This is Part 8 of our list of the most infectious extreme metal songs released this year. Each day until the list is finished, I’m posting two songs that made the cut. For more details about what this list is all about and how it was compiled, read the Introduction via this link. To see the selections that preceded this one, click the Category link on the right side of the page called MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2011.

ESSENCE

Last February some impulse made me stop in my web browsing and watch a music video from a Danish thrash band called Essence. I gritted my teeth before pressing “play” because I tend to get bored by most thrash metal, both old and new. But the song turned out to be different from what I was expecting, and not just different but really good — thrash with some unusual and original ingredients in the mix, including traditional heavy metal influences.

The video was for a song called “Blood Culture” off the band’s debut album, Lost In Violence, which was released on February 25 via Belgium’s Ultimhate Records. As I wrote in an enthusiastic post about the video, what initially stopped me from hitting the “stop” button was the extended bass intro — a very cool piece of lower-register slap-and-tap flash that got my head nodding as it gained and then lost speed. At about 1:25, the song proper starts, and it’s built around some speedy, immensely catchy riffs — two main ones that, standing alone, would have been quite satisfying but when joined together elevated this song to a high level of infectiousness.

The vocals are also great (and thrash vocals are part of what usually turn me off about the genre), but what really seals the deal is what happens beginning at the 4:20 mark.

There’s a screaming piece of guitar shred followed by an equally pyrotechnical bass solo. I just don’t often come across metal songs, particularly thrash songs, that use the bass this way, and it puts a big fucking smile on my face every time I hear this song. Not even a close call on this one — the song is easily one of the most infectious I’ve heard all year.

“Blood Culture”

Today’s second song comes from an old favorite . . .

DARKEST HOUR

When Andy Synn named The Human Romance to his NCS list of the year’s “Great Albums”, he summed it up as follows: “All the members are performing at their peak on this album. The vocals have never sounded so raw and impassioned, the riffs have never had more bite, while the bass rumbles proudly and the melodies infect voraciously.”

I agree that the album is very strong. As Andy wrote in his detailed review, it’s “fiery and heavy” and “most rewarding after repeat listens”. Mike “Lonestar” Corrigan and Mike Schleibaum have proven to be a formidable guitar duo with great range in their style and tone. They can be blistering in their aggressive attacks, but some of the sweetest moments on the album come when they lock together in dual-guitar harmonies. Ryan Parrish also vividly demonstrates not only his top-shelf physical skill as a drummer but also a deft command of what works best for each song.

And then there’s John Henry and his one-of-a-kind vocals. He’s one of the few singers I’ve heard who can actually carry a melodic chorus with his voice despite the fact that he’s doing it with a raw, explosively harsh sound.

“Savor the Kill” showcases all the band’s talents. It includes a “thumping, stomping beat” (to borrow Andy’s words) in the verse sections, a soaring chorus that sticks immediately, and a beautiful, layered guitar solo. Cool song, and yes, infectious enough to command a place on this list.

It’s shaping up to be a very metal week. On top of everything else we’ve done so far today, I’ve discovered new music and videos from three bands whose music I admire, and so I’m just going to stitch them together in this post, and then wait to see what else comes our way before the day is over.

First up is a brand new official video from Darkest Hour, for a song called “Your Everyday Disaster” off the latest album (The Human Romance, reviewed by our own Andy Synn here). I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve witnessed a Darkest Hour live show, but I never get tired of it. Those dudes never fail to bring it, with a blast of high-intensity energy. The strobe-like editing of the video (which includes “backstage” clips as well as live shots) captures something of that adrenaline-charged experience.

After that, I’ve got a new song from a Hungarian band called Meankind, whose free debut EP TheMadIsraeli reviewed here. That review, by the way, includes a speed-chess video for a Meankind song called “Incomprehensible Appetite”, which is still one of my favorites this year. The new song is called “Mantrap”. It’s more speedy, hard-hitting Meankind death metal.

And last, but not least, we have the latest offering from RXYZYXR. The last time we featured this multinational group (here), we were having fun with a new video for a song called “Nonzero” — still a blast of a video to watch and a blast of a song to hear. Now, the band have put up for streaming a re-worked version of a song called “Fractal Scout”, which originally appeared on their instrumental-only, four-song debut EP, Geometrical Metal. The new version includes vocals by Thomas Wills, who became part of this project after the EP was first released. Thomas’ vocals include lots of cleans, but we’re making an exception to our usual rule, because we like this song.

All these goodies are after the jump . . .

DARKEST HOUR

MEANKIND

RXYZYXR

I’ve never been entirely sure about the point of metal news releases about music you can’t yet hear, albums you can’t yet buy, and tours for which you can’t yet acquire tickets, but people still seem to be interested in this kind of shit. Not me, of course. I’m so fucking zen-like in my outlook that these kinds of pointless cock-teasers just flow over me like a soft summer breeze, barely ruffling my hair. My pulse rate doesn’t move a beat from its normal, slothlike resting state. I remain as steady and unmoving as a hummingbird.

Wait, that didn’t end right. Okay, well maybe it did. Truth is, I am metal-nerd enough to get excited about this stuff, though I can’t provide any rational reason why. In keeping with our unintentional Finn-centric theme of this week’s posts, several of these items focus on Finnish metal.

So, here’s the top-level summary of news for this post: Announcement of two new European tours — one featuring Gorgoroth and Vader and the other headlined by Machine Head; a progress report on Insomnium‘s new album; word of an all-star album (and the label “all-star” is no bullshit) in the planning stages from Finland’s Spinefarm Records; and perhaps the most glaring example I’ve seen in months of an interviewer failing to ask a follow-up question (in this case, about Opeth‘s new album).

While I’ve got your attention, I might as well also throw in some music you can actually hear right now — high-quality footage of Suicide Silence performing a song from their forthcoming new album.  (all that stuff after the jump . . .)

TOUR NEWS

I can’t see either of these tours because they will be in Europe and though I’m a jet-setter in my mind, I do not own an actual jet, and the tech-geeks in tech-heavy Seattle still — STILL — haven’t perfected the teleporter technology. But I’m biting down on my frustration and serving up this tid-bit for all you Europeans and true jet-setters out there.

The first announcement is that Norway’s Gorgoroth and Poland’s Vader will join forces for “The Sign Of Hell Tour 2011″. It will include over 45 shows throughout Europe. It will kick off at the end of October and conclude right before Christmas. A press release reports that Gorgoroth’s set will include material from their re-recording of Under the Sign of Hell, to be released on August 29 by Regain Records, and that Vader will be playing new songs from their next Nuclear Blast release, Welcome to the Morbid Reich (due August 13 in Europe and September 13 in NorthAm). Two or three more bands will be added to the bill eventually.

No specific dates or venues have yet been released. If I’m not too bitter about my inability to see this, I might put up a post when the schedule is released. But I make no promises.

