The W.A.B. keep it short and heavy on new clip

Does a good song need to be long? I don't think so. This particular one of the brutal Punkband W.A.B. is just round 1 minute and 51 seconds in duration and kicks it heavy and straight. It reminds me of old Motörhead tracks that also got straight to the meat.

Anyway, it still has it's fine notes worked in every here and there so it's not only a brutal whirlwind all the way. There's also a surprising part coming in at the end. I love that - it freshes the whole song up and shows what the band is able to do in songwriting.

  This is already the third single the band has put out. It's taken of the record "...and kill the worms" available from Suburban Attack Records. The cool thing is that this band only consists of two people and the drummer also does the vocals. That's something I rarely came along. If you happen to know of other sticksmen that also serve the words - please let me know.

Follow The W.A.B. further with a liker on Facebook or show them your support on Bandcamp. 

P.S. Also make sure to listen to the other singles on Bandcamp, you won't be disappointed if you already liked this heavy 'n' quick introduction into the band's sound.

The Dry Mouths share strong summer feelings with new video

Summer is finally here! So we need the proper soundtrack to celebrate those long lasting days and endless evenings. The Dry Mouths have just released a new video that fits to what I'm looking for.

"This Could Be The Beginning Of A Beautiful Friendship" is a beautifully worked out song - so warm and intensive. This time it's a more slower tune that the power trio released but it changes towards the end with few more rougher moments worked in. The same goes for the pictures. They seem to me like filmed through the lens of those feelings related to my favorite time of the year. Feells like in the old days and reminds me why I love watching music videos so much.

You can pick up the song as part of their current EP "When the water smells of sweat" which is available for a few bucks on CD and Vinyl (or a package of both) from the Band's store or via Email. 

The cover of the 2018 EP of The Dry Mouths "When the water smells of sweat", Artwork by Iván Carreño. (c) by The Dry Mouths, used with kind permission

Also check their social page on Facebook to see's what's going on further with the band from Spain.

Voyager to tour Europe and UK September/October 2017

Some say that the beginning of a new week doesn't hold any good but this news blew me away. A mail reached my inbox saying that some of Australia's finest prog metal bands is going to hit some European and UK venues already at the end of this month.

Having followed the band Voyager since the days of the "V" album and being more than overwhelmed by the brand new "Ghost Mile" output this is news that needs to be shared all the way.

Voyager will open up for the French band Uneven Structure that also offers progressive metal music to the attenders. Make sure to come around for a event with bands that surely deserve your time and money.

Uneven Structure and Voyager tour dates

Sep 29: Cologne Euroblast Festival, Germany
Oct 06: Baarlo Progpower Europe, Netherlands (Voyager only)
Oct 09: London Underworld, UK
Oct 10: Birmingham The Flapper, UK
Oct 11: Dublin Voodoo Lounge, Ireland
Oct 12: Glasgow Audio, UK
Oct 13: Manchester Satan’s Hollow, UK
Oct 14: Guildford The Boiler Room, UK
Oct 15: Leiden Gebr De Nobel, Netherlands (Uneven Structure only)
Oct 16: Muenster Sputnik Cafe, Germany
Oct 17: Berlin Maze, Germany
Oct 18: Wroclaw Carpe Diem, Poland
Oct 19: Prague Underdogs, Czech Republic
Oct 20: Vienna Chelsea, Austria
Oct 23: Munich Backstage, Germany
Oct 26: Milan Legend Club, Italy
Oct 27: Zug I45, Switzerland
Oct 29: Barcelona Apolo 2, Spain
Oct 30: Madrid Caracol, Spain

Purchase tickets at  http://www.seetickets.com/ or via the venues' official websites for Europe.

Update 23.09.2017: Additional info about Uneven Structure - the band is going to play the newest album 'La Partition' in full EVERY night, as well as a few classics. Listen to the track "Incube" on YouTube.

Here are direct links that will let you quickly picking up tickets.

Buy Tickets for UK Shows

Buy Tickets for European Show

The tourflyer for the Uneven Structure /Voyager tourpackage fall 2017, (c) by Uneven Structure / Voyager, used with kind permission

If you've not heard something of the new Voyager record here is the title track their current album as a quick check out tune.

