TYRANT - Pray for the Night (official music video)

Tyrant

The Lowest Level

Pavement Entertainment

30 September 2022

I was too slow to recognize how good this album is. For whatever reasons, it has taken me a bit longer to listen to the album in a real way. I kept playing it over and over, sensing that there may be something good here, but perhaps being too distracted to notice it. It's not that the songs need repeated listens. It's not that it is prog or complex or weird. It's not that there is something wrong. There is nothing wrong. It is not "an adquired taste," which is a nice to say that a band may have strange vocals or that something else that is too weird.

This is a band that plays thrashy heavy metal with singing. They are thrashy enough to play on the same stage as thrash bands and plenty traditional heavy metal to share the stage with those bands, too. There are also melodic death metal leanings found in the guitar and rhythms. There are many ways to understand it, as contemporary heavy metal, as melodic thrash, as power thrash, as classic Iced Earth/Metal Church "U.S. power metal" or even something like a contemporary interpretation of Anthrax's 1985 album Spreading the Disease, before Anthrax well all-out, all-cylinders nonstop thrash in 1987.

Anyway, my point is that quality songwriting is important to the band, and things like speed are secondary. They are not afraid to work with various moods. It's not retro heavy metal.

I understand now. I should have recognized the quality more quickly than I have. This is a very enjoyable album. Keep your eyes out for this band. They are young. I hope that you will give them a chance and take notice that they are playing heavy metal in a way that sounds young or fresh, and not like a tired style.

TYRANT - Pray for the Night (Official Music Video)

The Lowest Level by TYRANT

https://www.facebook.com/TyrantMetal/

Skelator - If you want Seattle metal you've got it

The Washington state, U.S. heavy metal tag team Skelator never stops. They only rest for a bit, and they return again and again with sole intention of bringing traditional true heavy metal. Their metal campaign began in 1998 in San Diego, California but then early on the action moved up north to the Seattle area, where Skelator has been running all over the place playing shows at every bar, backyard and abandoned bridge that they can find. All those chains and leather and swords need to be used for something. This year they have a new EP called Blood Empire. The guitar playing is perfect for air guitar, the rhythm section is heavy enough to shake freeway underpasses, and the screaming is the same way as it has always been: loud and high. Because why not!

Blood Empire by Skelator

Skelator - Blood Empire [EP] (2022)

https://www.facebook.com/TrueSkelator

Décembre Noir - Has the German band lost its mind?!

Known for their melodic death doom heaviness, the German band here has taken a very different route. It sounds more like a break or a vacation from death doom in order to do something more melancholic, mellow and certainly not metal, strictly speaking. The EP is the reimagining of four previous Décembre Noir songs.

1. A Swan Lake Full of Tears 05:01 featuring Mick Moss (Antimatter)

2. Barricades 08:52 featuring Aaron Stainthorpe (My Dying Bride)

3. Small.Town.Depression 06:25 featuring Michelle Darkness (End of Green)

4. The Forsaken Earth 07:45 featuring Matt Heafy (Trivium)

The band is hoping that listeners are willing to try out some piano, mellow or acoustic-oriented deep dive into melancholy and depression. Do not expect much in the way of headbanging or heavy sounds. If family or friends heard you listening to this EP they might wonder if you are doing ok or if you are depressed. Wait, there is more. The third song is the band expressing their love of 1980s electronic music, perhaps New Order, Pet Shop Boys or Erasure, but with a bit of the gothic, somewhat sinister feel. This song does sound like music for dancing, but don't dance too happy. Dance in a depressed way. You will have to wait until the fourth song to hear some heavy metal music. This song sounds a lot more comfortable because it's metal, while the previous three may make you a bit nervous as to what you are hearing. As Aaron Rodgers says, r-e-l-a-x. It's just an EP. The Germans wanted to take a vacation from all the growling death doom that they do.

Decembre Noir - Pale Serenades (Full EP) 2022

https://www.facebook.com/DecembreNoir

Savsatt - instrumental black of double jeopardy in Washington state, U.S.

In the epoch times of the future people will be asking what could be instrumetal black metal. At the moment the genie will emerge from the bottle and say, "Go forth to the past where the future is and there you will have found to be Savsatt." They will record this demo in 2021 with three songs. The music will be instrumental, of course. The almost-20 minute time will sound pretty different without a gremlin ripping the vocal chords apart through the screeching and the howling, all absent on this demo. It will be just the music, melodic and at times fast, but not all blasting all the time.

