I have written about this Italian band long-long time ago, true in a different language, can find that article here. Their brand new – and third – album it’s the same brilliant and hilarious. Putting metal and gay in the same sentence would be blasphemy and an unforgettable sin some years ago, but since Rob Halford publicly came out as gay in 1998, things are changed… We’ve got gay metal ever since! 😆
How much true gay flavor or how much deep irony it is in Nanowar, it’s impossible to see clearly from this distance, but actually it doesn’t really matter while the outcome it’s so brilliant.
Formed in 2003, called simply Nanowar at first, the band added “of Steel” to their name to parody fellow Italian band Rhapsody’s name change to Rhapsody of Fire. So, here we go, their third album recall the classic 1975’s Queen album title, “A Night at the Opera” and it’s called in the Manowar’s heroic-epic manner “A Knight at the Opera”. Released on 23 February 2014 , and the album features some old tracks re-recorded and some new ones. It is sold as a CD + DVD, including Nanowar’s live performance at the True As Steel festival in Buelach, Switzerland, October 2007. Read more Nanowar of Steel – A Knight at the Opera (2014)
It is the third album by instrumental progressive (metal) group Animals as Leaders, introducing new drummer Matt Garstka along guitarists Tosin Abasi and Javier Reyes. Three years after “Weightless” the band sound fresh and feels explosive. Wicked riffs, complex rhythmic structures and build-up, nice harmonic breakdowns and surprising turns are all part of their arsenal. Although I like jazz and instrumental jazz albums, I generally don’t like instrumental rock albums. Animals As Leaders have the creativity and intensity to capture my attention and it’s always a pleasure to take the ride through their albums. Song by song they build-up vivid, unexpected spaces and the mixture of sounds and styles their perform it’s outside the box, above genres. Between the subtle shades of “Air Chrysalis” and the heavy tones of “Tooth And Claw”, Animals As Leaders mix and merge 
While the post-dubstep mainstream EDM scene is populated exclusively by plastic dolls, posers and annoyingly boring “copies of imitations”, it’s quite refreshing to listen to something powerful, modern, but still attached to the classic values and to the classic sense of the values such as “We Love You”, the 7th and probably the deadliest album by Andy LaPlegua, the one man army and the master mind behind the Combichrist machinery. Although the Ministry parallels are still there, Combichrist it’s definitively one of the best and most intense EDM bands from the scene and their Aggrotech aggression it’s always meaningful and genuine each time.
In a world of predictability, of products and fakes, art became a sub-product and a merchandise. It’s more important to lock-up on a large target and sell your stuff, then do something special. Tits are more important then talent and well, ass-kissing it’s more productive then any original idea. I only and always can quote Jello Biafra and his bitter-prophetic 
This is how probably The Jimi Hendrix Experience would sound if they would be still around.
While we all know Skrillex, envy Skrillex, love Skrillex, hate Skrillex or get bored of Skrillex, it’s kind of unexpected and surprising that “Recess” actually it’s his debut album as solo artist. Never would figure that. Well, true, I’m not a fan of the trend settler and trend butcherer producer. Now I honestly do not understand what’s the use, the purpose of releasing a dubstep/EDM album thesedays. We’re living the age of singles, nobody’s buying dance albums anymore and most of the people are buying tracks, mp3s to listen them from their phones while they are traveling on the bus or the subway and the music is meant to be to cut off the outside and any sort of man to man communication, and cover the white noise of the surroundings. If you’re not playing jazz, eventually rock of some sort of avant-garde/experimental whatever, an album seems pretty pointless – in these circumstances. And mainly while for the last six years you were conscious of that and released that sort of stuffs.
There are very few artists (bands) who still manage to surprise me these days. The 2006’s “Volk” was a peerless release, it’s quite impossible to overtake that album and Laibach definitively had a hard time to figure out what they should do next. True, meanwhile they released in 2008 “Laibachkunstderfuge” – a concept album, the laibachian interpretation of Johann Sebastian Bach’s “The Art of Fugue” (Lai-Bach-Kunst-Der-Fuge) – and in 2012 the original soundtrack for the movie “Iron Sky”. Also they released a mind blowing live album 
“Taming the Dragon” it’s the debut album from the electric duo Mehliana made of Brad Mehldau (synthesizers, Fender Rhodes and piano) and Mark Guiliana (drums and electronics). Because the dense electronics this have a powerful jazz-rock sound, but it’s a vividly groovy, experimental and breath taking experience throughout with space-rock inspired soundscapes and exciting jazz improvisations. There is an extremely refreshing balance between all the flavors, sounds, elements and moods of the album. Mark Guiliana delivered some extremely tasty drums while Brad Mehldau added dimensions and colors. A perfect mixture of passion, energy and experimentation with tasty melodies, meditative searching and emotions.
While I’m drowning in a sea of absolutely boring music day after day, this pretty British sounding French band made my day and Monday. It’s a cool mixture of reggae, funk, punk-rock and accidentally some electronica. Smooth, groovy and nicely done. And genuine in a world of fake and plastic. Simply it feels right. Maybe it’s not revolutionary, it will not turn your world (and pity life) upside down, but it will keep you going. And although by default I would reject any mixture of punk with pop, this “Little Armageddon” sounds more convincing then most of the modern American self-declared punk products.
Audiotool teamed up with Moogfest to find the best producer on Audiotool.
