Salem, Massachusetts modern metallers Carnivora is a band Ghost Cult has been following for many years and through several incarnations. The band has continued to grow and improve while keeping what makes them, them for a lack of better verbiage. They have always placed an importance on monster riffs, deep grooves and generally short blasts of fun metal tracks that don’t overstay their welcome. On their new single ‘Bogdweller’, the band has hit a new level with the addition of vocalist Haydee Irrizary (Aversed, Zahra Lux). Continue reading →
The fresh-faced group, GatekrGatecreepereeper has been making waves in the scene for the last couple of years. Their undaunted aggression and sinister viciousness made a mark when they released their first full-length album, Sonoran Depravation (Relapse Records) in 2016. They have a thought-provoking take on the classic Death Metal sound which sets them apart from a lot of other young, hungry acts. Now, this budding band is back with their sophomore record, Deserted (Relapse Records) and their magnetic extremes have reached a new level of exceptional. Continue reading →
Rising Metal force Ovtlier stormed the world with their powerful music, bringing an all-out assault on all the senses. Ghost Cult brings you the single premiere of their insense song ‘Spineless’, whose video also just dropped over at Dread Central. The band recently signed with InGrooves Music Group & The Label Group. The raging track was inspired by vocalist/primary songwriter, Joey Arena’s experience with watching his grandmother pass on and his “personal views on medical and governmental studies: that we are nothing but lab rats and test subjects.” The band brings a myriad of Modern Metal influences, Hardcore, and are not afraid to rep their love of OG Nu-Metal as well. Check out the single and video for ‘Spineless’ now!Continue reading →
We spend a lot of time talking about Machine Head around HQ, and rightly so. They are one of the most influential bands in metal, specifically their very early years 1994 -1997 and their fertile middle era 2003 – 2011. It all started with the granddaddy of them all, Burn My Eyes (Roadrunner Records). Not only was this album a banger right from the get-go, but Machine Head became one of the preeminent bands throughout the 1990s on Roadrunner, along with Type O Negative, Sepultura, and Biohazard. We’re not here to go through the entire history of the band which has done a bit before but instead call attention to the highlights of this album and why it still holds up. Continue reading →
Although few EP’s get the Classic Albums Revisited treatment here at Ghost Cult, we have to pause and give all to the glory that The Dillinger Escape Plan‘s 1998 short-player Under the Running Board deserves. Their first release for Relapse Records, it not only boosted them to a higher profile as artists, it definitely was a harbinger of what was to come on future Dillinger releases in terms of a further harnessing of their power and experimental leanings.Continue reading →
Once in a while, the art that society needs to help it pull through collective dark times comes along right at the precise time. In another life, that album would have been a new album from a reunited Rage Against The Machine, the legendary rap-rock band. However, what we’ve got instead is the début full-length album from Prophets of Rage, the supergroup with members of Rage, Public Enemy, and Cypress Hill added in for good measure. After an EP and a slew of singles telegraphing the powder keg of potential greatness to come had dropped, the full meal real deal thing is here. Forget about the quarter of the album already released, and the hype train pulling into the station. Prophets of Rage, may not save the world, but they coming out swinging, making damn sure they will try.Continue reading →
It’s hard for established bands to take risks in the landscape that is 2017 in music. Especially when your band comes attached with a cultural cache like Queens Of The Stone Age, on album number seven, with love from the critics, indie cred, and what amounts to major label distro. Having conquered many frontiers as a headliner, but still looking for the challenge, QOTSA teamed up with hit-making pop and dance producer Mark Robson to create what would become Villains (Matador). Ronson’s name comes with little to no background in the greasy stoner rock the band is known for, but rather for putting Amy Winehouse, Adele, Lady Gaga and the ubiquitous (for better or worse) ‘Uptown Funk’ with Bruno Mars on the map to the tune of millions in sales. Continue reading →
Pennsylvania rockers Crobot have been tearing up the road, repping their new album Welcome To Fat City nightly. They have been playing shows and festivals in the USA like this weekend’s Louder Than Life Festival, and are gearing up for a huge tour of Europe with Volbeat. True to form, the band rages both on stage, and off. Check out this exclusive behind the scenes video with guitarist Chris Bishop and drummer Paul Figueroa discussing some shenanigans with their crew, from their last tour: Continue reading →
You can file Coffins and Ilsa’s Split EP (Relapse Records) under heaviest thing you’ll jam out to for a while. No time to waste here with pretentious orchestral arrangements or cliché samples; Coffins and Ilsa immediately start their brutal eardrum massage with relentless riffs and grooves.
