BRAINSTORM - WALL OF SKULLS

 

The pandemic threw a bit of a monkey wrench into the Germans' clockwork release schedule: basically every two years, a new studio effort. Luckily, the Midnight Ghost predecessor was the strongest Brainstorm platter in more than a decade (back to Liquid Monster, if you ask me) and while they couldn't completely capitalize on the good fortune, in terms of live appearances, the time off proved to be a two-pronged victory. One, it gave them "extra" time to write a worthy follow-up and people got to enjoy Midnight Ghost "longer" than they might have, normally, which seems to have earned the 30 year old outfit a new respect, at home, as well as on the global stage. About time!

Following the "Chamber 13" intro, "Where Ravens Fly" is a strong calling card (perhaps why it was an early video/single), announcing that Brainstorm mean business. A couple of local guests stars should see more eyes/ears focused in their direction. Teutonic mainstay Peavy Wagner (Rage) adds his gruff vocal counterpoint to the initial pre-release single/video "Escape The Silence" and Orden Ogan frontman Seeb Levermann contributes to one of the heavy hitters: "Turn Off The Light", as they recorded at his studio. Is there a better surname for a music producer, given all the knobs on the mixing desk? Seemingly lifting a slice off Judas Priest's Painkiller, said tune is a ripper and offers a short vocal duet between Andy B Franck and Seeb. Back-to-back beat down!

Throughout their discography, the band's bread & butter has been the clickety-clack mid-tempo traditional / power metal riff, with Franck's impressive vocals over top. There's plenty of the high caliber trademark Brainstorm herein, but Wall Of Skulls ups the ante, courtesy of the guitar tandem of Todde Ihlenfeld and Milan Loncaric, via a heavier/more brutal soundscape on the aforementioned, as well as "Stigmatized (Shadows Fall)", frenetic begun and constant drum bashing "My Dystopia" and galloping "Cold Embrace" (a bonus on the Limited Edition, which features a 13 song, live Blu-Ray from their streamed gig, earlier this year, where "Escape The Silence" was debuted). That's not to imply it's all speed, all the time. It's not and "Glory Disappears" is the heartfelt sing-along that goes down so well on the European festival circuit, even ending a cappella.



Longtime fans will certainly put Skulls at/near the top of the Best of 2021 lists. More importantly, those that previously overlooked (how?) the band, or felt they needed more crunch, should re-investigate ASAP.

GALVANIZER - PRYING SIGHT OF IMPERCEPTION

 

Finnish death/grinders Galvanizer are back with their second full-length, and I love the vibe they're throwing down, caveman-ish DM but also with some grind smarts. The production is suitably ugly (love the snare sound, inconsistent and natural: beautiful), and the feeling behind this is very Earache '90, but the grindier side of that wonderful sound.

“Servants Of The Scourge”, for example, is some serious Harmony Corruption-era Napalm Death worship, and “The Inexorable” shows a good grasp of songwriting dynamics, proving there is more than initially meets the eye here. “Ground Above” is one d-beat away from launching into Terrorizer's “Dead Shall Rise”, which, of course, means it totally rules. Closer “Of Flesh Unknown” has the perfect come-down epic ending, closing the album off with a sense of, man, something just happened here. I love that the grind never gets too tech, or even too fast; nothing is blinding lightning speed or over-labyrinthine—everything is suitable to crush beers to, with more energy than your average Floridian DM platter thanks to the wild blasting throughout.



Man, it all sounds so simple yet Galvanizer have tapped into a sound here that you just don't actually hear that often in 2021, even if you listen to death metal and grindcore all day long. Prying Sight Of Imperception is the Terrorizer record that Terrorizer can never seem to make, which is a huge compliment for a band as young as this

INGROWN - GUN

 

Boise, Idaho's Ingrown are getting things done on their debut, Gun. That cover art reeks of early '00s old-dog thrash band reuniting, but the tunes are much better, the band hitting hard and fast right out of the gate on awesome opener “Bad Luck”. Love the washes of feedback, the thick production, the fast hardcore and metallic chaos.

