A modernised blast from the past 🤘

SIKTH - Bland Street Bloom Live at Marshall Studios.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDhF7bintXY

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SIKTH Announces Two Shows Celebrating Their 2006 Record Death Of A Dead Day

https://metalinjection.net/tour-dates/sikth-announces-two-shows-celebrating-their-2006-record-death-of-a-dead-day

#SIKTH #DeathOfADeadDay #MetalInjection #Fallujah #Byzantine #Katatonia #GahlsWyrd #Vildhjarta #RiversOfNihil #Midnight

SOL INVICTO (Feat. Members of Deftones, Cypress Hill & Sikth) Unleash Debut EP, ‘Loosely Aware’

After years spent honing their unique sound and building a devoted underground following, Sol Invicto, the innovative project led by Richie Londres featuring Stephen Carpenter of Deftones, Eric Bobo of Cypress Hill, Dan Foord of Sikth and with guest vocals from Sean Plague of Plague To Pyres, proudly unveils their debut EP, ‘Loosely Aware‘. This release marks the band’s significant step from an exclusive cult act to an official presence in the wider metal landscape. Available now on all major streaming platforms, ‘Loosely Aware‘ showcases a powerful blend of metal, industrial, and percussive prowess. Fans can listen to the EP HERE and purchase from the band’s Bandcamp page HERE. Heralding the EP’s arrival is the visualizer for focus track, “Lost In Translation” watch HERE or by clicking the thumbnail below.

Speaking on the release of their long-awaited EP release, Richie Londres shares

“‘Loosely Aware’ represents years of relentless experimentation, sweat, and commitment to this project. This EP is a testament to the resilience and collaborative spirit that defines Sol Invicto. We wanted to create something gritty, heavy and authentic that gives listeners a taste of the chaos and beauty that we thrive on. The Loosely Aware EP marks the beginning of a new chapter for the band. We’re proud to finally share it with the world and are very excited for what’s coming next.”

Today’s EP’s release follows last month’s debut single, “The Obvious Play,” which provided fans with a fierce glimpse of Sol Invicto’s intense soundscape and was met with immediate critical acclaim. Revolver Magazine includied it in their Best New Songs Right Now list, calling it “a heavy swinger, with Carpenter’s detuned-and-doomy compound-judding rattling the speakers amid fractured pulses of electronic percussion and Plague to Pyres vocalist Sean Plague’s savage screaming session.”, Consequence stating “Among the more brutal tracks to bear Carpenter’s credit (this ain’t Deftones).” and Kerrang! calling it a “monster of a debut single“. The EP marks the project’s first official release following their extremely rare, private double album ‘Initium’ in 2017, a collection of demos and experimental tracks gathered over the years which was available only to members of their private club, Sol Invicto Comiti.

‘Loosely Aware’ heralds a bold new era for the band as they prepare to record a full-length metal album later this year. For now though, bask in the EP’s gloriously nasty, soul-crushingly heavy sounds and prepare for much more coming from Sol Invicto in 2025.

#cypressHill #deftones #newEp #rock #sikth #solInvicto

OU – 蘇醒 II: Frailty Review

By Dolphin Whisperer

Beijing isn’t known for being a hotbed of metal, and what bands do exist (documented) don’t really present many ways to listen on a global scale. But, being comprised of human beings, music persists in that region whether we realize it or not. And of that perseverance OU1 blossomed. Triumphant and glistening, their 2022 debut one wasted no time infecting and warping my listening consciousness with its unique blend of progressive metal, power pop, and dream-like ambient fusion. In a world where bands like Haken and Leprous continue to streamline and commodify their once vibrant and promising sounds, OU planted a crooked and smiling stake amongst the swath of fledgling prog bands everywhere. With that exuberant spirit, lightning threatens to strike twice.

