If you want to get more information about any of the bands featured at The Metal Moose Show, simply Google the band and/or the song name to find their official website and Facebook page and, more important than that, attend their live concerts and buy their music. Here at The Headbanging Moose you can find detailed reviews of five of this week’s bands: American Progressive Symphonic Metal band Orisonata, British Electronic Rock band SouLost, German Technical Death Metal band Phobiatic, Finnish Raw Apocalyptic Black Metal band Endzeit and Italian Goth-Stoner-Doom Metal band Witches Of Doom (just click on the links below to read those reviews). Support your local bands… AND FOLLOW THE MOOSE!
On The Metal Moose Show this week (not necessarily in this order):
1. Chainfist – Know Your Hate
2. Torrid Complex – Moonshine
3. Zion Road – Ready To Begin
4. Parasite Inc – Time Tears Down
5. Arson City – Frankenstein
6. Up Against It – Eye For An Eye
7. Dying In Degrees – Cerebral
8. Symbolic – Living A Cold Lie
9. Seventh Calling – Battle Call
10. Andromeda Theory – Massacres Of The Fallen
11. King Shifter – Piece Of Mind
12. King Shifter – Pitch Black
13. Orisonata – Oath Breaker
14. SouLost – Bring You Down
15. Phobiatic – A Genius Of Manipulation
16. Endzeit – Hunger
17. Witches Of Doom – The Betrayal
18. Brea – Kicking Tree
19. Beauty In The Suffering – Reveille
20. Aesect – Snipe The Lamb
21. Deadtide – Anthem Of The Insomniac
22. Nailgun Massacre – Head On A Stick
Click HERE to listen to this week’s episode on Spreaker.
One of the most controversial heavy bands of all time strikes again with a very solid and aggressive tribute to their deceased bassist.
When American Alternative Metal band Slipknothelped put the city of Des Moines, Iowa, United States on the map in the end of the 90’s with their never-before-seen ruthless music, few people believed they would last longer than a couple of years due to several reasons, one of them being their too unorthodox approach, or in other words, they did not play “traditional” heavy music. Well, guess what? Even after all these years and all their countless internal issues, especially the painful death of bassist Paul Gray (R.I.P.) in 2010 and the departure of drummer Joey Jordison in the end of 2013, they’re still alive and more than capable of delivering some good heavy music, like what’s found in their brand new album .5: The Gray Chapter.
Although .5: The Gray Chapter, which by the way is the fifth studio album in the band’s career, the first in six long years and the first to not feature the two aforementioned members, is not as good as most of their previous releases, it’s still a very enjoyable and violent album that surpasses 75 minutes of music, with all those “special effects” only Slipknot can offer us. It sounds like a modern mix of the excellent Iowa and Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses), with all lyrics being even more wicked and controversial than before.
And there’s no better way to start a Slipknot album than with one of their trademarks, a dark and creepy intro this time named XIX, with beautiful words such as “This song is not for the living / This song is for the dead” setting up the tone for the ferocious Sarcastrophe, a song that begins as melancholic as the intro before turning into a mix of all Slipknot phases, sounding a lot like “Gematria (The Killing Name)”, especially the vocal lines and riffs (albeit a lot less complex), followed by the Thrash Metal riffs in AOV, which also follows the same musical pattern as in All Hope Is Gone.
I have no idea who the new/session drummer is, but he does a pretty decent job in songs like The Devil in I, where he provides the whole song an extra dose of violence even during its lighter parts, saving it from becoming too soft or too bland. The following track will generate lots of positive and negative reactions from the listeners: Killpop is one of those cases where Slipknot proves once again they know how to craft some cool semi-ballads, this time 100% focused on the vocal lines (both clean and harsh) by Corey Taylor, but many people will end up complaining it sounds too commercial. If you love it, simply enjoy this nice song, otherwise skip to Skeptic, a very old school Slipknot song, and everything you truly love in this band will be there for you, including riffs, drums and vocals, sounding a lot like their material from Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses). Besides, it seems to be one more explicit tribute to Paul Gray based on its sorrowful lyrics (“The world will never see another crazy motherfucker like you / The world will never know another man as amazing as you”).
Lech is one of those Slipknot songs you wait for during their performances to start jumping up and down like crazy when Corey gives the signal, with drums, percussion and guitar lines boosting its energy level, while Goodbye is just filler: I don’t know what they wanted to accomplish with this song, but it didn’t work at all, making it totally disposable. Then we have Nomadic, a good song with interesting breaks and chorus, nothing special but its Iowa-ish vibe keeps it far away from being boring, and The One That Kills the Least, which reminds me of some Stone Sour songs.