The next tour news is enticing and odd at the same time — enticing because the headliner will be Machine Head and the support will include DevilDriver and Darkest Hour, odd because the tour will also include Bring Me the Horizon. At least this time, we have a schedule (though more dates may be added):

Nov. 02 – Oslo, Norway @ Sentrum Scene
Nov. 03 – Stockholm, Sweden @ Arenan
Nov. 05 – Tampere, Finland @ Sorsapuistosali
Nov. 06 – Helsinki, Finland @ The Circus
Nov. 08 – Fredriksberg, Denmark @ KB Hallen
Nov. 09 – Hamburg, Germany @ Grosse Freiheit 36
Nov. 10 – Dresden, Germany @ Alter Schlachthof
Nov. 12 – Vienna, Austria @ Gasometer
Nov. 13 – Milan, Italy @ Alcatraz
Nov. 17 – Lisbon, Portugal @ Coliseum
Nov. 18 – Oporto, Portugal @Coliseum
Nov. 21 – Zurich, Switzerland @ Volkshaus
Nov. 23 – Paris, France @ Zenith
Nov. 24 – Neu-Isenburg, Germany @ Hugenottenhalle
Nov. 25 – Munich, Germany @ Kesselhaus
Nov. 26 – Ludwigsburg, Germany @ Arena
Nov. 28 – Eindhoven, Holland @ Klokgebouw
Nov. 29 – Brussels, Belgium @ Vorst Nationaal
Nov. 30 – Oberhausen, Germany @ Turbinenhalle
Dec. 03 – London, UK @ Wembley Arena
Dec. 04 – Birmingham, UK @ National Indoor Arena
Dec. 05 – Glasgow, UK @ Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre (SECC)
Dec. 06 – Manchester, UK @ Central

INSOMNIUM NEWS

The next album from Finland’s Insomnium is one of the year’s most anticipated at this site. The news is that the band have disclosed the title of the album — One For Sorrow. It’s now scheduled for release in October on Century Media Records. It  was recorded in Gothenburg, Sweden with sound engineer Daniel Antonsson (who’s the bassist in Dark Tranquillity and guitarist in Dimension Zero) and at Fantom studios in Tempere, Finland, where the album is also currently being mixed by Samu Oittisen. Yes, all this did raise my pulse-rate. I don’t know why.

SPINEFARM ALL-STARS

This next item really elevated my pulse, all the way up to the point where it could be detected by trained medical professionals as a sign of life. Finnish record label Spinefarm Records reports that it will celebrate its 20th anniversary by organizing a “summer camp” in July where members of various bands signed to the company will collaborate with each other in creating and recording new songs. Now, check out the bands whose members will be participating:

Shining
Moonsorrow
Swallow the Sun
Finntroll
Medea
Ensiferum

The resulting album is tentatively titled Spinefarm Allstars. Fuck yeah, I’d say that’s a good name for it. The album will allegedly be released before the end of the year.

OPETH NEWS (and interview fail)

Mike Bax of Lithium Magazine recently conducted an interview with guitarist/vocalist Mikael Åkerfeldt of Opeth. Here’s one question and one titillating answer from the interview:

Lithium Magazine: “Heritage” will be your tenth album, and your third album on Roadrunner Records. Did you have anything different in mind that you really wanted to accomplish on this tenth album?

Mikael: I just wanted it to be different. I had a pretty strong urge to do it differently and not be stuck in a rut, so to speak. I’d like to think that every album we’ve done has been an album that reflects what we really wanted to do at the time. This time around, when I started writing, I was a bit disillusioned with what I wanted to do and what we should do as a band. I didn’t want us to get stuck with a sound. I get restless and when that happens it’s just time to move on and try something different, and that’s what we did with this album.

We just wrote eleven or twelve songs that sounded like stuff that I would want to listen to now, rather than writing stuff that sounds like things we’ve already done before. We have always tried to do records that we want to hear. There’s no exception to that rule with “Heritage”, but it’s a different-sounding album than our previous ones.

Now, what do you think the next question was? What would you ask next? What’s the most obvious next question in the world?

Here’s what Mr. Bax asked: “If I’m reading my Internet bits correctly, “The Devil’s Orchard” is set to be your first single, correct? Are you going to pop that online to give fans a taste of the new material?”

Fuuuuuuuck.

SUICIDE SILENCE (the only actual music in this post)

Now for some actual music. This is high-quality performance footage of the new song “You Only Live Once”, as performed by Suicide Silence on June 19 in Vienna, Austria. The song will appear on the band’s next album, “The Black Crown”, which will drop on July 12 via Century Media Records.

Your three NCS co-founders, plus friends, spent last night at Seattle’s Studio Seven having our eardrums shattered and our brains pulped by an amazingly good set of performances by four very talented bands. I’m not writing this in order to gloat about getting to see the show. You know how sometimes you get so enthusiastic about an experience that the first thing you want to do is call up or text a friend and tell them about it? Well, that’s sort of what I’m doing with this post, but I do want to report a couple of surprises (at least for me) that might be of interest.

I went to the show mainly to see Darkest Hour (despite the fact that I’ve seen them three times before), though I was also curious to see The Human Abstract. It turned out to be an eye-opening night — especially in the case of Born of Osiris and the music they played from their forthcoming third album. All four of these bands have new releases (the one from As Blood Runs Black debuts today), all four played songs from the new albums, and it was all . . . just . . . awesome.

Studio Seven has a simple layout: There’s a big concrete floor and there’s a balcony that includes a bar. The balcony hangs over much of the floor, with the leading edge not more than 30 feet from the front of the stage below. IntoTheDarkness and I got to the venue early and waited in line almost one hour in a cold wind in order to get a perch at the front of the balcony bar area, which gave us (literally) a bird’s eye view of the stage and what turned out to be a packed, roiling mass of humanity directly below us.

Of course, I forgot my fucking camera, but I’m not sure it would have done me any good since the stage was shrouded in smoke effects most of the night. (more after the jump . . .)

THE HUMAN ABSTRACT

I’ve still not listened to the entirety of this band’s new album, Digital Veil, despite the glowing review from Andy Synn in these pages and enthusiastic recommendations from NCS co-founder IntoTheDarkness. I’ve just never been a big fan of this band based on their previous music. But now, after last night, I get it.

The majority of the set consisted of music from the new album — they played “Holographic Sight”, “Complex Terms”, and closed the too-short set with “Digital Veil”, in addition to a couple of older songs. The new stuff just kicked my ass through the roof. As turned out to be true of all four of these bands, the playing was as tight as a vacuum seal, and the new songs stunned me (given what I knew of the band’s previous output) by their power, aggression, and physically convulsive rhythms.

