After winning this year's Euroblast Jingle Contest and being confirmed for both UK Tech-Metal Fest this month and Euroblast festival in October, Joncofy are getting some new material ready to destroy our asses.
They recently uploaded a teaser video with some new material and it's seriously sick! Heavy, groovy and djenty. These guys, hailing from Ukraine, are definitely worth the attention they're getting and I'm really curious to check em out on Saturday July 13 (my birthday!) on the second stage of UK Tech-Fest. Give a listen to their new material below and get stoked!
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/
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.
