Mattowarrior's Metal Madness

Evestus is an Electronic/Industrial/Rock Band from Estonia who has just released their new EP, Post 18 Depression. I found them to be an intriguing example of a modern band playing a classic sound that exudes atmosphere, attitude, and angst. Here is my recent interview with mainman Ott Evestus, covering a variety of topics: How/When did Evestus start? What was the original impetus for the project? I used to play drums in a few bands and then do vocals in a metal band for some years until I started experimenting with computer music. My first album came out in 2005 called “Destiny In Life” and it's absolutely horrible glitchcore/samplecore experimental piece of work mainly consisting of samples from movies and cartoons.. I decided to call this project after my last name which is Evestus and .. well.. despite this horrible creation I got signed to Canadas Dtrash records and just kept going. I've come quite along way since then haha! Who are your influenc...

“Battered and Blue”, the new song by IDEK, has appeared, and it definitely represents an evolution in their sound. The band has been reviewed on these pages before, and it’s remarkable how much they’ve evolved in a few short years, if this song is any indication.  The song starts out with some soft, somewhat dissonant guitars and goes to a heavier, somewhat odd timed flourish that almost reminds me of current Prog-Metal superstars such as Leprous.  I found the vocals much to my liking, for some reason, the singing (the normal melodious singing that is) reminded me of singers such as Voivod’s Denis Bélanger, which, being a big Voivod fan as I am, is a welcome treat.  The song continues with the surreal sense of foreboding, with some extreme vocals in the background (though done in a very way, not too overpowering). The song also features a cool midsection with some jazzy instrumentation with horns continuing the winding melody from the rest of the song....

Lana Laws in her bio, describes herself as: " A transgender multi-instrumentalist and innovator, Lana Laws has gone from relative obscurity to national identity in only a few short years. The creative mind behind progressive metal project, ‘Kalasin’, Lana uses her talents for singing, keyboards, guitar, and bass to create symphonic metal compositions that flow with definitive grandeur.  " So does the music live up to the hype? Let's find out for ourselves! The first song, "The Chasing of Perfidious Mists" reminded me of bands ranging from Stratovarius to  Reinxeed or Sonata Arctica to the mighty X Japan, if only for the regal piano melodies that become more prevalent later in the song. I noticed early on that this is a (mostly) instrumental project, which to some may not seem appealing, but being a musician myself and someone into instrumental projects/songs, I definitely can appreciate.  The second song is "The Mutilation of Heritage...

Warmask is an upcoming act from Baltimore, Maryland who states they are influenced by bands ranging from Motorhead, Black Sabbath, and The Melvins, to Corrosion Of Conformity, and Clutch, and more.  Including musicians like bassist Louis Strachan from the legendary Doom Metallers Iron Man, their new self-titled EP has just been released in February. The album begins with the ultra heavy “The Art of Hypocrisy”, sounding almost indeed something like if Motorhead, Clutch, and Black Sabbath collaborated on a song.  The riff’s Children of the Grave like feel propels the song to a grungy climax, complete with wah solos. The vocals are an interesting aspect of the band, as others have said, the first thing I thought was Ian Astbury of the cult meets maybe King Buzzo.  I’ve got to admit the rougher strains of the voice may be done a bit more convincing than the crooning parts, which mysteriously don’t really appear on the rest of the album (would've been interest...