The band is also a helluva lot of fun to watch. The sight of Dean Herrera windmilling his thigh-length dreads AND his guitar at the same time will stay with me, and I was also really surprised by the relatively new frontman Travis Richter. This reed-thin dude looks like he’d blow away in a summer breeze, but what comes out of his mouth has the power of a blast furnace. He’s also one of those guys who just smiles all the way through the set when he’s not singing (in that way, he reminded me of Dark Tranquillity’s Mikael Stanne). He looks like he’s having the time of his life — and he probably is.

AS BLOOD RUNS BLACK

After THA finished, I wondered how As Blood Runs Black could possibly compete. In a way, they couldn’t. The songs are less musically interesting, the musicianship less technically demanding. But that didn’t prevent them from massively rocking the house. Despite the band’s long hiatus, they clearly had a big fan base in the audience, and the pit went explosive.

It’s been, what?, five years since the band’s debut album, Allegiance. Now, it’s basically a new band, with guitarists Greg Kirkpatrick and Dan Sugarman and vocalist Sonik Garcia joining just last year. I haven’t heard the new album yet, but now I’m interested. The set was a mix of stuff from Allegiance and the new album (Instinct), and it was a blast of above-average deathcore madness.

The real highlight of their performance — what really made the set a success — was the new vocalist. Garcia is another small, rail-thin dude who likes like he’d blow away in a breeze, but he’s got fantastic stage presence and a huge voice. He was in constant motion, constantly exhorting the crowd — another dude who looked like he was having the time of his life, and his live-wire enthusiasm electrified the audience, too.

DARKEST HOUR

I don’t really have anything new to say about this band. They are simply one of the best live acts I’ve ever seen. They dependably deliver a riveting live show. John Henry‘s vocals are in a class by themselves, and in terms of instrumental performance, I really can’t think of another band that, man for man, is better on stage than Mike Schleibaum, Lonestar Carrigan, Paul Burnette, and Ryan Parrish.

I made the mistake of picking the wrong line at the bar after As Blood Runs Black finished, and by the time I got back to our balcony perch, I’d lost my place at the rail and for most of this set I was the third person back from the front, which means about the only band member visible on the stage below was Parrish, on his elevated platform with the drum kit. So, I watched him, and was blown away. And I focused on the music, since I could barely see what was happening on stage. Just a stunningly tight performance.

Fortunately, a couple of people moved away from the front balcony before the last two songs, so I wormed my way back up to the rail and got to see the finish — and was reminded all over again how much fun it is to watch these guys. John Henry and bassist Paul Burnette are in constant motion, Parrish is an absolute beast behind the kit, and even though Carrigan and Schleibaum don’t cavort as much as Henry and Burnette, they are such immaculate guitarists that it’s hard not to stare at them.

BORN OF OSIRIS

I wondered how, in a just world, this band could be headlining, with Darkest Hour in support (though maybe this is a co-headlining tour, with DH as the last act on other stops?). I was a fan of their debut album, The New Reign (because it sounded so different at the time), but I found A Higher Place to be disappointing. I saw them on tour a couple years ago after that second album came out, and I thought the live show was good but not great.

My comrade IntoTheDarkness has been listening to some of the tracks from the forthcoming album, The Discovery (due March 22 on Sumerian). He told me before the night started that I was going to be pleasantly surprised by the new music. And then, after Darkest Hour finished, he told me that as good as the night had been up to that point, the best was yet to come. In my mind, I called bullshit. To his face, I said something along the lines of, “Really? Are you serious?” And he was.

I would have a very hard time picking the best performance of this night, but I will say this: Born of Osiris was very much in league with Darkest Hour and The Human Abstract. They were, I dunno, 1000% better than I remember them. Another vacuum-tight performance instrumentally, and frontman Ronnie Canizaro’s live vocals and overall stage presence have become just awesomely good.

And here’s the main point I want to make about this set: The new music just kicks the living shit out of everything this band have done before. Seriously.

I hadn’t listened to the songs that are now streaming on the BOO Facebook and MySpace pages, so I wasn’t familiar with the titles, but I’m pretty sure I heard Canizaro announce “Follow the Signs” and “Two Worlds of Design”. Blazingly fast and powerful, with djent-style rhythms, catchy melodies, keyboard additions that do not annoy, and vocals that reminded me of John Henry’s. The shit caved in my head. If the new stuff sounds like this on the record, I will be very happy.

Of course, they ended the set with “Bow Down”, and by that point I was ready to bow down to Born of Osiris. I will be getting the new album ASAP.

UPDATE:

Noisecreep is streaming that Born of Osiris song called “Two Worlds of Design” with a short accompanying interview. You can check that out here, or listen to the song on the player below:

Our UK contributor Andy Synn checks in for the second day in a row — this time with a review of Darkest Hour‘s latest album, The Human Romance, which is being released today.

Seven albums. Seven full-length albums of original songs. That’s a lot of material, stemming from Darkest Hour’s punky early origins to the more streamlined and expansive sound of modern times, touching base with hardcore, thrash and death metal along the way. After all this time, however, it wouldn’t be blasphemous to wonder if the band still have anything left to offer that is in any way better or different.

Thankfully, the answer to that question is yes, with perhaps a greater emphasis on the “better” rather than the “different”. Although definitely more aggressive than any of their post-Hidden Hands… albums (although this was hinted at by The Eternal Return), The Human Romance also sees the band using the means and methods of their traditional sound and song-writing style to explore different melodic textures.

Despite some initial reservations about the band potentially repeating song structures and styles from their previous releases, I have found the album to be a more intelligent, refined variation on their core sounds. Some sophisticated new elements are utilised in an unobtrusive manner, so that the album, whilst fiery and heavy, is most rewarding after repeat listens. (more after the jump . . .)

The rather throw-away introductory track, the 1:16 of “Terra Nocturnus”, is the album’s lowest point. Unable to recapture either the emotional depth of “Doomsayer” or the feverish anticipation of “With A Thousand Words…”, the song fails to achieve any sort of connection with the listener. Perhaps it is the lack of connection with a specific song (in that it leads up to, but is not part of “The World Engulfed In Flames”) that is the problem, as it lacks any sort of internal climax and simply seems to fade away before really introducing the music proper. A rare miss it seems.

Thankfully, any taste of disappointment is quickly washed away by the start of “The World Engulfed In Flames”, whose classic In Flames-esque introductory melody harkens back to an earlier, earthier age of melodic death metal. The song itself comes across as a modern day re-imagining of The Jester Race era of IF, without coming across as derivative or trite. The winding, classically influenced chorus lead is a nice and original touch, and the weaving tremolo melodies behind the main verse riffs offer a great contrast. The bridge takes a slight detour into proggier realms, bolstered by the perfectly placed drumming of Ryan Parrish, as the riffs flirt with less standard timings and unusual harmonies.

Although the album primarily portrays a faster, more aggressive Darkest Hour, the band are careful at times to strike a balance between this new-found aggressive fervour and the massive, distinctive melodies that they have become known for.

