Blast Beats & Silver Screens

Band Of The Week: Immoralist

2014-06-02T18:09:00.000-04:00

I've been on a beatdown hardcore/deathcore kick lately, and bands like Immoralist and Black Tongue have been on repeat in my speakers. Immoralist are a pretty young group, forming back in 2012 with one EP under their belt. Widow though is a strong EP and definitely puts a strong first kick through the door.

The group is working on new material though and have recently released a new song titled 'Rotten Teeth':

It's a solid track, and falls in line with the quality of stuff we heard on Widow easily. If you weren't a fan of beatdown music before Immoralist likely won't make you change your mind on the genre, but if this kind of music is your thing you'll really dig Widow.

The band also covered Slipknot's 'Psychosocial' recently:

Save for the lack of emphasis on the clean vocals the cover is well done. It does make you realize though how big the hook in the chorus is for this song.

Help support Immoralist and buy some merch!

Vader Post New Track 'Triumph Of Death'

2014-05-16T14:41:00.001-04:00

Vader are getting set to release their 10th studio album soon, titled Tibi Et Igni, and today they've released a new track from the album titled 'Triumph Of Death'. The song is likely what you'll expect from Vader, an enjoyable track that fills out the things you like about death metal. It's real straight forward meat and potatoes death metal.

Listen to it here:

Tibi Et Igni is set to release May 30th via Nuclear Blast!

New Song From Son Of Aurelius!

2014-05-15T16:20:00.000-04:00

Son Of Aurelius are finally getting around to putting out some new material. Their debut album is chock full of fantastic proggy goodness, and this new song is good hope that the next album will keep things up!

Check out 'A Great Liberation':

The video is awesome in that it pokes fun at how ridiculous Lyric videos are, regardless of what you think of them, this video is gold.

Under A Western Sun releases on June 3rd!

Hour Of Penance Post Video For 'Reforging The Crowns'

2014-05-15T16:09:00.001-04:00

Got videos out the wazoo! We've almost covered the four main types of videos as well today. Hour Of Penance bring int he storied side of things, with a video chock full of religious themes. The song is awesome and the video is well shot albeit a tad predictable. Still worth a watch though!

Check it:

These guys are immensely talented, and Regicide is a fantastic listen.

Whitechapel Post Video For 'Our Endless War'

2014-05-15T15:59:00.001-04:00

Along with Carnifex this week, Whitechapel have posted a music video for their title track Our Endless War. This video is a live compilation of footage from shows they've played recently, that is excellently shot by the people at Naughty Mantis, who've been killing it with the videos for Whitechapel. The content isn't original since it's just a live compilation, but some of the shot choices are fantastic, especially the POV shots from the mic.

Check it out now:

Our Endless War is out now via Metal Blade!

Carnifex Post Music Video For 'Die Without Hope'

2014-05-15T15:46:00.000-04:00

Carnifex's latest release Die Without Hope is one of the strongest Deathcore albums this year and in my opinion the strongest release they've put out to date. Everything on this album is tight and it packs all the right punches. The band has now released a music video for the title track.

Check it out:

As far as music videos go it's nothing particularly special, and the shaky cam which we all have come to expect in most metal music videos goes a bit over the top in this one. Apart from the slow mo sections you'll likely find yourself wishing the camera would chill for a second so we can see the guys. The song is killer though and well worth your time.

Make Them Suffer Post New Song 'Let Me In'

2014-05-12T14:15:00.001-04:00

Make Them Suffer made quite a splash in deathcore with their EP Lord Of Woe and their debut album Neverbloom. Their brutal symphonic sound wowed listeners and won plenty of people over, including me. now they've released a new track titled 'Let Me In' and while it's most definitely not the heaviest thing they've ever recorded, the song itself is pretty good still.

Check it out:

I'm curious if this song is the slower track on this new album, similar to 'Elegies' on Neverbloom, although this one is even less heavy more emotionally charged than 'Elegies'. Judging from the Facebook comments on the bands posting of this music video, there is quite a polarization with the fans on this being the worst thing they've recorded and this being a step in the right direction for the band. Regardless I'm excited to hear the full album, and I'm sure they'll be plenty of good material on it.

