Wielding a more standard modern death metal mix than its predecessor, Exodromos sounds a little more “normal”, with taut midrange precision and and weighty, full low-end augmenting the new, more nuanced songwriting on display. Repeated plays reveal the true depth hidden behind its melodic strangeness, showcasing entirely new dimensions as you become accustomed to the band’s unique musical approach.
Second track ‘Ego Ergo Sum’ even sounds like Gojira, which is all well and good if you’re into Morbid Angel singing about whales, Greenpeace and that, but this isn’t why people got into The Amenta, is it? There’s nothing strictly wrong with it, but compared to how fucked off with humanity n0n sounded it’s disappointingly catchy and ordinary.
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Seagraves
From: Leeds, UK
Lazy equation: (Cursed - all that baggage) x Leeds.
URL: Facebook // Bandcamp // BigCartel
Thrash Hits verdict: A few weeks ago we ran one of our (sporadic) Label Profile piece’s on Nottingham’s Witch Hunter Records, at around the same time the label was gearing up to release the new EP from Seagraves. Being the pragmatists that we are, we lined them up for the Future Hits treatment. Stop reading this bit, and go read the interview below. There’s music there and everything.
Click here to read our interview with and hear music from Seagraves.
…in a world where everyone from the local fishmonger to the chugger who’s trying to get cash out of you for the lonely goldfish foundation seems to be in a band, it is hard to get noticed. Internet rumblings suggest that Bleed From Within have their sights set on the big leagues with the release of their third album, Uprising, but on first listen it seems in many ways the band playing it safe. Often sticking very much to the archetypal metalcore rulebook, Uprisingtakes many cues from a tried and tested framework. Sombre instrumental sections such as ‘Speechless’ pop up here and there to add some reflection between the layers of aggression, while there will be more than a few riffs that will no doubt sound familiar.
Gavin Lloyd check out Uprising, the new album from Bleed From Within.
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Fans of the band will already be familiar with their modus operandi, but the most notable thing on this record is the warmth of the tone that the Los Angelean quartet find throughout. There is crunch here but it is not crushing, rather it feels benevolent and monolithic, beautifully written and entirely luxuriant. You are allowed to stretch out in tracks that frequently clock in at six minutes and above, but never feel like they outstay their welcome and utilise a genuinely broad musical palette encompassing everything from progressive metal to undeniably engaging jazz-influenced interludes. That penchant for jazz is spearheaded most obviously by bassist Joe Lester, who puts in an exceptional performance throughout the record. ‘Harmonomicon’ in particular is demonstrative of a fluidity of musicianship that is a pleasure to behold.
Tom Doyle reviews Habitual Levitations, the new album from Intronaut.
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RGN SUP (the abbreviation sounds a bit like a homie greeting the late former US President Ronald)’s lead vocalist Jay Pepito’s old outfit Blacklisted have taken a radically different direction on their latter releases, and this record finds Reign Supreme moving comfortably into their sort of (former) territory; uncompromising, heavier than a ton of bricks landing on your face and relentless, but also with an engaging emotive side and a willingness to experiment, tearing down the barriers between hardcore and metalcore – fans of both styles will find plenty of reward here. It’s that extraordinarily rare species of record – one that makes you want to pump your fist and bang your head like an absolute loon, but at the same time, challeges your intellect with intelligent, intricate dynamics and songwriting.
Ollie Connors reviews Sky Burial, the new album from Reign Supreme.
As on Vol.1, BOTL see no need to use their music a stimulus for change. The endless buzz of guitars and encrusted production is an insistent force and reminder of how far into the deep and dark BOTL think we’ve fallen. As the album title suggests, the English on BOTL’s latest record are locked within their own destructive, hopeless psyches; opener ‘Untie the Tempest’ screams over and over of how “there is no help for you, and there never will be”, lodging itself in your brain like some parasitic psychosis.
David Keevill like the new album from Brotherhood of the Lake A LOT.
Hold it right there. I remember you, Art Alexakis, you and that Everclear. In the late nineties, So Much For The Afterglow was the soundtrack to every teen movie poolside BBQ your licensors could get their mitts on. Oh, there have been other records since, but for one glorious summer, we were in love. Then you waltzed off home to America, because your big time record label couldn’t justify spending the money to get you to tour here. Now you come swanning back with your new record, your fancy 20th anniversary UK tour, and you think you can just make it all right again? Well, I’ll tell you what, Art Alexakis. You’ve got another thing coming.
Today here in the UK it is Mother’s Day (yes, America, we don’t all celebrate it when you do), so this week we’ve gone and put together a Sunday Spotify Slaylist dedicated to mothers everywhere. Well, almost. Well, kind of.
(Source: Spotify)
This article was originally posted on ThrashHits.com on 08 March 2013:
As it’s International Women’s Day, we thought we’d do something to celebrate. Rather than do some regressive piece about tits, we did a top 6 of the ways heavy metal is rubbish towards women. Can we stop these, please?
Top 6 ways heavy metal treats women really fucking badly
1) The term “female-fronted metal”
Yes, because all bands with women singers sound exactly the fucking same. Cerebral Bore and Kylesa and Nightwish and Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult are completely the same thing. And because it would be totally acceptable to call Disturbed “Jewish-fronted metal” and Suffocation “black guitaristed death metal”. Wait, what?
2) Assume if you’re not dressed like you’re metal that you’re only there with your boyfriend.
If you see a woman at a metal gig who’s not wearing “the uniform”, chances are some prick is about to ask her if she knows who the band is. Despite the fact she was probably already listening to Dissection while he was still working out how to spell Megadeth probably, and knows more about Devourment than he ever will.
3) “Hottest women in metal” awards/features/specials
SRSLY? In 2013, these still exist? Fuck’s sake…
4) “She’s really good… for a girl”
Yes, clearly a vagina is a crippling inhibition for musical aptitude. You never get really talented musicians without Y-chromosomes. Apart from all of Girlschool. And Grace Perry, formerly of Landmine Marathon. And Leah from Aliases. And Jo from Bolt Thrower. And Jaqueline du Pré. And Maria Callas. And Diamanda Galás. And Tori Amos. And fucking millions of others. Meanwhile, male musicians include Jared Leto, Chris Barnes, Justin Bieber, and the members of Keane and Venom.
Grace Perry singing in Landmine Marathon. Brutal.
5) Groping
If some random guy pinched your arse hard enough to leave a bruise or slipped his hand down your jeans to squeeze your balls too hard while you were watching Slayer, you’d probably punch him, irrespective of your sexual orientation. Yet every metal-loving woman will tell a hundred stories about being poked, prodded, fondled and generally harassed in all sorts of shitty ways.
6) Hot girl in band gets asked to do ALL the interviews
“Oh, there’s a girl in the band? Can we talk to her? We don’t care that she’s incredibly talented, or that the band are a team of creative minds, or that the guy in the band give much better quotes, we just want to talk to the one who the virginal teenage boys will fancy.” Oh brother…
Daniel Garrod, formerly the drummer with Bastions, lets rips on his issues with “industry guestlists. Click here to read the rest of his guest-column on Thrash Hits.
