We'll Do It Live Fridays: Scale The Collective



Will it surprise you that I'm choosing another prog band for my WDILF post today?  I didn't think so.  But with this band coming out with what may surely make many year end lists this Tuesday, I thought it would only be appropriate to give them their WDILF debut.  Find out who it is after the break!

Review: Darkest Hour - The Human Romance

There is an incessant trend on the part of metalheads worldwide that demands an obsessive amount of praise for albums deemed to be classic or masterful. The same goes for the bands that consistently produce those sort of records. There's nothing wrong with this, of course. And there's no need to conjure up an issue where there isn't one. But what gets lost in all the celebratory masturbation over the most recent Enslaved or Baroness albums are the consistently strong releases from the likes of Darkest Hour.

Read the rest of the review after the break.

BTBAM And Metal Blade - Finally Is Right

So I was greeted this morning with the third installment (which now justifies it as a trilogy in my eyes) of Between the Buried and Me's "Soon" series.  This third one is without a doubt the most useless of them all.  BTBAM fully acknowledged this by saying on their facebook, "Man you folks are really gonna hate us now."


However, they also dropped a much bigger bomb this afternoon.  Check out to see what it is after the break.

Exclusive Interview: Times Of Grace

It was with great pleasure that I was able to sit down and chat with Jesse Leach of Times of Grace this past weekend when they came through the Bottom Lounge in Chicago. We discussed everything from the origin of Times of Grace to what they see happening in the future. Jesse is a great guy and seems to be having the time of his life on this tour.  He also delivered tenfold during their performance.  The dude has some pipes.



I also posted a few pics and a short video compilation of their show in Chicago.  Check them out after the break.

We'll Do It Live Fridays: Seabeast-Mode

Long time, no speak my friends. A variety of factors, chief of which being laziness, have prevented me from posting much recently, but I'm taking Mick's stead for this week's WDILF and forcing myself back into the fold. You can expect two reviews from me in the next week; Mitochodrion's Parasignosis and Darkest Hour's The Human Romance. So look forward to that, cause both albums are at the very least worth quite a few listens.

Click through the break to view this week's live video selection!

It's All About The Concept

While looking through the headlines over at RoadRunner's site I ran across something very interesting.  Too much does internet chat consist of popular arguments like I hate this band, I hate that genre, or just plain trolling.  Much to my rejoice, I found a discussion featuring Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree that goes over the concept of concept albums.  Finally we have some intelligent discussions to listen to!  The chat doesn't start until about 12:05 in the player.  You can listen to it via Roadrunner.

-Mick

Darkest Hour Savors The Kill (In Music Video Form This Time)

It's official that Darkest Hour are indeed savoring the kill (i'll be signing autographs later for that one). Being the first track from their upcoming February 22 release of The Human Romance that they officially released, they have now also released a music video for it.  Let me just say that it's worth every second of watching.  You can find the video here at artistdirect.

-Mick

New Human Abstract + New Scale The Summit + Full Darkest Hour Album Stream = Too Much To Handle In One Day

Like seriously people, I can't take this constant barrage of epicness.  I've said on numerous occassions, like many others, that 2011 will be an insane year for new releases.  If you don't believe me, read after the break and see what just came out today that surely predicts epicness in your listening future.

Full Trivium Concert Here!

I've had this idea for a while but just recently got the motivation to actually follow through with it.  You can now listen to a full Trivium concert via our youtube channel.  The concert was part of their previous Into The Mouth Of Hell We Tour leg of North America.  This specific show took place on 11/17/09 at the Chicago House Of Blues which yours truly was present at and thoroughly enjoyed.  This concert marked the first time I ever heard their new drummer, Nick Augusto, play live with them and let me just say their live performance has gotten 100% better because of him.  While everybody is getting excited for certain releases coming up in 2011, you can be assured that Trivium's is one that I've got my eyes on.  I thought it would be appropriate to provide something to motivate you guys to be excited about it as well.  Enjoy.

-Mick

Amon Amarth Announce Pillaging of North America

And so it is that your favorite viking metallers in Amon Amarth have officially announced their upcoming 2011 U.S. headlining tour.  Who will be opening for them, you ask?  The answer to that is nobody.  Get ready for "An Evening with Amon Amarth."  The band will be playing two different sets in each show, one being them playing their upcoming March 29th release of Surtur Rising in its entirety.  In a Metal Blade news release, drummer Fredrik Andersson elaborated: "We're really excited about the upcoming album, Surtur Rising. And what better way to showcase it by playing the full album on our first U.S. tour for Surtur Rising?! It's definitely a unique opportunity for our fans because not only will the album be performed live but a second set with material from our previous albums will take place. We want our fans to really experience AMON AMARTH."

Check out dates for the tour after the break.

We'll Do It Live Fridays: Machine Mayhem

 

Being so caught up in what has been dubbed the "snowpocalypse" here in the midwest over the past few days, I totally forgot to throw up my WDILF post.  But don't be worried.  As they say, it's better late than never.  This week's WDILF post involves a band I'm very excited will be featured on this year's upcoming Mayhem Festival.  Check to see who it is after the break.

Did I Mention There's A Bunch Of New Stuff To Be Looking Forward To?!

Soooo much new music!



So if I haven't made it clear to any of you yet how much new music there is to look forward to in 2011, this should make my point crystal clear.  Three bands of note have released new tracks that make me super excited to get their new albums that are all coming out fairly soon.  See who I'm talking about after the break.

Blashyrkh is Upon Us

So in case you're not up with the weather or news... the Midwest is getting hammered by an epic blizzard right now. Media outlets are treating it like Armageddon, but it is pretty intense. And when storms like this occur, there's only one thing to do (besides watching Blackhawks hockey); Listen to fucking Immortal.



- Jack