In an unexpected turn of events, ex-Periphery vocalist Chris Barretto (Ever Forthright / Monuments) took the stage with his old band in NYC. He joined them for a rendition of the fan favorite "Icarus Lives!" from the band's debut album / demos from days of old.
Fan shot footage is available for your viewing pleasure below. We've also included recent songs from Periphery and Ever Forthright respectively.
So our Italian team member MATTIA and his videographer have approximately 10 hours of footage to sort through from the 5 days of madness that were this year's UK Tech-Metal Fest. They're working hard to bring you a 1 hour documentary of what went down. Just to keep you on your toes, he put together a rough teaser. Watch and read Mattia's statement for more info below.
And if your Tech Fest cravings aren't satisfied know that our official video and final report are coming soon! In the meantime, read up on Report 1 HERE, Report 2 HERE, Report 3 HERE, and Report 4 HERE. Booyah!
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We recently crashed UK Tech-Metal Fest in Peterborough and filmed
some amazing footage there including HD live performances, interviews
with great bands, some hilarious and even psychedelic stuff happening
around during the weekend. We filmed a load of material and we're
working hard to bring you a finished live experience as soon as possible.
It
will end up being a one-hour documentary showing you how amazing that
weekend has been for us and everyone who attended. We filmed so much material that if you were there, you will probably appear in some frames
of the final video. In the meantime, we've decided to show you a small,
low-quality teaser of what's coming because we just can't wait for you
to see what we're working on. The definition of the final video should
be way higher but this should give you an idea of what we have here. We hope it can bring you even just a small glimpse of what was the
amazing vibe you could feel at Tech-Fest.
The ambient track in the
beginning of the video is called “Genghis” produced by
an artist called Interlaken. The track is featured on an amazing
downtempo/glitch compilation called “Fragm'nts”. It has been released
under a Creative Commons License so it can easily be downloaded for
free on the psychedelic music portal Ektoplazm.com or at the label's Bandcamp.
You need to check that compilation out if you're a fan of this type of
music too.
The heavy djenty song is from our old, good French friends in
Cycles and it's called “From Fear To Fascination”. This track is
available for a "name-your-price" download on Bandcamp as well. Keep your eyes on this band too, since their new EP shall be hitting
your eardrums soon. Check out the teaser below and be patient...the full
video's coming very soon!
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Excited as hell, we reached the airport in time but our flight had been delayed. So we arrived at London's Stansted Airport 45 minutes later than we expected. We lost our train and reached the venue at 10 pm. We immediately met that golden guy named Simon Garrod (owner of UK Tech-Metal Fest, Monolithic Music, and English Djentlemens Quarters). He showed us the camping and the press area. It was already very dark and it took around one hour to place our tent! Going to sleep now, had enough adventures for today.
Thursday July 11th, 2013
We woke up and started shooting some video around the camp grounds, slowly invaded by a lot of tech-heads for the very first early bird day. We met up with a lot of nice people and our friends in Damned Spring Fragrantia.
We attended the very first concerts and saw the massive performances from bands like Foreboding Ether, Red Enemy (which resulted to be one of the audience's favourite performances), Black Tongue (Infant Annihilator side project) and Bloodshot Dawn.
We all couldn't wait to see Monuments performance with Chris Barretto and it really went beyond our expectations. Their show was truly unbelievable. One of the best the band has ever done (their words). There were already a load of people to attend the show, way more than expected by the organizers themselves. We shot a bunch of sick videos of the Monuments performance. You'll see them very soon.
Monuments' performance took place on the second stage, literally invaded
by this big crowd. I was so excited and amazed by the band and Chris'
performance that I wasn't even able to memorize their setlist. I'm
pretty sure they started with the new instrumental track “The Indulger”
and continued with “Degenerate”, followed by (order is probably wrong
and I'm probably missing some songs) “97% Static”, “Doxa”, “Empty Vassel
Make The Most Noise” and “Regenerate”. They also played their new, yet
unreleased, song somewhere during the set and finished it with “Admit
Defeat”. As I said, there might be some mistakes in this setlist,
because I was simply too amazed by everything happening there. I had
already seen Monuments two times in Italy with Matt Rose, but there were
just small crowds in small venues. Seeing them here in the UK, during
Tech-Metal Fest with this beautiful crowd and with that brilliant
performance from Chris Barretto was such an intense and memorable
experience. I will never forget this night.
