Cultura Tres: El Mal del Bien (Devouter, 3/5/11)
Bearing at least a passing resemblance to the crushing sludge of Sepultura and its brethren, Venezuela’s Cultura Tres works from the root of a proven musical commodity. But with harmonized high-string riffs, a few wailing psych-rock leads, and an ability to go quiet and eerie or soft and atmospheric, the “doom suramericano” quartet is very much its own band.
Every Friday, The Metal Examiner delves metal’s endless depths to present the genre’s most important and exciting albums.
Harm’s Way: Isolation (Closed Casket Activities, 7/5/11)
Harm’s Way: “New Beginnings”
[audio:http://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/06-New-Beginnings.mp3|titles=Harm’s Way – New Beginnings]Though ostensibly affiliated with the hardcore scene, Harm’s Way has moved into the primitive, mid-paced territory of death-metal bands like Bolt Thrower and Asphyx. Originally formed in 2005 as a power-violence band in the vein of Crossed Out and Infest, Harm’s Way has become slower and more metallic with each of its releases. Isolation, its second full-length recording, is a definitive statement for the band, cementing its vision of the possibilities in heavy music.
Hardcore and metal have fed off of each other for decades. In the early and mid-1980s, Metallica, Celtic Frost, and other pioneering bands cited not only the new wave of British heavy metal as an influence, but also hardcore bands like Discharge. Since then, there has been a two-way street between the metal and hardcore communities, with New York-based hardcore bands like the Cro-Mags and Madball clearly borrowing ideas on heaviness from death-metal bands, and a band like Obituary claiming Merauder as an influence.
Every Friday, The Metal Examiner delves metal’s endless depths to present the genre’s most important and exciting albums.
Blaspherian: Infernal Warriors of Death (Deathgasm Records, 3/8/11)
Blaspherian: “Infernal Warriors of Death”
[audio:http://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/05.-Infernal-Warriors-Of-Death.mp3|titles=Blaspherian – Infernal Warriors of Death]The cover art of Infernal Warriors of Death bears a striking resemblance to Dawn of Possession, so it’s no surprise that Blaspherian‘s debut full-length shares quite a bit with early Immolation. Although formed in 2004, Blaspherian is far from prolific, having only released a demo, an EP, and a few splits previous to this recording. Its 2007 EP was a respectable old-school death-metal release, but it was not enough of a unique statement to set it apart from the classic bands of the early ’90s and late ’80s.
However, with Infernal Warriors of Death, Blaspherian has claimed its spot in Texas’ long history of extreme metal. This is crowded territory, as the state has offered up one of the genre’s initial classics in Necrovore‘s Divus de Mortuus demo, underrated technical thrash bands in Rigor Mortis and Dead Horse, and two of the most compelling United States black-metal bands in Absu and Averse Sefira.
Every Friday, The Metal Examiner delves metal’s endless depths to present the genre’s most important and exciting albums.
The Rival Mob: Hardcore for Hardcore 7″ (Six Feet Under Records, 8/6/2010)
The Rival Mob: “Hardcore for Hardcore” [audio:http://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/01-Hardcore-for-Hardcore.mp3|titles=The Rival Mob – Hardcore for Hardcore]
The Rival Mob has collected all sorts of praise with its approach to the New York hardcore sound of the late ’80s, and it doesn’t hurt that vocalist Brendan Radigan splits time playing drums in niche-loved Mind Eraser. Although everyone knows not to judge an album by its cover, the lush, conflict-laden painting adorning Hardcore for Hardcore, the band’s new six-song seven-inch, primes the listener adequately for what lies within.
More details emerge about the upcoming Supermachiner release; the Shrinebuilder super-group begins recording; Mono announces a new album; Orange Tulip Conspiracy announces a full US tour for May. Get these and 10 other news bit after the jump.