Unsigned and Unholy: Forming the Void, MeridieM, Mothra

When Forming the Void emailed us requesting MetalSucks “to shit upon [their] mediocre band,” Axl remarked thusly in a private aside to me: “It clearly wants to be Tool and the vocals are too yarler-ish, but it’s better than most of the crap people send us.” That’s overly reductive (what one sentence description of music isn’t?) but for the most part I concur. I’d add that the aesthetic is a bit more stoner-y and deliberately paced than Tool — see the fuzzed out guitars and psychedelia-inspired keys — and I really dig the decidedly un-Toolian guitar solo in “Three Eyed Gazelle.” Altogether it makes for a very enjoyable listen. Here’s new album Skyward:

MeridieM offer an interesting blend of instrumental prog. Their more pensive moments call Opeth to mind, while their heavier ones verge into Dream Theater territory minus all the wankery. Something bizarre is going on with the drum tracking here — they sound a bit out of sync at times — but the finished product is a good sample of the kind of music MeridieM are capable of cranking out. Check out “Katabases” from their latest EP Odysseia below.

Mothra are a three-piece post-metal band from Auckland, NZ, and though their music stands up really well instrumentally here I can’t help but wonder what it might sound like with vocals. The songs are well-constructed, and the choruses are simple enough that the sky’s the limit for what a complex vocal melody could do. Still really digging the vibe as is, though. New album Decision Process will come out in November, but have a taste now with “Escapism:”