“I enjoy discovering metal bands from the different corners of the world, beyond the usual hot spots, often leading to exotic and tasty finds. However, for no particular reason, the Indian metal scene has remained largely a mystery to me. Last year, unheralded Indian band Kryptos released the ragingly impressive Burn up the Night, certainly making a big enough impression to alert me to the potentially hidden wonders of the wider Indian metal scene.” Crouching thrasher, hidden bullet belt.
“2015’s Courting the Widow by the dandyish Nad Sylvan was a sadly overlooked little gem. It’s one of my favorite prog releases in recent years and was perhaps unfortunate to miss out on my 2015 list. It featured accomplished prog in the vein of the ’70s but most importantly had a charming joviality and insincerity which made it a genuine pleasure to hear. I was therefore only too happy to find that a sequel was primed for release called The Bride Said No.” Nad’s back!
“Self-proclaiming their music as ‘southern progressive metal’ sounds interesting on paper, bringing up imaginative scenarios, such as combining a dose of burly Down-styled metal with the adventure and bombast of prog. A number of similar scenarios whipped through my brain before settling in to jam Before a Human Path.” When prog-metal goes south.
“Though I live in quasi-bear country, I had no idea “bear mace” was a thing until I started researching Bear Mace (the band). While I know encounters with real-life Pooh bears are no laughing matter, there’s something comical about whipping out a can of bear mace to fend off a charging Grizzly. I mean, seriously, what are the odds that everything is going to end well?” You have the bear minimum chance of success.
“Primal Attack play thrashy melodic death in the vein of The Haunted but run it through an ‘actually any good’ era Machine Head filter. There’s also a strong Pantera presence in the ‘fuck you’ attitude.” Put on your beater and strap on the heater.
“Collaborations between metal artists are quite common. The amount of “supergroups,” like Phil Anselmo’s own Down, can attest to that. Less common are collaborations between metal artists and people outside of metal. Sometimes these are successful, like when Anthrax teamed up with Public Enemy for “Bring the Noise.” Other times you get Lulu.” The South will writhe again.
“It was noted in the comments that there’s been a lot of negativity around here lately. That’s not false: 2016 has suffered the runs worse than a 3rd grade recorder recital that accidentally hit the brown note. Whether that’s due to an outflow of compelling material, the recent infestation of scrubs (That’s Dr. Scrvb to you), or just something in the water at AMG Inc., the readership can only take so much aspersion. I swore I wouldn’t embrace the misery. If Re-Armed could generate a lick of positivity from their hyphenated frames, I was going to find it.” In every cloud there’s a silver lemming.
“Imminent Sonic Destruction like to call themselves progressive super metal. The brainchild of sweater-vest lover (and songwriter/guitarist/vocalist) Tony Piccoli, this group of prog-loving pals could more accurately be referred to as playing kitchen sink metal. As in, everything-but-the. And with influences ranging from Pantera to Dream Theater to Meshuggah to Genesis, that’s a pretty apt term.” You never go full Dream Theater!
“Pete Helmkamp’s varied projects over the years have one special unifying quality: there is something unsettling about them all that transcends music and hits the core of your being, reminding you that the world is an immaculately fucked up place and our tenure on it is tentative at best. Larvae Offal Swine, the debut album under the moniker Abhomine, is Helmkamp’s first true solo effort in which he wrote and performed all of the music with the exception of the drums. How does this nigh legendary extreme metal front man stand when on his own?” Offal before swine?
“Pantera gets a bad rap these days. It’s understandable — their redneck/confederate shtick has made them look ignorant and racist in retrospect, an image that certain former members are not doing a whole lot to improve. Musically speaking, Pantera have influenced entire generations of bands that are fucking terrible, tarnishing their legacy even further. But back in The Day, Pantera were nothing less than gods to us young headbangers; the heaviest thing short of death metal, and certainly a gateway drug to more extreme subgenres.” Cowboy up!
