Tag: Archspire

Virulent Depravity- Fruit Of The Poisoned Tree 9.9/10 \m/

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Virulent Depravity

Fruit Of The Poisoned Tree

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Releases April 7, 2017

Mike Low – Mixing
Zak Denham – Mastering
Justin Abraham – Artwork

 

 

I am thrilled to bring you guys my review of the highly anticipated debut Virulent Depravity album, Fruit Of The Poisoned Tree.

The line up for Fruit Of The Poisoned Tree is;                                                                        Colin Butler – Composition / Guitar / Bass / Vocals
Malcolm Pugh – Guitar
Kévin Paradis – Drums

Virulent Depravity band photo

I believe for the next album, the lineup will remain the same, with different guest appearances to look forward to. This is some of the most complexly composed material I have ever heard. The riffs are unreal, but retain catchiness, and are melodic in their own, incredibly technical way. Lots of great harmonizations and riff counter points.

Some songs with particularly great riffs are; “Beyond The Point Of No Return”, there is a SICK harmony melodic riff that repeats. Definitely one of my favorite riffs I have heard in a long time. The solos are insane. Some very creative licks and a unique, but epic feel utilized. All of the solo tones sound awesome, and fit, but sound individualized, especially the difference between Colin and Malcolm’s tones. Malcolm’s seems to sound more melodic, similar to his “A Loathing Requiem” tone, but still fit for this project. Where Colin’s tone seems a bit more alien in sound. The guest solos are all rather distinct as well. Mark Hawkins (Devolved) rips the first solo on the entire album with a very crisp tone right into a killer solo by Malcolm and a sweet melodic solo by Colin. The most similar of all the guest solos to Colin’s tone is Elijah Whitehead, who performs a killer solo after Colin on “Mechanized Defilement”. One of my favorite solos on the album by far as well.

This album isn’t just technically proficient though. Your mind will be blown with its feel and passion as well. “Only Human” begins with a beautiful, clean section into an almost classically influenced lead, into the brutality. It comes back to awesome soulful sections later on as well, one, after an awesome guest solo by Craig Peters (Deeds OF Flesh, Destroying The Devoid, ex-Arkaik), flowing incredibly with a nice bass part into a sweet groovy riff and beautiful solo by Colin. The song has some more badass verses, a chorus and a few more killer solos by Colin. The ending is very soulful as well and goes back to that Neo-classical vibe.
The closing track, “Crushed By Futuristic Filth”, is one of the most well-rounded. It is crushing and beautiful and so much more. It has an amazing soft section with a keyboard solo by Jimmy into a completely heart wrenching, beautifully written, emotional but uplifting solo by Malcolm. It is really fantastic! After smoothly going back to brutality it then sounds like it is over at about 5 minutes in and it kind of spirals into a beautifully written guest solo by the young virtuoso, Sims Cashion, over a soft section with keys and more beauty as well.

The bass isn’t overshadowed either. Often in albums when it is performed by the primary composer who is a guitarist, the bass gets the role of simply “holding down the low-end”. Not here. Not only does it have an “EXCELLENT” tone, but Colin steps in and out (mostly out) of the guitar work and throws in a lot of perfectly placed, totally sick fills. He mixes up the technique a lot as well. Between finger picking, slap parts and cool tap licks. The bass has it all on this album. All the tracks have awesome bass. We’ve established this, but some songs have especially great parts that are worth mentioning. Such as “Only Human” has a great bass part during a soft instrumental section in the middle of the song. “Mechanized Defilement” has awesome fills, strategically placed to grab your attention through the entire song, and there is a stop with a nice bass sweep which everyone loves when done right. In the last song, “Crushed By Futuristic Filth”, following the guitar solo is a piano solo with an amazing bass line under it. Not overly shred-dy, just so good. The piano continues after the rest of the instruments stop to give a bleak, but slightly hopeful sounding end.

The vocals are just “WOW“! He utilizes so many different tones as tasteful accents, while the main tone seems to be a low mid to a low that are very aggressive. The delivery is what really gets me here. Most of it is well enunciated and while crushingly brutal and technical, still fairly easy to understand. At other times he uses what I call, “vocal artistic integrity” and just massacres us with some of the sickest deliveries I have ever heard. Especially during certain techy riffs, the speed and ability to manipulate words slightly to fit perfect, is incredibly impressive. The vocal speed and delivery in “Serpentine Messiah”, some of the line in “Your Demise” and, the vocals in “Beyond The Point Of No Return” are ridiculous and some of the verses in “Crushed By Futuristic Filth” are nearly inhuman. Simply astonishing performance. Hard to keep up to even reading along at times. “Your Demise” also has some really great delivery in lines that are not incredibly fast. My favorite being “as you sleep in your cocoon of ignorance, night approaches and we are coming for you” before Malcolm’s solo. The delivery is simply sinister and perfect. The whole song has excellent vocals, not to mention the whole damn album.

