365 Days of Metal: The Sound of Science

Day 4

The Algorithm - The Doppler Effect

Artist Origin: Toulouse, France
Genre: Experimental / Electronic / Progressive
Label: Unsigned
Running Time: 29 minutes
Release Date: December 12, 2009

Best Part: Ashes... ashes... we all... Go fucking crazy.

Favorite Tracks: Geometric Progression, Lost Frequencies, and Two Plane-Polarized Waves

Grade: 3

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The Doppler Effect in 20 words or less:

It's like Mathcore and Electronica just had sex, and this is the bastard byproduct.

The Artist:

Fusing elements of progressive metal and math metal, with electronica and dubstep, The Algorithm is the brainchild of Rémi Gallego. Originally wanting to record mathcore oriented songs for fun Gallego decided to add synth to the mix because he was in an electronic type of mood. Add a catchy fitting name and thus, The Algorithm was born. Gallego also spends time playing guitar in the post-hardcore band Floating Wood.

The Algorithm's other releases to date include: CRTICIAL.ERROR (2010) and Identity (2011)

Jay's Take on The Doppler Effect:

I originally came across The Algorithm when I was looking for some new dubstep tracks to listen to one day and got reeled in instantly while listening to the Doppler Effect. This demo was Gallego's first release under The Algorithm and it manages to weave together the traditional elements of math metal, progressive riffs and blast beats, with well placed samples, flourishes of electronic arpeggio's and plenty of synth to go around. It has that slightly under-produced quality that any demo should have, which is always welcome in my book. Each of his releases opens with a clean electronic track, opening up the way for a body full of nothing short of trippy brutality. I can dig it.

Sample of the Day:



- J

365 Days of Metal: The Tide Has Come In

Day 3

Beneath the Massacre - Marée Noire (EP)

Band Origin: Montreal, QC, Canada
Genre: Technical Death Metal
Label: Prosthetic Records
Running Time: 13 minutes
Release Date: September 14, 2010

Best Part: Black Tide 1:43-2:00. Sweeeeeeeeeeeeps.

Favorite Tracks: Designed to Strangle, and Anomic

Grade: 3.5

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Marée Noire in 20 words or less:

Take two cups of brutality, two teaspoons of technical wizardry, add a pinch of frenetic pace and let simmer for 13 minutes.

The Band:

Beneath the Massacre is a four member group hailing from the North American Mecca of Technical Death Metal, Montreal. Known for their equal measure of brutality, speed and technicality, BTM frontman Elliot Desgagnés has indicated in a number of interviews that the band has been working since the release of their debut EP to find that perfect sound. All the while the band has managed to add their name to a long list of French Canadian talent.

Beneath the Massacre's previous releases include: Evidence of Inequity (2005), Mechanics of Dysfunction (2007) and Dystopia (2008)

Jay's Take on Marée Noire:

Desgagnés described Marée Noire as being a selection of five of the best songs Beneath the Massacre has ever written. Clocking in at only 13 minutes long, and featuring five tracks, Marée Noire is a short but intense listening experience. People familiar with BTM's previous releases will recognize that their sound has not gone through a massive amount of change. Their songs are still fast, technical and brutal. Desgagnés vocals are particularly more brutal on this release however, which alters the tone of the EP, but not in a bad way at all.  

Marée Noire was meant to be a short release while the band kept writing for their third full-length record slated for 2012. If the new record continues in the footsteps set out by this EP, it's bound to be BTM's best release to date.

Sample of the Day:



- J

365 Days of Metal: Staying On the Level

Day 2

August Burns Red - Leveler 

Band Origin: Pennsylvania, USA
Genre: Metalcore
Label: Solid State Records 
Running Time: 48 minutes + Bonus tracks on Deluxe edition 
Release Date: June 21, 2011  

Best Part: Acoustic version of Internal Cannon. 