OU’s first adventure caused big enough waves for labelmate Devin Townsend to sign on to give 蘇醒 II: Frailty a level of production one didn’t quite have. Often, Townsend’s most intriguing engineering work has arrived via his softer, layered works (Ki, Ghost, Transcendence) where his minimalist weavings shine bright. And while OU has one foot in the other maximalist realm that earned Townsend a reputation for pushing a throbbing wall of sound, the back half of one, and, consequently, the comedowns of 蘇醒, finds power in the explosions of careful and heavily layered builds. In this space, Townsend allows OU’s spry synthcraft and ethereal vocal layering to wisp about with freedom, frantic abandon, and dreamy oscillation.

As such, every moment of 蘇醒 steps either toward a serene tension or an explosive climb. Drummer and primary songwriter Anthony Vanacore rests the center of OU’s sound, laying foundations that range from a mathematically erratic SikTh kick-infested bounce (“淨化 Purge”) to a Jegog emulating wonderland that’s as much King Crimson as it is “Kaneda’s Theme” (“念 Recall”). Whether the drive of a track calls for virtuosic snare ghosting (“海 Ocean”) or arena-weighted hammering (“破魂 Spirit Broken”), his kit serves as a guide. And in suit, his stringed bandmates render as tonal chameleons, lurching along with chord-expanding drones and pops to build ascending progressions (“蘇醒 Frailty,” “海 Ocean”) or offering Metheny-smooth jazzy counterpoint to swell drifting ambience (“血液 Redemption”). OU’s compositional vocabulary rests in harmonic excess, a point in which this seasoned troupe indulges for 歪歪地愛 YYDS,2 which is both offensive and brilliant in its forceful djent playfulness.

But all of the above hinges on the energetic flow that vocalist Lynn Wu imbues across each track. Again offering her services only in her native Chinese tongue, there isn’t a single word across 蘇醒 that I understand, though lyric translations and title themes paint a picture throughout that lands a touch more introspective than OU’s previous work. In turn, Wu’s chopped and terraced patterns spiral and gather toward sonic peaks where a lead guitar normally might exist in a different context (“蘇醒 Frailty,” “海 Ocean,” “輪迴 Reborn”). As a more traditional and piercing rock voice, Wu holds her own against the equally wailing Townsend on “淨化 Purge” and works alone to swing “破魂 Spirit Broken” between outcry and melancholic resolution. And still reaching further for new levels of manipulation, Wu sees her lines shifted to a vocaloid approximation to match the low-bit charm of “衍生 Capture and Elongate (Serenity).”3 Whatever character 蘇醒 requires Wu embodies in an unparalleled manner.

After all, it’s the idiosyncratic atmosphere into which OU collects its myriad sounds that makes 蘇醒 II: Frailty such a delight. And with a spacious master to back its meticulous construction and snappy runtime, it’s effortless to fall prey to the polyrhythmic hypnosis that OU has mastered. The most unfortunate part, though, about sinking deeper in love with what this singular Chinese act has created is that it’s only real partner is the previous OU album. So if you’re new to the game, you’re in luck, you get one and II. And if you need any extra convincing, just ask yourself whether you enjoy listening to prog that drives lesser music enjoyers up a wall. The real fun is where others fear to look.

Rating: 4.5/5.0
DR: 10 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Inside Out Music | Bandcamp4
Websites: outheband.com | facebook.com/ou.theband
Releases Worldwide: April 26th, 2024

#2024 #45 #Ambient #Apr24 #ChineseMetal #DevinTownsend #DevinTownsendProject #ExperimentalElectronic #InsideOutMusic #KingCrimson #MathRock #OU #PatMetheny #ProgressiveMetal #ProgressiveRock #Review #Reviews #Rush #SikTh #蘇醒IIFrailty

Exist – Hijacking the Zeitgeist Review

By Dolphin Whisperer

Following the uniquely progressive death(ish) trend of increasing Hippietude1, Exist has slowly morphed over the years from a spacey, Meshuggah-ish prog act in the vein of Intrinsic-era The Contortionist2 to a Pink Floyd-ian tricky-rhythm rock, primarily, outfit. 2020’s Egoiista, as such, saw coverage in these halls as prizing long-form style over impactful substance—still good though (if a tad underrated). In its dreamy, waltzing soundscape, it also functioned for me as an alluring escape in a year that was, well, quite the weird one. And, as things go in life and major happenings, longtime guitarist Matt Rossa (ex-Svengahli) stepped down and paved the way for WAIT band-leader Charlie Eron to hop on in slick-stringed support. As far as changes go, seeing as WAIT hosts an almost identical lineup to Exist, the personnel couldn’t have been more familiar. But could anyone have seen this Hippietude reversal coming?

