Today Is The Day was founded by Steve Austin and Brad Elrod in Nashville, Tennessee in 1992. Nominated as “Experimental-terror-metal noise heroes”, Today Is The Day incorporated from Alternative Rock elements to Grindcore, and from Garage Rock to Industrial noises all type of sounds and structures, genres and approaches. Contorted, still fluent, noisy, but also quite harmonious and musical, Today Is The Day are a perfect killing machine.
After a four-year wait since their previous release, “Axis of Eden”, band’s founder, lead guitarist/vocalist and producer, Steve Austin teamed up with Wetnurse‘s Curran Reynolds (drums) and Ryan Jones (bass) for this ninth studio release of the band. Read more Today Is The Day – Pain Is A Warning (2011)
experimental
Mr. Bungle – Mr. Bungle (1991)
As one of the (never resting and) “brilliant” journalist stated: they were the “most ridiculously terrible piece of festering offal ever scraped off the floor of a slaughterhouse”. 😀
1991 was a very good year, quoting a famous song title. Yesterday I mentioned Metallica’s “black album”, today’s Mr. Bungle’s turn and their self-titled debut album for Warner Bros after previously they released four cult demos.
In 1989 Mike Patton became the lead vocalist for San Francisco’s Faith No More replacing Chuck Mosley, getting the job after guitarist Jim Martin heard him on a Mr. Bungle demo. Patton in only two weeks, had written all the lyrics for the songs that would make up the Grammy award-nominated “The Real Thing” released in 1989. Mr. Bungle was formed in 1985 and Patton continued to be a member of both bands simultaneously and the band established a following in Northern California, but mainly the success of Faith No More secured them a record deal with Warner Bros. And between “The Real Thing” and “Angel Dust” it was “Mr. Bungle” – released 20 years ago, on 13 August. Read more Mr. Bungle – Mr. Bungle (1991)
Chimaira – The Age Of Hell (2011)
The sixth installment from Chimaria will be released on August 16th, 2011 and the 12 new songs delivered by Mark Hunter and his band mates are the same dark, contorted and quality (modern) Metal as always. Melting into one Nu and Groove Metal elements and dark, contorted textures, Chimaira remains one of the leading acts of the New Wave of American Heavy Metal scene.
It’s been three years since “The Infection”, the band signed to eOne Music in January 2011 and finished recording their 6th album in March 2011. Long time keyboard player, Chris Spicuzza announced he would be leaving the band, he did not contribute to the new album and his replacement is Sean Zatorsky from metal band Dååth. Also drummer Andols Herrick and bass player Jim Lamarca announced that they leave the band due to differences, Andols Herrick was replaced by Austin D’Amond and Emil Werstler switch back from rhythm guitar to bass.
On track “Born in Blood” featuring Phil Bozeman of Whitechapel and on “Samsara” featuring Emil Werstler of Dååth. Read more Chimaira – The Age Of Hell (2011)
Wistful – Wistful (2011)
I saw the cover and I find it interesting. In this era with trillion releases at day, judging a record by its cover sometimes might help to narrow down the list of what worth a try and what seems to be just waste of time. Blackgaze? For those who love (to collect) boxes, labels, this seems to be a new one. Not so hard to figure out, merging Black Metal with Shoegaze and here we go!
From the sunny Portugal, Wistful is a dark, one-man project grow up from “the hands and mind of A.” as “a second incarnation, or as an evolution of his former project Arges, breaking farther away from typical black metal.”
Born in late April 2010, the self-titled debut album came alive this year and we’ve got 7 gloomy, atmospheric tracks where Black Metal rawness and beautiful, spacy and hazy passages and themes are completing and overlapping each other. Read more Wistful – Wistful (2011)
GWEX – Debaucherous Adventure (2011)
Reminds me of Frank Zappa and Mr. Bungle, but also of Green Jelly and eatmewhileimhot!, The Global Warming Extravaganza comes between parody and insanity, chaos and music, and as always, it’s quite impossible to draw the line between genius and madness. Mark A. Shredmurder and Christopher T. (“The T is for Teriffic”) Bottomsworth supposed to form a band back in 2007, but the other guys didn’t showed up, so… they had to struggle through all the Budweiser and Jack Daniels bought for the party and the result is this monster-brain-child abbreviated GWEX.
And as any good thing in life, “Debaucherous Adventure” can be downloaded for free (“name your price” = donate much as you want/can) from their Bandcamp page.