There's no real details on the release date or title for the new album, but hopefully we'll get those with a new single soon.

Super Massive Black Holes - Calculations Of The Ancients

2014-05-12T13:49:00.000-04:00

Super Massive Black Holes is downright weird. In the absolute best possible way. There are a good number of bands out there that play with influences from other genres. Bands that mess with tempo and tonality to immerse the listener into soundscapes they might not have heard clashed together before. Bands that keep you guessing where the song you are currently listening to might take you and how the next song will flip that around and take your ears in a new direction. Super Massive Black Holes does all of this, and their debut full length album, Calculations Of The Ancients showcases all of their talents.

If you had a chance to listen to their self-titled EP from2012, you will have a bit of an idea of what to expect as far as the level of chaos this music can explore. The technical death metal side of things shows up from the very first track which helps start the album off in an explosive manner. The first track ends a bit oddly, and possibly could have flowed a bit better into slower cleaner intro of the second track, but this is really the only time the flow of the album seems a bit off. The rest of the album flows very well and the atmosphere that gets built by the clean guitars is damn near perfect. Particularly on the second half of the album. The instrumental track ‘Mathematics Of Emotion’ is all clean guitar and one of the coolest tracks on the album because it feels really surreal after the onslaught of music that had come before it. It’s placement on the track list is fantastic.

The atmosphere and chaotic feeling on this album reminds me a lot of The Schoenberg Automaton’s album Vela from last year. From the use of clean, quieter parts, to a few scattered bits of sound bites, there’s an eerie atmospheric chaos on both albums, and I love it to bits.

The production quality on this album has taken a bit of a step up from the EP, although it still feels very raw and natural sounding, which may or may not sway some listeners. The raw sound does make it feel a bit more alive, and since the album is so chaotic it seems to work to the bands advantage in the end. It gives you a bit of a feeling like you’re in the same room as the band listening to them record. In an world where one man bands can go in and perfect their music on a computer to make themselves sound like virtuoso’s it is nice to occasionally hear a band that’s not terribly worried about being the spotless sounding band out there, but on the other hand I cannot say I would not be interested in hearing how this band would sound with a bit of a cleaner production sound.

This album is not one to take lightly. There is a lot to take in here and repeated listens are beyond beneficial to appreciate the finer details of the album. If chaotic/experimental/fusion metal is something you enjoy or at least think you’ll enjoy Super Massive Black Holes is a band you shouldn’t pass up. If anything Calculations Of The Ancients will provide you with an interesting listen and a change of pace from the more mainstream subgenres of metal.

Band Of The Week: Nexilva

2014-05-12T13:26:00.000-04:00

Landing somewhere between Born Of Osiris's progressive djent sound and Ovid's Withering's intense symphonic laden deathcore is Nexilva. Hailing from Sunderland, England this outfit is carving quite a name for themselves, and the quality of their music is far and beyond enough to compete with their more widely known peers.

The artwork for their latest album Eschatologies should draw in Born Of Osiris fans as it is stylistically similar to their latest album art works, and if that gets you to listen to the album then great because you'll not be disappointed in the least.

Check out the music video for the title track:

Nexilva should be a band to watch for sure. If they can continue to develop their sound and produce high quality albums like this their future should definitely be bright.

Give them a like on Facebook and buy some merch!

New Song From Wovenwar 'All Rise'!

2014-04-21T15:14:00.001-04:00

So Wovenwar was revealed as the project name for the other members of As I Lay Dying with the addition of the clean vocalist from Oh, Sleeper on board. An interesting choice to add a second clean vocalist instead of a new guy to handle screamed vocals, but these guys are making the music they want to make and Shane Blay is an excellent clean vocalist. This new band has posted their first single 'All Rise' and boy does this song jam. The instrumentation has always been a really strong part of As I Lay Dying and these guys have in no way lost their touch.

Check out 'All Rise':

Their debut album is supposed to release sometime this summer, and if this song is any indication it should be a pretty awesome release.