Thrash-tastic song “Your Everyday Disaster” epitomises the more straightforward, aggressive style, and is one of the shortest songs on the record at only 2:48 in length. The vocals are ferocious but instantly memorable and the guitars weave just the right amount melody into their metallic fury to hint at a sense of subtlety without reducing the intensity of the song’s attack. The solo in this song is a real treat, ably showing the shredding chops of Mike Schleibaum (always considered the weaker soloist of the band’s two guitarists, at least technically) along with his distinctive sense of feel.

Follow-up “Violent By Nature”, as its title suggests, is even more aggressive and shorter than its predecessor. At only 2:22 long it quickly establishes itself as one of the heaviest numbers on the record, unrelenting kicks powering the song forward while the riffs favour power and dissonant harmonics over overt technicality. Thematically, the song is clearly the most violent and propulsive on the record, chugging and faster, louder and heavier than before, with a massive title-refrain of hardcore-styled, almost death metal vocals and a dark, foreboding bridge that adds an element of malignant, predatory danger to the song.

Marginally less heavy, but more oppressive in mood, “Man & Swine” has a strange vibe to it, darker riffing setting it apart from a lot of the band’s material in many distinct ways. The angular, stop-start riffing adds a new element to the guitar sound thus far and serves as an interesting respite from the heads-down attack of the other songs. The song seethes with barely contained rage, John Henry barking violently over jagged, punishing rhythms, while structurally the song is a lot more linear and less repetitive in nature than its more standard-ly structured brethren. The eerie backing vocals that come in during the closing third of the song seem very much something that past collaborator Devin Townsend would employ, working as a perfect foil to the strained, cathartic screams that otherwise dominate.

Representing the melodic side of the record, the previously heard “Savor The Kill” mixes post-Soilwork riffage (first hinted at on “Deliver Us”) with a surprisingly progressive angle and a sense of swagger in the chorus vocals, accented by the furious drumming of Ryan Parrish. The punchy, heavy opening to each verse showcases Darkest Hour revelling in the complexity of simplicity — a thumping, stomping beat and a stop-start riff augmented by subtle backing guitar melodies and throbbing bass, before leading into a catchy as hell pre-chorus based around an insistent lead melody.

The solo section showcases a much more restrained side of Mike “Lonestar” Corrigan, obtuse tapped melodies eventually graduating into a flowing solo that paints a singular picture. Beneath it all is the phenomenal playing of drummer Ryan Parrish, who reels off an array of snappy, tasteful fills and kick rolls whilst maintaining a constant yet interesting beat.

“Love As A Weapon” opens with a mournful, semi-distorted pattern of ringing, picked notes before slowly developing into a more involved piece of tasteful, harmonised lead work and driving drumming. The bouncy main riff comes as something of a shock at first, but again conceals the band’s clever use of backing, second guitar parts to add subtle complexities to even the most simple moments. The unforgettably catchy chorus involves the use of John Henry’s rarely demonstrated semi-clean vocal range, dripping with emotion as much as his screams. The calm, reflective break part-way through the song shows the band demonstrating their knowledge dynamics with their quiet, considered playing suddenly exploding into an explosive, fiery display of guitar pyrotechnics and passionate vocal fury. Quietly sung backing vocals help complete the total package, the song movingly echoing a variety of moods and themes.

Probably the most forgettable (although still good) song on the record, “Wound” is a direct, upbeat number with a haunting chorus lead whose primary importance is found in the builds towards a driving mid-section which combines a dirty, semi-clean vocal refrain with a minimalist lead part, over a restrained, melodic chord progression that pulses with energy.

“Purgatory” straddles the divide between the heavier and melodic sides of the band’s repertoire, the interplay between ferocious screams and crunchy, damaging riffing, particularly during the chorus, balancing out the Gothenburg-on-steroids speed and melody of the rest of the song, all the elements just gelling seamlessly. The piercing leads and hammering rhythm guitars of each chorus balance each other perfectly, while the solo is short but perfectly formed, managing to build subtly and end powerfully in a very short space of time. Once again the backing vocals add a welcome touch of variety near to the end of the song, as well as an additional sense of mood and depth. The end is a treat as well, simple but exactly what was needed.

“Severed Into Separates” is a bit of an oddity, as whilst very melodic it is also the punkiest song on record, more simplistic in structure and based around fewer melodic progressions and fewer riffs, but still insistently catchy for all that. The punk-inflected opening gives way to an infectious refrain riff, followed by a verse juxtaposing traditional Gothenburg-style string skipping riffage against ringing, shimmering chords before the band employs the infectious refrain riff for their needs as an undeniably effective chorus. The dark bridge leads into a beautiful solo with several different sections to it and a real sense of variety to its approach and tempo shifts.

Powerful instrumental (with keyboards courtesy of Kirsten Randall) “Terra Solaris” has some great moments but ultimately doesn’t quite reach the same transcendent heights as “Veritas, Aequitas”, its genetic forebear to whom it will inevitably be compared. Placing this comparison to one side however, the track flows perfectly from start to finish through a number of different mood-scapes and allows both guitarists even more room to express themselves in different manners, free from the constraints of a single, prescribed direction.

The acoustic and string led mid-section is the song’s real high point, featuring gorgeous waves of emotive strings, reverberating bass and intimate, intricate clean guitars which consciously reference the band’s melodic history. Thankfully, this high is maintained until the song’s end via the phenomenal solo that follows it and the emotionally charged riff, ably supported by some great bass playing by the underrated and under-stated Paul Burnette, that drives the song towards its conclusion.

Final track “Beyond The Life You Know” is true, vintage Darkest Hour through and through, edge-of-the-seat melodic death metal guitar runs providing the impetus for the raging vocals which utilise a slightly higher range at key points, as well as some well-written layering during the chorus.

The band’s love for The Crown shines through on this track, albeit in a much more melodic manner, as the structure and energy comes straight from the under-appreciated Swedish melodic death/thrash masters. The sheer passion for metal drips from the band’s every pore, the guitars blazing hell for leather whilst impassioned battle-cries ring out above. The more mid-paced moments of the song simply provide extra ballast for when the guitars and drums race off once more at full-pelt, the song building an unstoppable momentum up to the point where it all crashes down into a ringing, fading guitar pattern and some intimate, ethereal vocals.

It’s fair to say that all the members are performing at their peak on this album. The vocals have never sounded so raw and impassioned, the riffs have never had more bite, the solos soar, the bass rumbles proudly and the melodies infect voraciously. Mike “Lonestar” Corrigan should get some real credit for his interesting, classically influenced playing which has now been firmly established as a key component of Darkest Hour’s sound, and Mike Schleibaum (the mastermind behind the whole thing) has come up with some of his best riffs ever.

