All That Remains have really stuck their necks out here.
My strongest music-related belief is that bands and artists should be allowed to play whatever the hell they like. Without the concept of creative freedom, music’s history would be very dull indeed. We’d probably still be banging rocks with sticks, or humming along to bone flute quartets, and there would be no rock ‘n’ roll, no Read more…
We live in a divided world. Conflict is common, and even the smallest things can spark it off. Unity and respect are relatively rare.
With their new album You Are We, While She Sleeps are working to balance things out. Funded by fans via PledgeMusic, You Are We sees While She Sleeps push further in the experimental groove metal direction established on 2015’s Brainwashed. Metalcore remains at the core of While She Sleeps’ sound, but You Are We was recorded in a self-built Sheffield studio – and the resulting sense of newfound independence and freedom permeates every Read more…
Falling In Reverse have always been a divisive but diverse band. Everything they release leads to a massive debate about which parts are good, and which parts are bad. Even after five or six years, a general consensus has not been reached.
Having already experimented with emo, metalcore, hip-hop, and electronica, Falling In Reverse continue to expand their comfort zone on Coming Home. The opening title track is a bar-setting start, bringing in parts of 30 Seconds To Mars, Muse, and Angels And Airwaves. Driven by dirty, heavy synths and absolutely going for it, it is Read more…
As a long-time Plini and Steve Vai fan, this interview threw up an extremely exciting idea. Backstage at legendary London rock venue The Borderline, we got chatting about broken ukeleles, clean section circle pits, and that incredible plan…
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A lot of people think prog is cold and soulless – but Plini’s show on Sunday night was one of the most heartwarming shows I’ve seen in a long time. Some parts of the world are dark and hateful places – but The Borderline was not one of them.
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With a sold-out queue stretching around the corner and down the street, it goes without saying that Sunday night’s lineup was pretty special. Although I had heard of David Maxim Micic and Disperse before, I deliberately didn’t do any research on them before the show, because I wanted to be surprised by what they had to offer. Instead of being surprised Read more…
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Belgian math-metallers BEAR have made a name for themselves as Europe’s answer to The Dillinger Escape Plan.
With Dillinger set to split before the end of the year, the race is on to crown the new kings of mathcore. BEAR have already proven themselves as worthy contenders, and /// carves that fact in stone.
BEAR’s list of influences runs longer than just one band Read more…
Back in 2011, French progressive metallers Uneven Structure released Februus – a landmark album for the much-maligned genre, djent. Combining a wide range of influences from TesseracT to Karnivool and, of course, Meshuggah, Februus still stands the test of time six years later. Now Uneven Structure are back with La Partition, which marks another career milestone and is, frankly, fucking epic.
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La Partition is a real step up from Februus. Read more…
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In any saturated genre, you need a band to pop up and stir the pot from time to time, or you risk facing the inevitable downward drag of too much unchallenged mediocrity. Since Ion Dissonance and Animals As Leaders put out Cast The First Stone and The Madness Of Many back in November, I’ve not heard a lot of exciting new tech-metal – but now that Valentine’s Day is on the horizon, I’ve wound up falling in love with an album you need to get on the moment it sees the light of day.
Ghost Iris’s Blind World drops via Long Branch Records on February 17, and it is so fucking full of some of the best riffs I’ve ever heard, I can barely even believe it. I’m deadly serious, serious-as-cancer serious, so I’ll even repeat that bold but easily backed up statement.
Some of the best riffs I’ve ever heard.
Ever Read more…
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Metal is all about questioning, challenging, and ultimately overcoming limits. Listeners tend to find themselves drawn into heavier and less orthodox territory as they become acclimatised to the styles they already know. Meanwhile, metal musicians today are forced to expand their horizons or risk stagnating, boring themselves and ultimately succumbing to some formulaic approach that might please traditionalists, but few others.
The title of Once Human’s sophomore album – Evolution – is well-chosen. It sums up Read more…
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Just as you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, you shouldn’t judge a band by its name. When I first heard of Ocean Grove, I expected them to be a pop-punk outfit, a happy-go-lucky group of charming cheeky chaps writing songs about looking back nostalgically at teenage years full of good times, sunshine, girl problems, and probably either surfing or skating.
But, of course, expectations don’t always equal Read more…