Sunday: A Dark Orbit - Floating Intact

     Most of the time, most of us are probably pretty over the whole "djent" sound/trend/movement/whatever. Sure, some of us have our favourites, but generally speaking many of us are ready to move on now. There are, however, a bunch of bands out there doing the sound well, or doing something just a little different with the sound, and sometimes you're just in the mood for something big and chunky.

     This one's for those big and chunky times. I'm not a big A Dark Orbit fan or anything, but I am a big fan of British label Basick Records, so anytime they're stoked about a band's new release, I take notice and I give that shit some spins. In this case, that shit is A Dark Orbit's latest single "Floating Intact" from their forthcoming record Inverted, and it is both big and chunky. I do have to give it the usual stamp of "nothing mind-blowing or wheel-reinventing here", but if you've got a hankering for some grimy, djenty chunk that'll stomp all over you, it seems A Dark Orbit have got you covered.

Wednesday: Uneven Structure - Funambule

     Let's join hands and once again give thanks to the muses for keeping our ears fed with fresh meat. If your musical taste is similar to mine, then you've been looking forward to this one for quite some time now. Thankfully, the wait has definitely been worth it.

     It seems like the follow-up to 2011's monstrous Februus has been simmering away forever, but the guys in Uneven Structure have finally finished everything up and unleashed the first single on us in anticipation of a release sometime this fall. If you haven't check it out yet (do it, do it now!) I'm happy to report that "Funambule" is everything you'd expect from Uneven Structure: it's heavy, it's got groove for days, and most of all it's fucking BIG. Sure, this is just a taste, but if the rest of La Partition hits this hard, it's going to crush. Preorders, please, Basick?

Friday: Chimp Spanner - Cloud City

     The other day a post from Basick Records came up in my Facebook feed, telling me that this particular track would be great to play Mario Kart to. I wholeheartedly agree, and have thought the same thing about this guy's work before. Not for the first time here at Loud Noises, it's Chimp Spanner.

     Specifically, it's "Cloud City" from 2012's All Roads Lead Here, a track that does indeed sound like it would make a good soundtrack for kart racing and shell slinging. Mario Kart's music is fairly jazz-influenced as it is, so something as smooth as Chimp Spanner feels right at home. Load up Rainbow Road and enjoy this one.

Friday: Chimp Spanner - Mobius, Pt. 1

     We're staying on the Basick Record train today. Although today's song is from something a little older rather than something I just picked up after Christmas, you know I never really need a reason to feature badass instrumental music.

     Your song today is "Mobius, Pt. 1" from Chimp Spanner's 2012 EP All Roads Lead Here, the first piece of an epic three-part exploration of the awesomeness of British guitarist Paul Antonio Ortiz. If you have an ear for some djenty jazz-fusion from a guy with some pretty monstrous guitar chops, you owe it to yourself to check out what Mr Ortiz is up to.

Thursday: The Algorithm - trojans

     For a long time I was kinda reluctant to really give The Algorithm's Polymorphic Code a chance. I'd heard of the band before, and heard a few snippets here and there, but felt no interest in picking up a copy of the album or even giving it a full listen-through because electronic/techno-type music has never been my thing.

     But, as you may or may not know (or care), I got a few things super cheap during the Basick Records Boxing Day fire sale and one of those purchases was a copy of Polymorphic Code so I could finally give it a shot. And while it's not my favourite record ever or anything, I am enjoying it more than I though I would.

     Tracks like today's song "Trojans" are more than the sum of their electro-metal parts. The formula's not that complicated: there are some heavy elements, like the guitars and some of the drums, that are a little djenty, and there are a lot more electronic elements, blooping and stuttering frenetically away atop the electro-dance beats. Everything combines to form something tasty and groovy, something that's got a lot more going on than simple genre-mashing.

