MOTD - Rivers Of Nihil: Technical Explosion

Mp3 Of The Day

Band/Artist: Rivers Of Nihil
Song: Chambers of Civility
Album: Heirarchy
Style: Technical Death Metal
country/location: Reading, Pennsylvania, US
release: 2010

Boston has been graced with a slew of fantastic touring bands from all over! Last Wednesday was no exception with an explosive tech death outfit visiting from Pennsylvania.

When I say explosive, I mean a nuclear bomb worth of brutality, technical prowess & epic songwriting. Rivers Of Nihil are no slouches at their brand of skillfully played crushing death metal. The guitarists are fierce with their brutal as fuck riffs & kaleidoscopic licks, while the jazzy and progressive inspired drum blasting is fast and unrelenting. The vokillist is a beastly consistent growler, solid and gruff with a nice range. As technical as they are, they haven't forgotten the importance of appealing to simpler ears. They throw in enough chugging riffs and breakdowns to keep headbangers and moshers happy, even a couple ear catching djent/Meshuggah moments to please fans of dropped tuning. For fans of technical death as well as brutal death, Rivers Of Nihil are definitely a band to check out. Wicked nice dudes too! Check it out!

Rivers Of Nihil - Chambers of Civility

MOTD - Tiger Force: A Danish Heavy Metal Gem

Mp3 Of The Day

Band/Artist: Tiger Force
Song: Track 2
Album: demo
Style: Heavy Metal
country/location: Denmark
release: 1985

Here's some super obscure but quality heavy metal for you! As many of you know, I have a love for old heavy metal demos from the 80s. A lot of great gems are found among these unknown bands. Tiger Force being a pretty great discovery in my trips around the internet. From Denmark, this little band played bordering thrash-shredding, riffing NWOBHM inspired heavy metal. The galloping rhythms is a dead giveaway of their influences as well as a riff that sounds stolen from Dio. The solos are more than competent. The vocalist is not particularly memorable, sounding like an average young male singer, but the charm is there. Not much is known about these guys unfortunately (the name of this song is open to speculation), but I'd be curious to learn what happened to them for they had some potential. Fans of traditional heavy metal will enjoy this. Check it out!

Tiger Force - Track 2

MOTD - Texas In July: Christian melodic Metalcore that ain't awful

Mp3 Of The Day

Band/Artist: Texas In July
Song: 1000 Lies
Album: One Reality
Style: Metalcore
country/location: Lancaster, Pennsylvania, US
release: 2011

Yes I'm posting a Christian metalcore band! Suck it! Why am I posting this? To show that I do enjoy some metalcore/deathcore every now and then and I felt like posting it!

Anyways, Texas In July is a Christian metalcore band from Pennsylvania and honestly they're pretty good. Nothing groundbreaking or fancy, nor are they awful (at least to me). Admittedly, a lot of generic elements go into their sound, but fortunately they pull it off well and seem to write some catchy and melodic songs. The guitarists aren't slouches at their instruments, going from radio friendly staccato riffs (ala alternative/nu metal) to almost technical twin guitar leads (ala 2000s melodeath/metalcore), though not much else happens (not a bad thing for this style). The vocalist doesn't fall for the tricks that can break a melodic band utilizing a raspy post-hardcore delivery that I find better then the usual emo-esc style commonly found today. Can't say I paid much attention to the lyrics but I assume they're Christian. Anyways, for those who like a little bit of melodic, semi generic metal (or "metal") every now and then will enjoy Texas In July. However haters of metalcore probably won't be converted (see what I did there?). Check it out!

Texas In July - 1000 Lies

MOTD - Humanity Falls: Method To The Chaos

Mp3 Of The Day

Band/Artist: Humanity Falls
Song: No Room for Ingenuity
Album: Ordaining the Apocalypse
Style: Experimental Death Metal/Grindcore
country/location: New York, US
release: 2010

Alright! Time to bring back the metals! Well at the very least try to do more blogging! The last few weeks have brought some excellent bands to the Boston/Worcester area, I'd like to share one of them with you.

Humanity Falls is always a welcomed band in Boston, playing at least once or twice a year to lineups including some of the best death/grind bands of the area. I'd call myself a fan as well, enough to drag me out to Everett to see them arrive fashionably late. Just in time to annihilate the crowd with their one of a kind chaos.