After all those highs and lows, it is the last part of the album what all diehard fans of Slipknot were truly waiting for, and it all begins with Custer, that type of sonic madness Slipknot feel really comfortable in playing. It’s a fuckin’ sick “party” full of weird electronic music effects, with a chorus that will drive fans crazy during their live performances (“Cut – Cut – Cut me up and Fuck – Fuck – Fuck me up / CUT – CUT – CUT ME UP AND FUCK – FUCK – FUCK ME UP!”). It’s the best song of the album, and it will sound absolutely amazing live, no doubt about that. The sinister intro Be Prepared for Hell works as an excellent warm-up for the “hell” that comes next, the disturbing The Negative One: it has that raw instrumental and direct sounding like their old classics, with highlights to the great job done by Sid Wilson and Craig “133” Jones in adding a lot of bizarreness to the song. Do I need to mention it’s another perfect option for some insane circle pits? The regular version of the album ends in a pretty weird way with If Rain Is What You Want, a song that’s a lot less metal and more alternative than any other track in .5 The Gray Chapter. And if you purchase the special edition of it you’ll also get two bonus songs that are relatively boring compared to the official album tracks: Override is just an average song, and The Burden focus too heavily on the atmosphere and forgets about the music itself.
You can take a listen to some or all of the tracks in .5 The Gray Chapter on Slipknot’s official YouTube channel, and also see them kicking ass live during their Knotfest dates. Love them or hate them, no matter how controversial they are, we all have to admit their music is unique and each member of the band deserves our recognition for being able to create such a solid, aggressive and entertaining album/tribute even after all the hell they have been through in recent years.
Best moments of the album:Skeptic, Custer and The Negative One.
Worst moments of the album:The Devil in I and Goodbye.
Released in 2014 Roadrunner Records
Track listing 1. XIX 3:10
2. Sarcastrophe 5:06
3. AOV 5:32
4. The Devil in I 5:42
5. Killpop 3:45
6. Skeptic 4:46
7. Lech 4:50
8. Goodbye 4:35
9. Nomadic 4:18
10. The One That Kills the Least 4:11
11. Custer 4:14
12. Be Prepared for Hell 1:57
13. The Negative One 5:25
14. If Rain Is What You Want 6:20
Special Edition bonus tracks 15. Override 5:37
16. The Burden 5:23
Band members* (#0) Sid Wilson – turntables
(#3) Chris Fehn – percussion, backing vocals
(#4) Jim Root – guitars, bass
(#5) Craig “133” Jones – sampling, keyboards
(#6) Shawn “Clown” Crahan – percussion, backing vocals
(#7) Mick Thomson – guitars, bass
(#8) Corey Taylor – vocals
*A new drummer is currently in the band but has not yet been named by the band, rumors circulate about his identity but so far no official statement has been made as to who it is.
A good option for fans of Melodic Death Metal who enjoy European harmony blended with North American violence.
Austrian Melodic Death Metal band Mandatory is one of those cases where harmony and brutality walk hand in hand with each other, creating an electrifying sound perfect for live performances, which by the way helped this Linz-based quintet win the International Live Award in 2011 in Austria. Now with Catharsis, the band’s second full-length album, those guys deliver a more melodic and technical Death Metal than their previous releases without sounding too commercial or generic.
Although Catharsis is quite different from the band’s 2009 debut album Carbon Black, it’s still very technical and heavy, recommended for both fans of Melodic Death Metal and the more modern heavy music from North America. Moreover, do not expect to listen to old school Death or Thrash Metal, as the sounding in the whole album is very polished and even progressive depending on the song, similar to what bands such as Arch Enemy are doing today. You can indeed expect lots of shredding, guttural and clean vocals mixed, and fast and technical blast beats.
The opening track, End of Watch, can be summarized as pure European Melodic Death Metal with hints of American Metalcore, with its double bass boosting the very melodic guttural vocals. Then we have Act I: Tragedy, the first of three “acts” (or whatever the band wanted those to be) where its excellent instrumental, clean vocals and motivational lyrics (“Embrace the Light within / Shatter the Sky / Your pain and misery / Will purify your mind”) give a good balance to the song; and the slower but heavier To the Streets, a modern Thrash Metal tune the likes of contemporary Metallica and A7X, with some intense riffs and an interesting guitar solo perfect for some headbanging.
Emperor has the most Metalcore rhythm of all songs, especially its guitar duos, with highlights to its very polished production (enhancing the sounding of all instruments) and the political message in its lyrics (“You aren’t machines / You are not chained / To these ambassadors / Of hatred fear and despise”); while the very enjoyable Act II: Catharsis begins with an intense low riff before turning into fast Melodic Death Metal. It even flirts with progressive metal due to all its breaks, variations and the excellent work done by both guitarists Chris Hörmann and Manuel “Mani” Rohrauer.
Shadowmaker is another good melodic and very progressive tune, albeit not as heavy as the rest of the album, with its guitar solos reminding me of some old stuff done by Dream Theater; followed by For the World to See, which gets back to Melodic Death Metal with its clean vocals being once again a nice touch to the overall musicality. Finally, we have Act III: Purification, the last of the three “acts”, another progressive/melodic heavy track with uprising lyrics (“Rise Up! / Liberate your wisdom / Rise Up! / Let the storm break loose”), and closing the album we have Blueprint, the most Thrash/Death Metal track of all with highlights to its technical and professional instrumental and the nice sound effects on the background. In addition, it might only be a coincidence, but the three “acts” (add also “End of Watch” to this list) are the best songs of the album by far in my opinion.
You can purchase Catharsis at Mandatory’s official BandCamp page, where the album comes as a special edition with lots of extra stuff, or also at Amazon, iTunes and other online stores. Go for it if you’re a fan of the most modern type of Melodic Death Metal available in the market, uniting melody, violence and fun in heavy music.
