Remember Wrust? The band from Botswana who was trying to raise money to perform at a European festival in Italy? Well, good news... They did it! With the generous contribution of many devoted metalheads they collected most of the money needed to get to Milan and perform at this heavy event.
The festival is going to take place on Wednesday June 26th and will be headlined by Red Fang and Karma To Burn! There will also be Wrust, In Zaire and approximately 10 other bands. Many of them are notable, heavy Italian acts like Zeus!, Nero Di Marte and Fuzz Orchestra, which are among the most respected of our local scene.
This is an awesome example of what strong solidarity in heavy metal can lead to. A documentary movie called “March Of The Gods” is going to tell the story of Wrust and the Botswana metal scene. The last scene will be shot at the festival. We're all waiting for it! Stay metal \m/
Hello everybody! During the last few months we crossed the borders of metal music and traveled around every corner of the planet to explore some of the coolest and most underrated metal scenes on Earth. It was really fun and we got in touch with a lot of amazing people in the process. Now it's time for us to take a small break and stop traveling for a while. But don't worry. We'll come back to you very soon with plenty more explorations. We just need some time to go deep into each international scene in order to bring you quality articles.
But for now we have one last present for you. This is a recap of the best bands found in our explorations so far. So without further adieu, here is Exploring The World's cream of the crop \m/
Our first ever exploration took place in Switzerland, observing the Geneva tech-metal sound with acts like Sybreed, Breach The Void, and Mycelia. But one band in particular caught my attention - NEOSIS (New Evolution Of Society Influenced by Scientism). This band is a perfect example of what this Geneva sound actually sounds like! They deliver innovative and futuristic music featuring some really technical and funk-influenced rhythm sections and a sick guitar tone. Their 2012 self-titled debut was truly impressive and took them far beyond Swiss borders. They got to play last year's Euroblast 8, while this year we will meet them at UK Tech-Metal Fest! Here's "Cerebral Helix", enjoy!
The following stop was Sweden, home to some of the greatest metal bands of all time! We especially focused on the new Swedish ambidjent movement, following the thall revolution started by Vildhjarta. We met Humanity's Last Breath, Means End, Jonnah, Libo, Behindert and Maybe That's Why Humans Drink The Darkness That Is Coffee (aka MTWHDTDTIC). I'd like to focus on the first one Humanity's Last Breath. They just finished recording their new album which promises to bring the mayhem down on you very soon. This band looks like a more aggressive, straight-forward, deathcore version of Vildhjarta. But they've also shown they're able to produce original material with their own talent and will. To give you an idea of what's coming, give a listen to their latest single "Animal" below! THALL!
After that we headed to Greece to find a varied and original progressive metal scene, especially around the city of Athens. Amazing bands like Tardive Dyskinesia were featured along with more incredible acts like Mencea, Dakrya and the solo project It Dwells Within. But probably the most stunning, original and experimental one was Dol Ammad, from Thessaloniki. They provide a fast and powerful metal sound with power, progressive, and electronic elements. The music also features the vocal support of a fourteen member four-part choir! Give a listen to "Supernova" below, from their 2012 album "Cosmic Gods: Episode I - Hyperspeed".
Then we crossed the ocean and reached down to Australia! We dove deep into Australia's eclectic metal scene which presented itself as one of the greatest growing metal communities in the world. There's so much amazing stuff coming out of this country that it's really hard to choose just one band. We've worked with the biggest Australian metalcore label WeAreUnified and their various amazing talents. We also went beyond, sifting through the fringes of the Austalian underground. Almost too much impressive material here. But to choose just one act destroying everything world-wide at the moment, the answer ends being easy. Thy Art Is Murder - this band is changing the face of deathcore, bringing some of the heaviest and most extreme stuff ever heard. Check em out \m/ This is "Reign Of Darkness", off their latest album "Hate".
Another country where we spent a lot of time was France. It took three explorations to go deep into this country's scene, and there's still more material waiting to be found there. We analyzed it's dark progressive sounds, some amazing solo projects and the impressive Paris metalcore scene. We focused on acts like Betraying The Martyrs, Gojira, As They Burn, Eryn Non Dae, Khaorah, The Algorithm, Atlantis Chronicles, Hypno5e, Uneven Structure, This Deafening Whisper, Cartoon Theory, A.I.(d), Dorthal, and Blut Aus Nord. Just amazing! But there's one band that deserves a highlight here. I'm talking about Uneven Structure. They just released an amazing new EP called "8" and you should all listen to it! A lot of people are claiming this to be their best work so far. Stream it entirely below!
