2019 End Of The Year List: Best Vocalists

Next up on Audioeclectica.com’s 2019 End Of The Year Lists, the Top 10 Vocalists. The stipulation is that, an album/EP had to have been released this year.

Vote for your favorite in the comments section. At the end of the month, I will release the results of the readers poll.

This list is also in NO PARTICULAR ORDER!!!

 

01) John Carbone- Moon Tooth
02) Cameron Miller- Seizures
03) Jonathan Davis- Korn
04) Courtney Swain- Bent Knee
05) Schuylar Croom- He Is Legend
06) Dennis R. Sanders- Spirit In The Room
07) Daron Beck- Pinkish Black
08) Deb Demure- Drab Majesty
09) Jacob Bannon- Wear Your Wounds
10) Itarya Rosenberg- Low Dose

 

2019 End Of The Year Lists: Best Guitar Duos

Next up on Audioeclectica.com’s 2019 End Of The Year Lists, the Top 10 Guitar Duos. The stipulation is that, an album/EP had to have been released this year.

Vote for your favorite in the comments section. At the end of the month, I will release the results of the readers poll.

This list is also in NO PARTICULAR ORDER!!!

01) James “Munky” Shaffer and Brian “Head” Welch- Korn
02) John Dyer Baizley and Gina Gleason- Baroness
03) Stephen Brodsky and Adam McGrath- Cave In
04) James Root and Mick Thompson- Slipknot
05) Joel Stroetzel and Adam Dutkiewicz- Killswitch Engage
06) Albert Navarro and Nathan Najera- Seizures
07) Joe Trohman and Scott Ian- The Damned Things
08) Richard Kruspe and Paul Landers- Rammstein
09) Chelsea Wolfe and Bryan Tulao- Chelsea Wolfe
10) Andrew Diaz and Matthew Wright- Harborlights

Album Review: Seizures- Reverie of the Revolving Diamond

There are bands that come around every so often that are truly inspiring and remarkable. More often than not, these bands never get the due they deserve because of the genre they are a part of as well as not playing by the generic norm of the industry. And that’s what makes heavy music truly great. There are no rules to abide by and there are no compromises when it comes to making the type of music and albums these bands want to make. There’s a band from Orange County, CA, that have been carving their own path for some time and with the release of their new album, they have cemented themselves as torchbearers for a genre and have set a standard for what’s to come from this style of music.

Reverie of the Revolving Diamond by Seizures, is an album that is truly outstanding and genre defining. The ability this band has to mix metal, jazz, punk, atmospheric sounds as well as deep and poetic lyrics is something that should not be overlooked by anyone. The instant that the first song “Mazarine” begins, you are immediately drawn into the soundscapes and almost psychedelic undertones. “The Cycles Unnumbered” unleashes a fury of off time playful chaos and delicate jazz scales directly into the rush of blood to your head of “In A Valley Of Twilit Meres.” “Toxophola” is one of the more experimental songs on the album but still maintains the ferociousness that resonates through the entire album. This song also features Keith Barney (of Eighteen Visions/ex Throwdown). “The Ponds You Dried Yet Still You Stare” is one of my favorite songs on the album. It has everything I love about this band all wrapped in one song. Listen and you’ll hear why. “Atollian” continues to expand upon the atmospheric undertones of the album and keeps it tasty as a sweet transition right into the decimating “Of Indigo and Seven Crows.” “Severnaya” provides a really cool interesting vibe as it serves as an entry into “Bedlam Blues” which is the most straight forward song on the album but not in the way that defers from the spastic nature of the album. “On Saturine Shores” is another moving interlude of sorts. These little atmospheric jazz breaks in between songs give the album and listener a breath in between sonic assaults. Closing out the album is “Eru” and this song is epic and like “The Ponds…” this too has a bit of everything that Seizures has to offer and then some.

Seizures have released an album that stands up with the best albums as their contemporaries and the ones that inspired and influenced them.  They have a sound and style that is ferocious and brutal yet delicate and oddly soothing. Reverie of the Revolving Diamond is an album for today as much as Calculating Infinity by The Dillinger Escape Plan was 20 years ago. The band live is a whole other beast as well. I’ve only had the pleasure of seeing them once but, they truly left a mark on me and I’ve been anticipating this album since I saw Seizures. Do yourself a favor and take a chance on something that might (well it probably is) out of your comfort zone and discover what this band has to offer. This album is definitely in my top ten of the year as well.

