Corelia - Nostalgia (2011)

It's somewhat rare for things as cool as this to come out; things, if you're like me, in the line of any Sikth release, Floating World, Nightmares of the Ocean, "Froggin' Bullfrogs," , Dementia/Dyslexia, Scurrilous, etc. Things where every single one of its parts comes together in absolutely awesome ways; but before I draw this out too much, I'll stop here. Give this a listen if you love quick and absolutely nasty riffs and smooooth guitar tones ala Haunted Shores, wonderfully varied vocals from a guy whose voice really does go "up like an angel and down like a wounded ox," and some surprisingly compelling drums (think Bulb's programmed drums in his demos, but better).

Note: Take this to your graaa aaa aaa AAA AAAAAVEEEEEE

@V0

First Signs of Frost - Atlantic (2009)

I discovered this band right around the time Atlantic was released back in late '09, and I was absolutely blown away by it from the start. Another band that's got it all: top notch vocals, riffs, basslines, and drumming. I suppose I could liken them to Saosin meets heavier riffs and better vocals (or old, Translating the Name-era Saosin meets precision), but that doesn't quite do them justice. If you're ever in the mood for something to bob your head to that doesn't overstep its self-set pretentions (whatever that means), these guys'll give you the fix you're probably looking for.

Betcha' probably knew: If any of you djent/Meshuggah guys think this vocalist sounds familiar, this is the band Dan Tompkins left behind to join Tesseract.

@V2

Periphery - Periphery (2010)

4/22 - I just got the deluxe double-disc edition of this album in my mailbox and in my hurry to upload both of its versions (mostly for close friends, for now) I've neglected to write a proper blurb for it. Rest assured patrons: I'll remedy my negligence as soon as finals week is over.

Note: Got the idea to "invert" the cover art because the instrumental disc has the inverted colors on it. Unfortunately, this was after I uploaded the album. If you want in on my INGENIOUSNESS, this link may help you.

(Removed. Sorry guys.)

Periphery - HBG4

(Because the word "final" doesn't mean what it used to.)

Bulb's got a side that borders on being labeled as "elevator music," but he nonetheless has the ability to make music even as mundane-sounding as that interesting. --Now, don't get me wrong, I wouldn't put my (very) dear patrons through any prolix something, but I do warn those with an especial affinity for the throat as an instrument to tread cautiously when pointing 'yer clickers at the download links at the bottom of this post--you may not find much to like this time.

. . . and with that said, here lie some of Bulb's coolest ideas to date, gathered in two tidy packages that teeter on the line between "fuck" and weird, in that order, for a good hour and fifty-five minutes. I hope you brought your spacesuit.

Note: HBG4 is Giants in Junon--To B-Sides and Back is just something I threw together as a kind of "Hey, here's what else Bulb likes to do!" kind of thing, and as such, it's a separate download. There's some fairly cool electronic babble-y stuff mixed in, including the near-infamous Michael Jackson cover "Black or White."

Note 2: I gave this one a "serious" (and slyly alliterative) name because I wasn't kidding when I said it contains some of Bulb's coolest ideas--certainly his most melodic, experimental, surreal, and, uh, referential. Plus, I got around to including "Racecar Updated Part 2" for once in my life. Please, kill me later.

2010 - Homemade Bromosexual Goodness 4: Giants in Junon @Avg. 139

2010 - Homemade Bromosexual Goodness 4: To B-Sides and Back @Avg. 177

Previous HBGs can be found here.

Benea Reach - Discography (2007-2008)

Warning: This blurb is ninety percent Alleviat. It's also my most review-like. Don't worry, I'm clamoring for air as well.

A friend on Last.FM avidly recommended Benea Reach to me right around the time Alleviat came out. I gave both that album and Monument Bioneothan a spin, and afterwards very nearly forget about the band entirely. Since then, I've had them at the edge of my tongue, sub-consciously knowing that something special could, if dug deep enough, be found in their music. Now, having my memory jogged only this week, I've once again set out to hear what all the fuss was, and still is, about.

