Thursday 7 June 2012

Finally getting to know some more bands that have followed me on Twitter...

 I've been meaning to do this for some time now, but constant pressure to review bigger albums and other ongoing things have gotten in the way of my chance to do so. But as I fall deeper into a state of unexplained illness which causes most parts of my body to hurt and causes all my walking to be akin to walking when drunk and my feel-good levels from looking at The Product still remain, I've decided now is a good time to try and let some fresh new talents immerse me with their music. And what better way to find said bands than to look at some bands that have followed me on Twitter?

 Last time I did this, I was introduced to the likes of Detroit hard-rockers The Product, Brazilian metalcore warriors Against Tolerance and London pop punk quintet Follow You Home, the latter of which have had music videos on Kerrang! TV and Scuzz, which was awesome to see. Not much else of any major excitement has happened on that wonderful micro-blogging site since. I got followed by a bunch of bands I love and at first that seems really cool but nothing of any great value happens, apart from a small chat I had with The Defiled using the site a while ago, thus beating the kids from The Exclusives to them. That, and I may have annoyed Kerrang! editor James McMahon following his revealing of the "Rockstar Mixtapes" front cover of the magazine, when readers were originally promised to see the exclusive comeback interview with Black Sabbath. This naturally prompted me to tweet him stating "Well, Black Sabbath seem to have gotten younger and gotten new looks" upon witnessing the appearance of You Me at Six's Josh Franceschi, Young Guns' Gustav Wood, Lostprophets' Ian Watkins and Enter Shikari's Rou Reynolds standing where Black Sabbath should have been. Yeah, interesting site. Cool things happen. Who cares? Let's look at some bands.

The Sun Explodes - Describing their music as "Genre-defining", my first encounter of the Carlisle quintet came when they told me that I would enjoy them if I like my rock with synths. With the expectations for the band just to be another Asking Alexandria clone, I found myself pleasantly surprised what truly is the sense of musical diversity on offer in their hit Honour Bound. With a range of powerful melodies, crushing post-hardcore riffs and synthesizer backdrops providing both atmospheric grace and pulsing trance with an extra jab to listeners, the band is perhaps the closest anyone will get to describing music as being like Muse meets Take to the Skies era Enter Shikari. Their debut album Emergence is out now. Check them out at their Their official website.

Vampires Everywhere! - These guys are probably the most known group out of all the groups here, with the most appearances in magazines and the largest fanbase. They're kings in the underground sector of emo influenced metallers that like to overindulge in the black clothing and pale makeup that bands like Black Veil Brides and Motionless in White have brought to the forefront of mainstream rock music. And so mixing their pulsing metallic shredding with big hooks and synth backdrops that sound like samples most likely taken out of cult horror b-movies, they're probably the band that serves as the missing link between BVB and MIW's fairly contrasting take on metal. Their second release Hellbound & Heartless is out on the 19th June via Hollywood Waste. Check them out on Their Facebook page.

The Hiding Place - Armed with a dusty range of beautiful melodies and scuzzed up riffing on their hit Popular Myths that no fan of the infectiously catchy post-hardcore of Thrice, or Brand New could possibly resist, Midlands alt rockers The Hiding Place have been building up a solid fanbase with their debut EP EP2 - I may be wrong when I say debut. Only three songs are on offer, but it's enough to prove them to be rock monsters that anyone who wants pure solid rock song bursting with emotion should be falling head over heels for. Check them out at Their BigCartel page.

FYI - When the UK has a go at making pop punk music, the result is often a much purer and and grittier sound than the more glossy clean cut sounds of All Time Low and Good Charlotte. And Bolton trio FYI are no different. Their hit I'm a Visionary proves such notions and the band take the three cord magic that has worked with so many other bands and mix it with a more organic production and vocal performance from frontman Luke Gregory, which puts them in the same league of British alt rock bands that are taking the nation by storm right now in the vain of Twin Atlantic and Lower Than Atlantis, who I'm finally getting into. Yay looking like I'm just following trends. Actually, given that this post is about Twitter, following trends is not something I want to be associated with. Check out FYI on Their Facebook page.