The real MVP, however, is drummer Ryan Parrish whose playing is almost perfect, stylistically varied enough to surprise, but always written to the greater benefit of the song above all else. In addition his power, speed and impressive hand-work have all seemingly stepped up a notch, making him the real driving force behind the album’s flashier elements.

The album as a whole strikes me as an improvement upon The Eternal Return, an album I loved, in that it more cleverly melds the heavier and melodic sides of the band’s repertoire, albeit with certain songs leaning slightly more one way or the other. The subtle nuances are much more pronounced in their usage, as the secondary guitar parts are far more interesting and clever and the band’s employment of backing vocals adds an entirely new dimension to the vocal dynamic.

Overall, I’d easily put this record near the top of the band’s discography, as it melds the heart-stopping speed and aggression of the band’s roots with a more ambitious, progressive bent that defies the restraints of tight structuring and short song lengths the band use.

EDITOR’S NOTE: For a taste of The Human Romance, have a listen to this, the album’s final track:

One of our favorite metal bands, Darkest Hour, has a new album set for official release next week. It’s called The Human Romance. From the songs we’ve heard so far, it’s going to be very strong.

Earlier today, ARTISTdirect.com premiered the first official music video for the new album, for the song “Savor the Kill”. ARTISTdirect introduced the video this way (saving our lazy selves the time of doing it for you):

“Against the backdrop of bone liquefying music, the video features a hot chick in a white dress and another hot chick in a magenta dress. Both are in the woods. There are wolves, and footage of the band performing. There is also some blood. It’s almost like a dark, twisted, perverted fairytale, set to metallic riffage that will force you to bang your head involuntarily. That’s all the detail we’ll share – it’s up to you to watch it now and piece together your own perception of what’s going on in the video for ‘Savor the Kill’”.

If you would like to see the video, continue past the jump and check it out. It’s good — and so is the song.

The first month of the year has come and gone. January brought those of us in Seattle some typically ass-sucking winter weather, though it wasn’t nearly as bad as the brutality dished out by the weather gods on our metal brothers and sisters in the Midwest and Northeast of the U.S. And of course, our readers ins places like Russia, and Finland, and Sweden are probably laughing their asses off reading our complaints about our winter weather. So, we’ll just shut up about that.

Besides, January brought all sorts of great new metal to our tender ears, so who gives a shit about the weather anyway? And you know what else January brought? It brought news of still more metal goodness on the way — great bursts of audio sunshine in our collective futures that will part these winter clouds and leave them whimpering in cloudy tatters.

Okay, maybe we should leave poetry to the poets and just get on with this next monthly installment of METAL IN THE FORGE, where we collect news blurbs and press releases we’ve seen over the last 30 days about forthcoming new albums from bands we know and like, or from bands that look interesting, even though we don’t know them yet. And in this post, we’ve cut and pasted the announcements and compiled them in alphabetical order. Look for your favorite bands, or get intrigued about some new ones:

AJATARRA: “AJATTARA — the Finnish band featuring former AMORPHIS frontman Pasi Koskinen (a.k.a. Itse Ruoja Suruntuoj) — will release its seventh album, Murhat (“Murders”) on February 2 via Osasto-A Records. Murhat is available for streaming in its entirety on the AJATTARA Facebook page.”  (much more after the jump . . .)

ALL SHALL PERISH: “Oakland, California extreme metal band All Shall Perish are currently nearing completion of their fourth album and follow-up to their 2008 release, Awaken the Dreamers.”

ARTILLERY: “Danish thrash metal veterans ARTILLERY have completed work on their sixth album, My Blood, at Medley Studios in Copenhagen for a March 21 European release via Metal Mind Productions (April 5 in the U.S. through MVD and March 9 in Japan via King Records).”

AUGURY: “Sonic Unyon Metal will reissue Concealed, the first album from the progressive death metal outfit AUGURY, on March 8. Originally released in 2004 via Galy Records, this updated version features a fully remastered recording of the album, also expanded to include two bonus tracks from the band’s 2006 demo. This definitive edition will also be packaged in a new digipak format, designed by Sven de Caluwé of ABORTED.”

AVANTASIA: “AVANTASIA — the project led by EDGUY frontman Tobias Sammet — is putting the finishing touches on its two-disc DVD, The Flying Opera – Around The World In 20 Days, for an early March release via Nuclear Blast Records in Europe and Avalon Marquee in Asia.”

BECOMING THE ARCHETYPE: “Georgia-based metallers BECOMING THE ARCHETYPE will release their fourth album, Celestial Completion, on March 29 via Solid State Records. The CD was produced by Matt Goldman (UNDEROATH, THE CHARIOT, COPELAND) and contains 11 tracks.”

BLACKGUARD: “Montreal, Quebec, Canada-based sympho/black/folk/power metallers BLACKGUARD (formerly PROFUGUS MORTIS) have set Firefight as the title of their sophomore album, due on March 29 via Victory Records.”

BLOTTED SCIENCE: “Instrumental extreme metal triumvirate BLOTTED SCIENCE, featuring guitarist Ron Jarzombek (WATCHTOWER, SPASTIC INK, MARTY FRIEDMAN), bassist Alex Webster (CANNIBAL CORPSE, HATE ETERNAL) and drummer Hannes Grossmann (NECROPHAGIST, OBSCURA), is preparing to enter the studio to begin recording a new EP, The Animation Of Entomology, for a tentative late 2011 release.”

BORN OF OSIRIS: “Chicago-based progressive metal hybrid BORN OF OSIRIS will release its third full-length album, The Discovery, on March 22 via Sumerian Records. The CD was recorded at BOTA Studio in Lake In The Hills, Illinois and was mixed by Jason Suecof (ALL THAT REMAINS, TRIVIUM, DEVILDRIVER). ”

THE BRONX CASKET CO.: “THE BRONX CASKET CO., the side project of OVERKILL bassist D.D. Verni and SEVEN WITCHES guitarist Jack Frost, will release its new album, Antihero, on January 25 via eOne Music.”

BURZUM: “Fallen, the eighth album from BURZUM, will be released in North America on April 5. The album is the second to be released via Varg Vikernes’ imprint Byelobog Productions (via Candlelight for the territory).  Fallen features seven new compositions by the controversial Norwegian musician, each adding another storied journey to the celebrated BURZUM legacy.”

BYFROST: “Norwegian blackened thrashers BYFROST have inked a deal with Germany’s AFM Records, who are set to release the band’s sophomore album before the summer.  Of Death, will be recorded at the Conclave and Earshot Studios in the band’s home town of Bergen, and will be produced by ENSLAVED’s Herbrand Larsen and VULTURE INDUSTRIES’ Bjornar Nilsen, who had also produced BYFROST’s debut album.”

CANNIBAL CORPSE: From an interview with Alex Webster: “We have no plans to tour in 2011. We are currently home in the Tampa Bay Area writing our next album, we’ll record it in September so that will leave us with an early 2012 release. So, we’ll probably wait to tour until the album is released.”

