Cool Bands You've Never Heard Of

 Editor's Note 8/10/19: Originally written on Metal Amino.

Hey everyone! I saw this weekend's challenge and read some great blogs over the last couple days, so I figured I would talk about some of my personal #UnderratedGems. In this post, I'm going to talk about bands and not specific releases. My taste is also kind of all over the place so I'll try to put a good variety of bands in here so there can hopefully be something for everyone.

Sectioned

Mathcore

If you're into mathcore at all, you probably have heard of Sectioned's sister band Frontierer, who released one of the best albums of 2018 in my opinion. But for some reason, Sectioned don't get nearly as much attention as Frontierer despite sharing most of the band's members and being nearly as good. Definitely check these guys out of you like chaotic, pissed off mathcore like Frontierer, TTDTDE, or The Chariot. 

Asphalt Graves 

Deathgrind

Asphalt Graves are a deathgrind supergroup consisting of members and ex-members of Misery Index, Dying Fetus, GWAR, and The Black Dahlia Murder. They released their debut album a couple years back but it largely flew under the radar, so I want to talk about them here. The band all around sounds super tight (especially Shannon Lucas's drumming) and Jason Netherton sounds as good as he did on Misery Index's stuff. Highly recommended if you like MI, Napalm Death, or Nasum.

Tongue

 Post-Black Metal

One of my favorite random Bandcamp discoveries. Tongue are a band from Germany that play melodic, yet pulverizing black metal broken up with post-rock and doom influenced passages. The band just announced last week that they're recording their second album right now, so looks like more is to come from these boys.

Painfield

Nu Metal/Hardcore

Here's something a little different for you. I don't think I've ever heard a band that sounds like Painfield. They were a Swedish group that played a very weird hybrid of nu metal and heavy hardcore that I really dig, though I'm not quite sure how to describe it. The best I can come up with is: Imagine early System of a Down on crack. 

Disfear

D-Beat/Crust Punk/Melodic Death Metal

Disfear started off playing d-beat in the vein of Discharge, hence their dis-core name. But when their original vocalist left in 1998, Tomas Lindberg of At the Gates joined and their sound drastically changed. Instead of pure Discharge worship, the band started playing d-beat/crust mixed with melodic death metal and it works really well. They were also my gateway into d-beat, so I have them to thank for my love of Discharge.

Set Before Us

Melodic Metalcore

I gotta be honest with you guys, I fucking hate modern melodic metalcore. There are some exceptions (Bury Tomorrow, Any Given Day, Feed Her To The Sharks, and a few others) but I really can't stand most of it. More than anything it's the insane number of bands with atrocious cleans that turns me off. Anyway, Set Before Us are another modern melodic metalcore band that I don't hate. What I really like about these guys is the way they incorporate melody in the majority of their music effectively instead of doing the scream/sing/scream/sing thing so many bands do. You know, the thing where they have heavy tough guy verses and then melodic choruses with clean singing and whatnot, but then every single song on the album follows that exact pattern. SBU are still relatively new, but they have impressed me so far with what they've put out and I'm excited to hear more. As a sidenote, I also love how they film their music videos while wearing the most casual clothes you can imagine. It really shows how these guys don't give a shit about looks and just want to play.

The Sound That Ends Creation

   

Mathcore/Experimental Grindcore

  

I literally discovered this band a few days ago and I love it so much. TSTEC is a one man mathgrind outfit from Texas and another one of my random Bandcamp finds. The project's first two albums are just kick-ass mathgrind but on their latest offering the band just went bonkers, taking influence from a shitload of different genres like jazz, screamo, and even lounge. I can't recommend enough if you like any kind of weird grind band.

Lesser Key

Progressive Rock/Alt.Metal

Rounding out my list, may I present Lesser Key. These guys are best known for having Paul D'Amour, the original bassist of Tool, in their band but I assure you their music stands on its own merit. The Tool influence is obvious, but there's more to it than that. I think the band is best described as a mix of Tool, Deftones, and A Perfect Circle. I love the vocalist the most. He reminds me of a deeper Chino Moreno and his voice fits the moody atmosphere really well. There's also some really cool guitar work in their stuff that can give me chills. Unfortunately, they only released one EP like five years ago and there's been no sign of them the last couple years, which really bums me out since I love that EP so much.

That's all for me and my personal Gems. Props to the higher ups for this cool challenge. I hope you guys found a couple bands you like in this very spastic blog. Thanks for reading!

5 Underappreciated Newer Bands Playing "Old School Death Metal"

Editor's Note 8/6/19: Originally written on Metal Amino

So lately I’ve been thinking to myself: “What should I do for my first blog? With the userbase drowning in the current tidal wave of album of the year lists and New Years Resolutions, what can I do to add variety to the content on this app?”After thinking for a bit, I remembered that many of my peers on Metal Amino share my affinity for Old School Death Metal, so I figured I would talk about 5 criminally underrated newer bands playing some heavy ass 80’s and 90’s inspired death metal. Keep in mind, I’m not going to talk about bands like Gruesome, Skeletal Remains, or Feral because I assume most of you know who they are. I’m focusing on the more unknown groups playing classic styles.

