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Sunday Metal Minute: Fear Factory, “Self Bias Resistor (live at Brisbane in 1997)”

Posted in Sunday Metalhead Minute with tags dino cazares, divine heresy, fear factory, groove metal, industrial, Metal, Video on Sunday, April 12, 2009 by Ryan Buege

Anyone who’s followed Dino Cazares in the press in his post-Fear Factory days knows how much he loved to talk shit about his former bandmates. In the interviews he’s given for Divine Heresy, he’s taken pretty much every opportunity possible to deride Burton C. Bell and company for tarnishing the name of the influential industrial death/groove metal band that his riffs had played such a fundamental role in establishing – which is why it was so unbelievable to read that Dino and Bell and reunited in a new music group this week. Though the pair’s new band has yet to announce their name, they have revealed that they will be joined by current Fear Factory bassist Byron Stroud and legendary drummer Gene Hoglan (Dethklok, Strapping Young Lad, Dark Angel, Death, Testament) for a number of shows this summer as well as on the recording of a studio album. Either way, I’m very happy to see these two have made up; the feud always seemed juvenile and pointless to me, and Fear Factory’s landmark albums contained some of the best melodic metal songs of the 1990s. For now, I leave you with this AWESOME live video with from the band’s earliest years, long before their feud; the pro-shot song is “Self Bias Resistor”, taken from the band’s third album, Demanufacture.

VIDEO: Fear Factory, “Self Bias Resistor (live at Brisbane, AUS in 1997)

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Sunday Metal Minute: Graf Orlock, “Run Over By A Truck”

Posted in Sunday Metalhead Minute with tags Audio, download, graf orlock, grindcore, Metal, mp3 on Sunday, April 5, 2009 by Ryan Buege

Man, if there were one song title that aptly described how my head feels right now on Sunday morning, it’s this one. But nonetheless, I’ve got a lot of stuff that I have to accomplish today, and Graf Orlock‘s “Run Over By a Truck” (from their new album Destination Time Today) is giving me the proper kick in the ass I need to start my chores.

As a fan of of the heavy, I just can’t help but love a song that sounds so fucking sick and nasty. The heavy riffage on this gem of modern grindcore is caked in dirty, crusty grime and the vocals are spastic and chaotic like no other. Not more than 3 minutes ago I was grudgingly accepting the fact that I’d be in a hard-headed mood today, but the refreshing grind of Gorlock’s “Run Over By A Truck” has helped me thrash the bad vibes out instantly. Thank you, Graf Orlock.

MP3: Graf Orlock, “Run Over By A Truck” (from Destination Time Today, available now)

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Sunday Metal Minute: Khanate, “Wings From Spine”

Posted in Sunday Metalhead Minute with tags alan dubin, ambient, doom metal, download, drone, hydrahead records, james plotkin, khanate, mp3, stephen o'malley, tim wyskida on Sunday, March 29, 2009 by Ryan Buege

Some thought the songs on Khanate‘s Clean Hands Go Foul would never see the never see the light of day, but thankfully Aaron Turner and Hydrahead have given this epic band’s third album a proper posthumous unveiling on their label. The album, recorded in 2006, is a torturous collection of the most abstract, dissonant, and ugly avant-doom known to man; there isn’t another band in the world that could make music this somber and tragic. “Wings From Spine” is the lead track from this depressing (in a good way!) finale from Khanate, introducing the unpredictable dirge and bleak ambience of the album with little subtlety. Listen in…

MP3: Khanate, “Wings From Spine” (from Clean Hands Go Foul)

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Sunday Metal Minute: Mastodon, “Divinations” & Chimaira, “Secrets of the Dead”

Posted in Sunday Metalhead Minute with tags chimaira, mastodon, Metal, spring 2009 on Sunday, March 22, 2009 by Ryan Buege

Woot! Back from my spring leave of absence and ready to assault the web with more writing! For my past few Metalhead Minutes, I’ve been delving into some band’s from the obscure underbelly of some of metal’s rising artists (in my eyes). This week I’ll bring things back a bit closer to the surface; some of the commoners might actually be listening to the choices I’ve selected for this post. These songs come from two albums that will be unavoidable for anyone who even passively associates themselves with metal in the spring of 2009!