The exploration of Ukraine's promising djent and math scene was a trip to remember. We met Joconfy, TSAARS, Noja and Return To Base. I'd like to give shout especially to the young guys in Joconfy. This talented djent band won the Euroblast jingle contest and will also be performing at this Summer's UK Tech-Metal Fest too! Check out that explosive tune down below.
After that, we discovered an incredible industrial metal scene in Denmark with Mnemic, Raunchy and The Interbeing. The Interbeing is especially looking to have a bright future. Their 2011 debut "Edge Of The Obscure" was a brilliant album with some heavy groove, supported by a modern metal sound and industrial elements. Their music is surrounded by a dark sci-fi, futuristic atmosphere as a catalyst for the heaviness. Here's the latest music video from that album, the song is called "Shadow Shift". Give it a listen!
Our last European stop was Spain! Here we found that an incredible melodic death metal scene emerged in the Basque country, with incredible bands like NoDrama, The Descent, Darkness by Oath and Jotnar, giving to this are of Spain a swedish flavour. But there's one band that emerged from all the others, and it's Rise To Fall. This melodeath band was able to release two amazing albums with Coroner Records: "Restore The Balance" and "Defying The Gods". Both amazing and intense as you can hear from the song below, "Redrum", taken from their 2010 debut album.
After that, we spent two weeks in Africa supporting a Botswana metal band called Wrust and exploring South Africa's metal scene. In South Africa, we covered four very interesting bands: Crown Black Sky, Truth And Its Burden, Balyios and Megalodon. Let's give one more shout to the only black metal act of all our explorations! Crown Black Sky is a melodic / progressive black metal band influenced by acts like Behemoth, Emperor, Enslaved, and Opeth. Get heavy jamming their song “Stars Of God” below!
The last country we visited was Mexico. With our first time in the new continent we covered some Taco Djent... wait a minute, I hate stereotypes...Well, if you check out artists like Arcadia Libre, N3WMEN and One Of Us you'll throw those stereotypes away! Blast some drum n bass/math/djent music by One Of Us featuring some French madness delivered by The Algorithm.
That's all explorers. It's time to go back home and relax for a while. We hope you enjoy this best of segment along with all of our explorations. We'll come back to you very soon, stronger than ever. Stay tuned \m/
After our recent trips to Europe, Australia and Africa, it's time to cross the Atlantic Ocean and get in touch with more global metal! This time we are heading to Mexico to introduce three really cool bands representing the best of this country's djent scene. This nation hasn't really given much to the history of metal so far, but some of these new bands have been recognized for their recent works and definitely deserve a shout.
The most known is probably Aracadia Libre. They surprised a lot of people with the release of their debut album “Alpha” in June 2012. This a progressive metalcore/hardcore band that was able to deliver a powerful musical assault with straight-forward guitar riffage and a hard-hitting sound. Some of you might also appreciate the Latin flavour of the vocals, sung in Spanish and still brutal. Their album is available for free download through this link. Show them some support!
Next up is N3WMEN, a solo project by Durango's very own Noé Martell.
This guy can write some amazing grooves, cool riffs and drum lines. He
also delivers some very original singing. His debut EP “Lies For Blind”
was released during August of last year and can be downloaded for FREE
right here. But if you prefer, you can also stream it via YouTube just below. It's definitely worth a listen so support this brilliant work!
Moving on, we have another really cool band for you. This is One Of Us. We recently stumbled on this Mexico City djent/hardcore/drum and bass group. We also introduced them a few weeks back. Check out Tyler's post about them right here. They just released their first single “Anachronistic” with the collaboration of the insane producer Remì Gallego aka The Algorithm! The track is nuts, check it out below and enjoy the madness.
This was a short, but intense trip to the delicious land of tacos! Hope you all enjoyed the taste. We may return one day to further spread the musical flavour of Mexico. See you next time explorers!
After our small trip in the deepest south of Africa, we are back to Europe for another episode of our exploration of the French metal scene. We already introduced you to the best progressive metal bands and some amazing solo projects. Now we're going to show the best proposals of the modern French metalcore scene. The scene developed especially in the city of Paris and almost all the bands listed below are from the city of love.
