Welcome metalheads! It’s Hump Day Metal Day and I’ve got a big steaming pile of metal to dump on you! Our inbox has been piling up with awesome so it’s high time I blaze through a bunch of it to get it out to all of you. Hold on to your seats this is gonna be one hell of a roller coaster ride…
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Similar to Cult's No BS segment this week this one is quite a mixed back of metal covering a large swath of genres. Why? Because a like a wide variety of metal! Open your mind and prepare for a large dose of awesome!
Bound By Fate – Steadfast
Label: Independent
From: Cleveland, OH
For Fans Of: Pantera, Throwdown, Agnostic Front
Label: Independent
From: Cleveland, OH
For Fans Of: Pantera, Throwdown, Agnostic Front
Ever wonder what would happen if you tossed Pantera in a blender with Agnostic Front? Honestly, I hadn’t either but then I listened to Bound By Fate and that’s exactly what came to mind. At times the music leans to the groove thrash of Pantera and other times it’s a straightforward bull through a china shop hardcore ala Agnostic Front or early DRI. Dan Cameron’s vocals are equally riding that same roller coaster varying from Rob Flynn-esque to more Roger Miret (Agnostic Front) channeling Dave Peters (Throwdown). Perhaps Bound By Fate are trying to create their own genre “Groovy Hardcore” to add to the ever lengthening pointless list. It’s all fucking metal, period. I saw a review of this album recently (I won’t shame the publication) that whined about a lack of solos and that Steadfast falls a little flat due to that absence. Now I love a good fucking solo but solos are not a necessary item and a huge detractor if they’re done poorly. I didn’t find Steadfast sub-par due to a lack of guitar wankery, in fact, I didn’t find it lacking at all. Bound By Fate are a band still developing their sound so I look forward to that development in future releases, for now I can hear a lot of their influences shining through and since I happen to like those influences I much enjoyed this album or is it Ep? 7 songs, call it what you will just know that you’ll have fun spinning it!
3 out of 5 Zombie Horns Up!
Raum Kingdom – Self Titled Ep
Label: Independent
From: Louth/Dublin, Ireland
For Fans of: Cult of Luna, Deftones, Tool
Label: Independent
From: Louth/Dublin, Ireland
For Fans of: Cult of Luna, Deftones, Tool
I’ll just go ahead and spoil this one right from the get go… I fucking love this EP! I’ve mentioned a few times (ok probably a few hundred) that I’m a huge Tool fan, what I haven’t mentioned is that I also love Cult of Luna’s last album, Vertikal, namely the track Passing Through. This EP from Raum Kingdom which is my first time hearing the band (or was, I’ve been spinning this one a lot the past week) sounds like Tool pretending they’re Cult of Luna playing variations on a theme, that theme being Passing Through. In other words I loved this short (too damn short) EP before I finished listening to the first song, Wounds, and it just doesn’t get weaker at any point. This self-titled EP from Raum Kingdom is raw, emotional, dark, brooding and all around excellent. If you’re not thoroughly in love with this one by the end of the first track then this one isn’t for you because it only gets darker and more powerful from there. Also it’s rare I hear some awesome metal coming out of Ireland (I’m half Irish by the way) so for me that’s just the dark chocolate frosting on an ultra-dark chocolate cake.
All 5 Zombie Horns Raised High!
Hot Flow Anomally – 1
Label: Independent
From: Carlisle, UK
For Fans of: Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Rainbow
Label: Independent
From: Carlisle, UK
For Fans of: Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Rainbow
Full disclosure on this one, I was sent this one after some back and forth with guitarist/vocalist Tom Adams so think me biased if you will but I do only give my honest opinions here regardless of how I come across the music I share. Hot Flow Anomally are a little different than the brutal metal we generally share being more on the Heavy Metal origins side of things. Now for any youngsters out there you may think to yourself, “What the hell is this?” For me at 40 plus this is a throwback to my youth and by youth I mean my pre-teen years. Admittedly I got into metal pretty early but my first tastes were things like Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Rainbow or even Steppenwolf and HFA, to me, bring me back to those early days and happily so. If you’re a fan of the aforementioned bands or others like Mountain, Foghat or Blue Oyster Cult then prepare to be damn happy. This is what Time-Life would call “guitar rock” (whatever the fuck that means) on those late night infomercials you may have seen. HFA remind me of sunny summer days playing outside with my little radio/cassette player in the window blasting out what you little whippersnappers would call “Classic Rock.” Now crank this one up then get the hell off my lawn!