Oldschool thrash package with Onslaught, Artillery & Exarsis in Europe Fall 2017

This package promises to bring in thrash like in the old days with a massive billing featuring bands that will make the club burn! Plus you can pick up the brand new Exarsis record up to four weeks ahead of the official street date. Check all the details below.

The Greek Thrashers of Exarsis will release their new album, "New War Order", on October 20th. On the occasion of the release, the band will accompany Onslaught and Artillery on their Thrash 'Till Death European Tour 2017 from 23.09 to 13.10, on which the album is already available in advance!

"New War Order" was recorded again at the D Studios in Athens and mixed and mastered by Mike Karpathiou. The album contains 10 songs with a playing time of almost 40 minutes. A "must have" for every thrash metal maniac!

Thrash 'Till Death tourdates Fall 2017 for Europe

// tourdates //
23.09 Helvete Club – Oberhausen, Germany
24.09 Hedon Club – Zwolle, Netherlands
25.09 De Verlichte Geest – Roeselare, Belgium
26.09 Roxy Concerts – Flensburg, Germany
27.09 Garage Deluxe – Munich, Germany
28.09 Moonlight Music Hall – Diest, Belgium
30.09 Kiehool Burgum – Burgum, Netherlands
02.10 Schwarzer Adler – Tannheim-Egelsee, Germany
03.10 Escape Metalcorner – Vienna, Austria
04.10 7er Club – Mannheim, Germany
05.10 Musigburg – Aarburg, Switzerland
06.10 Dagda Live Club – Pavia, Italy
07.10 Revolver Music Hall – Venice, Italy
08.10 Borderline – Pisa, Italy
09.10 Utopia Sala – Zaragoza, Spain
11.10 SMAC de La Gespe – Tarbes, France
12.10 Sala Upload – Barcelona , Spain
13.10 Urban Concept – Vitoria, Spain

Ways. portrait their musical contrasts in beautiful video

Ways. are a post hardcore formation from France that incorporates many different elements in their music. Some are of the traditional harsh and brutal nature, some have their origins in softer and melodic regions but this band has the ability to melt all of them into a sound that feels as if it has been always like this for them.

The newest video that comes fresh of the video cutting table of the band uses intensive and outstanding romantic as well as rough video recordings of nature phenomenons to express the varity in their musical spectrum. This video will give you a relaxed as well as kicking start into the new month.

The band will play a couple of shows in September 2016 in Spain (!) and France. Just check the flyer below if you can make it to one of their performances.

The tourposter of the upcoming Ways. shows in September 2016, (c) by Ways. , used with kind permission

A look on the bands internet plattforms such as Bandcamp or Facebook is a good idea if you'd like to find out if the other songs of their debut EP "Warching from afar" match your musical taste.

Metal Up Your Axe Vol. 2 with unreleased songs up for free download

Since ONLINE METAL PROMO and THE AUTOPSY REPORT radio show (UK) have partnered to offer "Metal Up Your Axe, Vol. 2" and shared the link with me I'm glad to be able to give you guys out there a brand new free download compilation.

This big package features not less but 41 tracks of really kicking bands which will give you a great time if you dare to pick up all of the tracks.

The cover of the Metal Up Your Axe Vol.2 sampler, (c) by Online Metal Promo/The Autopsy Report radio show, used with kind permission

If that wouldn't be already reason enough to be more than happy this sampler includes three tracks which weren't released anywhere else before. I won't spoiler your enjoyment. Just have a look at the tracklisting PDF file which you can find in the Dropbox folder. It features extensive information on all the tracks and gives you quick access to all the things you might want to know about the songs. 

So without any further talking pick up your free package of metal happiness from this location.

If you ask yourselves now if it's worth the download - here's one of the tracks. It's the official video for the song "No mercy" of the band Flames Of Fury which is included on the sampler. I hope this will convince you to pick up the song pack.

Here's some more background info for you to check out:

 "Metal Up Your Axe, Vol. 2" is a free digital download music compilation featuring a mix of 41 past, current and unreleased original songs from established and up and coming rock & metal bands from the United States, Australia, Germany, Italy, Spain and Bulgaria.