Let's star our exploration with one of the most successful bands to come out of France in the last few years, Betraying The Martyrs. This band asserted themselves as one of the leading European metalcore acts with their debut album “Breath In Life”, released in 2011 by Sumerian Records. Their popularity keeps on increasing in the continent and in North America too. Their deathcore / metalcore sound is now well-known and appreciated especially for the phenomenal vocals of Aaron Matts, with his massive and muscular deep growls. Rumors say they're working on a new album meant to drop towards the end of the year, so keep an eye open. In the meantime, enjoy their video for “Man Made Disaster” below.
As They Burn is another heavy deathcore / metalcore band, bringing groovy and destructive riffage to crush the crowds. Hailing from Paris as well, they're gaining world-wide popularity with their latest release “Will, Love, Life”, released by Victory Records. They're sound and attitude might remind you of bands like Emmure. In fact, you can find Franki Palmeri doing guest vocals in their latest signle “F.R.E.A.K.S.”, also featuring guest vocals from Betraying The Martyrs' Aaron Matts. The band will be on tour around Europe very soon so don't miss the chance to have some fun at one of their shows!
Another metalcore act you may be familiar with is This Deafening Whisper, from Paris as well. We reviewed their 2013 album “Duodecim” a few months ago. Read up here. It's a solid album which put this band in the international eye and brought them good exposure in their national scene. This band knows how to be aggressive and melodic at the same time, bringing some really inspired tunes. Check out the second single taken from “Duodecim” below.
We've also promoted the guys from Khaorah, a progressive metalcore from band which released a magnificent album in 2010 called “Malestorm”. They're now working on a new EP with their new vocalist, Lionel Forest. They bring an amazing metalcore sound filled with energy, passion, shredding and electronic touches. You can check out our preview for their forthcoming EP “Pangea” right here and enjoy their older track “Shadow” below.
Straying slightly from the metalcore sound we find another legit Parisian metal band, Beyond The Dust. This is definitely an act you should check out. They provide some interesting mathcore inventions which may capture your attention. Check out their single “Reality Deformed” featuring Jay, former Aliases vocalist, and keep an eye on these guys since their album is due to come out in 2013! You can also witness the madness live at UK Tech-Metal Fest this Summer!
There are many other Parisian bands worth giving a listen to. First of all, the heavy progressive metal promise Atlantis Chronicles (we already talked about them in the first part of this exploration). But also other talented groups like Recreating Shape, Cycles, Indreams, Alaska, Sunquake, and many more! France kicks ass!
This will probably be one of our shortest explorations, but it's also probably the most important one. As promised, we are still in Africa and I want to talk to you about something going on in Botswana.
3 filmmakers based in London (but hailing from Italy and Greece) have just come back from Gaborone, Botswana. They've been filming a documentary called “March of the Gods: Botswana Metalheads” about the local heavy metal scene and the story of Wrust, one of the predominant local bands. They claim, “The documentary aims to bring to light an emerging musical subculture blending the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, African tradition and Biker and Cowboy fashion and an unexpected point of view on Africa, a continent which is often misconceived”. This is a very serious project, also aiming to make people aware of a
lot of social problems in this region of Africa and our misconceptions
about modern Africa. They managed to line up Wrust to play at Solo Macello, an independent heavy metal festival which is going to take place in Milan, Italy on June 26th and will be headlined by Red Fang and Karma To Burn (last year's headliner was Napalm Death!).
The movie was entirely self-produced with their own money and now they're trying to raise the money to pay for Wrust's travel to Milan with an Indiegogo campaign. There are only 16 days left so they really need your help! It's your chance to make dreams come true.
That's all for our exploration this week. Take a look at the movie teaser below and watch some more clips from the film on their YouTube channel. And obviously give a listen to Wrust below as well! Botswana is metal! Support their heart and dedication for this music by helping them on Indiegogo and Facebook \m/
The Circle Pit goes to Africa!! Our tour will step into this continent for a couple of weeks before we go back to France. There are some big surprises in store... Our first African stop will be pinpointing South Africa, homeland of some very legit metal bands.
Let's start with some dark, heavy shit. Crow Black Sky is the biggest black metal band from South Africa. Hailing from Cape Town, they bring melodic / progressive black metal influenced by acts like Behemoth, Emperor, Enslaved, and Opeth. After the worldwide success of their debut release “Patheion” in 2011, the album was re-released in a remastered version in 2012. They used the remastered version for the following music video, “Stars Of God”. This remastered version is available for a free download from their official website. Go give it a listen now!