Seizures- Reverie of the Revolving Diamond:

 

By: Brian Lacy

Band Of The Week: Seizures

Late last year I went to see Cult Leader and God Mother at The Satellite and the opening band, Seizures, completely blew me away. I was totally intrigued by this band and their performance and I had to know more. I had previously described them as having this really cool early Thrice vibe ( a la Illusion Of Safety) mixed with a bit of Botch and The Dillinger Escape Plan. I still stand by that only now, I’ve heard “In A Valley Of Twilit Meres” new song from their upcoming album Reverie of the Revolving Diamond, and there is so much more to this band than just that. Seizures is a band that offers the heavy music world a whole lot of awesomeness. By mixing post hardcore, mathcore and bits of jazz, they have a sound and style that is ferocious and brutal yet delicate and oddly soothing. Seizures is the type of band that today really needs. They have all the right pieces from being absolute beasts live and their quality of music and songs really shine. Give Seizures a moment of your time and you’ll see why I think they are a band you should be in the know of!

 

Reverie Of The Revolving Diamond:

 
The Sanity Universal:

 

Live Review: Cult Leader, God Mother and Seizures at The Satellite

Every year I try to go to one show at the very end of December. There is something about the energy in the room at these shows, that you just know you are going to witness something pretty spectacular. Last night at The Satellite pretty spectacular doesn’t quite cut it. I’m going to go ahead and say that seeing Cult Leader, God Mother and Seizures last night was not only intense but one of the most fun shows I’ve been to in a long long time.

Opening the night was Seizures. They were a last minute add to the bill and the perfect tone setting band or the night. I had heard the name of the band before but never heard them and they completely rocked the house. They have this really cool early Thrice vibe ( a la Illusion Of Safety) mixed with a bit of Botch and The Dillinger Escape Plan. So they definitely have that “mathcore” style down to a tee but they also have a real sense of depth to them as well. Every player in the band is extremely proficient at their instrument and their vocalist Cameron is a beast on stage. As I mentioned above, they really set the tone for the night and they really are a band that will be one to watch out for in the heavy music scene.

Getting to finally see God Mother live was everything I wanted and way more. Their 2017 album Vilseledd was and still is one of the best metallic hardcore albums I’ve heard in a long time. The Dillinger Escape Plan’s Ben Weinman has even stated that Dillinger has passed the torch onto God Mother. That’s how good they are and it’s beyond true. The chaos that ensued during their set was something I haven’t seen in years. As their set began, with the band on stage, vocalist Sebastian Campbell made the bands presence felt as he went out in the crowd and formed a circle from all the people in the crowd. The band then began ripping into their assault on The Satellite and from that point onward it was as though the eruption of chaos was meant to be. Circle pits ensued along with an impromptu limbo contest, which was one of the coolest and most fun things I’ve ever been a part of at a show. God Mother is the real deal. The band absolutely slays and they deliver the goods on song after song. The element of danger and passion that brews inside each member makes God Mother not only a force to be reckoned with but as time goes on, they are going to write some really epic songs.

The main event of the evening was Cult Leader. Ever since I first saw this band while on tour with The Dillinger Escape Plan, I’ve been hooked. That first time was astounding and totally put me into a hypnotic trance. Last night that hypnotic trance occurred again and I didn’t want it to end. Shrouded in red light, the members of Cult Leader tore through their set with a sense of purpose and passion that most bands would be envious of. Cult Leader recently put out their spectacular new album A Patient Man and their set was compiled of a slew of songs from it and their previous work Lightless Walk (another gem of an album). This new album though is dark and brooding with all the feels you would expect from a band this deep. I don’t know what it is about this band but every time I’ve seen them now, I get lost in the music and aggression and it takes all the negativity away. I’m going to put this out there that Cult Leader is not only a band that needs to be seen live but also they are truly superb at creating and capturing the real essence of what the band is.

 

What a great night not just for heavy music but music in general. Seeing bands of this caliber at a place like The Satellite (it’s still Spaceland to me) was ferocious. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing some really great shows at this venue (I’ve even seen Deftones here) and this night tops it all. What a great show from Cult Leader, God Mother and Seizures. I wish the show would have gone on longer, that’s how damn good each band was. It’s bands and music like this that keeps me doing what I do. So, thank you Cult Leader, God Mother and Seizures for delivering one of the best shows I’ve seen all year as well as the best end of the year show I’ve seen in years!

 

Cult Leader- A Patient Man:

 

God Mother- Vilseledd:

Seizures- Split EP:

Review/Recap By: Brian Lacy