Bands featured on the compilation include:
1. Alsatia
2. Angerhead
3. Azrael’s Bane
4. Blasted To Static
5. Broken Teeth
6. Canedy
7. Chris Violence
8. Corners of Sanctuary
9. Diamond Lane
10. Dire Peril
11. Dreadnaught
12. Empires of Eden
13. Enceladus
14. Eternal Voyager
15. Flames of Fury
16. HailMary
17. Helion Prime
18. Ignitor
19. Jessikill
20. Knightmare
21. Lords of the Trident
22. Love & War
23. Malice
24. Maxxxwell Carlisle
25. Outlaws & Moonshine
26. Phallax
27. Rabid Assassin
28. RebelHot
29. Seventh Calling
30. Shallow Ground
31. Sorizon
32. St. James
33. Stop Stop
34. Strikeforce
35. The Rods
36. TwentyDarkSeven
37. Unbound
38. Vanlade
39. Viron
40. Zar
41. Zephaniah

Check out The Autopsy Report radio show official website for more details about their show and also have a look at the Online Metal Promo webpage to get more information about this promotion agency.

CD Review: Light Among Shadows - Welcome...Back!

Note:  If you have a own band or project that you think might fit in well here for a review or as a presentation / introduction please drop me a line or two in a E-Mail. Please see my profile for my E-Mail adress. I appreciate new suggestions very much so don't hesitate to contact me. I'm also interested in band news / updates / tourdates so keep the stuff coming. Thanks!

If you're having troubles writing in English please send me a E-Mail in your preferred language or use the free Google Translator to transfer your message to English. I also use that tool, it's of course not perfect but I think it will mostly likely work out for our purposes.

Short Introduction

Light Among Shadows are a female fronted symphonic metal band from the south of Spain. In the past years the band released two full length albums entitled "At the Gates of Dawn" in 2011 and only one year later "Welcome...Back!" and toured with both records in the meantime. The style of the band is inspired by fairy tales and horror stories.

At the moment the band is working on the third record with María Barragán on vocals.
This review talks about the second release of the band named "Welcome...back!" with Tatjana Klee, the female voice of the band performing the vocal tracks on the songs of the first two albums.

(c) by Light Among Shadows, used with kind permission

Summary / Player / Purchase-Link

I like albums like these very much. While they are very smphonic and detailed bands like Light Among Shadows keep the heavyness straight in which means that the power doesn't get lost in all the details and sometimes epicness of the tracks.

What we have here is a very riff-oriented album with very outworked vocals on all tracks. You can hear and feel that a lot of time has been spent making the tracks sound perfect. The drums are pushing hard forward with gives the album the extra power. Luckily enough it's not only a album full of smashing tracks but also has a lot of softer moments to offer and never misses out the melody to keep the tracks heart-touching. All in all the album comes with much diversity and often changing parts that can be found in each song.

Please check out this album and if you like go and buy this record to support bands like this one and to have a diamond in your collection that will shine on through moments in life when there's darkness around you. It's well worth it.

The album can be purchased in digital format in stores like Amazon or itunes. Also make sure to have a listen to it first in the Spotify player below. The video for the title track is also one everyone should have a look at. It tells the story of the album compressed in one video so it's a short film which is highly recommended by me and can be seen below in the track by track section.




Track-by-Track review

Welcome...Back!
Very heavy and compact start of the album, much riff-along to the double-bass attack. The refrain comes straight from the heart. A perfect kick in for the album.




Children of the Underworld
Riff-oriented midtempo rocker. The refrain pushes up the speed and makes one want to sing along. Think this could turn out very well on a live show.

When you close your eyes
A balladesque intro followed up by a riff storm intermezzo start this one. A softer bridge leads over to a riff-hacking stomping track. The beautifull vocals are giving it a warm touch. This track is very diverse and shows a wide range of emotions in it. Music speaks out so much more than words could ever do...

Homecoming
A spoken, soft dreaming intermezzo giving the listener a moment to take a break. I like it when a album has parts like this that give you a little pause before the journey goes on.

Of wonder and horror
It's a strong, riff pounding track with stretched vocals and a slightly progressive touch in it. This track needs some time to sink in, so a re-listen is recommended to get the full point in this one.