Band Of The Week: Brutality Will Prevail

2014-04-21T14:48:00.000-04:00

I don't listen to a ton of hardcore, but when I do I prefer ambient/doom inspired hardcore. Bands like Harm's Way and Dead End Path really hit the nail on the head for what I want out of hardcore music. It should feel like it's played by a lumbering giant with a guitar somehow magically made out of thunder. Brutality Will Prevail add a third point to this hardcore triangle, with a major focus on creating dark atmosphere in their sound, they fit in perfectly with the other two bands and make for a fantastic listen.

Brutality Will Previal already has a few releases under their belt, their latest just released two weeks ago, titled Suspension Of Consciousness. These guys have a tight sound and stick to their guns pretty well. EAch album is jam packed with awesome riffs and thick atmosphere.

Check out the video for 'Abandon':

If you're at all a fan of hardcore you need to check these guys out fully. Give them a shout on Facebook, and buy some merch!

3rd Whitechapel Studio Video Posted For 'Our Endless War'!

2014-04-17T16:46:00.001-04:00

God, I gotta give a hand to Naughty Mantis. Every one of these videos has been phenomenally put together. The shot choices and music have been spot on. This video is the third video from Whitechapel's studio sessions for the new album Our Endless War, and this video focuses on the vocal tracking for the bands front man Phil Bozeman and some of the meaning behind the lyrics he wrote on this album.

Check out the video now:

Now some of the things Phil says in the video are kind of what you'd expect a vocalist to say about their new album, mainly the first chunk of stuff he says, but the rest of it is pretty interesting and makes me really excited to hear his performance on this album.

Our Endless War is set to release in less than two weeks on April 29th via Metal Blade!

New Super Massive Black Holes Album Due Out This Month!

2014-04-15T15:26:00.000-04:00

To say that Canada's Super Massive Black Holes are an exciting group, is to put things lightly. The band offers a really refreshing taste of metal music blended with awesome flairs of influences from plenty of other genres. Their new album Calculations Of The Ancients is due to release on April 29th, but for now we've got one song to preview from it!

Check out the track '(Sub-Molecular) Transmogrification Of The Oriphy':

We also have a bit of a press update about the band via Bravewords:

Intriguing, thought-provoking and memorable, Super Massive Black Holes plays a mix of genres that will make you scratch your head and tap your foot, all the while banging your head into solid objects. Seamlessly blending death metal, rock, jazz-fusion, prog, blues, and a variety of others, Super Massive Black Holes will expand your mind and prove that new and interesting music is alive and well.

Super Massive Black Holes guitarist Denver Bergreen (ex-CHAOS LOGIC) had this to say about Calculations Of The Ancients: "It was a total DIY effort. Everything was produced by myself, from artwork and layout, to engineering/mixing/mastering. The lyrics are based around science theories (be they real, fictitious, or conspiracy), and often wrap around metaphorically to human experiences (beliefs, insecurities, questions about the world around us.) The music is meant to zig-zag across genres, while still holding root within the composition as a whole. To express every possible emotion in the best way we could think of."

Look for my review of the new album in the near future and stayed tuned for the albums release!

Band Of The Week: Ease Of Disgust

2014-04-14T10:00:00.000-04:00

I've been waiting for a new release from Ease Of Disgust the moment I heard their previous album Chaos. This Russian outfit has a great sound, with awesome technical and melodic flairs thrown into a very strong understanding of the great aspects about deathcore.

Check out the lyric video for the song 'Bloodlust' from their new album Black Flame:

Ease Of Disgust doesn't rely on simple riffs and breakdowns to power their music, their technical flairs and strong songwriting are more than enough coal to feed the flames and keep you interested to the end of the album.

Give these guys a like on Facebook and buy the new album!

New Song From Hour Of Penance!

2014-04-11T11:58:00.001-04:00

Hour Of Penance match Fleshgod Apocalypse in sheer insanity, but land somewhere closer to Behemoth as far as overall tone goes. The band has been hard at work on their latest album Regicide and are working towards a May 13th release date for it. In the meantime thought they've since put out two new songs, the latest of which is fresh off the press!

Check out 'Desecrated Souls':

The play through is pretty cool to watch, especially the drummers feet going crazy on those blast beats.

