Heid - Voces de la Tierra Dormida EP
Pigeonholing a band is a useful tool for trying to get
across how they sound, but Spain’s Heid fall between so many stools, and break
many of the moulds usually associated with a particular sound.
In layman’s terms, they dwell somewhere between Pagan
Metal and Folk Metal. Pagan Metal as they echo the vibe of their Northern
cousins in Scandinavia. But they break with tradition and have an edge more
akin to their Southern European roots (ie, it sounds a bit happy, rather than
gloomy). The Folk side of their sound is courtesy of violins, bagpipes and
whistles, instruments I’m a big fan of in Metal.
And if you strip away the Folk influences, you’re left
with a band that could easily pass for Melodic Death mixed with Black Metal
influences, as well as a bit of Thrash.
Opening number, No Habrá Paz, feels slightly restrained,
despite some very nice violin work, but once the Thrashy riffs of song number
two, Golpejar, kick in, the band spring into life and their energy levels shoot
through the roof. From here to the end of the 5 tracker, the quality is
outstanding and I’m at a loss for words why someone hasn’t snapped these guys
up
You get about 28 minutes worth of Metal for just 3 Euros,
so the digital download is an absolute bargain. And the cd and t-shirt deal at
10 Euros is good value too
Pay them a visit at: https://www.facebook.com/HeidPaganMetal or at their Bandcamp page: http://heidpaganmetal.bandcamp.com/
Ones to Watch
One band who’ve caught my eye recently, (or should that
be ears?) are Cardinal. They’ve only
got one song online at the moment, but it does clock in at an impressive 12
minutes.
Hiraeth is a brooding monster that’s dripped in misery. And
call it what you want, Atmospheric Black Metal, Shoe-Gaze, Post-Rock etc… it’s simply bloody good and I can’t wait to
hear more from the band. They have an
EP, entitled Alpine Voice, coming out soon.
Completely new on the world scene are Aramaic, who are from Dubai. As you’d
expect, there are some Middle Eastern flavours on their debut EP, The Fallen,
but a mid-paced Death Metal vibe is the mainstay of this release. I’m very
impressed with everything about this band from the presentation, their sound
and the fact they’ve put this release on Spotify as well. I look forward to
hearing more from Aramaic in the future.
Again, another taster of what’s (hopefully) to come, this
time from Reykjavik in Iceland. Mannveira
have a 3 tracker of icy Black Metal, which is beautiful, in a lo-fi, inciting
people to murder kind of a way. For the most part, their sound is quite discordant, but there is a melodic side which constantly battles the harsher tones for supremacy.
There’s also a cassette version in the pipeline
for all of you Underground diehards. https://www.facebook.com/mannveira
And finally in this mini section of very short releases,
we have 2 tracks from the UK by Kroh.
An Honest To God Mistake starts off in a dreamy psychedelic fashion before the
most wonderful and catchy vocal comes in. If Cheap Trick and Black Sabbath had
babies, they’d sound like Kroh.
Probably the best £1 you’ll spend all week.
Spotify Band Of
The Week
As I mentioned last week, I’m a big fan of Spotify. So
every week I’ll try and link up a band that have their music on there. This
week, it’s the turn of Sorrowseed
from the USA.
They’ve been compared to the likes of Dimmu Borgir and
Cradle of Filth, but I’m more inclined to say that they sound like Italian occult band, Opera 1X, when Cadaveria was heading up the band.
Sorrowseed have a striking frontlady, in the form of
fetish model, Lilith Astaroth. And boy can she crank out a vicious vocal or
two. The two sides of her range, the ferocious and the more sedate can be best
heard on Arcana (of the Lich Queen) from 2013’s Nemesis Engine album.
Search for Sorrowseed on Spotify, or click via http://open.spotify.com/artist/5KMp4xL5BOLd3UIyZlVk7M
You can also check out a new song, Stygian Athenaeum, on ReverbNation:
Some advice for
bands
I use social media a lot to look for bands. Quite often I
visit a Facebook page to hear a band and I am confronted with the option of
“Like this band to listen” type buttons.
If I have to “like you” just to listen to your band for
the first time, with no idea what you sound like, I simply hit the back button
and you’ve lost me as a potential fan, or even potential record label or
promoter.
So let everyone hear your music without being held to
ransom.
And while I’m on my soapbox giving out advice. If you have a
demo with shit sound, please don’t post it online. Learn your craft and pay
someone to give you a decent sound. I’ve heard so much crap the last week it’s
like being back in the 80s.
Compilation Update
I have 8 bands confirmed for In Metal We Trust, which is
the 1st in a series of $1 compilation albums. Hopefully, the
remaining bands will be confirmed in the next few days and the album can be
released on July 1st, as planned. The full line-up will be revealed
next week.
Compilation number 2, will be released on September the 1st,
with a cut-off point of August 1st for submissions as I’d like to
get a full month of promotion in beforehand for this one.
Work starts next week on finalising bands for a Black
Metal split album, with a possible release date of mid July. The digital album
will retail for just $3, about £2 in the UK. A very limited cd release may be
possible too.
And to end on, how about a couple of videos?
Crucifixion BR are from Brazil and Eternal Judgement will
feature on their debut album, Destroying The Fucking Disciples of Christ, later
in the year. I love this band, so please take the time to check them out. And
by the way, the video is slightly NSFW, as there are some boobies towards the
end, so don’t let your boss catch you watching it at work.
And carrying on the with the anti religious theme, we have
Pick Axe Preacher from the USA.
This song has been stuck in my head all week.
Unfortunately the video didn't want to work on this site, so hop on over to YouTube to view
So have a blast
to Angels In The Ground and check back next Friday for another update.
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