New England thrashers Epicenter have dropped a killer new single, ‘Firepower’, from their forthcoming full-length new album, Subversion, due out on November 5th. Jam out to ‘Firepower’ at full volume, now!Continue reading
Tag Archives: neo-thrash
Iron Reagan Announces New Album For 2017 Tour Dates Booked
Punky neo-thrash lords Iron Reagan have announced a new album for 2017, Crossover Ministry due out on February 3rd via Relapse Records. You can watch the album teaser below:Continue reading
British Invasion Tour – Bullet For My Valentine – Asking Alexandria – While She Sleeps
When the first musical British Invasion hit, we are talking 50 years ago and it was bands like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, and The Who, all mop-topped well dressed, and channelling their inner rhythm and blues heroes. They all had legions of screaming young girls losing it over them too. The second wave came in the 1990s with Oasis, Blur, Pulp, The Stone Roses, and others more influenced by their forefathers from the 60s. In 2016 a different kind of British invasion hit: also with some crazy hair, this time metalcore riffs, screaming vocals, and breakdowns that fill the air. Yes, the screaming girls are still there. We are of course talking about the Bullet For My Valentine, Asking Alexandria and While She Sleeps tour this winter, and their stop over at Iron City in Alabama. It’s hard to believe that BFMV are now a veterans of the scene, because it seems like only yesterday they were “the best new band from the UK”. They are still touring behind last year’s hit 2015 album Venom (Sony) album, with more festivals and tour dates planned for later this year. Asking Alexandria is the band of right now. They have a new album coming out later this month The Black from Sumerian Records. They have fully conquered the US now and easily could headline their own tour such as this going forward. Opening the show tonight we have While She Sleeps, who these very web pages touted as a huge band for the future. Check out this photo set from Brent B Photos who gave us a glimpse of what teen angst goes for this year.
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Black Tide – Chasing Shadows
There are a plethora of super young bands being scooped up by big labels left and right lately. Remember that when weighing the merits of wunderkind types, you need to judge slowly. From Mozart to Louis Armstrong, Sinatra to Little Stevie Wonder, Tori Amos to Jason Becker, Fiona Apple, Devin Townsend an now Adele; the bristling energy of a talented prodigy can make hearts pound. Recall that except for Adele, they didn’t have to deal with trolls on current social media who have neither talent nor any nurturing it seems. Since forming ten years ago Floridians Black Tide broke out with their explosive début Light From Above (Interscope), and they blew up as fast as their riffing little fingers were moving. In the years passed they have dealt with changing times, changing members, and a back biting scene.
However, the story does not end here and the arc of Black Tide’s career does fade out yet. Founder Gabe Garcia and longtime guitar partner Austin Diaz have matured past the Trivium-esque neo-thrash of their début and the active rock of Post Mortem to make an interesting mix of all those influences and much more. Chasing Shadows (Pavement Music) sees the band come into its own and becoming comfortable with uncomfortable: adulting in this cray decade.
When Chasing Shadows rocks, it blazes hot. After a dramatic classical intro ‘No Guidelines’ just rips. There is a confidence to match the talent now that has seasoned into form. Thrash, heavy metal, harmony guitar solos, great singing: all in the kitchen sink of well written songs. ‘Angel In The Dark’ has a faint hint of a pop-rock chorus, but doesn’t lose the script of a ballsy rocker. ‘Predator (Animal)’ is the best song on the album. Gabe and Austin are super talented shredders and when the band lets their inner Iron Maiden loose, you are sure to smile.
There are other worthy gems on here such as the title track, the stellar ‘Before We Form’ and the epic thrash closer ‘Promised Land’. There are some missteps too, and despite some competently performed balladry the band will always fall nearer to mid-era Avenged Sevenfold and Bullet For My Valentine than Shinedown or Seether. Nothing wrong with that at all by the way.
7.0/10
Bullet For My Valentine – Venom
It’s have to believe Bullet For My Valentine are five albums into their career so far. Striking hard with The Poison (visible Noise/Trustkill) ten years ago, the band broke big at the time when neo-thrash wasn’t a dirty word and mixing metalcore with heavier music was just becoming a super-popular thing. BFMV rode that wave and now have legion of dedicated fans that have stayed the course with the band. Always a little more sure and sharp than most of their peers, the band has mainly stayed true to their thrash roots and never let a good melody stand in the way a heavy song. However, on their new album Venom (RCA), they seemed to have lost that bite that made them stand out so much before.
Following the intro track ‘V’, the album kicks off in earnest with ‘No Way Out’, a fast riffer. Right off the bat you hear front man Matt Tuck’s strong lead vocals carrying the tune. Tuck has always been a solid screamer and singer, but there seemed to be little grit left to his delivery. Next track ‘Army Of Noise’ is a step up. More in the classic BFMV vein, it has the right mix of heavy and catchy. ‘Worthless’ is another good track with more fun gang vocals. And that is also the problem. The tracks all seem to follow the problematic formula of being almost syrupy in the verses. There is little variation from the album overall, beyond the tropes of modern metal the band has already used in their better known work. To my ears this gets old after a few tracks. I’m all for bands experimenting and changing this smacks of a set-back. A few songs are flat-out bad, such as the title track. Some of the remaining cuts like ‘Pariah’ are pretty solid, especially the lead guitar work, but not what I had hoped for. This comes after I felt that 2013’s Temper Temper album was also disappointing.