Emerging from the South African hardcore scene we find Truth and Its Burden. Based in Johannesburg, they were recently signed by Rite Of Passage/Mediaskare Records. They've played several shows around Europe and shared the stage with acts like Haste The Day, Through This Defiance, CDC, Becoming The Archetype and The Ghost Inside. Thier latest album “Choices” came out in May 2012 an you can get a taste of it from the banger below, “The Decider”.
Exploring onwards, another intersting act is Balyios. Formed in Pretoria in 2010, this young band delivers melodic folk metal with melodeath influences. Their lyrics mainly focus on Scandinavian culture and mythology while their music is based on fast-paced, melodic guitar riffs accompanied by harmonic orchestras, choirs, flutes and accordion melodies. Their debut album “Homeward” was released in 2012 to a good response. Give a listen to their song “Valhalla” below and see if this is your kind of stuff. If you like it, go show this band some love!
I want to finish this post with an upcoming djent band from Cape Town. Their stage name is Megalodon and they just released their debut “Darkness In Sonance” in March 2013 via Burning Tone Records. You can stream the whole album, full of mathcore madness and groovy djent riffage, on their Bandcamp page. Don't forget to purchase the album if you enjoy what you hear!
So, this is the best metal to come from the extreme south of the black continent. The Circle Pit will still be in Africa next week with a special surprise for y'all! So stay tuned, and stay metal \m/
In the past few years, I've came across a bunch of bands from Spain delivering a modern melodic death metal sound with a Swedish flavour. This Swedish approach on Spanish heavy metal mostly developed in the Basque Country area. I've been following some of these bands for years and just discovered a couple of them in the last few months. Even though we can't claim this is the dominant metal movement in Spain, there are definitely a good number of bands here which are worth a listen. So let's check 'em out!
The first act I want to highlight is Rise To Fall. I already spoke about this band on The Circle Pit a couple weeks ago, about the same time I decided to write this post. I've been following them for years now, from their debut “Restore The Balance” (re-released in 2010) to their latest album “Defying The Gods” (2012). Their style, very close to recent In Flames, will catch you with the exquisite creations of guitarists Hugo and Javi and the unique vocals of singer Dalay Tarda. They will be on tour in Ukraine and Russia very soon and are also largely appreciated in Japan. And, obviously, they're greatly appreciated in their home country. But sadly they've hardly spread to the rest of Europe and North America. Check them out below or go get some more infos about them in our recent dedicated post here.
NoDrama is another band that deserves to be discussed. They're definetly the “softer” band on this post since they're more focused on a traditional rock sound, but the nordic melodeath influence is still strong on this band. So they end up delivering fast and energetic melodic metal, with a hard rock attitude and some small melodeath hints. The great voice of their vocalist pushes forward among with the amazing instrumentation delivered by the whole band behind him. Thier latest album, “The Patient”, came out in 2012 and had a good run in Spain and the surrounding European nations. In fact, NoDrama will be on tour around Germany in May! Check out the video for their song “The Bite” below!
The next band on our list is focused on more traditional melodic death metal, bringing it back to its real Swedish roots. Their name is The Descent and they're from Bilbao, same town as Rise To Fall. Their latest album “Dimensional Matters” is an amazing melodeath statement and you can definetly hear it from songs like “Winter Hell” and the first single “The Day After”. They're really amazing!
Hailing from Arrasate we have another Basque band, Darkness by Oath. Just like The Descent, they have an authentic take on melodic death metal. In fact, they're probably the fastest and most extreme act on this post. They formed back in 2002 and have released three albums since: “Confidential World Of Lies” (2006), “Fear Yourself” (2009) and “Near Death Experience” (2012). The last two got them some exposure in the US, Canada and the rest of Europe. This gave them the opportunity to play festivals like Zabbaduschder Open Air (Germany), Barbarian Fest (Belgium), Revoltallo Festival, Girona Metalfest (Spain) and to share the stage with acts like Dark Tranquillity, God Dethroned, Warbringer, Neaera, One Man Army and the Undead Quartet, Haemorrhage, Angelus Apatrida, Kataplexia and many others. Give them a listen below!
We're closing with Jotnar, a younger band recently signed by Coroner Records (same label of NoDrama and Rise To Fall). Their latest release, “Giant”, featured five tracks with an aggressive, modern take on melodic death metal. It was mixed and mastered at Perfect Fifth Studio in Canada. The band performed a lot of promotional shows in Spain, had some appearences in Swedish festivals, and even played at Slovenia's MetalCamp 2012! You can discover them below with their lyric video for the song “Perfect Lie”.