The first track released in March, although I entirely missed it somehow. It's titled 'Resurgence Of The Empire' and sounds a bit more behemothy than 'Desecrated Souls':

Regicide is out May 13th via Prosthetic Records!

Check Out Whitechapel's Second Studio Update!

2014-04-10T13:47:00.000-04:00

We're drawing closer and closer to the release of Whitechapel's new album, and the guys are doing a good job keeping anticipation levels high. They released the second part of a series of studio updates, this time mainly focuses on guitars, with a bit of the drums in there too. You get a great peek at some of the low tuned riffs and more technical leads they are throwing in, with a nice ambient acoustic part int here as well!

Check it out:

The album is a little over three weeks from release! It drops on April 29th via Metal Blade.

New Material In The Works From The Other Members Of As I Lay Dying

2014-04-08T17:02:00.001-04:00

Since the whole situation with Tim Lambesis got started the status of the 4 other members of As I Lay Dying has remained unknown until this past few days. While we don't have any real concrete details on what exactly is going on, we know that these four guys are making new music as evidenced by Instagram videos of all the members working on stuff in the studio.

It's pretty likely the guys formed a new band, and The PRP is hazarding a guess that the new band might be called Worshipper, which would explain the 'W' on the picture above. Although there does appear to be two overlapping W's so it could be a longer name.

A new name would separate the band from the baggage Tim brought to As I Lay Dying and give them a fresh start, regardless of the fact that the music in the videos they've posted still sounds very similar to As I Lay Dying's previous work.

I for one am really glad these guys are still working as they're a very talented bunch, and I hope we get a big detailed update soon. There's no word on whether or not they'll be getting a new vocalist, but the first wave of videos seemed to feature Josh Gilbert's clean vocals, so maybe they're going a Periphery/Tesseract route and trying to stick to cleans. It's all guess work at this point.

Stay tuned!

Band Of The Week: Science Of Sleep

2014-04-07T16:32:00.002-04:00

Science Of Sleep is a German deathcore outfit who released their debut LP back in June, and boy is it a hell of a debut album. I didn't find these until a few weeks ago, but I've been listening to Exhaust a ton since finding them. The album is a great listen, addictive, and hits incredibly hard.

They've got a pretty solid grip on atmosphere and the writing in general is pretty tight. Their sound is akin to Thy Art Is Murder, Dweller, and I Killed Everyone, and this release shows they can kick it just as hard as those bands.

Give 'Oppressor' a listen:

Give these guys a like on Facebook and buy something if you can, lets get these guys more well known!

Whitechapel Post New Studio Video!

2014-04-04T14:04:00.001-04:00

Whitechapel's new album is less than a month away now, which is most definitely exciting. The band has posted the first of a series of videos documenting the writing and recording process of the new album, and while this initial video doesn't show any new material it's still an interesting watch and Naughty Mantis productions did a fantastic job with the video. Very filmic feel to it.

Our Endless War comes out April 29th!

Band Of The Week: Hiss From The Moat

2014-03-31T14:40:00.001-04:00

Italy is doing everything it can to create a giant presence in technical death metal. Between Fleshgod Apocalypse, and Hour Of Penance they've got two of the fastest and most intense bands in the genre, and most recently the drummer from Hour Of Penance, James Payne, went to join a side band called Hiss From The Moat, who combine elements of Technical Death Metal and Black Metal together into a demonic stew of blast beats, walls of riffs, and throaty screams.

Fans of any of the aforementioned bands need to give Hiss From The Moat a listen. The album is very strong and provides a good breath of fresh music to throw into the mix of tech death you'd otherwise be listening to. If Behemoth, Hate and Hour Of Penance joined together you'd basically have Hiss From The Moat.

Their music video is also very reminiscent of something Behemoth might make:

While they might be wearing their inspiration on their sleeves, the band combines sounds to make a very strong album with a great atmosphere. There is plenty here to love and tech death/blackened death metal fans need to give it a listen.

Check out their Facebook page and buy the album!

