While we were on vacation in London, a fine gentleman named Ben let us shack up in his apartment. Ben played his current band for me, London hardcore act SANTA KARLA and I was (not-so) surprised to hear they rule. It's always cool when a friend plays you his band's song and they don't suck. You don't have to go through that awkward "Uhh yea, that sounds great" schtick.

Hardcore is a bit misleading, as there are hints of black metal and other metal sprinkles in there. The guitars are thick, the vocals are aggressive and the drums keep on crashing. Ben was kind enough to give us a free MP3 off their recently released demo, which you can download/stream below. If you dig the band, make sure to add them on MySpace as the band is currently working on their first full-length. So expect more rad music from them soon. You've been warned.

SANTA KARLA - Iron Skye [3:58m]

 

Play Now

Y'all should know the score by now. I'm Grim Kim, I probably hate your favorite band, and I'm going to spend the next couple paragraphs telling you exactly why you NEED to be listening to whatever band I've decided to write about this time. Got it? Good. I just got back from Obscene Extreme Fest in the Czech Republic, and my need for speed is still in hyperdrive. No time for sludge this week. Less talk, more grind!

Meet Flagitious Idiosyncrasy in the Dilapidation, an originally all-girl (they've recently added a male guitarist) grindcore quartet based outta Tokyo, Japan. These chicks make Angela Gossow look like your sweet Auntie Mabel, and shit all over the idea that "girls can't play metal." (more…)

Flagitious Idiosyncrasy In The Dilapidation - Evacuation.mp3 [1:22m]

 

Play Now

Frank and I attended the first half of the 2-day Summer Slaughter event in NY yesterday (with half the openers playing one night, and the other half playing tonight). While we only saw BLACKGUARD, DECREPIT BIRTH and ORIGIN in terms of openers, the big O clearly impressed me the most of all the bands I saw last night.

I seriously am blown away by how proficient every member of that band is. They are a well oiled machine. And really, I need to give a shout out to bassist Mike Flores. He absolutely rapes his bass to the point where I just assume that he must be very good at pleasuring women. Am I right or am I right? So for today's wake up call, here is the song they closed with, off their killer CD, Informis, Infinitas, Inhumanitas here is Portal…

- Rob

ORIGIN - Portal [3:17m]

 

Play Now

God damn, we went to see ATHIEST, THE FACELESS and PSYOPUS last night and the Faceless absolutely destroyed. They are just so fucking good. The thing that blew Frank away is they use samples and don't play to a click. After the show, guitarist Michael Keane told us he is a tempo nazi, and they try to be extremely precise with their timing. I felt this morning, I'd play the song they closed with on this tour. Metal Nick also posted a live video of "Legions of the Serpent" this weekend, so check that out as well. If you missed this tour, make sure to go see them when they open for IN FLAMES and BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME. You will not regret it.

THE FACELESS - The Ancient Covenant [4:01m]

 

Play Now

This Monday morning, I felt I needed a good cover to start my week off right, and I can't think of a better on that this "My Michelle" cover the DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN did a few years ago. It comes from a compilation of metal/hardcore bands covering GnR called Bring You To Your Knees. Not sure if its available anymore, but here is the cover to get you all pumped for the week…

DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN - My Michelle [4:08m]

 

Play Now

Oh my fucking Buddah! MASTODON absolutely destroyed the Music Hall of Williamsburg last night. Their 90 minute set started with the band plowing through their most recent prog-opus, Crack The Skye from beginning to end as advertised, and then played an additional 40 minutes of old classics in reverse-chronological order starting with tracks off Blood Mountain, then moving to a few from Leviathan and closing with today's wake up call, March of the Fire Ants. This band is too good for words to describe. If they are playing around your town, you need to go see them.

We got the chance to interview Brann and Troy before the show, so look out for that in the next couple of days. If this isn't enough 'don for you, check out a video we found after the jump… (more…)

MASTODON - March of the Fire Ants [4:26m]

 

Play Now

Woah, man. Was I supposed to do something today? Like a post a song or something. Oh man, it's 4/20 maaan. I guess I'll just do the same thing I do every other day of the year except….like…more, man! What was I talking about? Um…oh yea. Black Sabbath, man. The originators. This tunesky is helping me massage my third eye as I look out into the ether and wonder why we are all here. Does God exist? Am I out of weed?! BRB gotta call my dealer.

BLACK SABBATH - Sweet Leaf [5:09m]

 

Play Now

God bless the inventor of the "Shuffle" button on music players. Late last week, I was having the shittiest day, and had my music on random and Deadwater Drowning's "Bliss From a Dead Embrace" came on and I was reminded of how much this band kicked fucking ass.

Bread out of the early 2000's Massachusetts metalcore scene, these guys basically the blueprint for every current deathcore band out today. The only release the band has is a 2004 self-titled EP, and it is 21 minutes of sheer relentlessness. Some familiar names fills the ranks: the infamous Nate Johnson handling vocal duties (who went onto play with THROUGH THE EYES OF THE DEAD and PREMONITIONS OF WAR) and on guitar Johnny Fay (of THE RED CHORD fame) and Seth Coleman (who then joined THE ACACIA STRAIN). Sometimes it's the bands that only release one blip of music that get the most notoriety because they never had a chance to fuck it up. This is definitely one of those bands. If you enjoy heavy music, I urge you to pick up their self titled EP. This track will surely convince you:

DEADWATER DROWNING - Bliss From a Dead Embrace [4:00m]

 

Play Now

OLD MAN GLOOM is as close to a doom supergroup as we're going to get. Featuring in it's ranks ISIS vocalist Aaron Turner as well as mega-metal-man Nate Newton of CONVERGE/DOOM RIDERS fame, add in members of CAVE IN and ZOZOBRA and you have one sludgtastic concoction. So on this fine Spring morning, enjoy one of my favorite songs from this band, Sleeping with Snakes off of their Christmas LP to get you in the right mood for the week ahead!

