"Instant Money Magic" by Japanther

Japanther has been around in some form or another since 2001. Formed by Ian Vanek and Matt Reilly in New York City, they have been taking their act on the road for some time.

Over the course of the years, collaborations with a great number of artists have come and gone and they have been involved with some interesting things, like the "Don't Trust Anyone Over Thirty" puppet rock opera.

I'm sure just hearing those words interested you. I know good and well I'm upset that I only just heard about it, so I missed it.

On the stage is where they have made their reputation. Tales of their shows are legend. On top of a bridge. With a cadre of synchronized swimmers. With puppets. With giant puppets. With shadow puppets. The list of the things they have put on stage with them goes on.

"Hic Abundant Leones" by The Tower

Every now and again, bands have a back story that creates wonder. Guitar Wolf is a Japanese punk band who were raised by wolves.

Gwar (RIP ODERUS!) is (was?) a group of aliens bent on human destruction. Kiss...well who knows really what they were.

The Tower though, I think has all of those beat. I can say nothing better than what they have, so I'll just quote them for you:

"It was back in 1938 that the brothers Erik and August and their friend Viktor migrated south. They left the small village in the northern forests where they grew up for the big city and the university, to study the science of harvesting the earth. On the fields beside the burial mounds in old Uppsala they met Tommie, a Soviet refugee. He showed them his sole possession, a blues vinyl from 5300 BC, suspecting that it would fit their melancholy northern souls. The four sat down in a barn and played a blues jam which lasted until 1945, when the war ended and the post-apocalyptic nuclear winter began…"

There is honestly a whole lot more....but let's just get to the music.

"Origin" by Harlott

If you close your eyes and picture 1983, you're going to be in the right mindset for this old school thrash record.

Harlott, the band, hails from Suburban Melbourne, Australia, which has a growing metal scene. That's heartening to see. Bring the metal to all corners of the world.

Harlott's reputation is held up by their high energy shows, up tempo music, and they're very strong devotion to The Bay Area Thrash Metal Scene of the 1980's.

Remember when Metallica's only record was Kill 'Em All? Well Harlott does not, but this doesn't stop them for carrying the torch into well into the new millennium.

"Reflections" by Ferium

For today's consideration, we have the latest album by an Israeli band, Ferium.

Ferium was formed in Hafia, Israel in 2006. "Reflections" is their full length debut LP. They did release an EP in 2009, and a demo of this record in 2013, but this is their first full length ablum.

For me, it's always very important to put into context what a band is, where they have come from and whom I think they are.

For Ferium, it's not as simple as all that. For many bands, they are death metal, or English metal, or stoner metal, or blues, or delta blues, or like others, they weave in and out of many styles in order to achieve what the song can achieve.

This is the best way to describe Ferium.

"Free My Animal" by NØMADS

NØMADS are a noise rock duo featuring Nathan Lithgow and Garth Macaleavey, both of whom are  familiar names in modern rock circles.

This venture though, I would wager that nothing they've done previously really compares to this music. (If this is wrong, please let me know because this is the internet after all.) Referring to this duo as a noise rock group though seems so, well ill fitting, but that'll be explained in a bit.

Most of the duos, that are so in vogue these days, thank you Black Keys and White Stripes, consist of a guitarist/vocalist and drummer. Then other little bits are added here and there for color.

Granted there's the James Leg/Black Diamond Heavies thing where the singer is holding a piano, but he overdrives it so much, off track. Off track. Here is where the NØMADS live up to their name by veering off the well worn path. Instead of an electric guitar playing the music, it's an electric bass. Cliff Burton fans rejoice, this album is for you.

"Infallible" by Fisthammer

Here is another death record from Philadelphia. You may recall my raving about Coffin Dust. It would appear that a scene is developing.

These bands are both full on brutal death metal, but they sound distinctly different from the standard Tampa Bay style death metal that has been so prevalent in the USA and beyond over the years.

Philly's own Fisthammer has been at this as a band since 2008. Their first record, "Devour All You See," was released in 2012 and for our perusal today, we have their sophomore effort.

They have been on tour with bands like Master and Sacrificial Slaughter. Perhaps this has helped them mature far more quickly than had they been left to their own devices.

"Back From Beyond" by Massacre

First and foremost, I am a music fan and that's why I do this. Sometimes, I'll see the buzz about a record and think, I really need to hear that album. Well, that's how I was feeling about Massacre's first full length LP since 1996.

This band has a very interesting and unique history. The members here have cross pollinated with Death, Obituary, etc. They even did an EP with Cronus of Venom.

That's even cooler than Volbeat doing a song with King Diamond, but they did do a tour with Fate guitarist, Hank Shermann.

Massacre has a very Tampa Bay Death sound and one of the most interesting histories of break ups, reunions, and more. At this point, Massacre has two original members all of the original fury.

"For I Am Genocide" by Mass Infection

Mass Infection is a veteran death metal band from the most metal country in the whole damned world....

