Exploring your options as a band and featuring musicians to bring different flavors into your sound is nothing new to metal, and it’s something that I quite enjoy. However, like most things, it’s gotta be taken in moderation. Can’t have … Continue reading Descenery – Stillborn Monolith
It dawned on me the other day that I don’t listen to very much metal that can be considered “commercially friendly”. By that, I mean stuff you’d hear on the radio or anything that’s basically not extreme metal. It was … Continue reading Avelion – Illusion of Transparency
In Madrid, Spain there’s this label known as Xtreem Music. The label, if you can’t tell by its name alone, deals with some of the most underground bands that actually have talent from all over the world, and I love … Continue reading In Thousand Lakes – Age of Decay
There are an absolute plethora of bands out there who have tried to mold intensity with melody to make black and death metal much more bearable for people who aren’t into just consistent chaos like we do. Some bands fall … Continue reading Hyperion – Seraphical Euphony
In terms of how intense an alternative metal band can get, Talpa is one of those bands that is really pushing the boundaries. The only band of this genre that pushes more intensely off the top of my head is Disturbed, and Talpa is right on their tail with their solid EP “Happy”. What is really neat about this album is that the vocals are done by a woman which to me have a more natural ebb and flow to them for whatever reason and that really allows “Happy” to become very melodic. The guitars and bass have a great rhythm throughout … Continue reading Talpa – Happy
Calling yourself a “modern metal” band usually has little meaning to me as that can mean ten thousand different things depending upon the band, but in the case of Trials and their upcoming third full-length release, “This Ruined World”, the term qualifies as some melodic death mixed with some technical element and a tad of thrash to spice it up a bit. The vocals however were far from the deep throat, guttural growls that you may be expecting. Instead, they were more “lighter” as they sounded like vocals from a hardcore band, but there’s no real point to me applying … Continue reading Trials – This Ruined World
The amount of new bands that have popped up in the last five years alone is staggering to say in the absolute least. And sometimes bands will think to add a little extra to spice things up a bit. With Morthus that little extra is making the blackened death a little melodic to bring some form into the mix and making it just a little bit more pleasing to people who can’t get enough of a good rhythm or beat out of their music. “Into Oblivion” brings the brutality in such a way that the melodic element isn’t overwhelming but … Continue reading Morthus – Into Oblivion
I’ll be honest. When I normally think of hardcore I just think of punk but the band is more organized and wants to bring a sound. Now sometimes it fails, sometimes it blows you mind. This one blew my mind. “Breathe” from Iona Grove was an excellently done 3-tracks album in the composition of the tracks, the pure sound, and feel of each passing moment. And the one thing that flawlessly put that all together was the fact that this is melodic hardcore which is something that I’ve never seen before if I have to be completely honest. It was … Continue reading Iona Grove – Breathe
Head-Banger Reviews 