Mattowarrior's Metal Madness

Power Metal is a hard subgenre to keep fresh nowadays.  Often it either suffer from too many surrendering to modern metal trappings and will subsequently lose or muddle it's identity, (especially in modern times, where there is an often over emphasis on very sterile, overly-quantized production), it can reek of cliches, samey sounding songs, and a general lack of imagination can make it a challenge to keep original.  Mike LePond's Silent Assassins are a newer Power Metal project, with their first album released in 2014, and their new album, "Pawn and Prophecy", released earlier this year. As their press release describes: “Mike LePond's Silent Assassins is pure Classic Metal with lyrics based on Mythology, Literature and History from Symphony X bassist, Mike LePond and friends. Sound has been compared to Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Manowar, Black Sabbath, Blind Guardian, White Wizard. Mike LePond's Silent Assassins, an onslaught ...

Rock Music is known to be in a state of flux nowadays. With declining album sales, and an almost daily article written by music writers proclaiming how Hip Hop has overtaken Rock's mantle as the youth's music, make it seem like it's become a bygone era.  However, looking at ticket sales and the still vibrant attendance of rock concerts, it seems like it never went away. It also can be said that Rock has become a legacy music, much like Jazz.  Jazz festivals still happen, musicians release albums, but it's not on the mainstream radar.  At the same time, it can be said that innovation isn't happening in much of the rock world, not to mention metal world. Bands recycle older styles and are influenced by bands 10, 20, 30, and 40 years old. My own music is no exception. However, this isn't always a bad thing if done well and with a passion that transcends it. Rock has little to do that it hasn't done before, even if novelty sub-genres like Death...

Between The Void are a UK based rock band who states in their bio that:   "We come from a diverse set of musical backgrounds and the tastes of each member help to create a unique sound. Our aim is to blend our favourite elements of metal, funk, blues rock, grunge, punk, dub and post-hardcore to make the kind of music that we would want to listen to".   So how does this translate to actual music? Let's find out.  The album starts out with "White Gold", a modern hard rock sounding moody song that features the well-worn modern dynamic of heavy choruses and softer verses.  It's hard to pinpoint exactly who Between The Void sounds like, and I guess that's a benefit, though it's kind of an amalgamation of various modern (well, post 1995 anyway) Rock and Hard Rock sounds.   The occasional odd timings are refreshing as well as some of the dynamics, though I will say it's hard to latch on to how it all comes together.   "New Republic...

I'm not going to let the antics of a replacement guitarist influence the enjoyment of one of my favorite bands! 

Vessel Decimal is a band who right out of the gate calls their music a “program”, in the first track Orientation. It's almost as if we're joining a movement, or perhaps a cult as we start absorbing their music.  They are an interesting project that definitely has industrial rock and metal overtones, and as their biography on their website states: “ Today, the bulk of the work done for Vessel Decimal takes place in the main studio which is actually centered inside a junkyard purchased in 2001. The junkyard serves as a dependable revenue source to fund projects, and its a fairly healthy lifestyle maintaining the property and pulling parts off rusted old cars for enthusiasts and collectors that sometimes travel from three states over to find what they are looking for". Their newest album, Conversion, also according to their site, is what is being planned as a “three stage” album done one album at time. Glancing upon the lyrics provided with the album, thi...

Major Moment is a band who, in their bio, proclaims at being influenced by bands like Linkin Park, Nine Inch Nails, and 30 Seconds to Mars. Some of these influences may be present in very subtle ways in their music, but they are definitely hinting at something different on their new E.P., One Small Step.  Major Moment are a band that has an intangible quality with quickly shifting melodies that are haunting in their execution. The first thing I thought was of all things, upon hearing the first track on the E.P., was The Alan Parsons Project's song "Time", a soft and haunting ballad- the first song on One Small Step is not a ballad, but the melodies do envelop you like a ballad would. I am reminded of bands like Anathema with the orchestral feeling and longing that comes about when listening to this. The first song after the intro, "Before It's Too Late" starts out with a wash of keyboards, and any follower of this blog knows I'm a sucker for a...

Third and Delaware is a Metalcore influenced modern metal act who just came out with their new E.P., Generations. The album features 5 songs, starting with "Innocent By Association",which features some cool atmospheric keyboards. Other highlights include the song "Roads in Antarctica", which features clean sections alternating between the breakdown metal sections. Like many modern metal artists, the band alternates between the Metalcore scream and a cleaner vocal sound, featuring the melodious sections and hooks. Like a lot of other bands in the field, it also does not betray many of the modern Metalcore's recalling of 90's Gothenburg Metal bands like In Flames and Dark Tranquility.  However, this band only uses scant parts discarded from those influences, after all that movement happened over 20 years. The first thing I found myself thinking is that, we've been here before.  Some of the melodic ideas appealed to me, and the cle...