicality and character. I’ll need to catch them for a full set next time. CHTHONIC was first up on the main stage on this night and they played with the grandeur and capability of a headliner. As well they should at this stage of their career with the release of their excellent new album Takasago Army (Spinefarm Records). A terrific batch of performers and players, they were undaunted by the initial slow response of the crowd. This could be due to the popularity of the headliner too since they are fairly mainstream now. Still it was clear some heads were there just to see them and were screaming right along with front man Freddy Lim. Freddy played a Taiwanese Hela instrument most of the show which may throw some newbies for a loop. However, this band is at the pinnacle of creative symphonic black metal that soothes as much as it crushes. On songs like “Rise of The Shadows” and “Oceanquake” guitarist Jesse Liu and bassist Doris Yeh along with keyboardist CJ create just a killer wall of sound full of chaotic beauty. Freddy is as versatile a singer as there in all of metal is very charismatic. Dani Wang is also killer behind the drums and his trigger laden sound got everybody in the pit going which by the end of their set was really starting to move and groove. As the band closed with the huge sounding “Broken Jade” you felt as if this band is going to win over new fans in every city they play, just like they did tonight.
Forever Abomination will be out on Prosthetic Records in October.
The second band tonight was Ohio’s SKELETONWITCH. The Palladium was now filling up had a ton of beardo’s in Sw shirts double-fisting beers and ready to rage! This tour is the warm up for their upcoming release of their next album Forever Abomination (Prosthetic) and you could tell people were ready for violence and headbanging. Opening up a can of whup-ass out of the gate with “Upon Wings of Black” the pit went crazy and everybody in the place was into it. Chance Garnette has become on the best front men in the game with his dominating stage presence and snarling growls. The modern metal, old-school thrash and occasionally more brutal fare makes their music fun and their live shows dangerous. Almost immediately I saw a kid get pulled out of the pit, but he was smiling so I suppose it was alright by him. “Submit to Suffering” was next and the band wasted no time just blowing minds with their heaviness. Nate Garnette and Scott Hedrick keep their riffs tight and sharp at all times. Occasionally you will hear a flourish of melo-death guitar tastefulness seep in, but it is the only thing to offset the sheer brutality of the tunes. New drummer Dustin Boltjes shined all set long, but especially on the hit “Crushed Beyond Dust” which he nailed. Newer songs off their upcoming album like “Reduced to the Failure of Prayer” and “Infernal Resurrection” upped the ante significantly, proving this band is just getting started with this next round of great metal. Between songs, Chance’s hilarious banter and commentary on the venue and the crowd was priceless. He is one of the better personalities in the business too. Naturally the band pleased their fans with liberal helpings of more hits like “Beyond the Permafrost” and the set ending “Longing for Domination”. This tour slot was a great table setter for what I will believe even bigger things for this band when the new album drops.
DEVILDRIVER was in the penultimate spot tonight, befitting of a band that has been around for almost ten years now and has been fairly prolific with five albums in that same span. As per usual the band hit the stage with little fanfare and a ton of ass-kicking. Led by vocalist Dez Farara, his monstrous scream filling the room the band arrived with authority. Opening with “End of the Line”, a massive pit broke out behind me and the people right up front were going crazy. DEVILDRIVER makes intense jams full of grinding riffs and sick beats, perfectly fit for the live metal show experience. Dez just roams the stage like a madman and he does his best to connect with the audience in a special way few performers know how. A lot of folks seemed to hang on to and scream his every word which is pretty cool. Rather than get bogged down in too many fancy guitar acrobatics, Mike Spreitzer and Jeff Kendrick just jam riff upon riff and change after change into songs while still having a great live feel and vibe. The resulting effect is chaotic and uplifting even. Next was “Hold Back The Day” with its distinct PANTERA stylings had people just going off! Kendrick in particular is often the focal point of the slick guitar licks and signature parts. One such part, the opening lick to “I Could Care Less” is still hot after all these years. The second the fans heard it a big cheer went up. John Boecklin murders his kit, especially his trigger heavy double-kick work. The other impressive thing is how much energy the band puts out in a set, making them one of the most exciting live bands in the scene. This includes touring bassist Aaron “Bubble” Patrick too. Other choice songs from their set were “Head on to Heartache”, “Not All Who Wander Are Lost” and “Before The Hangman’s Noose”.
Jeff Kendrick of DEVILDRIVER shreds, on occasion.