First, take a listen to the lead single from Mastodon‘s newest album, Crack the Skye. As a reminder, this album will be in stores everywhere on Tuesday, and “Divinations” is an epic, psych’n’roll metal masterwork that is only an indicator of the direction these Georgian metalheads have decided to take. I’ll have my review of the album posted on Monday, so I won’t get into the specifics now, but just enjoy the preview video for now to tide you over!

Video: Mastodon, “Divinations” (from Crack the Skye, available 03/24)

Maybe this is an unsuspecting choice for anyone who’s followed my tastes on the site, but honestly, Chimaira is a band that has never let me down. Despite the harsh treatment the band has endured from the community in general over the past few years, I’ve always seen them as a band that is thinking outside the box and pushing boundaries rather than being confined by them. Over the years, their attack has continued to be refined and “Secrets of the Dead” indicates another progression. The track comes from their forthcoming album The Infection, an album that will be sure to cement the band a permanent place in the metal history books. Though it still clings tight to the trash and groove metal centerpiece that Chimaira fans will know and love, death metal, epic doom metal, and black metal are all nuanced, as well. Simply put, “Secrets of the Dead” seems to meld my favorite aspects of all things brutal, and I hope the rest of the album is of the same caliber. In theory, a song like this could’ve been a mess, but Chimaira seems to have hit created a legendary sound for their newest evolution. Listen to “Secrets of the Dead” now and see what you’ve been missing!

MP3: Chimaira, “Secrets of the Dead” (from The Infection, available 04/21)

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Sunday Metal Minute: Krallice, “Wretched Wisdom”

Posted in Sunday Metalhead Minute with tags a storm of light, black metal, brooklyn, krallice, new york, progressive metal, thrones, tour dates, wolves in the throne room on Sunday, March 15, 2009 by Ryan Buege

I already clued you all in on the fact that we’re having some brilliant black metal tours coming to the Twin Cities this summer, but now things are just getting ridiculous. This week, the announcement was made that the visionary BM minds of Wolves in the Throne Room and Krallice would join together in what is sure to be THE “must-see” underground metal tour to pass through Minneapolis this spring. On May 15th, Wolves in the Throne Room will be playing at the Triple Rock Social Club with Krallice supporting. While I’ve already mentioned the scathing-yet-epic majesty that is WITTR on the site, Krallice is a band that has not gotten enough attention from me so far (besides the one sentence I gave them in my end of 2008 honorable mentions list). Reading descriptions of the band, you might think that their entrancing style of progressive black metal would already have an established predecessor. However, upon hearing Krallice’s fervent, psychedelic, rampaging, technically superior sound, it doesn’t take long to pick up on the freshness of this band’s delivery. Metal has never sounded so simultaneously brutal, ferocious, and atmospheric, which is certainly saying a lot. Krallice is a underground band that is literally pushing the limits of sound. This is a band to watch out for, and the free “Wretched Wisdom” track we have linked below will show you why.

MP3: Krallice, “Wretched Wisdom” (from Krallice, 2008)

Keep reading for all the Krallice and Wolves in the Throne Room spring tour dates (including several shows with A Storm of Light)… Continue reading →

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Sunday Metalhead Minute: Skeletonwitch, “Sacrifice for the Slaughtergod”

Posted in Sunday Metalhead Minute with tags beyond the permafrost, black metal, Metal, sacrifice for the slaughtergod, skeletonwitch, thrash metal on Sunday, March 8, 2009 by Ryan Buege

Skeletonwitch premiered an awesome new video for “Sacrifice for the Slaughtergod” this week, and since I’m too bogged down by homework, I’ll let you proceed to the awesomeness without further commentary.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

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Sunday Metalhead Minute: Tombs, “The Divide”

Posted in Sunday Metalhead Minute with tags Audio, relapse records, tombs, winter hours on Sunday, March 1, 2009 by Ryan Buege

