We got a whole mess o’ reader suggestions while I was away, so over the course of the next few days, I’m gonna try and do some catching up. There’s no real theme to these editions of “Reader’s Choice,” beyond the fact that all the bands were, y’know, chosen by readers.

And so…

Swarm of Arrows are described by reader Joe Caperon as “equal parts Converge and Bison B.C.,” but I don’t hear much Converge in them. Their music is definitely in that whole Bison B.C. vein, though, and it’s quite good. As is so often the case, what sets SoA apart from the bajillions of other Mastodonian bands is that they can actually write good songs. I’d love to hear the band do a little more to set themselves apart from the pack, but they’re definitely worth checking out.

Ex Dementia are a death metal band from New Jersey that was suggested by Ian Erhard. Speaking of needing to set themselves apart from the back… this band is totally generic. It’s not a great sign for your longevity when the best thing someone could reasonably say about you is that you don’t suck.

Finally, reader Zoe Flores says that she was “surprised to find that MS have never said anything about A Loathing Requiem.” But I’m not sure why she’s surprised — I’ve never heard of their label, The Artisan Era, either. In any case, I am happy to have heard of them now, because this is a million times better than most of the tech death you cats send us. They actually kind of remind me of Gorod, whose new EP we just happen to be streaming right now. Again, good song writing wins the day pretty much always, and ALR don’t get too lost in showing off to come up with memorable riffs and hooks.

And tomorrow I’ll do some more random reader-selected bands.

-AR