Unsigned and Unholy: Ramage Inc., Altars of Grief, Harris Hawk

Longtime MetalSucks reader CF Santos suggested we check out Ramage Inc. with the disclaimer that they’re “obviously Devin-inspired”… and holy shit, yeah, no kidding! Feel the Waves is like the long lost Ocean Machine-era Devin Townsend solo album, except the vocals sound more like Textures’ Daniel de Jongh than Devin himself. Still, though the sleeve-wearing here is blatant, we really, really like the band: stream the album below, via Bandcamp:

This Shameful Burden‘s titular opening track gets off to a rough start with cringe-worthy clean guitar tone, but stick with it, as things pick up quickly: Altars of Grief play some top-notch, Scandinavian-style melodoom, like a slower Insomnium or Omnium Gatherum, from the equally grim northern environs of Regina, Saskatchewan. Here’s the Bandcamp stream:

Boston’s Harris Hawk are on a small startup label called Eye Design Records so I’m gonna give ’em a mulligan here for the “unsigned” category. They’re easily the least traditional “metal” band out of today’s batch, but there’s a heavy feeling to their music — despite the complete lack of heavily distorted guitars — that should appeal to fans of MS-favorites like Family that blend classic rock and grunge with a more modern, proggy aesthetic. Check out Mutes in full below via Bandcamp: