Having been seven years since the release of their stellar debut full-length album Solipsist (Unique Leader Records), it was sadly seeming to be the case that Technical Death Metaller’s The Zenith Passage were perhaps going to be lost to the annals of time. Therefore it is a given news of a follow-up on Metal Blade is very welcome news and perhaps a sign of bigger things to come from them and as evidenced on Datalysium, time appears to have been kind to them.
Check out our preview of the new metal and rock releases coming out this week for New Music Friday 7-21-23!
After a long-awaited return to NYC, progressive metal legends Cynic are welcomed back to celebrate 30 years of their album Focus at Manhattan’s Le Poisson Rouge. Joining them were fellow progressive metal and tech death titans Atheist. The tour also gave opportunities for openers from every city on the tour, and they surely did not disappoint.
Israeli-based tech-death outfit Structural are no strangers to taking time to hash out any kinks before finishing a full-length. Five years removed from their self-released debut album, the five-piece accentuate their talents on Decrowned (ViciSolum Productions/Sound Pollution).
It has been nine years since Scar Symmetry released their previous album and the first in a planned trilogy, and time has seemingly not been the kindest to them since then with a plethora of delays (am pretty sure we can all guess one of them by now) preventing them releasing any form of follow up.
If you would have told me a few years ago that I’d be reviewing Dave Ellefson’s new Death Metal band I probably would have thought that you were fucking with me. Megadeth has always been a favorite of mine and I have always enjoyed catching him live. He’s been a thrash titan for years, is heavily involved with his Christian faith and just comes off as a laid-back and mellow dude. The last type of project I thought I’d ever see him as a part of is a skull-crunching Death Metal group.
Lorna Shore burst onto the stage with just the right vibe to start this show out. Thundering unrelenting drums colored with technical guitar riffs and solos filled the theater and spawned energetic mosh pits, while the intense vocals topped it all off. In between songs, the singer Will Ramos, threw out positive uplifting comments and platitudes that reminded me why metalheads; despite their rough exterior, are the nicest people you can meet.
Detroit has many pocket-sized music venues, and the Sanctuary is one of the city’s favorites. Settled in the hamlet of Hamtramck, right next to Motor City, this bitsy concert hall is a spot where fans can experience their beloved bands in a comfortable and intimate setting. Death Metal virtuosos, Vader are on the prowl in North America for their 40th Anniversary, and they brought their Revelation of the Wicked tour to town. Along with Death Metal heavyweights, Krisiun and Decrepit Birth, this lineup came to the Sanc ready to delight and destroy.Continue reading
One of the most influential figures in the constantly evolving Indian metal scene, vocalist and guitarist Demonstealer (aka Sahil Makhija) is probably best known for fronting progressive technical death metal act Demonic Resurrection. Since 2000, Makhija has been integral to the growth and development of a metal scene in a country not exactly renowned for its metallic input. Not just via his music and the establishment of India’s first designated metal recording studio, a record label (Demonstealer Records), and metal-centric festival (Resurrection Festival), but by creating Headbanger’s Kitchen, the world’s first heavy metal cookery show. Because why not.
It seems to be an increasingly common event in today’s turbulent music scene that bands see departures in their ranks; whether this subsequently derails the band completely or becomes a benefit. For Entheos, it is firmly a case of the latter. Stripping to a two-piece consisting of vocalist Chaney Crabb and multi-instrumentalist Navene Koperweis, the pair have been able to write with less compromise and more focus on their own vision. The result of which, Time Will Take Us All (Metal Blade), certainly feels like fine-tuned creative pairing is a strong step up.