Tag Archives: technical metal

Metal Chick of the Month – Heather Taylor

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Burn the clowns, Heather!

Chupacabra means “goat sucker” in Spanish, and according to reports, the creature acts much like a vampire, killing animals by sucking their blood. Though similar stories date back several decades, the first major wave of alleged chupacabra sightings came from farmers in Puerto Rico in the late 80’s and early 90’s. But what does that have to do with our metal lady of this month of August, you might ask, right? Well, let’s say that the multi-talented Heather Taylor,  the frontwoman for UK-based thrashing beast Chupacabra, will kick your ass and drink your blood to the sound of her visceral music, and you’ll simply love that and to know more about such talented woman of the current British metal scene.

Born and raised in Newport, the county town of the Isle of Wight, an island county off the south coast of England, but currently located in the city of Bristol, Heather studied at the University of Reading, and works as a freelance control systems engineer. However, of course her biggest passion in life is heavy music, and you can enjoy her contributions to several amazing bands besides her recent work with Chupacabra, turning her into a seasoned veteran of the underground British extreme music scene and, therefore, helping her elevate the music by Chupacabra to new and exciting heights with her undeniable talent and charisma.

For instance, almost at the same time when Chupacabra was born, Heather became the vocalist for Virtual Reality, a Technical/Progressive Metal band formed in 2019 in Bristol, replacing their former frontman Jamie Moran (who had to step down as he had just become a father and wanted to spend more time with his family).  There isn’t a lot of information online about Virtual Reality, apart of course from their Facebook and Instagram, but hopefully we’ll hear more about the band with Heather on vocals, including a new EP or album in the coming months, who knows.

Heather is (or was) also the lead singer for the acclaimed Bristol-based Futuristic Industrial Metal band Cybervoid, having released with the band the EP Order Through Chaos back in 2023, including the killer title-track Order Through Chaos, and the also infuriated Sentient Awakens. The EP features some of the final works of Bristol metal legend Jake ‘Mettle’ Ettle-Iles (of bands like Blasfeme, Body Harvest and Ventflow), who tragically passed away at the end of 2022, which means no one knows what the future holds for Cybervoid.

Another project where Heather was involved with for a while was Bristol Alternative Rock band Locust, born of a collaboration between local musicians Laurence Howell and Arthur Cauty together with Heather and Pete Starr. The band was supposed to release a debut concept album with music featuring political themes and strong creative undertones, which would tell a story of love, loss, the downfall of civilization and post apocalyptic recovery over three epochs spanning 3000 years. However, there’s nothing online about that album, nor if the band is still alive and kicking.

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Our unstoppable diva was also the bassist between 2020 and 2021 for a Welsh Progressive Metal band named Nine Miles Down, and I believe she didn’t record anything official with the band during her short period with them. And lastly, Heather is also known in the local scene as the vocalist and bassist for a cult band named Wytch, but again it’s extremely difficult to find anything online about the band, maybe due to the band most probably not existing anymore. I personally would love to listen to the music by Locust, Nine Miles Down and Wytch, so if you know where to find their music, please let me know.

Finally, Heather’s main project right now is undoubtedly Bristol-based Death/Thrash Metal beast Chupacabra, bringing the full-frontal, in-your-face force of relentless thrashing riffage as a platform for soaring, aggressive vocals that explore issues of toxic relationships, female empowerment, social injustice and the laid-bare rage of one disaffected member of a broken society, being therefore highly recommended for fans of Kreator, Slayer, Arch Enemy, Holy Moses, At The Gates, Lamb of God, Pest Control, Testament, and Sodom, among others.

Alongside multi-instrumentalist Nige Savage on all instruments (except lead guitars), who’s also a former member of Wytch, and lead guitarist Alex Brent, formerly of Captive, Heather reveals layers of herself in their debut EP Fortified with Ashes threaded through the three songs on a journey of venting unbound rage, breaking conditioned compliance and growing a new authentic skin. The 14-minute EP consists of the songs Burn the Clowns, F. T. T. D., and Fortified with Ashes, all pulverizing tracks that will surely inspire you to bang your head nonstop and slam into the circle pit like there’s no tomorrow.

And that’s not all, as Chupacabra is also providing all the music for the new audiobook edition of DX Ferris’ best-selling Slayer biography, Slayer 66 & 2/3: A Metal Band Biography, Postmortem Remastered Edition, as well as the accompanying podcast, Talkin’ Slayer: A Metal Podcast and Half-@ssed Audiobook. The music by Chupacabra can be found on BandCamp and on Spotify, and you should definitely buy and/or stream their music as many times as possible to support those seasoned, hardworking veterans hailing from the always exciting UK underground, putting a huge smile on the face of our relentless metal diva of the always fun month of August.

