Is there any end to the number of awesome post-rocky/proggy/alternative things the Land Down Under has to offer?

I dooouuuuubbbbbt it.

Sydney’s Meniscus ruled very hard with 2007’s 45-minute “hardly-qualifies-as-an-EP” debut release The Absence of I. If you are unacquainted, imagine a mostly-instrumental Isis with some distinctly Icelandic overtones or Misery Signals if they only wrote songs like “Worlds & Dreams.” The songs are simpler, but much catchier and easier on the ears than those of your average delay-abusers.

The stratospheric trio now apparently aim to make the “extended play” tag all the more laughable with the album’s re-release on May 18th, which sees them tacking on a nice little eleven-minute bonus track to the original full-length duration. You can stream that track, which majorly rocks, on the group’s Bandcamp or below, and you can download it losslessly with your pre-order.

-BS

These vernal months have played host to a number of mildly to moderately exciting rock releases, so here’s a quick little rundown for you. Gauge your interest accordingly!

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Martin Lopez is a musician I have always held in high regard. As a drummer myself, it’s difficult not to admire the soft-spoken Swede and his understated approach to metal percussion. During his tenure in Opeth, he helped craft what many consider to be the band’s defining works, and in the process created some of the most memorable and exciting drum passages in modern metal, all the while working in the background, supporting his band mates from the behind the shadows with a style-over-flair approach that was one of a kind. Today, his philosophy is the same, but with a new project, and one well worth knowing. Their name is Soen, and their new record, Cognitive, is an exciting addition the worlds of modern metal, heavy prog, and alternative rock.

I recently spoke with Martin about Soen, his past projects, his personal history (Lopez never struck me as a particularly Scandinavian surname…), and his plans for the future. For all the goodies read on after the jump!

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This past January, at the suggestion of Axl and Vinnie, we MS staffers did a little foraging for some promising upcoming metal releases in 2012, and in my travels I stumbled across a swingin’ Italian band by the name of Adimiron. I did a little write up for their most recent release, K2, and a few days later I was talking to their management. It always does my heart good to give a little plug to a hardworking band, especially one I think a lot of people will dig. I recently asked bassist Maurizio Villeato and guitarist Alessandro Castelli some questions about their new release, their upcoming tour with Suffocation, and the Italian metal scene as a whole. Our chat, after the break.

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MetalSucks recently polled its staff to determine The Top 25 Modern Metal Drummers, and after an incredible amount of arguing, name calling, and physical violence, we have finalized that list! The only requirements to be eligible for the list were that the musician in question had to a) play metal (duh), b) play drums (double-duh), and c) have recorded something in the past five years. Today we continue our countdown with Stef Broks from Textures…

The modern state of metal and progressive music has reached a threshold; there are so many technical wizards out there that it is now almost necessary to establish some new criteria for excellence. There are plenty of drummers out there that play like machines, and others that quite literally are machines. But in an age where no feat of endurance or independence is impossible, there needs to be a bit of an “it-factor” in place to separate a great player from any other eight-armed cyborg. This being the case, Stef It-Factorson Broks is a name with which you need to be well-acquainted.

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MetalSucks recently polled its staff to determine who are The Top 25 Modern Metal Drummers, and after an incredible amount of arguing, name calling, and physical violence, we have finalized that list! The only requirements to be eligible for the list were that the musician in question had to a) play metal (duh), b) play drums (double-duh), and c) have recorded something in the past five years. Today we kick off our countdown with Adrenaline Mob’s Mike Portnoy…

Whatever you may think of The Mike, and the number of good, bad, and ugly projects he’s been involved in over the years, one thing remains true: you’re still high if you don’t think he’s one of the very best drummers in modern metal.

A life history of this prolific player at this point would be a waste of everyone’s time, but in the wake of the “Is he really that good?” argument, I feel some duty to defend my high school idol. Because just garnering the prized status of being my father’s “Favorite Non-Practicing Jewish Progressive Metal Drummer,” doesn’t quite do him justice.

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Say what you will about djent, but at least one thing is undeniable; the movement has done wonders for the advancement of the instrumental cause. As of just a few years ago the idea of consistently listening to metal or rock bands sans-singer seemed pretty far fetched to many, not the least of which was myself (as someone that plays in an instrumental band!). But then along came Animals as Leaders and a collective realization suddenly dawned on the metal community: chosing to play without a vocalist is very different from “lacking” one.

The consideration for instrumental music has now grown to such an extent that it’s become almost commonplace for bands to put out instrumental versions of their releases. Talk about wishy-washy! One man who certainly cannot be stamped with such a dodgy tag is Paul Antonio Ortiz, a.k.a. Chimp Spanner. Chimp Spanner has been at it for long enough to gain stylistic immunity from anyone who might bemoan another Djohnny-come-lately djent release in 2012. But with the mobs of seven-string-wielding, ToonTrack-sponsored forum rats that have come along since Ortiz’s first record in 2004, one has to wonder: is he still relevant?

