We'll Do it Live Fridays: Escaping the Misery that is a Heat Championship

I mean, seriously, fuck the Miami Heat.  I hate them more than I've ever irrationally hated a sports team before; the whining, the bitching, the winning... it just all got to me.  So in order to not hate life, I set about trying to find some live jams to make me realize that everything's going to be ok.  This is a realization that only the cold light of day can bring; Mick will attest that twelve hours ago I wanted to throw up R.E.M.'s "Everybody Hurts" and call it a day... but no.  I won't let LeBron flatten my psyche like he flattened Manu's (seriously, what the FUCK was that guy doing?!?!), so here's a pair of rocking live performances to fire you up and make you remember that life isn't always depressing... even when a balding asshole is the NBA Finals MVP.

Skinny Jeans and Blast Beats

Let’s play a quick game.  It won’t take long, and it won’t be hard.  Here’s how it will work: I’m going to ask you a question, you think of the answer, and then we see if you’re right or not.  Sounds fun, right?  Let’s give it a whirl.  Who won the World Series in 1984? Did you say the Detroit Tigers?  If you did, you were right.  Here’s another one, just for kicks: Which came first, Blackwater Park or Leviathan?  Blackwater Park you say? My, you’re good at this.  Ok, enough practicing, let’s break out the real deal.  What’s a name for a sub sect of society that is pretentious, overbearing, and spiteful toward those who think differently about pop culture than they, dresses in a manner deemed to be “weird” to the mainstream, and often views music, movies, et al in terms of absolutes rather than subjectively?  Cue the “Jeopardy” theme… ok.  Got your answers?  Raise your hand if you said “hipsters.”  Well that’s cute, and somewhat accurate, but it’s not what I was going for.

Oh Boy, There's a New Gojira Track......Let the Headbanging Commence

So let's first rejoice in the fact that we now have a brand new Gojira track to viciously headbang to.  Secondly, let's rejoice even more that Devin Townsend and Fredrik Thordendal (Meshuggah guitarist) are guests on it.  This track will be featured on Gojira's upcoming ep, Sea Sheperd, which still has yet to receive an official release date.  The benefits of that ep will go entirely towards an anti-whaling organization named Sea Sheperd.

-Mick

The Heir(s) to the Meshuggah Throne?

Following the Devin Townsend Project show in Chicago the other evening (which took place following our interview with Devin that you can find below and at our YouTube channel), I came away with two immediate thoughts; 1) no one in this entire universe is on the same wavelength, musically or mentally, as Mr. Townsend, and 2) TesseracT is a band everyone should watch the balls out for.

Srsly. These guys pwn.

 While The DTP undeniably killed it at Lincoln Hall, TesseracT left many people in the crowd visibly impressed. My first experience of their unique mixture of clean, melodious vocals, unconventional song structures and poly-rhythmic chug-a-lugs was overwhelmingly positive. I spoke to other attendees who also voiced a similar sentiment. And... wait a second... that sounds a whole hell of a lot like a description of Periphery (as pointed out by TesseracT's very own Acle Kahney)! MetalSucks (terrorist fist jab to those guys) and many other metal blogs have helped popularize the term "djent" to describe the sound of bands inspired by Meshuggah, the pioneers of all things heavy + extremely challenging in terms of music theory. Conincientally, djent was actually coined by Periphery's own Misha "Bulb" Mansoor. TesseracT and Periphery, along with a handful of other metal acts such as Monuments or even Animals as Leaders, combine the heaviness and creativeness of Meshuggah with new elements of their own. These guys have taken the ball and run with it in terms of djent, and are fortunately garnering a great deal much deserved press.

Meshuggah is by no means close to their end (as far as we know) despite numerous bumps in the road. But I doubt (and essentially know for a fact) that we here at the 'Topia are not alone in thinking that Periphery and TesseracT together are poised to assume the reigns from Meshuggah in terms of groove based metal with arduously crafted rhythms and the catchiest fucking headbanging passages one could ever ask for. Watch out for TesseracT (who are heading to India in December and should be back to tour Europe and the Americas following the drop of their debut full length entitled One in 2011) and Periphery (who are currently out on tour with Darkest Hour and native Chi-townians Veil of Maya). The future of djent depends on them. /Luke Skywalker joke

- Jack Attack