CANNIBAL CORPSE: “Florida death metallers CANNIBAL CORPSE are tentatively scheduled to release a new two-disc DVD set, “Global Evisceration”, on March 15 via Metal Blade. The band filmed two shows in May 2010 for the upcoming DVD.”

THE CRIMSON ARMADA: “Columbus, Ohio band The Crimson Armada has inked a deal with Artery Recordings, the joint venture between The Artery Foundation and Razor & Tie. The group will enter the studio this spring with producer Brian Hood (A Plea For Purging, Hope for the Dying) to record their 2011 Artery Recordings debut, titled Conviction, which will be released this summer.”

DARKEST HOUR: “Washington D.C.-based metallers DARKEST HOUR have completed work on their new album, The Human Romance, for a February 22, 2011 release via eOne Music. The CD was recorded at a North Carolina studio with producer (and SOILWORK guitarist) Peter Wichers.”

DEATH: “DEATH‘s seventh and final album, The Sound of Perseverance, will be reissued on February 15 in North America (February 21 internationally) via Relapse Records. The first in a series of official DEATH reissues slated for 2011, the LP has been remastered from the original studio tapes and expanded to include a second disc of previously unreleased demo material. The reissue will also include enhanced artwork and liner notes from the original cover artist Travis Smith as well as liner notes from DEATH guitarist Shannon Hamm and never-before-seen photographs from The Sound of Perseverance era. A special deluxe version of the The Sound of Perseverance reissue includes a third bonus disc of unreleased material and will only be available via Relapse mailorder and digitally via iTunes.”

DERANGED: “Swedish death metal masters DERANGED will enter Berno Studio in Malmö, Sweden in February to begin recording their eighth full-length album, Cut, Carve, Rip, Serve, to be released via Sevared Records.”

DEVILDRIVER: “‘Dead To Rights’, the first single from DEVILDRIVER‘s forthcoming fifth album, Beast, is available for free download at RoadrunnerRecords.com (free e-mail sign-up required). . . . Beast will be issued on February 22, 2011 via Roadrunner Records. The CD was recorded at Sonic Ranch studios in Tornillo, Texas with producer Mark Lewis (TRIVIUM, CHIMAIRA, ALL THAT REMAINS) and was mixed by acclaimed British producer Andy Sneap (MEGADETH, EXODUS, MACHINE HEAD, NEVERMORE, ARCH ENEMY) at his Backstage studio in Derbyshire, England.”

DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS: “Los Angeles-based extreme metal band DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS has set Satánico Dramático as the title of its first full-length album, set for worldwide digital release on February 23, 2011.”

FRAGMENTS OF UNBECOMING: “German death metallers FRAGMENTS OF UNBECOMING are working on material for their fifth album, tentatively titled The Art Of Coming Apart, for a late 2011 release. Songtitles set to appear on the CD include “Trapping The Unseen”, “Hours Of Suffering” and “Memorial Stone”.”

GRAYCEON: “Bay Area progressive rock/metal three-piece GRAYCEON has completed work on its third full-length album, All We Destroy, for a March 1 release. GRAYCEON is recognized as one of the most creative and unique forces within the Bay Area underground metal scene, on par with such contemporaries as LUDICRA, HAMMERS OF MISFORTUNE, SLOUGH FEG, AMBER ASYLUM, ASUNDER and WORM OUROBOROS.”

ILLDISPOSED: “Danish extreme metallers ILLDISPOSED have set There Is Light (But It’s Not For Me) as the title of their new album, due in Europe on March 25 via Massacre Records. The band is currently recording the CD at Antfarm Studio in Århus, Denmark with producer Tue Madsen (MOONSPELL, DARK TRANQUILLITY, GOREFEST, SICK OF IT ALL).”

INSISION: “Swedish death metallers INSISION have posted a video teaser for their upcoming EP, End Of All, due later in the year via the U.S. label Sevared Records. The CD was recorded at Off Beat Studio in Stockholm with engineer Anders Eriksson.”

MORDBRAND: “Swedish death metallers MORDBRAND have posted three songs —“Deliverance”, “Graveyard Revisited” and “Deathbound” — from their upcoming six-track 10-inch EP, due in the early spring via Me Saco Un Ojo Records. The songs will also be available via iTunes and Spotify.”

NEGURA BUNGET: “NEGURA BUNGET is putting the finishing touches on a new mini-CD, Poarta De Dincolo (English translation: “A Gate From The Above” or “Carrying From The Other Side”). The effort is being recorded once again at Negura Music studio and, as the title suggests, focuses on exploring the relation between worlds, either from above, under or beyond.”

NEGURA BUNGET: “Negura Bunget’s live DVD/2CD Focul Viu will be released by Lupus Lounge / Prophecy Productions on March 11th, 2011 (Germany and Austria) and March 14th (rest of the Europe). The material with a playing time of over 90 minutes was recorded back in December 2008 at a concert in Bucharest with the band’s classic line-up featuring Hupogrammos, Sol Faur, and Negru. Watch a trailer video for Focul Viu here: “Focul Viu” trailer”

NERVECELL: From the band’s press release: “It is with great pleasure to announce that we have set PSYCHOGENOCIDE as the title of our long-awaited new album, due for release late March 2011 in Europe through Lifeforce Records and Spellbind Records for the Middle East. The artwork has been a concept, which we have been working on for quite a while within the band and we are extremely proud of how it has turned out, perfectly matching the aggression and musical direction of the new album. PSYCHOGENOCIDE is scheduled to be mixed and mastered at Hertz Studios (Behemoth, Decapitated, Vader) in Warsaw, Poland by the Wieslawscy Bros.”

NEURAXIS: “‘Asylum’, a brand new track from Montreal-based death metallers NEURAXIS, is available for streaming at this location. The song comes off the band’s sixth album, Asylon, which will be released in North America on February 15, 2011.”

NOCTEM: “Spanish death/black metallers NOCTEM will enter Ultrasound studios in Braga, Portugal, in February with producer Daniel Cardoso to begin recording their sophomore album. According to a posting on the group’s MySpace page, the follow-up to 2009′s Divinity will be a ‘logical progression of the last album, full of new nuances and based in a darker sound and a more complex composition.’”

PRIMORDIAL: “Irish dark metal masters PRIMORDIAL are putting the finishing touches on their seventh studio album, Redemption At The Puritan’s Hand, with producer Chris Fielding (NAPALM DEATH, ELECTRIC WIZARD) for a tentative April release via Metal Blade Records.”

REVOCATION: “Revocation are currently recording their new as-yet-untitled full-length album at Damage Studios in Southbridge, Massachusetts with engineer Pete Rutcho. The follow-up to the band’s break-through Relapse Records debut Existence Is Futile is expected to see its release in summer 2011.”