Set List:
End Of The Line
Hold Back the Day
Dead To Rights
I Could Care Less
Clouds Over California
Not All Who Wander Are Lost
Pray For Villains
Head on to Heartache (Let Them Rot)
Before the Hangman’s Noose
Listen very carefully now. Angela has a message for you.
Finally it was time for the headliners to take over. The massive Khaos Legions (Century Media) banner unfurled and the rest of the stage was adorned with album artwork that looked amazing. As the opening intro music of the “Khaos Overture” began you felt an electricity in the air. ARCH ENEMY has the kind of power and charisma few in modern music can muster. Each member of the band came on stage to a cheer, the last and loudest being for front woman Angela Gossow. She addressed the crowd like a general about to lead her troops into battle and we responded in kind. As the strains “Of Yesterday is Dead And Gone” the band was immediately firing on all cylinders. From the siren-like guitar notes to fierce drums, the song is a great opening choice. Angela was just engrossing; her voice so sick and her style so true. She was totally focused, deadly serious and seemed to be having fun as well. Of course a lot of attention from the crowd was fixated on the guitar tandem of the Amott brothers, Michael and Chris who both thrilled and delighted all of the six string nerds in the house. The classic “Enemy Within” was the second song of their show and definitely set the tone for the night mixing old jams and new material with equal weight. “Enemy Within” is full of terrific guitar orgy moments the band is known for and the rocking mid-tempo beats they have become synonymous with. “Revolution Begins” soon followed and was also excellent. From their lyrics, to their videos, down to even their stage clothes the band always seems to espouse upheaval, freedom and rebellion. Although it is not always clear who the enemy is, nevertheless this concept is a thread that runs through everything the band does. It certainly strikes a huge chord with their fans who feel part of something bigger than fans of a great band. Next up was the terrific and thrashy “Ravenous” which was the early highlight of the night. Drummer Daniel Erlandsson and bassist Sharlee D’Angelo do not get the ink other members of the band do, but ought to be recognized for how critically important they are to the ARCH ENEMY sound. Of course with the two brothers scorching ears and eyes with their fancy fretwork it is easy to understand why that happens. Michael in particular with his new custom “Dexter” inspired blood splatter guitar was just mind-blowing. The band plumbed through their history unleashing one gem after another. Each of the Amott brothers also had a solo piece in the set which was also cool. Another amazing song played was “Dead Eyes See No Future” which was just fantastic. Late set nuggets like “No Gods, No Masters” and “Dead Bury Their Dead” were met by the fans with almost equal reverence as any other song, after which the band left the stage.
Flawless victory Mr. Amott, flawless.
Just when I thought the band and the spent crowd had been done with each other, they came back out for a pretty sick encore. “Snow Bound” and “We Will Rise” were nice, fast and harsh songs to come back out with due to their modern thrash vibe. A final destructive and spirited run through of “Nemesis” was the clincher for me and this had to go down as one of the best and most baddass shows of the entire year.
Set List:
Khaos Overture (intro)
Yesterday is Dead and Gone
Enemy Within
Revolution Begins
Ravenous
Bloodstained Cross
Guitar Solo (C. Amott)
Under Black Flags We March
Dead Eyes See No Future
Guitar Solo (M. Amott)
I Am Legend / Out for Blood
No Gods, No Masters
Dead Bury Their Dead
Encore:
Snow Bound
We Will Rise
Nemesis
(Special Thanks to Fresno Media, Earsplit PR and Moshography.)
In what has been a banner year for the label, Prosthetic has unleashed yet another gem of brutality and brilliance in Forever Abomination by SKELETONWITCH. The Athens, Ohio based quintet has been building up a head of steam of late, touring like mad and wood-shedding for a long time before dropping this record. The quintet has honed their considerable song-writing skills to a razor’s edge, upping the ante on this release. One listen and it surely came to mind as a contender for one of modern metals best offerings this year. If the foreboding artwork doesn’t compel you to bow down, thrown the horns, let out a chilling scream and get ready to bang the head that doesn’t bang you just may not be metal enough to read the rest of this review. You’ve been warned!
