New Music!

It is Monday.  The day you love to hate.  Sometimes you just need some good tunes to help you through the worst day of the week.  If that day is today, you are in luck, because we occasionally find new music we find to be worth sharing.  Today we have three new tracks.

Au.Ra.  Yes, that is the cover art pictured above.  You can't really get an accurate glimpse of what it is supposed to be, but then again, good cover art often contains that quality.  Au.Ra is actually simpler to describe than the cover art.  What you have is standard issue dream pop with hooky guitar noise swirling just above the surface, which adds a certain grandeur of melody above and beyond what the pop portions of the song's structure contain.  This was a track that had me listening to the end.  I wasn't a huge fan of Au.Ra's first single in that it was much more simplistic than this track.  We are still waiting for this band's debut album to drop, and it should be interesting what the rest of the album sounds like.  Here is the latest track for you to get lost in:


Venera 4.  Shoegaze music can sound standard or better than average.  Venera 4 is above average.  Lots of noise greets you from the get-go with pedal-effect guitar work creating warm passages of reverberating melody.  So far, this group has released two full-length albums.  This is a brand new single and it shows some promise.  I could be tempted to buy this if I could find it.  Luckily, they do have it available for download on their bandcamp page.  If you have as many issues with PayPal as I do, you may not be able to download it, but then again, there are probably other avenues to explore if you really, really want it.  I kind of like it and will be searching for Amazon or iTunes downloads of this new track.  You can listen to it below.


Dark Tranquillity. I saw this today and just about fell out of my chair with glee.  You see, I am a huge DT fan.  This is my favorite metal band, so of course I will be foaming at the mouth to take a look at this one.  This new DT track is from their latest EP, "Zero Distance".  This EP is essentially a b-sides release full of a few songs that did not make the final cut of the album "We are the Void."  Today I saw a brand new video of the song Zero Distance which I feel illustrates perfectly why I like this band so much.  Dark Tranquillity play metal music with harsh vocals, punchy guitar riffs, and smooth piano and keyboard sections that add a certain amount of atmosphere to the music.  Mikael Stanne has the most understandable harsh vocals in the business, as well as some great baritone-style clean vocals.  I simply cannot get enough of Dark Tranquillity, so imagine the grin on my face when I found they will be releasing a new album called "Construct" on May 27, 2013..  All I have to say is, "Heck. Yes."  Check out the entertaining new video of Zero Distance below. As always, thanks for reading and enjoy!

New Metal-Neaera and Mourning Wolf

Today brings us news of yet another anticipated metal album release in early 2013.  This news makes me happy because I have been a fan of this German band since their 2008 release, "Omnicide-Creation Unleashed."  The new disc, scheduled for North American release on March 5, is entitled "Ours is the Storm".  Today they have unveiled the title track of the new disc, and as expected, it rips. 

With galloping melodeath riffs over a bleak ream of guitar-based atmospheric wandering, the new track is everything Neaera fans have come to expect.  Vocals switch back and forth between skin-tearing howls and blistering grunts as the somber guitar leads drown listeners in an inescapable torrent of fury.  From what this track shows, the band's sound will change little with the release of this album, with minor adjustments in the how palbable the bleakness is.  This music is for fans of melodeath, reminding of some Dark Tranquillity and Omnium Gatherum tunes.

So far, I'm liking what I'm hearing.  Check out the new track below.


Also to be filed under the 'new' folder, is an unexpected gem I found over at No Clean Singing.  The band is from Washington and is called Mourning Wolf.  As is often the case with new music I encounter, I found the cover art to draw me in. 

As far as style goes, Mourning Wolf melds metalcore riffing with blackened atmospheric moments similar to, but not as grand as Alcest.  I'm not a huge fan of metalcore or black metal, but I decided to listen anyway.  The relief in this release is that the music includes no vocals at all.  I'm a fan of bands that tend to blur the lines between genres, and Mourning Wolf pull it off well.  Their new EP is available as a name-your-price download from their bandcamp page, which also provides us with the full stream of the EP.  This release contains only two tracks, but they average better than 8:30 in length.  Check out this new EP.  You will not be disappointed. 

We will return to some less hard-core stuff tomorrow.  Until then, thanks for listening and enjoy!

Our top metal bands

Hello, friends!  This is the second in our series of lists profiling the top bands we like from each genre we cover here at Think Muzik.  There is such a wide assortment of metal out there, so choosing our top three has been a difficult task. 

Here are my top three:
 3. Omnium Gatherum.  These Finns haven't done anything earth-shattering in the realm of music.  All they have done is pick a style of metal they like to play and excel at it.  They have consistently improved over their five releases, culminating in thier best effort yet, "New World Shadows".  Omnium Gatherum is extreme metal, but also quite melodic, featuring catchy lead guitar and solos, excellent growling, and tasteful clean vocals.  Keyboards play heavily into their sound but do not make up the structure of the music. Listen to Soul Journeys from "New World Shadows" below.



