The Metal Breakdown- Metal news, Album Reviews, Band Interviews, and other metal related think-pieces.
Coming off the road from their Eastern Canadian tour supporting Erimha and Killitorous this past November and December, Windsor, ON ghetto tech metallers THE APEX have posted live video performing ‘Glass Walls’ during their hometown stop of the tour. ‘Glass Walls’ is from their self-titled album released in early 2015
you can stream the album below
Check them out on FACEBOOK
order their album from their BANDCAMP site HERE
-Badger \m/
http://www.badgersmetalbreakdown.com
Panama area Death Metal band Abatuar released their album “Vejación de la Bestia/Fosa Común” back on November 23rd. Check out the album by streaming it below and also head on over to download or order the album through their BANDCAMP page
check them out on FACEBOOK
and also make sure to head on over to their bandcamp page https://dunkelheitprod.bandcamp.com/album/vejaci-n-de-la-bestia-fosa-com-n
-Badger \m/
http://www.badgersmetalbreakdown.com
Metal Festivals happen every year all over the world, these festivals are one of the greatest shows metal heads end up going to. Getting a chance to see metal bands from all over at the same venue, be it an open air stadium, or other concert halls. Many metal heads like myself have great memories from going to big festivals, hearing and seeing bands we are stoked to see, to discovering bands that we had never heard before. In the Northeast U.S. there is really only one big festival that has been happening annually since 1999. But that is just not enough to satisfy the appetite of metal heads across the region. This is when a drummer and tattoo artist from the Massachusetts area decided he had waited long enough, and was going to take matters into his own hands. Jamie Cross came up with Hothfest last year and is doing it again this year around. Hothfest -2016 we will be witnessing 30 bands over the course of two days. To make things even better its on a weekend, Saturday and Sunday, that means for most you wont have to miss work to go to an awesome metal show.
I had the chance to talk to Jamie and ask him a few questions about Hothfest 2016 to get an idea, what started it all, and what to expect.
Badger- So this is the second annual Hothfest, have you already noticed more exposure of this festival than when you did it last year?
Jamie- A little bit, I mean I’m trying a bit harder, I went to other shows and have been passing out postcards to everybody. Of course there’s Facebook and doing the old school thing driving around and putting up flyers but I’m just hoping for the best. It should be good
Badger- Yea I think so, and what prompted you to organize a metal festival in the first place?
Jamie- When I did it last year I kind of did it just for fun and it turned out pretty good, and then I had bands from across the states offering to play so, I mean I probably had one hundred bands offer to play this year so I had to pick and choose but yea it’s awesome.
Badger- That’s cool, that very promising now I am looking forward to 2017 already hearing that.
Jamie- I know right me too, I can’t wait
Badger- So what has the general reaction been from the bands last year? Were you like reaching out to bands last year, and this year they are coming to you to do it?
Jamie- Yea I reached out to a couple that played last year and they did well, and a lot were friends of bands so I had people say “ you gotta check out this band,” so I got a lot of that and bands started hitting me up offering to play, offering to get on it.
Badger- Now here is a metal festival with a lot of bands playing, do you have any sponsors for this? Or is it all you?
Jamie- No I do it all myself man,
Badger- That’s pretty cool, good for you man that’s awesome.
Jamie- Yea I just put like the music stores and logo on our artwork because they were letting me hang stuff up there to help out.
Badger- Now do you have any times for what time the doors open and what time it’s going to run till on Saturday, and then the same for Sunday?
Jamie- Yea I am not positive on that last year doors opened at noon, and bands started at 1. So I’m assuming the same, I haven’t figured out the times yet, I have a few other shows going on right now also that I am working on.
Badger- What other shows do you have going on?
Jamie- Well this Saturday I have what’s called jingle jam, it’s a toys for tots thing with 9 bands on that, it’s a metal show all ages two bucks bring a toy. It’s called jingle jam and there is a Facebook page for that too. I got a couple of tribute bands on that and some locals playing.
Badger- Any shows besides that one?