[ OLD MAN GLOOM on MySpace ]

OLD MAN GLOOM - Sleeping With Snakes [2:33m]

 

Play Now

With all the negativity in the news media, we felt the perfect song to describe our current economic climate would be what is possibly THE RED CHORD's most famous song: Dreaming In Dog Years. The sing-a-long to end all sing-a-longs. If you've never experienced it live, we have some video footage to document it. But for now, wake up to the smooth sounds of Guy, Gunface, Greg and crew to start the week off right!

THE RED CHORD - Dreaming in Dog Years [3:04m]

 

Play Now

One hour less of sleep? Weeeaaaak. Well, if anything can pump you up this sleepless Monday morning its the "fuck shit up" anthem on the 90s, Arise from the album of the same name by Brazilian thrash titans SEPULTURA. Sometimes I wish I could go back to this era and just see a giant fest with them headlining in Rio. That would be intense. WAKE UP ALREADY!

SEPULTURA - Arise [3:18m]

 

Play Now

What better way to begin your week than with a little MESHUGGAAAHHH. Here at the Metal Injection Studios, we still can't get over the awesome Meshuggah/Cynic/The Faceless show we saw last week, so all three bands are currently in our rotation. I thought I'd upload a track from my favorite Meshuggah release, the None EP. What I love about this EP is its quick and to the point: 5 tracks, 33 minutes, all awesome all the time! Sickening, the second track on the CD definitely stands as my favorite. Hopefully, it will start your week on the right (sixteenth) note.

MESHUGGAH - Sickening [5:47m]

 

Play Now

I know what you're thinking: "Rob, a wake up call at 1:30 pm?" Well, it's Presidents Day and I have the day off from work, so yes, this is MY Wake Up Call. Red Fang is an awesome up and coming band from Portland, OR that brings the rock. The band can be compared to the sound of Big Business, the Sword, and even show some signs of Clutch rocking out. So, check out the free download of Prehistoric Dog below and don't forget to watch the equally awesome music video they shot for the song as well.

[ RED FANG on Myspace ]

RED FANG - Prehistoric Dog [4:28m]

 

Play Now

Ever listen to Cannibal Corpse and were all like "Man, these lyrics are so deep. If they only slowed it down and just sang it with a little heart it would be so much better?" Well, two dudes from Detroit, Michigan clearly felt that way and thus created Acoustic Corpse, an acoustic Cannibal Corpse tribute duo. Its almost as if Weezer is covering Cannibal Corpse. We present you with the soothing sounds of I Cum Blood this fine Monday morning…

[ ACOUSTIC CORPSE on Myspace ]

ACOUSTIC CORPSE - I Cum Blood [3:27m]

 

Play Now

Superbowl got you down? Lost your mind? Lost all your money? Well, maybe Dave Mustaine and Co. can help you this fine Monday morning. It feels like Spring in New York City, and I'm in a MegaDave kind of mood. Check out this incredibly infectious track from the band's Youthanasia release. It is sure to put you in a good mood as well (unless you don't like Megadeth, in which case you are already a miserable person!)

MEGADETH - Killing Road [3:51m]

 

Play Now

Providence, RI natives DAUGHTERS is a band that eats, sleeps and breathes Rock 'N' Roll. The band is labeled as punk, grindcore, mathcore and a ton of other labels but to me it is a genre I like to call avant-grind. They're in, they're out and you don't know what hit you. Check out one of my favorite songs by the band, Jones from Indiana off Canada Songs and hopefully it'll get you up and going on this Monday.

[ DAUGHTERS on MySpace ]

DAUGHTERS - Jones From Indiana [1:05m]

 

Play Now

Sorry for being a little late with this week's Monday Wake Up Call. My day job actually gave me work to do (you didn't think MI was a full time gig did you?). Anyhoo, over the weekend, Blabbermouth posted about an amazing project called EXIVIOUS.

The band seems to be a side project, and features in its rank some heavy hitters in the tech-metal scene: Tymon of CYNIC on guitar, CYNIC bassist Robin Zielhorst, TEXTURES drummer Stef Broks and Michel Nienhuis (ex-SENGAIA) on guitar. The band is filled with a bunch of metal and jazz fusion nerds, so naturally they are going to try to mold the two concepts together and from what I heard so far, it's definitely something worth checking out. The band plans to release an album later this year DIY with only 1000 copies of their CD being printed, each featuring unique artwork. Pretty interesting concept for a DIY release. The band posted the first track of their upcoming self-titled release over the weekend on their official website which you can stream below. Prepare to have your face melted…

Exivious - Waves of Thought [6:25m]

 

Play Now

I hate being hungover on a Monday morning. Last night, Frank and I checked out Skeletonwitch and Cannabis Corpse. The show was awesome and expect some sick live footage in the near future. Since my ear buds are still coming down from the thrashing they received, I thought I'd listen to undoubtedly the most metal flamenco band of all time, Rodrigo y Gabriella. This acoustic duo have cited metal bands like Metallica and Testament as major influences. They even jammed with Testament guitarist Alex Scolnik. On their self-titled release, they included a brilliant acoustic cover of Metallica's Orion. Check it out below.

Rodrigo y Gabriella - Orion [7:42m]

 

Play Now