The opening of “This Horrifying Force (The Desire To Kill)” begins with a gentile acoustic guitars while ominous drums and ethereal sounds reveal the sinister beast to come. When the main riff of the song kicks in, it is pure sonic hell. Blackmetal inspired, single-note carnage and blasting double-kick beats unleash on your ears all at once. Then the familiar snarling howl of Chance Garnette arrives even more intense and depraved sounding than ever before. Although there are some neat ear candy notes to tease you, this is a savage metal song with a cool theme of serial murder. Slick melodic choices not withstanding, this is SKEKELTONWITCH: balls to the wall brutal and in your face. The second track is the single “Reduced to the Failure of Prayer” which the band has been playing live on tour with ARCH ENEMY. Blackmetal, modern metal grooves and classic thrash type parts all blend together in a masterful way. Chief riff-master general Nate Garnette has really outdone himself in penning this batch of songs that are unrelenting, but distinctly tuneful. Scott Hedrick, the other guitarist is also no six-string slouch and there are plenty of ‘holy shit’ guitar moments on this album with wild solos, sick licks and lots of chromatic thickness. “Of Ash And Torment” is a burning thrasher with terrific drumming from new addition Dustin Boltjes. He really did a momentous job the entire way through here and needs to be singled out for it. Credit must also go to producer Matt Hyde (SLAYER, HATEBREED) for going with a very natural sound, akin to what the band really needs for that classic vibe. This is especially commendable in this age of the ever present overly-triggered drums. “Choke Upon Betrayal” has that great old-school, locomotive down-picking thrash feel that makes me moist all over. Even bassist Evan Linger throws down some superb walking bass lines and passing notes and gets to shine brightly and often. Garnette’s voice is really is the icing on the cake to these songs. There is literally no waste in his performance either lyrically (grotesque, smart and to the point) and the grindy element to his vocals really drives the urgency of the tracks home. “Erased and Forgotten” starts off like straight up blackmetal inspired craziness and then breaks down with the boogie and swing of PANTERA or LAMB OF GOD. Elements of major keys and shifting drum styles are another mark of growth in the band who clearly meant to outdo all of their previous efforts. “The Infernal Resurrection” is another song I first heard live and it might be the best track on the album. It is heavy, but also unique and moody with dissonant riffs and waves of grief and animosity just oozing from the speakers. The second half of the track is pure SLAYER-inspired evil. More great bass work from Linger can be heard and Garnette even plums the bowel shaking depths of his own bellows in the vein of Trevor Strnad. Another notable thing about this album is that there is no musical fat on the these songs. All of them are concise and focused with nine of the eleven tracks coming in at under three minutes total. “Rejoice in Misery” and “Cleaver of Souls” also manage to ride the delicate balance of old-school and modern metal styles and sounds. “Shredding Sacred Flesh” just pummels you into submission and is so furiously paced and over so quick I was a little sad when it ended. It is like the perfect montage movie for a slasher film. Not content to just be meat and potatoes metal, “Sink Beneath Insanity” has an almost punk rock like beat of the THE MISFITS to start with. Then it gives way the the usual death/thrash madness. “My Skin of Deceit” is the album closer and the closest thing to straight up death metal the band has ever done. The first half minute of this song could easily have been on the next CANNIBAL CORPSE record. Complex rhythms and sick off-kilter riffs and fills keep the ear and the mind guessing while again the tempos are again ridiculous and awesome. Clocking in at under thirty three minutes the bands brevity in the writing department is commendable considering how fully realized these songs turned out.
SKELETONWITCH in 2011: A new, sinister beast is coming....
Just a reminder to all of you guys, the Metal Army sponsored ‘America Torn Asunder’ Tour will kick off tonight in Los Angeles! WARBRINGER will be out on their first headlining run in support of their latest bruiser ‘Worlds Torn Asunder’ and they will be accompanied by some of our favorites: LAZARUS AD, LANDMINE MARATHON and DIAMOND PLATE. Go and rock the fuck out!
Texas prog metal merchants WHITE ARMS OF ATHENA just released their excellent debut album on Prosthetic Records, Astrodrama. Metal Army caught up with bassist Tom Sifuentes to chat about the band, how they make music and what it’s like for a relativity young and humble group of musicians trying to make its way in the game in 2011.
Astrodrama dropped on 8/16.
MAA: Astrodrama is out today, so congratulations! Can you take us through the writing and recording process.
TS: Yeah, sure. And thank you by the way. As far as the writing goes, I’d say all three of the guitar players, I play bass guitar and the two other guitar players we are all really about writing our own stuff. Writing full parts and full songs too. I play guitar too, so all three of us have a big input as to how the songs go. As far as that goes it’s pretty hard to get everybody’s input in without taking away from someone else. I think we did an alright job of including everybody’s and all their writing input. As far as recording goes it was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. We went out to North Carolina and recorded with Jamie King, who is a pretty famous producer. That was our first real band experience. We haven’t done any big tours yet or recorded in a cool studio like that so to be out of town with the guys was a really great experience.
