Thursday the 21st: Arsis - Unwelcome

     For this here belated Throwback Thursday, we're only going back a couple of years, but I think you'll be cool with it when your hear the song in question. Any comments about how uncool with it you are can be left below.

     "Unwelcome" isn't just the title track from the 2013 Arsis album, it's also the lead track, an big job for any song. I could go on all day with my thoughts about the importance of track orders and album pacing, particularly regarding opening tracks, but suffice it to say that first impressions are important if you want to make sure some listens to the rest of your record. Arsis made the right call putting "Unwelcome" at the top of the Unwelcome batting order, because it perfectly sets the tone for the deft, melodic technical death metal that follows. Arsis fan or not, I think you'll agree that "Unwelcome" makes a great opening salvo, so have a listen and see what you think.

Last Tuesday: Between the Buried and Me - Melting City

     Whenever I'm looking for something technically proficient for a Tuesday post, I've got a couple of go-to sources that never let me down. One such well I visit frequently is the catalogue of Virginia's Arsis, but this time around I'm going south a state for a cut from North Carolina's Between the Buried and Me.

     Dazzling technicality is all over Between the Buried and Me's catalogue, but for last Tuesday I'm going with the epic "Melting City" from 2012's The Parallax II: Future Sequence. This one starts off with proggy fury, and even though things mellow out and get a little jazzier for a couple of stretches over the course of the ten-minute running time of "Melting City", there's never a lull in the top-notch musicianship. It's a bit of a time investment, but get to the end and I think you'll find it was all worth it. Go on. Click the link and find out if I'm right. I'll wait.

Tuesday: Arsis - Martyred or Mourning

     It's been a while since I've gone back to make favourite Tech Tuesday well, so let's all pull up a bucket and quench our thirst for technical death metal with a cut from one of the genre's current greats. New album in 2016 maybe? Fingers crossed!

     I've been an Arsis fan since 2008's We Are the Nightmare shredded its way into my heart and showed me that fast and ferocious death metal could still be super heavy on melody and *gasp* hooks. It may sound like an oxymoron, but if ever there was a "radio friendly" tech-death band, it's Arsis.

     I don't know if I'd put today's song "Martyred or Mourning", from 2013's Unwelcome, on the radio playlist; I'll leave that up to you to decide. I will, however, say that this one's a great example of how tight and precise Arsis' riffing can be -- rhythm or lead, doesn't matter, James and the guys are always on point. I have no insider information regarding a new Arsis record (do I ever have insider information?) but with a 2-3 year cycle for the last couple of albums, even I can do the math and figure out it's been long enough since Unwelcome. Like I said, fingers crossed.

Tuesday: Arkaik - Digital Shroud

     It's belated Tech Tuesday time, but don't worry, it's not going to be another Arsis or The Faceless track. No, I've got something new for you today, courtesy of California tech-death act Arkaik and their new record Lucid Dawn.

     Generally speaking, Lucid Dawn is a tech-death fan's dream, with blistering riffing and drumming sitting comfortably along side crusty vocals and just enough proggy tendencies to spice things up nicely. Your Tech Tuesday track "Digital Shroud" is no exception, with furious energy giving way to an avante garde-sounding bass solo that leads back into a relentless finish. Crushing and technical, Arkaik and Lucid Dawn are definitely worth a listen or two for fans of the genre.

Tuesday: Arsis - Choking on Sand

     Well here we are once again: the top of the mountain is within sight, and we're ready to make a push for the summit. Time for a little bit of Tech Tuesday! And just because I think it's about time they rounded up their riffs and headed back into the studio, we're going to have another Arsis song, OK?

     Unwelcome, Arsis' last album, only came out in 2013, so there might not be anything in the works just yet. But Mr. Malone and Company have been working on a 2-3 year album cycle since, well, pretty much ever (not even counting EPs) so it wouldn't be that out of the question to hear some Arsis news sometime this year.

     In the meantime, let's have something from the aforementioned Unwelcome, shall we? Your Tuesday track is "Choking on Sand", which has some fleet-fingered-and-wristed riffing that makes this one metal enough for that badass song title. Check it.

Irreversible Mechanism - Infinite Fields

     Getting all caught up today with a Tech Tuesday post for fans of The Faceless, Arsis, and other similarly techy stuff.

     International outfit Irreversible Mechanism are about to unleash their debut LP Infinite Fields at the end of the month, and now we all get to hear the title track. "Infinite Fields" is shreddy and epic to the point of being operatic -- some choral work wouldn't sound out of place in a couple of spots. It's not exactly breaking the tech death mold, but if the rest of the album Infinite Fields is of the same calibre as "Infinite Fields" the song, this could still be one of the year's stronger showings. Check it out.

