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.

Song of the Day: Darkest Hour - With a Thousand Words to Say But One

     Today we've got a song from one of my favourite bands. I've been a big fan of Darkest Hour for years now, since 2003's Hidden Hands of a Sadist Nation, but it was 2005's Undoing Ruin that really cemented Darkest Hour in the hearts and minds of metal fans, myself included. Just as Hidden Hands opens with an ass-kicking barn-burner ("The Sadist Nation"), Undoing Ruin likewise has a really great opening song, which you can use to open your day (OK, your mid-afternoon...).

     Your song today is "With a Thousand Words to Say But One" by Darkest Hour. And as a bonus, this album is so good that if you're fortunate enough to own a copy, I hereby implore you to simply put today's song on and then simply sit back and enjoy. Either way, if today's song doesn't get you going, you should perhaps watch out for rag-tag groups of survivors combing your area for supplies, because you may in fact be dead and just walking around with the rest of us.

Song of the Day: Meshuggah - Bleed

     Does your afternoon require a dose of something super heavy? I've got just the thing for you. I've written about Meshuggah before, and even recommended this very song to you, but maybe you weren't paying or attention. Or maybe you were lazy that day and didn't go do any of your assigned homework. Or maybe you're just new to the party and weren't around like a month and a half, two months ago. Whatever the case may be, today you get to make amends.

     Your song for today is "Bleed" by Meshuggah, off of 2008's obZen. Put it on, turn it up, and be prepared for a sonic assault that I can only describe as "relentless". You've been warned.
(Also, please note that while there is a video for this song, it's an edit rather than the album version, so I've gone with the full on, longer version here.)

Song of the Day, July 14: The Devil Wears Prada - Anatomy

     Yeah, yeah, I know, you song is late today. My excuse? Zombies attacked my house, and it's taken me this long to get to a computer. The very same zombies, incidentally, that inspired The Devil Wears Prada's 2010 Zombie EP. But don't worry, you'll fare better than I did because you'll have today's song to defend yourself with. Believe me, there's enough power in the intro riff to this one to chop a zombie in half like the chainsaw that opens the song.

     Your song today*, for your safety, is "Anatomy" by The Devil Wears Prada. Start stockpiling food and ammunition now, because the zombies are on their way.

* Or yesterday, fuck off.