Best moments of the album:End of Watch, Act I: Tragedy, Act II: Catharsis and Act III: Purification.
Worst moments of the album:To the Streets and For the World to See.
Released in 2014 Independent
Track listing 1. End of Watch 3:53
2. Act I: Tragedy 4:15
3. To the Streets 6:53
4. Emperor 5:08
5. Act II: Catharsis 6:53
6. Shadowmaker 4:36
7. For the World to See 5:45
8. Act III: Purification 5:18
9. Blueprint 3:51
Band members Markus Hundsberger – vocals
Chris Hörmann – guitars, backing vocals
Manuel “Mani” Rohrauer – guitars, backing vocals
Leo Wolfmayr – bass
Mike Pfaffenhuemer – drums, clean vocals
Are you hungry for some high-end old school Black Metal? These guys from the land of ice and snow are here to provide you all the apocalyptic madness and derangement you want to listen to.
Heavy music in Finland has become famous and respected worldwide due to the Melodic Power Metal by Stratovarius, Nightwish and Sonata Arctica, the Hard Rock by Lordi, the Melodic Death Metal by Children of Bodom, the Dark Rock by HIM, among other great bands and artists. However, If you want to listen to some really badass raw Black Metal, that’s not the best place to go according to what most people say. You should try your luck in other Scandinavian countries like Norway or Sweden, right? Well, let me tell you the beautiful land of ice and snow also has some high-quality extreme metal to offer you, a million light-years more brutal than any of the aforementioned bands.
Founded in 2012 in the city of Lahti, located around 100km from the capital Helsinki, Finnish Raw Apocalyptic Black Metal band Endzeit couldn’t sound more Black Metal than this, with absolutely no shenanigans or any type of soft stuff added to their musicality. Dealing with controversial subjects such as religion, the apocalypse and the absence of an optimistic future (triggered by the decay of the city of Detroit, where modern capitalism has failed), their debut EP entitled Years Of Hunger might be relatively short, but it’s a 100% ruthless metal feast that will leave you totally disoriented, which of course is a good thing in Black Metal.
And there’s no “calm before the storm” in Years Of Hunger: the intro Inception is already apocalyptic (were you expecting anything different than that?), setting the stage for the obscure Hunger, with its traditional Black Metal riffs and drums at the speed of light creating that characteristic somber and chaotic atmosphere found in extreme music, intensified by the excellent demonic vocals by singer Schwarz. In other words, it’s perfect for diehard black metallers searching for new bands but with an old school approach. Following that havoc, we have Godless, slightly heavier than the previous track due to its awesome disturbing riffs, and especially due to the insane drumming by Samuli.
The last original composition by Endzeit is the amazing song Life?, where a dark choir in the background “beautifully” complements the intense tremolo picking riffs, creating an even more frightening atmosphere. Besides, I guess I don’t need to say how pessimistic and acid the lyrics are, right? Anyway, an awesome thing about Endzeit is that they manage to play the most deranged type of extreme music you can imagine, but it’s so professional and melodic you actually feel good listening to it. That’s corroborated by their sick cover version of The Dawn No More Rises, originally recorded by Swedish Black Metal icons Dark Funeral in their classic debut album The Secrets of the Black Arts (1996). I personally find this track an awesome “bonus” Endzeit offer us in this EP, very honest to the original but with the band’s own modern and diabolic touch to make it unique.
In my humble opinion, if Enzeit release a full-length album as good as Years Of Hunger EP, available at their official BandCamp page, the “map” of Black Metal might suffer a few changes in a near future, even moving its “capital” to the city of Lahti. Years Of Hunger will surely satisfy your current hunger for high-quality old school Black Metal and, of course, leave you eager for more of Endzeit’s apocalyptic brutality directly from ice cold Finland.
Best moments of the album:Hunger and Life? are truly kick-ass songs.
Worst moments of the album: None.
Released in 2014 Independent
Track listing 1. Inception 1:08
2. Hunger 4:58
3. Godless 5:29
4. Life? 6:42
5. The Dawn No More Rises (Dark Funeral cover) 3:52
Band members Schwarz – guitars, vocals
Polaris – guitars
Pyry – bass
Samuli – drums
If you want to get more information about any of the bands featured at The Metal Moose Show, simply Google the band and/or the song name to find their official website and Facebook page and, more important than that, attend their live concerts and buy their music. Here at The Headbanging Moose you can also find detailed reviews of many other excellent underground bands. Support your local bands… AND FOLLOW THE MOOSE!
On The Metal Moose Show this week (not necessarily in this order):
1. Eternalist – Eternal
2. Vinderblott – Journeys Prey
3. Grim Jack – Damned
4. Every Hour Kills – Chosen
5. Varga – Shark Attack
6. Varga – Beginning Of The End
7. Jupiter In Velvet – Bring Me Back To Life
8. Hey Clown – Third Arm
9. Twins Crew – Last Crusader
10. Creations Tears – Another Collision
11. Zyphra – Emotional Surgery
12. Autumn Burning – This Moment
13. Across The Wall – Back To Life
14. 100 Watt Vipers – Travel N Shoes
15. Blackthorn – Necromance
16. 2 In The Chest – Reno Gang
17. Phosphene – Life On Fire
18. The Curse Within – Condemned
19. Maleficentia – Scarlet Legacy
Click HERE to listen to this week’s episode on Spreaker.