WAOA only take their music seriously. Photo by Chantelle Renee Photography.
MAA: I hear a ton of different influences on this album. How do you make it all work together so seamlessly?
TS: I think a lot of has to do with, like I said there being three song writers. All three of us, in order to really make it work we need to incorporate everyone’s ideas. I like a lot of jazz and a lot of the smoother stuff and I bring that to the table. While the the other guys really like the grimier, metal stuff. We just try to bring everybody in and that’s how we make it all fit together.
MAA: Is there a loose concept tying the album together?
TS: A few years ago we stumbled upon this little website called Astrodrama. I don’t know if it still goes under that name. It’s kind of like an improve, role playing game, as nerdy as that sounds. I’ve looked on the Internet recently and it’s pretty elaborate with dressing up in costumes. They like to take certain characters from the horoscopes like Pisces and Taurus characters and and what they represent in their human forms. What we wanted to parallel that to with our music is that all of us have very different backgrounds and styles. The same thing with Astrodrama, everybody has totally different styles and a totally unique perspectives. Bringing all these different people together from these backgrounds, it’s like us. It’s kind of the same thing: a lot of people coming together.
Tom Sifuentes is a name you will hear a lot in the future of modern metal bassists.
MAA: You have a pretty unique bass style. Who are some of your influences and what gear do you use to get that sound?
TS: I’d say some of my biggest inspiration as of late comes from Joe Lester of INTRONAUT. His bass lines are out of this world. They are smooth when they have to be and really rocking when they really get into it. One of my all time favorites is Sean Malone. He recorded with CYNIC and he did a lot of other stuff as well. Those two guys really influences me and I can’t even count how many guys other I’ve been inspired by. As far as gear goes I’m with Ampeg right now and I just got an Ampeg 7. I’m playing through all Ampeg from top to bottom. And of course I use Ibanez basses. Where I really get my tone from is this little MXR pedal and I keep it on all the time. Even in the recording, Jamie King had another special DI box, but we wound up using my pedal because it sounded so good and Jamie liked so much.
MAA: The cover art of Astrodrama is very distinctive. How did you hook up with the artist?
TS: Around the time we were about to go record the album I came across this artist from Germany, Dennis Constantine. We thought we’d just reach out to him and he corresponded. We started talking and getting along. He was really cool and understood us, where we are coming from. Being that we are such a young band without too much money, it was cool that he still wanted to work with us. He did an original new piece of art for us which was cool. So we gave him the album and he brought it to us and the front cover and back cover run along together like the same piece. It looks crazy, like it’s from another world. We are really happy with it.
MAA: Do you have any touring plans lined up?
TS: We have a few months off until late October and early November where we will be out for two and half, maybe three weeks. We’ll do some local shows here and there. Then we are meeting us with a prog band from New Jersey called EAST OF THE WALL. We’re gonna do a few weeks out with them, getting out to California and New Mexico and then back to Texas. We have some other stuff in the works too that you will hear about soon. We are always looking for good tours and good shows to play.
MAA: What does it mean to you to to have your band on Prosthetic Records?
TS: I don’t know what to say except that we all really so happy and are ecstatic to be on a label with such a great roster. There are so many bands on the roster that are legendary. We are this little nerdy and new prog band on a label with so much history, it is such an honor. Cliche as that may sound, I mean it. Someday we’d like to be in the class of a GOJIRA or even now ANIMALS AS LEADERS, they are getting so big now and bringing out so much of their genre’s music. We’d like to be one of those bands someday.
WARBRINGER have unveiled a lyrics video for “Shattered Like Glass” and, damn, how good is that song? WARBRINGER are most certainly a cut above all of the other modern thrash bands that have risen over the past few years. Check out the video above and check out their headline dates below for their upcoming, Metal Army sponsored ‘America Torn Asunder’ tour!
It’s good-natured small gigs like these that make one remember how alike Punks and Thrashers (and to a point, all Metalheads) are when you get them together. Think on it: Both wear black a lot, both are societal outcasts with atypical haircuts, they both wear patches and ripped clothing, etc. To say nothing of the music itself. Thrash Metal is essentially IRON MAIDEN and JUDAS PRIEST fans mainlining punk rhythms and throwing the resulting brew into a pressure cooker to ferment and sweeten. And now onto the show review before I turn this into an essay on how Thrash and Hardcore fans should hang out more.