It has to be underlined that most of the bands above are from Basque Country, a unique section of Spain. So, from a geographical point of view, it's a well-defined and located movement. It gives these bands a strong identity, cohesion, mutual friendship and support making it a great example of what a local metal scene should be \m/
Welcome back explorers! Today we're heading back to France to discover some awesome, new music.
Remember our last time here? We talked about the best dark progressive / death metal acts coming out of this nation including Gojira, Uneven Structure, Blut Aus Nord, Eryn Non Dae, Hypno5e and Atlantis Chronicles. Aamzing stuff!
But in its multifaceted metal scene, France has a lot more to offer. Today we'll show you some more amazing artists. But instead of focusing on a specific genre we'll be exploring the most interesting music delivered by French solo musicians. That's right. There's so many impressive solo projects coming out of this region and they all deserve a shout. Let's go!
Well, the beginning is easy: the brilliant mind of Remi Gallego, who's beautiful musical inventions flow from his main project The Algorithm! The Algorithm delivers a mix of modern metal and several types of electronic music in some truly devastating and eclectic musical creations. His debut album “Polymorphic Code” came out in 2012. You can read our review here. He has now teamed up with Monuments' drummer Mike Malyan to deliver even crazier live shows. I hope you all will have a chance to check 'em out on stage. Recently, I had the chance to meet / interview both of them before one of their shows in Europe. We'll be posting a video soon!
Another easy one is Auré Pereira, mostly known for being the guitarist of Uneven Structure, but also largely appreciated for his solo project WorC. He brings some truly amazing instrumental metal, with touching atmospheres and creative instrumentations. He released a full-length album “Plychrmatic 0.1” and an EP “When The Day Forms” so far and they are both available for free on his Bandcamp page! Go check him out and don't forget to give a listen to his band Uneven Structure, if you already haven't.
The next one is one of The Circle Pit's favourites, A.I.(d). His human name is Lou Gregoire and he created some of the most insane and possibly even painful (in a veeeeery good way) music I can remember. Especially with his 2012 EP “Solar Feelings”, which is available for a free download here . That alone pretty much destroyed my aural apparatus (and once again, I was really happy of it). It also looks like he's got some new music in the making since he recently uploaded two new songs: “Ballentine's Night” and “Dramatic Lazyness”. So if you enjoy what's below start following him and expect crazy things!
A very talented French man named Clemente Reviriego from Bordeaux just released his new album called “Arid Landscapes”. This is the debut full-length release of his Instrumental/Tech/Prog/Groove/Jazz project Dorthal. All that you need to know about this talented young guy is written in the review we recently posted for his album. So if you're intrested, you can go read it here. All Dorthal's music is available for stream and name your price download on his Bandcamp page. Go show this guy some love!
Some truly surprising stuff is delivered by Nicolas Jeanney, who's artistic name is Tenkan. He partially specializes in delivering metal/djent covers of a lot of unexpected music: from Adele to Rage Against The Machine, from Rihanna to...Lana Del Rey. Ok, I know it might sound a bit strange and weird, or even useless. But believe me, it kicks ass! This guy also has his own original tracks on his SoundCloud profile. So go give him a listen and enjoy. I think I'll be presenting his project properly very soon, since he's also the only one in this post who hasn't already been in the Pit before.
Last but not least we'll bring up Cartoon Theory, wich is one of my favourites, even though it's not exactely a solo project. In fact, there are two members working on it, but it's still far from being a full band and they definetly deserve another shout. They're working on a new release “Planet Geisha” and there will be surely some incredible stuff on it. Give a listen to their previous material while waiting.
There are tons of talented artists creating their music in France and everywhere around the world. So much greatness to discover... life seems too short to find it all. Anyway, we haven't finished with France yet. We'll be back very soon to meet more amazing bands. Stay tuned, explorers!
Denmark is not exactly a big nation in the history of heavy metal and hard rock. But recently some interesting talents have come from this country, though we can't identify a specific sound or a predominant genre. Quoting big names like Volbeat or Mnemic should give you an idea. Other important names are Hatesphere, Illdisposed, and Mercenary who made significant contributions to the death / thrash / melodeath realms. In some cases you can detect a strong Scandinavian influence, especially with Mercenary.
While looking at Denmark's lineup of talent, you may recognize a series of really good industrial metal bands who deserve to be pushed forward. So let's take a look at some of the most interesting, heavy industrial stuff coming out of Denmark.