One good thing about this band is they will give themselves a chance at redemption down the road. With their past writing chops to lean on and their electric live shows sure to keep them a headline name, that means they can overcome this blip in a few years with a much better album.
6.5/10
KEITH CHACHKES
Black Tide Set To Return With Chasing Shadows Album In October
Miami rock and thrash veterans Black Tide have set Chasing Shadows as the title for their new album, due October 16th via Pavement Music. The follow up to the acclaimed Post Mortem (Interscope) album, Chasing Shadows will be the bands first new music in two years and first full-length album since 2011. Swamped by line-up changes, the band led by mainstay Gabe Garcia (guitar, lead vocals), counts Austin Diaz (guitar), and Cody Paige (drums) in its ranks. A new bassist has yet to be named as of press time. Next month the band will debut a new single (‘Angel In The Dark’) and their upcoming touring slate. You can pre-order the album and get exclusive bundles here:
Chasing Shadows track listing:
1. Intro
2. Guidelines
3. Angel In The Dark
4. Predator (Animal)
5. Burn
6. Chasing Shadows
7. Before We Form
8. Sex Is Angry
9. Welcome To Misery
10. Heaven
11. Promised Land
Video: Trivium Release Silence In The Snow Video, Album Due In October
Long-running neo-thrash band Trivium will release their new album on October 2nd from Roadrunner Records. Entitled Silence in the Snow, the band has already released the video for the title track You can see the video at this link or below:
Front man Matt Heafy commented on the track:
“Hey pals! I’m so stoked this is out! For those of you wondering – this song was written for Shogun, and is basically almost the same as it was, so Shogun fans rejoice; didn’t like Shogun? You may not dig this.
But know that since I was 12 I wanted to be a great singer, I screamed because I couldn’t sing. I am proud and excited to finally be able to do what I love the way I love.
Don’t love it? Our old stuff still exists. Love it? Awesome. I love both sides of you all regardless.
I hope you all are great.
You all rule,
– MKH.”
Silence In the Snow track listing
01. Snøfall
02. Silence In The Snow
03. Blind Leading The Blind
04. Dead And Gone
05. The Ghost That’s Haunting You
06. Pull Me From The Void
07. Until The World Goes Cold
08. Rise Above The Tides
09. The Thing That’s Killing Me
10. Beneath The Sun
11. Breathe In The Flames
Trivium will team up this fall on the Hard Drive Live Tour with Tremonti.
Bullet For My Valentine Shoot New Video, Venom Due This August
In a post to their Instagram account, Welsh neo-thrashers Bullet For My Valentine shared a photo from a high-production shoot for a new music video, possibly ‘No Way Out’. The bands’ new album Venom (RCA Records) is due on August 14th .
Dr. Living Dead – Crush the Sublime Gods
My first album review with Ghost Cult Mag, and I’m quickly reminded of the great perk when it comes to this line of work. Finding enjoyable bands you may not of found otherwise. Example being the new LP, Crush the Sublime Gods (Century Media), by Sweden’s Dr. Living Dead. Crush The Sublime Gods is very reminiscent of early work by such acts as Stormtroopers of Death, Anthrax, and Suicidal Tendencies. Dr. Living Dead prove classic Crossover Thrash is as strong as ever, and shows no sign of slowing down. This is by no means anything original or ground-breaking, but don’t take it as I am belittling the band. As the saying goes, you can’t fix what isn’t broken.
With a new vocalist and drummer joining Dr. Living Dead in the past couple years,Crush the Sublime Godsproves they’ve clearly had chemistry from the start. From fast riffs to a slow stomp, gang chants galore, and one track even being a Thrash power ballad (‘Salvation’), this album is a complete package. The lyrical content is a bit tongue-in-cheek as it pays homage to classic 80’s horror films. Most obvious one being the track ‘Scanners’, Inspired by the 1981 filmScanners. One of my personal favorites off the album. The lyrics tell the story of those with incredibly strong telekinetic powers known asScanners, who use their powers to deadly effects. All during fast riffs and a familiar thrash beat. Being a fan of the movie the lyrics “We’ll f**k your brain dry” during a break down was far too enjoyable for me. ‘No Way Out’ slows down a bit with a more melodic groove with clear vocals, overall feel of classic Suicidal Tendencies.
Overall I enjoyed Crush the Sublime Gods, and am now inclined to check out the rest of the discography from Dr. Living Dead. As they only formed in 2007, they easily join modern bands such as Municipal Waste as bands that are keeping Thrash a true force in the metal community. I feel like if this album was released twenty years ago, everyone would of heard of it. It would be surprising to me if anyone that is a fan of Thrash did not enjoy this band or album, so I give a strong recommendation.