Tuesday: Arsis - Sightless Wisdom

     We're going back a couple of years for this week's only-a-little-bit-belated Tech Tuesday post, to the album that put one of my favourite technical death metal bands on my musical radar in the first place.

     The classic We Are the Nightmare isn't the first album by Virginia's Arsis, or even the second, but for me personally it has that resonance, and that high-water-mark quality, that give it the feel of a never-to-be-topped debut. James Malone and Company have certainly a kick-ass couple of LPs and an EP since We Are the Nightmare, but nothing's grabbed me quite as hard.

     One of the many reasons We Are the Nightmare refuses to relinquish its grip on me to this very day is your Tech Tuesday track. "Sightless Wisdom" is one of many tracks from Nightmare that demonstrates time and again Malone's gift for crafting fleet-fingered riffs that turn on a dime. Killer melo-tech abounds on this record, but for my money "Sightless Wisdom" is definitely a standout.

Aronious - Disillusionment I

     Fancy something heavy and evil-sounding to cap off your Sunday evening? Take heart, for I have just the thing for you my friend.

     Aronious have both heaviness and evil-soundingness in spades, and while they're not mind-blowingly unique or anything, they're also not especially derivative either. Techy, fleet-fingered riffing brings loose comparisons to mind (The Faceless perhaps, or maybe Arsis) but doesn't stray into territory that makes you think "oh, this is just this song or this band".

     Check out "Disillusionment I", the opening track from the band's debut EP Truth in Perception, at volume and see if it's appropriately evil for your purposes.

Arsis - Denied

     More than likely, your Monday blues are currently in the midst of being drowned in a wash of green beer and misplaced Irish pride (misplaced in the sense that most St. Patrick's Day revelers are in fact not Irish at all -- a shirt saying "kiss me I'm Irish" doesn't make it so). But why not try some different medicine, namely some medicine of the technical death metal variety.

     If you're into anything at all tech-deathy, you should definitely already be familiar with Arsis, and if you're not into anything at all tech-deathy... well, what the fuck is wrong with you? St. Patrick's Day or not, a shitty Monday can be made better with some fleet-fingered riffing and shredding. Crank "Denied" from last year's Unwelcome (well, originally from the Leper's Caress EP and then re-released on Unwelcome) at your Paddy's Day party and see what kind of reaction you get from your friends. And if they don't like it, get new friends.

 

Inferi - Destroyer

     It's Friday, and sure it's Valentine's Day, but maybe you're not interested in romance for whatever reason. Maybe you're just looking for something ugly today, something brutal and savage to wash the taste of all those chocolates and cinnamon hearts out of your mouth. This post, dear reader, is for you.

     Nashville's Inferi play a brand of fast and furious technical melo-death that's pretty balls-to-the-wall. Take, for example, the song "Destroyer" from their latest album The Path of Apotheosis. Other than a brief choral break to set up some slow(er) jam-style shreddiness, the song's six-plus minutes are mostly taken up by ass-kicking of one of the highest orders. If stuff like The Black Dahlia Murder and Arsis do it for you, Inferi WILL be right up your alley.

Friday Triple Shot

     I know you must have missed me desperately over the last couple of days, so as usual you're getting a a triple shot today to make up for it, whether you want it or not.

     First, something a little mellower. I'm not a huge fan of techno/electronica-type music, but there is some bloopy stuff I enjoy. How convenient for me that one of my favourite bands  has at least one cool song in this vein (and virtually every other vein besides). That song is "Digital Sea" from the Water portion of Thrice's 2007 album The Alchemy Index: Vols. 1-2, and it's also your song for yesterday.

     Next up, we're going a little more aggro with one of my favourite Deftones songs. Diamond Eyes and Koi No Yokan were both really good records, but when it comes to the Deftones, White Pony still holds the crown in my book. And if we're talking White Pony, we need to be talking "Knife Party", if only for the spine-tingling vocal cameo by Rodleen Getsic near the end of the song. Her performance gives the song a particularly haunting quality that has stuck with me since I was in high school.

     Finally, for your Friday song, we'll sample something heavier still. Specifically, we're going with "We Are the Nightmare" which is both the title track to Arsis' 2008 album as well as the opening one. This is the first song I ever heard by Arsis, and I was instantly intrigued. Tasty tech-death with a pretty keen sense of melody? Yes please. Their stuff since this album has been equally technically brilliant, but for me has failed to rebottle the lightning of We Are the Nightmare. If you're into this kind of thing, you should definitely give this album a spin.

