SH*T THAT COMES OUT TODAY – THE MARCH 1, 2011 EDITION
Scale the Summit, Trap Them, Weedeater and Omnium Gatherum top the New Releases class of March 1st, 2011. New ones from American Heritage, Bill Steer’s Firebird, Grayceon and others also come out this week, making it one of the healthiest new release weeks for metal thus far in 2011. MS New Release Czar Vic Vaughn takes a look after the jump.
American Heritage – Sedentary (Translation Loss)
After their 2006 album Millerian, American Heritage’s bass player parted ways with the band. In his place, the band has recruited an all-star cast of fill-in players for Sedentary. Members of Mastodon, Nachtmystium, Black Cobra and more contribute bass lines and more to the sludgy, riff-heavy group’s newest release. Stream the track “City of God” right here at MetalSucks.
Blood Ceremony – Living With The Ancients (Metal Blade)
Psychedelic doom with one foot firmly placed in 1974, along with an omnipresent flute and the haunting female vocals of Alla O’Brien. Blood Ceremony’s second album follows up their 2008 self-titled record. Fans of Witchcraft and Coven will love this.
Cut Your Teeth – CYT II (Self-Released)
This NYC outfit mixes straight hardcore riffs with ’80s glam shred, a most unlikely combination that somehow just works. Read Vince’s thoughts on their excellent video for the track “Stallion” and then download the entire record at CYT’s Bandcamp page for free!
Dying Fetus – Killing on Adrenaline and Grotesque Impalement [Reissues] (Relapse)
Starting with 1995′s Infatuation With Malevolence early demo compilation and 1996′s Purification Through Violence, Relapse has been reissuing Dying Fetus’ early material which culminates with these two re-releases (all re-mastered and with deluxe packaging). If you’re relatively new to death metal and want to learn your roots, this is a great place to start. Stream both records here.
Firebird – Double Diamond (Metal Blade)
Firebird are cut from the same old-school heavy metal cloth as a band like Ghost, but without all the silly imagery and lyrical pretense. The band’s retro bent makes sense given the band’s frontman and mastermind is legendary Carcass guitarist Bill Steer… but death metal this is not.
Gideon – Costs (Facedown)
A decent disc of positive melodic hardcore with chunky guitars and intense vocals. Gideon definitely aren’t the most innovative band, but this is a solid entry for fans of melodic hardcore.
Grayceon – All We Destroy (Profound Lore)
Grayceon are really all over the place, but in a good way. Folk parts, sludgy guitar riffs, electric cello… all in all, controlled chaos of the auditory persuasion. Jackie Perez Gratz, the vocalist and electric cello player, is also a member of Giant Squid. All We Destroy is the band’s first record for Profound Lore.
Images Of Eden – Rebuilding The Ruins (Nightmare)
Baltimore, Maryland’s Images of Eden bridge the gap between prog rock and heavy/power metal with their new CD, Rebuilding The Ruins, their third record, following Sunlight of the Spirit from 2006. The new record is mastered by Eric Zimmerman, who has done work with Deftones, Suicidal Tendencies… and Buckcherry and Limp Bizkit. All this information was compiled from press releases, and honestly, God knows what this could sound like with those credentials.
Omnium Gatherum – New World Shadows (Lifeforce)
Last summer, just as Omnium Gatherum announced their deal with Lifeforce Records, they also announced the departure of 13-year rhythm guitarist Harri Pikka. The Finnish melodic metal band was formed in 1996, and this is their fifth album, the first since 2008’s The Redshift. Read Vince’s thoughts on New World Shadows here.
Scale The Summit – The Collective (Prosthetic)
As someone fairly new to the music of Scale The Summit, I was pretty blown away by Vince’s piece on the band back in January. Now we finally get the new album. Scale The Summit is a sort of proggy instrumental band from Texas who did a tour with Devin Townsend, Cynic and BTBAM last year, which should give you some idea of what they sound like.
Srodek – Forfall (ATMF)
Spearheaded by a musician named Nekrofucker, Srodek is a one-man black metal project from Sweden. At times melodic, crushing, dark and ambient, this record definitely falls into the “post-black metal” side of things (Is that even a thing, officially?).
Trap Them – Darker Handcraft (Prosthetic)
Another record of buzzsaw guitars and frantic rhythms. Trap Them’s fourth album is their first for Prosthetic, and if the rest of the record sounds like “Day 44 – Slumcult & Gather” (currently streaming on Decibel’s site), we have a winner. Technically, only the vinyl comes out today (the CD comes out on the 15th).
Weedeater – Jason…The Dragon (Southern Lord)
Weedeater are another band that just don’t ruin the blueprint. They play extremely heavy, sludgy, Southern-sounding jams, punctuated by the unworldly rasp of vocalist/bassist “Dixie” Dave Collins. This record was delayed by Collin’s “incident” with a shotgun and his big toe in early 2010, and the track “Palms and Opium” is a solo jam he wrote during his recovery. The band’s last record was 2007’s God Luck and Good Speed.
-VV
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