Devil Sold His Soul - Time

     Regular readers (I'm going to keep making reference to you despite the dubiousness of your existence) should have clued in by now to the fact that I'm a big fan of British label Basick Records. With a few exceptions, I dig pretty much their entire catalogue to varying degrees, so when I hear they've got a new signing my ears prick up like a ravenous dog hearing kibble hit the food dish.

     As such, I just had to check out Devil Sold His Soul, the latest addition to the Basick roster, and while I'm not immediately as head-over-heels as I was for, say, Skyharbor (I lurvs me some Skyharbor) Devil Sold His Soul has a lot of tasty goodness going on. Think epic metalcore with big melodies and bigger vocals and you're probably in the right ballpark.

     To see if this is a ballpark you want to be playing ball in, check out Devil Sold His Soul's latest single "Time", the first track to feature the band's new singer Paul Green, who you might already know from his other gig in The Arusha Accord, another Basick band. Between "Time" and the band's back catalogue, there should be enough there to hold us all over until the next Devil Sold His Soul LP drops.

Song of the Day: Bear - Rain

     Just yesterday I was talking about how I'm generally favourably disposed towards bands on the Basick Records roster, and today I declare that I don't know how I feel about their latest signing.

Song of the Day: Aliases - We Never Should Have Met

     I'm always trying to turn my metalhead friends on to Basick Records. I feel like a bit of a fanboy when I do it (and when I admit it to you, like I just did...) but there it is.

Song of the Day: The Kindred - Decades

     There are a few records labels out there that, for whatever reason, always make the metal news sites front pages. Usually it's because they have a roster of great bands, but whatever the case may be, they're involved in stuff we pay attention to.

Song of the Day: Dissipate - Mech Fail

     Relatively recent Basick signees Dissipate put out an EP last November called Tectonics that was among my Boxing Week Fire Sale purchases this year, and I've been pleasantly surprised by it. I heard about it back when it was released, listened to a couple of the tracks, and came to the conclusion that it was OK, but nothing spectacular. Interesting enough to buy on sale, but maybe not enough to pay full price.

Song of the Day: The Abner - Chinoiserie Lounge

     Yesterday when I was talking about the annual Basick Records Boxing Week Fire Sale, I said that the albums I've acquired by taking advantage of this sale fall into two basic categories. The source of yesterday's song, British band Aliases, falls into the category of bands I'd long known about and wanted to hear more of. Today we're going to go with something at the other end of the spectrum, namely something I picked up a whim that ended up being kinda cool.

Song of the Day: Aliases - All That Glitters is Gold

     Like an old man easing into a hot bath, this evening we're going to ease our punky old bones back into the hot, hot bathwater of metal with a little help from the always awesome Basick Records.

Song of the Day: Evita - Thrown to the Wolves

     I've got some new stuff for you today, or at least some stuff that's probably new to you. As I was saying yesterday, fans of heavy music are by now familiar with terms like metalcore, if not annoyed by them. We're almost to the point where bands labeled metalcore are derided out of hand by deathgrind elitists simply because they can conceivably be considered to fall under the massive metalcore umbrella. But we shouldn't forget that metalcore has produced some stellar bands, and continues to produce some stuff that's worth listening to. Exhibit A is today's song.

Song of the Day: 7 Horns 7 Eyes - Delusions

     I've got another new band for you today, and they're one of those acts that definitely has a bright future in metal. I'm a big fan of British metal label Basick Records, so when I see a band like 7 Horns 7 Eyes hyped so thoroughly on their website and their Facebook*, and I then read that Jeff Loomis guests on their debut album, well I've got to at least check that shit out. And I'm glad I did.

     Your song today is "Delusions" from this year's Throes of Absolution by 7 Horns 7 Eyes. The whole album is pretty damn solid, so why this song? Simple: the guitar solo in the middle. Shreddy and technical but still tasteful and soulful, the perfect culmination of what this slow burner of a song has hitherto been building towards. Have a listen, and if you're suitably tickled, try something else off the album. You'll be glad you did too.

*A kind of hype to be taken with a certain grain of salt, of course, as Basick are trying to sell records too...