Tag: helm

Top 30 of 2013 • LP Edition

Where to begin… I have had a lot going on this last year and have repeatedly pushed my blog aside. I’ll get straight to the punch though; last year was an incredible for heavy progressive/alternative music. Below is a list of my favorite albums released in 2013. Originally I had started an overview section for each album, like I included with the EP Edition, but after much consideration and procrastination, I simply decided to leave it out this time around. It would have ended up being another year before this was released had I added the same amount of detail for each band.

As always, it was a very long process putting this together and incredibly difficult coming to a final decision about the order to place these albums with my continuously-evolving preferences. There will probably be days I’ll wish I’d done something differently, but it just came time I quit with the edits and got the article out there. So enjoy! I hope to release my top EP & LP lists of 2014 by January of next year. Without further hesitation, I give you my top 30 albums of 2013!

30. Emergent // Emergent

Emergent - EmergentLocation:

  • Minneapolis, MN (USA)

Label:

  • N/A

Recommended Tracks:

  • Dead Letters
  • Erode
  • Reflect to Forget

Music Videos:

Other Releases:

  • N/A

Support:

29. Dayshell // Dayshell

Location:Dayshell - Dayshell

  • Southern California (USA)

Label:

Recommended Tracks:

  • Share With Me
  • Not Coming In
  • I Owe You Nothing

Music Videos:

Other Releases:

  • N/A

Support:

28. A Thousand Wings // White Moth Black Butterfly

Location: White Moth Black Butterfly - One Thousand Wings

  • Nottingham (UK)

Label:

  • N/A

Recommended Tracks:

  • Paradise
  • Omen
  • Reluctance

Music Videos:

Other Releases:

Support:

27. Endorphinia // Follow the White Rabbit

Location:Follow the White Rabbit - Endorphinia

  • Moscow (RU)

Label:

Recommended Tracks:

  • War Song
  • Zzz(Zzz)
  • All Night and Day

Music Videos:

  • N/A

Other Releases:

  • N/A

Support:

26. Rescue & Restore // August Burns Red

Location:August Burns Red - Rescue & Restore

  • Lancaster, PA (USA)

Label:

Recommended Tracks:

  • Fault Line
  • Creative Captivity
  • Spirit Breaker

Music Videos:

Other Releases:

Support:

25. Inside/Out // Sleep Parade

Location:Sleep Parade - Inside:Out

  • Melbourne (AU)

Label:

  • N/A

Recommended Tracks:

  • Inside/Out
  • Devil’s Door
  • 2:09

Music Videos:

  • N/A

Other Releases:

Support:

24. The Grieving // Shreddy Krueger

Location:

Shreddy Krueger - The Grieving

  • Kelowna, BC (CA)

Label:

Recommended Tracks:

  • Hazel the Apparition
  • In Ruin
  • Empress

Music Videos:

Other Releases:

Support:

23. Blacklistt // Blacklistt

Location: Blacklistt - Blacklistt

  • West Auckland (NZ)

Label:

  • N/A

Recommended Tracks:

  • Red Hush
  • Icon
  • Always

Music Videos:

Other Releases:

[ as Blindspott ]

Support:

22. Kingdom of Fear // Agent

Location:Agent - Kingdom of Fear

  • London (UK)

Label:

  • N/A

Recommended Tracks:

  • Dark Dreams
  • Vondelpark
  • Kingdom of Fear

Music Videos:

Other Releases:

  • N/A

Support:

21. Anthropocene // Being

Location:Being - Anthropocene

  • Orlando, FL (USA)

Label:

  • N/A

Recommended Tracks:

  • Air Atlantic (feat. Spencer Sotelo)
  • Cosmonaut (feat. Misha Mansoor)
  • Arcane Academic (feat. Gabriel Riccio, Travis Orbin & Justin Gosnell)

Music Videos:

  • N/A

Other Releases:

  • N/A

Support:

20. Dethroned & Uncrowned // Katatonia

Location: Katatonia - Dethroned & Uncrowned

  • Stockholm (SE)

Label:

Recommended Tracks:

  • Hypnone
  • The Racing Heart
  • Lethean

Music Videos:

Other Releases:

Support:

19. aXiom // Boil

Location:Boil - aXiom

  • Aarus (DK)

