There are so many good things to say about local metallers Swarm of Eyes debut, Designing The Dystopia. Take equal parts Metallica …And Justice For All and The New Order Testament with hints of Entombed , Satyricon , and Nachtmystium and you have an idea what Swarm of Eyes are about. If you like your metal loud, fast, and complex, then Designing The Dystopia is for you. “Enter The Circle” is how you open a metal album. Plain and simple. It’s a statement of intent lead by a guitar squeal that could’ve been made by Eddie […]
Metal Monday
Metal Monday Volume 9 (3.14.11)
Ugh. I hate writing sh@#%tty reviews about bands I like. I love Mastodon. Their entire catalog titillates and tantalizes my earbuds regularly. (Bet you never heard that description talking about some heavy metal!) Some of you might be saying: “Hey Metal Monday guy! If it’s a bad disc, why review it?” I counter that with two reasons.: First, to prove that the world is not all sunshine and smiles. Second, my journalistic integrity (?) demanded that I tell you, the […]
Metal Monday Volume 8 (3.7.11)
Earthtone9 is the best band you’ve never heard over. I think I heard about this Nottingham, UK 5-piece through some random Kerrang! sampler years and years ago. It was 2 different songs off of their 1st and 2nd releases, lo-def(inition) discord and off kilter enhancement respectively, and I knew I had to own them. Amazon.co.uk being my best friend rescued me from a fate of not having earthtone9 albums in my life. Remember kiddies, this is way before that digital download […]
Metal Monday Volume 7 (2.28.11)
Just my luck that the bands possible for two of my favorite metal albums of 2011 would be sharing a bill together. That was the case on Sunday night at The Paradise when Motherboar opened up a 4-band bill headlined by Times of Grace . I’ve heard Mastodon do Crack the Skye in its entirety twice live now. I’ve seen Clutch do their self-titled album live. Now I can add Motherboar playing The Beast Becomes The Servant to that list. And they do belong there. Opening […]
Metal Monday Volume 6 (2.21.11)
Anyone who tells me that Soundgarden is not metal is crazy. Out of all the big Seattle bands they were, without a doubt, definitely the heaviest. Sure, there was Alice in Chains but they were more angst ridden hard rock if anything. Soundgarden were and always will be a behemoth. Listen to “ 4th of July ” on Superunknown. “ Jesus Christ Pose “, “ Rusty Cage “, or countless others from Badmotorfinger. “ Birth Ritual ” from the Singles soundtrack or “ Heretic ” from Pump up the Volume. Then […]
Metal Monday Volume 5 (2.14.11)
Man, I can’t believe I’m saying this but I think Devildriver has finally hit that dreaded creative plateau. I’ll admit to being a Coal Chamber fan and I really loved Devildriver and The Last Kind Words (Their sophomore album, The Fury of our Maker’s Hand, didn’t really do anything for me.). “Meet the Wretched” from the S/T and “Not All Who Wander Are Lost” and “Clouds Over California” from The Last Kind Words are some pretty epic metal songs. The […]
SyFy presents an original movie by Motherboar: Croctosquatch!
How do you go about reviewing a video? Do you pick apart the song choice? How the concept goes with the song? Production values? Lucky for me, none of the already mentioned topics were a cause for concern with Motherboar’s adventurous video for “Croctosquatch”. The lead song off of their latest, The Beast Becomes the Servant, “Croctosquatch” is a beast of a song on its own. Give the song some great visuals (Thanks to Trifecta+ Entertainment ) and this beast is unstoppable. First […]
Metal Monday Volume 4 (2.7.11)
There are 2 albums that greatly defined age 16 for me and my first experiences with not one, but two deaths in the family. They are Type O Negative’s Bloody Kisses and Life of Agony’s River Runs Red. I guess if you have to deal with sudden tragedy then there’s no better soundtrack than from those two Brooklyn bands. Coincidentally enough, both albums feature the talents of drummer Sal Abruscato who is back with A Pale Horse Named Death. Combining […]