I had a hell of a time getting to sleep last night. I just say The Dillinger Escape Plan for the first time. Holy hell, what a show?! I wasn't even in the pit and my body is sore. I just kept hearing the echo of awkward guitar chords played at time-signature-optional intervals. I'm still not the craziest of fans, but I'd see them any time. Anyway, new metal! Now…
Gaytheist – Hold Me…But Not So Tight
Genre: Pop infused hardcore or something else that's batshit insane
Origin: Portland, Oregon
Label: Good To Die
Buy now on Amazon.com
Welp, never heard anything like these guys before. Hold Me is a short, crazy ride from start to finish. The bands that come to mind when I hear them are Foxy Shazam, Mars Volta and Fall of Troy. Admittedly, the band certainly has more of a punk lean than a metal one, but this is so different and interesting, I had to share. Plus, I don’t care who you are; you want to hear a band called “Gaytheist.”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcq0xAN6D0g[/youtube]
Orchid – The Mouths of Madness
Genre: Doom Metal
Origin: San Francisco, California
Label: Nuclear Blast
Buy now on Amazon.com
Another Weekly Injection, another stoner/doom band. Orchid, however might be the most blatant Black Sabbath ripoff influenced band I’ve ever covered, or ever heard for that matter. So much so, that when “Silent One” started, I honestly thought they were playing trying to play “Lord of This World” and “Into The Void” at the same time. This does not take away from my enjoyment of the album. It is a great listening experience.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQqnt67ai0g[/youtube]
A Pale Horse Named Death – Lay My Soul To Waste
Genre: Doom/Gothic
Origin: New York, New York
Label: SPV
Buy now on Amazon.com
Having the name Sal Abruscato attached to this band is drawing a lot of Type O Negative comparisons. I can imagine Peter Steele singing on about half of this album, but Sal doing so fits better for the other half, and he actually fits surprisingly well for the more Type O songs too. It has that dark gothic sound, but it also has an Alice In Chains vibe. Regardless of what it sounds like, it’s a cool record and it manages to get stuck in my head. This album was a pleasant surprise. Check out our full review here.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2V-Le8N7UU[/youtube]
U.D.O. – Steelhammer
Genre: Heavy Metal
Origin: Wuppertal, Germany
Label: AFM
Buy now on Amazon.com
Steelhammer is a collection of headbanging, fist-in-the-air songs. These songs are pure heavy metal, so much so they are songs about heavy metal. There are a couple, “what the fuck?” moments thrown in though, like the Meatloaf-esque “Heavy Rain,” and “ Basta Ya” which is in Spanish. These German fellows prove themselves to be trilingual. Udo Dirkschneider once again that he doesn’t need to be ACCEPTed to rock. See what I did there?
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sMIQToKF8I[/youtube]
Zed – Desperation Blues
Genre: Blues Metal
Origin: San Francisco, California
Label: i:and:i
Zed is a band that plays pretty straightforward blues based metal. Imagine if Mikey from Priestess sang for Clutch. It has some classic rock swagger, but still very modern. This was another surprisingly enjoyable record.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6tpkvFEQ-k[/youtube]
Also out today:
Acherontas – Amenti (World Terror Committee)
Airbourne – Black Dog Barking (Roadrunner)
Burning Rain – Epic Obsession (Frontiers)
Circle – Six Day Run (Ektro)
Decaying – The Last Days Of War (Hellthrasher)
Death Of An Era – The Great Commonwealth EP (Artery)
Erlen Meyer – Erlen Meyer (Shelsmusic)
Extrema – The Seed Of Foolishness (Scarlet)
Fact – Burundanga (Good Fight)
For The Broken – Aurora (Imminence)
Hebosagil – Lähtö (Ektro)
Masteroid – MMXIII (Inverse)
NK – Nothing To Be Gained Here (Triple Crown)
Palisades – Outcasts (Rise)
The Poodles – Tour De Force (Frontiers)
PTSD – A Sense Of Decay (My Kingdom)
Ruindom – In The Eyes Of Death (Inverse)
Saffire – From Ashes To Fire (Inner Wound)
Satan – Life Sentence (Listenable)
Svart Crown – Profane (Listenable)
Timo Tolkki's Avalon – The Land Of New Hope (Frontiers)
