My segue into your belated Friday post isn't quite as direct as Wednesday-to-Thursday was, but bear with me and we'll get there alright. To start: you know instrumental prog act Scale the Summit, right? Well guitarist Chris Lecthford has some more solo work just over the horizon that you might be interested in.
This time around it's in the form of new project islnds (rather than simply Chris Letchford solo stuff) and accompanying new album History of Robots, which features some guest vocal work from a few familiar faces. First single "Momnts", for example, features Joey from The Reign of Kindo, and promo material indicates Tesseract alumnus Ashe O'Hara is involved as well.
Musically speaking, things are a bit more mellow than Scale the Summit (not that StS is the heaviest thing in the instrumental prog world) but Chris' musicianship and melodic sensibility is still plainly evident. Spin this if you need a laid back jam tonight.
Tuesday, 30 June 2015
Thursday: Blotted Science - Vermicular Asphyxiation
How's this for a carry-over theme from my last post: progressive instrumental with lots of jazzy influences and new material in the works. If these guys somehow had a Canadian connection, this segue would be nearly perfect, but alas, I'll have to settle for an increased tech quotient on this one. Sigh.
Word on the street last fall was that Ron and Company were set to start work on a new record over the winter, but things have been more or less all quiet on the Blotted Science front since then. Hopefully no news is good news, in the sense of album progress being made, but either way we're stuck with old Blotted Science for the foreseeable future.
No that there's anything wrong with that, seeing as how labyrinthine instrumental tech-prog is up everybody's alley, right? Right. So let's put on "Vermicular Asphyxiation" from Blotted Science's 2011 EP The Animation of Entomology as background music for our ceremonies of propitiation to the tech gods asking for new Blotted Science in 2015.
Word on the street last fall was that Ron and Company were set to start work on a new record over the winter, but things have been more or less all quiet on the Blotted Science front since then. Hopefully no news is good news, in the sense of album progress being made, but either way we're stuck with old Blotted Science for the foreseeable future.
No that there's anything wrong with that, seeing as how labyrinthine instrumental tech-prog is up everybody's alley, right? Right. So let's put on "Vermicular Asphyxiation" from Blotted Science's 2011 EP The Animation of Entomology as background music for our ceremonies of propitiation to the tech gods asking for new Blotted Science in 2015.
Monday, 29 June 2015
Wednesday: Nok Novum - Mummy Trouble
You know I love progressive music, instrumental music, and Canadian music. Your last Wednesday song lies at glorious the intersection of these three worlds. You can thank me later.
We've just gotten word that the next single from Calgary's Nok Novum will come out later next month, so unfortunately there's still a little bit of a wait ahead of us before we get more new material. That means that for now, we have to be content with Nok Novum's self-titled debut album... which isn't anything to complain about, really, because Nok Novum is a wild and wooly adventure in instrumental jazz-fusion.
Just because I can't decide, I'm sticking you with album-opener "Mummy Trouble", an epic that starts out almost jazz-meets-porno-funk, tours through space prog, then shifts to angular metal groove territory before touching back down in funk town. It's a trip. . As a bonus, your video link for this one points to a playthrough vid from the man himself, Nok Novum guitarist Grant Cooper.
We've just gotten word that the next single from Calgary's Nok Novum will come out later next month, so unfortunately there's still a little bit of a wait ahead of us before we get more new material. That means that for now, we have to be content with Nok Novum's self-titled debut album... which isn't anything to complain about, really, because Nok Novum is a wild and wooly adventure in instrumental jazz-fusion.
Just because I can't decide, I'm sticking you with album-opener "Mummy Trouble", an epic that starts out almost jazz-meets-porno-funk, tours through space prog, then shifts to angular metal groove territory before touching back down in funk town. It's a trip. . As a bonus, your video link for this one points to a playthrough vid from the man himself, Nok Novum guitarist Grant Cooper.
Saturday, 27 June 2015
Tuesday: Earthside (feat. Lajon Witherspoon) - Mob Mentality
Back in May, I posted about the sweet cinematic prog of Connecticut's Earthside, but maybe you listened to"The Closest I've Come" and thought that something was missing. Something vocalish, maybe. Well, the band's most recent single should fill in the blank nicely, and it's your Tuesday song.
The extra puzzle piece here is a predictably killer vocal performance from none other than Sevendust's Lajon Witherspoon on Earthside's latest "Mob Mentality", and while I do wonder for a moment how Lajon ended up getting hooked up with Earthside, I'm definitely not complaining. Big, powerful prog plus a big, powerful voice equals a winning combination. The only downside here is that there's just a single track of said combo rather than a whole album. Something to think about guys?