Tombs is a snarling Brooklyn-based doom and hardcore act that has had my attention tighter than anyone in underground metal this year. Ever since I got my hands around their previous vinyl releases (S/T and the split with Planks), Winter Hours has been on my shortlist for anticipated releases. Given the relatively limited scope of emotions governing the doom metal spectrum, there’s a very authentic, undeniably inventive perspective and overwhelming presence that Tombs brings to the game. While I was skeptical at first of whether they had simply hit a streak of early luck on the first two releases, Winter Hours (which finally hit stores last Tuesday) is a brilliant album that should ensure they’ll continue to turn a lot of heads this year. All the gears are extremely well-oiled on this one, and this song from the middle of the tracklist is a great example of the beefed up, free-minded blackened doom’n’psychedelics they’re practicing on Winter Hours. I hope to have a full review on this one pending some free time from my school/real work life…

LISTEN: “The Divide” (from Winter Hours, 2009)

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Sunday Metal Minute: Agoraphobic Nosebleed, “Agorapocalypse Now”

Posted in Sunday Metalhead Minute with tags agoraphobic nosebleed, agorapocalypse, death metal, electronic, grindcore, Jay Randall, KAT, richard johnson, scott hull, thrash metal on Sunday, February 22, 2009 by Ryan Buege

ANB The Massachusetts gore-grind mind Scott Hull is on the loose again, and this time it’s his Agoraphobic Nosebleed violent grind onslaught that’s doing the damage. On “Agorapocalypse Now”, the current tri-vocal combination between Jay Randall, KAT, Richard Johnson is doing wonders for the ANB sound and while it’s still gritty, chaotic, thrashy, and messy, it’s a much more digestible sound than what was found on the outfit’s earlier albums. Scott Hull has made a way for his violent electronic death grindand to sound almost classic, in a way. Anyone who was hasn’t payed attention to Agoraphobic Nosebleed in a few years should tune back in; Scott Hull is the riffmaster and this band is in the finest form of the existence.

Listen: Agoraphobic Nosebleed, “Agorapocalypse Now”

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Sunday Metal Minute: Cephalic Carnage, “Lucid Interval”

Posted in Sunday Metalhead Minute with tags brutal death metal, cephalic carnage, death metal, grind, grindcore, lucid interval, technical death metal on Sunday, February 15, 2009 by Ryan Buege

This week, Mayhem’s Blackened Fest tour was announced, and with such a well-rounded list of band’s scheduled to play, it can be easy to overlook some of the talent that will be on stage before they get to play.

Cephalic Carnage may be the biggest misfits of the entire tour, if only for the reason that they actually inject some humor into their brand of technical death metal. Over the course of the years, I’ve seen Cephalic Carnage playing support at nearly every type of aggressive show; death metal, hardcore, thrash metal – you name it, they’ve played it. The beautiful part about it is that they typically start these sets as unknowns, but no matter who they’re playing with, they always win over the entire crowd by the end. During their last performance at Triple Rock, they incited even bigger pits than the headliner, Darkest Hour, and their hilarious costume changes and over-the-top antics were laugh-out-loud funny with their clever pointedness.

Cephalic Carnage has had a long and storied career in the death metal/grind underground, and they’ve got incredible newer albums, like their recent Xenosapien, but this video of “Lucid Interval” from their 2002 album of the same name sums up their approach perfectly. Cheap and gritty, dirty and sickening, brutal, and truly hilarious.

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Sunday (Industrial) Minute: Throbbing Gristle, “Discipline”

Posted in Sunday Metalhead Minute with tags british, electronic music, industrial music, noise, sampling, throbbing gristle, Video on Sunday, February 8, 2009 by Ryan Buege

I’m not too sure this music really even qualifies as metal, which you may have noticed from the slight title change on this week’s post. Nonetheless, I feel confident saying that Throbbing Gristle‘s noisy industrial pioneering in the late 70s and early 80s has been more influential on modern metal (as well as music in general) than anything else that was being produced at that time. Not only were these British cats the precursors to all things industrial such as Ministry or Godflesh, they have also had enormous influence on other corners of the music world. For example, bands as varied as Sonic Youth and Aphex Twin (and the millions of other bands they helped to inspire) might not exist had they not been influenced by what Throbbing Gristle created in some way. This week, the recently reunited band announced a small tour of their first U.S. tour dates since 1981 that includes their first stop in the Midwest ever and a performance at Coachella festival. To celebrate, I’m including their classic live performance of “Discipline” as this installments Sunday Metalhead Minute; it might be uncomfortable for a beginner, but watch to the end to enjoy the full effect of TG.