Son of Aurelius - Mercy for Today

     Imagine if The Black Dahlia Murder and Arsis made sweet, sweet metal love to each other, and one of them got knocked up, and then nine months later pre-Michael-Keene-show The Faceless acted as midwife for the resulting baby. That baby, my friends, could very well be named Son of Aurelius.

      I came across these guys a few years ago (so long ago that I can't even remember how) but only recently got around to picking up a copy of their 2010 debut LP The Farthest Reaches. I now wish I hadn't forgotten about them for so long, because I could have been singing their praises this whole time. The eleven tracks on The Farthest Reaches are a sampling of some of the tastiest technical melo-death (melodic tech-death?) I've heard in ages that wasn't written by one of the three bands mentioned above.

     You might not feel quite as enamoured with these guys as I am, but I definitely think you'll dig them at least a little. So check out "Mercy for Today", the furious opening salvo from The Farthest Reaches, and discover for yourself what seems like the Internet's best kept metal secret.

Song of the Day: The Faceless - Planetary Duality II: A Prophecies Fruition

     California tech-death band The Faceless (aka The Michael Keene Show) no doubt picked up a lot of new fans with last year's stellar Autotheism, which was a perfect blend of Opethian beauty meets Arsis-up-to-11 beast.

Song of the Day: The Ocean - Mesopelagic: Into the Uncanny

       When I was picking up my copy of the new Arsis album Unwelcome a week or two ago, I also happened to grab a copy of the newest album from German band The Ocean, and boy am I glad I did.

Song of the Day, Part 1: May the Fifth Be With You

     Yeah, I know Star Wars Day is actually May the Fourth. I get how the pun works. But I missed yesterday (my girlfriend's new apartment is still internetless at the moment) and the theme I'm going with for today's two-parter (or the titles anyways) is Star Wars. So use the Fifth, young padawan, and crank up something of the new and hotly anticipated Arsis album, Unwelcome.

Song of the Day: Arsis - Scornstar

     I try to keep ahead of all things heavy music, but believe it or not this isn't my "day job". Not even close. This means that I too often find myself a little behind in terms of news. As such I just found out today that there's already a single out from the upcoming Arsis album. Say what?! Maybe you've already heard it, or maybe you don't give a shit, but I feel it's my duty to bring it to you anyways.

     Your song tonight is "Scornstar", the first single from the upcoming Unwelcome from tech-death fan favourites Arsis. It hasn't been that long since the "Leper's Caress" EP and already it's time again for some new Arsis, and I for one won't complain one bit. And how about that song name? "Scornstar"? I'm diggin' it. I'm not sure exactly what it means, but I'm diggin' it.

Song of the Day: Arsis - Beyond Forlorn

     It's been a long day and I lack the energy to get creative on your collective asses this evening, so instead you get the heaviest song that came on my shuffle this afternoon at work. Enjoy!

Song of the Day: Arsis - Carve My Cross

     In part 2 of my 2012 year end round-up, I said that one of the albums I'm looking forward to that looks to be coming out sometime this year is the next disc from Arsis, Unwelcome. I also mentioned the fact that we have the EP Leper's Caress to keep us company in the meantime. So let's huddle beside it's warmth, shall we?

2012 Round-up, Part 2: 2013 Top Prospects

     Guten tag, kinders, it's time for part 2 of the Loud Noises 2012 Year End Round-Up. This time around we've got my 2013 Top Prospects list. Like a hockey scout watching the juniors for the next big star I'm on the lookout for the year's big records, not in the sense that I'm trying to get ahead of the curve a predict the next big thing (although you know how I like spreading metal love to the masses) but more in the sense of letting you know which gestating records that I'm looking forward to are likely to be birthed in 2013. How's that for an analogy, eh? Basically, I'm answering this question: of the bands I'm currently digging, who's got new material in the works that we're probably going to hear this year? Simple, right? Let's just see, shall we?

Song of the Day: Arsis - Closer to Cold

     I've got something a little heavier for you today. When I was in the process of getting into heavier and more out-there metal a few years ago, starting to add full-on death and tech metal type stuff to my collection of melodic metal and metalcore, Arsis was among the bands that really showed me that Death metal with a capital D isn't just blast beats and cookie monster growls, that it can be melodic and hooky while still being fast, technical, and generally fucking heavy. They're not my favourite or anything, but they do have some really cool songs, like the one I've chosen for today.

     Today's song is "Closer to Cold" by Arsis, from 2010's Starve for the Devil. Take a bite and let me know what you think.