 Sewercide

First up is Sewercide from Australia. Sewercide’s older material is really solid thrash-tinged death metal reminiscent of bands like Demolition Hammer, but their sole full-length album, Immortalized In Suffering, is a pure, visceral, 90’s style death metal gem with an extremely aggressive, blistering sound resembling bands like Immolation, Morbid Angel, and Considered Dead era Gorguts. There’s plenty here to love for OSDM fans like the nasty guitar tone, the surprisingly refined vocals, and HOLY SHIT THAT DRUMMING! Be sure to pick it up at Unspeakable Axe's linked Bandcamp if you dig. Unfortunately, I think these guys recently broke up, which is a damn shame because I would have loved to see what they would’ve done next.

Atomwinter

Up next, hailing from Germany, we have the mighty Atomwinter. I have no idea why this band is so slept on. They play ugly, war themed OSDM primarily influenced by Bolt Thrower, though with riffs that frequently utilize the buzz saw guitar tone prominent in Swedish death metal. Their 2018 release, Catacombs, is one of my favorite DM albums to come out this year. Catacombs and their other two killer albums all easily available on Spotify, so be sure to check them out if you like Bolt Thrower, Grave, or Entombed.

Cemetery Urn

Now here's another group from down under and the oldest band on this list, Cemetery Urn. Formed in 2006 by members of Bestial Warlust and Abominator, two of Australia's most prolific extreme metal bands, they made a name for themselves playing barbaric death metal similar to the sound prevalent in the early 90's, but somehow even more menacing with low, LOW guttural growls and a nasty guitar tone. Though their most recent album, Barbaric Retribution, changed things up a little bit, adding black/death elements to their sound. They have four full albums available on Bandcamp for very reasonable prices (split across two accounts for some reason, here's the other one). I highly recommend them if you like Incantation or Dead Congregation.

Obscene

 My penultimate band is Obscene from the good ol’ US of A. These guys play Florida-style death metal in the vein of Obituary and early Death with a tinge of SweDeath guitar work and a touch of doom. The vocalist even sounds a bit like John Tardy or a deeper Chuck Schuldiner, which is a plus in my eyes and fits the style quite well. Their EP, Sermon to the Snake, is a short and sweet release that should scratch an itch for many death metal fans. The band is currently writing their first full length album, which will be released next year on Blood Harvest Records and I'm excited to see what the future holds for this group.

Gutless

Seriously, what the hell is it about Australia and really good OSDM? Gutless are a new group that just released their demo a few weeks ago and MAN does it kick ass. Mass Extinction is 17 minutes of raw, dirty death/thrash. Despite this being the band's first release, they sound tight and experienced. It probably has something to do with the fact that all three members of the band are former members of Sewercide who performed on Immortalized In Suffering. Needless to say, I'm now over Sewercide's recent breakup because this shit rips. Mass Extinction is available for $1 AUD (which is like 70 cents) on Bandcamp and believe me, it's worth every penny.

So there you have it, five criminally underrated OSDM revival artists. I hope you enjoyed this foray into the death metal underground and found some new jams to start your 2019. If enough people like this post, I think I will do a sequel of sorts. I already have more bands in mind for a continuation/follow up.

 

Review: No One Gets Out Alive - Old Shack Stories

Editor's Note 8/6/19: Originally written for Metal Archives.

No One Gets Out Alive have done something that isn't very easy to do: bring something new to slam death metal. The fact that the whole band is just one guy makes this even more impressive. This one guy from Germany shocked the whole underground brutal death metal scene by combining slam with elements of bluegrass (don't worry, it isn't as scary as it sounds). It isn't without it's faults, but Old Shack Stories is still a solid and unique release in the slam scene.
For those of you that don't know, NOGOA incorporate banjos into their slam sound. That's right. Banjos. What's really scary is that it works. The banjos add a whole new layer to the sound and they just create a cool atmosphere, especially on tracks like "Frozen Blood". The band is famous among slam fans for their "banjo breakdowns" but unfortunately, they can overdo the banjo on some tracks, which really makes it sound less interesting at times and it can cause the listener to be overwhelmed. The band also has some pretty creative guitar riffs in addition to their slams. Some of their riffs actually remind me of Swedish death metal and even bands like Dismember come to mind. If you randomly sampled certain tracks, you might think you're listening to a melodic death metal release and get startled when the low gutturals and slam riffs come out of nowhere. The vocals themselves are nothing to write home about. They're just typical, low, nonsensical gutturals that compliment the relentless slams nicely. Interestingly, and thankfully, there are almost no vocals during the melodic passages to the listener can just enjoy the great riffing without the slamesque gutturals.
If you're into slam but want to hear something new, give this a shot in addition to their other releases. I guarantee No One Gets Out Alive aren't like any other band out there, slam or not.