Dreadnought - The Endless

While crafting a sound that leverages the heavy-hitting aspects of doom metal with the forward thinking nature of progressive metal is no easy task, Denver's Dreadnought has managed to accomplish this in rather impressive fashion over the past nine years and four albums. With that much material under their belt, I felt fairly certain of what to expect for their upcoming fifth album, The Endless. You know what they say about assumptions, though. Indeed, what an ass I was for thinking the band would try to re-hash already tried formulas for their latest venture. The Endless showcases Dreadnought in a different light; one that, while not totally unsurprising, leans more into the subdued and tranquil facets of the band's repertoire.

Dreadnought - Emergence

 

When I was lucky enough to interview the entirety of Denver progressive-doom outfit Dreadnought last July, there was one sentiment in particular that continued to stick with me. It's perhaps the closest thing I've ever heard a band personally divulge in an interview that best embodied the often blanket descriptor of "progressive." They operate under the ethos of "best sound wins." The label of the music is arbitrary as long as it vibes well with all of the members. After hearing doom guitars along with saxophones, flutes, keys, and clean vocals mixed with black metal shrieks, one can't deny that the band doesn't walk the walk in terms of owning this ideology. But the bar was set high with the band's prior release. 2017's A Wake in Sacred Waves intertwined the aforementioned stylings with melodic hooks that kept the experience as catchy as it was mesmerizing. Whenever a band releases what feels like their opus, however, one can't help but immediately wonder what the next step is going to be for them. The next step for Dreadnought is Emergence, an album that sees the band evolve their craft by letting all of their core-elements loose in a free-flowing expansion.

Exclusive Interview - Will Smith (Artificial Brain)

photo credit : Invisible Oranges

 Arriving in Philadelphia for the Decibel Metal and Beer Fest on Saturday afternoon, I sought out Artificial Brain vocalist and all around great guy Will Smith to talk about the band's brand new album, Infrared Horizon, the untimely passing of FDNY firefighter and drummer of Internal Bleeding; Bill Tolley, and the death metal scene as a whole.

SubRosa - For This We Fought The Battle of Ages

In my experience, metal of the doom variety has more often than not boasted thunderous walls of guitar and drum rhythms that are so excruciatingly drawn out and slowed down over the course of an album that "serene" is the last descriptor that would immediately come to mind. Cue in SubRosa, a band that I happened to stumble across three years ago with the release of their last album, More Constant Than the Gods. Through harnessing the harmonious vocals of Rebecca Vernon along with layered violin work, I was blown away by how they incorporated these elements with the aforementioned doom metal tendencies. The result is a sound that can be as morose as it is blissfully uplifting. Despite the heavier aspects of SubRosa's sound taking the heft of the experimentation on For This We Fought the Battle of Ages, the spirit of this placid sound is still very much carried on in in their latest effort.

Gevurah - Hallelujah!

"Atmospheric" is the variety of black metal that I tend to enjoy most. "Regular" black metal, while I certainly appreciate its history and evolution, has admittedly never been something I would consider a part of my wheelhouse. Perhaps it's been so instilled in me that black metal, at its core, HAS to be comprised of lo-quality instrumental recordings and shrieking, throaty vocal screams that anything else that ventures too far outside that box would come across as illegitimate. Lo and behold, it took just one listen of Canadian black metal duo Gevurah's full-length debut, Hallelujah!, for me to realize how ridiculous a preconceived notion that really was. By reinforcing black metal tenets with immense amounts of energy and volume, Gevurah has made an indelible entrance into the metal limelight, one that is easily among this year's most memorable so far.

Cobalt - Slow Forever

The seven year gap between Cobalt's landmark Gin and newest album Slow Forever have certainly seen some interesting times for the band.  Scratch that; the first six years were pretty solid, normal years, including a tour and appearance at Maryland Deathfest 2013, but this past year... whew, it's been a doozy.  Vocalist and founding member Phil McSorley quit the band last year, giving instrumental wizard Erik Wunder his blessing to continue using the moniker, before returning to the fold, announcing the recording of a new album, and then being kicked out for... well, generally being a dick.  Wunder continued on, announced the title of the album as Slow Forever, and brought in Charlie Fell (ex-Lord Mantis, ex-Nachtmystium) to provide vocals.  Fell is no stranger to controversy himself, having had to defend the cover and some lyrics of Lord Mantis' (pretty great) album Death Mask.  I could honestly dive into further detail and opinion and soapbox grandstanding about any and all of these topics, save for the facts that 1) I really don't want to deal in drama, lest I become known as the Perez Hilton of metal, and 2) THERE'S A NEW FUCKING COBALT ALBUM OUT, AND WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT THAT!!!

Exclusive Interview - Brett Campbell (Pallbearer)

This past Thursday in Chicago, I made my way down to Subterranean on a solo mission to interview one Brett Campbell from the critically acclaimed Pallbearer.  The band was playing a sold out headlining show with Solstafir and Mortals as opening support.  It should go without saying that the concert itself was amazing in every sense of the word.  The interview also happened to turn out really well.  Despite the comedy of everything that was happening around us, we went deep into the essence of Pallbearer's sound and other fun topics.

Be sure to check out the interview after the break!

Pallbearer Releases New Track: "The Ghost I Used To Be"

Just a few days ago on Tuesday, via NPR, we got our first listen in on Foundations of Burden, the upcoming release from Arkansas doom metal outfit Pallbearer. Entitled "The Ghost I Used To Be," the newly debuted single picks up right where 2012's Sorrow and Extinction left off; subjecting listeners to riffs that are crushing, haunting, and beautiful all at the same time.

Take our word for it...you need to listen to this track. You can listen to the track (via Soundcloud) and read Jack and Durf's comments about it after the break.