We were already having trouble with my PC that works terribly and it seemed like we wouldn't have a wifi connection available during the weekend. It was also hard to find plugs and power, but we dealt with it. This festival hadn't even already started, and it's already one of the best events ever.
During the afternoon we also had the time to interview our friends in Damned Spring Fragrantia and enjoyed our camping life. It's all amazing and it's truly unbelievable for me to be here. And as I said - the real festival is not even started yet. I can't wait for tomorrow.
This is a follow up to the announcement of the new Monuments vocalist. Read up here.
Here's news that will make our friend Mike Thall very happy along with many other people around the globe. It has been recently revealed that Chris Barretto (Ever Forthright's current vocalist, former Periphery and Friend For A Foe vocalist and The HAARP Machine live member) will be the new full-time front man for Monuments. Even though this has been received as a beautiful news there are a lot of people legitimately worried about Ever Forthright's future! What is gonna happen to Barretto's main project? Well Chris just posted a message for his fans that shall explain the situation.
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“Greetings to all!
By now I'm sure you've all heard the news and I'm excited to announce that I'm the new singer of Monuments! Let me just squash any doubts that some of you may have, Ever Forthright is not going anywhere and I will be doing both projects with all my heart and soul! That being said, there are many questions of yours that I'd like to answer when things aren't so busy on my end. I intend to have a full Q&A session if you all would be into the idea. Until then, get ready for some new, ULTRA-COMBO, Ever Forthright music coming soon :)” - Chris Barretto
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If you're not excited yet, check out the preview of a new Ever Forthright song called “Riot” (any lyrical influence from The HAARP Machine?). We'll be hearing Monuments new vocalist at the forthcoming UK Tech-Metal Fest on July 11th and there's no need to say that I'm stoked as fuck!
Monuments just announced their new vocalist. Not only that, it's arguably the best vocalist they've ever had.
And the man of the hour is.... Chris Baretto!
Some of you probably just jumped out of your seat, others probably felt a twitch of disappointment, and the rest are probably thinking "fuck you, we already know this" or have no clue what's going on.
This is great news for Monuments as Chris Baretto is an insanely multi-talented beast. Not only does he sing and scream like he's the fucking man. Chris can play sax, keyboard, and pulls surprises like few others. This adds a whole new layer of diversity and strength to the already solid Monuments line-up. There's no doubt about it.
I initially fell into the second category of slightly disappointed people. Not because I have anything against the artists involved but because of two words... Ever Forthright. It would really be a damn shame to see such an amazing band lose their vocalist. Albeit Chris is known for pulling off 20 projects at once. Only time will tell what happens.
Anyways, you can check music from both Chris's endeavors and Monuments down below. I've also included a live clip of Monuments with Chris saxing it up. Great stuff!
Djent band Monuments gained a lot of attention and built up a lot of steam following the release of their debut album “Gnosis.” The band’s album is a very solid, unique, fun progressive metal / djent album. Monuments followed this release with plenty of touring, often opening for big names like After the Burial, Vildhjarta, and Born of Osiris.
Some of this momentum was taken away when vocalist Matt Rose departed the band. The split has appeared amicable, but soured by some bad blood. Rose gave a statement blaming the other members lack of productivity for the split and asserted he will not miss the band. Monuments was forced to search for a new vocalist and even held public auditions. These auditions actually gave us our first snippet of new music. The band released a new instrumental track, titled "The Indulger" for potential vocalists to try out with.
Monuments recently uploaded a countdown on their website without indicating what it led to. Most assumed it had something to do with the band’s new vocalist. The band has announced that the new Monuments vocalist will be debuted at Ghostfest. This festival takes place June 29th and 30th at Leeds University.