Exist’s members’ breadth of live performance prowess often made it seem like Exist acted as an outlet for their softer ideas. Guitarist and vocalist Max Phelps tours frequently with the fully hippified Cynic, but also functions as the revived voice of Chuck Schuldiner on many Death to All bills. Bassist Alex Weber swings his fretless stick about with the likes of elevated slammers Defeated Sanity and melotech legends Obscura. Drummer Brody Smith has hit live with techy flippers Equipoise and groove-monsters Alluvial. Long story short, these guys know heavy, but up until this newest Hijacking the Zeitgeist, that heavy often fell to the side of an alt-rock inflected, jazz-kissed rock. But under the guidance and endjineering of Anup Sastry (ex-Skyharbor and much session work), this refreshed version of Exist reaches forth with both the shortest and punchiest album of their career.

Hijacking the Zeitgeist wastes zero time letting you know that it intends to churn pits with a smart and successful grooves. Between the true Meshuggah syncopation of lead jam “Blue Light Infinite,” and ode-to-microaggressions “One Degree Removed from Human,” and the frenetic fret-tumbling of “A Path to Nowhere,” Exist’s metallic pedigree has never felt more immediate and alive. But neither the wide, resonant chord stabs, Cynic-like riff crawls, nor nasal croon vanishes for long—even against the near-true breakdown of “Thief of Joy”— still weaving a modern and uniquely Exist path throughout this more aggressive landscape. Phelps can’t stray away from belting a forlorn chorus call or high vibration bridge, but his vocal qualities there, and too in his diverse harsh palette, continue to grow more pleasant and ferocious with each outing.

The cost of the burgeoning intensity throughout Hijacking the Zeitgeist, unfortunately, rests in a djentrification of tone. A scooped and compressed guitar attack isn’t necessarily offensive on its own, of course. Many bands in the 00s likes Textures or SikTh found a happy medium in their chunky but bright-chord and bass-infested expressions. The path that Sastry takes mirrors that more of the rhythm-focused bounce boost that he pushed with the WAIT record, which consequently is very modern djent. Despite the low dynamics, no moments of the album ever come across as painfully loud, with Weber’s bass in particular retaining it’s nasally clang. And to work around some of the dynamic issues, songs with longer stretches of clean strumming (“Hijacking the Zeitgest,” “Window to the All”) never allow those passages to bleed over distorted tones using focus as a substitute for layering.

This new fit takes some getting used to, and on my initial spins, I had to fight my resistance to change. But once I let the massive grooves that Hijacking the Zeitgeist has to offer take control of my head, it’s hill-climbing energy revealed itself in spades. The truth is that Exist knows exactly what they’re doing and that they can make this new, groove-focused sound work just as well as their previous work is testament to their abilities. Free of any fat, Hacking the Zeitgeist’s presents few issues beyond its lower dynamic master to having a good time. It’s rare to see a progressive band re-galvanize a waning march—Fates Warning’s Darkness in a Different Light comes to mind—but Exist wears it as naturally as a band who’s slammed from the start. And if they can find a way to marry their more spacious past with their low-frills present, who knows what the future holds.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 5 | Format Reviewed: 256 kbps mp3
Label: Prosthetic Records | Bandcamp
Websites: exist.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/exist
Releases Worldwide: April 12th, 2024

#2024 #35 #Alluvial #AmericanMetal #Apr24 #Cynic #DeathMetal #Exist #FatesWarning #HijackingTheZeitgeist #LawOfIncreasingHippietude #Meshuggah #Obscura #ProgressiveDeathMetal #ProgressiveGrooveMetal #ProgressiveMetal #ProstheticRecords #Review #Reviews #SikTh #Svengahli #Textures #TheContortionist #WAIT