The band lay down NYHC groove too, end result on songs like rager “Waste” being something somewhere between Wolverine Blues-era Entombed, Converge's more straight-up hardcore songs, His Hero Is Gone b-sides, and Sick of It All's most pit-inducing moments. And good lord is that hitting the spot right now, even when things almost get too meathead, they're just fucking perfect, because, hey, we're all a bit meathead at the end of the day, I suppose. I love how they don't waste time: when they drop into a breakdown groove in “Fool”, you kinda think things are gearing up for a big one, then the song just ends after they do it a couple times. I mean, cool, that works for me, why belabour things? The title track's sludge and feedback could find this band opening for Eyehategod just fine thank you very much, and “Snake Stomp” could find them opening for Biohazard... or Napalm Death.



Closer “Their Plan” is frantic and fast punk, a perfect way to end this off. So, look, everything works here, the band raging through a ton of songs in no time flat, Gun serving as a fantastic opening statement of intent for a band that is, really, kinda finding their own sound even if it's made up of a bunch of familiar (and awesome) ones.

NITA STRAUSS TO PERFORM ENTRANCE THEME FOR PRO BOXER MIKAELA MAYER

 

What an absolute honor to be a part of this," begins guitarist Nita Strauss (Alice Cooper).


"Mikaela Mayer and I were band mates in our very first touring band together... all those stories you’ve heard me tell about the early days on the road, we were there in the trenches together! Mikaela went on to find combat sports and become a USA Olympian, the first female to headline a Top Rank Boxing ESPN main event, and an incredible, undefeated pro boxer.

Friday night (November 5) she takes on Maiva Hamadouche to unify the women’s title belts, and we have something EPIC planned for her walk out song.

Tune in to ESPN Friday night to watch this badass babe do what she does best. THANK YOU Mikaela and Top Rank Boxing for having me! I’ll hype em up… you knock em down."

BLACK VEIL BRIDES – “THERE’S A POINT OF PRIDE IN BEING DIFFERENT”

 

Black Veil Brides offered up “Scarlett Cross” as the first taste of their impending sixth album, The Phantom Tomorrow, nearly a full year ago on November 13, 2020. Now, on October 29, 2021, the elaborate and intriguing concept album, based upon characters created by vocalist Andy Biersack, will finally be released via Sumerian Records.

“Truth be told, the record wasn’t complete when we released that single and video,” begins Andy. “We were in a position where we knew we couldn’t tour (because of the pandemic), and we were excited about where this record was going. We were in the finishing stages, but we still had some writing to do. We felt like, let’s get something out there and introduce this world that we’re building. Because now we have the course of this next year to further flesh it out and do additional music videos. And to get what we thought was a pretty detail-oriented vision across to our fans.”



The video for “Scarlet Cross” has been viewed over eight million times in just under a year on YouTube. “We feel extremely fortunate to be 11+ years into our career as a band that people know about. To still have that level of support, and people who are so dedicated… this tour that we’re on right now (in The United States), we’re playing bigger venues than we’ve ever played; it’s a pretty humbling experience to know that, regardless of anything else, the audience for the band has grown over the years.”




The lyric, “The world will stain us with a scarlet cross,” immediately brought Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel from 1850, The Scarlet Letter, to mind. “I was always really interested in the branding idea,” admits Andy. “There’s something about you that is innately and societally unclean, or different, or wrong, and making sure that everyone can see that, and how f*cked up and bizarre that is. But also, culturally, the way we are nowadays, there’s a point of pride in being different that didn’t exist when Hawthorne was writing that book. The idea that the things about us that are seen as less than or off-putting, are so much more celebrated now. I wanted to be able to speak to the idea that, regardless of what anybody else thinks, the person you are, the aspirations you have, and who you want to be, both from an interior and exterior perspective are the most important thing.”

It was a long time ago when that book was published, and the world has certainly changed since then. “Absolutely. In some ways for the better, and some ways worse. We live in a world right now where things are changing so quickly and evolving so rapidly. For me, as a lyricist, to try and take some moment that I’m seeing as the world unfolded into what it did over the course of 2020, and mirror it through the song, I think that is, as an artist on any level, something that you always aspire to be – a channel for things that you’re experiencing and turn them into escapism for people.”