The drum performance is also totally crazy. Ridiculously fast blasts with meticulously placed but sporadic at the same time fills. He is capable of basically any type of beat he demonstrates. He tastefully and strategically places occasional gravity blasts, but mostly keeping to jarring blasts and crazy bursts and fills. The snare beats and kick bursts in the first verse of “Serpentine Messiah” is just nuts. Incredible doubly kick speed and stamina through the whole album. especially on that song, “Spineless Obedience, Your Demise”, “Bad Drug”, “Beyond The Point Of No Return”, and “Only Human”. As well as super tasty cymbal word with the changing between crashes / Chinas / splashes and even super tasty hi-hat use between hits. It is my understanding that Colin composed all of the riffs, and wrote general ideas for the drums, but it was all basically Kevin. He even records in his home studio. Which is a huge plus to me. The drums have a very refreshingly organic sound, which can especially be heard during the softer instrumental sections. The cymbals sound amazing and are panned great. Everything about the drum performance, engineering and mix is completely stellar in my opinion.

One thing I really love about the album is that while being absolutely mind-boggling-ly technical, it remains cohesive, and often even has a psychedelic vibe. At times the lead tone helps achieve this, such as the solo in “Spineless Obedience” and a lead section, in “Desecrating Eden”, which comes back at the end also and I just love it and the way the guitar mixes with the Keyboard solo in the middle. This is a largely unexplored sound in the genre and it has been demonstrated magnificently here. With classical level intricacy in the composition and a modern spin to the technicality and riff style mixed with the perfect levels of brutality and passion in the right places. There is even some Neo-classically influenced licks. If this isn’t one of the most creative and well-rounded albums in Death Metal history, then I must have a lot to learn. Definite contender for album of the year! Get on this people! Soon! … I want vinyl.

For fans of Spawn Of Possession, First Fragment, Anomalous, Archspire, Inanimate Existence, Ending Tyranny

9.9/10 \m/

 

Guest Musicians:
Jimmy Pitts – Keys (Track 4, 10)
Mark Hawkins – Solo (Track 1)
Nick Padovani – Solo (Track 6)
Craig Peters – Solo (Track 8)
Elijah Whitehead – Solo (Track 9)
Sims Cashion – Solo (Track 10)
Nathan  Bounds – Guest Vocals  (Track 10)

LINKS
https://www.facebook.com/virulentdepravity/
https://virulentdepravity.bandcamp.com/album/fruit-of-the-poisoned-tree
https://theartisanera.bandcamp.com/
http://www.theartisanera.com/
Check out the early stream from Tech Death Tuesday HERE

 

 

-Brett   /,,/(°o°)/,,/

Visit our FACEBOOK page \m/_(><)_\m/
http://www.badgersmetalbreakdown.com

 

Antlion- The Prescient album review 8/10

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Antlion

The Prescient

2015

Adam Pell (Vocals/Bass) –
Shane Williams (Guitar) –
Joe Kruger (Guitar) –
Arend Nijhuis (Drums)

  1. Incubation

This song begins with a psychedelic type of groove, and then the guitars go into distortion with a repeating rhythm, for a few bars, then the vocals kick in with lower growls, and a guitar riff where you can sense the metal just seeping its way into the song. The song has progressed from a jazzy groove, to a solid mid paced metal song that maintains a decent groove keeping you moving. Then the song hits the half way point and we get a little bridge of some jazz fusion sound with a guitar solo. The song picks right back up into the metal aspect, and gives us another round of heaviness before the song ends.

  1. Hubris

This song goes right into a drum roll out and into the first verse, the blast beats and the guitar riffs are great, I am really enjoying this song. It has so many personalities to it, and they all fit together well, they aren’t doing too much metal, too much jazz/experimental they walk the fine line of equality between the two styles. This song is 5:55 minutes of interesting metal and unique changes between all the other elements of the song. The way the song progresses from one style to the next is seamless, whether it is immediate or a few bars of one style to the next it works.

