MetalSucks

I haven’t done a blog in a while because the last blog I did really got me thinking about the mentality of people in the metal scene. Most particularly, the mentality of shit talking. We’re all guilty of it. I admitted to shit talking Bring Me The Horizon in magazines over in Europe when I was in God Forbid. I never heard them at that point. But now, I dig them and I feel pretty stupid for slagging them.

In my last blog I mentioned my excitement for the band Eryn Non Dae and how I was going to “borrow” some of their ideas for my new project. First of all, my last blog was PACKED with information about band business, touring and juicy tidbits of amazing knowledge :) But, the funny thing about the last blog was this guy ‘Jamie.’ Out of a five hundred word blog, he took the phrase “borrow ideas” and accused me and God Forbid of riding the coat tails of other popular bands. Killswitch was his biggest gripe. Then it was Opeth.

He claimed Gone Forever (2004) was a Killswitch rip and Earthsblood (2009) was an Opeth rip. This type of thing usually doesn’t bother me. In this instance I was fucking bothered. Jamie and I entered into a written brawl about the history of God Forbid and the intentions of our song writing for the last ten fucking years. Why would I waste my time to defend myself from this sort of claim?

Click to read more…

Lazy journalism comparisons to Gojira be damned, there is some damn fine metal coming out of France these days. Whether or not that has anything to do with Gojira laying the groundwork for French bands to gain wider recognition in America is up for debate, but the facts are the facts: good metal = happy Vince.

• Gorod: I’ve chronicled my love of this band in this space before. If you like tech-death firestorms, you oughtta check this band out; their new record Process of a New Decline is a juicy, explosion of head-dizzying technical death metal.
• Hacride: More in the progressive/Opethian veign of the death metal spectrum, Hacride blend Meshuggian groove with the melody and aggression of the aforementioned Swedish death metal kings. Their new album Lazarus is available now.
• Eryn Non Dae: END.’s is certainly influenced by Meshuggah as well, but theirs is a more raw, visceral, dissonant, groove-laden take on what Hacride do. Axl just posted a trippy video of theirs last week which you should check out.

So that’s that. Get your France on.

-VN

There isn’t much for me to say about Eryn Non Dae.’s new video for “The Decline And The Fall,” other than its awesome, and more bands should make artsy-fartsy, abstract videos in which they appear fleetingly, if at all.

Hydra Lernaia, the new album fro Eryn Non Dae. – yes, that period is a part of their name – is out now on Metal Blade.

-AR

Is it just for me or has Metal Blade been signing bands left and right? I guess in today’s climate of people not paying for music, the more the merrier, right?

Here are a couple of recent Metal Blade signees that I’m really digging at the moment:

Eryn Non Dae: When will lazy journalists stop comparing all French metal bands to Gojira? Oh, wait… oops. But seriously, the other day I read a review of Hacride in Decibel in which the reviewer compared them sonically to Gojira (false) and then said the record may be just as good as The Way of All Flesh (also false — but it is good). Are we even listening to the same band? If not for sharing a home country, these comparisons would never be made; the two bands share very little other than being French, being metal, and being awesome. ANYWAY, Eryn Non Dae are also from France, are also metal, and are also awesome. They do not sound like Gojira (or Hacride); they sound a whole lot more like Meshuggah drums and vocals-wise, with some real different guitar playing in the form of added dissonance and chaotic, frenetic Dillinger-esque passages. They’re pretty f’n cool; if you like the proggy weirdo metal shit I usually recommend, you’re gonna like this. Check ‘em out.

Istapp: The press release announcing Istapp’s signing to Metal Blade has a collective quote from these three Swedes that sums up pretty much everything you need to know about the band:

“We are proud to announce that we have conquered Metal Blade Records. The war against the sun will now proceed with an even stronger force. Our upcoming album “Blekinge” will hit the earth hard. Prepare yourself for the final avalanche!”

Alright, I can get down with that! Istapp play black metal that doesn’t sound like it was recorded inside Varg’s asshole and is actually weirdly catchy. It’s like halfway between Enslaved and 1349 (pre-Revelations of the Black Flame). Curious to hear how this holds up over a full-length release; we’ll find out soon enough.

-VN