Termina – featuring guitarist Nik Nocturnal, vocalist Andy Cizek (Monuments), and drummer Chris Turner (Oceans Ate Alaska) – kicks off the new year with a modern metal banger: “Parasocial!” This standalone single boasts special guest appearances from Phil Bozeman (Whitechapel) and Joshua Travis (Emmure), plus a mix/master by Zakk Cervini (Bring Me The Horizon, Motionless In White, Coheed And Cambria, etc). Stream “Parasocial” now on Spotify, and watch the video!
I once opined on these humble pages that Motörhead didn’t do bad albums, merely good ones and great ones, and it has to be said that this proud epithet should also be bestowed upon the filthy and the few that make up Orange Goblin. It has been some twenty-one years since their debut, the still worthy Frequencies From Planet Ten (Rise Above), and for the ninth time the turbo effalunt has been charged up, the band are getting high on the bad times, and the red tide rises once more. Continue reading
UK metalcore upstarts Oceans Ate Alaska have dropped a new video for their track ‘Ukiyo’, featuring Josh Manuel of Issues. You can hear the track and see the exclusive playthrough video featuring OAA drummer Chris Turner below.Continue reading
Birmingham, UK’s Oceans Ate Alaska is streaming the music video for “Vulture and Sharks,” off their debut album Lost Isles, out now via Fearless Records, here.
Filmed in the United Kingdom, directors Adam Barker and Oliver Price of VideoInk looked to bring out the aggression heard throughout the song by playing off nature’s most destructive elements.
Lead vocalist James Harrison explains,
“We had a ton of fun back in December shooting our video for V&S. We were soaking wet and freezing cold for the majority of it, which sure took it’s toll both mentally and physically. Artistically we wanted the video to coincide with the track lyrically, hence the rain, wind, and storms. Hopefully the finished product enriches those emotions contained within this song.”
Lost Isles Track List
1. Fourthirtytwo (Intro)
2. Blood Brothers
3. High Horse
4. Vultures and Sharks
5. Downsides
6. Floorboards
7. Linger
8. Equinox (Interlude)
9. Part of Something
10. Over the Edge
11. Entity
12. Lost Isles
13. Mirage
Stemming from Birmingham, UK, Oceans Ate Alaska is made up of James Harrison (Vocals), James Kennedy (Guitar), Adam Zytkiewicz (Guitar), Mike Stanton (Bass), and Chris Turner (Drums). The band offers a progressive strain of experimental modern metalcore that has gotten them noticed as one of metal’s most exciting and fresh young names. With music as unpredictable as it is expressive, the band found inspiration for their name from the world’s largest recorded mega-tsunami – measuring at 1,700 feet high – that demolished Alaska’s coastline in 1958. The band was attracted to the natural disaster’s national headline that read “Oceans Ate Alaska” where they decided to carry the name on a path to make their own history. By pushing sonic boundaries, Oceans Ate Alaska aim to take listeners on an emotional journey through unpredictable arrangements (both heavy and melodic), ruthless riffs, and unforgiving guttural vocals; setting an atmospheric landscape that showcases the band’s technical skill.
European Tour w/ Chelsea Grin
Feb 24: Circolo Colony – Brescia, Italy
Feb 25: Arena – Wien, Austria
Feb 26: A38 – Budapest, Hungary
Feb 27: Substage – Karlsruhe, Germany
Tapping into their British roots and pulling strands from Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Motörhead, Orange Goblin’s 8th full length, Back From The Abyss (Candlelight Records) adds melodic guitar moments, roughened lyrics and driving beats to tell the listener a story, taking them under their arm like the newest member of the Hell’s Angels. Recorded in London, produced by Jamie Dodd (The Skints, One Night Only) and mastered at Turan Audio by Tim Turan, the album is refined to a roughened T. Out on October 6th, 2014 on Candlelight Records, Back from the Abyss is more of a rock & roll biker album than the metal force of their last record, A Eulogy For The Damned in 2012. Since their start in 1995, you can slowly see the accumulation of their influences, simmering into one metamorphic mixing pot to bring you this sleazy, speed filled injection.
Kicking off the album with ‘Sabbath Hex,’ rocking guitar hits you from the left, chasing up your groove to the brim, with the band kicking in from the right. Ben Ward’s retro, melodic vocals charm your pants off till you’re naked in the middle of your favourite rock club, swaying to the ever-changing rhythm. The centre bridge dips down in tempo, scavenging for energy to built the charge back up and storm back with a vengeance. The best part of the track is the last 35 seconds. Man, does Joe Hoare’s guitar ever wail. Smooth and bluesy, Martyn Millard’s bass injected life into the track, like a speedball never could.
‘Übermensch’ was a bit too far on the rock side of the stoner spectrum for me. A mid-tempo, triumphant and alcohol-fuelled manly anthem I can’t say I could relate to.
‘The Devil’s Whip’ snaps you into shape quick. A self-described “old school banger,” This rocking piece of rumbling momentum reminds me of the vigour I felt when I first heard Motörhead’s ‘Ace of Spades’ and it blasts through things just as quickly. A momentousus jolt of riffage, fired up from hell, with wailing guitar solos and rough, bad boy vocals.
Adding some psychedelia to the mix, for anyone into Acid King or Clutch, this might be the track to get you started. ‘Demon Blues’ presents the classic stoner rock persona morphed to fit today’s favourite monster. A vampire with speed in his veins and a loaded shot gun ain’t takin’ no shit. Sorry ladies but this rustic heart throb is a time bomb waiting to explode. The track’s lyrics are solid and tell an interesting tale, not to mention Joe Hoare’s solo at the end is killer.
‘Heavy Lies The Crown’ gets into a down and dirty groove that may just make James Brown rise from the grave. I feel the Hendrix in Hoare’s guitar work as vocals are lathered in whiskey. The bass keeps the groove low while the drumming is simple, yet powerful, leading the story forward into war. Just when you think the end has come, a surge flows back through their amps and their out of the gates again for another round.
Other notable tracks are ‘Bloodzilla’, with the intensity of a thrash band, yet matured and rough around the edges. From the speed of lightning fist pounding to the head nodding groove of a stoner outro, this track has everything you could ever ask for. ‘The Abyss’ is one that welcomes you in with caution. My favourite on the album, it adds mystique to the powerful, confident outlaw this album portrays and I can’t help but fall for the tale of such place which could draw you into the black.
It seems impossible for Orange Goblin to disappoint. Back from the Abyss keeps the power in your hands and a drink to your lips. As commanding as the stories they tell, any album of theirs could be a gateway drug into their world. This is a must listen stoner album for the year. Watch out for their upcoming European tour with Saint Vitus starting October 9th in France.
8.0/10
CHRISTINE HAGER