RIGOR MORTIS: “Texas thrash metal veterans RIGOR MORTIS will celebrate their 25th anniversary this year with several special shows. . . . In other news, RIGOR MORTIS will record two new songs in February. These will be the first songs this lineup has recorded together since the band’s 1988 self-titled debut album. The groups plans to write and record enough songs in the upcoming months for a future full-length release.”

THE ROTTED: “London, England-based death metallers THE ROTTED have entered Parlour Studios to record the follow-up to 2008′s Get Dead Or Die Trying. Production duties are once again being handled by Russ Russell (NAPALM DEATH, DIMMU BORGIR, EVILE). . . . The as-yet untitled-album is set for a mid/late 2011 release.”

ROTTEN SOUND: “‘Plan’, a brand new song from Finland’s ROTTEN SOUND, is available for streaming on the band’s MySpace and Facebook pages. The track comes off the group’s new full-length album, Cursed, which will be released on March 15 via Relapse Records (except in Finland, where it will arrive on March 16 through Fullsteam Records).”

SINISTER: “Poland’s Metal Mind Productions will release an exclusive box containing the full discography of one of the best death metal bands around — Holland’s SINISTER — on February 14 in Poland, February 21 in Europe and April 5 in the USA. Entitled Altered Since Birth, the set contains eight studio albums, a live DVD, a compilation of demo tracks, plus a booklet containing a full biography based on an exclusive interview, the complete discography, lyrics to all songs and a selection of amazing archive photos.”

SUICIDE SILENCE: “Suicide Silence will soon enter the studio to begin recording a new full-length. Tracking will take place with producer/engineer Steve Evetts (Dillinger Escape Plan, Every Time I Die) and the yet-to-be-titled effort will hit stores this summer via Century Media Records.”

SUPREME PAIN: “Dutch brutal death metallers SUPREME PAIN, who feature in their ranks members of SINISTER, CONSOLATION, PUTREFIED and FONDLECORPSE, have inked a deal with Massacre Records. The band’s third album, Divine Incarnation was recorded at Soundlodge Studiosin Leer, Germany with producer Jörg Uken and is scheduled for release later in the year.”

SYLOSIS: “U.K. modern thrashers SYLOSIS will release their sophomore album, Edge Of The Earth, on March 11 via Nuclear Blast Records. The CD was produced by Scott Atkins, who previously worked with the band on 2008′s Conclusion Of An Age.”

SYMPHONY X: “Vocalist Russell Allen of New Jersey’s progressive metal masters SYMPHONY X revealed that the band has set Iconoclast as the title of its eighth album, due later this year via Nuclear Blast Records. When asked what stage of the recording/mixing process the new CD is in, Allen replied, ‘We are in post-production, so the album is pretty much almost done. At this point, mixes are being wrapped up and finalized and it’s off to mastering and should be ready for release in a few months — definitely first quarter of 2011.’”

TEXTURES: From the band’s blog: “We have started recording our fourth album at Split Second Sound studios in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The album will be produced by TEXTURES’  guitar player Jochem Jacobs, who also was responsible for the production of TEXTURES’ previous albums. . . . The yet untitled album will see its release in the fall of 2011 through Nuclear Blast Records.”

TROLLFEST: “True Norwegian Balkan metallers’ TROLLFEST have inked a deal with NoiseArt Records as well as the booking agency Rock The Nation. The band’s new album, En Kvest For Den Hellige Gral, will be released on April 29.”

THE UNGUIDED: “THE UNGUIDED — the new project featuring former SONIC SYNDICATE members Richard Sjunnesson (vocals) and Roland Johansson (vocals), along with current SONIC SYNDICATE guitarist (and Richard‘s brother) Roger Sjunnesson — will release a two-track digital and physical single entitled “Nightmareland” in February.”

VOMITORY: “Mighty Swedish death metallers Vomitory have finished the recordings for their anticipated eighth studio album entitled Opus Mortis VIII. . . . Vomitory’s Opus Mortis VIII will be released in the spring of 2011 via Metal Blade Records.”

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Our temporarily Australian correspondent The Artist Formerly Known As Dan has another list for you today. He left out a few activities. We sure hope the comments fill in the holes . . .]

If you are like me (read: a nerd) then you tend to categorize everything, especially music.  Whenever I hear something new, I’m very quick to make a judgement about the overall sound and what type of music it is. Only, I’m not filtering it into one of those sub-genres that are constantly argued about on the internet. I’m thinking about if I like the music enough to listen to it again. If the answer is yes, then I think about when I would listen to the music again, and what the associated activity might be (don’t ask me how or why I do this – I probably have a problem).

Anyway, the point is, I think about music as something to augment my life and its associated activities, like some kind of bizarre “soundtrack to life.” For example, I really really enjoy gaming to Dagoba. I’m not positive how it started, but I think I was playing Guild Wars and I played the entirety of Face the Colossus and it was just fucking awesome.

This post is mostly meant to stimulate discussion, so what is your favorite music to xxxxx to?  I’ll list some examples below of some activities and what I like to hear while doing them.  (after the jump . . . including music to hear)

Gaming

I mentioned one example above, but these are some of my go-to albums (unless of course I’m playing CS for serious – in that case it’s positional audio only).

Dagoba – Face the Colossus, Poseidon
Darkest Hour – Deliver Us
In Flames - Whoracle, Colony

Working Out

Islander mentioned in his post here that he was listening to Dan Dankmeyer while working out at the gym and kept getting distracted.  This is exactly the reason I don’t use this kind of music at the gym, since it’s really well written and musically interesting.  Instead, I use generic deathcore.  It’s tasteless and mind-numbingly heavy, but it keeps me angry and keeps the adrenaline up.

Driving

There are really two categories here, since driving alone is quite different from roadtripping with friends, for example.  Regardless, I’ll just list a few albums that are cross-overs:

Iron Maiden – Fear of the Dark (I know there are plenty better Maiden albums, but this has become a favorite among friends for reasons we can’t really describe)
Kvelertak – Kvelertak – you really can’t not bang your head to this.
The Crown – all

Studying

I am a full time student, so this category is where I spend most of my time.  I like to listen to interesting music, but not something that is too distracting.  In other words, I listen to a lot of instrumental.  Some current favorites are:

Cloudkicker – all
Russian Circles – Geneva – I wouldn’t exactly call this metal, but it is some fucking awesome instrumental post-rock
Tre Watson – all

Listening

Ok, so this category, to me, is the highest praise I can give music.  What I’m basically saying is that the music is so interesting/engaging/awesome that I don’t want the experience to be ruined by doing anything else.  I literally lay on my bed and just listen and enjoy.  Ok, well maybe I sometimes do something first before I lay down and space out, but that’s besides the point.  I also fully expect this category to generate the most controversy, since it is some of the best music out there (in my opinion).  Some example albums:

Between the Buried and Me – Alaska, Colors – yup.
Converge – Jane Doe – this album made me appreciate hardcore
Mastodon – Leviathan, Crack the Skye – these are just awesome

So what do you listen to when you xxxxx?