Through the maze of thorns
A song with a powerfull, hard intro going over to a softer first verse and a pushing refrain. This piece of music has many changes between soft and hard parts in them while the vocals come in majestic and also some spoken verses are inside which surprises the listener. Great solos here. A long and very intensive track.

(c) by Light Among Shadows, used with kind permission

Lost in a sea of nightmares
A powerfull start followed by softer but a bit reverbed vocal parts. It goes over back to the intro rhythm then. This song plays a lot with diversity in the vocals which seem to fit to the theme of the lyrics so it fits very well here.

Mirage

Some time for relaxing again. A soft spoken bridge leading over to the next song.

Dreamshaping

The intro starts soft and the guitars play around with the songs theme. A rougher refrain while the rest comes with a slightly balladesque feeling to it. The end has a effect sort of a redemption feeling to the writer of these lines. A warmly welcomed feeling.

The world behind the mask

The push-in goes fast with a soft going-over while the refrain presents in a slow and stomping way. The feeling overall in this track is somewhat ghostly with many fast changing parts in them. The end comes as a overburning experience which gives more redemption feeling while the end is soft and slowly fading away leaving one behind with many thoughts...

A tarnished mirror

Time for another break! Another soft intermission with dreaming notes in them. The drums are kept very hard and cold on "A tarnished mirror".

Back to where you've never been

We start with a compact riff before vocals and drums are the only things that can be heard. The riffs are set very hard here and the track is catchy. The refrain is outworked a lot with many layers of vocals all around. You'll surely remember this one once heard.

Alone

A soft start and the song moving forwards slowly. The changes between soft and hard parts are arranged epicly with a outstanding solo in here. The vocals are also set in a epic direction while the tonality overall is set on heavyness with a focus on working out the details a lot. 

CD Review: The Dry Mouths - Two Months (easter gift inside)

Note:  If you have a own band or project that you think might fit in well here for a review or as a presentation / introduction please drop me a line or two in a E-Mail. Please see my profile for my E-Mail adress. I appreciate new suggestions very much so don't hesitate to contact me. I'm also interested in band news / updates / tourdates so keep the stuff coming. Thanks!

If you're having troubles writing in English please send me a E-Mail in your preferred language or use the free Google Translator to transfer your message to English. I also use that tool, it's of course not perfect but I think it will mostly likely work out for our purposes.

It's easter again, time to celebrate the (hopefully) upcoming spring time of the year.
As it is already a little tradition over here at the Metalunderdogs blog we are sort of giving away something so we can celebrate together.

Short Introduction

This year, thanks to the guys in The Dry Mouths we can enjoy the full band release catalogue totally for free. The band describes itself on Bandcamp as a "Alternative Rock band from Almeria, Spain. Their music is a mixture between the rock of the 90′, stoner and the experimentation, leaving itself to notice in the first listening influences like Nirvana, Tool, Mogwai, Explosions In The Sky, Black Sabbath or Pink Floyd."
All the four recordings of the band can be downloaded for free from Bandcamp.
This review talks about the newest release of the band the EP "Two Months" which was released at the beginning of 2015.

(c) by The Dry Mouths, used with kind permission

Summary / Player / Purchase Link 

What I like most about the band is that they dare to make things differently. It's not the same odd song structure's they restrict themselves to. They do try out a lot and always look for new ways so the music never get's monotone. Plus all the artworks having something of their own, it's stuff that put's a own finishing note to each recording.

On the "Two Months" album the band is keeping things very straight forward and very hard and heavy. Nevertheless they've also used the room for some experimentation so you'll notice some unusual stuff in the music also on this newest addition to the band's release list.

Since they've set up the download as a pay what you want option you can also decide to give a little back for what you've taken by handing over some coins to the band when asked at the download page.
You can also get physical copies of "Two months" as well as for all the other three releases of The Dry Mouths. Just check the detailed descriptions at the page of each recording on Bandcamp.

In addition the band has set up a download mirror for all the albums in various quality levels on their website. Please consider to spread the word about'em in return.

