New Listening: Periphery, Lost In Pain, Luna, Desolate Shrine

The beauty of the dawning of a brand new year is the renewal of the never-ending challenge of sinking your teeth (ears?) in as much new music as possible.  Thus far, 2015 seems to have been very generous in satiating our needs towards this end.  In this roundup of new tunes I'm stumbled across, there are four entries that cover the spectrum of blackened death metal, djent, old school, and instrumental funeral doom.  These entries are formatted to be short and sweet; even calling them mini-reviews might be a stretch.

Check it out after the break!

EPs from 2014 Worth Checking Out

Laziness is something that's too often easy to give in to, especially when it comes to writing reviews.  In an effort to rectify the late dry spell I've had with said reviews, I figured it would be worthwhile to list out some EPs that have been released this year that are more than worth your time to check out. 

Check out the five selections I have for you all after the break!

Music Video Mania: October 4, 2013

Since I'm still in catch up mode, in terms of music videos, I've got another batch of three videos to present. 

Summer Slaughter: From WTF to HOLY SHIT in a matter of a couple years

First of all, HEY THERE. If you don’t already know who I am, my name is “Angela”, and I enjoy the metal. I used to write for a few websites such as Reign In Blonde and MetalSucks. I also have been known to get blackout and make an ass of myself. Fuck you, don’t judge me. ANYWAY, Brutalitopia has graciously invited me to come and make a mockery of all things metal on their website, and I couldn’t be more excited to upset all of you. With that said….let’s get to it, bitches.

Scale The Summit Announces Upcoming Tour With Periphery!

Your favorite Houston based instrumental band, Scale The Summit, has just announced a tour this coming spring with Periphery and Fair To Midland! It's been a little too long since we've heard anything from these guys so I'm glad that the first thing we do hear back from them is about tour dates.  Dates can be found below after the break.

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