“Doin’ It Live ‘Til We’re Dead” appears to be the motto of The Dillinger Escape Plan for 2010. They passed through Seattle and stopped for a show at El Corazon on the night of April 10, with support from Darkest Hour, Animals As Leaders, and local favorites 7 Horns 7 Eyes. Two of your three NCS Co-Authors were on hand for the fun, and we file this report. In a word, the show was just amazing from start to finish. And for a change, we got some decent photos. You can see a lot more of them at the end of the write-up.

7HORNS 7 EYES

We last saw this local quintet (featuring two pairs of brothers) on January 26 as support for the Metal As Art tour. We hadn’t seen or heard them before that show, but they made a huge impression. We wrote then: “‘Epic” is an overused word in our community, but it truly suits the music that 7H7E delivers. The music is atmospheric but technical . . . It’s some mesmerizing shit!”

And it was more of the same last night: Complex, mid-tempo rhythms, sweeping melodies, a mix of growly and high-pitched vocals, tight instrumental interludes — and their own light show, with the fog machine pumping out the smoke. This is some mighty tasty progressive/death-metal fusion. And based on some mid-set comments from the stage, it appears we will finally have a debut album in the next couple of months. An awesome way to start the night!

(lots more after the jump . . .)

ANIMALS AS LEADERS

Tosin Abasi is a god. He takes the form of a mere mortal in order to pass through our world without arousing shock and awe — except when he takes the stage to play 8-string guitar. Then, the disguise falls away and he is revealed in all his awesome glory.

His 2009 debut album of instrumental metal under the Animals As Leaders name was one of our absolute favorites, and here we named “Tempting Time” one of the most infectious extreme metal songs of 2009. Goes without saying that catching the chance to see Abasi and his band play in the flesh was one of the main draws for this show, as far as we were concerned.

And oh man, was it ever ridiculously good! We squeezed in close to his side of the stage and just soaked it in. Few guitarists playing in this genre have Abasi’s skill, and it was enormously cool to see that he sounds just as good on stage as he does in the studio. In his hands, the three guitars he played were an extension of his body and mind, and the band’s set was essentially a showcase for one long series of mind-bending solos set within some truly infectious instrumental songs.

Abasi has also lined up a drummer and second guitarist that are capable not only of keeping up with him, but of shining brightly in the light of their own impressive talent: Navene Koperweis (Animosity, The Faceless) on drums, and second guitarist Javier Reyes. We could have listened to this threesome all night. A transcendent experience, and one that elicited a boisterously appreciate crowd response.

DARKEST HOUR

We’ve lost count of how many times we’ve seen Darkest Hour live — because we make it a point to see them whenever they’re in the Pacific Northwest. Why do we do that? Because their live shows kick all kinds of ass. And this one was no exception.

While the packed house just sort of watched in rapt, slack-jawed amazement at Animals As Leaders, Darkest Hour got the place worked up to a fever pitch with its distinctive combination of hardcore and gigawatt metal.

The band has time and again proved its talent in writing songs that incorporate infectious grooves and melodies into an intense, fast-paced attack. And their performance of those songs has always been a vivid, high-energy experience. They’ve taken no steps backward since the departure of guitarist Kris Norris. Mike “Lonestar” Carrigan has filled those shoes abundantly, and of course John Henry proved himself all over again to be one of the most energy-intensive frontmen in the business.

DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN

This was the first time we had seen DEP in the flesh, and I get it now. This is one extremely talented collection of musicians who somehow are able to play technically intricate metal while bouncing off the walls and ceiling as if it were the last hour of their lives.

Vocalist Greg Puciato is the maniac-in-chief, but Ben Weinman, Jeff Tuttle, and Liam Wilson give him a run for his money — and unlike him, they have to play some serious math-metal riffs and rhythms at the same time as they’re careening around the stage. It’s a sight to behold.

There’s plenty of clean singing on the band’s new album, Option Paralysis (which I’m really digging), but not much was in evidence last night. Instead, Puciato was in full, no-holds-barred, screamo mode, and it was electrifying.

The mayhem paused on occasion for some beautiful, complex instrumental passages that meshed well with what Animals As Leaders did earlier in the evening, but those interludes were fleeting, and always gave way to more jolting intensity in short order. These dudes bull-whipped the densely packed crowd into a frenzy and gave them their money’s worth and more.

What a night! Ass-kicking awesomeness from start to finish!

And now, for your viewing pleasure, more of our photos from the show:

7 HORNS 7 EYES

ANIMALS AS LEADERS

DARKEST HOUR

DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN

Just saw some bittersweet news. First, the good part. The line-up, dates, and places have just been released for the Atticus Metal Tour II — with NCS favorite UNEARTH as the headline act. And it gets better. Check out the line-up of other bands on the bill:  Stick To Your Guns, Veil of Maya, The Ghost Inside, and Carnifex — with Darkest Hour, Stray From The Path, and, Your Demise joining the party on select dates.  (Those dates and other details will be released here as they become available.)

Now for the bittersweet news (selfishly speaking): the closest the tour gets to the Pacific Northwest is Utah. Life ain’t fucking fair!  What else is new. Anyway, check out the full list of dates and places after the jump.

UNEARTH
Atticus Metal Tour 2
In association with Revolver Magazine and Headbang for the Highway
Tour w/ Stick To Your Guns, Veil Of Maya, The Ghost Inside and Carnifex

03/05 San Diego, CA Soma
03/06 Pomona, CA The Glasshouse
03/08 Salt Lake City, UT In The Venue
03/09 Denver, CO Cervantes Ballroom
03/11 Ft. Worth, TX Ridglea Theatre
03/12 San Antonio, TX White Rabbit
03/13 Houston, TX Meridian
03/16 Birmingham, AL 5 Points Music Hall
03/17 Orlando, FL Club Firestone
03/18 Atlanta, GA The Masquerade
03/19 Raleigh, NC Volume 11
03/20 Richmond, VA The Hat Factory
03/21 Allentown, PA Crocodile Rock
03/23 Dayton, OH The Attic
03/24 Milwaukee, WI The Rave
03/25 St. Paul, MN Station 4
03/26 Chicago, IL House of Blues
03/27 Detroit, MI Magic Stick
03/28 Cleveland, OH Peabody’s
03/29 Indianapolis, IN Emerson Theatre
03/30 Albany, NY Northern Lights
03/31 Toronto, ON Opera House
04/01 Montreal, QC Tulipe
04/02 Quebec City, QC Imperial
04/03 New York, NY Gramercy Theatre
04/04 Worcester, MA The Palladium