Favorite Tracks: Boys of Fall, Carpe Diem & Empire

Grade: 3.0

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Leveler in 20 words or less:

For fans, it's Constellations with a cherry on top. For the unfamiliar, it's evocative, has tight melodies and breakdowns galore.

The Band:

Jake Luhrs, JB Brubaker, Brent Rambler, Dustin Davidson, and Matt Greiner have done nothing but push their own limits since the release of Thrill Seeker in 2005. ABR has released an LP every two years, have toured nearly non-stop between recording, continue to evolve their sound with each release, and pick up fans at every turn as they press along.

ABR's previous releases include: Thrill Seeker (2005), Messengers (2007) & Constellations (2009) 

Jay's Take on Leveler:

A great follow-up to their previous album, Constellations, this album starts off where Constellations took off, and takes it to a slightly higher level - no pun intended. Their third album showcases a clear evolution in the sound that ABR has built, and the overall technicality of the group. Leveler takes the core concept from Constellations and injects it with some new stylistic approaches, all the while staying true to their tried, tested, and emphatic sound. While perhaps not the great next step forward some fans were expecting, it's still ABR - and that's what counts.

Sample of the Day:



- J

365 Days of Metal: Ihn-Sahne

Day 1

Ihsahn - After

Band Origin: Norway
Genre: Extreme Progressive Metal
Label: Candlelight Records
Running Time: 53 minutes
Release Date: January 26, 2010

Best Part: Saxophone solos!

Favorite Tracks: Undercurrent, The Barren Lands and Frozen Lakes On Mars 

Grade: 4.5

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After in 20 words or less:

Black metal vocals, jazz fusion and progressive riffage. Easily one of the best progressive albums of 2010.

The Artist:

Vegard Sverre Tveitan a.k.a. Ihsahn is best known as the vocalist, guitarist and keyboardist of the renowned black metal band Emperor. In between his work with Emperor, Ihsahn has contributed and performed session work for a number of groups and artists throughout his career. In 2006, he began recording for his self-titled solo project, slated to release a trio of records, After being the third and final album in the trio.

Ihsahn's previous releases include: The Adversary (2006) and angL (2008)

Jay's Take on After: 

After is Ihsahn's best effort in a trio of equally distinctive and well written records. His final recording of the trio is cleaner, but also more sporadic than his previous releases, featuring jumps between intricate progressive riffs, funky overtones, some jazzy as fuck saxophone solos, and well placed vocal shifts. After appeared on many shortlists for the best progressive album of the year, last year, and I can't say I disagree - it's a must listen in a long list of progressive masterpieces.

Sample of the Day:



- J

365 Days of Metal: This is it, This is the Countdown to...

EXTINCTIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!

Ahem... Sorry. I couldn't help it.

Last Friday I wrote this behemoth post about the fact that I wanted to start a 365 project based specifically off of Metal albums, and with them the bands behind them - obviously. Wanting to get a little bit of an advance, so that I can keep moving along fluidly, I started working on some prototypes over the weekend, until I found a style that fit the bill.

To reiterate what I wrote in my last post, 365 Days of Metal will showcase one album and one band per day, for the next year (or as long as I managed to keep this alive). And each post will feature the following:

1. Album details up front (genre, label, release date, length, favorite tracks, etc.)  + Album cover
2. A description of the album in 20 words or less - in typical Jay style.
3. A small paragraph about the artist or band in question.
4. My personal take on the album - which doesn't always mean it will be favorable.
5. A sample, as I frequently give, usually through a youtube video. 

The gist of this post is just to remind you of the general layout of what to expect, and to let you all know that:

365 Days of Metal begins next Monday - August 22nd, 2011.

Get stoked - all six of you. Oh, and as Europe will attest, Glam Metal definitely counts:



- J

Something Wicked This Way Creeps: A Wild Jay Appears!

A few months ago I had been working on some new write-ups to breathe some fresh air into the Blaarg. Unfortunately, with my finishing University and other unrelated ridiculousness, those ten original pieces of content are now pretty much worthless.