"This instrumental black metal is good for meditation."

"Alex, what is Washington state's Savsatt?"

"That is correct."

Demo by Savsatt

https://www.facebook.com/savsattband/

Vision Master - mountain wizard heavy metal in the state of Washington, U.S.

Vision Master is, according to Bandcamp, "ex-Funerot members Dan Munro (guitar & vocals) and Reuben Storey (drums & bass)." They say what they do is "Weird tales of mythic prophecy, futile victory and phantasmagorical anomaly manifested through heavy metal soliloquy." The music, as you can imagine, is mountain wizard heavy metal in which the sands of time flow horizontally or laterally. Obsessed with mythical time, Vision Master travels all over the place in the quest to make the vintage mystified heavy metal. These four songs of their debut recording called Orb take no time to be understood as a type of proto-timeless heavy metal of the olde made new once more.

Orb by Vision Master

Tethered to the Void - Washington state demo metal

I do not have much information about Tethered to the Void, a project in the state of Washington, U.S. On Metal Archives there is a list of singles: Shells (2014), Dust (2019), Shells (2019), Far Away (2019), and Mark of the Wolf (2020). One of those of singles is at Bandcamp, the one shown here below. This is a demo-type humble do-it-yourself recording by a person named Kyle Johnson. The vocals are semi-spoken, semi-growl and the music is galloping type of riffing. Of course, this is just one song to describe. Anyway, this is recommended for Washington die-hards interested in an encyclopedist or completist knowledge of Washington metal.

Dust by Tethered To The Void

https://www.facebook.com/tetheredtothevoid

Psionic Haze - heavy metal of Washington state, U.S.

Psionic Haze is mountain wizard heavy metal from the state of Washington, U.S. On Bandcamp they have a two-song demo that brings epic heavy metal to the mountain of doom inhabited by wizards and other types of psychedelic battle magicians of the fog lands. It's like the 1970s never wanted to stop the party and they just moved right into the 1980s's house and they all drove to 2022's residence and decided continue the celebration.

Lore (Demo 2022) by Psionic Haze

https://www.facebook.com/PsionicHaze

Dark Forest - melodies from the U.K.

Having long ago established their reputation for quality melodic traditional heavy metal, the long-running act Dark Forest (U.K.) nowadays delivers melancholic vibes in their melodies that make their songs rather difficult to turn down. This new EP is (five songs in 26 minutes) has such good singing, songwriting and melodies that perhaps anyone that listens to guitar-focused classic rock would find this music enjoyable at least. For instance, would Iron Maiden audiences not like this music? The strong guitar melodies suggest that fans of classic U.F.O. or Boston may get a kick out of these sweet guitar melodies. The good singing also helps! This band is not an iron-and-steel style of heavy metal. They have a certain melancholy in their sound that makes the songs soft and pleasant in the way of those previously mentioned greats. Anyway, I have heard this EP many times now and it’s such a fun, entertaining listen. It will make you feel good, but may give you some sad feelings, too, like Maiden, U.F.O or Boston do.

Ridge And Furrow by Dark Forest

https://www.facebook.com/splintered.throne

Splintered Throne comes to Everett, WA November 18

U.S. traditional heavy metal band Splintered Throne (Oregon state, U.S.) will be live in concert in Everett on the 18th of November, 2022. They will play at Tony's. Check out the information below. Also, below the concert information, there is a previously published commentary on the band's most recent album.

Splintered Throne

The Greater Good of Man

19 August 2022

The Portland, Oregon, U.S. classic-style band has been rolling out the albums since 2014: two studio works (2014, 2017) and a live one (2019). They are a veteran act and members have been doing music for decades in this and other entities. On this third studio album they have a new singer, Lisa Mann, replacing the original singer Brian Garrison. The new music provides rockers and anthems as the foundation, and some slower segments, everything that traditional, melodic heavy metal is supposed to deliver. The guitar playing is perfect for this style, with a solid, audible rhythm section; the soloing is very good, as is the singing. The recording sounds professional (not like a demo recording). The drum sound is not flaccid nor mechanical, which should please audiences tired of the pop rock drum sound in metal (I hope the band is actually using their human drummer’s real drum work!). The singing is a bit of a strange story, you see. Lisa Mann, a blues musician whose work I do not know enough to comment on intelligently, first came to my attention with White Crone, a cool project with which she manifested her love of metal in 2020, including a Venom cover. White Crone has also done a cover of Rainbow’s “Stargazer”. I mention these covers for a reason: Lisa Mann, according to Wikipedia, is a blues musician who has won a bunch of awards and has at least five studio albums. It turns out that her voice fits heavy metal splendidly. The singing voice has no annoying qualities. It is not nasal, not thin, and not showing off with irritating unnecessary high screams. It is strong but also melodic, a naturally pleasant, ear-friendly mature traditional heavy metal voice. When the voice goes higher, it does not peter out. Rather, it remains strong throughout. What a difference it makes when heavy metal is executed properly with strong singing.