Case in point? You only get roughly 12 minutes of music on this EP. Maximum effort and distortion crammed into two songs.
Japan’s Coffins gets first crack at it with ‘Tyrant’ and they somehow make it sound more demonic than on last year’s Craving to Eternal Slumber. The guitar tone remains Coffins gnarly, but the production has dialed up the grit and smoke inhalation. Jun Tokita’s grunts sound like the product of a lifelong sand and gravel diet and are perfectly paired to Uchino’s skilsaw on asphalt guitar tone.
Tempo-wise, Ilsa aren’t as jackhammer intense as Coffins, but they certainly bring the decibels on ‘Cult of the Throne.’ But what they lack in speed, they make up for with an even grimier atmosphere and steady double bass stomp. Orion Peter’s pained howling and the crawling breakdown at around the 4:15 mark conjure up images of prime Eyehategod.
You may not get much in the way of running time, but Coffins and Ilsa satisfy if heaviness is what you crave. Can we get a tour now?
It may seem a bit on the nose, but Dig Deep (Sumerian Records) is probably the most appropriate moniker that After The Burial could have mustered up with for their first album since the untimely passing of guitarist and founding member Justin Lowe. Last year was shaping up nicely for as they were set to perform on last year’s Summer Slaughter tour and record the much-anticipated follow-up to 2013s Wolves Within (also Sumerian).
Then the unfathomable occurred. On June 24, following several days of troubling internet posts and subsequent departure from After The Burial, Lowe was found dead of an apparent suicide. Tours were canceled, recording plans indefinitely postponed, and the Minnesota outfit was at the most difficult crossroads of their prosperous career. Following weeks of silence and introspection, After The Burial considered all of their options (including disbandment) and announced the intention to continue forward as a collective.
This was great news not just for the fans, but for Sumerian Records as a whole. After The Burial is one of the current crop of progressive metal acts with the most upside and so it’d be challenging for Sumerian to scout young talent of the same caliber. It’s also worth noting that as an imprint Sumerian isn’t the recruiting force it used to be due to losing ground to labels like eOne, Nuclear Blast Entertainment and Metal Blade, so it would be wise to hold on to as many assets as possible.
But all the momentum and prospect status in the world become null and void if After the Burial couldn’t produce music with the same ferocity as it has in the last eight years. In the aftermath of losing such a talented player like Lowe, it would’ve even been acceptable to have Dig Deep further delayed, but instead After The Burial crafted some of their best material in a very quick turnaround. Credit that to lead guitarist and band MVP Trent Hafdahl who is now picking up all the guitar parts with equal parts shred and gusto. Recently released single ‘Collapse’ opens the album with a riff that’s like Unearth on meth and a ripping solo that’d make Alex Skolnick proud.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YvcCHsdojw
And it gets better from there as Hafdahl eschews the more Meshuggah-sounding-the-better approach adopted by so many of their contemporaries in favor of whatever dynamic suits his fancy. Backed by a laser focused rhythm section consisting of bassist Lerichard Foral and drummer Dan Carle, Hafdahl can bounce from the modern Pantera staccato crunch of ‘Lost in the Static’ to the thrash banging of its follow-up ‘Mire.’ ‘Catacombs’ later on the album is another mid-tempo stomper that’s heavier than present day Axl Rose.
But it’s not all blastbeats and brimstone, as ‘Laurentian Ghosts’ follows in the vein of past After the Burial slow jams like ‘Aspiration’ and ‘To Carry You Away’ with its acoustic lines at the beginning and consistent melody throughout. However Anthony Notarmaso’s meaty growls keep the proceeding from going too far into All That Remains territory. And then you have the more melodic death flavor to Dig Deep’s strongest song, ‘Deluge.’ Right out the gate it’s a storm of searing leads and finger numbing riffs. To unleash that beast live will certainly require the aid of a second (and skilled) guitarist.
With the songwriting quality so high on Dig Deep, it didn’t really need that title, but I guess After the Burial didn’t want its message to be lost to their fans. A more than formidable return to form and tribute to a fallen comrade.
