About six years ago, Richmond, Virginia doom-metallers Cough came into the spotlight of the underground metal scene. Ritual Abuse was a dark, twisted, and sickly forray into a drug-induced wasteland, and the reception for it only backed it up that this was a titanic album. Between the massive riffs and the haunting atmospheres, Cough became a behemoth among doom metal bands and not one to be taken lightly.
Amon Amarth don’t have much left to prove to the world at this point in their career. Within the nearly three years since Deceiver of the Gods was released, the band have grown exponentially beyond an overseas sensation, into a juggernaut worldwide. Taking that opening slot on the Mayhem Festival main stage proved to go a long way, as the band embarked on two headlining North American tours the following year, each time growing larger than before.
Sweden’s traditional death metal is very much alive and well. With bands like Bloodbath, Entombed, and Entrails keeping the tradition of the “buzzsaw” guitar tone alive, it’s easy to forget Sweden made the antithesis of it with melodic death metal. Even though films like Metal: A Headbanber’s Journey lumps bands like Grave and Arch Enemy into one genre, simply dubbed “Swedish Death Metal,” it’s more evident that the bands that follow the likes of Entombed and the such are a different breed than even the traditional death metal bands from the rest of the world.
I’ll be the first to admit that I never expected much out of Fear Factory when I first listened to them. To my surprise, they became a group of musicians who I respected for their in-your-face albums with the chops to back them up. Nobody could argue that while you knew what you were getting into with Fear Factory, you wouldn’t end up disappointed. With that said, I’ve always been wary of anything associated with industrial metal, in the sense that it can be so computerized and clean, at times, that the thrill of actually seeing an industrial band live would not be able to replicate that.
Southern California metal titans WINDS OF PLAGUE today have signed a record deal with Entertainment One Music (eOne) / Good Fight Music. The band is also announcing their first headlining tour in two and a half years, with RINGS OF SATURN as direct support. Vocalist Johnny Cooke offers a full statement below.
I’m not a stranger to the “djent” scene, or progressive metalcore, as it may actually be deemed. Periphery and Vildhjarta were two of the bands that introduced me to this style, although both have since gone on to craft their own respective sounds, steering far from the core sound of the scene. This has not alienated me, however, and I’ve managed to find enjoyment in bands like Northlane and In Hearts Wake, as well as Veil of Maya’s, After the Burial, and even Volumes at times. Essentially, bands like the aforementioned have braced more of the “metalcore” aspect of the stylings, but don’t shy away from the progressive aspects,like virtuoso guitar work, time signature changes, and other varying trivialities...
You’d swear the world split apart, but the seemingly impossible happened this week: Axl Rose will be singing for AC/DC and Brian Johnson was out of the band. You’d have sworn a meteor was heading straight for Earth, because everyone reacted that way: someone else fronting AC/DC, even as a touring member, let alone someone as notorious as Axl? Right after the announcement that Guns N Roses was touring with Slash and Duff, it just seemed so overkill for Axl to be doing that. Granted, since Axl isn’t young anymore, he runs the chance of exhaustion since he’ll be going from GNR to AC/DC and probably to GNR right after.
Usually by now we have a general idea as to what bands will be on The Summer Slaughter tour through hints they drop during the year. Being that it’s April, it’s odd to not have any indication as to who we’ll be seeing on the massive extreme metal festival. Finally, the Facebook page for the tour has dropped its first hint at bands we’ll see this year, and it seems to be a bit for everyone.
Not to be confused with the German black metal band Dark Fortress, New Jersey’s Death Fortress are something of a wonder in the 21st century. No Facebook page, no Twitter, but just a Bandcamp page with both their albums, and a tie to Fallen Empire Records adds an air of mystery to this band. You, quite honestly, can’t even find a picture of the band at all.