Be prepared for anything – good and bad – you can think on/of because there will be more. Welcome to the “mEatrix”. This is fuckin’ unbelievable. But brilliant. 😀 Read more GWEX – Debaucherous Adventure (2011)
The Amenta – V01D (2011)
Although it contains 16 tracks, the band consider it an EP and it’s available only in digital format as free download at the band’s official web site. And you can grab also some videos as well – 4 tracks live from Sydney and the video of “Vermin”, a film clip, never released before. , Over their career their musical style has shifted from blackened death metal to industrialized extreme/death metal.
“Vo1d”, with guest appearances by “Occasus†era vocalist Mark “Cesium 137†Bevan and former bass player Dale Harrison and incorporating a new song, re-records, an Armored Angel cover, electronic experiments, remixes professional video and mastered by Alan Douches (Hate Eternal, The Dillinger Escape Plan), “V01D†is The Amenta’s response to download culture. Read more The Amenta – V01D (2011)
Combat Astronomy – Flak Planet (2011)
I stumbled into Combat Astronomy last year on their Bandcam page. It worth to check out their page, there you can get all their previous releases, some of them are still for free (and donation based) as their latest EP “Barricades” released in July 2011.
Mastermind, composer – and project manager 😀 – James Huggett explore the interference area of post-rock, doom and industrial with the outbursts of free jazz and avant-garde music. Space rock elements and dirty stoner rock riffs are melting down in the contorted noises and explosive outbreaks of horns. Freaky and heavy, cutting and exciting, in a fair world Combat Astronomy should be far better known as they are. But this isn’t a fair world, Britney Spears and Take That are famous and popular and I can’t blame them, not even the industry, the subordinated media, but I blame ourselves, the undefined, comfortable, predictable, lazy, fat and careless consumer. Nobody would be able to sell us shit if we wouldn’t bought it. Read more Combat Astronomy – Flak Planet (2011)
Starscream – Future, Towards the Edge of Forever (2011)
8-bit fans and lovers will really enjoy this one. Damon Hardjowirogo and George Stroud – the two core members of this project founded back in 2007 – are delivering an exciting mixture of 8-bit electronic textures and live drums. After several EPs and featuring on compilations, “Future, Towards the Edge of Forever” is their debut full-length album of 8 steps walk into the future space of inner search. New York never sounds so out of space before.
Starscream is about vibes, grooves and feelings flowing through machines. The murderous 8-bit sound and the powerful live drums merging into one is quite innovating and gives kind of forth dimension to this music. Read more Starscream – Future, Towards the Edge of Forever (2011)
Krakatau – Krakatau (2011)
If you’re familiar – and in love – with tumultuous, turbulent musical project such as Fantômas, Tomahawk, Moonchild Trio and Mr. Bungle, generally speaking, if you like the mainly twisted and contorted avant-garde experiments of Mr. Mike Patton, Krakatau might just fit your taste and extremely important: this self-titled full-length debut album is available for FREE DOWNLOAD at the band’s official web site.
This is metal only if you’re not committed to Iron Maiden or Metallica, don’t think that “progressive metal” means exclusively Dream Theater. Say (vocals/guitar), Muz! (bass/vocals), Max (lead guitar) and Mark (drums) expands the horizons and sometimes construct music by demolition. Sometimes hypnotic, other times quite schizophrenic, Krakatau is actually an explosive music volcano, this might not be a safe trip, but eventually an exciting one.
Read more Krakatau – Krakatau (2011)
The Book Of Knots – Garden Of Fainting Stars (2011)
Tony Maimone of Pere Ubu, They Might Be Giants, Bob Mould, Frank Black, Lucinda Williams, etc, Carla Kihlstedt of Tin Hat Trio, Tom Waits, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, 2 Foot Yard, and many many more, producer/engineer/guitarist Joel Hamilton (Elvis Costello,unsane,Frank Black,sparklehorse,Shiner, Players Club, etc) and Matthias Bossi of Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Skeleton Key, Vic Thrill, etc) are the core members of this project.
Collaborators are including Tom Waits, Mike Patton, David Thomas, Blixa Bargeld, Jon Langford, Carla Bozulich, Norman Westberg(Swans), Dave Curren (Unsane), Megan Reilly, Cat Oberg, Zeena Parkins, etc. Already quite impressive, isn’t it?
And the result – the music – is similarly colourful, gloomy, shape-shifting, flowing and floating “something”. Something charming, hypnotizing or sweet like poison. Read more The Book Of Knots – Garden Of Fainting Stars (2011)
