The second full-length by UK progressive metal phenomenon TesseracT proves to be another mind-bending, kaleidoscopic sonic tapestry of ineffable depths. Altered State is a worthy follow-up to 2011’s One, expanding upon the band’s predilection to uncommon rhythmic shifts, dynamic variation, soaring vocals and compositional space, a novel concept in…
Sevendust: Black Out The Sun
The ninth studio album from Sevendust provides a grown-up helping of terrific modern metal. Black Out The Sun is heavier than the band’s last full-length, Cold Day Memory [2010], and has more in common with the swaggering grimace of 1999’s Home or the biting rage of 2001’s Animosity.
Black…
An Interview with Martin Mendez from Opeth: Roots That Run Deep
Despite the numerous categories into which Opeth’s music has been cast over the span of their 23-year career, they’ve never lingered in one for more than a few albums. After 2005’s Ghost Reveries and 2008’s Watershed, it appeared Opeth had settled into healthy embrace of the specific progressive metal…
Deftones/Periphery @ Wellmont Theatre
MONTCLAIR, NJ—I’ll admit I’m a more recent fan of the Deftones. When I finally got on board, it was with 2010’s Diamond Eyes. The opportunity to see the band for the first time with another as phenomenal as Periphery seemed like one of the rare occasions where you can…
An Interview with East Of The Wall: The Humbling River
East Of The Wall remains one of the most sonically engaging metal acts around today. The South Jersey-based collective, who author a befuddling dichotomy of visceral, pummeling sludge metal and discerning progressive rock meanderings, are among the most prolific of their ilk. Always looking forward, they release a new…
Interview with Casey Crescenzo from The Dear Hunter: Satisfaction
Dear Hunter fans who have an affinity to the band’s majestic aural presence are in for another treat with their latest effort, Migrant, out April 2 via Equal Vision and Cave & Canary Goods. As mainman Casey Crescenzo elaborates in the Q&A below, the new record is deliberately more…
An Interview with Mike Sullivan from Russian Circles: Anonymous Shadows
For over nine years, Russian Circles have been road-dogging from city to city, bar to club to music hall to theater. With their artful coalescence of stunning melody and heavy rock rumble, they are one of the premier instrumental rock bands in the metal scene. On stage, the band…
An Interview with Adam Turla from Murder By Death: In Good Taste
With their dusty, dramatic brand of folk-affected indie rock, Murder By Death have long been one of the most intriguing bands in their scene. Led by singer/guitarist Adam Turla, Murder By Death have maintained the delicate balance of having a trademark sound but also breaking into new territory on…
An Interview with JOLLY: Congratulations, You Are Now Happy
From the first of the righteous, pummeling strains of “Firewell,” the opening song on JOLLY’s The Audio Guide To Happiness, Part Two, it’s apparent that the band remains well-attuned to the magic that brought about such electrifying progressive rock tunes as “The Pattern” and “Where Everything’s Perfect.”
On the…
Intronaut: Habitual Levitations (Instilling Words With Tones)
The follow-up to Intronaut’s magnum progressive sludge metal opus, 2010’s Valley Of Smoke, is another hour-long testimony to the SoCal quartet’s unabashed originality and extraordinary command over rhythm and vibe.
Habitual Levitations is greyer in feel and in outlook than the multihued Valley Of Smoke, but the pictures Intronaut…