I think it's reasonable to say it would be weird to publish a bunch of posts about what I'm most looking forward to - when over half of the stuff came out in the past couple months.

So when I came to that realization I noticed that it had been two months since my last official post on this monstrosity. And that's way too long of an interval. Problem is, I've had a few of those long, dead silent periods in the past six months. So, that's when I got to thinking - I need something to bring to the Blaarg that's semi-consistent and that I would enjoy continuously working on.

After a few short moments of contemplation I came up with an idea: a 365 project.

Most 365 projects involve photography as the primary driving element. Taking self-portraits, photos of locations, recurring or weekly themes, etc. - the basic concept being a photo a day, for 365 days. That being said: I'm not a photographer, and while doing something like that would be interesting, my plan is a bit different.

Within the next two weeks, I plan on kicking off this project, which will bring a new post every day for the next year. Whether I can live up to that, we'll have to wait and see, but I plan on getting a little bit of an advance on content, so I can keep generating some as I go along.

So as to do a bit of foreshadowing, I figured I'd give all five of my readers a heads up on what's to come. So, I present to you the details on Jay's 365 Days of Metal.

Each day I'll be featuring a specific album from any and all possible genres of the metal spectrum. I'll be featuring new releases, as well as old releases, by some of my favorite groups or most recent discoveries.

That being said, I want to make every day fresh, so bands I profile will only come up once throughout the year - unless of course I mention them in posts unrelated to the project.

I've also decided that I want to make the project be as random as possible. A specific genre or style per week would be interesting, but I would only consider them in moderation.

That doesn't mean I haven't thought of a few recurring themes that will come up every once in a while. My current favorite being - wait for it: Rebecca Black Metal Fridays. So much Win.

Posts will be pretty concise, and will feature the following:

1. Album details (Label, release date, length, favorite tracks, etc.) up front + Album cover
2. A description of the album in 20 words or less. 
3. A small paragraph about the artist or band in question.
4. My take on the album.
5. A sample, as I frequently give, usually through a youtube video.

And that's about all there is to say about that. To my 5 readers, comments and suggestions are always welcome, after all I'll have a whole year to try and tackle.

Keep an ear to the ground, Jay's 365 Days of Metal is coming soon.

- J

Discoveries: Benea Reach and Nazi Zombies

Two posts in two days, egads, I'm on fire!

This past week our household decided to finally give Bell the boot and switched over to a more reliable provider, as well as ISP. As a result I ended up spending a considerable amount of time on Netflix over the course of the week which I'd neglected for a short while.

Whilst perusing for a movie to watch late one night I went on a zombie craze but was turned into a sad panda when Død Snø (or Dead Snow) which I had seen when it came out a couple years ago wasn't available on Netflix. Not only is it a movie about Nazi Zombies but its one of the best zombie movies in recent memory, and it also has one of the most awesome tracks playing during it's scenes - one of the things that also popped into my head when I decided to go on a mad quest to watch this movie at 3AM.

So naturally once I finally found it, I had to both rewatch this bloody gorefest, but also had to stay for the credits to find the name of this this awesome track, and find the band associated with it.

I could have just as easily google'd it, but who wants to pass up a zombie horror comedy? Not this guy.

An hour and a half and many bloody deaths later, I was rewarded when the credits started rolling and I found the answer to my question.

Benea Reach is an extreme metalcore band from Oslo Norway (also where Dead Snow was filmed) who have been around since 2003. Originally a six member outfit, they've also been known to record and tour with up to seven members.

The track from Dead Snow which introduced me to these guys is entitled Awakening and is also the first track off of their sophomore album Alleviat released back in 2008.

Benea Reach fuses elements of math metal polyrhythms, breakdowns signature to the hardcore scene and some good old progressive overtones. Their records also include well placed interludes with soft melodies, and superbly executed vocals, both low and high, clean and screamed, whether by frontman Illka Volume or guest vocalists, notably Maria Solheim.

