THE WEEKLY INJECTION: New Releases From ELECTRIC WIZARD, MESHUGGAH, WITCH MOUNTAIN and More Out Today – 9/30

As I teased last week, this week'd WEEKLY INJECTION is packed. It features THREE prog bands dropping live releases, English fuzz, Portland doom, Norwegian black metal, and much more! To the metals…

1349 – Massive Cauldron of Chaos 

Genre: Black Metal
Origin: Oslo, Norway
Label: Season of Mist

Buy now on amazon.com

I've read this name a lot, but never followed through on checking out this awesome band. I'm not sure what older material is like, but this one has a great blend of thrash, black metal and some Mercyful Fate heavy metal. I also appreciate them embracing modern recording technology over the fake lo-fi thing that's so prevalent in this genre.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajvLJPzgL_o[/youtube]

 

Between the Buried and Me – Future Sequence: Live at the Fidelitorium 

Genre: Progressive metal
Origin: North Carolina
Label: Metal Blade

Buy now on amazon.com

If it's BTBAM, I'm already in. And I've seen the band like a ton of times, so the live part never gets old either. This is the band playing live up close and personal. No audience, no stage, BUT There's a tuba! Full review on Injection soon (or now?).

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxGC5WpUbHQ[/youtube]

 

Black Crown Initiate – The Wreckage of Stars 

Genre: Melodic death metal
Origin: Reading, Pennsylvania
Label: eOne

Buy now on amazon.com

This band is a pretty interesting blend of all sorts of metal. Progressive, grim, death metal, melodic, and all around pretty solid. Also, as a bearded man, I've got to give the nod of approval to the three bearded lads of this band.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qv2k7YyWeL0[/youtube]

 

Dream Theater – Breaking the Fourth Wall 

Genre: Progressive metal
Origin: Long Island, New York
Label: Roadrunner

Buy now on amazon.com

While I'll admit that this seems to be an entirely different set than their last live release, the last one still just came out in November. Lots of stuff form the recent self-titled album, so this is a great one to pick of for DT collectors. It does features guests from the Berklee College of Music with them, which is pretty rad since most of the band went there. This is almost like a recital for the band.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9_tFbFWzqc[/youtube]

 

Electric Wizard – Time To Die 

Genre: Stoner/Doom
Origin: Bournemouth, England
Label: Spinefarm

Buy now on amazon.com

Oh my god. I didn't think the band could get any fuzzier than their last album, but this is probably the fuzziest thing I've ever heard.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foaShpNqrIA[/youtube]

 

Evergrey – Hymns For the Broken 

Genre: Progressive power metal
Origin: Gothenburg, Sweden
Label: AFM

Buy now on amazon.com

Tom Englund has welcomed back a few guys from the band's early days, and regained some of the magic that was lacking on the last record. THIS sounds like my favorite power metal band, and it's great to hear them again. Epic, awesome, and a bit silly, just like Evergrey should be.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pmmh69G-pt0[/youtube]

 

Flying Colors – Second Nature 

Genre: Progressive
Origin: Various places around the US
Label: Mascot

Buy now on amazon.com

This gang of prog legends has returned with their second album of progressive dad rock. I don't mean that as an insult by the way. This is a group of older guys paying homage to music they came up listening to, but with a touch of maturity their influences may have lacked in the first place. The band features Mike Portnoy, Steve and Neal Morse, Casey McPherson and Dave LaRue. Not a bad batch of dad rockers.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdnKddL9giw[/youtube]

 

Meshuggah – The Ophidian Trek 

Genre: Progressive metal
Origin: Umea, Sweden
Label: Nuclear Blast

Buy now on amazon.com

The godfathers of djent have been around for a minute now, and this is the document of their latest career-spanning tour. This is all the songs that will make you dance like this but live. Hypnotic and crushing as always.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uq2HNLTxaZc[/youtube]

 

Puig Destroyer – Puig Destroyer 

Genre: Grindcore
Origin: California/Nevada
Label: No Sleep

Buy now on amazon.com

Baseball and grindcore have always been living separate but parallel existences, and finally the two came together with Puig Destroyer. This is now the band's third release of references I don't understand to an activity I don't follow, but fans of baseball will probably love this, as will those that think grindcore is pretty neat too.

Hear a bit here.

 

Witch Mountain – Mobile of Angels 

Genre: Doom
Origin: Portland, Oregon
Label: Profound Lore

Buy now on amazon.com

God, I love me some Witch Mountain. A vintage female voice on top of modern doom stylings just does it for me. Their last record Cauldron of the Wild was a splendid doomy ride, and this one is just as awesome.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Gy0wRqtUgk[/youtube]

 

Zodiac – Sonic Child 

Genre: Stoner/Blues rock
Origin: Munster, Germany
Label: Prosthetic

Buy now on amazon.com

Southern rock and German stoner rock come together with Zodiac. I'm usually don't down with twang in my music, but this band adds something else that takes is quite listenable. I'm going to figure it's because they're German.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Zf3qYnqfHI[/youtube]

 

Also dropping today…

Amplifier – Mystoria (Superball)
Ancestral Legacy – Terminal (Whispering Voice)
Black Autumn – Losing the Sun (Rain Without End)
Corova – Rise of the Taurus (Bastardized)
Davey Suicide – Worldwide Suicide (Standby)
Decapitated – Blood Mantra (Nuclear Blast)
Die Choking – II (The Compound)
Dire Peril – Queen Of The Galaxy EP (Dead Inside)
Emil Bulls – Sacrifice To Venus (AFM)
Enchant – The Great Divide (Inside Out)
Excel – Split Image (Southern Lord)
Finch – Black To Oblivion (Razor & Tie)
Internal Bleeding – Imperium (Unique Leader)
J.B.O. – Nur die Besten Werden Alt (AFM)
Jon Lord, Deep Purple & Friends – Celebrating Jon Lord (Eagle Rock)
Katatonia – Last Fair Day Gone Night CD/DVD (Peaceville)
Khold – Til Endes (Peaceville)
Kissin' Dynamite – Megalomania (AFM)
Laika – Somnia (Filth Regime)
Marmozets – The Weird and Wonderful Marmozets (Roadrunner)
Meshuggah – I Re-Release (Nuclear Blast)
Mike LePond's Silent Assassins – Mike LePond's Silent Assassins (UDR)
Mr. Big – …The Stories We Could Tell (Frontiers)
Necroholocaust – Holocaustic Goat Metal (Iron Bonehead)
Nightbringer – Ego Dominus Tuus (Season of Mist)
Nonpoint – The Return (Razor & Tie)
Overcharge – Accelerate (Unspeakable Axe)
Phobocosm – Deprived (Dark Descent)
Sempiternal Dusk – Sempiternal Dusk (Dark Descent)
Sick of It All – The Last Act of Defiance (Century Media)
Soulbender – Soulbender II (Rat Pak)
Steve Rothery Band – Live in Rome (Inside Out)
Temple of Void – Of Terror and the Supernatural (Rain Without End)
Thank You Scientist – Maps of Non-Existent Places (Evil Ink)
Threshold – For The Journey (Nuclear Blast)
Torch Runner – Endless Nothing (Southern Lord)
Unwilling Flesh – Between the Living and the Dead (Eihwaz)
White Empress – Rise of the Empress (Peaceville)
Woodtemple – Forgotten Pride (Sacrilege)