Six In Line - Even Though We Go Way Back, This Ain't Like Old Times (Though We've Gone Back In Time)

Track Listing:

1. Even Though We Go Way Back, This Ain't Like Old Times (Though We've Gone Back In Time)

2. Prison Rules

3. When All Is Sad and Done

4. Happy Again

Band Members:

Kaptain Nuke - Vocals

Jonathan Von Swaan - Guitar

Adrian Seifi - Guitar

Daniel Hate Crew Arvidzone - Bass

Hampuss Hansson - Drums

Sick thrash from Sweden. I could end the review right there, but I won't. Six In Line are back with their best release to date, and possibly my favorite release name ever. Hell, even the abbreviation (ETWGWBTALOTTWGBIT) would be a mouthful. These guys are fantastic and this release really shows it better then their previous two releases.

The title track is everything you could want in a party thrash band. Sick riffs, mosh beats, and angry screaming complete with party gang vocals. Not much more I can say, you just have to listen! Their single, When All is Sad and Done, is every bit as good. Instead of talking about it though you can watch their video for it:

I was lucky enough to see these guys play with Sonic Pulse about a year ago and I got to interview Adrian and Daniel, along with my buddy Dave from Sonic Pulse. I learned that Swedes love cheeseburgers. Check it out:  

Awesome thrash from Sweden. Eat cheeseburgers, thrash hard, stay laid.

Support the band HERE

Download their music HERE

Turrigenous - Black Stone Opus

Track Listing:

1. Prima Materia
2. Drawn to an Edge
3. Hegira
4. Render Chaos
5. A Prism Divine
6. Whited Sepulchre
7. Citrinitas
8. The Annealing
9. Zephyr
10. Aurum Nostrum

Band Members:
Greg Giordano - Guitars/Vocals
John Vullo - Guitars
Phil Montalbano - Bass/Backing vocals
Ray Marte - Studio Drums

 This record solidifies the fact that Long Island is a hub for ridiculously good progressive metal. With fantastic guitar work and exceptional vocals, both harsh and clean (another one of those things that's becoming a rarity in modern metal), Turrigenous is dynamic metal indeed.  

One track in particular that stood out to me was The Annealing. It is everything you could want from a classic prog song. Awesome jazz influenced solos with rich full tone, heavy, epic, and melodic riffs, and Matt Barlow-esque vocals that all fit together so nicely. 

Another track, Aurum Nostrum kicks in and we're treated with a mid tempo heavy ass riff. And just as soon as you're getting into it, it kicks you in the nuts, yells "PSYCHE!" and blazes into a twin guitar speed metal riff before morphing into a thrash mosh riff. This song clocks in at 11:38 mind you, and in the first 2 minutes we've gone from groovy to Iced Earth to thrash.  

I won't go into too much more detail about the rest of the album, you're going to have to hear it for yourself. Turrigenous blends Dream Theater's best moments (sans Labrie and keyboards) with Iced Earth speed metal, and then puts its own modern prog spin on it (including the occasional deep gutteral). I'd also like to add that drummer Ray Marte provided drums for this album. He's also in Moon Tooth, which if you've read my blog before you know that I hold them in high regard! All in all, this album is worth your time AND YOUR MONEY.

Support the band at Turrigenous.com

Buy their album on iTunes, or CD Baby
Also check out their live album at Amazon.com

Carcharodon - Roachstomper

Track Listing;

1. Stoneface Legacy

2. Pig Squeal Nation

3. Adolf Yeti

4. Beaumont, TX

5. Jumbo Squid

6. Marilyn Monrhoid

7. Chupacobra

8. Burial in Whiskey Waves

9. Alaska Pipeline

10. Voodoo Autopsy

11. The Sky Has No Limits

Band Members:

Pixo - Vocals/Bass

Boggio - Guitar/Backing vocals

Zack - Drums

Max - Guitar

I know I come off as pretentious when I string together a long list of sub-genres to describe one band, but to hell with it: Old school southern sludge/death n' roll. If I want to go for the Golden Fedora Metal Hipster Award I'd throw in Italian at the beginning of that. But you know what, I don't care, because these guys are awesome and I want people to know just what they're about to hear.

Carcharodon's Roachstomper brings the old school southern sludge that EyeHateGod used to play, mixes in Entmobed guitar tone and d-beats and then wraps it up in a gravelly barking vocal style with a thick Italian accent. Tell me you don't want to hear that?!

The first track (Stoneface Legacy) starts off with a harmonized chant about drinking whiskey that then plummets down into a stomach churning sludgy as fuck riff that's soaked in Swedish death metal buzz saw tone. This song is epic, heavy, and abrasive.

A track that I'd like to highlight would be their single, Burial In Whiskey Waves. The album starts off with a sick tapping riff before you're launched into a what I can only describe as a circle pit during a hoedown (I could probably describe it differently, but whatever). In between the thrashy riffs, vocalist Pixo growls at you about getting drunk and various things of that nature. And you listen. And then the song drops you into a vat of slow, grimy, and heavy sludge metal. I won't spoil the ending for you, but the song ends on a completely different note. Go listen.

Roachstomper is unique, vulgar, diverse, heavy as fuck, and Italian. And I love it.

Support the band HERE.

Moon Tooth - Freaks EP

Track Listing:

1. Ebb/Flow

2. Goon

3. Storm Pill

4. Silver Gallows

Band Members:

Nick Lee - Gutairs, Vocals

Ray Marte - Drums, Vocals

John Carbone - Vocals, Percussion

Vin Romanelli - Bass

Very rarely do I find a metal band that captures my attention so quickly, yet I can't place what genre they are. I've always been one to classify bands into sub-genres for fun, but these guys are so incredibly unique that it makes it difficult to say. However, one thing I can say about them is that they are fantastic and their freshman release "Freaks" just goes to show that there is something proggy in the water up in Long Island, NY.

