UNSIGNED AND UNHOLY: BLUE OX, THE FALLEN DIVINE, DAMASCUS

In a perfect world all the bands I feature in these Unsigned and Unholy columns would have legions of fans supporting them, appear on worldwide tours and rake in bucketloads of cash from their music. Unfortunately our world isn’t perfect, but I do what I can to get the word out and hope that all of these excellent bands continue making music despite a market that’s incredibly over-saturated with mediocrity (even amongst signed bands). This week we look at new music from Blue Ox, The Fallen Divine and Damascus.

• Blue Ox don’t exactly break any new ground with their punishing, raw, stoner-inflected post-hardcore attack, but there’s something about the intensity and brute force of their new album Stray Dogs on Pity Party Island that’s really resonating with me. Track 2, “Lights Are On,” is my jam; mosh mosh mosh! It’s like the anger of Converge and the big, fun riffs of Scissorfight rolled into one fearsome package. Stream the full album here.
• The intro of “Dissention” — the 7+ minute epic by Norwegian progressive death metal band The Fallen Divine — is a little rough around the edges. But stick with it, because the song starts kicking ass and impaling aardvark babies immediately after the intro. This band reminds me a bit of fellow Norwegians Keep of Kalessin with a touch less black metal influence; they’re all over the place but in a good way, and they somehow manage to stay focused despite a number of different styles in just this one song. Listen below, then go hear more at their Facebook page:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrPkmTVsicE

• Damascus play atmospheric, instrumental music in the vein of Russian Circles, And So I Watch You From Afar, Junius, Constants, Moving Mountains, If These Trees Could Talk, etc. I know that not all of those bands are instrumental, but you get the point; if you dig ’em, you’ll certainly like the chilled-out yet rockin’ grooves of Damascus. Listen to their new EP, Of Whom I Always Think, at Bandcamp.