. . . and here I am, making a point of writing this while I listen, being utterly annihilated. Never in my life have I ever heard anything as completely sonically crushing as the entirety of Alleviat. I'm so taciturn that I can't even begin to imagine what I was thinking when I first heard it, or how this band slipped right through my mind without an ounce of protest. Benea work their magic by lulling you to repose and keeping you there with near-despondent brutality woven with haunting leisure; and though each song may seem thick at first, they quickly form a more whole identity with every subsequent listen.

Though both albums are cuts from the same species, Monument Bineothan is, however, a slightly different beast. It was before Benea perfected their atmosphere and Ilkka, their frontman, discovered what a god as a vocalist would sound like, though he was well on his way; the riffs weren't as full-sounding and uproariously uplifting as they are on the newer Alleviat, nor as catchy.--But to assert Monument's not being a major stepping stone in this band's career, or one of 2007's gems, would be a mistake--their acute originality can be seen in either era.

For fans of Meshuggah, Swallow the Sun, or anything that sounds like it was specifically recorded to bring about the apocalypse.

Note: My setups are usually somewhat EQ'd, but no one could or would deny Alleviat's absolutely immaculate production. The sound of it alone can get you pumped like no "FUCKING DEATHCORE" ultimate workout playlist could ever dream of doing. I'm out of breath just listening.

2007 - Monument Bineothan @V0: Part 1 & Part 2
2008 - Alleviat @V0: Part 1 & Part 2

Textures - Discography (2004-2008)

7/2009 - Drawing Circles is one of those albums that waddles along, unsuspectingly, grows in size until it eclipses the sun, trips over an overpass as it takes its first steps, and crushes every bone in your body as it mutters an "ow" or an "oops." It's the bastard son of Devin Townsend and Meshuggah after a long night of hard liquor and being lost in some long-forgotten desert. If "technical metal" or "progressive metal of the non-wanky kind" sounds yummy, pour this album in some Tupperware and dig in.

2/2010 - Because I hate the old blurb I wrote for Drawing Circles, and because that album isn't this band's only great opus, I've decided to delete the old post and re-post the whole damn discography seven months later.

Textures was probably the first band I got into that sounded like Meshuggah, but wasn't Meshuggah. As cold and mechanical as their debut, Polars, is, it's still somehow warmer than the bloodcurdling clockwork that is Contradictions Collapse through obZen. It definitely has something to do with Eric Kalsbeek, a man who, languid in voice and vehement in harsher-than-voice, tames the wild poly-rhythms around him with his effortless talents; or, it could be the drummer, Stef Broks, and his ability to not only play in pre-prepared Fibonacci spirals, but also add tons of syncopation, which, in a way, kind of gives a soul to the entire band. Broks doesn't make a huge habit of using rolling double-bass patterns, so when he does utilize them, it gets the point across really fucking well.

Note: The production and general sound of this band gets warmer with each album, so the middle-man, Drawing Circles, is probably the best place to start for newcomers.

2004 - Polars @V0: Part 1 & Part 2
2006 - Drawing Circles @V0: Part 1 & Part 2

2008 - Silhouettes @V0: Part 1 & Part 2

A Life Once Lost - A Great Artist (2003)

If you've followed this blog at all, you've probably already noticed that I get a hard-on for Meshuggah and any band that sounds anything like them. To make my penis grow even more, I plan on posting three "Meshuggah-worship" albums, the first of which can already be found in the July '09 post featuring Textures' Drawing Circles (now here). I'll leave the second right here.

I could say that A Great Artist is even more primal than the 'Shuggah-est of 'Shuggah, but I'd probably get mauled for libel. It's certainly up there, though, with a vocalist that sounds exactly like Jens Kidman and riffs that come straight out of Nothing; and though this album isn't as exorbitantly inhumane sounding as anything by Meshuggah, that essential brutality overunning most of Mesh's catalog can be found in droves here. There's undoubtedly a -core edge, but that only makes it cooler than As I Lay Dying.

@V2

Red Fall - Para Los Muertos (2009)

Had Between the Buried and Me gone in a slightly less gay direction after Alaska, we might have had Para Los Muertos a few years earlier. Now, while these guys are quite a bit more focused on being downright technical, they retain those weird, almost uplifting climaxes that BtBaM likes to randomly sprinkle over their music. Add to that metal's new obsession with Meshuggah and a fucking killer variety of vocals, and you've got yourself one of the best EPs of last year.