Splintered Throne is professional-minded, serious heavy metal with melody, and good singing worth remembering.

The Greater Good of Man by Splintered Throne

https://www.facebook.com/splintered.throne

Live Burial - classic-style death metal from the U.K.

The British death metal band Live Burial's third album Curse of the Forlorn was released on the 23rd of September of 2022. I have found that their take on traditional death metal now has become substantially more memorable and the overall skill should be detectable by the genre's supporters. They have been a good band for years and have been active since 2012. Their interpretation of the genre has not changed because even their early recordings have the same style: a type of classic death metal that focuses on songwriting, and keeps things like speed, technicality and brutality as a secondary trait, not as their bread and butter. Even their 2013 demo and 2014 EP were based on the same interpretation of classic death metal. However, now with a lot more experience, their music has a reached a strong point that the die-hard supporters of the genre anywhere in the world would recognize as competent and skilled, enough to please those audiences willing to give the album a chance.

Curse of the Forlorn (Death Metal) by LIVE BURIAL

https://www.facebook.com/LiveBurial

Penance Stare - Raw Power Festival 2022

Sharing here a new video posted on YouTube of British post-black metal duo Penance Stare performing at "Raw Power Festival 2022." If you enjoy the video performance, maybe you'd like to hear the band's 2019 album Solanaceae that they have on Bandcamp.

Penance Stare - Raw Power Festival 2022

Solanaceae by Penance Stare

https://www.facebook.com/penancestaremusic/

Sisters of Suffocation - Buried in the Crowd (official music video)

This track is the opening song from the upcoming third album by Dutch death metal band Sisters of Suffocation. The name of the album is Eradication and it is scheduled for November 25th, 2022.

Sisters of Suffocation - Buried in the Crowd (Official Music Video)

https://www.facebook.com/sistersofsuffocation

Alyssa Day - Dread & Dream (official music video)

Metal Archives lists Ruinous as U.S. guitarist Alyssa Day's debut. It is an instrumental EP of the following four songs. If you enjoy guitar-oriented music, perhaps you might like to find out more about the EP. I have not found the EP on Bandcamp, but on YouTube there are songs posted. Of course, Facebook will have more information.

1. A Fever of Matter 04:23

2. Avarice 03:59

3. Marauder 03:10

4. Dread & Dream 05:25

total playing time 16:57

Alyssa Day - Dread & Dream (Official Music Video)

Alyssa Day - Avarice (Guitar Playthrough)

https://www.facebook.com/alyssadayguitar/

INQUISITION - Dark Mutilation Rites (Live in Pasto, Colombia 2022)

Washington state, U.S. black metal duo Inquisition recently played in South America. Here is a video from YouTube of Inquisition in Colombia, where the band began in 1988. Below there is also an interview from YouTube with guitarist/vocalist Dagon.

INQUISITION - Dark Mutilation Rites (Live in Pasto, Colombia 2022)

American black metal legends: Inquisition - part one [interview]

American black metal legends: Inquisition - part two [interview]

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1674997235

SilentLie - gothic heavy metal from Italy

SilentLie

Equilibrium

Rockshots Records

30 September 2022

SILENTLIE - On My Skin (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)

SILENTLIE - Equilibrium (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)

SILENTLIE - Something To Remember (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)

Their biography states that the band formed in Trieste, Italy in 2005 and then they did a demo in 2008. Things must have not been going so smooth because it was not until 2013 that they did an EP, but they followed it up with an album in 2015.

My knowledge of their music begins only in 2022 with the new album. An adult contemporary melodic heavy metal band, SilentLie’s lyrics deal with emotions in the context of relations and the rhythms focus on groove, melody and memorability. The singing is done with melody and shades of melancholy that should catch the listener’s attention due the personality found within. I am pleasantly surprised by how the emotion and personality is conveyed in the singing. In terms of the songwriting, the ten songs in 43 minutes is organized well, with each number sticking to a good, normal duration time around the 3:30-5:00 mark, more or less. Individual instrumentation is all good and competent, and there are plenty of good, memorable guitar solos and things like that, but what I remember the most is the feel-good vibes and how catchy each song is.

