Unsigned and Unholy: AfterEarth, A Sound of Thunder, Chiral

AfterEarth first appeared in Unsigned and Unholy in March of 2013, and though their recording was extremely rough around the edges the band showed a lot of promise in their songwriting and musicianship. This time around they’ve refined their sound quite a bit — the vestiges of their blackened past are all but gone in favor of a genre-less sound that’s difficult to pigeonhole — and the production is top-notch, really allowing their compositions to shine through. Stream new album In the Shadow of Destiny below via Bandcamp:

A Sound of Thunder have an interesting arrangement with Valiant Comics, who license their new record and helped them with lyrics and artwork. But the band paid for the album production and promotion themselves — and technically Valiant isn’t a record label — so they still qualify for Unsigned and Unholy in my book. What you won’t get with A Sound of Thunder is anything that far off the beaten path, but what you will get is well done, traditional heavy metal with soaring, operatic, powerful vocals. Jam “Tremble” from Tales of the Deadside below.

Dark, melancholy metal with acoustic guitars is still novel enough to float my boat, even if it’s unlikely no one will top Hexvessel and Wovenhand at their craft. Even so, I’m digging Chiral, who bring an accordion into the mix for extra flare. That electric guitar tone blows goats (even if it’s intentionally bad), but I really dig the melodies and arrangements. Night Sky is out now and available via Bandcamp.