Mnemic is one of my favourite Danish metal bands. They deliver a destructive mix of industrial metal and groove metal with modern progressive elements. Sort of like Meshuggah and Fear Factory had a baby. They've released five albums (all through Nuclear Blast Records) since their foundation in 1998. The last one, "Mnemesis", came out in 2012. This band headlined the 7th edition of the Euroblast Festival and have toured with bands such as Metallica, Deftones, Machine Head, Meshuggah, Arch Enemy, All That Remains, Fear Factory, The Haunted, Soilwork and God Forbid. Unfortunatly they went through a lot of line up changes and now only one of the original members is still in the band. But they can still bring some incredible music. I'm especially a fan of their furious second album "The Audio Injected Soul" from wich the following song "Deathbox" was taken. Check 'em out!
Another Danish band that really deserves to be discovered is Raunchy. They've always delivered a modern industrial metal sound with heavy electronic influence since their inception back in 1994. They've released five album with their label Lifeforce Records. The last one, “A Discord Electric”, came out in 2010. They were recently joined by the new vocalist Mike Semesky. Yeah, you read correctly, the former vocalist of The HAARP Machine who recorded the amazing vocals of their beautiful 2012 debut “Disclosure”. The band is currently working on new material with Mike at the helm. This means some amazing music might be coming out soon! The song below is called “Warriors”, taken from their forth album “Wasteland Discothque” (released in 2008), one of their biggest successes.
The Interbeing is a younger band, formed in 2006, that released their debut full-length album “Edge Of The Obscure” in 2011. These guys bring some heavy groove, supported by a modern metal sound and industrial elements. Their music is surrounded by a dark sci-fi, futuristic atmosphere as a catalyst for the heaviness. This sound was largely appreciated, especially by the european djent scene and the album was well received thanks to intelligent promotion on YouTube and social networks. Check out their album and check out their latest music video for the song “Shadow Drifts”.
There is a lot more good music coming out of Denmark. For example there's a great progressive/power metal scene and a large number of folk metal bands, so we might come back here very soon. Stay tuned! Also, check back next week for our return to France and the second part of our local exploration!
Hello explorers! Today we have a very special installment of our Exploring
The World series. Instead of visiting a single country, I'm gonna bring
you on a one hour journey around the globe. That's right. I want
to talk to you about this movie called “GLOBAL METAL”. It's a 2008
documentary written, directed, produced by, and starring Sam Dunn, a Canadian anthropologist, film director, and most importantly a die hard
metalhead!
This guy's first film was released in 2005 and was called
“Metal: An Headbanger's Journey”. It was a documentary about the
origins, the culture and the influence of heavy metal, exploring the
themes of heavy metal-violence, death, religion, satanism, sexuality, and
gender.
In 2007 Sam directed a sequel called “Global Metal”, in which he
studies how the West's most controversial music style, Heavy Metal, tried
to emerge out of North America and Europe, focusing on the relationship
between this music and modern day globalization. It is a truly interesting and enlightening documentary, presenting us a lot of really
underground scenes, amazing stories, and unbelievable situations. You
will see the incredible struggle that some people have to go through for
just to listen to metal, or even play it, showing outstanding love,
passion and dedication for this music \m/ Sam will bring us around the
globe to Brazil, Japan, India, China, Indonesia, Israel, and United
Arabian Emirates in this movie. It's really an impressive film and I
think that every metalhead in the world should watch it.
HERE
you can find a playlist to stream the whole movie on Youtube. If you want to get a taste, you can enjoy the trailer below.
After
“Global Metal”, Sam's been working on other movies like “Iron Maiden:
Flight 666” or “Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage” and two live DVDs from
both bands. He also produced the documentary series “Metal Evolution”
for VH1 and he's currently working on a movie called “Satan”. Go check
out his movies and discover what a real underground scene is.
Ukraine doesn't really have a glorious metal tradition. Actually, it has
always been quite an isolated place for this kind of music. But in the past few years a small but bright metal scene bloomed into existence and a couple of very talented young bands are trying to spread
their name around the world.
In the past few weeks you may have heard of the band Joncofy. From Kiev, these guys won the competition for the jingle of the Euroblast 9
trailer with a huge tune (listen below), defeating a lot
of talented acts in the process. It has also been
announced that they'll be playing at this summer's UK Tech-Metal Fest
in Peterborough. In 2012, they did a small tour through Germany
supporting Scar Symmetry and Akeldama. They also played at Euroblast 8. So through trying to spread their sound all over Europe they've getting some good results. So far they've released a single EP
called "Rorschach Inkblots". It's available for FREE download right here!
