READER’S CHOICE: THE APPARENTLY AXL LIKES BANDS FROM DENVER AND THE SURROUNDING AREAS EDITION
So reader Adam Riley sent me an e-mail with some band recommendations, and prefaced those recommendations by asserting that “You seem to like bands from Denver and the surrounding areas.” And the e-mail was just to me — not both/all of us here at MetalSucks. I have no clue what that statement is based on; off the top of my head, the only metal band from Denver that I can even think of is Cephalic Carnage. And I certainly do loves me some Cephalic Carnage, but not enough to say “I really like bands from the Denver and the surrounding areas.” I’ve never even been to Denver!
Still, Adam is obviously from there, and takes some pride in his hometown, and I did used to date a girl from Denver, which says nothing about their music scene but whatever. So I figure I’ll give his bands a shot. Here we go:
- DEADSPEAK — Wow, I actually really do like this band. It’s basically Misery Indexian deathgrind. These riffs are killer. Listening to this makes me wish I was currently holding a beer bottle, so that I could throw it against the wall. The key is that these songs are really well-written — if I turn this off right now, I can guarantee you it’ll be stuck in my head for the rest of the afternoon. Good job, Adam. You’re 1 for 1 so far!
- ENEMY REIGN — This is band features Sherwood Webber (ex-Skinless) on vocals, and they’re also pretty good. Deadspeak probably have more thrash influences and Enemy Reign probably have more tech-death influences, but it’s not hard to imagine a bill featuring both bands. Wow, maybe Adam is right. Maybe I really do like bands from Denver and the surrounding areas.
- FINAL BLOW — This is the only band Adam sent me that I’m not really digging, and even they’re not terrible. They basically play metallicized hardcore in the vein of bands like Hatebreed, Terror, etc. I don’t think the world is currently suffering from a shortage of bands that sound exactly like this one, but lack of originality is really their worst offense.
So, in conclusion, Denver gave us more than just Cephalic Carnage and great omlettes. Hoo-ray for Denver!
-AR
