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tthe good the bad the unsigned VII |
THE GOOD THE BAD THE UNSIGNED 5
Shroud Eater, From Exile, Portall, Al-Thawra, etc...
GOLD by JUSTIN GODFREY
From The Abominable Iron Sloth.
THE GOOD THE BAD THE UNSIGNED 4
Inswarm, Batillus, Final Redemption, Dirt Worshipper & More.
LIVING THE DREAM
by Jucifer's Gazelle Amber Valentine.
AGONIA RECORDS
Impiety, Aosoth, Temple of Baal, Inferno & More.
NOTES FROM NYC'S SCENE
By Flourishing's Garett Bussanick.
IT'S A 7 INCH EXTRAVAGANZA 2
Sons of Tonatiuh, Nazi Dust, Fetus Eaters, Lighthouse Project & More.
EXCERPT #1 "THE GREASE"
From a Book by Jucifer's Gazelle Amber Valentine.
THE GOOD THE BAD THE UNSIGNED 3
Of Legend, No Pity, Isthmus, El Supremo & More.
A JOYFUL NIGHT WITH THE MORIBUND CULT 2
Merrimack, Hiems, Dodsferd, Canis Dirus & More.
TALES FROM THE CUTOUT BIN XIV
Undercroft, Rademassaker, Bitch & More.
METAL REISSUES GALORE XVI
Arckanum, Realm, Brutality, Amen & More.
MILLIONS
Chicago Scene Report.
A JOYFUL NIGHT WITH
THE MORIBUND CULT
Dodsferd, I Shalt Become, Horna, Azaghal, Necronoclast & More.
TALES FROM THE
CUTOUT BIN XI
The Hidden Hand, Wurdulak, Gobblehoof, Insult II Injury, Master & More. |
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THE GOOD THE BAD THE UNSIGNED 7 |
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Here we are with the seventh installment of The Good The Bad The Unsigned. Once again, I have ran out of kinda inventive things to use as an introduction. But Anyway, here are a few more unsigned acts. Actually, at least two of these bands already have signed with labels. They deserve it. Others that may not deserve it are probably on the verge of getting signed. The world is an unfair place. Fuck the world. Read on and spread the word...
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English quintet Rise of Raphia go hectic on our asses in this very professional sounding EP. It is titled Cloaca and it should satisfy the new generation, the kids in search for the screamo types and the spastic epileptics. I am not a fan of either type, but these guys have some chops. Sure, the songs are too crazed for their own good, but were we to slice each passage and to stretch them into one minute soundbytes we could have something. Or everything. From nu metal overtones to bursts of grind and enough juxtapositions to confuse Confucious. Cloaca was mastered by Alan Douches, an expert who has worked with plenty of mainstream artists and if he is responsible for the crispiness of this release, then I can see why he is so popular. MySpace |
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The first song on this Ep is titled “You Were Really Pretty Until You Opened Your Mouth”. Mmmhh, not so subtle, nor nice. Especially considering that Breaking the Fourth Wall thank first and foremost God and 'his only son Jesus Christ' in the liner notes. The fifth song gets even more conservative and traditional on our asses. It is titled “New Wave Feminism Destroyed Old Fashioned Family Values” and is bound to raise the ire of all the ladies who get to this recording. It is also one of the dumbest song titles I have ever seen. Unless, of course, they are kidding and like a good laugh at the expense of others. Or they are just being sarcastic. This band argues that their music is entirely original and that cannot be compared to that of any band. I have my doubts though. Breaking the Fourth Wall play some shitty hybrid of punk and metal. It is very angular and un-harmonic. The vocals are generally screamed but also go hush hush a la Chino Moreno for a change and yeah, the guitars sound rather weak. Boring. Very boring. MySpace |
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The good folks of The Green Evening Requiem (pictured above) have big plans for their band. They want to cover a myriad of hard genres and they don’t want to be shy about it. The difference between them and the rest of aspiring want-it-all metalheads is that they have the talent and the chops. Bastards of Atlas, their first full length after three demos and a split with Aperion, was released independently by the band in 2009 and it shows vast expertise in genres that go from black metal, to doom metal, classic heavy metal and even a bit of classic rock. For a couple of minutes there on “If Ever So” I thought I was listening to an updated incarnation of Deep Purple. If only Ian Gillan was into black metal and Ritchie Blackmore adored Satan instead of fairies. The craftsmanship is impeccable, as the songs flow and the spiced up changes don’t trample each other in erratic fashion. The Green Evening Requiem is a trio comprised of seasoned musicians from the Philadelphia scene, two of them are also part of Wood of Ypres and three of them are part or have collaborated with Woe. The recording could have had more punch and more edge but as it is, Bastards of Metal was good enough to get the band a deal with Anthropic Records. Also submitted was their 2005 demo which contains close to one hour of music. That’s a bit long but the songwriting is just as solid and the recording actually has a slightly rawer feel which I dig a great deal. The band goes a bit too Pink Floyd-ish in a couple of cuts (“Atlantis in Wintyer”), indulging in clean passages of vocal clarity that stretch the band’s range a bit too much but for the most part this demo shows that The Green Evening Requiem rocked from the start. Official Site