Another upcoming Ukrainian band is TSAARS. This group is going to
release their second EP "Foreword" on April 12th. They recently uploaded a
lyric video for the first song "Nightmares" via Beheading The Traitor.
The song features a guest appearance from Sam Gitiban, vocalist of
Novallo, singing a perfect clean part over the crazy mathcore assault
delivered by the band. Keep an eye on these guys and be sure to scope out their
forthcoming release!
But Ukraine's heaviest shit is coming from Donetsk. Noja is probably the
most known name of the local djent/math underground. Their long awaited debut EP "The Great Purpose" came out in January 2013 and it served as a smashing
display of brutality. Five powerful tracks available for streaming on their Soundcloud page. Believe me, you wanna listen to this.
To wrap things up, we have a very peculiar band called Return To Base. This trio
delivers a mighty mix of tech metal and fast drum & bass. It might remind
you of the Canadian artist Tyrant of Death, who is known for his
industrial djent music with heavy electronic influences. Speak of the devil, Alex Rise of Tyrant Of Death and Aleks Jaćek of
Return To Base just started a new project called SD4. They released
their self-titled EP in October 2012. Return To Base themselves have been making music since 2010, collecting 8 releases (3 splits, 2
eps, 2 full-lengths, and 1 single) and they're all available for FREE
download. This includes the two full-length albums, "Behind The Sun" (2011)
and "Legism" (2012). Check out their full discography at GotDjent.com for
all the download links right here.
In the past few years France's metal fan base has been rapidly expanding,
outlining a very interesting heavy music community and giving birth to some truly
amazing bands. The 3 biggest names are currently Eths (who added a
progressive twist to their groove metal sound in their latest album "III"), the progressive death metal masters Hacride (who are
going to release a new album "Back To Where You've Never Been" in 2013)
and especially Gojira, who are currently the band which every French
metalhead should be proud of. Their 2012 album "L'Enfant
Sauvage" was acclaimed as 2012's album of the year by a large portion of
the specialized press.
A lot of incredible music recently emerged from the underground: I'm
sure a lot of you have been blown away by the greatness of Uneven
Structure music. Their uplifting music and atmospheres are some of the
best things to come out of the djent / thall scene so far. Uneven Structure's 2011 album
"Februus" is something you absolutely MUST give a listen to, if you haven't yet. It was actually named our 2011 album of the year. We
also strongly recommend you to give a listen to WorC, the solo project
of Uneven Structures guitarist Aurélien Perreira and Eggeh, the project of other guirarist Igor Omodei if you're looking for
some similar amazing material. THALL.
In the wake of Gojira's dark sounds, we can find 3 amazing bands who create impressive music covered by gloomy atmospheres... and they all released
an album in 2012. The first one, Blut Aus Nord, is by now a black metal
legend. Formed in 1994 as a solo project by Vindsval (currently
vocalist and guitarist), this avant-garde black metal band released
their 10th studio album in 2012, "777 - Cosmophony" the third episode of their "777" trilogy. It was anticipated by two more releases in 2011, "Sect(s)"
and "The Desantification". Give a listen below to one of the tracks out
of their last album.
Eryn Non Dae. is another french band meeting with success right
now, especially in Europe thanks to their 2012 album "Meliora". They
deliver downtempo sounds using huge and heavy guitars immersed into an
obscure atmosphere. Their latest album, the third of their career, was
largely appreciated by the critics too. They've also became popular as a
live band playing a lot of shows in France and all around Europe, also in support of
Hacride. This summer they'll also be playing at
Hellfest in France and UK Tech-Fest.
And if you're searching for some experimental and psychedelic metal,
you're in the right place! Hypno5e is a progressive metal band bringing dark progressive metal especially built on ambiance. Amazing soundscapes
and 10 minute-long musical experiences make this band a must listen.
They have toured throughout France and the United States with other
bands such as Gojira, The Ocean Collective, Watcha, Black Bomb Ä and
Eths. Since their birth in 2003, they've released a demo, an EP and two
albums. The first one, "Des Deux L'une Est L'autre", was released in 2007,
but they reached the summit of their musical research in 2012 with the
mind-blowing album "Acid Mist Tomorrow". A videoclip for the single
"Story Of The Eye" was uploaded on Got-Djent's YouTube channel and you
better give it a listen right now.
Another band who definitely deserves a mention is Atlantis Chronicles.