On a very pleasant not-so-cold night in the heart of Toronto during Indie Week Canada, from October 15 to October 19, Hard Rock Café was invaded on October 17 by around 150 metalheads to support four amazing local bands, with the icing on the cake being an electrifying performance by the “Messiah” Blaze Bayley, as part of the festival’s Metal Showcase.
I can’t say I was expecting more or less people than that, probably a little more due to the presence of such a great musician as Blaze, but one thing that I loved about the festival was the sense of family among all bands and fans at the venue, including Blaze himself who spent a lot of time talking to fans, taking pictures and signing stuff, as well as being able to put some faces to names like Jon Asher, from Asher Media Relations. You will read more about this great guy from Montreal, his business and the bands he works with here at The Headbanging Moose for sure.
The first attraction to hit the stage was Rock/Metal band LAUGH AT THE FAKES, from Toronto, Ontario. Those guys play a nice mix of Rock N’ Roll, Hard Rock and Heavy Metal, very old school but with a more polished sounding, and they surely entertained everyone already at Hard Rock Café before 9pm. Although it was impossible to get or memorize the setlists of any of the opening bands, I know Laugh At The Fakes played a pretty cool song called Killing Time, from their debut album Dethrone the Crown, which will be released pretty soon and, of course, reviewed here at The Headbanging Moose.
Band members
Everett Mason – guitar, vocals
Kevin Daliri – guitar
Galen Weir – bass Chris Avalos – drums
After some Rock N’ Roll and a short beer break, it was time for Thrash Metal/Hardcore band THEBLACKCLOUD SYNDICATE, also from Toronto, Ontario, to speed things up with their visceral music, with highlights to the wicked performance by lead singer Miko Zolefrapanidis. The guy was on fire, probably inspired by Blaze’s usual performance. In regards to the songs, I truly enjoyed a song named Protest the Riot and their cover version for Billy Idol’s classic Rebel Yell, both from their 2013 release called Rage in Common.
Band members Miko Zolefrapanidis – vocals
Giuseppe D’Angelo – guitar Graham Scott Anthony – guitar Shawn Davidson – bass Glenn Novak – drums
And there was more violence to come with the third indie band of the night, Thrash Metal/Hardcore veterans SPEWGORE, from Brampton, Ontario. Led by vocalist Bill Brown, the band took the proverbial phrase “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade” seriously, as they were able to deliver an almost full setlist in a very limited amount of time. If you enjoy fast, short and brutal hardcore songs, go after the music by this Canadian band. They truly delivered a nonstop energetic concert at the festival.
Band members
Bill Brown – vocals
Steve Macpherson – guitars
Ken Gibson – bass
Mark Macpherson – drums
The last attraction before the Messiah was Heavy Metal band PHANTOM, from Toronto, Ontario, and let me tell you those guys make the expression “New Wave Of Canadian Heavy Metal” more real than ever! What an amazing band, with powerful songs such as their new single Blood & Iron being the perfect warm-up for Blaze Bayley. Kudos to D.D. Murley, Necro Hippie and J.J. Blade for keeping the fire of Heavy Metal burning, and for reminding us why the 80’s were the best decade in the history of music by far.
Band members D.D. Murley – lead vocals and guitar
Necro Hippie – bass guitar
J.J. Blade – drums and backing vocals
Coincidence or not, when the clock hit two minutes to midnight, BLAZE BAYLEYbegan his flaming performance at Hard Rock Café, accompanied by the extremely competent Iron Maiden tribute band MAIDEN QUÉBEC, from Montreal, Quebec, who were by the way supporting Blaze in all of his Canadian dates.
Celebrating 20 years of the controversial, obscure and awesome album The X Factor, Blaze and Maiden Québec presented a very interesting mix of his first solo albums (when his band was called only BLAZE) and Iron Maiden songs. And it wasn’t a perfect mix, just an interesting one, because unfortunately there were absolutely no songs from his best solo albums, the masterpieces The Man Who Would Not Die and Promise and Terror, which I can understand based on the fact Blaze is a 100% solo artist now, relying on local bands to build his setlist wherever he goes. I know it might be hard for any band to learn too many “new” songs in a short period of time, and so adding songs Maiden Québec are used to play like Running Free, Whathchild and Wasted Years was the most viable solution for all musicians involved.
Anyway, despite those minor limitations, it was indeed a great performance by “the man who will not die”, with highlights to songs such as The Brave, Silicon Messiah and Kill and Destroy, together with his Maiden-years songs When Two Words Collide (which I saw live only once, during the Virtual XI World Tour in 1998), Lord of the Flies, the all-time classics Futureal and Man on the Edge, and the more-than-perfect The Clansman. How can a normal person not get all fired up with this epic song, especially after Blaze’s inspiring words about living our lives, about feeling the sense of true freedom? This song always makes me want to be Scottish, I just love it!
The Messiah is among us!
