Mattowarrior's Metal Madness

Critical Assembly is a band with an eclectic palette of influences in metal. Ranging from thrash to Melodeath, and even some Metalcore and Blackened Death Metal perhaps, they seem to draw from a unique well. Their new Self-titled EP is being released on 3/6/2020 and is a full demonstration of this breadth. The first song, "17 Months", has this plethora of influences located in it's textures for sure. Featuring growls, barks, and some unique clean vocals that almost remind me of Serj Tankian a bit in it's delivey, it's a cool song that goes different places. The second song, Moonwalk Backflip, starts out much more like the denizens that have called bands like At The Gates, In Flames, or Killswitch Engage as influences. Somehow though, as cynical as I have been about the Metalcore scene in general, the harsh vocals don't have the annoying quality that I usually see in Metalcore influenced stuff. It then goes back into more melodious fashion and into clean v...

In this installment of Mattowarrior's Metal Madness, we are going to not be reviewing a traditional “album” per se, but reviewing a soundcloud account with various songs, an EP if you will (reviewing songs). As the market increasingly (other than the vinyl resurgence) is oriented towards streaming, this may be the future of some of these reviews. The artist in question in Mike Brandon Band, is a band featuring the self described “greasy rocker/bluesman/songwriter”, Michael Brandon on guitar and vocals, Ethan Sawchyn on guitar, Jon Olcott on bass, and Scotty Roland on drums with numerous special guests littered throughout the songs. The first song I listened to was “Badlands”, since I am familiar with the Metal Church classic being one of my favorites, I said “why not”? Of course, this is not a cover of the song in question, but rather an original one, a countrified rockabillly-ish ditty with earnest but soulful vocals. It goes back and forth with this into a Southern Rock ...

The most controversial Metallica album is defended by yours truly!

Did this video awhile back- kind of speaks for itself!

Obsidian Tide are a band formed in 2012 in Tel Aviv, Israel. Their new album, Pillars of Creation, came out in August 2019, and is a concept album described as telling the "tale of a man who goes on a journey of enlightenment. On his journey, he witnesses riveting stories and learns horrible truths. Finally, he makes a bold choice to follow his conscience, and his choice changes..everything." (*Band Bio).  The album starts out with something that immediately made me think of bands like Opeth, Enslaved, country mates Orphaned Land or even Tool with it's weaving melodies and droning but complex riff pattern. This first song, the title track, weaves itself into the second one "Seven" which then in it's second half brings tribal drums and flutes into the mix and more estoeric and jazzy guitar patterns that almost remind one of prime era Pain of Salvation in a way. A cool breezy jam envelops the listener for the final stages of this song.  The next...

Gemini One are an aspiring Instrumental duo from Germany formed in 2009 who play a self described mixture of post rock and doom metal (informed by post metal, sludge, and other genres). Their recent EP, Per Aspera, was just released, and features four songs that not only deliver on the promise that such a description would entail, but a whole lot more.  The first song, “CVII”starts out with a mellow, almost jazzy intro that recalls some of the best of ambient post rock. The dry and almost clean though droning heavy guitar makes it an interesting contrast with the booming drums and bass. A heavier part ensues with slightly more dissonance as the song develops and then it goes back to an almost autumnal melancholy.  The second song, "Primum Sanguis" starts out with a simple bass figure that turns into a more distorted and (somewhat) more energetic (for a style this slow that is) riff pattern than the previous song and in a far more sludgy way. This song is ...

With One Word are an up and coming Metalcore band from Switzerland. They play a very aggressive style of Metalcore with a wide range of influences. Recently, Mattowarrior's Metal Madness conducted this interview with them:  How/When did With One Word start? What was the original impetus for the project? Lex: It all started in september 2015 when a friend of mine tagged me on a facebook post from Arran's former band "Bad Blood Behaviour" that said they were looking for a new guitarist. After a first jamsession I brought in Silvan as a second guitarist and we began to write songs together under the new bandname "With One Word" 2. What bands, or even films, games, or even books influenced the project)?  Arran: It's really hard to say which bands influence us, as every bandmember tends to listen to different metal-genres. I feel that Lex's favourite band Avenged Sevenfold certainly has an influence in our music. Personally I ...