Composer and guitarist John Browne issued this statement, “We’re happy to announce that we will be performing with our new vocalist at Ghostfest in June and Techfest in July. We’re very confident in his abilities in recreating "Gnosis" as well as giving a whole new twist to the future music of MONUMENTS…We know you’re going to love what you hear. Please feel free to attend Ghostfest to see who it is, but please be aware tickets are very limited.”
Head to Ghostfest if you can to see the new vocalist and prepare for new Monuments.
The thing that sucks about living in States is that Europe gets all the great shows. And the problem with living in Europe is that the US gets all the great shows. If you catch my drift... You can't win either way.
For this reason I did not personally attend Euroblast 8 but there's no denying the line-up was insanely good. There was also an incredible tour alongside the main event with Scar Symmetry among others. So today we're gonna be taking a look back at some of the incredible sets that were played at the main festival itself along with prepping you for this year's Euroblast 9.
Euroblast 8 was stacked with names like After The Burial, Tesseract, Jeff Loomis, War From A Harlots Mouth, Vildhjarta, Skyharbor, Chimp Spanner, Monuments, Circle of Contempt, The Algorithm, Agent Fresco, Destiny Potato, and the list goes on... Check out footage from the bands down below! Also included possibly one of the coolest festival trailers ever made, featuring music from the incredible Akeldama.
Currently the line-up for this years festival is being announced bit by bit. There have already been several awesome bands announced including Benea Reach, Mnemic, Twelve Foot Ninja, The Omega Experiment, Cyclamen, Tardive Dyskinesia, etc. You can check the rest of the bands / get all kinds of info here. This years festival will be huge!
There's been a storm of rumors surrounding this topic. I even woke up to question "Dude, did Monuments break up?" this morning. The answer is NO, Monuments did not break up. If anything, the band is alive and well as they've been unveiling new songs live and were recently announced for this year's UK Tech Fest and Ghost Fest.
The vocalist Matt Rose did leave though. The band reportedly posted a message on their Twitter to this effect and will be following up with an official statement sooner than later. He's the third vocalist they've lost in the past year or so. I guess we'll see how things will shape up. The return of Neema Askari? Doubtful, but we'll see what happens.
The Sumerian invasion is here! On the way, they conquered Italy with an amazing line up. This was one of the most anticipated shows of the season, boasting big names like Born Of Osiris, After The Burial, Monuments, and The HAARP Machine!
The night was warmed up by a local band named Observe which was forced to play almost immediatly when the doors opened. So they only got to perform in front of approximately 40-50 people as the rest audience slowly trickled into the venue. The performance of these young guys was pretty good regardless, even though they still need to work on their artistic and live attitude. They have an EP coming out in spring 2013, so if you're curious you can take a look to their Facebook page.
As more and more people kept entering the venue and empty spaces filled, Chris Barretto was the first member of The HAARP Machine to take the stage. After 3 out of 4 members left the band a couple months ago, Al Mu'min had to build a completely new line up and he found a perfect singer in Chris (former Periphery and Friend For A Foe, now vocalist of Ever Forthright). He also brought on Ever Forthright's lead guitarist, Nick Llerandi. The performance was definitely appreciable considering these guys had only a few weeks to prepare it. Al Mu'min's performance was clean and precise but the most remarkable performance was delivered by the amazing live presence of Chris Barretto. First off, he's an amazing singer and his vocals fit perfectly with The HAARP Machine's songs, and second he is an amazing front man and he definitely owns the stage. He was able to captivate the audience and make the show really enjoyable even for those who didn't know the band. They played 5 songs, opening with "Esoteric Agenda", continuing with "Pleiadian Keys", "Disclosure", "Extension To One", and closing with "The Escapist Notion". The new line up looked / sounded really solid. Guess we'll see if they'll be confirmed as the new, official The HAARP Machine line up.