Label:

Recommended Tracks:

  • Darkest
  • Equilibrium
  • Vindication

Music Videos

Other Releases:

Support:

18. Between Here and Lost // Love & Death

Location:Love and Death - Between Here and Lost

  • Various

Label:

Recommended Tracks:

  • Chemicals
  • Whip It
  • My Disaster

Music Videos:

Other Releases:

[as Brian “Head” Welch ]

Support:

17. The Isolation Process // The Isolation Process

Location:The Isolation Process - The Isolation Process

  • Stockholm (SE)

Label:

Recommended Tracks:

  • The Dead End
  • Victims of the Masses
  • Underneath It All

Music Videos:

Other Releases:

  • N/A

Support:

16. Vol 3… Panthalassa // Helm

Location:Helm - Panthalassa

  • Gold Coast, QLD (AU)

Label:

Recommended Tracks:

  • To the Wolves
  • Drag the Anchor
  • Cull

Music Videos:

Other Releases:

Support:

15. Cornerstone // This Misery Garden

Location:This Misery Garden - Cornerstone

  • Geneva (SE)

Label:

Recommended Tracks:

  • Mr. X (Was Right)
  • Crowded Hallway
  • Holy Clutch

Music Videos:

Other Releases:

Support:

14. Asymmetry // Karnivool

Location:Karnivool - Asymmetry

  • Perth (AU)

Label:

Recommended Tracks:

  • We Are
  • Aeons
  • Sky Machine

Music Videos:

Other Releases:

Support:

13. Puls // Port Noir

Port Noir - Puls

Location:

  • Södertälje (SE)

Label:

Recommended Tracks:

  • Index
  • Sun dé Man
  • Thorns

Music Videos:

Other Releases:

  • N/A

Support:

12. Shrine of New Generation Slaves // Riverside

Riverside - SONGS Location:

  • Warsaw (PL)

Label:

Recommended Tracks:

  • Escalator Shrine
  • Deprived (Irretrievably Lost Imagination)
  • The Depth of Self-Delusion

Music Videos:

Other Releases:

Support:

11. Black Out the Sun // Sevendust

Location:Sevendust - Black Out the Sun

  • Atlanta, GA (USA)

Label:

Recommended Tracks:

  • Black Out the Sun
  • Decay
  • Faithless

Music Videos:

Other Releases:

Support:

10. Emerge & See // Vain Velocity

Location: Vain Velocity - Emerge & See

  • Thessaloniki (GR)

Label:

  • N/A

Recommended Tracks:

  • Lanthanum
  • Bona Fides
  • Vinegar
  • Junkie Spoon
  • Choreography

Music Videos:

Other Releases:

Support:

9. Passing Through the Zer0s // Temple of Thieves

Location: Temple of Thieves - Passing Through the Zeros

  • Atlanta, GA (USA)

Label:

Recommended Tracks:

  • The Discovery of Something Greater Than Kelsie Grammar
  • Mr. Hixx
  • Parasite
  • Soul Inside
  • Reaping

Music Videos:

Other Releases:

  • N/A

Support:

8. Lux // Gemini Syndrome

Location:Gemini Syndrome - LUX

  • Los Angeles, CA (USA)

Label:

Recommended Tracks:

  • Resurrection
  • Mourning Star
  • Pleasure and Pain
  • Basement
  • Take This

Music Videos:

Other Releases:

  • N/A

Support:

7. The Living Infinite // Soilwork

Location: Soilwork - The Living Infinite

  • Helsingborg (SE) 

Label:

Recommended Tracks:

  • Parasite Blues
  • Long Live the Misanthrope
  • Rise Above the Sentiment
  • Tongue
  • The Living Infinite I & II

Music Videos:

Other Releases:

Support:

6. Nothing More // Nothing More *

Location:Nothing More - Nothing More

  • San Antonio, TX / New Orleans, LA (USA)

Label:

Recommended Tracks:

  • Take A Bullet
  • Jenny
  • This is the Time (Ballast)
  • The Matthew Effect
  • God Went North

Music Videos:

Other Releases:

Support:

 * [ Note – For those wondering why Nothing More is on this list rather than next year’s… It was released independently by the band in the summer of 2013; then in 2014 it was re-released after NoMo was signed to Eleven Seven Music. ]

