Formed in 2010, Athens-based thrashers Bio-Cancer are yet another Greek band intent on turning the home of the Gods into the biggest mosh pit Mount Olympus has ever seen. With two albums under their belts, the five-piece struggled with the pandemic lockdowns a few years ago but are finally ready to rain down lightning from above with their latest album Revengeance (Hammerheart Records).
Since the music of Baroness has been unlike any other band to me, and more akin to a spiritual experience since I first got into them in 2007, I set the mood for myself before listening. I turned the lights down low, cracked the window open to get a nice breeze going, and heard the sound of large late summer raindrops filling my ears. The city’s heartbeat in the deep background was the only other sound besides my breathing. I just stared at the new album artwork for five straight minutes. At peace for a change, in the still and calm of myself, and by chance, present in the city of my birth for a few days, I hit play on the promo and then let the first notes hit me.
Swedish rockers Electric Boys had a bit of success in the late eighties and early nineties when their boisterous Funk Metal track “All Hips n’ Lips” caught the eye of MTV and their first two albums, Funk O Metal Carpet Ride and Groovus Maximus, caught the eye of the public. Things fizzled out in 1994 but they reunited fifteen years later and have been steadily releasing new material since.
Punchy album opener “Touch” sets the tone for She Burns Red self-released debut Out Of Darkness (Self-Released) – emotive Hard Rock with fiery riffs, impassioned vocals, and a strong alternative influence. The Scottish rockers first record comes three years after their EP Take Back Tomorrow, and it mixes Metal-style heaviness and grunge soul-bearing, with Foo Fighters’ hooks and Wildhearts pop-punk smarts.
CMFT2 (Decibel Cooper / BMG) is the second solo album from one of the largest mouths in Metal, a musician who you might have thought had all bases covered for his creative output by virtue of being the frontman in two wildly successful bands.
Trad Metal Flagbeaers 3 Inches of Blood have been much-missed in their almost 10-year hiatus as a working band. After much teasing on social media, the band has announced a one-off comeback show. Unto Others will provide direct support. The show will take place in their hometown of Vancouver Canada on January 13, 2024. The band will come full circle in the same place it ended, at the legendary Commodore Ballroom on Granville Street. Tickets officially go on sale September 15th at 10 am PST at livenation.com. Pre-sale tickets will be available on September 12th at 10:00 am PST. Check out the 3 inches of Blood Instagram and Facebook pages later on for pre-sale code.
Kvelertak (Norwegian for ‘Stranglehold’) are one of the more unique offerings hailing from the land of mystical forests and flowing fjords, and are anything but your typical Black Metal band from the region. In fact any hints of the sound are very few and far between on their fifth album Endling (Rise Records), with the influence used sparingly.
Theatrical Goth Rock band Raven Black continues their 2023 North American crusade by announcing The Black Hallows Tour! Launching October 5th at Rockhouse Dive Bar Kitchen Venue in El Paso, TX, the tour winds throughout the South and into the Midwest, wrapping up on Halloween at 89th Street in Oklahoma City, OK. Raven Black will be joined by Cultus Black along with special guests Casket Robbery, Change My Brain With Cakes and Dying Oath on select dates.
And the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. Blank canvas. Blank page. No words. Then came … Poetry. Psalms. Hymns. The power and the glory. OMG – Oh My Godthrymm! This is the one, my good brothers – one for the ages, one for the rampages, the spillages, the courageous.
Orbit Culture is making big waves in the contemporary Metal scene. This Swedish quartet started out a decade ago and there is a groundswell of rumblings that they could be one of the next hottest acts in the genre. Their rare and remarkable talent would absolutely deserve such recognition. Even in their earlier years, they went over and above the traditional melodeath elements by supplementing them with more fervid aptitude. Now they are preparing to release their fourth full-length album, Descent (Seek & Strike Records) and these savvy Swedes have taken their dynamically different drive to new heights by creating songs laden with more fortitude and technicalities.Continue reading