A fella' named Elnimio over at RYM also compared Para Los Muertos to Necrophagist and All Shall Perish. Yeah, I can hear it.

@V0

No Consequence - In the Shadow of Gods (2009)

This band has been touted in the same breaths as Born of Osiris and Veil of Maya, taking the poly-rhythmic groove-'Shuggahisms (Shahjizzgasms?) of the latter and infusing them with the weird note-suspending pzazz of the the former, but I'd like to instead compare them to The Arusha Accord, because that's what I do, apparently. They're Arusha's slower, groovier cousin, whilst also kind of having the same emphasis on desperate and not-so-desperate vocals.

For fans of the three aforementioned bands, Meshuggah, Sikth, and every band any of them have ever influenced.

Note: Judging from RYM reviews and Last.FM comments, a lot of people aren't too keen on this band's vocals, which I guess I can kind of understand. If you have an especial ear for--like I mentioned up there in the main paragraph--desperate vocals, you'll hopefully find something to like here.

@V2

Myotonia - Myotonia (2007)

If The Arusha Accord's Nightmares of the Ocean was at the Sikth+The Dillinger Escape Plan end of the "fuck me" spectrum, then Myotonia would be at the DEP+Meshuggah end, or, in other words, the "I want to dance and headbang at the same time because this is so fucking groovy and heavy!" end.

I'd advise against jamming to this in your car because it directs all your attention directly to everything but the road as soon as it begins.

@V0

Periphery - You decide.

Since I haven't posted anything in a while, and to celebrate the signing of my second favorite band, Periphery, to Sumerian Records, I thought this could be the only logical next post I could possibly make, ever. Anyone who likes them already knows (or should know) that they've got over a hundred demos, mostly due to their main guitarist, "Bulb," and his ability to soldier on for weeks-on-end doing nothing but writing neck-breaking riffs and programming killer drum tracks, all without a wink of sleep. Think of these two mixes as Best Ofs, made from those demos, for a band that hasn't released anything yet.

Imagine Nothing era Meshuggah, but then picture them as young, energetic, twenty-something humans. Periph sounds a little bit like that.

Note: Mix 1 spans the band's entire career and focuses on the tracks they took the time to record vocals for. Mix 2 is the in-between, instrumental kickassery we all know and love.

Note 2: No, 3 is not a mix I made after making this post, and it's definitely not just a mix of 1 and 2 with some extras added in because I'm an idiot and didn't think to mix the two until now. No, it's not an hour and nineteen minutes long, and it will not rock the ever-loving fuck out of your car. Also, I don't apologize to the three people that downloaded 1 and 2.

2009 - Homemade Bromosexual Goodness @Avg. 168
2009 - Homemade Bromosexual Goodness 2 @Avg. 136
2009 - Homemade Bromosexual Goodness 3: Final @Avg. 142

2010 - Homemade Bromosexual Goodness 4 @This post

Cloudkicker - Discography

Ben Sharp, presumably a metalhead fella' from Ohio, set out to (again, presumably) create something remarkable with a project we now know as Cloudkicker. While he didn't quite set the bar as high as he might have hoped, mother of God, did he mock-up one hell of an effort, or two. Few bands (and even fewer one-mans) have been able to capture the atmosphere and matching intensity present here. Meshuggah-isms and repetition are the name of the game. Couple that with some borderline post-rock/metal leanings and you've got a recipe for a potentially kickass band with too many killer riffs for its own good. No, I didn't forget to add hyberbole.

Did I mention he offers his music for free?

“It costs me absolutely nothing to create the music. Zero dollars. I record all the guitars and bass straight into my laptop and program the drums using this one sequencing program, then I mix and master everything myself. The only thing that costs money are guitar strings, but I have a full-time job so it’s no big deal.”
– Ben Sharp, (Musical Awareness on Cloudkicker)

Commend him, dear patrons. My conscience is clear for now.

The Discovery (2008) and The Map is Not the Territory (2009) @V0 & FLAC