Then came Monuments turn! This was the second time I've seen them. Actually, they were the only band of the night I already had the chance to catch live. And I must confess, I had a lot more fun this time. The last time they came to Milan was for the Euroblast tour with Jeff Loomis, Vildhjarta, and Stealing Axiom, but there were just a few people who came to see their set which meant the crowd was pretty lame. But this time the Century Media moguls played in front a much larger audience. The mosh pit exploded almost immediately and they kept the crowd jumping for the whole set, especially on songs like "Doxa" and "Degenerate". The audiences response was also good on songs like "Empty Vessels Make The Most Noise", "Blue Sky Thinking", and "Regenerate" which ultimately closed out their set. They also played a new song called "The Oppressor" which sounded kinda badass too! You can find some live footage of this song searching on Youtube. Expect huge stuff from these guys in the following years. Monuments' performance was intense and funny as the band got its largely deserved recognition from the audience.
After Monuments left the stage, I went to the merch store to speak with Matt Rose (all the members from all the bands that night spent a lot of time speaking with the fans at the merch tables and they were all really kind) and after some chatting, he strongly recommended After The Burial's set. And he was fucking right. I've been a fan of After The Burial for a long time now but I never had the chance to actually see them. And I must confess, I didn't expect them to be such an amazing live band. It turned out being one of the most impressive live metal performances I've ever witnessed (...and I've seen quite a lot). Their music was recreated perfectly as a flawless, clear, yet sharp and crushing performance which made their sound even more powerful and exciting. The crowd responded with continuous jumping, unstoppable moshing, and heavy headbangings. They started off with "Cursing Akhenaten", followed by "My Frailty", supported by a serious number of people crowd-surfing, then "Berzerker" triggered an insane circle pit. Maybe this was a bit too intense for starters...I was exhausted after only 3 songs! Then they played their new song, "A Wolf Amongst Ravens", which features grooooooovin guitar riffs that kept me and the crowd jumping and screaming. They claimed to have finished writing their new album and said they'll start tracking it after the end of the tour! But they also announced that they recently re-recorded their debut classic "Forging a Future Self", and the new version should be available soon! After that they immediatly played "A Steady Decline", "Aspiration", and the heavy as hell finisher "Your Troubles Will Cease and Fortune Will Smile Upon You" (cool wall of death here!). It was an incredibly intense set...too bad it only lasted for 7 songs. I hope they'll be back soon for a headlining show and melt my face off again.
A quick break to the toilette and Born Of Osiris is already on stage for their headlining performance. They immediately started off with "Empires Erased" and "Rosecrance" off their debut "The New Reign", followed by 3 songs off "The Discovery" - "Ascension", "Follow The Sings", and "Two Worlds Of Design". Even though their performance was really intense and established on a high level, the crowd looked a bit tired after all the previous bands, especially after just experiencing After The Burial's crushing performance. But a lot of people in the crowd went on moshing and jumping until the end creating some really enjoyable and memorable moments. They finished the show with incredibly heavy, technical, well-performed songs like "Open Arms To Damnation", "Bow Down", "Singularity", and "Recreate". After that, they came back for a final encore with the song "Now Arise" which gave the audience one last, well-exploited chance to have a really good time.
This was definitely a night to remember: good people, good music, good moshing, and good times. That's the perfect formula! But afterwards, I couldn't wait to get out and refresh myself and my sweaty Monuments t-shirt under Milan's acid rain.
I know this isn't brand new, but it's still worth sharing. The UK's very own Monuments have been making quite a name for themselves over the past year or so as they've successfully spread their sound all across the metal underground and back. They play super groovy, ambient, djent styled music with a very progressive, out of the box approach.
This is more than apparent on their debut full-length, "Gnosis". You can read our full review for that album right here. It's a solid album worth your attention.
In support of "Gnosis", they have officially released two music videos. The kaleidoscope video for the "97% Static" single premiered months back, but just a little over a week ago the second video for the song "Regenerate" was unveiled. It's a live video taking some unconventional twists with go pros and such. All in all, it's awesome \m/ You can check out both videos below along with another track off Gnosis just below.
The internet is such a strange, hilarious place. You never know what you're gonna find next. Today I found something GOD DAMN HILARIOUS! And I bet some of you have already seen it. Olly Steele and Mike Malyan of Monuments have been giving Family Guy clips a perfectly timed, hard hitting metal soundtrack. They make me laugh everytime. Diabeetus.