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I haven’t enjoyed metal this melodic in aeons. These songs are classics. This is timeless traditional metal the way it is supposed to be. It was because of music like this that metal grew into a disease that would infect millions. High Spirits rule, but they could rule a little harder if only they had improved on the sound of this demo. What bugs me the most is the guitar sound. The heaviness sounds almost as if guitarists Mike Bushur and Scott Hoffman were using no effects and were playing just straight from the amp. It sucks because everything else is in place here. Especially the flashy solos which spit the right tones. In “Never Going Back” we are even reminded of Maiden’s awesome six string work of “Wasted Years”. High Spirits is formed by another bunch of seasoned musicians who have are part of groups like Züül, Nachtmystium, Pharaoh, Superchrist and Dawnbringer and this demo garnered them enough attention to get them a vinyl release through High Roller and a CD release through Cruz del Sur. Highly recommended. MySpace |
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The Sin Committee. The name sounds like they should be signed to Nuclear Blast or something. But they sound like they should be signed to Sensory records. This quartet from the Netherlands plays progessive metal with an aggressive edge that on counted occasions borders on death metal. The songs are heavy and their technique is flawless. Wisely, they don’t confuse themselves fingering innumerable notes and implementing pretzel logic to their metal. The music is very well-written. It retains that direct impact of good metal but adds some intelligence via their changes. However, beware fans of the growl and enemies of the clean voice. I admire both but when they get combined we usually get a shitfest. The clean vocals of Joris are nothing special. He is as good as most people who can intonate a song or feel like leading a power metal bunch through a European festival encore. His growls are OK too. Nothing special. The modern edge kind of polishes the rough edges I so love about metal. MySpace |
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Every time a band states that they play a combination of black and gothic metal I get a bit discouraged. I dig Bauhaus and shit, but the combination of both subgenres has rarely come without a bloating serving of cheese and hilarity. LA trio Arcane Asylum keep the music well-balanced. That is, it may elicit a chuckle but it won’t have you rolling on the floor like you just watched ten hours straight of Benny Hill. There is a lot of ambience to Echoing in Vacancy, which is performed in subtle and well-thought out manners. The last song “Eternal Dusk” for instance, has very little metal. Just some astral guitars in the back but for the most part has its beating heart in programming and viscous noise. The rest of the tracks, the rocking tracks, have a hard rock backbone and stay away from all matters of excess. Heavy guitars typically move mid tempo alongside myriad of sound effects and synth work. It is all crowned by creepy black metal vocals. MySpace |
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Grimus is a New Jersey quintet that plays brutal death metal with plenty of melodic Swedish death metal influences. Some have said metalcore. Maybe, I don’t know metalcore. I am not a huge fan of the work of bands like Job for a Cowboy and Suicide Silence and I know Grimus have drawn comparison to those acts. So we can establish some sonic parallels, there you are. What I can tell you about the work of this band is this much; The Progress in Elimination, their first work, is very brutal and it is also very melodic. Some bands go melodic and all of a sudden they lose their shit over the harmonies. Not in the case of Grimus. The vocals are deep guttural jabs, the riffs recoil in disgust and the solos are colorful as only a bunch of sickos from NJ can make. MySpace
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