Album Review: "Shattered Shores" by Silent Line

Shattered Shores

All hail the concept album!

Well, at least I do anyway. On these very pages I have sung the praises of many a great concept record. Steve Vai, Coheed and Cambria, Chappo, Ahab, High On Fire, Wax Fang, and more.

There is a part of me that always gets very, very excited at the idea of an album that's more than just a collection of songs, but something that the band has really looked at, not as a collection of songs they wrote, but a piece of music.

What can I say...Pink Floyd and King Diamond sure did a number on a very young me.

Today's artist is Silent Line. When we say support independent music, Silent line is someone you should be looking at. Originally from rural Alberta, they've made their way into the second coldest city on earth, Edmonton, to ply their metal trade.

Interview: Robert Kersey of Psychostick Will Shank You

Psychostick

Some days I get that little old me is doing this kind of thing.

Especially for interviews...but really what do you care?

This is kind of an introduction to a band, Psychostick.

They put out and album last year and I didn't get the chance to review it when it was new. They've just played a show in my hometown of St. Louis, and I'm curious about some things if I'm being totally honest.

How many comedic metal bands do you know? They've been described as Weird Al on steroids and for fans of D.R.I...and that made me miss D.R.I. In the end, let's not take life so seriously.

Am I right?

Album Review: "Odio 666" by Certo Porcos!

Odio 666

I have an existential conundrum here.

Today's reviewee, Certo Porcos! is listed as a Hardcore Band from the famed Brazilian Underground.

Speaking to the level of undergroundlieness is something that can't be done by me, we'll skip that.

However...

I'm  having a hard time believing that they're a hardcore band. So could one of my dutiful readers please, in the comments, explain to me precisely what a hardcore band is.

This would give a troll a perfect opportunity to then call me a hack for not being able to describe Hardcore Music....but let's get to the music!

Album Review: "Notturno" by Australasia

Notturno

Let's have some real talk about the state of music in October 2015.

I've said for a few years now that we are living in the best time to be a fan of music and the worst time to be a musician.

As a fan, I can get music from artists all over the globe who have access to a computer. I can see bands I love, fairly big ones, in small clubs and theaters.

The musicians though, they're kind of getting the short end here. I started this blog in order to combat the prevailing opinion of my set...that new music all sucks.

Well, I'm proud of what I've accomplished here and thankful to the artists, labels, PR companies, etc who seek me out for my opinion. Today's the kind of day where I feel so lucky to be me.

The moral is...the music is there. The songs are strong. The artists need support.

Album Review: "Palace of Vision" by Saviours

Palaces of Vision

It's still October!

October is nearly my favorite month of the year. It comes in at fifth, behind December, January, February, and March...

Ya know...winter.

What's great about October is not just the weather, but in St. Louis our dreadful summer has passed on with the Pagan gods....

It's the entertainment industry. Hockey's back. Soccer's in full swing, and metal is king.

This month is metal, metal, metal! Today we're looking at the veteran band, Saviours and their latest album on Listenable Records. It's due out, appropriately enough, on October 30th.

Interview: Twilight Fauna Gets Folksy

There's an artist in the hills of the Appalachian Mountains.

He and I have exchanged many messages on twitter, but I honestly can't say I know a whole lot about the man himself.

We're about 2 months away from the release of his first music, a split with Jennifer Christensen.

It seems like it's high time that this man got a little light shined his way.

Even on twitter, he's fairly incognito. So, without much further ado, let's delve into the world of  the master of Atmospheric Folk/Black Metal From Appalachia, Twilight Fauna.

Album Review: "Gore Aberration" by Pathologic Noise

Gore Aberration

I have heard the phrase "metal is not music" so many times in my life that the phrase has lost all meaning.

It seems to me that I'm leading a fairly normal life with kids, a house (in the city), work, and hobbies, but I still listen to death metal.

When you tell someone that, nine times out of ten they ask you how you can listen to that noise? Well, for this old fella, aside from the face melting guitar solos, the bombastic double bass blast beats, and the demonic vocals...

Death metal reminds me of good times and great people that were taken from us too soon.

It also seems that most people who make the non-music claim also would be shocked to find out just how hard a lot of this music really is to play, even if the vocals might not be the hardest to learn, but hey, most of the vocalists play guitar too.

Album Review: Self Titled by Quiet Hollers

Quiet Hollers

I remember seeing an online post by some anonymous people on the net giving their top ten lists for the end of the year, probably around 2010-ish.

It was very hard for me to believe that these people had acquired enough albums to people an entire list for a top ten, much less the ones that didn't make it.

Good lord, how little I knew then.

If I had to guess, I'd wager there are more albums being produced today than in music's "heyday." Even being the small fry that I am, I am constantly deluged by managers, labels, PR,c ompanies, bands, and friends of bands to check out their music. (This is not a complaint. Don't stop!) What's hard is how in the world do I start?

