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News flash: radio rock still sells. While most readers of this site will probably be disappointed to see the HUGE numbers sold by this week’s #1 and #2 Current Hard Music chart-toppers, there’s better news elsewhere in the form of debuts from Skeletonwitch, Charred Walls of the Damned and a ton of other bands you see listed down below in the “tags” field. Click through to learn more.
We have a decent amount of new stuff this week, including quality releases from Skeletonwitch, Black Cobra, Hull, Fuck The Facts and more. This writer’s opinion on all of it after the jump.
IMO the most important part of being a true metal fan is knowing your roots. There is nothing worse than a newjack poser who doesn’t know or care about the older bands who paved the way for the generations after them. For example, IMO you can’t consider yourself a real fan of Avenged Sevenfold without also being a fan of Pantera and 18 Visions/Velvet Revolver. I mean I love A7X but obviously they are pretty much just taking what those two bands did, only doing it a lot better. On the other hand, it also sucks when someone gets older and they stop liking stuff. I mean if you like Suffocation then you should also like Devourment, right?? But contrary to what you would expect, older metal fans do nothing but hate on newer bands.
Which one is right?? The younger fans, full of energy and enthusiasm, but unaware of the shitty bands that people used to like?? Or the jaded, bitter has-beens, with seemingly endless knowledge of irrelevant, music that nobody really cares about anymore??????
In this post I will do my best to tackle this topic and answer the question of which is better, NEW MUSIC or OLD MUSIC. I know it’s hard to compare things from different eras, but I think it will help all of us grow as metal fans!!
You know how sometimes you will get completely obsessed with a band, and you’re all “ZOMG CANNOT STOP LISTENING TO THEM!!!”? That is how I am right now with THE ACACIA STRAIN — I probably listen to Wormwood at least three times a day, and when I’m not listening to it, I am singing it in my head.
It’s always awesome to get the chance to see a band when you are at the peak of being into them, so I was very stoked to check out the DEATHCORE ACROSS AMERICA tour when it rolled through my town the other day: I Declare War, Whitechapel, Veil of Maya and The Acacia Strain = YOU’RE FUCKING MOSHING! I also got a chance to chat with TAS bassist Jack Strong [mirin that name, sounds alpha as fuck].
In this post I will share the three reasons why TAS is my favorite band at the moment, as well as a few words from Jack to support my points: 1. Their diverse fanbase 2. They are punk 3. Last but not least, TAS are fucking heavy as fuck.
So, yeah, it turns out there’s a burgeoning metal scene in Maldives, and we even know some peeps who have either worked there or may work there in the future. Does that mean we’ll take a vacation there soon? Fuck do we look like, Wes Borland?
Here’s some other shit that happened this week:
Okay. Gonna go to an awesome Cynic show now. Lates.
-AR
The Acacia Strain, Wormwood
The New England band’s latest collection of heartfelt ballads to punch your girlfriend in the face to, Wormwood reiterates The Acacia Strain’s deathcore dominance. Showcasing a truly noticeable progression in the group’s sound, these twelve tracks cover such edgy topics as religious cults (“Jonestown”), serial killers (“Ramirez”), and domestic terrorism (“Unabomber”), all set to a barbaric barrage of brutal breakdowns. “Nightman,” a surprisingly faithful cover from the classic It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia musical episode “The Nightman Cometh,” displays an intentional humor so rarely present in this scene that so frequently takes itself far too seriously. By keeping his lyrics intelligible and insightful on cuts like “BTM FDR,” vocalist Vincent Bennett excels where so many frontmen in deathcore fail:
We are the atomsmashers
We do what can’t be done
You are the baby killers
We will explode the sun
Sure, they’re no Emmure, but they’re still pretty great.
(4 out of 5 horns)