Carnifex - Die Without Hope

2014-03-24T15:02:00.001-04:00

Carnifex are a band I've never particularly fallen in love with. their album Hell Chose Me had some great songs on it, as did their first two albums, but I was never particularly sparked by them. Their last release Until I Feel Nothing didn't do a whole lot to change that either. Then Carnifex went on a hiatus that left no definite promise of their return and I honestly expected them to fade into obscurity for me. However this year they smashed right back onto the scene with Die Without Hope and I'm not sure if it's hypocritical or not, but they entirely changed my opinion of them. Die Without Hope is easily the strongest writing they've had to date and makes it easier to appreciate their back catalog as well.

The album starts off with what are likely the four strongest songs on the album. 'Salvation Is Dead' begins with an eerie ambiance that is shattered by an intense wall of sound that doesn't let up until we get a gasp for breath in the second to last track 'Reflections Of The Forgotten'. The band fleshes out plenty of genres influences they've always had, the melo-death influences shine in the couple guitar solo's we get on the album, and the black metal influences shine very well here. Between this band, Lorelei, and Ovid's Withering, blackened deathcore is starting to show a good amount of promise. Carnifex has done a great job fleshing out almost every aspect of their established sound. I know I criticized Until I Feel Nothing for having a relatively weak atmosphere to it, but Die Without Hope is dark and consistent thanks in part to drummer Shawn Cameron who worked on the keyboard aspects of the album.

While there has been improvement across the board the album isn't without faults. At times the balancing act between different genre influences can make things a bit awkward. For instance as I already stated the first four track are likely the strongest on the album, but once we get past that the transition between the title track and 'Hatred And Slaughter' feels a bit off, probably due to the initial lyric of the song being one of the more immature feeling on the album and the title track is one of the darkest songs on the album, so the placement feels a bit odd. These moments though are few in number and the album as a whole still works well a unit.

Die Without Hope does a lot of things right and still sticks to the sound that Carnifex has established for themselves. They aren't stepping to heavily into other subgenres, but merely sampling things to see what works and what will please the fanbase they've established. It's evident that the year long hiatus had a positive effect on the band and one can only hope they keep up the progress.

New Boris The Blade Song/Video!

2014-03-24T14:36:00.000-04:00

Boris The Blade are getting set to release their debut album The Human Hive in May, but in the mean time the band has released a new song and video for the track 'Desolation'! The video is interesting enough to watch especially if you dig post-apocalyptic stuff, but the song is the real point and it's great.

Check it out now:

You should be stoked for The Human Hive. If their EP and the two new songs they've released are any sign, then this album is gonna be great.

Band Of The Week: I, Of Helix

2014-03-24T14:01:00.000-04:00

I, Of Helix fall somewhere between progressive metalcore and progressive deathcore, much in the same way Within The Ruins does, and like Within The Ruins I, Of Helix places a huge emphasis on the instrumentation and writing and it's works to a great extent. Their sound is very high energy and their great musicianship shines through the album. They draw clear influences from bands like August Burns Red, Whitechapel, and as previously mentioned Within The Ruins.

Check out the video for the song 'XXIX':

Give I, Of Helix a like on facebook and buy some merch! Isolations is only $5!

New Whitechapel Song 'Mono'!

2014-03-19T16:00:00.002-04:00

Whitechapel are inching closer to the release of their new album Our Endless War, and today they've released a new song entitled 'Mono'! This song is significantly faster than their first single 'The Saw Is The Law', and is by far more aggressive.

You can listen to the song now thanks to Alternative Press:

If you fetl 'The Saw Is The Law' was too slow, this track should be more your pace. Our Endless War comes out April 29th!

Band Of The Week: The Breathing Process

2014-03-17T16:00:00.001-04:00

Things have been quiet in The Breathing Process' camp for a little while now, as their last LP Odyssey (Un)Dead came out back in 2010, but the band is still alive and has gained a few new members and are hard at work on a new release for 2014. I can't tell yet who'll be providing the screamed vocals on this new material, but it's just good to know they're working on something.

The Breathing Process' first two albums provided excellent Symphonic Deathcore with a very thick atmosphere to it. They hit hard where it counts and distinguish themselves enough with the atmosphere and ambient elements to make a great listening experience.

Check out the music video for 'Vultures':

Hit up the band on Facebook to stay updated on the progress with their new work!