But the most important detail of the whole concert was, of course, Blaze Bayley himself. There’s an expression in Brazilian Portuguese that summarizes the state of a person when he is fearless, brave, lionhearted, and 100% ready for war: we say that person has “sangue nos olhos”, or blood in his eyes in English (not in a surgical way, of course), and that’s exactly how I see Blaze Bayley every single time he’s on stage. He gives it all, no matter if he’s playing for 50 or 50,000 people, and he literally demands each and every motherfucker from the crowd to join him in an incredible metal music havoc. You cannot hide from Blaze, he will see you standing still and kindly ask you “Hey, you, motherfucker! Come on!”, it doesn’t matter if you worked for over eight hours, if you’re fuckin’ exhausted nor if it’s already 1:30am. And that’s how true independent Heavy Metal is done.
Setlist 1. Lord of the Flies
2. When Two Worlds Collide
3. The Brave
4. Ghost in the Machine
5. Silicon Messiah
6. Ten Seconds
7. The Clansman
8. Futureal
9. The Launch
10. Soundtrack of My Life
11. Kill and Destroy
12. Man on the Edge
13. Running Free
14. Wrathchild
15. Iron Maiden
16. Wasted Years
Band members Blaze Bayley – vocals
Maiden Québec (Canadian tour support band) Pat Lalonde – vocals
Steven Bergeron – lead guitars
Leandro Alves – lead guitars
Math Gagnon – bass
Jef Rastoldo – drums
These Italian guys bring you some awesome Doom and Stoner Metal with a unique goth vibe. They’re the Witches of Doom, yeah!
There were so many brilliant Heavy Metal and Rock N’ Roll bands from the 80’s and part of the 90’s with a strong goth vibe it’s hard to name just a few, like for example The Cult, Paradise Lost and Sisters of Mercy. However, very few bands playing that type of music were created (and survived) in the past decade or so, which unfortunately ended up dragging such a rich genre down to the underground of music. Let’s say that this little “problem” is almost over with the blessed birth of Italian Goth-Stoner-Doom Metal band Witches Of Doom and their outstanding debut album Obey, released a couple of months ago.
Although they’re not reinventing goth, doom or anything else, the way this Rome-based band blends all the elements from those music genres, also adding hints of 70’s Hard Rock and elements of more contemporary heavy music, is beyond amazing. In other words, you’ll be able to easily identify the influence of bands such as Moonspell and Depeche Mode in their music, but it’s far from being just a “cover” band. Witches Of Doom have their own musicality, a modern and personalized goth heavy rock that will please all fans of good occult music.
The Betrayal begins with a Breaking Bad-ish intro before turning into a thrilling mix of Doom Metal and Southern Rock, with highlights to the great vocal performance by Danilo “Groova” Piludu. The last part of the song sounds a lot like American Sludge Metal supergroup Down, especially its raw riffs and soulful solo. Following that excellent beginning, we have Witches of Doom, a much heavier version of that goth music from the 80’s played by Sisters of Mercy and an excellent “business card” from the band (“We are the Witches of Doom, yeah!”), and To the Bone, a song that could be played in any radio station in the world: it’s 100% catchy with a really cool atmosphere. Besides, it’s easy to see how much guitarist Federico “Fed” Venditti loves 80’s rock music based on his guitar lines.
The next track, Needless Needle, is another interesting song full of guitar effects the likes of Paradise Lost and a nice old-fashioned keyboard solo at the end, but its main strength is how the band supports the chorus with their instruments, making it exciting and unique; while the piano ballad Crown of Thorns focus on a more melancholic feeling, especially its lyrics, getting heavier halfway through it.
The second half of the album starts with the awesome distorted guitar and bass lines of Dance of the Dead Flies, which can be considered the first of the two songs that sound like a tribute to the one and only Type O Negative. It’s Doom and Stoner Metal to the maximum heaviness, with kudos to singer Groova for his badass performance on vocals one more time. The second and most Type O Negative-ish song of the album is entitled Rotten to the Core: this is one of those songs tailored to be played during a strip-tease at the most underground Rock N’ Roll strip club in the world, something like From Dusk Till Dawn (and I can even imagine Salma Hayek, or I should say Santanico Pandemonium, doing her sexy dance). In addition, once again the guitar solo enhances the overall energy of the song.
Last but not least, we have It’s My Heart (Where I Feel the Cold), a heavier and a lot better ballad than “Crown of Thorns” with nice piano notes by Graziano “Eric” Corrado and some really dark low riffs, giving it an intense goth vibe; and the title-track Obey, with its tribal intro, powerful keyboards, poetic lyrics (“I was waiting for you in the sky”), and a mesmerizing rhythm. It even has some interesting sitar notes to boost its delicious eerie atmosphere. And just for your information, this song doesn’t actually have 14 minutes: it ends at around minute 8 or 9, “returning” at minute 12 as some kind of “hidden track” that contains only some weird distorted noises.
In summary, Witches Of Doom’s Obey, available at their Big Cartel page, on iTunes and other different places, brings back to you directly from Italy that awesome 80’s goth sonority, offering you everything you loved so much in that era but without sounding obsolete at all. Quite the contrary, those guys are looking to the future of music, supported by their technique, their influences and, more important than that, a lot of feeling and passion for Rock N’ Roll.
Best moments of the album:The Betrayal, Dance of the Dead Flies and Rotten to the Core.