Biersack is blending reality with a fictional element, by creating a concept and characters that are new to all of us. The Blackbird is depicted on the cover of the album, but who is this mysterious individual? “Well, in our story of the record, it’s not known. Within the context of the album, it’s about this kind of, almost a legend. This idea that there’s this character, that in death, someone who is innately flawed, or morally kind of ambiguous is… their penance in the afterlife is to be the savior of the people, kind of an unwilling savior. I always liked the idea of developing a story where a hero is not born of trying to right a wrong. But rather righting a wrong, or being a hero is something that you must do. And to learn to be empathetic. The whole idea is to try – for all of us – you try to be less of a piece of shit than you were the day before. For all of us, it’s a journey to try to be a better person. Inevitably, there are some people where that is not the case. But for most of us, we want to try to be a better person through life. So, I like the idea of making some sort of almost pseudo-religious parable about the idea of being good to one another, and the afterlife. As we go through the course of the comic book, we reveal that the character’s name is Dennis Kane. He’s this scientist who’s obsessed with his work, and is doing some questionable things, and doesn’t care who he hurts. Ultimately, he is killed for it and that has him become this character.” The Phantom Tomorrow comic book series, published under Incendium’s music-focused Opus imprint, “is going to be six issues, broken into like a trade paperback. There’s a Blackbird action figure, t-shirts, all kinds of goodies,” confirms Andy.

Entrevista MORTAL VISION

 

Quando o sepultura se separou anos atrás uma lacula foi deixada , em 2020 tivemos a volta de Gairo guedes com o the troops of doom que trouxe aquela magia do anos 80 ,hoje com muito orgulho trago uma das revelações do thrash metal sem duvidas o Mortal Vision nos brinda com a fase epica do SEPULTURA.a banda acaba de lançar seu full album mind manilupation que está ganhando o mundo com seu som pesado viceral e destruidor .radicado NA UKRANIA O MORTAL VISION E UM DOS NOVOS NOMES DO METAL MUNDIAL ..batemos um papo com a banda confiram abaixo..

Por alexx





1) COMO FOI O INÍCIO DA MORTAL VISION?
1. Nos reunimos para fazer um cover de algumas músicas em 2019 e, depois de um tempo, começamos a escrever nosso próprio material. Esses fatores nos trouxeram à Visão Mortal.

2) COMO É O PROCESSO DE GRAVAÇÃO E COMPOSIÇÃO DA BANDA?


Inicialmente, durante o ensaio ou apenas sentado em casa com um violão nas mãos, as ideias para músicas surgem lentamente durante a execução em si. Quando existem algumas práticas, tentamos colocá-las juntas, então temos o chamado "esqueleto da música". Com o tempo, a composição é enriquecida com novos detalhes, momentos legais. Tudo isso é organizado ao longo de uma cadeia lógica, e a música adquire uma forma completa e adequada para gravação.


3) A BANDA LANÇADO O EP Madness Of Messiah COM UM SOM
ONDE FOI GRAVADO?


Madness of Messiah foi gravado em nosso estúdio onde estamos ensaiando, durante vários dias.




4) QUAIS SÃO AS INFLUÊNCIAS DA BANDA?


Ouvimos muitas bandas e gêneros diferentes, não se limitando aos anos 80. Se dissermos qual foi sua inspiração ao criar o grupo, então estes são (é claro) Sepultura, Obituaty antigo, Morbid Angel Kreator, muito death metal do final dos anos 80 e início dos anos 90, muito hardcore (que, por exemplo, pode ser claramente rastreado em alguns momentos de Ódio Eterno), por exemplo, Cro-Mags e Leeway.






6) A banda é baseada na UCRÂNIA. COMO ESTÁ A CENA METÁLICA NO SEU PAÍS?
A cena do metal na Ucrânia pertence ao underground, existem muitas bandas boas de quem somos amigos e tocamos juntos em eventos locais.


7) QUAL A FORMAÇÃO DA BANDA ATUAL?


