Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Dead Congregation
Track: Source of Fire
Artist: Dead Congregation
Album: Grave of the Archangels
Genre: Death metal
Similar Artists: Incantation, Grave Miasma
Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?ymjwjmtnnx1
One of the bands I'm really anticipating at mdf....
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Sortilegia
Track: White Bones, Black Blood
Artist: Sortilegia
Album: Pestilent Black Sorcery
Genre: Raw black metal
Similar Artists: Sylvus, Nidhoggr
Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?1edx68utjuj3a0v
A local raw black metal band from Toronto featuring members of Sylvus and Thantifaxath. They'll be having their first show tomorrow night! Their first demo 'Pestilent Black Sorcery' will be released soon.
Ash Borer
Track: In the Midst of Life, We Are In Death
Artist: Ash Borer
Album: Self-titled
Genre: Atmospheric black metal
Similar Artists: Skagos, Panopticon
Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?du851x4tap7fkzx
One of those bands I should have listened to way sooner.....really impressed with all this Cascadian black metal.
Nehëmah
Track: Misty Swamps
Artist: Nehëmah
Album: Light of a Dead Star
Genre: Black Metal
Similar Artists: Glorior Belli, Merrimack
Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?n2mommqamni
Gotta love French bm.
Monumental Torment
Track: Element of Chaos
Artist: Monumental Torment
Album: Element of Chaos
Genre: Technical Death Metal
Similar Artists: Hedonistic Exility, Decapitated, Brain Drill. . .
Imagine if Brain Drill could write a song. Not only play quickly, but actually structure a song. That is Monumental Torment in a nutshell. Element of Chaos is my favourite technical death metal album so far this year. Although I'm uncertain as to whether it really appeals to fans outside of the genre, the Decapitated influences and the breakneck musicianship keep me--one not so big on tech. death--interested. Short answer: it's fast, then it speeds up. A solid recommendation for fans of quicker-paced technical metal. The piano interludes are neat too.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Lifelover
Track: Expandera
Artist: Lifelover
Album: Sjukdom
Genre: dsbm
Similar Artists: Shining, Woods of Infinity, Hypothermia
Not bothering to properly check out Lifelover until recently, it turns out I'm more familiar with this record that any of their others except the debut. Sjukdom features a few of my favourite black metal tracks this year, which I find odd because this isn't the most consistent of albums. Save a few songs (the closing track especially), I find the first half of the album to be a lot stronger than the last, and for one simple reason: the addition of a sizable offering of low vocals. Needless to say, I don't like them, and find them completely out of place for a band I otherwise extremely enjoy. That being said, they do occasionally find their place, and this is by no means a bad album. On the contrary, standout tracks such as Horans Hora, and the first four tracks (the sample one here being one of them) have seen considerable play time on my stereo. I enjoy the unsettling vocals fans of the genre expect, the piano accompaniment, and especially the guitar-work, being very reminiscent of the rock 'n' roll aspects of Shining, and the new Forgotten Tomb record.
All in all, while not being the solid album one would expect after their critically acclaimed Konkurs (which I really haven't listened to enough to speak to), Lifelover's 2011 offering presents the black metal scene with a couple of stellar tracks, which I'm sure will become classics among their discography. That is, if I'm allowed to use the word "classic" in reference to a tongue-in-cheek band like Lifelover.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Cattle Decapitation
Track: The Ripe Beneath the Rind
Artist: Cattle Decapitation
Album: The Harvest Floor
Genre: Deathgrind
Similar Artists: Cephalic Carnage, Circle of Dead Children, Cannibal Corpse
Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?njymmi3ojog
Cattle Decapitation were always one of those bands I had on my iTunes but never listened to. That changed recently when I was feeling in a death-grindy mood while scrolling over the letter "c". The Harvest Floor is a fantastic album, and I honestly have no idea what kept me from coming back to this album. It being the most recent work from the Cattle Decapitation discography, it features a degree of variance and experimentation that only comes with years of active participation in the grindcore/deathmetal scene. Experimentation might be the wrong word to use. What I'm trying to draw attention to is that the tracks on this record range from standard radio-length to longer, they all sound different, and even the individual parts of each song are constantly bringing new elements to the foreground. This is not a cookie-cutter grindcore or death metal album.
I urge you to check out the instrumental title track. It's surprisingly beautiful and eerie. Completely different from the rest of the album: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y6Aj0hFnN4
-oh yeah, and they're all vegetarians, but that's kind of apparent
Skrillex
Track: Kill Everybody
Artist: Skrillex
Album: Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites EP
Genre: Dubstep/Electronic
Similar Artists: Feed Me, Deadmau5
http://www.mediafire.com/?ywg0yiy5zym (Lady Gaga remix. . .)
I'm not quite sure what dubstep is, or if I really like it even. From what I've heard (and admittedly it hasn't been much) it all seems pretty generic and fails to keep my attention, even though I harbor a secret passion for next level beats. Case and point: Deadmau5 and most of Justice. I like the couple songs and remixes put out under Skrillex precisely because they keep my attention. More samples than a cyber-grind album, big beats, time signatures reminiscent of the Breakcore I've enjoyed, and hooks catchier than typhoid. I don't care if he used to be in From First To Last; I don't even know what they sound like.
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