READER’S CHOICE: THE NO PARTICULAR THEME EDITION
Maybe it’s just my imagination, but it seems like there was a week or two there where we weren’t being sent a lot of reader recommendations… and then over the past four or five days, I feel like we’ve just been bombarded with “YOU HAVE TO CHECK OUT THIS BAND THEY RULE SO HARD!!!” e-mails. Since it seems to be a slow news morning, I thought I’d go through a bunch of ’em, picking out bands completely at random.
I haven’t listened to any of these bands in advance of writing this, so the following column will be one of those “Let’s discover the music together!”-type deals. Inevitably, some/most of these groups are gonna blow, but hopefully we’ll find a gem or two in the pile as well.
And so…
Brandon Mickman recommended this Danish band… I’m not clear if ex-Mercenary vocalist Mikkel Sandager is a permanent member of was just doing guest spots, but he’s credited on one song (“Fight or Follow”) and there’s at least one other where whomever is doing the clean vocals sounds just like him (“Vile City”). Unfortunately, the music is pretty generic DM stuff that didn’t really hold my interest. I mean it’s not terrible or anything, it’s just another case of “Didn’t one of a bajillion other bands already write this riff?” syndrome.
Raymond Pecheone tells us that was produced by one of the guitarists from Whitechapel, and… hey, y’know what? As of this moment, I am now officially over Sumeriancore. Like any trend, when it started there were a bunch of bands that were doing something new and interesting, but now it just feels like we’re getting a re-hash of a re-hash of a re-hash. We already have Veil of Maya and Born of Osiris; why do we need Persaeus, who add nothing new to the mix?
If you were gonna insult this band you’d call them “beardo,” but I don’t feel any need to insult them. This is some really scummy shit, and while it’s not startlingly original, it is well-done, and I’m enjoying it (especially the song “Get a Grip,” which has slightly more of a filthy rock vibe than the other two tracks I’ve heard). You can get a digital download of their 7″, Exhaustion, on a pay-what-you-like basis here.
Spencer Linn recommends this electrogrind band, who apparently have “the J. Randall stamp of approval.” But if you see “electrogrind” and think you’re gonna get something in the vein of Genghis Tron, well, be prepared for to be disappointed — the music here might best be described as “structureless noise.” They definitely get points for originality, but the music itself doesn’t do much for me. Maybe I’m just not forward-thinking enough.
Mat Bourbon suggests you check out Serdce if like “Atheist, Cynic and especially Augury.” I do like those bands, but Serdce ain’t doin’ anything for me. Paul Masvidal can write a killer song that just happens to be technical and progressive; Serdce write technical and progressive metal that in no way takes the listener’s enjoyment into account.
So, uh, Creeper wins the day I guess!
But don’t let my grumpiness deter you from submitting more bands you think are awesome — as you can see, we really DO listen to everything you guys pass along sooner or later…
-AR
