Dec 022009
 

Psycroptic in Indonesia

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We’re big fans of Psycroptic. First, they’re called Psycroptic. Second, they’re from Tasmania for fuck’s sake. Third, they play some awesome technical death metal. And fourth, when they tour, they go to places like Indonesia (Java and Bali to be precise) — and they draw big crowds there! I’m not shitting you. The photos up above are from Psycroptic’s Indonesian tour in November. The band’s amazing drummer Dave Haley released a report about the experience. Here’s an excerpt:

“We can honestly say we can’t wait to go back! Indonesia’s metal scene is huge, and feels more like a ‘community’ than just music fans. I can honestly say I’ve never seen so much enthusiam and passion for music anywhere in the world. What an amazing place…I wish every tour could be as good as that one was!”

Who knew?

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Then on top of that, Psycroptic returned to Australia to learn that they had received a pile of awards at the first annual Australian Metal Awards show in Sydney, including best live band and — what did I tell you — best band name.

And they’re working on new music for release in 2010.

For more details about all these doings, go here.

Dec 012009
 

Long Island's new Expirimental tech death band Ever ForthrightSometimes, many of today’s metal bands can begin to sound the same. Many of the bands in each genre of metal sound so similar to each other that it becomes hard to find standouts. But every once in a while, a band comes along that shakes me to the core and reminds me why i still listen to the genre of music that i do. Continue reading »

Dec 012009
 

Dawn in Portland

Yesterday we wrote about American Me, the first of two Portland bands that have produced new releases from Rise Records within the last month or two.  Today, we’re talking about the debut album from . . .

Those Who Lie Beneath

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TWLB dropped their first CD, An Awakening, on Oct 13, and it’s one of the best debuts we’ve heard this year. They share this much with their label-mates, American Me: Both bands churn out fast, angry, viscerally affecting sonic assaults — exactly the kind of NCS Metal your Author wants.

But where American Me generates a heavy brand of hardcore, Those Who Lie Beneath have built their sound around a different core: death metal.  But what they’ve produced on An Awakening is a blend of many death-metal influences — old-school death, the crushing breakdowns of deathcore, melodic death metal guitar stylings and solos, and tech-death instrumentation. The music resists simple classification, though it isn’t a forced stitching together of styles for the sake of showing off or trying to be different for the sake of being different.  The music truly hangs together in an integrated, fully realized way. Continue reading »