As you probably already know, “name your price” means even downloaded for free and Kosmograd delivering their self-titled debut album through their Bandcamp page in these circumstances, so go for it.
Kevin, Phil, Todd, Yegor are from Toronto, Canada and their debut album consist of five epic post-metal tracks, the shortest one is “Cheeseburger Picnic” with it’s shy three minutes while “The Owl” takes you on a eleven minutes trip. Kosmograd combines heavy and sludge metal elements into a spacy, sometimes cinematic, sometimes progressive and psychedelic soundscape, shifting between different moods and grooves smoothly. Imagine Hawkwind playing Iron Maiden or vice versa. Eventually somewhere in the outer space. Read more Kosmograd – Self-titled (2011)
Metal
Eyeswithoutaface – Monotoneoteny (2011)
A self-titled EP from 2010, their debut album, “Monotoneoteny” released this year in May and a remix album, “Tone Debris”, released this month, all three for free, can grab them from the band’s Bandcamp Page. Their music is a sick blending of Nine Inch Nails with sludge metal, some twisted modern psychedelia and criminal, pitched, black metal growling. Pretty rough mixture in deed, but definitively creative and quite original. So, these guys from Toronto have no connection with Billy Idol, but eventually with the 1960s film of Georges Franju, “Les yeux sans visage”. Definitively “must have” category and not only because it’s free, but they are brilliant. Read more Eyeswithoutaface – Monotoneoteny (2011)
Nothing – The New Psychodalia (2011)
Born Jeffrey Lewis Hetrick, infamous for being the vocalist for the alternative/industrial metal band Mushroomhead, but also some other Cleveland-based metal bands such as Purgatory in the mid 80s and later Hatrix, Jeff Hatrix also known as Jeffrey Nothing, is one day away from the official release of his first solo album under the moniker Nothing through Suburban Noize Records. In 2008, Jeffrey announced he will release a solo album titled “The New Psychodahlia” and due to Mushroomheads hectic recording and touring schedule, the album was written over a four year period. The 13 tracks written, shows a quite diverse, colorful collection of songs from alternative to classic metal sounds and from rock to industrial, Nothing throw in his own blender of sounds and styles many different influences and approaches to bring to life his own little monster. “I feel it’s a sort of Sepultura meets Alice in Chains, meets Acid Bath” – said Jeffrey Nothing and with each song listened from the album other and other names are popping up. “Psychodalia” for instance sound like Down, “Burial” is a haunting track where post-grunge and goth rock influences collide while “Deathbed Masquerade” reveals some of their industrial roots. But “Mnemerator” might fits right in onto a Tom Waits or Primus album. And every and each song deliver another taste and surprise. Read more Nothing – The New Psychodalia (2011)
Eyes Front North – EP (2011)
Hard to stick a label to them, the French band Eyes Front North delivered on their debut EP a gloomy and extremely diversified mixture of metal blended through their own filter and blue colored. From classic, Venom taste like black metal to the brutal riffing of thrash/nu grinding Sepultura and from hardcore like raging to contorted match metal and post-rock, these guys took the literal sense of crossover (and back, and through again), they take inspiration from different roots and (sub) genres and it seems that they targeted the elimination of any musical and stylistically boundaries, but staying metal. Future metal? Well, the future sounds dark, cutting and distorted, but definitively worth a trip into it under the guidance of Eyes Front North. Read more Eyes Front North – EP (2011)
Wayne Static – Pighammer (2011)
Might be unbelievable, but there are 12 years since the release of Static-X’s killer debut album “Wisconsin Death Trip”. God! how old I am?! Still, it seems – and feels – like yesterday. Last time, in 2009, Static-X delivered the Ministry versus White Zombie resonating “Cult of Static” and the band seems to keep up with their one album at two years precisely tempo. Meanwhile bass player Tony Campos left Static-X and joined Soulfly replacing Bobby Burns, while guitarist Koichi Fukuda since 2010 became a member of the industrial metal/ambient band Drugstore Fanatics. Wayne said: “It’s doubtful I will do anything with Static-X for the next couple years”, so “Pighammer” is the closest thing to Static-X, and officially the band went on hiatus.
But fans definitively will be satisfied by “Pighammer”, this is another crushing industrial release and Wayne delivered his best. Evil disco? This time, eventually, a facelift for the Devil. 👿 Read more Wayne Static – Pighammer (2011)
Unfold – Cosmogon (2011)
Released on September 27, 2011, “Cosmogon”, on Division Records, the third album by Swiss metal outfit Unfold came after a gap of eight years.
