Underground sludge band Immortal Bird, on tour with Withered, had their van with all their gear and personal belongings robbed last night in New York City, after playing Brooklyn’s Saint Vitus Bar. Police are investigating the theft and a GoFundMe campaign has been launched. So far 99 fans and friends of the band have raised over $4000 for the group, hoping to continue their tour. Continue reading
YOB frontman/guitarist Mike Scheidt was diagnosed with acute diverticulitis back in 2016, and now a Gofundme has been launched to help with his impending medical bills. Continue reading
Eight Bells guitarist Melynda Jackson broke her leg last night in Atlanta, while on tour with Voivod and Vektor. Termed a freak accident, the band has posted on their Facebook page that the band will be unable to perform tonight in Knoxville, TN. The band is still trying to determine if and when they can rejoin the tour, but vow to support the bill in any case. They have also launched a GoFundMe campaign to help offset the medical bills. Eight Bells is on the road supporting their recently releases album Landless (Battleground Recordings) .
We wish Melynda a speedy recovery!
Hello, friends. Unfortunately, there was an incident at our show last night and Melynda was badly injured. This morning, doctors confirmed that her leg is broken. We are terribly sad to say that we cannot play tonight’s show in Knoxville but we will try to make it there in order to support our friends inVoivod and Vektor as well as sell some merch in an attempt to ease some of Melynda’s mounting medical bills.
Here is a GoFundMe page that we’ve set up for her — you can also donate directly via PayPal to Melynda.666@gmail.com
We’ll know more in regards to the rest of the dates soon, and will keep you posted. Thank you all so much for your support and understanding during this devastating time. This is certainly a freak occurrence that no one could have predicted or prevented.
Hello, friends. Unfortunately, there was an incident at our show last night and Melynda was badly injured. This morning,…
Posted by Eight Bells on Monday, February 22, 2016
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Aaron Aites, the musician and filmmaker best known to music fans as the creator of the stellar historical black metal documentary Until The Light Takes Us has been stricken with an aggressive form of cancer. A GoFundMe campaign has been launched by Aaron’s partner Audrey Ewell to try and save Aaron’s life. Please read and share the post below and give if you can.
https://www.gofundme.com/e3pbfwrj
Despite only having a handful of bands playing that style, Nu-Djent/Djent-hop may well be one of the most divisive genres in metal nowadays. Glaswegian five-piece Neshiima not only fall into that category, but have thrown in a grand concept into their latest release.
Self-released via GoFundMe, Beware of Gifts is the second release from the band –– following on from last year’s Distance EP. The mini-album’s concept centres around the Japanese myth of Urashima Taro; where a fisherman rescues a turtle, visits a dragon god under the sea, and time travels.
That sounds like a recipe for something pretty expansive/potentially pretentious, the concept doesn’t overpower the music, and really just makes for some nice artwork. Musically, Neshiima have their fingers in a lot of pies. Anyone familiar with the groove and grime of Devastator or Hacktivist will be in familiar ground, but the rapping is only one part. Liam Hasslewood does a decent job of showing off his vocal range, managing to combine harsh screams reminiscent of an early Corey Taylor and decent – if occasionally a little lacklustre – clean vocals all into one package.
If early Slipknot had a Djent-phase, they’d probably sound pretty similar to Neshiima; it’s aggressive, it’s melodic, with a twist of rapping that fans of UK grime music might enjoy. The Meshuggah-inspired palm mute riffs are an ever present; enjoyable but lacking variety – a problem with the entire Djent movement. The good tracks work very well; ‘Those Who Suffer’ is a good example of all the sporadic parts of their sounding coming together, ‘The Cycle’ packs a good heavy/light punch, while album closer ‘Play You Part’ is probably the highlight of the record.
But while clearly fans of the soaring melodic chorus, Beware of Gifts is guilty of being steadfastly mid-tempo most of the way through. While there is variety in both the vocals and the riffs on offer, nonetheless Neshiima never really get the blood pumping. ‘Above the Storm’ falls short, lead single ‘Become the Storm’ has the variety but lacks any real impact, while ‘So Easy’ passes by without leaving much of an impression.
Neshiima know how to do heavy, and have a talent for blending all the elements into one mixing pot, but the melodic elements often fall flat and aren’t memorable. But they have managed to put a spin on things and there really aren’t many bands who sound like them, so that should be applauded. Potentially ones for the future.
6.0/10
DAN SWINHOE