The extra puzzle piece here is a predictably killer vocal performance from none other than Sevendust's Lajon Witherspoon on Earthside's latest "Mob Mentality", and while I do wonder for a moment how Lajon ended up getting hooked up with Earthside, I'm definitely not complaining. Big, powerful prog plus a big, powerful voice equals a winning combination. The only downside here is that there's just a single track of said combo rather than a whole album. Something to think about guys?
Thursday, 25 June 2015
Monday: The Black Dahlia Murder - Vlad, Son of the Dragon
It's only been a couple of weeks since my last post about a Black Dahlia Murder song, but since then we've gotten our first taste of the upcoming new record Ambysmal, and I wouldn't be doing my job if I don't make sure you've heard it. So, it's (belated) New Metal Monday time.
The new song is named after some fittingly metal subject matter: "Vlad, son of the Dragon", aka the historical inspiration for good ol' Dracula. It should therefore come as no surprise that this song slays in typical Black Dahlia murder fashion -- with fast melodeath riffing, machine-precise drumming, and Tevor's versatile shriek atop it all.
Sure, it's not reinventing the wheel, but then The Black Dahlia Murder's wheel was doing just fine crushing everything in its path as it was. If Abysmal is just more of the same delicious TBDM flavour, you certainly won't hear me complaining.
The new song is named after some fittingly metal subject matter: "Vlad, son of the Dragon", aka the historical inspiration for good ol' Dracula. It should therefore come as no surprise that this song slays in typical Black Dahlia murder fashion -- with fast melodeath riffing, machine-precise drumming, and Tevor's versatile shriek atop it all.
Sure, it's not reinventing the wheel, but then The Black Dahlia Murder's wheel was doing just fine crushing everything in its path as it was. If Abysmal is just more of the same delicious TBDM flavour, you certainly won't hear me complaining.
Wednesday, 24 June 2015
Sunday: Protest the Hero - Skies
Wow, I guess I have to send a cartoon factory worker up a cartoon ladder to reset my imaginary "days since last accident" sign here at Loud Noises. At least this time I have the slightly-more-legit excuses of "visiting with family for Father's Day" and "being a lazy pile of crap for my birthday yesterday" for being behind the eight ball once again, rather than my usual "just falling behind on my shit". Catch-up rematch, anyone?
Let's start with a little something tried-and-true for you Sunday song, to get back into the swing of things. I'm thinking some Protest the Hero, as it's been a bit since I last championed their cause. This time out I'm going with "Skies", the closing number from the band's 2013 album Volition. If you've ever listened to Protest and dug them, but never really gotten into them further, this is the song for you: six minutes of pure Protest shrenergy (that's "shreddy energy", for the uninitiated) bookended by just enough sparse guitar intro and outro to keep you from pulling something on takeoff and landing.
It's not my favourite Protest the Hero record, but Volition is still rock solid, thanks to the strength of tracks like "Skies". This longtime Protest fan can't wait to hear what's next.
Let's start with a little something tried-and-true for you Sunday song, to get back into the swing of things. I'm thinking some Protest the Hero, as it's been a bit since I last championed their cause. This time out I'm going with "Skies", the closing number from the band's 2013 album Volition. If you've ever listened to Protest and dug them, but never really gotten into them further, this is the song for you: six minutes of pure Protest shrenergy (that's "shreddy energy", for the uninitiated) bookended by just enough sparse guitar intro and outro to keep you from pulling something on takeoff and landing.
It's not my favourite Protest the Hero record, but Volition is still rock solid, thanks to the strength of tracks like "Skies". This longtime Protest fan can't wait to hear what's next.
Saturday, 20 June 2015
Animals as Leaders - Physical Education
Did you think that perhaps I missed out on this one when the guys in Animals as Leaders released this video last month? Not on your life kids.
I was just waiting until the right time to drop some schooling on you, and I've decided that the right time is right now! So get your gym shorts, get up that rope, and get ready for some "Physical Education", the latest single to come off of Animals as Leaders' 2014 record The Joy of Motion. This one's got enough funky space grooves to satisfy your inner dysfunctional middle schooler, so give it a spin.
I was just waiting until the right time to drop some schooling on you, and I've decided that the right time is right now! So get your gym shorts, get up that rope, and get ready for some "Physical Education", the latest single to come off of Animals as Leaders' 2014 record The Joy of Motion. This one's got enough funky space grooves to satisfy your inner dysfunctional middle schooler, so give it a spin.
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