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BLACK THAI |
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You know how there use to be these dudes called 'Vikings'? They sailed these huge ships; plundered villages and killed those weaker than themselves while setting fires and basically kicking all kinds of ass? All the while drinking mead out of human skulls and wearing helmets made out of leather and iron? Well, Massachusets based Black Thai play music that is the soundtrack for such a pillaging occasion. It’s heavy, relentless and pounding, yet there is melody contained therein and there is indeed just a little bit of restraint involved. Otherwise all of their fans would be dead and nobody would be left to appreciate the mammoth songs these riff warriors bring down from the mountain to share with the mere mortals of this Earth. Jim Healey and Scott O’Dowd brandish their guitars as if they were battle axes, peeling off riff after punishing riff in their quest to conquer the meek. Black Thai are here to destroy; to take no prisoners, and to provide the soundtrack for the end times. Armageddon never sounded so good.
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MOTH EATER
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Beers Village, NY based Metal/Doom
band Moth Eater were born to drink some beers and
kick your ear's ass; and the keg is almost empty! The band
describes their sound as, "...like Motörhead
driving to a Black Sabbath concert with
Scissorfight sitting in the back seat,
High on Fire riding shotgun and the
Doomriders driving the car behind us. Featuring
former members of Scar Culture
(Century Media) and Dirty Rig (Escapi Music),
this foursome churns out deliberate dollops of snarling
vocals, rumbling bass, and nimble fretwork without losing
the intent to obliterate everything in its path, creating
an ominous sound drenched in metallic lava spewed from the
core of the volcano. Beers up!
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NOTHINGFACE
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“…crushing, riveting metal intertwined
with heavy melodies and compelling controversial vocals”
is one of the many ways these Maryland based ear-crushers
have been described. From the humble beginnings with indie
Mayhem/DCide through their brush with stardom at TVT,
the band comes full circle with their partnership with NJ
based Play the Assassin. Nothingface, the bands
self-titled debut album (self recorded in 1995, but never
officially released) has been dusted off, re-mastered and
officially unleashed on beautiful 180 gram clear virgin
vinyl with blood splatter imprints and has been limited
to 500 copies. Guitarist Tom Maxwell is currently playing
with Pantera's Vinnie Paul and
Mudvayne’s Chad Grey in HellYeah!.
Nothingface have sold over 400,000+ copies of their
releases worldwide.
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OH THE HORROR
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On their debut LP Hands
Pressed Against the Glass, Oh The Horror bring
the world a new hybrid; equal parts aggression, melody,
and all-out aural insanity - the kind of insanity one would
expect from a band with song titles such as “How to Fuck
a Model” and “How to Kill an Actress”. And although Oh the
Horror are undoubtedly a heavy band, that is only one part
of the equation. Drawing influences from bands like the
Deftones, The Mars Volta, Glassjaw,
and Radiohead, Oh the Horror has sculpted their
own vision of metal: brutal, yet catchy vocals play upon
groove-oriented riffs and ambience, leaving just enough
room for progressive motifs and hyperactive breakdowns,
painting the band a personality all their own.
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ONE TRUE THING
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Finally, produced by Tom
Soares (Sick of It All, Cro-Mags, GWAR) consists of 12 diary-style
confessions of love and loss. "Monster" and "Watch You Fall"
rage with enough fury to incite live audiences into a pogo
frenzy, while "Who's Amazing" and "In a Whisper" overflow
with pop sensibilities destined to forever implant their
hooks into rock radio for generations. Bassist Antonio Longo
was the original singer of Victory Records recording artists,
Taking Back Sunday. Vocalist Melanie Wills
has recorded with fellow Long Islanders From Autumn
to Ashes singing co-vocals on "Short Stories with
Tragic Endings" from their debut album, Too Bad You're
Beautiful. Melanie would rejoin FATA in the studio
a year later and sing lead on "Autumn's Monologue" from
FATA's breakthrough follow-up, The Fiction We Live.
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SO HIDEOUS, MY LOVE...
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Lurking beneath the surface of metal underground, NYC's own,
So Hideous, My Love... has created a devastating musical hybrid of heart racing proportions: Fusing post rock leanings (Envy,
Mono, GSYBE!) & adventurous black metal (Wolves in the Throne Room,
Celeste, Heaven in Her Arms) with classical beauty (Arvo Part,
Beethoven), the band along with contemporaries, San Francisco's
Deafheaven & London's Fen
have laid claim to the appropriately termed buzz moniker 'post-black metal' with their newest offering, To Clasp a Fallen Wish with Broken Fingers. Born out of home recordings in the winter of 2008 by composer/guitarists Brandon Cruz & Jack Marshall,
So Hideous, My Love... self-released their debut EP I Balance a Daydream on an Edge of a Knife in the Spring of 2010 to an outpouring of love from the heavy music community. To Clasp a Fallen Wish... serves as a companion piece to the band's first release and showcases the bands further maturation of engaging daydreams & paralyzing musical nightmares.