  1. Cycle Of Failure

This song begins with a cool jazzy feel to it, it has a groove you can tap your foot to and it lasts for just over sixty seconds. The metal persona begins right after with the growling vocals and distortion, yet still provides a groove. This is what I am enjoying about this album, no matter what personality the song is active they give you a solid beat that you can tap your foot to, move your head to. This is a fun song to listen to, and the lyrics fit the song very well. The guitar solo around the 3:39 minute mark is a very relaxing and cool solo. Songs like this are so unique in the way that you don’t dare skip, even if you don’t seem to like it, because you don’t know what will be happening next. I happen to really enjoy this song, and am eager to hear the next song.

  1. Hive

Love the vocals right out of the gate and the rhythm for the first fifteen seconds, and then the rhythm right after is mercilessly driving, the blast beats and the guitar riff. Just when you think you couldn’t be any more impressed, they spring a song like this on you. As I look at the total time of the song, I am curious as to how much talent and charisma they have filled this song with because it is already bursting at the seams with great infectious melodies and a beat that hooks you. The solo is great, they give you a skillful guitar solo that you can’t help but want to listen to again and again. The way the song fades out is absolutely perfect for the structure of the song.

  1. A Seer’s Elegy

Yes, yes, yes, the guitar riff that kicks things off is fucking great, I have honestly listened to the first 20 seconds of the song a few times because it is so badass. The rest of the song follows the same formula, cool guitar riffs, solid percussion, and the vocals are exactly what you would expect. This is a solid track, may be a fan favorite, still a bit early to make that denomination. Half way through the song they lighten things up with a smooth jazzy feel and a solid breakdown. This song is nothing less than magnificent. I really, thoroughly dig this song. \m/

  1. Spire

The song begins with a slower tempo and a perpetual riff wrapped around a solid beat. This song has some odd timing to make things interesting but only during certain sections. The band really locks in that groove, you can tap your foot to it, and you can still follow through the odd timing. This song is a great listen, it progresses exquisitely and is filled with great guitar riffs and impressive percussion skills.

  1. The Prescient (Part I)

This is song is a warm, progressive jazzy metal hybrid that leaves you feeling good about where you are in that exact moment. I love the guitar riffs, and rhythm. This song is great it has just the right changes being made and keeps the listener interested.

  1. The Prescient (Part II)

This song is just as good as Part 1 if not better, I really dig the way it begins and all of the changes we see throughout this song. The tempo changes, the metal progression, the jazz feel, the blast beats. I mean this song is awesome and the way it ends is really appropriate for the entire album.

I give this album an 8/10, it was a solid album, not for everyone, but nevertheless a great album. This is one of those bands that if for me I had never heard before. When listening to a band for the first time you really begin to filter what you heard into two categories; impressive, and not impressive. This album   is very impressive. I loved it, they have every change, every riff, and every beat calculated to the right degree and time. If you are looking for something new that you have not hear before, and want something that has a variety of different styles and can pull of some cool solos, has a great metal sound, some stellar progression, and a great jazzy feel. Then you should not waste any more time, just go and check these guys out now and pick up or download the album from their bandcamp site Here!

Check them out on FACEBOOK

And make sure to order the album at BANDCAMP \m/

released October 23, 2015

Produced by Antlion
Music & Lyrics by Antlion
Mixed & Mastered by Zack Ohren
Recorded by Arend Nijhuis
Album art by Chris Volion

-Badger \m/
http://www.badgersmetalbreakdown.com

Metal news catch up. Parkway drive, Lamb of God, Warpath Island, #mhmconf2015 @jasonindex @lambofgod @shadosfallband @heartofacoward @archspireband @highonfireband @parkwayofficial @slipknot

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Sorry for any delay to any metal news there is, i happened to take a vacation this past week that included seeing Cryptopsy wrap up their ” Back to the U.S. tour in Syracuse, Ny, and then making my way down to Florida to relax by the beach or pool and read Extremity Retained written by Misery Index’s own Jason Netherton. Needless to say i did not have my computer or wifi so any posts i could do were few and far between and on my phone with only a 1G and maybe if I was lucky 3G/4G service. At any rate  lots to report and i still wont be able to fit it all in to one post without everyones ADD  needing to look at something different, so i am going to break this up into a few posts just to keep you guys engaged.

Parkway drive just released a video yesterday for the song ” Vice Grip” if you are a Parkway fan then be sure to check this out, if not hey maybe you will like them or move along to the next story i have.