Chaos is a great word for this New York based band. This music isn't for the weak of heart, it's fast, loud, chaotic, dissonant, jagged, brutal, obnoxious, irritating, almost completely devoid of an traditional sense of music. Guitarist, Ammo Diaz, sounds like he's just smashing the guitar, rubbing his hand up and down the strings and playing just random notes. Well, he kinda is! There is method to this madness, one can tell that it was thought out and planned to the letter. There are "traditional" death/grind riffs thrown in to the mix for the headbangers and moshers to go to town. Edward Bednarek is a beast on the drums, blasting at both speeds & rhythms that are unimaginable. The snare has a clanging ringing trash can like sound to it that adds to the deranged music. Then the final piece of the puzzle is Eston Brown's ferocious & totally brutal vocals. Powerful & harsh, he's no slouch providing both low end growls and raw grind screams. Humanity Falls is definitely not for everyone, but those with an open mind and a love for chaotic music will get a lot of out of this band. Check it out!

Humanity Falls - No Room for Ingenuity

MOTD - Thin Lizzy: Soundtrack to a Storm

Mp3 Of The Day

Band/Artist: Thin Lizzy
Song: Thunder And Lightning
Album: Thunder And Lightning
Style: Heavy Metal
country/location: Dublin, Ireland
release: 1983

Doing a quick post of one of my all time favorite bands! As I type this little write up, an epic thunderstorm is approaching. The clouds are gray and ominous. The winds are picking up, the bright flashes are getting closer and in the distances there are epic rumblings. God damn it's so exciting, it's gonna hit like a hammer! Whenever there's a thunderstorm, the first song to pop into my head is this amazing kick ass punch to the face!

The mighty Thin Lizzy! No band can convey the crackle and excitement of a thunderstorm like Thin Lizzy! This song comes from their last album which is easily their heaviest and catchiest. Phil Lynott sounds a bit strained but still his unmistakable voice is true and clear. John Sykes and Scott Gorham provide riffs of pure balls and heavy metal. It's an incredibly infectious anthem that is speedy and energetic with a chorus that is begging to be shouted out loud from arenas. Easily one of my favorite Thin Lizzy songs! The storm has now almost over my apartment. I should post this before I lose pow....

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Thin Lizzy - Thunder And Lightning

MOTD - The Stand: Congrats Grads!

Mp3 Of The Day

Band/Artist: The Stand
Song: Graduation Day
Album: The Stand
Style: Progressive/Power Metal
country/location: Nashville, Tennessee, US
release: 1988

So it's graduation season! A number of my friends have walked down aisles and received their diplomas that say "good job you completed college/grad school/high school! Yay!" So in honor of that, here's a little ditty about graduation day!

Not too much to say about this little gem of a band, hailing from Nashville, Tennessee, The Stand was playing a proggy-powerish style of metal back in the late 80s. Taking a prog songwriting influence from Rush, mixing it with the infectious bounce and crunch of 80s melodic metal, The Stand had a knack at writing some damn catchy heavy metal tunes. This song takes a relaxed and chill, mid tempo, introspective direction while still having a metal punch. The vocalist takes the stand (heh) out the most with this weird slur thing he uses in the bridge and chorus. From what I can pick out of the lyrics, it is a sorta celebration of graduation day (at least I hope), something about how you're no longer pending to the ways of the professors/teachers haha. Either way, I think I would prefer to have this song played at prom over the Vitamin C song hehe (ok I have soft spot for that one too). Anyways congrats grads! Good luck on your many endeavors! Check out the song too!

The Stand - Graduation Day

MOTD - Shitstorm: A Short Burst of Dirty Grind

Mp3 Of The Day

Band/Artist: Shitstorm
Song: Closed Minded
Album: Magrudergrind/Shitstorm Split LP
Style: Grindcore
country/location: Miami, Florida, US
release: 2006

Last week I attended the best metal/extreme music festival in North America, the Maryland Death Fest! 4 days, 63 bands of all different styles and varieties (grind, black metal, death, trad, sludge, hardcore, doom, etc), tons of extreme music lovers from all over the world, it was one of the best weekends ever! I'm already looking forward to next's year's 10th anniversary which can only be fantastic! Lots of !

One of the great things about a festival like MDF is among the incredible lineup of headliners and favorite bands, there are plenty of the scene's best upcoming bands to discover for the first time. This year's fest was full of gems I hadn't heard before and was super glad to be introduced to. On the first day of MDF IX, this super abrasive unrelenting grind band took the stage and proceeded to quickly tear out eardrums and pound faces into the ground. Shitstorm produces some of the fastest and quickest bursts of awesome hardcore-tinged grindcore I had ever heard. Unlike their other sludgy pop band Torche, Shitstorm is a tribute to all things loud, raw, biting, dirty and harsh. Packed into less then a minute, crusty noisy guitars explode as the drummer blasts faster then seemingly possible, while fierce and furious growls and screams scrape the skin from flesh. Grind/hardcore fans went nuts for them, while those less inclined made a b-line for the door. They definitely impressed the fuck out of me! Check it out!

Shitstorm - Closed Minded

more pics at www.returntothepit.com