SAMO, ANOTHER MIND-BLOWING JAZZY METAL BAND

Full disclosure: I am not a classically trained musician, and though I’ve taken years of lessons on various instruments over the years I have never studied jazz. So when I say something sounds “jazzy” I’m merely referring to a certain aesthetic as my ears perceive it. I make no claims that I’m some kind of jazz expert, so please, all you music elitists who just LOVE to call us out given any opportunity, shut the fuck up.

Anyhoo, Poland’s Samo. To these ears they sound pretty jazzy at times much like Carnal Rapture, an unsigned band from Italy I discovered last year who were my unequivocal favorites. Unlike Carnal Rapture, Samo seem to take a lot more influence from modern metal, incorporating Meshhuggah-esque grooves (but NOT Sumeriancore in the slightest) and Dillinger spazz-outs into their avant-garde attack. Suckalo Mike Dix sent us a link to Samo’s MySpace page over the holiday, and I’m pretty much blown away by everything therein. You should be too.

-VN