UNSIGNED AND UNHOLY: THE WEIRDER, THE BETTER

Another week, another batch of killer bands that are really indistinguishable from their signed brethren but for one fact: they’re not signed. Of the great injustices in the world, it’s a shame that bands like these aren’t signed while commercially calculated garbage acts like Vampires Everywhere are. Oh well, I ‘spose money talks.

• Satevis: I like bands that don’t feel trapped by genre lines. Straight-up black metal, progressive metal and standard melodeath of course all have their places, but they get boring after a time. It’s way more interesting when bands take their favorite elements from a smattering of sub-genres and combine them in their own way, and that’s what New City, NY’s Satevis do with the aforementioned. It helps that they’re really talented musicians and writers and that they have a decent recording to showcase both of those things. I’d definitely peep these guys if they come down to the big city for a show.

• Gallowbraid: Alternatingly heavy and melancholy melo-doom in the mold of bands like Agalloch, Swallow the Sun, Insomnium, etc. I’m not sure I’d say that Gallowbraid are as good as any of those bands, but they’ve certainly got the potential to be. Or should I say he’s got the potential to be; longtime reader Kuranes, who sent this in, informs us that Gallowbraid is a one-man operation. Yeah, this is really good stuff.
• Technicyst Fix: This is more electronic music than it is metal, but there’s definitely a metalhead behind those bleeps and bloops; you can hear it in some of the buzzsaw guitar effects and “riff” patterns. Sections of some songs, like “Fresh Baked Muffins of Destruction” (track 5 on the Bandcamp page) are so heavy they border on being electro-grind! This will surely piss off some of you; for open-minded listeners only.
• The Dr. Orphyus Project: Do you like weird experimental metal? With nearly atonal proggy jazz death metal freakouts and trumpet leads, perhaps? Then this is for you. Kudos for thinking way outside the box. Thanks to James Mullen for sending this in.

-VN