I've been out of town but I didn't want to leave
The Circle Pit hanging. So here's something I set up last week to kill
all the memory left on your iPod.
THIS IS THE FREE MUSIC MARATHON!
We've
helped promote a lot of free music over time. This is the cream of the
crop. And it ranges from big bands to the deep underground. Click a
link, any link. You may just find a new favorite. No matter what, you'll
find free music and tunes available for the price of your choosing. All
of these artists deserve support, so don't be afraid to throw some
dollars if something really makes you happy.
This is the final lap with the last 25 links.
We'll officially be back in full operation tomorrow!
I've been meaning to review "The Didact" since it's release early last month. Upcoming Swedish Progressive Metal unit Means End made one helluva
impression when they released their debut EP about a year before that.
Known for being the band of vocalist Robert Luciani (ex-Vildhjarta),
Means End have proven that they're much more than the haven for a talented
name. Rather they are an extremely tight and talented musical unit
bringing creativity and an ever morphing groove to the forefront.
Stockholm Syndrome may ensue as the music pummels you between rhythmic heaviness and off kilter, jazzy melodic work blurring the line of insanity. The chord selection is quite interesting and tasteful and the musical progressions range anywhere from great to awe-inspiring. Might have mentioned, but this is one damn groovy record. Means End are locked into a pulse when they play. Impressive chemistry to say the least. They're also capable of covering a number of musical dynamics. This is not a band you will simply understand after hearing a single song.
The twelve tracks present are aligned to bring you on a metaphysical trip. This is apparent immediately as "Candle In The Dark" illuminates the mind through winding complexity and various musical approaches. Immense creativity and far flung forward thinking are present here. These things are true of just about every track. Stand outs include "Nox Aurumque", "Omega Barrier", "Sun Wukong", and the closer "To Love" among others. The amazing "Ominous Notions", "Lost In Thought", and "Magnaminous" from the original EP also make a return with the titles "Lied Von Leid", "Mourning Star", and well... "Magnaminous". Generally the leaps made from the original versions are positive. And considering the originals were awesome, that's noteworthy.
The track "Nox Aurumque" is a trip of it's own. It's a recreation of the original choral piece composed by Grammy Award winning composer / conductor Eric Whitacre. You can listen to the original here. With his collaboration, Means End re imagined the original. They did a thorough job from the instrumentation to the brilliant vocals of Robert Luciani sung in Latin. Very impressive.
There are a few minor downsides to "The Didact". Certain elements of the production are stronger than others. But it's a strong effort overall, especially when you consider the album was an independent, self-produced release. Means End also have a thing for spoken segments, usually to begin or end a song. These range from being interesting (ambition segment towards the middle of "Omega Barrier") to being campy and taking away from the experience (the beginning and end of "Crimson Interloper"... especially the end. 2:50 is abrupt and awesome until Alice In Wonderland arrives). As far as I'm concerned, Means End can do whatever they want though.
What's so interesting about this band is that you get the impression this is only the beginning for them. "The Didact" is a solid debut full-length. This band has an outrageous amount of potential to cover more grouns. The talent and forward thinking present here are capable of legendary things. One can only wait and listen for the future.
I'd most definitely say this one of the better Progressive Metal releases to drop this year. It packs an impressive amount of content and quality into a 50 minute ride. Plenty of bang for your buck as they say. This means there's plenty of replay value in "The Didact". I've personally been listening to it regularly since the release. Great stuff. Be sure to check the tracks above for some of that Stockholm Syndrome. If it captivates you, stream / support that greatness here!
There's a lot of promising music coming from Sweden of late. At the forefront of this is Means End, who just released their debut album “The Didact” yesterday. After the amazing levels achieved by the first single “Nox Aurumque”, the album has much more epicness in store.
In fact, the band chose to stream the whole album on their official YouTube channel along with special artwork for every single track on the album. This is easily one of the biggest and most awaited djent-related releases of the year and is definitely worth a listen. So check out the tracks below and the full YouTube playlist right here and enjoy their work.
The album was entirely financed by the band itself and released without a label, so by buying the album you'll be directly contributing to the band's activity. You better go check out “The Didact” and go buy it if you enjoy what you're hearing!
The day is coming... As we slowly get closer to the long-awaited release
date of Means End debut full-length album “The Didact” (dropping on May
1st) the band decided to up the anticipation by giving us a taste of their new material. In addition to a 15 minute teaser with previews from every track, they've released their first ever music
video. The chosen song is the 9th track from their new album “Nox Aurumque”.
Let me explain to you what we're talking about.
“Nox Aurumque” is a song created by the American Grammy Award-winning
composer Eric Whitacre, a contemporary choir composer much appreciated
by all the members of this Swedish band. With his collaboration, Means End
re-imagined the piece and recorded “a linear tempo metal song with lead
vocals” trying to stay true to the original. And the result is pretty damn stunning. The lyrics for the song were originally written by
Charles Anthony Silvestri and are now sung by the front man Robert
Luciani (ex-Vildhjarta) in ancient Latin! The video was premiered by got-djent.com and can be watched below along with the new album teaser.
Such class from these Swedish djentlemen!
Upcoming Swedish Progressive Metal unit Means End made one helluva impression when they released their debut EP approximately a year ago. Known for being the band of vocalist Robert Luciani (ex-Vildhjarta), Means End have proven that they're much more than a haven for a talented name. Rather they are an extremely tight and talented musical unit bringing rhythm and creativity to the forefront.