Greece.

Think about it. If your home country also housed a pantheon of gods that could destroyed just by tossing the heavenly equivalent of a javelin, you'd also grow up pretty angry...and that's not even mentioning the gods coming down to sire....

They originally formed in the town of Livadia in Central, Greece back in 2003. They immediately recorded a couple demos to begin getting their sound and shape together. In 2007, they released their debut album, and a follow up in 2009. Then, they went off the grid a little bit, but they have returned with For I Am Genocide.

"Someday, The Moon Will Be Gold" by Kalle Mattson

Twenty years ago, this album would have already blown up the United States. We would be fawning over this Canadian who's come to the States to bring us his music, but the world has changed.

Kalle Mattson hails from the capitol city of Ottawa, Ontario, but he's originally from Sault Ste. Marie, also from where the Esposito brothers hail.

Someday, The Moon Will Be Gold is the fourth release from our friend to the north. He has a released an album every year for the past four years. It's always good to see newer artists working hard to push through, as the world has changed.

In the MTV era, a video would have been premiered, and Mattson would be a household name, but with the death of terrestrial radio and the metamorphosis of MTV, up and coming bands have a much tougher road to hoe.

"Get Pure" by Mount Carmel

Mount Carmel is new to my ears, but I heard the buzz they were getting about their new album and frankly, I am really glad and grateful to have the opportunity to review this record.

What I know about these boys is pretty basic. They hail from Columbus, OH. If they're Crew or Blue Jackets fans, that's an unknown, but a known unknown.

"Get Pure" is their third record.

See? I really don't know much about these guys at all and the vast majority of the unknowns are unknown unknowns, but after listening to the record, there were a few things learned. They play a simple, blues based rock'n'roll that's long been missing in the world of rock and they really do know how to rock.

"Death Curse" by Gravehill

Gravehill originally formed in 2001, but the current band has very little in common with the trio that was founded nearly 13 years ago. After they recorded their demo, they did the most metal thing they could do.They broke up and then re-formed in 2006.

We will consider the era from 2006-12 to be a time of great upheaval for our friends in Gravehill though there was much rejoicing as they wrote, recorded, and released records and performed shows, but it was not without its travail, as members came and went.

The current lineup formed in 2012 as the previous two guitarists had to return to their touring schedule with Exhumed. After their departure, Gravehill recruited two new full time guitarists and set their sights on writing, recording, and releasing a new record.

"A Living Nightmare" by Demoraliser (Re-release)

All the way from Grimsby, UK, we have Demoraliser for your consideration.

With Century Media  having acquired Siege of Amida Records, some interesting music has arrived in this reviewer's inbox. In fact, you may have noticed that we are now up to three posts per week instead of the originally promised one, then the promised two. These companies will be the death of me!

As for our new friends, Demoraliser, they are an interesting kind of band. In the book Louder Than Hell: A Definitive Oral History of Heavy Metal, they  gave this kind of music a name, but for the life of me, I can't remember. (It was a fantastic book by the way. I read most of it on the beach in Bermuda last year.)

"Universe" by Monsterworks

One of the best things about heavy metal is awesome cover art. Take a moment to appreciate Monsterwork's latest cover.

Now, on with it. Monsterworks is a veteran metal band out of New Zealand. Honestly, not much knowledge of their homeland have I, but they formed nearly two decades ago in 1996 and have now released, with Universe, nine full length albums and two EPs.

This is another casualty of how the world changed, but also one of the ones whose music has made it to the other side of the globe thanks to the internet.

It's typical for me to try to place a band in a group with its peers and to try to pick out the influences as I hear them, but Monsterworks does very well to keep these things hidden, save one...

"Enlightening The Unknown" by Insain

 Insain.

This band from France has announced that it was releasing it's EP and then broke up. There have been significant issues, including the original drummer losing his life after a long battle with his injuries that resulted from a violent car crash.

There were member changes and add all of that with the fact that Insain was literally the second act to be signed to Kaotoxin Records, the French Death metal label.

In the end though, the listening public gets one more listen, if not one more view of the band with their swansong EP, Enlightening The Unknown.

"Face of Madness" by Tritton

 For the first time, this blog will be heading to our neighbor to the south, Mexico, but not the part of Mexico that the lure of drunk college kids have turned into America's socks. The real heart of Mexico, Mexico City.

At an elevation nearly fifty percent higher than the Mile High City of Denver, the air is thin. Originally, founded as the capital of the Mexica (later Aztecs) in 1325, it was conquered by the Spaniards. There is a lot about this city to make one angry enough to become metal. It's a very far cry from the paradisiacal cities like Cancun and Playa del Carmen. (The latter where I spent not only my honeymoon, but my last trip to Mexico.)

Enough of the Mexican history lesson, but if you'd like more, please email me and I'll tell you all about my visit to the archaeological site of Chichen Itza and send you photos.