Alleviat is a record I would have definitely liked to discover years ago when it first came out. It seems to always be the case when discovering great talent from across the pond, but it's always in interesting ways - like watching a slew of zombies getting hacked to pieces, that I manage to discover my new favorite groups of the moment.

While relatively quiet recently, Benea Reach did release two new demo tracks earlier this month which are available on their Sign Me to Roadrunner page and detailed that they're working on a third full length album. They also released footage from their stint last year on the Great Indian Rock Festival.

Their new website is still listed as under construction but you can always check them out on their facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/beneareach, follow their progress on Twitter by following @BeneaReach and check out some live footage on their YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/beneareach.

As always, here's a taste of Benea Reach with their track Awakening, which I encourage you all to check out if you're unfamiliar with the group. And if you're unfamiliar with Dead Snow, well - I can't think of any better reason than to say it's a gorefest with Nazi Zombies and this song is in the movie, so watch it. Now.


- J

On the Radar: August Burns Red

I could have chosen about 20 different bands to focus on for my first worthwhile post in about 3 months, but random song releases tend to poke and prod me in just the right ways.

The poking and prodding this time 'round being brought forth by Internal Cannon off of August Burns Red's forthcoming fourth full length album.

August Burns Red - Leveler

Label: Sold State Records
Genre: Metalcore
Release Date: June 21, 2011

Previous Releases:  Thrill Seeker (2005), Messengers (2007), Constellations (2009)

Back in about 2008, I had fallen pretty heavily out of the loop in the metal scene, having gone into a purely alternative, indie and old school grunge theme for about half a year.

Luckily for me I have friends who cared enough to give me an injection of metal to my ear drums that has basically left me on a pure metal high since, once again.

August Burns Red were one of the first bands I got introduced to when I was getting reacquainted with the scene. And as many of my friends were (and are still) quite fond of breakdowns, I was guaranteed a treat when faced with tracks such as Back Burner and Composure off of their then second album Messengers.

Hailing from Pennsylvania this quintet has done nothing but push their own limits since 2005, releasing a full length record every two years, touring nearly non-stop between recording and picking up an army of fans in the meantime.

Their last full length record, Constellations showed off both the evolution and overall progression of the group, from Jake Luhrs commanding leading vocals, to the sweet melodies, bone crushing breakdowns and shredding of JB Brubaker, Brent Rambler and Dustin Davidson, and the near flawless drumming of Matt Greiner to round out the quintet.

ABR released a first track off of Leveler on May 10 entitled Empire to the delight of many a fan. On first hearing the song I was definitely intrigued and it gave me a throwback to the release of Constellations, making me throw it into the stereo to piss off my neighbors promptly once again. My initial reaction was clearly a resounding: F@%# YEAH!

At the same time, Empire gave me the impression of a tried and tested production which has become staple to ABR's style over the years. So my fear was also that Leveler may feel a bit too similar to Constellations. But I definitely enjoy it when I'm wrong.

August Burns Red released a second track off of Leveler today, entitled Internal Cannon (which if you haven't heard yet you should go check out right now and stop reading this garbage - for real). The shifts in style, the interludes and that solo - oh sweet fancy moses, that solo - all things that show me these guys have a whole new bag of tricks to unleash on their fans.

While some people may complain about the lack of wall to wall breakdowns, Internal Cannon is another indication to me that August Burns Red are constantly evolving, making fluctuations to their sound and style, and best of all, pulling it off to a tee.

So to all the kids who may become heartbroken that August Burns Red have clearly matured once again as artists, all I have to say is: grow up kids.

And of course, if you're unfamiliar with August Burns Red, you can check them out on their website at: http://www.augustburnsred.com/. Or you can track their updates on their Facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/augustburnsred, or on Twitter by following @abrband.

Leveler comes out on June 21st, so if you're a longtime fan, mark your calendars, and if you're a soon to be fan, get stoked. As always a parting gift, here's August Burns Red's most recent release, Internal Cannon:


- J