Worst moments of the album:Crown of Thorns.
Released in 2014 Sliptrick Records
Track listing 1. The Betrayal 3:49
2. Witches of Doom 3:54
3. To the Bone 3:49
4. Needless Needle 5:01
5. Crown of Thorns 5:25
6. Dance of the Dead Flies 5:06
7. Rotten to the Core 4:10
8. It’s My Heart (Where I Feel the Cold) 4:17
9. Obey 14:45
Band members Danilo “Groova” Piludu – vocals
Federico “Fed” Venditti – guitar
Jacopo Cartelli – bass
Graziano “Eric” Corrado – keyboards
Andrea “Budi” Budicin – drums
Did any sane and healthy living creature on this planet actually expect American Thrash Metal masters Exodus would not deliver us another great lesson in Thrash Metal with their brand new album, the motherfuckin’ awesome Blood In, Blood Out? Think about it, the band has the one and only vocalist Steve “Zetro” Souza returning since their 2004’s masterpiece Tempo of the Damned, they’ve been providing us the cream of Thrash Metal for years in a row with boisterous albums such as Shovel Headed Kill Machine and Exhibit B: The Human Condition, and they have the guitar genius Gary Holt more inspired than ever with absolutely no mercy of our necks and souls. Even the sick album art is pure old school, not to say totally badass. As the band itself states in this album, “this is a fucking dynasty of thrash notoriety”.
Although Blood In, Blood Out features some very special guest musicians, it’s the “Pink Floyd of Thrash Metal” themselves (as many of their songs go way beyond the 4 or 5-minute barrier most Thrash Metal bands are used to) who truly conduct the whole album almost flawlessly, with highlights to the wicked return of Zetro, of course. I mean, Rob Dukes is a great guy, an excellent frontman and his hardcore voice was perfect for the type of music Exodus generated in the past few years (I’m not even going to say how much I love all of the Exodus albums with Rob on vocals), but Zetro kind of brings back that 80’s thrashier attitude all fans learned to love, and that became the band’s trademark.
Gary, Zetro, Lee, Jack and Tom might have thought “why not kicking things off with the past and present of Exodus in the same song?” That’s exactly what you’ll hear in the excellent Black 13, where their first guest musician, American hip hop producer Dan the Automator, is responsible for an industrial sounding intro before all hell breaks loose with those insane Thrash Metal riffs only Exodus can generate. It follows a similar pattern as their latest albums, mixing the thrashier musicality of Tempo of the Damned with the melody and violence of Exhibit B: The Human Condition. Pay attention to Zetro’s voice and to the outstanding bass lines by Jack Gibson, those are truly amazing elements in this badass track, followed by another powerful tune, the title-track Blood In, Blood Out: I heard people complaining about its “silly” lyrics, that they’re too basic comapred to precious gems such as “Scar Spangled Banner” and “Blacklist”, but it’s lines such as “If you have the pedigree, welcome to the family” and “Tonight we’re gonna rage and make Paul Baloff proud” what make it so delightful. Can you imagine the humongous circle pits this song will generate when played live? Besides, the whole band is kicking ass here, in special Gary Holt and Lee Altus with their amazing guitar solos.
Collateral Damage once again focus on an old school sonority, and will probably cause some awesome collateral or brain damage to the fans so fuckin’ heavy it is. I simply love the backing vocals and how Tom Hunting accelerates the whole damn thing with his pounding drums. The next track, Salt The Wound, sounds a lot like some tracks from Tempo of the Damned, especially its riffs and acid lyrics (“Full of puss / You’re a Judas and a troll / Lance the boil rooted deep within”). In addition, this song has their second guest musician, albeit it’s just a guitar solo by Metallica’s own Kirk Hammett. At least he didn’t have enough time to screw up everything with his horrible technique.
The massacre goes on with the fast Body Harvest, with Zetro’s desperate screams during its chorus adding even more violence to it, plus some great guitar solos after four minutes; and BTK, with their last guest, Mr. Chuck Billy (Testament) on vocals doing only some screams and deep growls (and nothing else). This song is based on the story of Dennis Rader, better known as the BTK killer, whose infamous signature means “Bind, Torture, Kill”. Well, I still prefer their song about serial killers Leonard Lake and Charles Ng, entitled “The Ballad of Leonard and Charles”, from Exhibit B: The Human Condition.
Wrapped In The Arms Of Rage is direct old school Thrash Metal, perfect for live performances, while My Last Nerve is an excellent example of how even when they slow down and get more melodic, their music is still so violent and awesome it’s impossible to stand still. This is how slow riffs and harsh vocals should be blended together to make an amazing headbanging tune, turning it into one of the top moments of the album. Exodus get back to old school destruction in Numb, a true lesson to all new bands on how Thrash Metal should be played, with a flawless and complex instrumental and with highlights to the job done by Tom Hunting, who seems pretty inspired during the entire album.
The last part of Blood In, Blood Out begins with Honor Killings, another awesome combination of harsh vocals, great backing vocals, insane riffs, and violent lyrics. The deep heavy sound of the bass lines in this song is really outstanding, thanks to a brilliant work by Jack Gibson. Then we have Food For The Worms, with another great vocal performance by Zetro augmented by the song’s dark lyrics, and it’s always impressive how these guys keep on thrashing nonstop like metal machines. And last but not least, Exodus offer us an interesting cover version for British Heavy Metal band Angel Witch’s Angel Of Death, from their 1980 debut album Angel Witch.