The band is going to play the next show on

Apr 18th
La Boca Club
Madrid, Spain

Also make sure to keep an eye of the further band activities via Facebook on the band's website.



Track-by-Track review

Tour P-2
A powerfull beginning for the record. Starts with powerfull chords, then goes over to a forth and backward moving riff and rhythm structure. Yet the song spreads a cool feeling with it.

Tea Pex
A compact and hard riff hits this one up. It moves over to a softer section just to return back to the harder structure. Followed up by changing moments between rougher and softer sections. The Solo section is kept with very high notes.

Party & Son
A slower beginning starts this midtempo number. The tempo speeds up with a cool drum fill pattern. The refrain spreads a relaxed feeling with a different speed. Another drum pattern - very diverse. You can feel the band has some fun playing around with their music.

(c) by The Dry Mouths, used with kind permission

Cold Mind
I love the counting in of the song! A rough and very compact track but the structure makes it a cool time to listen to it. Surely one of my favorites of the band so far.

Intromental / Info Mental IV
The last song starts with a softer touch. The band shows it's more technical side on this one. The rougher edge is presented in the second part followed up by some more softer notes the band is jamming upon. Part three holds again more roughness with very powerful chords and guitar leads put inside. Some classic metal riffs towards the end before some notes leave one with the hope behind that there will be more to come of this great band.

Light Among Shadows return with beautiful new videoclip

Light Among Shadows are a female fronted symphonic metal band from the south of Spain. In the past years the band released two full length albums entitled "At the Gates of Dawn" in 2011 and only one year later "Welcome...Back!". The style of the band is inspired by fairy tales and horror stories.

At the moment the band is working on a brand new record but has already set up a first single and videoclip for the song "Into the storm" to give the fans a idea of what is coming up and to introduce María Barragán as the new female voice of the band.

(c) by Light Among Shadows, used with kind permission

Listening to that track it struck me with the sheer power and roughness with the hard drums and powerful guitars but at the same time it also reveals the beauty that lays inside of the music.
These elements are transported through the fine vocals and the technical elements that are mixed into the song. It's these fine bass lines and the outworked guitar solos with the picking technique that form a melodic note into the music of the band.
Besides that the clip itself shows a beautiful landscape and creates a lot of atmosphere with some moments of silence at the beginning showing off the water breaking the waves at the shore and the sun going down in silence before the band starts. The clip also seems to tell a story. That's something I like a lot, it makes watching the clip like making a small journey to a place unknown.

To me this one has made me curious on the band so I've joined them on Facebook to make sure I'm not missing out on the further progress of the album recordings.

CD Review: Eternal Dream - Reign Of The Skies EP

Note: If you have a own band or project that you think might fit in well here for a review or as a presentation / introduction please drop me a line or two in a E-Mail. Please see my profile for my E-Mail adress. I appreciate new suggestions very much so please don't hesitate to contact me. I'm also interested in band news / updates / tourdates so please keep the stuff coming. Thanks!

If you're having troubles writing in English please send me a E-Mail in your preferred language or use the free Google Translator to transfer your message to English. I also use that tool, it's of course not perfect but I think it will mostly likely work out for our purposes.

Short introduction

Eternal Dream was founded back in 2007. The band sees their roots in european power metal bands in the style of Rhapsody (Of Fire), Nightwish or Stratovarius. At the beginning of 2008 they closed the line-up and began to prepare their first demo, published at the end of that year with two songs: "Frozen Salanthine" and "Waters of Reality".

In a year and a half they placed in the metal scene of Málaga, with several concerts and high ratings in recognized contests like "Málaga Crea Rock", among hundreds of bands, and "Marbepop".
Their first EP "The Seed of Naryll", totally self-produced by Niko Hartmann (also guitar player of the band), is published in September 2009.

(c) by Eternal Dream, used with kind permission

In the summer of 2010, Álvaro Sabín entered the band as lead guitarist and they began to prepare their first LP. "The Fall of Salanthine". The record has been released in 2011 and for first time in the band history the album is also available as a original pressed CD. The band ever since continued their work on new material and has released their brand new EP "Reign of the skies" at Christmas 2014.