This forthcoming five-piece band is the most promising thing to come out
of Paris underground metal scene. They just released their debut album
"Ten Miles Underwater" through Coroner Records in March. An amazing
concept album wich showed everyone the amazing skills and talent of this
great musicians. A powerfull mix of death, progressive and hardcore
wich might really takes "Ten Miles Underwater" to become one of the best
debut albums of the year. Check em out!
There's really a lot of incredible stuff coming out of France, and it
all deserves to be promoted properly. Therefore Exploring The World is
coming back to France soon to discover a lot more amazing French metal.
Stay tuned \m/
AC/DC! Ok that's kinda obvious...oh gosh, we're here for an exploration! Give us something new! Ok...Australia definitely has a prestigious history when it comes to metal and hard rock. But in the last few years, from 2000 onward, a lot of new bands started to gaining worldwide exposure. Two big names, Airbourne and Wolfmother, picked up the heritage of AC/DC but Australia has recently developed a really fecund underground metal scene with a lot of talented bands emerging from every genre of modern metal. Let's try to make a small recap of the best things that this great nation has to offer to the world, since a lot of people don't even know that some of these bands are actually from another continent.
Let's start by taking a look at the local metalcore scene. The first huge name we all immediately think of is Byron Bay's Parkay Drive. This band definitely became one of the world's leading metalcore bands, especially in the wake of their last two albums "Deep Blue" (2010) and "Atlas" (2012).
A strong push to the Australian metalcore scene was also given by the local label We Are Unified which discovered almost all of the following metalcore bands, some of which also got signed by Roadrunner Records. For example, the party hardcore of Deez Nuts is currently enjoying huge success and it's taking them on tour all over the world. They have a new album coming out at the end of the month called "Bout It!" and it's looking to be a hit. Another band which is kicking ass world-wide is The Amity Affliction, recently signed by Roadrunner Records. Also Buried In Verona, who are currently on tour with Chelsea Grin, Attila, Betraying The Martyrs and Within The Ruins and will soon be trekking across Europe with Emmure and Obey The Brave too! Other bands like In Hearts Wake or Dream On Dreamer also have a good fan-base internationally and were both launched by We Are Unified.
There's plenty more to find if we talk about death-related genres. Thy Art Is Murder took the world by storm with their huge 2012 album "Hate", which led directly to their record deal with heavy metal giant Nuclear Blast Records who are now planning to re-release the album. Huge sounds, aggressive and groovy riffage, raw talent and creativity got this band to a really high level during the past few months. Now they even have a nomination as "best new band" at the Metal Hammer's Golden Gods Awards! A really important technical deathcore band is the amazing Signal The Firing Squad. They released a full-length album in 2012 too which was called "Abnegate". It was easily one of the best deathcore albums of the year. Should also mention Make Them Suffer, a young talented symphonic death metal band who's earning big time recognition everywhere thanks to their latest album, "Neverbloom". Psycroptic is another technical death metal band which is well known everywhere by now. They were also signed by Nuclear Blast Records and released a new album in 2012 called "The Inherited Repression". Last but not least you should really give a listen to Universum, a good melodic death metal band which had the honor of working with a lot of amazing guest musicians from bands like Soilwork, Scar Symmetry, Nightrage, MyGrain, and Mors Principium Est!
But some of the most intresting proposals are coming from the progressive scene. The "Toolish" progressive sound of Karnivool, for example, has earned them a ton of followers and the same thing is happening currently for the djent-influenced progressive metalcore band Northlane, which just released their new album "Singularity", brought to you by We Are Unified, again. But the greatness doesn't stop there. What about Dead Letter Circus and their amazing take on progressive rock? The incredible experimentation of Ne Obliviscaris? The sharp cyber-metal delivered by Synthetic Breed? ONAN's incredible guitar skills? The beautiful and symphonic-influenced instrumental soundscapes created by Bend The Sky? The high level music of Circles? The Schoenberg Automaton and their hyper-technical math metal? And there's even more! Halcyon, Memoirs, Escapist etc... Australia is STACKED.
It's safe to say there's a lot of amazing stuff coming out of Australia right now. So many that it looks impossible to make a complete recap of the awesome music you can find down under. So many that I'm sure I forgot someone. We couldn't provide music from every band for obvious reasons, but if you're interested in listening, go ahead and search The Circle Pit or on Youtube / music provider of your choosing. Great stuff \m/
This is a continuation of Exlporing The World - Botswana
