Fractals is a relatively unknown progressive/technical metal band out of the UK. I had no idea what to expect when I began listening their debut Paradox, and I was wondering if these guys have what it takes to make more of a splash in the scene. Do they? I’d say [...]
Ghost, the newest occult metal group out of Sweden dropped their first release, Opus Eponymous, on the public this year. The amount of press and hype before and right after the release has been staggering and far reaching in that most metal fans have heard about this band or even [...]
Swiss experimental metal band Samael released their latest album some time ago. It’s called Lux Mundi and it’s a very solid and thoroughly enjoyable record. I had the change of doing an interview with Xy, the band’s drummer/percussionist. We had a friendly chat about the new album, Samael’s collective desire [...]
Eight years we have waited. I wish I had never heard this album. Morbid Angel is one of those keystone death metal bands. Well, they were. Their last few releases have been lacklustre, and yet fans are loyal as hell because everybody has his or her favourite album. Despite minor [...]
![TANK86 - Rise [2011]](http://alternativematter.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Rise-coverart-150x150.jpg "TANK86 - Rise [2011]")
Instrumental rock and metal can be a hit and miss affair. Many bands are simply too technical to get any form of mass appeal or some them really need to a vocalist to get things going for them. There’s a rare breed of bands out there who really manages to [...]
The five lads from Glendale Arizona are back at it again with the impending release of Gloom. With two studio and two EP releases under their belt, Gloom will be their third hellish EP to assault the public’s senses. How is their lastest offering going to hold up musically to [...]
Once upon a time in a galaxy not too far away actually, someone took three chords and the truth and brought us that wonderful thing called heavy metal. Whether it’s in studio or live form we usually get our fixes from short sharp shocks. The CD box set is usually [...]
Some time ago Alternative Matter’s very own Mat Davies was quite amazed by the latest A Forest Of Stars record, entitled Opportunistic Thieves Of Spring. Reason enough to have a friendly chat with these lads. On behalf of the band The Gentleman (TG) and Curse (C) answered some questions on [...]
Some time ago Canadian Folk/Black metal band Finnr’s Cane released their Wanderlust album through Prophecy Productions. Alternative Matter’s very own Bruce Smeath was quite impressed by their forward thinking style of music. Enough reason to have a friendly chat with vocalist and guitar player The Bard about his band, its [...]
Reading the full name of this release – Jakszyk, Fripp And Collins With Levin And Harrison – A Scarcity Of Miracles – A King Crimson ProjeKct – leads to one central and almost unbelievable thought: this must be a new King Crimson album after all these years (the last album was [...]
Well.. let me start off by saying “Wow.” Having never heard Greyline before, I wasn’t too sure what to expect. But their latest release, Behind the Masquerade (2010) was really a pleasant surprise, considering I don’t find myself impressed by new music all that often. From the very beginning of [...]
Signal Failure is the debut album by US progressive rock/metal duo Jake Rosenberg and John Dillon under the name In Progress. Mark Zonder (Slavior/ex-Fates Warning) plays drums on this album. The album is all about modern progressive rock with two central elements: synthesizer arpeggios and aggressive guitar chords. Sadly, instead [...]
I get a bad feeling when I see a similarity of timings of tracks on an album. Usually it means the songs are a bit samey, and that is exactly the case with this new In Flames album. However, samey isn’t always a bad thing. It can suggest a consistent [...]
The Human Abstract is a progressive metal band out of Los Angeles, California known for not only technical skill but songwriting prowess. After some lineup changes and a switch to a new record label E1 Music, the band has finally released their newest album Digital Veil on March 8, 2011. [...]
If you’d spent the last decade doing the same thing with little reward or recognition, no one would blame you if you decided that perhaps you should give things up and try something a bit different. It’s to their credit, therefore that US based Doom merchants The Living Fields didn’t [...]
Virginian metallers, While Heaven Wept, hold a special place in my heart – but I don’t need to go into why. That’s a conversation for another time. I first became a fan on hearing Vast Oceans Lachrymose, their epic doom release of 2009. I fell in love with it, and went [...]
Released as the fourth and final chapter in the Devin Townsend Project, Ghost displays Townsend’s courage in unveiling an album of truly uplifting and joyous music. The project itself was conceived after his son was born in 2006, and Townsend made the decision to abstain from a familiar lifestyle of alcohol [...]
Many fans lamented the day Devin Towsend closed the book on Strapping Young Lad. Especially with City (1997) and Alien (2005) are landmark records when it comes to sheer sonic violence. He got his act together and started to work on a four album endeavor under the Devin Townsend Project [...]
I have been expectantly waiting for this album for a very long time. The first time I heard Unexpect, it was about 1:30 in the morning. Intrepid Hellbound.ca photographer Adam Wills and I were driving back from Buffalo, NY, where we had seen Krallice, Bloody Panda, and Portal, a show [...]
Over the years Riverside has become one of my favorite bands in the progressive rock and metal realm. It’s not like they’re doing anything radically different or particularly revolutionary, but their music has this delicate melancholic touch few others have. The band celebrates its tenth birthday this year and in [...]
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