Jamie-Then after that, the next one is actually after Hothfest and its January 23rd and called musical masterpiece theater the art of the guitar edition. It’s going to be a metal show for the sickest guitar players. I have Mark Rizzo from Soulfly headlining, and then I have Dave Sharp and the Solar Power, a few other ones are going to be on that, and I am still waiting to hear back from them.
Badger-So I know, I can’t remember where the venue was originally going to be, but was it a case of so many bands and people showing interest that caused the venue change?
Jamie- No actually something had happened and they switched owners so I am actually having shows there now. I had already moved it so we are going to keep it where it is (Maximum Capacity) I know the guy that owns it now so and they own both venues so I will be throwing shows at both venues. Yea I have a big summer show I throw that has about 30 bands called rocking on the river and it’s my birthday bash, and we have that at the waterfront. So I already booked that again this year.
Jamie-That one’s kind of like Hothfest but the summer instead. I do about four or five big shows a year, when bands play every weekend people sometimes don’t want to show up. So (with a big show they are more likely to show up)
Badger- yea I know my old band we would play the same club almost every weekend because we were tight with the owner. But we knew that some people didnt want to come and see us every Friday or Saturday, it is what it is, and you always have the group that wouldn’t miss a show for the world.
Jamie- We have our first show in NH playing at the Shaskeen pub in Manchester. It’s January 2nd and I am pretty psyched because we haven’t played anywhere else except from around here so it should be fun.
Jamie- We sound like COC and Pantera that who we get compared to all the time, two of my favorite bands so I will take that. We are half rock half metal so.
Badger-Are there any updates you want the readers and local to know about this show? Your band? What you are putting into this, other stuff about you? I know you do tattoos so…?
Jamie-Yea I own a tattoo studio, I do some work for bands cd artwork, t-shirt all that stuff. At the shows the background for Hothfest that’s one of my paintings I did I actually just got the posters in for Hothfest, so I will be driving around and hanging wherever places will let me.
Bader- I know you had just done a painting event,
Jamie-Yea called who wants to paint with me. We had a blast, it was a lot of fun.
Badger-Is that something you think you will be doing more of?
Jamie-Yea every couple of months I am going to do it, this time around I am going g to limit it to around 25 people so I know and have them pay up front. We had a blast, listened to metal and local bands all night.
Jamie-If I could add one more thing the band Defeated Sanity will be here all the way from Germany they haven’t been in the states for about 5 years. So that’s going to be a pretty cool deal that they are playing at Hothfest and they are bringing a band called Iniquitous Savagery from Scotland with them so we have this whole European/ UK tour coming this way and also a band from California, and then metal bands from NH, MA, Vermont pretty much everywhere around here.
Jamie- Dehumanized will headline Saturday, and carnivore will headline Sunday
Jamie-Sunday is more of a local thing, and closer, and the travelling bands are playing on Saturday.
Badger-That’s pretty good planning, especially for like Defeated Sanity who are on tour. Thank you for setting up a sick metal festival, thanks for trying to keep the metal scene going around here, and thank you for the phone call.
Jamie- Cool thanks man.
So there you have it, I for one am looking forward to Hothfest 2016.