The Detours - Glaswegian hard rockers The Detours have already received a high level of positive press ranging from Evening Times reporter James Watt to Grant Nicholas of Feeder, a man that clearly knows a thing or two about creating music with hardened riffs with pouncing hooks. And The Detours certainly specialize in making music like this. Just look at their vibrant and thrilling performance on their hit One Last Chance taken from their 2011 EP Ignite. And ignite they do, with energetic melodies and bursts of life-affirming charm all around. Check them out at Their official website.

Cloud Gavin - No, it's not the love child of Cloud Nothings and Dance Gavin Dance silly. The music of the Illinois quartet is a much more chilled out experience, which also takes influences from the likes of Thrice and Brand New but with focus put on the slower more atmospheric moments of those bands, with a further appreciation for prog bands. Their debut Recycle and Create displays this selection of influences effortlessly in the laid back and touching performances of Harbor and Mountain. Their second album Posture will be released on the 3rd July, so expect more ethereal alt rock from them. Check them out on Their BigCartel page.

Deception of a Ghost - With their darkened image, bleak artwork and grim selection of pulsing metalcore breakdowns and frantic brutality, there's actually a lot of positivity to be found in the music of North Carolina  bruisers Deception of a Ghost. With lyrics spreading positive messages of religion and vegetarianism (Woah! You lost me guys! Kidding.) and thoughts on politics and worldwide issues, they're showing that the underground metalcore revolution can display more intelligence and thought provoking power than your average Emmure album. Mixing the roughened metalcore of Earth Crisis and Hatebreed with the post-hardcore hooks of Senses Fail and Story of the Year, the bring together the best elements of new American metalcore. Check out their debut album Speak Up - You're Not Alone and check them out on Their Facebook page.

Kady! Danger - Another band of the American emo/metalcore revolution, think A Day to Remember meets I See Stars as the Fresno quartet mix pouncing breakdowns with sugary catchy choruses with major trancey beats, as seen in their hit The Open Road taken from their 2011 EP Gold Blooded. So, if you like your post hardcore with a gleaming edge and vocals that burst with fist-pumping feel good charm so you can headbang while being covered in honey-fresh sweetness, or something like that. Check them out on Their Facebook page.

Landmine Marathon - I will say now that Landmine Marathon is probably one of the most brutal band names I've heard in ages. And with their crushing display of melodic death metal that can be found on their latest album Gallows it's thankful to see that their music is as brutal as their name suggests. The monolithic growls of frontwoman Grace Perry are as deep and soul-smashing as those of any male vocalist, sounding like a combination of George Fischer, Dez Fafara and Johan Hegg. This is a group that cares not for hooks or sing-along moments. This is a group that strives to shred their way through their competition and be a grisly demonstration of what being brutal is all about. Check them out at Their official website.

Mind Museum - Serving up a colourful soulful dish of melodic pop rock once more in the vain of rising British alt rock bands that enjoy playing with a post hardcore edge, Bristol trio Mind Museum make a massive sound on their debut EP The Power of Three that shows them to bring their own certain flare into the rock and roll rising with dazzling hooks and vibrant textures of immersible guitars and the gripping vocal melodies of frontman Justin E Percival. They've been giving away some free music as of late. Hopefully, it will serve as one of the many things that should make them huge. Check them out at Their official website.

 So, it felt really good to be able to take a delve into the more underground realms of rock and metal once again. Seems that the revolutionary genres of emo influenced metalcore and post hardcore influenced alt rock is on fine form with new bands to be found all around all putting their own take on the music. But bands like Landmine Marathon are around to prove to worried metal purists that there is still lots of pure brutality to be found in metal. I can't think of any band that I've looked at now to go on and move on towards much bigger things in their musical careers and who knows, maybe this will serve as promotion and I can get kids from Blairgowrie and Dundee into these bands! Wouldn't that be fun? I think I have to do this more often.

Also if you care you can follow me on Twitter at @AndyrfDavidson but it's not a very interesting experience.

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