Song of the Day: Numbers - Figured You Forgot

     I've got some tasty new stuff for you today. I was just reading some reviews the other day over on good ol' Heavy Blog... Is Heavy, and I came across a pretty positive one for a self-titled debut EP from an act called Numbers out of Seattle. Now, much of what I listen to sometimes blurs genre lines and defies easy description, and Numbers is no exception. Heavy and aggressive, melodic, technical, catchy, infused with elements of electronica and metal and... well, I really shouldn't even try to get into it, as Tentaclesworth over at Heavy Blog does a better job than I could (check his review of the EP here). Suffice to say, it's pretty crazy, pretty cool, and definitely pretty fucking interesting.

     Today's song is "Figured You Forgot" by Numbers. Listen with an open mind and you might just fall in love. And yes, the song is a little late today, but no, I didn't forget, no matter what you figured...

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.

Song of the Day: Mastodon - Iron Tusk

     Today I find myself in a bit of a similar situation to yesterday, in the sense that the band I've chosen for today's song, Mastodon, has so many great tracks that could serve as part of the soundtrack for your day. But my method for choosing is a little different today: instead of leaving selection in the hands of the gods, I decided (as it seems I often do) to take a trip down memory lane by picking the song that served as my introduction to Mastodon.

     Today's song is Mastodon's "Iron Tusk", from 2004's epic Leviathan, and its relentless pummeling is what hooked me on Mastodon way back when. Climb aboard the Pequod and subject yourself to the onslaught without delay.

Song of the Day: Refused - The Deadly Rhythm

     Are you now or were you ever into emo, screamo, post-hardcore, metalcore...anything with "core" appended to the end of it, really? Basically, have you been into any heavy music in the last ten to fifteen years? Then you owe at least a little something to Swedish band Refused, and in particular to their 1998 classic The Shape of Punk to Come. So classic is this album that I can think of at least a half a dozen songs, off the top of my head, without even looking at a track list, that could be songs of the day. I picked this one.

     Your song for today is "The Deadly Rhythm" by Refused. Like I said, I could have chosen others, but this one came up on my shuffle the other day and stuck with me for a bit, so why not it? Are Refused fucking dead? You be the judge.

Song of the Day: Trivium - The Crusade

     Today's song comes from new school thrashers Trivium. If you ask me, Trivium's recent efforts have gotten increasingly mundane, increasingly run-of-the-mill -- their last couple albums aren't bad, they're just not great -- but when their second disc Ascendancy came out in 2005, I was way into them. Their follow-up, 2006's The Crusade,  didn't have that certain something and leaned a little far in the 80's direction for many, but it did spawn today's song.

     Your song today is the title track from The Crusade, an epic instrumental that ended up being my favourite off the whole album. The song's riffs might not be assembled with the most finesse (more stitched together at times) but boy, what a handful of riffs! Crank it up and pick your favourite.

Song of the Day: Baroness - A Horse Called Golgotha

     Today's song practically picked itself for me. I don't know if you know Baroness, but these Mastodony metallers from Georgia are set to release their third album (or would it be their third and fourth albums?) of crunchy metal goodness. Following in the tradition of freshman Red and sophomore Blue albums, the latest from Baroness is a polychromatic double album entitled Yellow & Green, and it comes out today. So the choice was easy: today's song had to be a Baroness song. But which one? There again, the choice was easy: good song + wacky video = song of the day.

     Your song for today is "A Horse Called Golgotha" from Baroness' second LP, Blue. If you're a Baroness fan, put this one on to hold you over until you've got the new album, and if you're not, put this one on and become a convert.

What You Should Be Listening To - Tesseract

    Today I’m back with another installment of What You Should Be Listening To, with a band that is one of my favourites right now. They’re funky, they’re heavy, they’re really just all around awesome. They’re Tesseract, and you should be listening to them.