4 Zombie Horns out of 5
Lockersludge – Drawing Lessons EP
Label: Independent
From: Teignmouth,UK
For Fans of: Cro-Mags, Sick Of It All, Discharge
Label: Independent
From: Teignmouth,UK
For Fans of: Cro-Mags, Sick Of It All, Discharge
Here’s another completed unsolicited album (EP) that dropped into The Scribblers inbox recently and I have to say the bandcamp tags are a little misleading (not a complaint really all bands do this) with the exception of the “hardcore” tag. Listening to this EP I had to rack my old brain for some long lost hardcore memories to place their sound and finally thanks to the lovely internet and a few shreds of memory (I still have a brain cell or two spinning around in there!) I was able to put my finger on it at long last. I wasn’t a huge hardcore fan in my youth (admittedly it’s still hit & miss with me) but I knew some of the bigger names like Agnostic Front, Cro-Mags, even early Corrosion of Conformity but none of those were what I was thinking, then finally I came across Discharge, an early 80s hardcore band from England and Eureka! That’s it! So if you were into early era hardcore ala the bands mentioned then Lockersludge is going to be right up your alley. These are all bands for me that honestly I didn’t like at the time but I’ve found an appreciation for now as my taste has expanded through the years. A little lesson for you kids, what you hate today you may love tomorrow so if you don’t like something just Shut the Fuck Up because you may just end up loving it a few years later. Thanks for another little trip down memory lane Lockersludge!
3.5 out of 5 Zombie Horns Up!
Leave The Living – Pacifist
Label: Independent
From: Red Deer, Alberta, Canada
For Fans of: Vision of Disorder, Suicide Silence, Enabler
Label: Independent
From: Red Deer, Alberta, Canada
For Fans of: Vision of Disorder, Suicide Silence, Enabler
Don’t let the album title fool you on this one, Leave The Living bring a full out brutal metal assault that in no way will have you thinking of the word “pacifist” unless you scream along with the title track. LtL border heavy along the lines of “screamo” which generally sends me running away screaming but LtL never get to annoying territory at least for this Scribbler. The band very much remind me of Suicide Silence meets Vision of Disorder with a whole lot of musical chaos tossed in for good measure. If you’re a fan of Enabler as I have been (at least prior to the recent allegations from within the band, look it up if you want kids, it’s ugly) then you’re sure to like Leave The Living. This is the five piece’s sophomore effort and it’s pretty damn awesome. There are few bands in this vein that I even find listenable as most just go off the rails with too much chaos turning music into flat out noise but Leave the Living avoid that pitfall with controlled musical chaos ala Phillip H. Anselmo and the Illegals. Perhaps the most apt description of the band would be Mitch Luckner (RIP) and the Illegals. Maybe you’ll find it too chaotic but I think it’s pretty fucking awesome with some melody thrown in for good measure to break up all the chaos like on Open Sea. Curiosity kills cats not metalheads so crank it the fuck up!
4 Zombie Horns out of 5
Evilheart – Quinquaginta (Fifty)
Label: Independent
From: Culiacán, Sinaloa, México
For Fans of: Behemoth, Vader, Morbid Angel
Label: Independent
From: Culiacán, Sinaloa, México
For Fans of: Behemoth, Vader, Morbid Angel
Were you looking for the Mexican version of Behemoth? No? Well The Scribblers found it for you anyway! If you like your death metal of the blackened variety then look no further than Evilheart because you won’t find much better if you keep looking anyway. Last year Behemoth dropped a blackened death monster of an album in The Satanist and meanwhile somewhere along the way Evilheart dropped this gem harkening back to a little earlier Behemoth mixed with Morbid Angel (remember that death metal band that used to be fucking awesome? If anyone can figure out who’s in that band these days maybe they’ll be awesome once again.). Honestly outside of the title of the album itself you probably wouldn’t be able to guess Evilheart hail from well… just a few miles south of The Scribblers (Cult & Feind anyway). The musicianship is just killer on this one and in case you’re wondering yes, the songs are in English. If you need a good heavy dose of brutality then Evilheart is just what the doctor ordered. Blackened death isn’t generally my “thing” and I dig the shit out of this one so that should tell you how good it is. Crank it up just to piss off your nosy bitch of a neighbor! The album was also just re-released through Test Your Metal Records so be sure to get it while it’s hot!
Well metalhead friends that’ll do it for another edition of Fast and Furious. Perhaps I should’ve chosen another name since I really fucking hate those movies. Don’t try to convince me they’re any good, they’re fucking stupid but to each his own. I think pretty much no matter what brand of metal you’re into you’ll find something to enjoy in there today. I encourage you to listen to all of it and remember to toss all those damn genre labels out the fucking window other than to be descriptive when sharing with your metal friends. If I paid any attention to genre labels I never would have listened to half of what I just shared with you so keep an open mind and rock on people. Until next time… Feind OUT!! Hey Kids! Seriously, get off my fucking lawn!
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What do you think metalheads? Find a new favorite in there today? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
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