Heather Taylor’s Official Facebook page
Chupacabra’s Official Facebook page
Chupacabra’s Official Instagram
Chupacabra’s Official Twitter

Album Review – Frogg / A Reptilian Dystopia EP (2020)

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A short and sweet stash of riffs, licks and raw emotion inoculated over the years, poured out into the world in the form of modern and thrilling Technical Death Metal.

Formed in 2019 in Stamford, a town in Delaware County, New York, United States, the unrelenting Modern and Technical Death Metal project known as Frogg has been in the works for years in the mind of Sky Moon Clark, and over the years he has been inoculating a stash of riffs, licks and raw emotion, which will now be poured out into the world in the form of the band’s debut EP beautifully entitled A Reptilian Dystopia. Comprised of the aforementioned Sky Moon Clark on lead vocals and guitars, Liam Zintz-Kunkel on rhythm guitars, Siebe Sol Sijpkens on bass, Emma Rae on keyboards and backing vocals and Anthony Barrone on drums, Frogg are one of those bands highly recommended for metalheads looking for something new and creative, especially fans of Obscura, Arsis, Necrophagist and Born of Osiris, blending the violence from classic Death Metal with modern and innovative sounds from the current music scene.

Produced and mixed by Shane Stanton, mastered by Ermin Hamidovic (Systematic Productions), distributed by Distrokid, and featuring a devilish artwork by Yann Kempen and Bertrand Lefebvree, the short and sweet A Reptilian Dystopia will certainly put a smile on your face while you headbang to each one of its four well-engendered and classy tracks. “Our EP is kind of our raw sound put on a plate without much refinement, but it’s still the basic punch and flavour Frogg has to offer. Just think of the EP as our base, while our in-the-works Album I (expected 2021/2022) will be a more fleshed out form of Frogg with an emphasized focus on the overall songs start to finish,” said Mr. Sky Moon Clark himself about the future material Frogg intend to release.

Right from the very first second in Ancient Rain we can enjoy tons of intricacy and insanity flowing from all instruments, while the song’s austere lyrics are effectively vociferated by Sky Moon (“Surrender to the ancient rain / Greed is all there is to blame / No vaccination to this strain / ‘Til earth is free of human stain / Deep below the monster waits / Under ice and time and space”). Not only that, Anthony slams his drums majestically, with the song also showcasing a great riffage sync between Sky Moon and Liam in what’s a bestial and fun feast of Technical Death Metal. Then groovier and more atmospheric than the opening tune thanks to the thunderous bass by Siebe and the whimsical keys by Emma, Nuclear Storm is a two-minute explosion of aggression and progressiveness led by Anthony’s nonstop beats and fills, maintaining the EP at a very high level of acidity and heaviness.

Strident guitars ignite the metallic extravaganza titled DNA, even more atmospheric than its predecessors and once again showcasing more of their cryptic lyrics (“I refuse to accept this rusty machine / As my sole source of bibliography / Further corrupting our genes / A modification delivering new geography / Dip your brain through your poison”). Put differently, it’s a multi-layered display of the band’s dexterity, with its piercing riffs being effectively intertwined with crushing beats and rumbling bass jabs, not to mention Sky Moon’s awesome closing solo as the icing on the cake. Following such dense composition we have the also amazing Ranidaphobia, which by the way means fear of frogs and toads, bringing forward sheer violence, dementia and rage in the form of Technical Death Metal by Frogg, alternating between the savagery led by Anthony’s visceral drums and the delicate keys and vocalizations by Emma, with the song’s ending being absolutely climatic for our total delight. And as a bonus to their fans, Frogg close the EP with an instrumental version of Ancient Rain, blasting our ears with their refined techniques and deep passion for heavy music.

A member of ASCAP (or the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers), Sky Moon Clark and his Frogg are looking for guitarists, bassists and drummers in the New York City area to join him and Emma Rae for their live performances, and if you’re a musician looking for a good challenge the likes of Frogg simply get in touch with them on Facebook. In addition, if you want to support such up-and-coming band from New York, you can purchase A Reptilian Dystopia from the project’s own BandCamp page or from Distrokid. In a nutshell, A Reptilian Dystopia might already be a very entertaining album of metal music, but let’s not forget it’s only the first step (or maybe I should say the first leap) in the promising career of Frogg, which fortunately means we can rest assured we’ll be hearing from Sky Moon and his band a lot more in the coming years.

Best moments of the album: DNA and Ranidaphobia.

Worst moments of the album: None.

Released in 2020 Independent

Track listing
1. Ancient Rain 3:23
2. Nuclear Storm 2:05
3. DNA 7:29
4. Ranidaphobia 3:47
5. Ancient Rain (Instrumental) 3:24

Band members
Sky Moon Clark – lead vocals, guitars
Liam Zintz-Kunkel – rhythm guitar
Siebe Sol Sijpkens – bass
Emma Rae – keyboards, backing vocals
Anthony Barrone – drums