The word "HUGE" might not even do it justice. This tour is gonna be FUCKING COLOSSAL. Seriously, Europe always gets the best shows and it makes me want to move. Born of Osiris will trekking across several countries with other big names such as After The Burial, Monuments, and The HAARP Machine early next year! It's not safe to have so much talent under one roof. Venues will cease to exist after these shows! We have the flyer with dates and music from all of the above, below. Go forth and MOSH!
When's the last time you headbanged for a good cause? We have a great opportunity for you to spread good in the world with metal right here! A message from the band Monuments...
"And
herby we release MEMOIRS. All proceeds will be going to our good friend
Laura, who recently found out she has a condition called Pseudomyxoma
Peritonei (or PMP), a rare form of cancer of the appendix that effects
less than one in a million people. We will be releasing Memoirs to raise
money for her as there are very few people in the world who are able to
treat this condition and none are in the UK due to its rarity. She will
have to travel abroad for the treatment and it will be extremely
expensive. There will be a minimum donation of £2 ($3.20) for the track, however
it'll be possible to give as much as you want, so please give
generously."
And did we mention the song kicks ass? You can listen to it below and go get it here! Let's all chip in and get Laura the help she needs!
We will be releasing Memoirs via bandcamp as of 20th October. All
proceeds will be going to our good friend Laura, who recently found out
she has a condition called Pseudomyxoma Peritonei (or PMP), a rare form
of cancer of the appendix that effects less than one in a million
people. We will be releasing Memoirs to raise money for her as there are
very few people in the world who are able to treat this condition and
none are in the UK due to its rarity. She will have to travel abroad for
the treatment and it will be extremely expensive. There will be a
minimum donation of £2 for the track, however it'll be possible to give
as much as you want, so please give generously. We would like to give a
big shout out to Neema Askari, Joe Garret, John Sprich, James Monteith,
Mel Schmidt, Steve Joh and everyone at Century Media for making this
possible so quickly, Thank you.
We'd like to raise awareness
of this condition, because of it's extreme rarity, it is often
misdiagnosed. For further information please read here."
John Browne, lead guitarist and driving force behind the band Monuments has recently posted 2 play through videos. The first is of the epic track "Denial" featuring the golden pipes of Spencer Sotelo from Periphery. The second is a play through for a song that Monuments wrote specifically for the Euroblast 8 festival, simply titled "Euroblast Jingle". You can watch both below along with the kaleidoscopic video for the Monuments track "97% Static" just because. Also be sure to check out The Circle Pit's full review of the debut Monuments album, "Gnosis". Big dick grooves!
After weeks of hype, Monuments have finally released their new music video for "97% Static". This is a huge, atmospheric track from the UK five piece and the video really does it justice. Treat your eyes and ears to the kaleidoscopic goodness and watch "97% Static" right here, right now. Also check out The Circle Pit's full album review for their debut record "Gnosis".
"Mind Fuck" - That's the way people describe the style played by The Algorithm aka the Al Gore rhythm... I'd say it has a good chance of being the next big thing. Usually the idea of metal being mixed with dubstep makes me cringe. But French producer Rémi Gallego pulls it off in a way that I can't deny the awesomeness. Especially when Monuments drummer Mike Malyan is wrecking the kit to this live. Mixing electronics with sharp mind fuck patterns and overall quality, The Algorithm should appeal to several circles. Signed to Europe's Basick Records (great label), The Algorithm is working on his debut full length record as we speak. If any of this strikes your interest, maybe even if it doesn't, you should give the Algorithm's mind fuckery a listen below. We have a complete live set of The Algorithm jamming with Mike Malyan for you. Definitely check that out. There's also a drum play through and the track "Tr0jans".
What originally started as a collaboration between members of the now gone Fellsilent and soon to be gone Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza, Monuments has now become the brainchild of ex-Fellsilent Englishman guitarist John Browne and a new lineup of talent. Through the serious lineup changes and complications, John Browne has grown as an artist and it really shows through most of the bands debut album. "Gnosis" was released not too long ago across Europe but American metalheads will have to wait until September 25th to get their hands on a physical copy. I was originally planning on doing this review in September but when the band put up a stream of the entire album online, I eventually found it hard to resist. Listeners should except to hear the dangerous complexities of
Meshuggah/SikTh style groovy off-time riffs and drumming (provided by
the ridiculous Mike Maylan), tight jagged edged riffs, interesting use of melody, the soaring vocals of new addition Matt Rose (replacing Fellsilent's Neema Askari), and heaps of awesomeness.