Heart of a coward, new video released today on Century Medieas youtube channel,  they are a bit more mainstream sounding but anyone who listens i bvet you could hear them on either Sirius XM Liquid Metal or Octane easily. Not bad definitely check them out.

Slipknot released the video to the song  Killpop yesterday and has already broken a million views, 1,381,960 to be exact right now as i am typing this which is a big feat considering it was released yesterday.

Stream High on Fire’s new album “ Luminiferous” because why nowadays bands are putting it out there to stream the whole album. I say YES because if i like it i am still going to buy it. Call me old but i like to have the CD. I like being able to physically hold it in my hands and read the booklet. See where it was recorded who produced it, all the way to the thank you’s. Shit i used to find a way to the record store, pick up a cd, and the first thing i did was read the booklet. See who the band thanked, who they toured with etc. you get a good idea of the smaller less known bands that way and i would end up checking them out to see what they sounded like, go to shows or buy their albums if i could. So with High on Fire putting the album to stream you can get a good listen to all the tracks and make up your mind and buy it when you can. i have listened to all the tracks and it is good, I really dig The Black Plot! so go on and check it out

http://www.npr.org/2015/06/07/412028493/first-listen-high-on-fire-luminiferous

index

Shadows fall hiatus is over? Whether or not this is just a one show gig, or if they are going to come back at it full swing its still pretty cool. The band announces summer show at The Big Kahuna Festival in Providence RI Saturday August 22nd. Maybe this will lead up to more band news, maybe it won’t but if you are in the New England area and you are a Shadows Fall fan you may not want to miss this show.

Cannibal Corpse and Testament will be going on a Latin America Tour! This fall the Tour will have Testament and Cannibal Corpse playing in November and December  dates listed on their Facebook page so far are;

17-Nov-15 -Porto Alegre, Brazil – Opiniao
18-Nov-15 -Curitiba, Brazil -Vanilla Music Hall
20-Nov-15 -Rio De Janeiro, Brazil – Circo Voador
21-Nov-15 -Sao Paulo, Brazil -Carioca Club
24-Nov-15 -Buenos Aires, Argentina -Groove
25-Nov-15 -Santiago, Chile -Teatro Caupolican
26-Nov-15 -Lima, Peru -Embarcadero 41
28-Nov-15 -Bogota, Colombia – Downtown Majestic
29-Nov-15 – San Jose, Costa Rica -Club Peppers
1-Dec-15 -Mexico City, MX -Pabellón Oeste Del Palacio de los Deportes
2-Dec-15 – Guadalajara, MX – Teatro Studio Cavaret

Sickdrummer Magazine posts a video of Archspires Spencer Pruwett killing it on the drums to “ Rapid Elemental Dissolve”Now I have heard a few different opinions on the band from the vocals to the sound. Everyone has an opinion, Mine is that Spencer is a great drummer and I really dig watching his playthrough videos on youtube. He has one for Lucid Collective Somnabulation that is just great to watch becuase it covers several different camera angles. So here is the video from Sickdrummer Magazine

Cryptopsy crowdfunding only has 29 days left, and $6,366.00 raised so far click on the link to help them reach their goal!

I know I have posted a lot about Cryptopsy, but you have to understand, when they formed years back most of the metal was just the typical death metal. These guys are from Canada and just created a sound like no one else, and still no one can pull off the same sound. I have always been a huge fan of Flo Mounier as a drummer, the guy is just incredible. and also i had the chance to meet and talk to the band at their last show in Syracuse, NY. The guys are some of the most down to earth people, and are all a bunch of great guys who have lives like you and me. Each had great stuff to talk about with the new album, and also had great ideas for the future music from Cryptopsy. So check out their crowdfunding Indie gogo page, maybe you have never heard their music before, listen to some songs and heck if you dont want to buy a cd buy the digital download, its only $5.00!  You can even have exclusives like Matt doing vocals for your band or flow doing drum tracks etc.

https://www.indiegogo.com/project/help-fund-cryptopsy-s-the-book-of-suffering/embedded

Warpath Ireland reveal guest vocals for a track have been recorded with the one and only Mark Kloeppel from Misery Index for the upcoming E.P. ” The Ambiance of War”.  The track Mark did vocals on is listed as ” Hunted like the prey that you are”. Which sounds like it will be a killer track. if you want to get some more information on this news check out Warpath’s facebooks page at; https://www.facebook.com/warpath.ireland

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Other misery Index news the legendary Jason Netherton Bassist and founding member of both Misery Index, and Dying fetus as well as author of Extremity Retained will be presenting at the Modern Heavy Metal Conference in Helsinki Finland. Also if you are a fan of metal, and like me grew up listening to it, do yourself a favor, pick up Jason’s book Extremity Retained. It is a must have for every fan of metal.

