ALBUM REVIEW: Cavalera – Schizophrenia


There is something about the Sepultura sound which has rightfully allowed it to stand the test of time. It could be the bombastically frantic stringwork which has the capacity to power some cities. It could also be the cavernous, cacophonous screams and shouts. The drums never disappoint, and the production is mischievous yet meticulously guided.Continue reading


Cavalera Release Live Music Video For “Escape To The Void” – Announce Schizophrenia Re-Recording


Cavalera has become synonymous with extreme metal music, a name that to this day still holds the highest regard, a family legacy built upon decades of musical aggression. In 2023, Max and Iggor Cavalera achieved what some would say was an impossible feat; they revisited their earliest releases, Morbid Visions, and Bestial Devastation, and re-recorded them with bone-breaking intensity. A risk that few would dare to even attempt, yet they artfully and prolifically attained their trademark raw sound by means that could only be described as magic or time travel.

It seems that the ball would not stop rolling as now they are entering the final chapter of their early-days trilogy. Schizophrenia is an iconic album in terms of early thrash and death metal, a household name for those of us invested in extreme metal. This was the point where the Cavaleras refined their dark, dingy, speed-influenced songs, into something a bit more mature, developed, and technical. Decades later, they have once more unlocked the asylum that is Schizophrenia, opening the doors to that banished, twisted recording which will be unleashed unto to world on June 21st via Nuclear Blast Records. The first taste of the reissue comes in the form of the live music video for the single. ‘Escape To The Void’. Fans will enjoy footage filmed by Costin Chioreanu & Olivia Chioreanu from the band’s chilling performance at 013 Venue in Tilburg, Netherlands, 2023. Watch the live music video edited and directed by Costin Chioreanu for ‘Escape To The Void’, here:Continue reading


Cannibal Corpse Books a Headline Tour of Europe with Municipal Waste, Immolation, and Schizophrenia


Death metal icons Cannibal Corpse will return to European soil this Fall on a month-long headlining tour! The journey begins September 20th in Oberhausen, Germany and runs through October 20th in Frankfurt, Germany. Support will be provided by Municipal Waste, Immolation, and SchizophreniaTickets go on sale this Thursday, March 28th, 2024. Continue reading


Hellfest 2023 Books Kiss, Mötley Crüe, Iron Maiden, Slipknot, Def Leppard, Pantera, Porcupine Tree, Amon Amarth, Alter Bridge, and More 


  

After their biggest year ever this year, Hellfest 2023 has booked headliners Kiss, Mötley Crüe, Iron Maiden, and Slipknot!  Set to take place June 15-18, 2023 In Clisson, France, the bill also includes Def Leppard, Pantera,  Porcupine Tree, Amon Amarth, Alter Bridge And Within Temptation, and more! Headliners for the 2022 edition of Hellfest included Guns N’ Roses, Metallica, Judas Priest, Deftones, Ghost, Scorpions, and Korn over two long weekends to make up for the missed pandemic year of 2020.

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Benighted – Necrobreed


“Honey?” She creeps through the kitchen to a door that stands open but a crack, dull light streaming up from the cellar. Her husband’s workshop. He’s been spending an awful lot of time down there lately. She fears for his mental stability, but he swears that he is simply focused on his work.Continue reading


Valleys – Experiment One: Asylum


Valleys Eperiment One album cover 2016

I had been listening to up and coming North Carolina based prog metallers Valleys and to review their ambitious début full-length new album, playing Experiment One: Asylum on a loop and making my notes as I usually do before putting fingers on keys. Then tragedy struck as Valleys co-frontman of Mikey Clements was killed just a week before the release in a tragic accident. Bravely the band is moving forward, treating the release of the album and future gigs as a tribute to their fallen friend.

Genre mashing used to be out of the ordinary in music, and now as a concession to music fans’ fickle tastes and attention spans, it is the norm. Valleys call themselves progressive metal, and they are a modern prog band. But in addition to sounds inspired by bands like Coheed and Cambria, Tesseract, and Protest The Hero; they also blend in electronics, deathcore and other stuff in the mix. It works well, producing solid songs, and not being too all over the place that they lack cohesion. They also display some high-level muscianship, which is needed to pull off these type of songs in the first place.

More impressive, Experiment One: Asylum is a concept album about suffering from schizophrenia/BPD/multi-personality disorder and a personal descent as a result of it. In this time in our world when people are quick to dismiss and stigmatize mental illness, this is very topical. The album opens up with several strong songs in a row with ‘A Tension’, ‘Unraveling’ and ‘Desperate Me’. Energetic riffs, off-time meters, and stop/start tempos abound and the tracks get even better on repeated listens. ‘Take Me Home’ is the high point of the album, and will call to mind Veil of Maya and Linkin Park, mixing up the brutal gutturals with clean lines traded between Clements and Jayson Mitchell. This band can play brutal, but their ability to write the a super catchy chorus is something to make note of, possibly leading them to great heights someday. Closer ‘The Death Of Me’ is also a very impressive tune.

Hopefully Valleys are just getting started on their path and can find a away through this hardship and pain to keep going. It seems like Experiment One: Asylum is exactly the medicine they might need right now.

7.0/10

KEITH CHACHKES

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