Tuesday: Enter Shikari - Anything Can Happen in the Next Half Hour

     I haven't done a Techno Tuesday in a while, so let this much belated post be one of those electronic affairs. And yes, before you electro-junkies jump on me, I'm aware that every time I use this band for this type of post, I'm stretching to use the word Techno, but alliteration, right?

     Regular readers will know that I often go to the Enter Shikari well when I want something sorta heavy with a dash of electronic content, and devoted readers might recall the trivia tidbit that my favourite Shikari record is still 2007's Take to the Skies. That means another cut from Skies for your Techno Tuesday track, and this time out it's "Anything Can Happen in the Next Half Hour". So put this one on and then cross your fingers about that title...

Monday: Twelve Foot Ninja - One Hand Killing

     It's been a while since we've much of anything from djenty Australian groove-prog outfit Twelve Foot Ninja, but that's apparently been because, in addition to doing mucho touring, they've been working on some new material. Joy!

     Much of that new material has yet to be put to tape (er, hard drive?), with Twelve Foot Ninja currently running a crowdfunding campaign to fund recording in the hopes of a 2016 release. But in an effort to drum up some support for said sophomore record and its funding process, the guys have just released weird and wacky single "One Hand Killing" as a taste of the new stuff. To these ears it definitely sounds evolutionary in the best possible ways -- more groovy riffage, more interesting instrumentation (dose keyboards at the end...), more musical variety... just more tasty. This new record could be one next year's best, so have a listen to the future today!

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.

Saturday: Slipknot - AOV

     Were you, like me, pleasantly surprised with how good Slipknot's last record was? After the mixed bag that was All Hope is Gone, I didn't know what to expect from .5: The Gray Chapter. I certainly didn't expect the level of kick-ass that I got.

     Slipknot has always been a volatile set of relationships, something that only seems to have gotten more and more true as the years and albums have piled up. With a couple of the original nine now gone, perhaps the most important of which being bassist Paul Gray, it's hard to know how much gas Slipknot have left in their collective tank. Factor in the time Slipknot traditionally takes between albums, and it would seem that their alums may well be numbered.

     So let's celebrate the return to form the band accomplished with .5: The Gray Chapter by jamming heavy rager "AOV" at a decent volume, OK?

Friday: Mammoth - Innate

     Imagine an progressive instrumental band like Scale the Summit, only a three-piece. But now imagine they're a little more... bonkers... than your average Scale the Summit--like. Really all over the map, stylistically, but in the best possible ways. Now go to sleep thinking about that band.

     The wacky dreams you'll have might well include your Friday band Mammoth, which comes to my attention via a Facebook recommendation from Martin of Pomegranate Tiger. Have a listen or two to "Innate" from Mammoth's recent (back in May) EP of the same name (Innate) and I bet you'll be right there with me thanking Martin for sharing his good taste with us. If you're into instrumental stuff, Mammoth has got it all; go find out for yourself.

Thursday: East of the Wall - Scumbrella

     Your belated posted for last Thursday is both throwback and look forward: the song itself is from a three-way split from 2009, but it's also from a band that needs to hurry up and release a new record already. Sure, East of the Wall have done another split EP or two recently, and sure, Facebook tells me that they're tracking demos for their next album. But it still feels like it's been forever since Redaction Artifacts, even if 2013 wasn't so long ago as all that.

     So maybe we'll get some new straight-up East of the Wall in 2016, but for today (or last Thursday) we're going to go back to the aforementioned 2009 three-way split that East of the Wall was on with Year of No Light and Rosetta (solid line-up, right?) for the three-part instrumental minisuite "Scumbrella". It's a funky, weird piece of work with all the angularity and density you'd expect from something East of the Wall.

Wednesday: Protest the Hero - Ragged Tooth

     It hasn't been very long at all since the last time I featured a Protest the Hero song here at Loud Noises, but those of you who follow the band know that they've recently announced a new project that I would be very remiss not to mention. The downside, of course, is that I can't link to this one for you this time.

     The reason for this is the nature of Protest's new endeavour: Pacific Myth is a brand-spanking new subscription service the boys are launching, with the first content being a new song a month for the next sixth months (or at least that's how I understand it). But this is more than just a stretched-out EP with a few crowdfunder-style perks thrown on top -- this seems to be how the guys are going to distribute new material going forward.

     So yet again Protest the Hero is trying something new to removed the middleman from the delivery of their music to their fans. The first new Pacific Myth track, "Ragged Tooth", is available now, but the catch is you've got to subscribe to Pacific Myth on Bancamp. The un-catch is that the price starts at twelve American greenbacks, which is a pretty good deal for some new Protest material if you ask me.

     Oh, and "Ragged Tooth" slays. Almost forgot to mention that....