The set lists are TBA, however the lineups for both days are already determined;
Dehumanized
Immortal Suffering
Defeated Sanity
Abnormality
Dysentery
Iniquitous Deeds
Iniquitous Savagery
Torturous Inception
Hypoxia
Incontinence
Assault on the Living
Open the Nile
Dream of Scipio
Forest of Remorse
To Kill Again
Carnivora
Thunderforge
City Of Homes
Western Massacre
Sevenday Curse -first show with new members
Goblet
The Aberration
She Walks Without Legs
Godeater
Oxblood Forge
Disguise The Curse
My Pet Carcass
One Ton Tommy Gun
Roadhorse
If you want to check out the bands before the show, here are a list of their FB pages
Dehumanized (OFFICIAL)
Dysentery
Torturous Inception
Abnormality
Hypoxia
Incontinence
Open The Nile
Thunderforge
Goblet
Godeater
Western Massacre
Oxblood Forge
City of Homes
Sevenday Curse
One Ton Tommy Gun
To Kill Again
Grzelakurse
ROADHORSE
My Pet Carcass
The Aberration
Disguise the Curse
Forest of Remorse
Immortal Suffering
Assault on the Living
Dream of Scipio
Defeated Sanity official
Iniquitous Deeds
Iniquitous Savagery
She Walks Without Legs
Carnivora
Also check out the event page for Hothfest 2016
-Badger \m/
http://www.badgersmetalbreakdown.com
The contest is over and the winner has been chosen. Thank you everyone that participated. A big thank you to Asher Media, and The Metal Syndicate. Now to announce the winner……………………………………………………….. @TheBeerGuzzlers YOU WIN! Message us with a shipping address you have 24 hours to do so. If you do not respond within that time a new winner will be chosen.
-Badger \m/
http://www.badgersmetalbreakdown.com
Stockholm, Sweden has been known to harness the power of some serious metal bands of all sub genres. It just so happens that Insision also hails from Stockholm, and can deliver some killer death metal, they have a new album getting ready for pre-order titled Terminal Reckoning.
Streaming here is a track off the album titled “Shapeshifting”
Check them out on FACEBOOK
as well as these other links:
https://www.youtube.com/user/insision
http://www.sevared.com/
and stick around for more updates on the pre-order status.
-Badger \m/
http://www.badgersmetalbreakdown.com
This song starts out with a fast guitar introduction, and then the band fades in with double bass and ad off timed snare for a few bars to build the song up. The rhythm for the first verse is solid, something you can really head bang to, and got locked into the groove. They have an old school thrash death sound, then they give a short little solo to transition to the next section. I love the simplicity of this song. The change at the 2:52 mark is great, it has that pre solo buildup, and then a shredding guitar solo following.
This song starts out with a lone guitar tone and then some hammer on sounding guitar licks. This has a blackened feel to it, bringing a different guitar distortion than the previous track, and a really sinister feel to the song altogether.
Starting out with a guitar riff that has that sound that can get you ready for something big, while the hi hat is getting hit on 2 and 4. Then we get a quick paced thrash style rhythm that plays out for a good forty seconds. This song had a great beginning, but really lost me when the vocals came in, I just didn’t care for the sound they were going for on the second half of this song.
This song has an old school thrash sound to it right from the beginning, and sounds like something Megadeth would have done in the late 80’s. First minute of the song is good, and I dig the guitars, this song seems promising. Heavy yet spoken dialogue happens to be the first form of vocals on this track. Yet they build up to a heavier form towards the tail end of the first spoken verse. They give us a solid guitar solo starting at the 4:00 minute mark and shreds for just shy of a full minute. This song is a great track on this album.
The song has a slower and darker beginning, for the first fifty seconds, and then picks up in tempo. They have a rock solid rhythm for this song, and the buildup for the chorus section is great. The guitar solo shows of the talents and influences from the guitars, this is a great song.
This is a pretty simple song, the opening lines consist of the title of the track, and a heavy rhythm for just shy of a minute. The tempo is right around the 130 BPM area, and has a solid beat to it, something you can tap your foot to. Not a truly exciting song, but they keep it simple with this one and a guitar solo can be heard during the last leg of this song.
This song had a lot of build up for the first two minutes, and then the vocals join in, I can’t say I really enjoy the vocals for the first sequence of vocals. But the beginning rhythm I liked. This song could have been a really solid instrumental track.
A long guitar tone can be heard, and then an orchestral melody is being played, for a few bars until the drums come in hard. This is the longest song on the album clocking in at around 11:13 minutes long. They seem to have no issues playing out for the first few minutes to get the song going. That’s when the vocals join in, and they come in with a better delivery than the previous track. They sound almost the same but it’s how they are delivered, that makes it sound better. They hit us with guitar solos and higher tempos throughout the song, while also bringing it down for a melodic section just past the half way point of the song. Only to come back out of it with high intensity.