The changes since the debut 2010 EP "We Are The Foundation" are apparent and really show the direction this band is headed in. Reworked versions of "Admit Defeat" and "The Uncollective" have been added to the track list showing the variation of the two releases. The new version of "The Uncollective" crushes the last in my opinion but I have mixed feelings about "Admit Defeat" as I have a soft spot for the "We Are The Foundation" version.
EP aside, this debut full length is a solid release. There are plenty of tracks to grab your attention. My personal favorites would have to be "97% Static", "Doxa", "Blue Sky Thinking", "Degenerate", "Regenerate", and "Denial". "97% Static" opens with such a sweet groove which really sets the tone for a good bit of the song. This likely fan favorite has a music video which will be released very soon. "Doxa" was the first song released off this record and for good reason as it gives you an idea of what to expect. This song is a display of well constructed heaviness. "Blue Sky Thinking" has a HUGE chorus from Matt Rose that gets stuck in my head very easily. And I can relate to his lack of faith in the human race (no offense guys). The music behind the vocals is very well thought out, providing groovy heaviness to compliment the overall nature of the song. "Degenerate" is a vicious, anger filled track which hits hard everytime. "Regenerate" is one of the best on the record. From it's eerie groove of a beginning to it's strong closure, this is a stand out track. "Denial" is special because it opens with a powerful Spencer Sotelo (Periphery) cameo which really sets the mood for the album's ender. Matt Rose picks up nicely where Spencer leaves off and the band carries out the album with strength.
However, parts of this album don't shine as brightly. "Empty Vessels Make the Most Noise" is a good song but it has a slow, boring breakdown that almost seems to go against the nature and talent level of this band. Other parts may feel monotonous or done before. You almost get the vibe that Monuments was late to the "djent" party or something.. Also, the clean picking style which is used heavily on "Gnosis" is very similar to Tesseract but it still sounds good. These are my only real criticisms of this otherwise great record.
Whether you can already grab the album over in Europe or you're in a part of the world that still has to wait, I recommend giving this album a listen. If you like it, you should definitely add this one to your collection. Not only does it have good music, it has awesome artwork. And you can never go wrong with awesome artwork.
British Progressive Math Metal juggernaut Monuments put their debut album "Gnosis" online for streaming about a week before its release date. You can to it listen here. The Circle Pit will definitely be putting up a review for this one when I get my hands (ears/brain) on the CD. In the mean, time you should listen and read our complete album preview. Also, expect a music video for the song "97% Static" very soon. The teaser is down yonder. Happy headbanging.
In an unexpected turn of events, ex-Periphery vocalist Chris Barretto (Ever Forthright / Monuments) took the stage with his old band in NYC. He joined them for a rendition of the fan favorite "Icarus Lives!" from the band's debut album / demos from days of old.
Video and additional reports coming soon!
Some rad play throughs / gear for you to feast your eyes and ears on. 
"Mind Fuck" - That's the way people describe the style played by The Algorithm aka the Al Gore rhythm... I'd say it has a good chance of being the next big thing. Usually the idea of metal being mixed with dubstep makes me cringe. But French producer Rémi Gallego pulls it off in a way that I can't deny the awesomeness. Especially when Monuments drummer Mike Malyan is wrecking the kit to this live. Mixing electronics with sharp mind fuck patterns and overall quality, The Algorithm should appeal to several circles. Signed to Europe's Basick Records (great label), The Algorithm is working on his debut full length record as we speak. If any of this strikes your interest, maybe even if it doesn't, you should give the Algorithm's mind fuckery a listen below. We have a complete live set of The Algorithm jamming with Mike Malyan for you. Definitely check that out. There's also a drum play through and the track "Tr0jans".