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Despite what their name might suggest, The Safety Fire are not an indie rock band. The group, having toured with the likes of Periphery and Monuments, are a progressive metalcore band from the UK and their first proper album, Grind the Ocean (hooray for still verbing the noun!), is a rock solid prog metal production that is far better than its fretboard over-caffeination gives it any right to be. The Safety Fire sound right at home within the scene that bred such bands as Sikth, Architects, and The Arusha Accord and, much like those noise specialists, they’re spastic, crazy technical, and quite melodic at the same time. But unlike most of these names (save for Sikth who will always hold a warm and fuzzy place in my heart), The Safety Fire are actually pretty listenable over an extended period of time.

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Adimiron
K2
Label – Bakerteam Records
Release date – January 2012

If writing about a new Gojira album ain’t happening here (the point of this exercise is to expose metal bands on the rise), then I suppose Italy’s Adimiron will do. But maybe that’s a little unfair to say — based on snippets alone, the Roman four-piece sounds loads more interesting than anything I’ve heard from those Frenchies to the north.

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Damn you, MetalSucks, and your early Top 15 deadlines; I rushed to put that incoherent stream of fanboy drivel together and now, little more than a week later, my list is already obsolete. While it was apparently individualistic and snobby enough to land a cherished spot on Corey Mitchell’s esteemed “MORE ELITIST WRITER HOO-HA” countdown, I only managed to tie for fourth place — disappointing, I know.

Just to affirm my elitist cred I’ve tacked on a few more “don’t know ‘em; don’t care” albums in 2011 that you’ll definitely want to check out if you’re a real snob like me:

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(Photo borrowed from MusicPlayers.com)

They say “never meet your heroes.” I don’t think they say anything about interviewing them.

For decades now, Steven Wilson and his many projects have been consistent sources of inspiration and joy to music lovers, audiophiles, and regular people alike. Like many musical masterminds, Mr. Wilson prefers to let his work speak for itself, but that isn’t to say he’s ever been short for words. In the intimate 20 minutes I had to speak with him it became clear that there was far more to the scruffy, bespectacled man in the blurry photos than I’d been led to believe. Steven is a relentlessly thoughtful and honest individual whose words deserve every bit as much attention as the impressive music he creates.

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No doubt about it; 2011 has been a pretty swingin’ year for music —the year I had kind of expected 2010 to be (probably because about half of the albums I was anticipating came out so late anyway…). New Limp Bizkit, KoRn, Nickelback, and Soulja Boy? Am I in heaven?

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It’s no secret that a number of people on this site have a sizeable admiration for Deftones and a handful of other bands that aren’t quite metal by the standard definition.

I’m a fearless advocator of this clique of bands, and I’m always interested in left-of-center heavy rock bands that aren’t Tool or Deftones but share their inexplicable appeal. It just so happens that one these most delightful discoveries lives only a few hours away from my native Connecticut and has a killer debut album in serious need of some attention.

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Alright, I’ll admit it: I’m a lazy guy.

I’m the kind of person who will take a job and work as infrequently and minimally as possible (were you wondering why Part 3 took so fricken’ long after Part 1 and Part 2?). I use a lot of big words on my applications and key phrases like “people-person” and “success-oriented” (second to only to the ever popular “failure-oriented”). In other words, I’m a music journalist through and through.

In the music world we lazy, uninspired writers love to curmudgeon bands for being similarly lazy … and of course, uninspired. Sitting atop our glorious thrones of self-granted influence, we, with all our forum-crawling, shit-kicking expertise criticize what we probably couldn’t do any better ourselves.

But the fact is, there are plenty of decent — and even very good — bands that are more than happy to spend an entire career ignoring our occasionally constructive criticism. After all, not every band has to break new ground to be worth your time. But what happens when groups really do take such jabs to heart?

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There’s something really remarkable about following a band from inception to record. What we so often see and hear as listeners is a finished product, spontaneously available, without any history or sign of the trials and challenges the band faced while getting there. I can’t claim to be one of the group’s earliest fans, but for the last year I have had the unique opportunity to watch Fairfax, Virginia native Chris Purvis’ experimental metal project, Friend for a Foe, grow and evolve.

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There comes a time in the life of any moderately successful band where a decision must be made: to continue writing artistically relevant music or to throw on a cowboy hat and write about beer and puss—

I wonder which is more profitable.

