From Canada, this band bring to the surface the perfect balance between raw hardcore and groove metal, merged into one the energy and the strength of the classic Pantera sound and some of the now days schemes of metalcore and a nice twist of southern rock delivering powerful and brutal, but still catchy and sometimes quite melodious metal anthems perfectly suitable for an extreme moshing down in the club. Songs like “Romanticize the Struggle” (over 8 minutes) are disturbing mixture of Pantera/Down like elements with a nice addition of modern, metalcore-like elements will give you a pretty good teaser of what’s Exes For Eyes essence. Most of their songs (“Feel Again”, “Stop Thinking Start Feelin'”, etc) are almost classic groove/southern metal anthems, Pantera fans are mainly targeted and for sure will be absolutely delighted, Exes For Eyes brings southern riffs back to metal as only Pantera managed before, but still, Exes For Eyes sounds quite as Exes For Eyes and their almost old-school metal comes quite refreshing while lately most of the bands struggling only to copy the now days trendy so-called metalcore cliches and recycling the same patterns. Read more Exes For Eyes – The Amsler Grid (2011)
Metal
Given The Day – In Search Of Eden (2011)
Powerful, cutting, groovy – Pantera-like – riffs, grinding tempos and exciting breaks, melodious passages are merged together in the work of these two guys from San Diego, California, and currently they are looking for new band mates playing drums, guitar, bass and keyboards. Garett Chambers – vocals and Mike Burrows comes in the footsteps of bands such as We Came As Romans, Sleeping With Sirens, Emarosa, Attack Attack! All That Remains, August Burns Red, Of Machines, Saosin, Lower Definition, etc and “In Search Of Eden” is a colorful, flowing metalcore album up to date, Garett brings raw vocals, but shift to clean singing while Mike delivering very good riffs and some nice guitar solos. These 11 songs are absolutely ok and promising, my only problem with this “genre” is that everything is quite predictable, too many bands/artist are playing the same kind of patterns, it might be trendy, but it’s full of cliches. Still, I think Given The Day have a good start, I really enjoyed Mike’s riffing and generally his guitar work, Garett have a strong, powerful voice and if they will manage to find their own path, detach them self from the trends, Given The Day have quite potential. Read more Given The Day – In Search Of Eden (2011)
Crossfade – We All Bleed (2011)
Flowing directly from the boiling veins of Korn, Crossfade reaching to their third album and “We All Bleed” is a dark, intense trip, Ed Sloan and his band mates managed to put together a gloomy, but beautiful, dark, but intense material, proving that their more than just some trend followers, they have their own touch and style, and managed to writing a couple of intense and exciting songs. Actually, “We All Bleed” are over 48 minutes of tumultuous flow, kind of trip to Hell and back, but showing us sometimes sparkling from Heaven, breaking cracks to leave the light comes trough.
I think Columbia Records in 2008 were – as usually – impatient when they kick them out, “We All Bleed” is an excellent work and Eleven Seven Music (also current home for Drowning Pool, Papa Roach, She Wants Revenge, Mötley Crüe, Lit, Vince Neil, Blondie, etc) were inspired to sign them. Read more Crossfade – We All Bleed (2011)
Stardown – Venom (2011)
Merging the rawness and intensity of Pantera with the gloomy and twisted moments of Korn while Ardentis sung on a scale from howling brutality up till clean vocals which sometimes reminds me of Burton C. Bell (Fear Factory) often then of Jonathan Davis (Korn), Stardown includes leaders of Russian metal scene from Amatory and Korea and delivering an extremely intense and powerful modern metal album.
Following “Insi Deus” which was produced & mixed in Denmark by famous sound engineer Jacob Hansen (Maroon, Raunchy, Volbeat), “Venom” was mixed by the same Jacob Hansen while all the drum tracks were recorded in Australia by the drummer Richard Evensand (ex-Chimaira), also featuring guest star Alex Pavlov from Amatory and leader of the band Ardentis. Read more Stardown – Venom (2011)
Earth Crisis – Neutralize the Threat (2011)
Karl Buechner keeps the wheels of Earth Crisis running since 1989 – with a gap between 2001-2007 while he focused on his project called Nemesis and later renamed Freya -, using music as weapon to promoting a straight edge and vegan lifestyle, debating further social and political issues and supporting animal rights. Taking off from hardcore punk, Earth Crisis evolved into a metal machinery, getting to their sixth studio album, their mixture of metalcore and hardcore is heavier then ever, established a bridge between metal, hardcore and punk communities.