I guess I don’t need to mention once again that Gary Holt is an underrated beast, a billion times more awesome than most worshiped metal guitarists I know. The guy is playing with Exodus AND Slayer at the same time, crafting great music like everything in Blood In, Blood Out, and he NEVER has a bad or uninspired day on the guitar. That says it all. Anyway, you can purchase the album in several different webshops and physical stores, and if you live in a blessed city in the US you can check Exodus live touring with Slayer and Suicidal Tendencies, which is beyond spectacular for any Thrash Metal fan in the world. And if you haven’t welcomed the “Hatriot” back to the Exodus family yet (I had the pleasure to see him back live during their concert at Heavy Montréal 2014) and/or would also like to thank him for contributing to such an amazing album like Blood In, Blood Out, this tour will be a very good opportunity to do so.
Best moments of the album:Black 13, Blood In, Blood Out, My Last Nerve and Honor Killings.
Worst moments of the album:BTK.
Released in 2014 Nuclear Blast
Track listing 1. Black 13 (feat. Dan the Automator) 6:21
2. Blood In, Blood Out 3:42
3. Collateral Damage 5:28
4. Salt The Wound (feat. Kirk Hammett) 4:25
5. Body Harvest 6:29
6. BTK (feat. Chuck Billy) 6:56
7. Wrapped In The Arms Of Rage 4:30
8. My Last Nerve 6:11
9. Numb 6:14
10. Honor Killings 5:43
11. Food For The Worms 6:23
Limited Edition bonus track 12. Angel Of Death (Angel Witch cover) 4:39
Band members Steve “Zetro” Souza – vocals
Gary Holt – lead and rhythm guitars
Lee Altus – lead and rhythm guitars
Jack Gibson – bass
Tom Hunting – drums, percussion
Guest musicians Dan the Automator – industrial intro on “Black 13″
Kirk Hammett – guitar solo on “Salt the Wound”
Chuck Billy – additional vocals on “BTK”
If you want to get more information about any of the bands featured at The Metal Moose Show, simply Google the band and/or the song name to find their official website and Facebook page and, more important than that, attend their live concerts and buy their music. Here at The Headbanging Moose you can also find detailed reviews of many other excellent underground bands. Support your local bands… AND FOLLOW THE MOOSE!
On The Metal Moose Show this week (not necessarily in this order):
1. Serafem – World On Fire
2. Going Home In A Body Bag – Dont Play Russian Roulette If You Dont Want To Lose
3. Flawed By Design – The Great Return
4. Hellspeak – My Annihilation
5. Discordant – The Herd
6. Scarlight – Curtain Call
7. The Muted Pitch – Based On The Hate
8. Shotgun Eulogy – The Modern Prometheus
9. Yakk – Bos Grunniens
10. Vengeance Within – Oblivion
11. Spirit Descending – Delirium
12. Smack Handle – Controversy
13. Saturate – In Our Own Way
14. Punch Cabbie – Sentience
15. Octave Jaw – She Said
16. Hammer Persuasion – Necropsy Of The Human Mind
17. Deadcell – Forever
18. Leeja Stark – Afterglow
19. Mindshade – Fire Demon
20. Fallen Kings – Adrenaline Junkie
21. Catalytic – Reaching The End
22. Romantic Rebel – Believe
23. From Ashes To New – Stay This Way
24. From Ashes To New – My Fight
Click HERE to listen to this week’s episode on Spreaker.
Enjoy this “cold apocalyptic interview” with Norwegian Industrial Metallers Dimenzion:Psychosphere, where they talk about their career, the importance of the message in their music, the Industrial Metal scene in Norway, among other cool stuff.
The Headbanging Moose: Let’s start by talking about the band and your brand new album, the excellent Collapse. Can you tell us who Dimenzion:Psychosphere are, your history, goals and plans for the future? Also, how was the creative process for the new album and how did it differ from your previous releases?
Dimenzion:Psychosphere: About us first. We are five guys who’ve been playing together for quite a while, and for many years it was kind of a side project, since most of us had other bands with higher priority. But around 2010 we decided to put more time and effort into Dimenzion, first of all because we all felt this was the band closest to our hearts, and second, because we had more time. So we started working on our first full-length album DNA Phantom Effect, which was finished and released early 2012. Unfortunately we are not very good at promotion, so the album didn’t get the attention we hoped for, and we didn’t get very far. Hopefully will those who like Collapse check out DNA too, cos we still think it’s a great album. As far as the creative process goes, it has always been the same, but this time we had way more material to choose from, which made it easier to shape the concept and feeling of Collapse.
THM: As mentioned in the review of the album, songs like The Machine and Slaves deal with important issues our society is facing nowadays which can lead to some serious consequences in a not-so-distant future, maybe even to the apocalypse. However, despite all that negativity emanating from the lyrics, your music is very melodic and pleasant to listen to. How do you guys work on that balance between “good” and “evil” in your music?
