Wednesday: I the Mighty - Lady of Death

     As I've now established (and as you'll hope agree, to at least some degree), it's good to get out of your comfort zone once in a while. I made this point yesterday in reference to my own journey to the darker, crustier fringes of metal via bands like Abyssal. But what if that kind of extreme metal is your comfort zone? What do you do then?

     You come to Loud Noises and listen to something worlds apart from that, like your Wednesday song from San Francisco's I the Mighty. "Lady of Death" is the first full track from the band's latest, Connector, and it's a microcosm of what I like best about I the Mighty: highly energetic, highly melodic, vaguely proggy post-hardcore with a sheen of poppy hookiness over everything. Comparisons to Dance Gavin Dance come to mind quickest, but I also get shades of Hail the Sun, Stolas, and even Coheed and Cambria sprinkled throughout Connector's running time.

     The rocking energy does seem to drop off a bit towards the second half of Connector, alloyed with some electronic elements and some slightly more varied song moods and tones, but overall there's still enough here to possibly grab even the most blackened of metalheads. Give I the Mighty a shot today.

Tuesday: Abyssal - I Am the Alpha and the Omega

     Any self-help book or life coach will tell you that it's good to step out of your comfort zone sometimes, and the older I get the more I believe it. Sure, it's great being right where we know what's what, but sometimes we need to stretch ourselves a bit if we're going to grow. Being a metal fan isn't any different than anything else.

     Take me, as an example. I've got particular metal preferences. Proggy, techy stuff is up my alley. So is thrashy stuff, and lots of different -core variations. Crusty, super blackened stuff, typically not so much. But when we step outside our usual ruts, we can sometime be pleasantly surprised by what we find.

     If we were to be so adventurous, we might find something like Britain's Abyssal and their latest release Antikatastaseis (dig out your LSJ's, Classical scholars). I say "release" because while Antikatastaseis only boasts seven tracks, they're all monsters that clock in at six minutes or better. That says a lot about the kind of epic blackened metal you're getting here, and I could say more, but I think instead it's time to let Abyssal do the talking. So start things off with opening track "I Am the Alpha and the Omega", and see what you think.