Alain – guitars & keys, Bastien – bass, Danek – vocals, Elie – guitars & keys, Laurent – drums, and Simon – guitars & keys delivered a dark and raw mix of slow grinding crust/doom/sludge like vibes with cutting edge and explosive riffs, hurricane like metal butcheries. Combining classic metal themes and modern sounds, twisted solutions, sometimes scremo like vocals, subtle elector-acoustic passages with post-grunge after taste and merciless grindings, they create their distinctive, own blended metal, and open the gates of an unheard universe.
38 minutes, 6 tracks, Unfold express anger, despair, suffering, and delivered the darkest future-metal. Read more Unfold – Cosmogon (2011)
As We Draw, Euglena, Hexis – 3​-Way Split (2011)
Encouraging free download, releasing classic vinyls and spreading real underground metal and alternatives for the mainstream crap, Throatruiner Records from France seems to be a nowadays Don Quijote of the music industry. One of these days I was thinking about my old record collection, I really miss now the scratches and the warm sound of the vinyls, I miss the big covers and the touch of the paper, I miss the good times they represent at least symbolically. The good times of the music when music was more about music and less about business and industry. I fucking hate the plastic cases, the cellophane coating as I hate the folders on my hard drive and the mp3s. Everything is so plastic and so tasteless.
What I’m saying is that the effort of Throatruiner Records and other-likes worth some respect and recognition. Their new 3-Way split is once again available to listen, free download or buy at their Bandcamp page, but I think both – bands and label – deserves some remuneration. Read more As We Draw, Euglena, Hexis – 3​-Way Split (2011)
Maylene And The Sons of Disaster – IV (2011)
Released in June 2009, the band’s third album called “III” was one of my favorite albums of the year and their tasty southern metal had some unique, fresh breath. The album debuted at #71 on the Billboard 200 and they performed the entrance theme for the former Unified WWE Tag Team Champions Chris Jericho and The Big Show, entitled “Crank the Walls Down”. Also, their song “Step Up (I’m On It)” was the theme for WWE Bragging Rights.
Lead vocalist Dallas Taylor is the last original member of the band left, although he took some time off from touring to deal with some things in his personal life from September 2009 to February 2010 and the band recruited their good friend Schuylar Croom,vocalist for He Is Legend, to fill in for touring and in that period no original members of the band were present onstage.
Formed in Alabama, in 2004, the band name and concept are based on the legend of the criminal gang of Ma Barker and her sons, noting that evil lifestyles will be met with “divine justice”. Maylene And The Sons of Disaster are back. Read more Maylene And The Sons of Disaster – IV (2011)
Mastodon – The Hunter (2011)
Developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, heavy metal, a genre of rock music was declared dead and buried since in each and every decade. Formed in 1999, in Atlanta, Georgia, Mastodon with roots back in blues rock and psychedelic rock, with raw sludge riffs and powerful post-grunge flavors, delivering complex, multi-layered songs, but also memorable and cutting riffs, merging progressive elements with pure rock energy, prove once again that the heavy metal in its purest essence remains strong and fresh, capable of reinventing itself. Mastodon managed to sound classy and traditional being modern and creative, looking further.
Moved to Atlanta from Victor, New York, drummer Brann Dailor and guitarist Bill Kelliher teamed up with bassist/singer Troy Sanders and guitarist/singer Brent Hinds and formed the band in late 1999. They recorded their first demo in 2000, which featured the band’s first lead singer, Eric Saner on vocals, but he left the band for personal reasons after just a couple of months and Troy Sanders take over most of the vocal duties. Read more Mastodon – The Hunter (2011)
Wednesday 13 – Calling All Corpses (2011)
“I Wanna Be… Cremated”. Sounds familiar? Well, if you’re into punk rock and The Ramones means something for you, it should.
Joseph Poole, better known as Wednesday 13 and mainly famous for his role as the frontman of the Murderdolls, are delivering his new solo material and it sounds exactly as the perfect blending of The Ramones and Alice Cooper. Horror punk? Eventually a twist of Misfits is mandatory and always part of the formula, but don’t take those horror things too seriously, this is dirty, good-old rock and roll and even the fake blood was replaced with humor. Just like “sedated” with “cremated”. 😀 Anyway, at the end we all gonna die, don’t really matter if we were good little boys and girls and avoided downloading this or that, isn’t it? Don’t looking for trouble: mp3 to mp3 and dust to dust! 😆 Read more Wednesday 13 – Calling All Corpses (2011)