7.0/10
WORDS BY DEREK RIX
Crowbar – Revocation – Havok – Fit For an Autopsy -Armed For Apocalypse: The Worcester Palladium
There have been a lot of killer tours of late, but few packed the variety and the punch of the bill accompanying Crowbar on their latest jaunt. Rather than take out a bunch of similar bands with an overlapping fanbase, the creators of this tour package took a bunch of cool bands that are all slightly different in genre and fandom make-up and sent them out to do something really unique. It definitely worked, because for a Tuesday night, the upstairs of the Palladium was fairly thick with heshers and heifers by the time my awesome photog for the night, Meg Loyal, and I rolled into the venue.
Armed For Apocalypse was already on when I got in, and they seemed to be going over well with the the early crowd. Apparently I also missed a slew of great local talent, which pissed me off. Promoters of shows: stop beginning before 7 PM on a weeknight (Tuesday) when most of your crowd is driving from 65 miles away or more during rush hour. Armed… meanwhile put on a killer show I wasn’t expecting this early. Their talents lay somewhere between a sludgy metal base with some grooves, death metal flair, and occasional flashes of technicality. They also had a gang-vocal-thing going on from most of their band that I liked too. We’ll be looking out for these guys again!
Fit For An Autopsy has been grinding it out live non-stop this year. They continue to pick up steam since adding Greg Wilburn to their ranks. The Palladium crowd also takes a fancy to this band they know very well from numerous shows and fests, and so the crowd was amped up and the pit was instantly activated. These guys always put on a killer performance and inspired the best, most violent pit action of the evening. There is just something about the way they carry themselves with confidence and the brutality of their style, I can really see them stepping up to the level of a Suicide Silence or a Whitechapel when their next album drops in 2015. You’ve been warned, don’t sleep on this band!
At the midway point of the night, I caught myself feeling very positive about the current scene, and that a tour like this can even happen and pass through our neck of the woods. Sentiment. I need to watch that! Meanwhile Havok came on and clearly had some of their own fanbase in the house, because their entire front of the stage was more or less a total circle pit for their set. A band that has hit the 10-year mark and also has a big following in our area, had a triumphant feeling hitting the stage and thrashing their balls off. Front man David Sanchez, like his entire band, has some sweet musical skills and has a shriek not unlike Mark Osegueda of Death Angel, who make a fair comparison for the band too. Special note goes to Marshall Wieczorek of Wretched, who was filling in for Pete Webber behind the kit did a great job. The band recently signed with Century Media and are also planning a new album for next year.
The Palladium, even the more intimate part of the venue upstairs, can be a clusterfuck on any given day. It was cool seeing a lot of my my local brethren of metal fans and friends at the show. It had been a very heavy week of shows in our surrounding area, with many national and local bands worth seeing. Still, I was impressed that by the time Revocation took the stage, the place was pretty full. Ans why not? Being a Boston band and playing this venue was practically a hometown show and many people in the house were sporting their Revocation shirts (a no-no to me, but good for the band I suppose). The anticipation was higher than usual, since the band has signed a new deal with Metal Blade and are on the cusp of dropping their new album Deathless. The band played a tight set with a mix of “hits” and new songs that left bodies sweaty on jaws on the floor. As usual, a lot of folks are just here for the guitar fireworks in the form of Dave Davidson and Dan Gargiulo. Their rhythm section was augmented tonight too, with Jon “The Charn” Rice (Scorpion Child, ex-Job For a Cowboy, The Red Chord) filling in for Phil DuBois (arm injury). Revocation is just one of those bands that wears many hats and pulls it off extremely well.
Heading back stage to interview Revocation, I was just wrapping up my chat when I heard the strains of the first few songs of Crowbar’s set. The went on pretty quick with little turnover apparently, but I didn’t miss much. The crowd was doing the “slow acknowledgment” head-bang to ‘Symmetry In White’ when I finally made it back downstairs. Kirk Windstein made a funny crack about turning all the lights off, then just relegating the rest of the night to a sparse spotlight, that was befitting of this workman-like band. As their set list shows Crowbar is as important to this genre as they relevant today, with a string of great songs and new material that holds up too. Kirk likes to slide to the side of the microphone when not singing, an unintentional but necessary move that puts him where he belongs, front and center. He has a solid group of guys behind him these days, but it makes him shine that much brighter.
About half-way through the set I realized this was about the best Crowbar show I’d ever seen. Kirk has raised his game up a few more levels than he was already at over the years and his laser focus on this band has definitely paid off. While a lot of people associate the band with ‘All I Had (I Gave)’, it was a song like ‘Planets Collide’ that really write the story of this band in granite. Kirk, his voice up to a mic and his hands around a guitar neck are a treasure to the metal community. I hope we get to enjoy them for a long time.
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Crowbar Set List:
Cemetary Angels
Walk With Knowledge Wisely
Symmetry in White
Self-Inflicted
Planets Collide
The Lasting Dose
Sever the Wicked Hand
Liquid Sky and Cold Black Earth
Conquering
High Rate Extinction
New Dawn
All I Had (I Gave)
I Have Failed
Fit For An Autopsy on Facebook
Armed For Apocalypse on Facebook
WORDS: KEITH CHACHKES