Ever since the release of the EP, they have been hard at work constructing their debut full-length and the details were recently announced! "The Didcact" has been unveiled.
"Our debut album THE DIDACT is now done... It's 55+ minutes of music spread across twelve full tracks. No filler. Both
merchandise and the album will be made available for purchase soon.
We'll let you lick some of the sauce before we serve the steak though. The artwork is done by Robin Portnoff over at Despiracy."
This is most definitely something to look forward to. Stay tuned for more details! And in the mean time, enjoy the pre-production clip of the track "Omega Barrier" down below!
________________
01 - Candle in the Dark 02 - Omega Barrier 03 - Crimson Interloper 04 - Aeronaut 05 - Prometheus 06 - Mourning Star 07 - Magnanimous 08 - Lied von Leid 09 - Nox Aurumque 10 - Sun Wukong 11 - Arbiter of Time 12 - To Love
________________
This
is where the THALL begins... Okay, I know this might look like an easy one
and you may say "Ooh this is not that great an exploration of metal!". But people need to know that there's a lot more greatness coming out of
Sweden than just Meshuggah and Vildhjarta. After Vildhjarta took the
metal underground by storm with their debut album "Masstaden" in 2011, a
lot of bands from Sweden put themselves in the wake of that dark and huge
sound, frequently entwined by deep atmospheric passages. It spawned a large
movement which didn't develop around a single city, but rather grew up
everywhere in the country. Ehm...if you follow this website I hope I'm not supposed
to introduce names like Meshuggah and Vildhjarta, so I'm going straight
to the ones you may not have heard of.
One of the most followed bands of this style is
currently Humanity's Last Breath, frequently referred to as "the second
Vildhjarta". They've already released 2 EPs you can stream / buy on Bandcamp. But in 2012 they released a
new song called "Animal" to show everyone the new direction they were
taking with their upcoming album. It actually sounded like a deathcore
version of Vildhjarta, a bit more aggressive and straightforward. They'll
be releasing this new album in 2013 and it's looking to be one of the
bigger releases of the year (check out some samples on their Soundcloud
page here, especially the track in which they test their new HLB Etherial
Guitar) and they're also one of the first bands confirmed to play at
Euroblast 9! Check 'em out.
Another relatively known band is Means End. They're recognized for being the new project of Vildhjarta's former vocalist Robert Luciani. This guy is able to deliver
amazing growls and perfect clean vocals. Means End have only released a 3
tracks EP so far which was incredibly badass. And they also
promised to deliver some new stuff very soon. Definitely look forward to that! And don't forget their EP is available for FREE! You can download it right here.
And
now, let's dig a bit further into the underground. Jonnah is a good
band coming from Hudiksvall (same city as Vildhjarta). They've been getting a good
number of followers through two small
EPs packing huge sounds. They recently recruited a new vocalist
and are working on some hot new material at the moment. Give 'em a
listen on their Soundcloud page and remember that both of their releases are available for free!! Download them right here, right now!
Gothenburg's
band Limbo is another act you should keep your eyes on. They don't have
any official releases yet but they uploaded some really cool material on
their Soundcloud. They have two amazing vocalists along with a lot of talent
and creativity to boot. Give a listen to their song "With Eyes Wide Shut" and to
the snippets they've uploaded on Soundcloud and start following them!
Behindert
is another artist you need to check out. It's a one man project from
Orebro in which a single guy, Andrè, literally plays all the instruments. He has some really impressive music on his Soundcloud where you can also
find some music from his electronic project Mis Trigger.
We
also recently presented another crazy band from Stockholm called MTWHDTDTIC
(Maybe That's Why Humans Drink The Darkness That Is Coffee). Their abnormally long name matched by a
crazy mix of ambidjent and math-metal will immediately strike you. You better get stoked for their new release "Dum" coming out
in July. Should be awesome. Meanwhile, give a listen to their first release "Window To The
World" on Bandcamp.
Something interesting about the rising "thall movement" is that most of these bands
still haven't released their debut / first album and yet they all have some new
incoming material. This means there's gonna be a lot of great stuff coming out of here in
the following years which may end up influencing the future of metal. And don't forget that Vildhjarta is also going to
release a new EP very soon! Check out our preview for "Thousands of Evils" right here. THALL.
Stay tuned for more explorations!! Next stop: Greece!
This is a must listen for progressive fanatics and tech-heads alike. You'll get Stockholm syndrome when this Swedish band captivates you with their brand of tight as hell heavy music (bad pun intended). This Stockholm four piece weaves together some VERY impressive metal with low-tuned madness, elements of fusion, and a boat load of creativity. This is evinced by their huge debut EP. You can listen to all the tracks below and download the release in it's entirety on the official Means End Bandcamp. This is highly recommended music. Haven't been this impressed in a bit. If you enjoy the music as much as we do, go ahead and support Means End.
Rumor has it, Means End also has a new full-length well under way. Not to mention a full-length that will be produced by Tesseract's very own Acle Kahney. Ohhhhh yeeaaah! Vocal recording was just finished and there is absolutely no voice modification or cheap studio magic. Respect. The album should be awesome. Stay tuned for more.
I've been out of town but I didn't want to leave
The Circle Pit hanging. So here's something I set up last week to kill
all the memory left on your iPod.