Summary / Player / Download Link

This EP has a superb quality, no question. If you like bands like Epica or Nightwish you should go straight on forward and listen and download the EP. As a addition to the mentioned bands Eternal Dream keep things more straight forward. Where some of the other bands sometimes tend to fiddle around a bit too much the spanish band comes more to the point and keeps it soundwise a bit heavier than compareable bands. That's what makes them to be preferable to those acts in my eyes if you like music to keep pushing forward instead of playing around too much with single parts and elements.

The download comes totally free of charge directly from the bands website.. This is already a reason to be happy to be given such a fine piece of music. Looking closer into the provided zip File you'll recognise that it even holds far more than "only" the mp3 files. It comes completely with a text interior sheet, something I've seen very rarely even in comercial releases. What a nice gesture! In addition there are's also a front and a back cover included in the releases. All files come with the maximum possible quality data rate for mp3 at 320 kb/s.

Don't miss out to follow the further band activities on their social site like Facebook, Twitter or myspace.




If you want to give something back for what you've taken or support the band on their further way you may buy the first full album "The fall of Salanthine" on a physical CD including a 16 page booklet for only 5 Euro plus shipping and handling through the band's website.

Track-by-Track Review

Reign of the Skies
The keyboards at the beginning already tell the maintheme of the song. It's a midtemo song with a direct and clear riff and a blast refrain. Very impressive, high pitch vocals that take you to another world. It is like you're living in a epic story like in a movie such as The Lord of the Rings. Good music to bring your thoughts on a different level far away from the world of everyday troubles.

Reign of The Skies (instrumental)
Of course the vocals are missing in this one. It reveals the instrumental epicness of the track in all it's beauty. You get a sharper look on the aggressive, dark and heavy riffs used in this track than put a contrary to the harmonic vocals. In addition more of the keyboards can be heard making it clearer which role they have in the band's sound.

Neoclassical Fantasy
The one comes in sharp contrast to the other two tracks. The opening riff already makes it clear that it is a much different song. The track is much faster and the vocals are rougher and set in a higher tone. A very edgy piece of music.  After the rough opening the song breaks like a fragile building and builds up slowly again piece by piece up to the chorus followed up by a long solo section. Afterwards it remains a fast, heavy and direct song. The majestic chorus ends the whole song and the EP.

The Dry Mouths let you listen to Cold Mind from the upcoming record

How cold and calm can you keep your mind in extreme personal situations? Test yourselves with the new song from The Dry Mouths!



The band The Dry Mouths are a Alternative Rock band from Almeria, Spain. Their music is a mixture between the rock of the 90′, stoner and the experimentation. The band has been influenced from Nirvana, Tool, Mogwai, Explosions In The Sky, Black Sabbath and Pink Floyd. So far they have released 3 albums: “Lost Bow Case Eckard” 2010, “Moons True Delay Lenght Wah Foo Era” 2012 plus "And Show Us" in 2013.

(c) by The Dry Mouths, used with kind permission

At the moment the band is preparing the release of their upcoming new EP which will be entitled "2 months". To give the people out there a idea of how the new songs are going to sound like the band has released a first full song for listening, it's the track "Cold Mind".

I like the music in this song very much, the song kicks in very straight. It's hard and dry and comes to the point. It comes with very raw sound which you could imagine to come directly as the if you were going to see the band playing live or doing a rehearsal.
The refrain is a kicker which hopefully will let people scream along at the live shows. Could imagine this going down live very well. The solo makes one feeling a bit nervous I must admit. :-)

The band is going to do a show together with Demiurgo on December the 12th at the Sala Planta Baja in Spain. For more details check the event webpage. Tickets are going for only five Euros at the presale, at the doors that evening tickets will cost 7 Euros.

If you want to keep an eye on the band don't forget to like them on Facebook or visit their website for all the informations about their past and upcoming releases and tour dates.

CD Review: El Yeti - Born Dead

Note: If you have a own band or project that you think might fit in well here for a review or as a presentation / introduction please drop me a line or two in a E-Mail. Please see my profile for my E-Mail adress. I appreciate new suggestions very much so please don't hesitate to contact me. I'm also interested in band news / updates so please keep the stuff coming. Thanks!