2. Textures.  Textures is a newer dutch band that plays a Djenty blend of melody and harsh metal that must be heard to believed.  The band successfully switch back and forth between melodic singing and harsh screaming.  The first time I heard this band, I was very impressed and waited patiently for their latest album, which was just as good, if not better.  Watch the Reaching Home video from "Dualism" below.


1. Dark Tranquillity.  Being one of the pioneers in the Gothenburg metal scene is one thing, but being able to constantly release great material is another.  Dark Tranquillity arose in the late 1980s in Gothenburg, Sweden, alongside such acts as At the Gates and In Flames.  Over the years, they have released 10 studio albums.  I own nine of them--all but thier first, while Anders Friden (from In Flames) was the lead singer.  Mikael Stanne has been providing the vocals ever since and really does an amazing job.  Clean vocals are somewhat rare from this band, but they do use them to great effect, particularly in thier latest album.  Listen to Dream Oblivion from "We are the Void" below.


Kristy's top three are as follows.

When Brad told me we were choosing our three favorite metal bands and then selecting a favorite song from them I kind of freaked out.  First of all I'm pretty new to the metal genre.  I have a few songs that I like from select artists but not whole albums.  I was kind of stressing because I didn't think that I had very much metal in my music collection.  But as I took another look I found some artists that I didn't consider metal but that Brad assured me would work.  Here are my three choice metal bands.  Keep in mind I am just starting a collection in this genre and so this might be wussy metal to those of you who like it a littler harsher than what follows.

3. Funeral For A Friend: On a Wire.  This song is off their album Tales Don't Tell Themselves.  This song is very mellow as far as metal goes but if you listen to other songs on the album the metal comes out more.  I like this song because I like the sound of Michael Davies voice.  I enjoy the guitar in this song and I like that it's melodic enough that I can sing along. 



2. Lacuna  Coil. Give Me Something More.  One thing you should know about me is I am a choir brat.  My favorite part of choir is the blending of male and female voices.  I really like this band because we get to hear two great singers Christina Scabbia and Andrea Ferro.  Both vocalists give this song something special.  Their voices harmonize really well plus there is great guitar and drums in the background.  This track is off their newest album Dark Adrenaline.  Check them out if you haven't heard them before.  They are amazing.



1. Apocolyptica: I Don't Care.  Let me just start by saying this band is the s*#t.  I really like them a lot.  I love that they are all professional cellists and that they incorporate their astounding talents into metal music.  This version of I Don't Care features Adam Gontier of three days grace.  I like the blending of his voice with cello.  This song has a great beat and for some reason unknown  to me it just makes me happy.  Plus did I mention there is an amaing piano cello duet towards the end of this song.  Amazing!! I can't say enough and I can't explain it just listen and see for yourself. 

Katatonia-Dead End Kings

There are a lot of bands which, though the music may be good, you can't take seriously based on the band name alone.  I'm not saying Katatonia is a bad name, just that there are one too many metal bands that choose to spell their names differently because a 'k' looks harsher than a 'c'.  That is, in my opinion, a shallow way of looking at it.  I'll admit it.  I never gave Katatonia a chance based on the fact that thier name starts with a 'k'.  I also admit this is not a great way to start a blog entry.  That's why I have moved it down further into the body of the text.  See, I can be sneaky, just like Katatonia, whom most still deem as a metal band.

Katatonia's roots are in progressive metal for sure.  This band sounds in some ways like newer-era Dream Theater, just a little harder, or newer-era Amorphis, just not as heavy--or somewhere in between.  The metal blogging universe has been talking about this album since news of its inception first hit.  This is because Katatonia is a long-tenured and well-respected band no matter which way you slice it.  I didn't realize that Niklas Sundin, from one of my favorite metal bands of all time, Dark Tranquillity, is part of Katatonia.

The best way to descibe this Swedish band's newest batch of music is as a blend of modern progressive rock with occasional metallic riffs, soaked with dark, atmospheric melodies.  Frontman Jonas Renkse lends plenty of fluid emotion to the mic, while beautifully strummed guitar melodies and an undercurrent of keyboard fill out the sound. 

Dead End Kings doesn't have a definite standout track, nor does it have any obvious filler material.  Instead, what we have is 11 delicious cuts of prime progressive rock.  This is yet another great album from a great band.  You don't have to be a fan of metal to enjoy Dead End Kings.  Bow to the majestic reign of Katatonia.  You will not be disappointed.  4.7/5 stars.  Lisen to First Prayer and Dead Letters below.  Thanks for reading and enjoy!