Por enquanto, nossa formação é:
Eugene Zakharchenko - Bateria
Ivan Dyshlyuk - Guitarra / Vox
Andrey Gayduk - Guitarra solo
Ivan Gorbatyuk - baixo


links
https://www.instagram.com/_mortalvision

O GUITARRISTA JASON HOOK (EX-FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH) ESTÁ PROCURANDO O CANTOR “CERTO” PARA SUA NOVA BANDA

 

O ex- guitarrista do FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH , Jason Hook, falou no podcast “Making Waves” sobre seu novo projeto para o qual ele tem escrito músicas nos últimos dois anos. Ele disse: “Essa foi a única agenda que eu tive, realmente, desde que deixei o DEATH PUNCH . Ainda estou trabalhando com a mesma equipe de pessoas na [gravadora] Better Noise [ Music ] e [empresa de gestão] Tenth Street. Eu simplesmente comecei a trabalhar escrevendo canções. Eu tenho 30, 35 músicas. E eles ouviram muito do material e estão animados com isso. O que estou travando é que recebi muitos cantores e estou tentando ser paciente para escolher o cara certo. Eles estavam, tipo, ‘Não tenha pressa para escolher seu cantor. Certifique-se de encontrar o cara certo. ‘ E eu não discordo disso porque realmente é o elemento decisivo. Portanto, essa é a principal prioridade agora. “


Ele continuou: “Fiz meu trabalho. Tenho todo o material preparado; algumas são canções completas, outras são apenas música. Mas eu realmente quero encontrar um co-escritor, um parceiro, alguém com quem eu tenha essa química e que estamos ambos na mesma página musicalmente. Eu tenho a facilidade. Esse é o único elemento que falta. “

Questionado sobre que tipo de cantor ele está procurando, Hook disse: “Eu gosto de música pesada, mas também gosto de música melódica. E acho que essa é uma das coisas que o [ cantor do FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH ] Ivan Moody foi fantástico, é que ele vende suas letras, ele pode cantar muito bem e pode ficar pesado, mas você ainda pode decifrar o que ele está falando; você pode seguir o enredo. Não é como aquele gutural [vocal estilo death metal]; você pode realmente entender o que ele está dizendo mesmo quando está cantando com sua voz pesada. E Ivan Moodys não cresce apenas nas árvores [ risos ], é difícil de encontrar.”

“Gosto de caras como Dave Grohl “, acrescentou. “Eu certamente gosto de Corey Taylor . Eu sempre amei a voz de Adam Gontier , de THREE DAYS GRACE; aqueles primeiros registros e o poder e a firmeza de sua voz. Mas o mais importante, estou apenas procurando alguém que tenha algo acima e além, algo que é mágico. Há muitos caras bons lá fora – eu certamente os tive aqui – mas estou procurando por algo que seja mágico, não apenas bom. “


Hook continuou dizendo que ele não está tentando simplesmente lançar outra versão de sua banda anterior. “Não estou necessariamente procurando recriar FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH “, disse ele. “Essa banda é uma anomalia, e eu acho que seria tolice tentar cloná-lo. A música terá sons e elementos familiares do que como eles soam , mas isso é só porque eu tinha uma mão bastante decente em escrever essa música. Então, é inevitável que eu me leve até aqui, e isso vai ter alguma familiaridade, obviamente. Mas no que diz respeito a um cantor, é como quando Tom Morello encontrou Chris Cornell , você tem dois caras que são extremamente bons em seu papel; que estava destinado a ter sucesso. Agora, teve Sammy Hagar , eles tiveram muita sorte porque funcionou. Mas quando eles pegaram Gary Cherone – não foi tão legal. “

https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=external&v=402107381458701

Em outubro de 2020, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH confirmou que havia oficialmente se separado do Hook oito meses antes, durante a esgotada turnê europeia da banda. Ele foi substituído pelo renomado virtuoso britânico Andy James , que participa de “Broken World” , uma canção incluída na segunda parcela da coleção de maiores sucessos de FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH , “A Decade Of Destruction – Volume 2 “ .

Após sua recuperação de uma cirurgia de emergência na vesícula biliar no final de 2019, Hook teve que sair no meio do caminho da viagem do grupo pela Europa para lidar com outras complicações.




Jason , que se juntou ao FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH em 2009, disse sobre sua saída da banda: “Quanto ao motivo de eu estar saindo … bem, realmente não há apenas um. Estive em bandas minha vida inteira e eu sinto que fiz todo o bem que posso aqui. É hora de passar o bastão e seguir em frente para novos desafios. “