If you're having troubles writing in English please send me a E-Mail in your preferred language or use the free Google Translator to transfer your message to English. I also use that tool, it's of course not perfect but I think it will mostly likely work out for our purposes.

Short Introduction

El Yeti is a stoner rock duo from Barcelona, Spain. Formed in 2011 by brothers Edko Fuzz and Marc Rockenberg. Their shared passion for bands like Black Sabbath, Corrosion Of Conformity, Alice In Chains, Fu Manchu or Clutch brought them together and so El Yeti was born.

(c) El Yeti, used with kind permission

After some rehearsing the band produced and recorded their first demo with 4 songs. It came out in 2012 to very good reviews (Metal Hammer Germany, Sludge Lord...). After the release X-Wong joined the band playing bass. They opened for bands such as hard-rock french stoners The Socks or the swedish stoner-metalheads Deville. They also played at Red Sun Fest in Barcelona and have done lots of local gigs, gaining a live reputation.

(c) El Yeti, used with kind permission

In the beginning of 2013 the band started recording their new ep. The fact that the bass player X-Wong left the band in the middle of the recording process didn't help and caused a big delay. Finally Edko Fuzz decided to record the bass lines himself. 5 new songs in which you can hear stoner riffs, metal breakdowns, grunge melodies, hard rocking choruses and lots of groove and fuzz. Born Dead was finally out on March 8th 2014.

Marc told me that the band is looking for a new bass guitar player. So if you think you have what it takes to play the bands songs please don't hesitate and contact the band through Facebook or Bandcamp.


Short Summary / Player / Purchase Link

The band reminds me in a positive way of Rage against the machine. These five tracks have something similar to that, they have many details in them that you will only discover the longer and closer you listen to them. But once you have found out what makes them so special I think you'll like them. Each of the songs comes with a lot of diversity and shows a different musical side of the band so the songs aren't kept monotone at all.

The opener "Ludum" is the best way to start out on the EP you will quickly get inside of the mood. I wouldn't too quickly go over to the other songs, discover them one by one then you'll have the most joy out of it.

You can listen to the songs right here for free. The band offers their recordings on Bandcamp. You can decide what they are worth for you by entering a amount of your choice. You can also download it for free if you want to. Please keep in mind that recoding and mixing music takes not only time but also money. Not to mention all these countless hours they spent writing and practising the songs before. 

If you want stay up to date on all the latest about the band jump over to Facebook or Bandcamp and make sure you hit the follow buttons on the pages of the band.

Track-by-Track Review

1. Ludum
Very powerfull start of the song with much drums and guitars. A change shortly takes over to the main theme of the song. A very groove dominated track. The guitars and drums form a good mixture together. The refrain stays in your ears for a long time and pleases you to sing along. Can imagine this going down live very well. The end of the songs comes along more slowly than exspected but you can tell that the band jammed much together to find out the best ending for this.

2. Gimme Da Groove
Short riff intro with some vocals then a very compressed and heavy part that leads over to a groovy track. The refrain once again invites you to sing along. This gives some good feelings to the listener. The intermezzo introduces some darker and heavier riffs before the rhythm changes to a very hacked part at the end. Short and hard riffs come with this. A song with many details and changes in them that come as a surprise.

3. 653-9X
Some soft notes at the beginning before more groove takes over the stage. This one goes along with more speed in the rhythm than the previous two songs. The refrain some with some slowness underneath the vocals before a very powerfull riff gives back some motion. We hear the refrain at the end for a second time again before the track comes abruptly to an end.

4. Master of Black
A song a bit out of the ordinary. Whilst the opening comes common with the powerfull chords the vocals are set on two ways. One a bit high note while at the same time some background vocals run through it at the same time. Then again we hear the typicall rhythm and riff structure of the band with some more speed. Rough and rude guitars dominate the following parts that come as riff hacker again along with the fitting drums with it. A song with a lot of experimental structures in it.

5. Asteroid Keloid
Soft notes and a slow start at the beginning before this one's break up into a tight riff-monster. The rude guitars rush trough this instrumental track of the EP before once again there's a change in the riff and a solo part can be heard. The drums come through very hard and direct as if you're in the rehearsal room but I like how this sounds. A good way to round out this EP and I am left behind with the hope that more of this will come in the future..