Last week we explored the first of six stylistic pitfalls good bands/musicians so often fall prey to (click here to see part 1!), changes in quality of life. In this edition we will be focusing our attention on a very different, but equally devastating gaffe, and it’s a distinctly American problem at that (provided that Canada is basically America).

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How could they—how could they do this?! And to you of all people—

You, who so loyally downloaded each of their album leaks; you, who mobbed them outside their tour bus to plug your band they didn’t want to hear about at 1:45 in the morning; and, of course, you, who left an elitist comment on an MS thread about how KVLT they used to be and how nothing they’ve done recently is worth a damn—What nerve!

Bands change, and as human beings we’re hardwired to resist that. But deep down, in our own girly, paradoxical way, we sort of look for it, too. Ambivalence aside, if you were to investigate the primary reasons as to why the majority of the groups you like head south (not on tour), it would likely come down to the fact that they did actually change things. What you thought wasn’t broken they tried to fix anyway and now you’re left with an annoying buzz and a whole bunch of spare parts.

We go about saying “oh that band ‘sold out’” or “they used to be good, but now they’re just a bunch of pussycats.” But that’s not really all that descriptive. Music nerds love to complain, not explain, and maybe that’s the problem here. In this series we will explore the leading factors in a band’s artistic decline and examine just why it is that your rock gods of yester-year are now the radio slobs you can’t bear to hear.

Without further a do, Part 1!

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Let it be said that metalheads cannot thrive on metal alone.

As avid fans of all things chunky and technical we need a break every now and then, you know, just to keep us sharp. A demand for intelligent, intense music that isn’t necessarily “heavy” has surfaced in the metal community, and even readers on this site have come to embrace a number of acts that are hardly BR00TAL. Porcupine Tree, Karnivool, Fair to Midland, and Dredg have all shared the stage with heavier acts and received acclaim from even the most opinionated and stubborn metal snobs. This year Sumerian Records have apparently taken notice, adding Brisbane’s Dead Letter Circus to their once very homogenous roster.

The signing of these left-of-center alt rockers and the recent American release of their debut album This is the Warning marks the label’s first true departure from their infamous Sumeriancore stigma. Stirring a lively dose of surround-sound ambience and percussive programming into their quality brand of Aussie alternative, Dead Letter Circus has continually won favor in progressive and extreme metal circles (the group is currently touring with Animals as Leaders, Intronaut, and Last Chance to Reason).

Playing no small role in the group’s universal appeal is Kim Benzie’s powerhouse tenor that drives the group’s music through numerous emotional twists and turns. I recently had the opportunity to speak with him on the road about how a rock band attracts a metal label, why the Australian music scene differs from our own, and, you guessed it, NICKELBACK!

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Just this past Tuesday I was casually enjoying an unofficial holiday you may have heard of that one of my obsessive friends lovingly calls “Fair to Midland Day.” In celebration of the group’s fourth release, Arrows and Anchors, the guys (and, like, one girl) all set out to purchase the album and listen to it tirelessly.

I made sure I eventually got one too (so I didn’t look like a bad person or anything…), and I was dern glad I did, because despite having already heard about 2/3rds of it in live and demo form, the album still rules. It may not be outright metal, but it is awesomely oddball alt rock.

But why take my word for it? Especially when we have such an accurate and thoughtful portrayal of the record right here, courtesy of Alternative Press:

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Let’s face it; like Michael right here, you’ve probably “gotta’ get off these drugs” and who better to help you than every major cartoon character from the ’80s?

In 1990 the programming powers that be had the bright idea to create an animated, public-service musical entitled Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue to spread awareness about the uncoolness of Mary Jane. This special, funded by McDonalds, aired on the three major American television networks and received critical acclaim from an unintentional cult fanbase of well-meaning stoners.

The preachy, half-hour trip reaches a head within the surreal two-minute sing-along that closes this nightmare; amidst the nails-on-an-eardrum croons of those three color-coordinated duck fucks (seriously, Chad Kroeger is starting to sound pretty good right now) Garfield drops a piece of wisdom that rings especially true:

A good excuse is something you never outgrow

Ain’t that right Afroman?

Amazingly, though, the shit that goes down in this flick is probably more unsettling than whatever talking foods or flying toasters you saw during your last bad trip. Baby Ms. Piggy isn’t your friend! She doesn’t know you!

But oddly enough, this song might not even be the most amusing thing about the movie. Hearing the nerdy, blue chipmunk awkwardly say “Marijuana” at the beginning takes the cake. Here it is slowed down!

So next time MetalSucks tries to bully you into smoking sumthin’ you ain’t so keen on, make sure you say no! (There are a million wonderful ways to say it…) Send all your excuses to Axl; I’m sure he’ll appreciate it.

-Shanbomb