5. Infinitas // Circles

Location:Circles - Infinitas

  • Melbourne (AU)

Label:

Recommended Tracks:

  • Verum Infiniti
  • Radiant
  • Erased
  • Visions
  • Another Me

Music Videos:

Other Releases:

Support:

4. Living Mirrors // Disperse

Location:Disperse - Living Mirrors

  • Kraków (PL)

Label:

Recommended Tracks:

  • Choices Over Me
  • Unbroken Shiver
  • Message from Atlantis
  • Profane the Ground
  • Butoh

Music Videos:

Other Releases:

Journey Through the Hidden Gardens (2010)

Support:

3. Altered State // Tesseract

Location:Tesseract - Altered State

  • Milton Keynes (UK)

Label:

Recommended Tracks:

  • Of Mind – Nocturne
  • Of Mind – Exile
  • Of Matter – Retrospect
  • Of Matter – Resist
  • Of Energy – Singularity

Music Videos:

Other Releases:

Support:

2. The Catalyst Fire // Dead Letter Circus

Location:Dead Letter Circus - The Catalyst Fire

  • Brisbane (AU)

Label:

Recommended Tracks:

  • Kachina
  • Lodestar
  • I Am
  • The Cure
  • The Veil

Music Videos:

Other Releases:

Support:

1. The Tide, the Thief & River’s End // Caligula’s Horse

Location:Caligula's Horse - The Tide, The Thief & River's End

  • Brisbane (AU)

Label:

Recommended Tracks:

  • Into the White
  • A Gift to Afterthought
  • Water’s Edge
  • Dark Hair Down
  • All is Quiet by the Wall

Music Videos:

Other Releases:

Support:

Update // Dead Letter Circus + Sleep Parade + Helm

DLC - Catalyst Fire

Dead Letter Circus:

Probably the majority of Karnivool fans have also been following Dead Letter Circus and awaiting their sophomore release, The Catalyst Fire, set for August 9th. Many good things have been happening in the DLC camp as well as elsewhere among the heavy progressive sector of Australia. Dead Letter Circus has recommended that fans stay up to date by subscribing to their brand new Facebook App called The Inner Circle. Now I know, Facebook Apps don’t have the best reputation, and I’m sure many people were pretty pessimistic at first (as was I). But as promised, the App has been updated for four straight days with exclusive DLC content, including the music video for the new single, “Lodestar.”

It has been well worth the wait, and fans should be very pleased with both the song and the video. Click here to go to the The Inner Circle. The Catalyst Fire is available for preorder from the UNFD store as well as JB HI-FI and iTunes.

 

Sleep Parade - InsideOut

Sleep Parade:

The next news was fairly abrupt, but Melbourne band, Sleep Parade, announced that their new album Inside/Out will be released tomorrow (July 5th)! They wrote on Facebook, “Just a quick reminder that our brand new album titled ‘Inside/Out’ is coming out tomorrow, July 5th. It has been a long journey and we could not be happier that our new creation will finally be available for you guys to enjoy. We would like to say a big thank you to everyone that has helped and supported us over the past few years! The album will be available through MGM/Green, on ITunes and directly from us through our bandcamp or at any of our upcoming tour dates.”

They also went on to announce they would be opening for Dead Letter Circus on the first leg of the Catalyst Fire Tour which will be going through Australia from August 29th – September 20th. The album is available now through Bandcamp, JB HI-Fi, and iTunes.

 

Helm - Panthalassa

Helm:

Last but of course not least, the fantastic heavy progressive group known as Helm is set to release their new album Panthalassa on the 12th of July. They are a newer band to me, but from what I’ve heard, they have really killer material. So if you enjoy Dead Letter, Sleep Parade, or anything else on this page for that matter, it’s definitely a project you’re definitely gonna want to check out. You can head over to their site at http://helmofficial.com to get a free download of the epic lead single called “The Taxidermist.” Preorders for Panthalassa are available here.

 

Stay tuned for more individual band posts in the near future. And be sure to stop by my YouTube page. Many great things to come!