CD Review: Lewis & The Strange Magics - Demo

Note: If you have a own band or project that you think might fit in well here for a review or as a presentation / introduction please drop me a line or two in a E-Mail. Please see my profile for my E-Mail adress. I appreciate new suggestions very much so please don't hesitate to contact me.

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Short introduction

Lewis & The Strange Magics is a new Classic Rock / Heavy Psych / Doom band from Barcelona. At the beginning of the year the head of the band Lewis decided to make some songs telling horror and occult stories, because that are themes he loves to present in a classic sound.

So he recorded the demo in his home environment and some time after the actual band members joined to complete the band. Lewis & The Strange Magics have plans to do some concerts and will start to work on an album.

Short Summary / Player / Download Link

The demo is set deeply in the roots of the Classic Rock music such is the sound of the recording. The band makes heavy use of the Psych genre and mixes in a lot of hammond organ sounds which makes it sound like a old-school recording from back of the 70's .

All of the three tracks go in very straight, especially the last one which is the fastest one. The doom style comes in when you take a close look to the lyrics.  I suggest to check out the stream below first to get a idea of the band's sound.

Besides that the download of the demo tape is available for only 2 Dollar from Bandcamp so if you like such bands that follow their very own ways and make a own approach to it go ahead and buy it. Nothings better than to support your favorite band with buying the record. Ii's like a vote in a election.

Update 2014/10/31: You can now freely choice the amount you would like to pay for the demo on Bandcamp. The band has also set up a limited handmade edition of the record on CD (50 pieces only available).  One copy costs 3 Euro plus shipping and handling. You can order directly through the Bandcamp page of Lewis & The Strange Magics.



The band has opened up a Facebook page, so jump over to their site and give them a like if you want to stay up to date on all the things going on in the future.

Track-by-Track Review

How To Be You
Very powerful chords open up the track. Fast rhythm and the typical choice of vocals for such a style of music form together a well mood song. The track already sets the direction for the whole demo and makes it clear what to expect. A uptempo track with a cool solo and a fine hammond organ part in it. Towards the end suddenly a break - the song calms down a bit but then goes back to the powerful theme. A good start for the tape.

Cloudy Grey Cube
A bit slower track but warmly welcomed. Some progressive elements in there as well. Gives the demo some diversity. Vocals most in the front on this track and again a lot of hammond stuff in here with some more wild rhythm in there. High vocals and a very short end.

Golden Threads
Crash Cymbals and guitars open up the track. A short intro before the track changes over to a faster rhythm. Nice guitar theme on this one and much hammond effects follow up to it before it mixes up in a very hard and tight duell between both instruments. A short break towards the end with the intro part played again before a return to the main riff takes place. The track is kept very tight and straight forward but in comes in very handy. Feels like things come full circle - a good way to close the tape.

New Wave of Thrash coming up?

Looking around on some of the (upcoming) releases of these days it seems to me that more and more Thrash metal band's are coming up. So I'd like to point out on three of them here.

First off are Dust Bolt, a band from Germany who are around since 2006. The sound of their upcoming record "Awake the riot" reminds me a lot of the very oldschool days when I began to listen and like Thrash. The cover has something from Nuclear Assault's "Game over" EP in my eyes. You can check out their upcoming record in the long preview trailer below.



So far I've heard few about bands from Spain. Until the german Rock Hard magazine recently posted a article about Crisix including the offer to listen the full album for free as a Soundcloud stream. These guys seem to influenced a lot by the Thrashers Tankard, mixing up powerfull direct hitting Thrash with a lot of attitude. Check out the title track of the album.



Last in line as for today are Lost Society from Finnland. These guys are around since 2010 and they grabbed my attention through the videoclips for the tracks "Thrash all over you" and "Kill". If you want to go with a very straight band who doesn't fiddle around with their instruments too much I suggest you go with this band.



So after all what do you people think? Would you agree with me to say Thrash has a new wave coming up? Or which other styles of Heavy Metal or even Rock music do you see more coming up? Please let me know in the comments below. There is also a option to post anonymus if you don't want to see your name or nick linked in.