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APES PIGS & SPACEMEN
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U.K. based Apes Pigs & Spacemen return
with Free Pawn, their 1st release for Play the
Assassin and 3rd overall. APS have released
a string a critically regarded hard rock albums through
the now defunct UK metal label, Music for Nations. Despite
the Spinal Tap-esque & record company issues the band had
encountered along the way, APS has persevered
and have released their strongest collection of songs to
date. Free Pawn continues the band’s critically
adored musical streak and has been called ‘one of the most
intelligent, inspiring, complex, emotive rock albums ever’.
Kerrang magazine declares Free Pawn, ‘stunning
song writing & superb musicianship!'. PHAT
MONKEY RECORDS
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THE BLANCHE HUDSON WEEKEND
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Rising from the ashes of the now defunct
Manhattan Love Suicides, The Blanche Hudson
Weekend bring you all kinds of noise, fuzz, melody, dissonance,
and raw buzz-saw pop. Take a bit of 1960's girl group sounds,
garage ramshackle production, some gun slinging guitars
and sugar sweet vocals, then lock the doors, bolt the windows,
kill the lights, and enjoy. Assassin Extended is over-joyed
to offer the band's first official long player to the U.S.
music base. Reverence, Severance & Spite collects
the bands first three independently released singles along
with a batch of newly recorded material. All this stuff
makes for one essential sugar coated blast of fizz-bomb
pop delivered without too much spit n' polish but with a
whole fistful of cool. SQUIRREL RECORDS
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CELESTE
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It is pitch-dark, except for some
strange flickering red lights, and the small parts of space
they illuminate are drenched in turbulent fog and driven
by a ferocious force. This force is nothing but the infernal
sounds that cut the air, savagely pressing on your eardrums
and squeezing your chest. Celeste stand out from their French
compatriots by being hard as nails. Their sound is dense
and punishing. It befits the bleak riffs and scathing vocals,
which suggest black metal with steel armor plates. In reality,
Celeste blend their own sinister brand of fury; metal meets
sludge; doom meets post hardcore. Natural progression has
brought well fitted samples along with piano & strings to
their repertoire. Celeste is 'the now'; Celeste is 'the
future'. DENOVALI RECORDS
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FEN
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An expression of loss and melancholic
yearning, the primary goal with Fen is to draw the listener
into a windswept and desolate landscape, bereft of hope.
The band was born in early 2006 when Grungyn, Theutus and
The Watcher came together to embark on a project that fused
the cold rage of black metal with more reflective influences
from the post-rock/shoegaze genres. The band crafts a beautiful
mix of acoustics and progressive elements, reminiscent to
Agalloch before spiraling into cold, evil
black metal that beckons thoughts of Alcest
or Negura Bungent. FEN creates truly awe-inspiring,
reflective music that is so deserving of world-wide adulation.
CODE 666 RECORDS
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PAUL MIRO
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Paul Miro is the UK’s version of Butch
Walker. A jack of all trades; songwriter, performer, & producer
extraordinaire. Stepping away from leading the hard rock
juggernaut Apes Pigs & Spacemen, Paul pulls
into the US harbors with his second solo record, B.O.A.T.S.
From the effortless, infectious road trip sing-a-long of
‘Bad Bad Day’ through the stunning epilogue ‘Bring Out Your
Dead’, B.O.A.T.S. cruises along with beautifully
crafted melodies and compelling lyrics, taking in unexpected
waters and moods along the way. B.O.A.T.S. isn’t
just now, it’s a future-looking retooled sound-scape that
is arguably Miro’s most impressive & personal collection
of songs to date. But of course, B.O.A.T.S. stands
for 'Based On A True Story'. PHAT MONKEY
RECORDS
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THE RESURRECTION SORROW
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Using stone-heavy handed riffing, barbaric percussive
destruction and brooding, occult-inspired vocals by singer
Alex Dementia, NYC's The Resurrection Sorrow has trademarked
a hooking catchiness not easily ignored. With homage being
paid to the NWOBHM oracles of 1970's England, the Bay Area
of the 80's and a hint of early 90's Seattle, The Resurrection
Sorrow has taken the torch from its predecessors and is
taking it further into the cave. Riding high on their debut
full-length “Hour of the Wolf”, the band spent the majority
of 2010 on the road and built a reputation for their commanding
performances. Former Metal Edge editor Phil Freeman
declared 'Hour of the Wolf' the best metal record of 2010.
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