Right off the bat you're hit with Ebb/Flow which kicks up a fierce driving riff that makes me want to run in circles banging my head (usually I resist, being in public and all). Then the vocals come in.  John Carbone uses a clean vocal style that is very unique to the genre. It's not something you'd hear in a power prog band, but it's not raspy or rough enough to be in a stoner/sludge band. As far as metal vocals go, I have a hard time pinning his style to a particular sound, but I'll tell you this: if works beautifully. The vocal melodies and the timbre of his voice almost contrast with the driving riffs and heavy distortion, and then Nick Lee comes in with harsh backing vocals that add another level of complexity to this baffling style. And damn I love it. And just when you think you've gotten used to the style, they kick it up with the chorus, throwing in major key vocal harmonies and impressive guitar work.

I'll spare you the details for the rest of the EP, because I won't be able to do it justice; you'll have to listen to it for yourself. I will say this: Moon Tooth is a band that I'm EAGERLY awaiting new material from. I've had a taste of four tracks by this incredible band and now I'm starving for more.

Storm Pill (Official Video)

Download the EP HERE

Follow the band on FACEBOOK 

Whores. - Clean

Tracklisting:

1. Baby Bird

2. Last Looks

3. I Am Not a Goal Oriented Person

4. Cougars, Not Kittens

5. Blue Blood

6. I Am an Amateur at Everything

Band Members:

Christian Lembach - Vocals, Guitar

Travis Owen - Drums

Jake Shultz - Bass

There is a way to be heavy without drop tuning to oblivion, playing 8 string guitars, and using guttural vocals. Whores. does it better than most, and after waiting and waiting (I do a lot of that apparently) we are given their sophomore release, Clean; and it's anything but.

Whores. plays classic sludge metal along the lines of The Melvins and Acid Bath. Angry vocals, unforgiving bass, driving and impressive drums (you should see them live), and heavy catchy riffs; these guys do it fucking right. Seriously, everything about this release is on point, from riffs to tone, this EP is practically dangerous.

If you ever get the chance to see Whores. live, jump on it, because you'll regret not doing so for the rest of your life. Easily one of the heaviest three piece bands I've ever seen (and they did it without a single breakdown I might add).

Buy the album HERE

Follow the band on FACEBOOK

Razormaze - Annihilatia

Tracklisting:

1. Something Like A War

2. The Slowest Death

3. Worshipping the Void

4. Sink Below

5. Demagogue

6. Electric Deception

7. Terminal Escape

8. Without Words

Band Members:

Alex Citrone - Guitar, Vocals

Sam Nevin - Bass, Vocals

Joe Gettler - Guitar

Nick Lazzaro - Drums

This album was actually released a while back but I'm late to the reviewing party so here we go!

Thrash metal is making a comeback; that's a fact. Whether you're one of those people who think it's a tired and dated genre (fuck you) or you're like me who can't get enough of the shit, you can't deny that there are gems among the new wave of thrash metal that stand above the rest in terms of unique and impressive musicianship and songwriting. Bands like Havok, Lich King, and Revocation come to mind quickly to most, but for me there's one band that has a special place in my heart, and that's Boston's thrash heroes Razormaze.

The long awaited Annihilatia is finally out and it's amazing! Released on Slaney Records it's a lot heavier than their previous releases. Razormaze brings a lot more complexity to their songwriting this go around, and it definitely shows in both song structure and riffs.The production has been kicked up, the riffs are more plentiful and more intricate, the lyrics are deeper then before, and the vocals have more of a Chuck Billy feel to them instead of the almost cheesy vocals from True Speed of Steel (although I must say, I'm a big fan of cheese.) This album is also the first to feature new guitarist Joe Gettler, who, in scientific terms, fucking brings it. The solos are phenomenal and the guitar tone used for them is perfect.

My favorite song on the album is, without a doubt, Terminal Escape. From the bouncy intro riff to the circle pit inducing verses and gang vocal inspiring choruses. I mean, lets be real, its thrash metal, describing it won't do it justice, it'll just make it seem like every other thrash band, but if you hear it for yourself you'll feel differently. Buy this album and become another slave to the maze! (I don't give a fuck about how cheesy that sounds.)

Buy the album HERE

Follow the band on FACEBOOK

Death of Kings - Knifehammer/Beneath the Obsidian 7"

Tracklisting:
1. Knifehammer

2. Beneath the Obsidian

Band Members:

Matt Matson - Guitar, Vocals 

Scott Price - Guitar, Vocals

Ash - Bass

Amos Rifkin - Drums

Death of Kings is a thrash metal band from Atlanta GA and they play metal in every sense of the word. Blistering fast, full of awesome riffs, blazing guitar solos, aggressive in your face vocals that aren't quite screams but definitely aren't clean, and lyrics about wolves and war and shit. These guys just released a 2 track 7" and it's by far the best produced and best written thing they've put out so far. I mean, how can you go wrong with a track called Knifehammer? You can't, because that song will literally hammer you with a knife. The 7" is being printed on glow in the dark vinyl and is available for digital purchase on bandcamp.com, so you have no reason not to own these two fantastic songs! And if you want to wait to buy the vinyl, Death of Kings will be playing here in Columbia at New Brookland Tavern on November 17th!

Download the 7" HERE

Follow Death of Kings on FACEBOOK