This album was a solid effort, not all tracks were equal, however the tracks that lost my attention wasn’t because they were bad, and it was because they were a little more basic than the previous tracks. It is still a worthwhile album, and really brought in some tones that sounded like the older thrash and other metal bands like Megadeth, and Slayer at times. The guitars were awesome in their solos, they gave a classic shredding guitar solo approach and executed them nicely. I rate this album around a 6/10.
-Badger \m/
http://www.badgersmetalbreakdown.com
Massachusetts metalers Killswitch Engage have just premiered a video for the song Strength Of The Mind from their upcoming album that will be released this coming spring.
Check out the video now,
-Badger \m/
http://www.badgersmetalbreakdown.com
Orillia, Ontario-based trio, Like Animals are currently streaming their most recent single Feral
From lineup change to personal hardships, FERAL is an honest view at how powerful emotion and dedication can be. A raw yet polished album encapsulates the feel and frenetic energy of past albums, while bringing forth a much more mature, refined sound. Soaring vocals, a battery of percussion, and meaty bass blends into a rich soundscape of changing moods.
Teetering on the edge of progressive metal, and hardrock, Like Animals put out another solid effort with this E.P.
Track explained by the band:
Feral – a very fitting opener. A dark, moody introduction, which quickly amps up the pace. Vocals soar, guitars wail. Things get quirky midway. Up and down and then up again, finally coming to a grinding halt like a bus about to smash ya.
For fans of Mars Volta, Fall of Troy, Protest The Hero, Every Time I Die check this EP out.
Check them out on FACEBOOK
-Badger \m/
http://www.badgersmetalbreakdown.com
Markradonn, Brass Death Metal band out of Florida is releasing their second 5 song EP entitled “The Serpentine Deception”.The new EP features 5 songs of dynamic brass death metal and includes a full brass and timpani section, as well as Aboriginal and World Music Elements. Instruments such as Trombone, Tuba, Cimbasso, and Trumpet are prominent on this release, as the songs are bigger, heavier, and more musically intricate than Markradonn debut CD “Final Dying Breath“. “The Serpentine Deception” features two instrumentals in addition to three “Brass Metal” songs.
The CD can be purchased here along with band merchandise
http://www.gofundme.com/Markradonn2015
Markradonn is also scheduled to release an underground live DVD, which will have a collection of performances, a full show with multiple camera angles, and clips from production videos and practices.
Markradonn: Brass Metal
-Badger \m/
http://www.badgersmetalbreakdown.com
L – R – Will Tennant – Drums/Backing Vocals, Jamie Haffenden – Guitar/Lead Vocals, Myke Caouette- Bass/Backing Vocals
Melodic math metal band Like Animals premier the title track over at Pure Audio Grain (click here) ahead of their E.P. release date.
“The beasts within the band each perform vocal duties a sound akin to a coyote-esque choir featuring Jamie Haffenden on guitar and lead vocals, Will Tennant on drums and Myke Caouette on bass. ”
With four animal-themed EPs in tow (‘Sweet Whispers, Plagued Ears, The Undertoad, The Wild) and their new release called ‘Feral’ due out on January 22nd, 2016, the band has teamed up with PureGrainAudio.com to not only premier the title track, but offer it for FREE download.
“We felt that Feral is the perfect first glimpse into the new EP. It really shows fans new and old what we are all about and it is a benchmark for what’s to come on the rest of the EP. It has everything Like Animals is all about, rolled up into one song. A definitive LA song for sure.” comments bassist Myke Caouette.
Listen and download Feral by clicking HERE \m/
EP Pre-Order over at their BANDCAMP page
Feral (4:30)
The Lions Share (4:00)
Lounge Lizard (4:26)
Caterwaul (3:15)
The Jungle Book of Love (3:31)
EP Length: 19:45
-Badger \m/
http://www.badgersmetalbreakdown.com
Photo Credit: Travis Tiernay
The Metal Breakdown 