D:P: It all comes naturally really. We like to work with different moods and styles. Though I think when it comes to the important issues you mention, they’re all pretty provoking. So the feelings about it ranges from anger, to sadness and to plain apathy sometimes, and the music is shaped thereafter. We are still angry even if we’re not screaming or growling all the time, and there are enough bands out there who do that already. Harmonies make everything more powerful if not overdone I believe.
THM: Your “cold apocalyptic metal” sounds perfect for being part of the soundtrack of futuristic movies such as The Terminator, Blade Runner or The Matrix. I’m pretty sure you’re all huge fans of that type of movie and you probably get inspired by those (and many others) when composing new material. What else, besides futuristic movies, inspires the band to create music? Are there any specific books, movie genres or any other sources of information the band likes to go to for having some insights and fomenting your creativity?
D:P: The sound effects, the music and the dystopic feeling of those movies and others like them inspire us, yes. But lots come from documentaries, history, books and of course by watching/reading the news. The world is becoming a police state, with surveillance and new laws made to make us “safer”, which when you think about it, is just a way of limiting our rights and freedom. And it all makes you wanna fuck some shit up, which comes out musically instead of physically in our case.
THM: What about your code names and apparel, which seem to be inspired by bands such as Slipknot and video games like Call of Duty? Could you tell us something about how Dimenzion:Psychosphere decided to add those elements to the band, the original inspiration for that, and what they represent today to all of you?
D:P: We have always tried to add something extra to our shows, and the all over black uniforms remove the focus on us as individuals, just leaving it to be this unit that is the show. The names came recently to fit the whole concept, by not drawing attention to who we are, but to the whole concept. Not inspired by anything particular, it just felt right to do.
THM: Collapse is your first release signed to a record label. How is it to be working with a record label for the first time in your career, and what can you tell us about your relationship with Crime Records?
D:P: It’s great to have someone to back us up with the promotion and stuff, since as we mentioned, we’re not so good at that. Our relationship with Crime started over a year ago when they heard the DNA album. And they pretty much followed the entire process up to the finishing of Collapse, and signed us even before the final mix. We liked their attitude, so we didn’t even bother to send anything to other labels either.
Album Review – Dimenzion:Psychosphere / Collapse (2014)
THM: How is the Industrial Metal scene in Norway, a country known for being the cradle of Black Metal? Do you face any issues sharing your space with Black Metal bands and/or bands from any other music genres there, or is it a very peaceful and even productive coexistence?
D:P: The industrial metal scene in Norway is very small, especially compared to black metal.
We haven’t had any issues sharing stage with black metal bands or any other bands, so I guess you could say it’s a pretty peaceful coexistence. We know several people who play black metal, and all of them have a pretty open mind when it comes to music.
THM: Who are your main influences in music? Which bands and artists helped define what Dimenzion:Psychosphere are today, and which bands would you love to have a “dream tour” together?
D:P: It might be a cliché, but we get our influences from nearly all styles of music (with some exceptions). From all eras too. So naming bands is maybe not so “us” I think. It would have to be a very long list then. A dream tour… Meshuggah perhaps. Devin Townsend, Entombed. Someone not so far from us musically.
THM: What bands and artists are part of your playlist in your free time, when you’re not with Dimenzion: Psychosphere? Do you have any new or underground bands you would like to recommend us?
D:P: I guess we have our different favourites within the band, so like the previous answer, all kinds of music. We can recommend some bands we work with now and then. Deafmazjiin, Ground Zero System and Among Gods. All from Southern Norway.
THM: How about your current tour plans, especially now that Collapse is fresh out in the market? Which countries are you planning on visiting, how do you choose your setlist, and can your fans expect from your live performances? And are you going to play any dates in North America in 2014, especially in Canada, or is the focus going to be solely in Europe this year?
D:P: We have no tour plans at the moment, but that is something we’re going to start working on as soon as collapse is out. Unfortunately we don’t have a management/ booking agency yet, so that’s probably going to be our next goal. We love doing live shows, so if someone invites us to come to Canada (or any other country) we’d be more than happy to come. I think if you like our albums you’re going to love what we do live.
The setlist we pretty much make before every show, depending on how much time we have. We do try to mix old stuff with new stuff, but I guess lately the majority of songs come from the Collapse and DNA Phantom Effect albums.
THM: Thank you for the interview, or I should say “takk for intervjuet”. Do you have any final words for your fans in Norway, Canada and all over the world?
D:P: First of all thank you for giving D:P some attention and we hope that the readers will check out our music. If you want to get the latest news from Dimenzion:Psychosphere you can join us on Facebook or check us out at dimenzionpsychosphere.com.
If you want to get more information about any of the bands featured at The Metal Moose Show, simply Google the band and/or the song name to find their official website and Facebook page and, more important than that, attend their live concerts and buy their music. Here at The Headbanging Moose you can find detailed reviews of five of this week’s bands: American Progressive Symphonic Metal band Orisonata, British Electronic Rock band SouLost, German Technical Death Metal band Phobiatic, Finnish Raw Apocalyptic Black Metal band Endzeit and Italian Goth-Stoner-Doom Metal band Witches Of Doom (just click on the links below to read those reviews). Support your local bands… AND FOLLOW THE MOOSE!
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