I try to bring you the best music that comes across my desk, and sometimes I succeed and sometimes I fail. So today, I bring you a press photo with a band bend on worldwide destruction in the Pacific Rim.

Album Review: "A Maze of Recycled Creeds" by Gorod

A Maze of Recycled Creeds

In our modern age, metal has really grown up.

The days of metallers just being able to offend parents with an offensive album cover with a picture of a buzzsaw on the bass player's crotch...

Well that's music (and antics) from a (mostly) bygone age.

Metal is no longer just played through a wall of amplifiers that cover up all the sloppy playing and mistakes.

That leads me to a conversation I had with an old friend of mine who was a big fan of punk rock. We talked about the mastery of the instrument that many bands had and she said, that doesn't impress me at all.

Well, if you've mastered your instrument and you can make it say whatever you want it to say and you have another four likeminded friends....that impresses the hell out of me.

Interview: James Leg "I've Got This Hard Copy" Part 2.

James Leg

When I spoke to the good reverend awhile back, he gave me much more than I could use for a single interview.

So, let's just get right to it and continue where we left off.

GM: We're getting closer. CD purchases are down and vinyl purchases are way up and the cost is way down.

JL: Fifteen, twenty, I got no problem with that and if it's
something I really want, I'll pay fifty bucks for a record. Something I'm searching for...

GM: When you get past thirty bucks, it's gotta be something special...

JL: Well, we're talking like Miles Davis first pressing...

GM: Not just something I'm getting on vinyl that I already have on CD, that's not a fifty dollar purchase..

Album Review: "Apparatus" by Apparatus

Apparatus

The self titled debut album.

Is there really any better way to introduce someone to your band and your music?

There's always a part of me that gets really excited thinking about a brand new band, a brand new sound. Hearing the first strains of music, trying to find their influences, and gauging their career trajectory.

It's very exciting.

Apparatus hails from the very metal country of Denmark and their first album is finally being released, as they put it, into the physical realm.

Performing in strange masks they play a brand of blackened death metal that ventures into art territory. Let's delve into this album and see what it's all about.

Album Review: "Purveyors of Death" by Souls For Sale

Purveyors of Death

Before the world changed, EPs were a legitimate form of release for music.

I've had EP's by Slayer, Metallica, Faith No More, and countless others.

Something changed though. The EP kind of died out. The argument could most likely be made that the iTunes era really changed all of that.

With a full album only costing between seven to ten dollars, why would anyone drop the money on an EP I suppose....

An Extended Play though, it's a great way to meet new artists and really get a feel moreso than a single. Today we are reviewing the very first 7" vinyl EP sent to Glacially Musical...it's by the German metal band, Souls For Sale.

Album Review: "Blue Funk" by Labors

Blue Funk

What is music?

It's basically the same question as to what is art?

Art is an interesting thing, because we find the need to compartmetalize everything. This band is death metal. That one is in country.

That's a Western band, but it ends up getting all crazy and silly when it becomes entirely too specific.

In the introduction email I received from Labors, they told me that they're a band that plays Midwestern Americana. Now, I'm not making fun of the label they chose.

Like many bands in our modern world, what's old has become new and what's new has become old, and what's brand new is what happens if when you combine the old and the new and get this new kind of pudding....with Snickers in it.

Album Review: "Stakes is Low" by Protovulcan

Stakes is Low

There is a lot you can tell about a band by their name.

Metallica is metal. Rifftera likes to riff. Deicide is decidedly anti-religious. KISS is...well I don't know about that one.

So, let's try a new tact here at Glacially Musical.

I'm going to interpret the name of the band and the cover photo and see how accurate I am with just guessing at things.

Protovulcan.

Proto, we all know this well known prefix. It's the first one. Sometimes used to refer the one that came before the one you use now. OK.

Vulcan...now...wait. Vulcan like Mr. Spock or Vulcan like Hephaestus?! Thinking a little more, it couldn't be like Mr. Spock, as he was not a prototypical vulcan, but half human, and proto could be something else too... OK I got nothin'.

Album Review: "Come Back Shane" by Samson the Truest

Come Back Shane

Today we're reviewing the new album by Samson the Truest out of New York City, by way of Boston (originally).

It is an interesting choice of moniker for our new hero.

It's seemingly rare when an artist chooses a Biblical name for their creation. How many times has that really happened?

Well perhaps I'm enjoying far too much heavy metal where Biblical heroes' names aren't typically chosen...

 It creates an interesting symbolism, at least in my mind. It certainly made me take notice of him.

But all in all, the artist's name is seemingly meaningless, and I mean "the artist" in the general sense. I mean, Kiss isn't exactly a great  name and Megadeth isn't even spelled right, or even a word....