Earth Crisis’s message of human, animal and environmental liberation has resonated beyond the music industry, they have received national media coverage on CNN (Earth Matters), TBS, FOX (America’s Most Wanted), CBS (48 Hours), MTV (Music News) and ABC (World News Tonight) and Karl Buechner has spoken in front of members of Congress about teens and substance abuse. Read more Earth Crisis – Neutralize the Threat (2011)
Nervecell – Psychogenocide (2011)
For those who cries back the most brutal era of Sepultura (Morbid Visions, Beneath the Remains, Arise), Nervecell from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, brings back all that merciless butchery with crushing, clean and powerful sound, “Psychogenocide”, their second full-length album released through Lifeforce Records in Europe and Spellbind Records in the Middle East, might be the new favorite. And Nervecell managed to merge with style all that classic thrash and death schemes with technical, brutal and still colorful, modern metal sounds also introducing Pantera like riffings, short acoustic or exotic, Oriental spiced moments, Slayer like schizophrenic solos, in few words, they put together a killer metal machine which definitively will rip off your head instantly.
Also, conservative fans dissapointed by the latest Morbid Angel album, “Illud Divinum Insanus”, might discover in Nervecell a new favorite, these guys combining extremely inspired and intensely tradition and modern sound into pure, uncompromising massacre. Read more Nervecell – Psychogenocide (2011)
FuryKane – Fake (2011)
If “Bel Air”, the latest Guano Apes was quite disappointing, JKaos and her band mates can make it up to you. “Fake” the brand new album by FuryKane, band formed in 2006 at Paris, France delivering a fresh blending of nu and groove metal flavored with modern sound approach, exciting industrial textures and minimalist electronic spices, but remaining rock/metal, constructing gloomy, but catchy songs with dark and heavy riffs, bass based rock themes.
Released on 28 March 2011, the 14 tracks of “Fake” is the perfect blending of Korn and the best, most exciting moments of Guano Apes, and this is a quite promising debut album after they releasing previousely two EPs. Read more FuryKane – Fake (2011)
Destruction Of A King – Consumed (2011)
Alex – vocals, Diego – guitar and Justin – bass comes from Los Angeles, CA, said about them self that they are the “dirtiest band alive” and they delivering grinding, up-beat hardcore sometimes mixed up with thrash and groove metal and imputing few experimental moments, breaks, they have the energy and cutting edge riffing of Pantera and the rawness of Biohazard. The 12 tracks “Consumed” seems to be their second full-length album after releasing their self-titled debut and two EPs, “World Of Disease†and “Anthemsâ€.
They play explosive, fast and raw metal with roots both back to hardcore and metal, but looking forward into the now days so-called metalcore. Read more Destruction Of A King – Consumed (2011)
The Rodeo Idiot Engine – Fools Will Crush The Crown (2011)
Extreme metal, pretty psychotic, chaotic grindings and technical, contorted moments follows like a hurricane and tiring everything apart.
The team from Throatruiner Records continue to bring up to the surface extreme and experimental metal bands, maintain their fan-friendly approach, once again, you can download this material even for free (“give us what you want, even 0!”) from their Bandcamp page.
Jerom – vocals, Allian and Txomin – guitars, Thomas – bass and Mikel – drums reveals a chaotic and insane world, their furious hardcore collide with loud and emotional metalcore and the result, as the bend defined it, it’s “blackened mathcore”, kind of sick and full of energy extreme, modern metal with roots back both to hardcore and black/death metal and the outfit of now days mathcore, emocore. It’s not an easy piece to swallow, but fans of brutal massacres and intense, energy full metal will spit their longs out bloody screaming on it. Read more The Rodeo Idiot Engine – Fools Will Crush The Crown (2011)
Channel Zero – Feed Em With A Brick (2011)
Often referred to them as “the Belgian Metallica”, “Feed Em With A Brick”, the band’s fifth studio album comes after “Black Fuel” released 14 years ago, engineered and produced by Attie Bauw, a Dutch producer who worked previously with Fight (Rob Halford). Channel Zero split in August 1997.
Singer Franky De Smet Van Damme, drummer Phil Baheux and bassist Tino De Martino are back with full force while original guitarist Xavier Carion due to a traumatized ear will be replaced by Mikey Doling (ex-Soulfly). And “Feed Em With A Brick” is another classy, powerful and groovy metal album, fans will be delighted. Read more Channel Zero – Feed Em With A Brick (2011)