I like the album enough to have heard it an excessive number of times, and not just a handful. Amongst the listens there have been some times in the car, in which the production reveals one interesting detail. Namely, the album has this recurring subtle explosive sound, like a really heavy drum bass blowing up, that can be heard audibly if the album is heard at higher volumes in a car. I’m not sure if this is a trend in European or Italian albums. I know that I have heard some Indonesian brutal death metal bands use it regularly in their music. Anyway, I recommend this Italian band to audiences looking for adult, real-life-lyrics music with good songs and good singing.

https://www.facebook.com/silentlieband

WoR will bring the metal to Lynnwood, Washington state on Oct. 22

North Carolina, USA groove/thrash band WoR will making their way to Washington state on the 22nd of October. Below are the remaining dates for their "American Invasion Tour" that is already underway since late September. Their album Prisoners is available at Bandcamp. The video below is from said album.

WoR - Predator (Official Video)

10.16 - Mesa, AZ @ The Nile Theater

10.17 - Spring Valley, CA @ Bancroft Bar

10.18 - Anaheim, CA @ Doll Hut

10.20 - Sacramento, CA @ On The Y

10.22 - Lynnwood, WA @ The Vessel Taphouse

10.26 - Denver, CO @ Your Mom's House

10.28 - La Crosse, WI @ Warehouse

10.30 - Des Moines, IA @ Lefty's Live Music

10.31 - Lombard, IL @ Brauer House

11.1 - New Haven, IN @ Carl's Tavern

11.2 - Maple Heights, OH @ Maple Grove Tavern

11.3 - Turtle Creek, PA @ Sub Alpine Society

11.4 - Winchester, VA @ The Monument

11.5 - Richmond, VA @ Another Round Bar & Grill

Prisoners by WoR

https://www.facebook.com/WoRBandOfficial/

Vesuvian (from last night's show in Everett at Tony V's)

Vesuvian closed last night's show in Everett at Tony V's. They announced that their new album is now finished and it will be released in 2023. They played some new material and some of the material that fans in this area have been hearing them do live in the last year or so. These are some pictures that I took of the band live, and also some merch that I bought.

Devotion To Infinity by Vesuvian

https://www.facebook.com/Vesuvianmetal/

Void Dancer (a few pics from last night's show)

These are some pictures of Void Dancer last night in Everett at Tony V's. So far their discography is the Void Dance EP (2020) and the Prone Burial album (2022). In the live setting their music comes across as melodic death metal with progressive touches. It's not full-blown prog, but some of the melodies and song structures show some sounds that perhaps do come from prog. Anyway, the band put on a good show for the Everett crowd.

Prone Burial by Void Dancer

https://www.facebook.com/VoidDancerBand

Inpathos (a few pics from last night's show)

Here are a couple of pictures of Inpathos in action from last night's show in Everett at Tony V's. This was my first time seeing the band. I thought they did a good job with their melodic death metal. The vocalist for this show was a stand-in because it looks like right now they do not have a permanent replacement for their previous vocalist. At last night's show Patrick Bradford, who is the drummer for Vesuvian, took care of the vocals. I did not know that he could growl and he seemed comfortable as the frontman for the band and the vocals sounded good. If I did not know, I would not have guessed that he was a stand-in. Anyway, it was good to see the band live. Let's hope they get their line-up troubles sorted out. It looks like they are based in Bellingham. Who know, maybe if you live in this area of Washington you would like to growl for the band?! I'm not sure if Patrick Bradford will be taking over as their new vocalist in a permanent capacity.

March Towards a Blackened Sun by Inpathos

https://www.facebook.com/InpathosBand/

Saturday in Everett: Vesuvian, Void Dancer, Inpathos

Check out the music of these three Washington state bands that will play in Everett on Saturday: Vesuvian, Void Dancer, and Inpathos.

SATURDAY AT 9 PM

Vesuvian, Void Dancer, Inpathos

Tony Vs Garage

Devotion To Infinity by Vesuvian

Prone Burial by Void Dancer

March Towards a Blackened Sun by Inpathos

https://www.facebook.com/tonyvs.garage