And of course as I posted yesterday Lamb of God has the audio for the track titled “512” up to listen to. Its not a fast tempo song, its a good mid tempo song that has some powerful background fueling the lyrics. Randy had spoke to Rollingstone magazine and said that his cell number while in prison over seas was 512. So if you have not listened to it yet, get on that. New Lamb of God what are you waiting for?

And right now the Video for Killpop has 1,382,160 views and picking up steam.

So thats just part of my news cathc up stay tuned for more. and make sure to support local music, and actually buy the music. Bands need to earn a living too.

-Badger \m/

http://www.badgersmetalbreakdown.com

Archspires drummer Spencer Prewett @archspireband @spencerprewett

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So  as I posted before I came across Archspire, and got blown away. SO  what do I o when i hear a sick band. Check out videos to find if there are any drum playthroughs videos available.  The thing about metal, and the thing about drums. Is that you can have so many different styles.  Take Adam Jarvis for example, the guy play the drums for Misery Index, Pig Destroyer, Fulgora, and another band called Asthma Castle. Listen to all of those bands and you will see they are all different styles.  so not only are drummers capable of having one style and sound, they can also play different types of music. Some can even play music that could be metal, jazz, hip hop and funk all mixed together like Candiria’s Ken Schalk.

So today’s recognition goes to Spencer, the guy plays some sick drums to the album and i wanted to try and find a video either a live set, or a playthrough and guess what. I got a play through for the song Lucid Collective Somnabulation. Check it out;

Oh wait and what else a live video of the song ” Seven Crowns and the Oblivion Chain”

and last but not least another video of him playing the drums;

So I figured I could show three different styles of video to give you a good idea as to what to expect from Archspires drum tracks for future albums, and Live shows if you see them on tour with Aborted.

-Badger \m/

http://www.badgersmetalbreakdown.com

Archspire on tour with Aborted @archspireband @Abortedmetal @Seasonofmist

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I love discovering bands, and hearing their songs for the first time. You never know what you are getting into, sometimes its a great first impression. Other times it may not be to your liking but along the way you discover another band who is more your taste in music. So you know me i am just checking out summer tours, and current tours and the bands playing the said tours. So I check out Aborted because i know they are on tour right now. I see the Name Archspire and i have never heard of them. Naturally I start a search for their music, I rock Spotify, I will check out youtube, I will check out anything I can just to hear new music. I type in Archspire and click on the second track I see. ” Lucid Collective Somnambulation”  and HOLY SHIT! this song starts out with a menacing technical intro and right around :45 seconds in the vocals kick in and the tempo is just rapid fire ready to lay waste to anything in its path.  This song is badass, and this is why i like giving any metal band the benefit of the doubt to blow me away and surprise me. These guys did just that

. Seriously check this out:

The rest of their tour dates are as follows;

22 May 15 Ramona, CA (US) Ramona Mainstage
23 May 15 Las Vegas, NV (US) Adrenaline
24 May 15 San Francisco, CA (US) DNA Lounge
25 May 15 S. Lake Tahoe, CA (US) Whisky Dick’s
26 May 15 Portland, OR (US) Tonic Lounge
27 May 15 Seattle, WA (US) tbc
28 May 15 Vancouver, BC (CA) Rickshaw Theatre
29 May 15 Kamloops, BC (CA) Inlander Pub
30 May 15 Calgary, AB (CA) Nite Owl
01 Jun 15 Winnipeg, MB (CA) The Zoo
02 Jun 15 Eau Claire, WI (US) House of Rock
03 Jun 15 Chicago, IL (US) Reggie’s
04 Jun 15 Lakewood, OH (US) The Foundry
05 Jun 15 Montreal, QC (CA) Foufounes Electriques
07 Jun 15 Rochester, NY (US) Montage Music Hall

I’m going to be honest i wish they had come up to the north east because I am betting they put on a sick live show.

At any rate do yourselves  a favor check these guys out, you will not regret it!

Heres their bandcamp page get their  Lucid Collective album for $10.00 as a digital download or buy their CD here; https://seasonofmist.bandcamp.com/album/the-lucid-collective

and always check out their Facebook page and twitter for news and updates

https://twitter.com/Archspireband

https://www.facebook.com/Archspireband

-Badger \m/

http://www.badgersmetalbreakdown.com