“Prying Open My Third Eye” // Tool: For the Fans – Part II

Tool - Third Eye

As promised, part 2 of the Tool post. In the first section I went over some of my “favorites” as a way to pay respect to the band who has completely carved the taste in music I possess today. For me, Tool has become more than a band… As stated by Soen vocalist, Joel Ekelöf, We are inspired by Tool but I consider them not only a band but a genre. Over the last few years, that is exactly what Tool has become for me – A whole genre. I have seen many complaints throughout the internet by “hardcore”Tool fans out there aimed at other bands who have taken inspiration for the great forerunners of such a unique sound. The main complaint is that the other bands are “Tool rip-offs.” Though possibly this is true here and there, I am still thankful that there are bands that have not been too scared to dabble in the “Tool-esque” sound that has enlightened us for the last couple decades. One thing is for certain…it cannot be easy. It is also obviously not a 100% popular thing today. On YouTube I have even seen many bands receive comments diluted with profanity for “trying to hard to imitate Tool.”

I’d like to address a few issues. I mean no disrespect if you have been harsh toward one of these such “Tool-inspired” bands. But I would also appreciate my thoughts to at least be taken into consideration before plaguing another band with swear words without a second thought.

tool_desktop_1920x1080_hd-wallpaper-986540

Tool knows how great they are (at least they better know). Whenever any kind of movement is started, people are sure to follow. Tool has an incredible fan base – one of the strongest in the industry. Personally, I would almost view it as disrespectful if no one attempted to follow in their footsteps. If no bands attempted to continue on the path Tool set out to tread, it would almost be like the world saying, “Your music isn’t good enough to continue.” So if you come across a band who has obvious strong Tool-influence, rather than being angry or offended, it would seem more reasonable to share the feeling of honor Tool lives with, knowing there are people out there who love the band as much as you do and want to take their own stab (at that genre mentioned earlier).

Now it might be possible, but I doubt many bands, if not any, set out thinking, Let’s try to copy Tool as much as we possibly can. Searching for bands has become one of my major hobbies. As embarrassed as I am to admit (not really), I’ll sit by the computer for hours, going through Facebook and YouTube in search of a new band. I am very particular about what I listen to. I don’t just automatically “love” any band I come across. But I must say this… Out of the hundreds of bands I’ve listened to, not ONE has resembled Tool too much to the point where that is the reason I don’t prefer their music. My point is, I strongly believe people (Tool fans) really need to open their minds a bit, pry open their third eyes, and be much more accepting of bands who draw inspiration from the legendary band we all love (even if you don’t want to follow them in the long run). Going around spreading hate over the ambition of others does absolutely no good to anyone. Most people have a pretty particular taste in music, and everyone comes across bands or artists they don’t prefer. But if that’s the case, it doesn’t ever justify writing hateful comments to the band telling them why their music doesn’t appeal to you (whether it’s their Tool-resemblance or anything else).

So two points.

1. Let Tool be honored by other bands who attempt to follow in their footsteps (many of which succeed, in my humble opinion).

2. Bands don’t set out with the mindset to duplicate another band as much as possible and piss off music fans. You might not like their music, but no one is forcing you to listen to it! There’s no reason to pick apart bands for the sole purpose of being a hater. And if you must criticize, at least make it constructive.

tool_desktop_1024x819_hd-wallpaper-477305

That being said, the purpose of this blog is to share bands, and the purpose of this particular post is to share bands who show that Tool-influenced sound I’ve been talking about this whole time. You might not be thrilled with each band’s particular sound, but who knows… There might be one, or two, or more that you end up loving. I will simply list out the bands here without many links to their music, social pages, etc. (although each band is linked to their Facebook page). As quickly as my schedule allows I will begin to write more in-depth posts about each band listed here. This page will also be updated each time I come across another band that fits this category, and they will instantly be added to the list.

My goal is to make this a community where music-listeners (who share similar tastes to each other and myself) can come to find bands, talk about them, and suggest their own favorites – basically like a forum.

Bands are listed alphabetically (if you didn’t catch that)…

As promised, I will be giving each of these bands their own separate post to highlight their individual work. They are ALL killer, so stay tuned! Thanks for bearing through these drawn out articles (if you even made it this far without skipping over half of it).

Also, a huge shoutout to The Aussie Alternative! Many of the bands listed here have been shared by their page, so I definitely recommend checking them out.

Happy Listening!