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Featured, Reviews, Reviews - Audio October 19, 2009

3: Revisions

It’s hard to think of any other contemporary progressive rock band that combines complexity, discipline, and catchiness better than 3. The upstate New York band has been steadily improving with each record, but it was their fifth album, 2007’s The End is Begun, that established them as one of the more promising prog acts today, the kind of band that could easily make the jump from King Crimson-esque dexterity to the kind of sweeping melodic hooks and economical beats that Rush excelled at back in the mid-’80s. Led by the smooth tenor voice of guitarist/singer Joey Eppard, 3 brings an element that bands like Coheed and Cambria, Porcupine Tree, and the gawd-awful Dream Theater (‘scuse the blasphemy, prog geeks) never quite had: enormous crossover appeal.

Adrien Begrand reviews the new, upcoming 3 album set for release on Metal Blade on October 27th.

Featured, Reviews, Reviews - Audio October 16, 2009

Vader: Necropolis

Polska death metal masterminds Vader throw punches with absolutely no remorse on their latest release Necropolis; composing varied sounds and melodies to keep things fresh yet brutal.

Featured, Reviews - Audio October 15, 2009

Marduk: Wormwood

In the midst of harvest time, Swedish metal veterans Marduk have offered up Wormwood. It’s a grotesque feast of sonic gore, and as such brings to mind the best in bombastic and blasphemous splatter movies. Like a lot of its cinematic counterparts, however, the album is a mixed-bag.

Featured, Reviews, Reviews - Audio October 15, 2009

Harvestman: In A Dark Tongue

In A Dark Tongue is built on the foundations of folk, yet wanders all over the musical soundscape throughout the 12 tracks, ranging from blissful layered guitar, to pounding electronic overtones, to a Gaelic inspired John Martyn cover. However, the album flows completely naturally, so the disjointed styles don’t seem out of place.

Featured, Reviews, Reviews - Audio October 14, 2009

Mean Streak: Metal Slave

The pace is very steady with solid lead guitars going back and forth, Metal Slave is about exactly what you always wanted in a NWOBHM style album. These guys give a helluva good performance, showing a great influence of Judas Priest, Battleaxe, Saxon and early Scorpions. It is a pleasure to listen to a debut album like this

Featured, Reviews, Reviews - Audio October 13, 2009

The 11th Hour: Burden Of Grief

Grief doesn’t quite capture the emotional atmosphere soaking this debut from Dutch/Swedish duo The 11th Hour. Burden, yes – the album is tormented, weighed down. But grief sounds too frail to describe songs laden with so much heavy gloom.

Featured, Reviews, Reviews - Live October 9, 2009

Destroyer 666/Vital Remains/Baphomet’s Horns/Revocation @ Club Hell, Providence, RI, September 29, 2009

There are very few bands which can inspire relentless, reckless hedonism in the same way Destroyer 666 can; their very essence screams out the wild whirlwind in all of us. Owning the stage from first note to last, guitarist/vocalist KK Warslut and Co. pushed the rabid Providence crowd to the brink of the precipice and back, leaving no head un-banged, no fist un-pounded and no soul un-reaped by the maniacal, merciless onslaught.

MetalGeorge recaps the recent Providence stop on Destroyer 666’s recent (and very brief) North American tour, which also included Vital Remains, Baphomet’s Horns and Revocation.

Featured, Reviews, Reviews - Audio October 9, 2009

Hull: Sole Lord

Vocals are one area that doesn’t get enough attention and analysis across the broad pantheon of extreme music. So, let’s talk vocals and how they apply to the Brooklyn-based band Hull.