New Veil Of Maya Song!

Veil Of Maya just signed a new contract with Sumerian Records and according to the band they feel like the relationship they have with the label is a strong one and good things have been happening there. It is definitely nice to hear a story about a band having a healthy relationship with a label, and I'm glad Veil Of Maya aren't running to Kickstarter as a lot of bands are trying now.

Daniel "DL" Laskiewicz Joins Legend!

Not too long ago The Acacia Strain parted ways with longtime member Daniel "DL" Laskiewicz, who had a big hand in the writing process for The Acacia Strain and did guitar work for them. However DL hadn't been touring with the band for a long time (as in a good number of years) and one thing led to another and he was let go, and replaced by Devin Shidaker and Richie Gomez. Now though it appears DL has joined the band Legend, who have made quite a name for themselves and share a lot in common in overall tone with The Acacia Strain so it seems like a great fit for DL's style of writing.

Band Of The Week: Death Toll Rising

Death Toll Rising are a death metal outfit from Canada who've been around for about 10 years now but didn't start releasing material until 2008. Their latest release Infection Legacy is aptly named as the album is a rather infectious one. The band's blend of Death Metal and Thrash isn't the most innovative thing around but it's well done and the production on their albums is pretty much spotless.

Humanity's Last Breath - Self Titled

When the single ‘Animal’ released last year Humanity’s Last Breath found themselves with a plethora of both positive and negative feedback. ‘Animal’ garnered plenty of positive attention for its immense sound and excellent production quality which saw a rather good boost from the bands debut album Structures Collapse. The negative feedback came in with the comparisons to Vildhjarta who had gained tons of popularity from their release Masstaden. Some listeners just felt the band aligned themselves too closely to Vildhjarta’s sound.

The Acacia Strain Announce New EP!

A lot has happened with The Acacia Strain in the last year or so since the release of their latest album Death Is The Only Mortal, which you can read my review of here. The band lost long time member Daniel 'DL' Laskiewicz, who was a big part of the bands writing process from day one, but had not been touring with the band for sometime. Shortly after they announced his departure they announced the addition of two new guitarists, Devin Shidaker (ex-Oceano guitarist) and Richie Gomez (ex-Molotov Solution guitarist). Many were curious how much of an impact DL's departure would have on the bands writing but after listening to this new track 'Above' I think we don't have much reason for concern.

Band Of The Week: Forsaken

Despite being an all too commonly used name (last.fm say these guys share this name with at least 8 other bands a few of which are also in the metal/hardcore genres) Hartford, Connecticut's Forsaken does stand out of the bunch. Hitting home somewhere between Whitechapel and Dweller, Forsaken have a nice thick sound with plenty of dark ambiance to make the EP really stay with you.

New Dethklok Song!

This came as a great surprise as I didn't realize Dethklok was working on a special which will apparently include an album! Metalocalypse is doing a 'Klok Opera' titled Doomstar Requiem, which as a huge fan of the song 'Dethharmonic' I am really excited for.

Revocation Post A Video For 'Fracked'!

Revocation's new self titled album has been out for a little bit now and is hands down one of the best releases this year and further proves that Revocation are one of the best active bands out there now. The video for 'Fracked' as noted by the guys over at Heavy Blog Is Heavy does hearken back to the olden days of Thrash videos with it's purposefully cheesy graphics and generous use of stock images. There is a bit of Soviet Montage Theory at work here as well.

Anakronis - Regression

A few months back I got the chance to review an album by the band Super Massive Black Holes, thanks to their Bassist Denver Bergreen. Super Massive Black Holes brand of experimental metal was enjoyable and well played. More recently though Bergreen contacted me about another band he was in entitled Anakronis. While Super Massive Black Holes had elements of tech death infused into their sound, Anakronis is blazingly fast technical death metal through and through. Regression is an impressive EP on par with plenty of tech death greats out there right now.

Band Of The Week: Dead End Path

I found Dead End Path after doing a search for hardcore bands with a similar tone to bands like Harms Way. Dead End Path basically hit the search terms directly on the nail head. Their album Blind Faith is an awesome hardcore outing.

Band Of The Week: Divinity

I've been listening to Divinity since I found a used copy of their album Allegory a few years back. They play melodic death metal that is both well written and technically impressive.  Their sound will hit home will fans of Mnemic, Sybreed, and Synthetic Breed.