Puscifer releases single "Man Overboard"

I can't believe I didn't do a post on this when it was out. Basically, this track brings back alot of the dark charm from the C is for (Please Insert Sophomoric Genitalia Reference HERE) EP, and it's everything a Puscifer/MJK fan would ever ask for. The light guitar accompaniment coupled with the thump and hiss drumbeat, it's really reminiscent of The Undertaker.


Man Overboard is available for download on iTunes and Conditions of My Parole will be out on October 18.

Mastodon Releases First Single "Black Tongue"

It's been two years since the critically acclaimed Crack The Skye was released, and now Mastodon has released their latest single, Black Tongue, with an accompanying video showing the process of creating the album art for the upcoming album, The Hunter.



On first impression, the vocals on this track is not reminiscent of anything Mastodon has ever done. In other words, it's too clean and clear but I'm kinda digging it overall with the music, cause that's where Mastodon rips it apart. And on a more fanboy comment, I love that part when Troy sings "You've run out of light/life/lies, you've run out of time", then an epic guitar section comes in.



So the new album will be released on September 27 and I'm psyched about it. Super psyched.

The Aggregate Requiem

The Singapore Dark Alternative Movement presents their first benefit gig for the Sophie Lancaster Foundation. A charity to stamp out prejudice, hate and intolerance everywhere against subcultures.

Presale tickets are now sold at Inokii at Far East Plaza (Scotts Road) at $10.

For more information on the charity, visit The Sophie Lancaster Foundation at htp://www.sophielancasterfoundat​ion.com

Time: 5-10pm
Place: Se7en1nch (Clarke Quay near Zirch and facing the taxi stand)
Price: $15 (incl. 1 free drink)
Acts: D.E.A.D, Bear Culture, Murderfreak vs Ænimic, Savvia Lenore and a very special guest appearance as the opening act

Familiar Names, New Sites

So it's official that the Singapore Dark Alternative Movement (SDAM) didn't only change their logo but went for a complete virtual overhaul and redid a new website for their upcoming events and articles regarding the dark alternative/goth scene in Singapore.

If you're unfamiliar with what SDAM does and what they are, I will give a small synopsis of what they do. SDAM ,basically, is a community of people with an interest in dark arts, music and literature. They will organise events that welcome people with similar interests to come together and hang out at several pubs and clubs while basking in the glitches and thumps of Industrial/EBM throughout the night. For more on what they specialise in and what they did for the dark alternative scene in the past, click on their swanky new logo.


And the another update to top up the whole week of new sites is the new Metal Horde Singapore website. Metal Horde Singapore (MHS), as many of you would've already derived from the name, these group of individuals handles the Singapore Metal Scene (as well as international Metal) news and music reviews. Click on the image to get your dosage of sweet, melodic brutality.


Upon further investigation, I've found out that the current main man of SDAM is also helping out with Metal Horde Singapore on top of his involvement in SDAM. So if you're interested in finding out more about him and all the other projects that he might have dipped his finger in, visit his personal website at http://dalsixvisser.com.


The RSS feeds of the aforementioned websites have been added to the right sidebar named "Links", so you can just click on that tab and you can view what has been recently updated on those sites.

So that's about it for now, check back for more reviews and news and long periods of nothing in between reviews and I would like to apologise for the awkward colour scheme and background to the site, I'll get to it soon.

NEW APC TRACK PERFORMED LIVE!

Apparently APC has a new song out and it still has all the signature melancholy. I can't wait to hear the track when it's recorded illegally in HD and posted on youtube cause waiting for a band fronted by MJK to release something has gotten me pretty demoralised lately.

Especially with the recent "we're writing" comment made for the next Tool album on antiquiet.com.

Zed - The Invitation Preview

Not much is known about this band but hell, does it bring me back through time. I am in love with the vocals and the guitar riffs. Definitely a must listen to 90s rock lovers, most of the songs reminds me alot of Soundgarden's Louder Than Love era and that's the best compliment any band can receive in my books.

Check them out here: Zedisded

That distortion is just full of crunch I can feel it in my teeth! I've only listened to a few of the tracks through their band camp website but I will try to get a full album review up once I'm done with all the delayed reviews of past releases.

In Each Hand A Cutlass - A Universe Made of Strings

Released: June 24, 2011

The long awaited album by Singapore's rock supergroup has finally been released. So is it worth the wait?

Tracklist:

1. The Escape
2. Inspector Cutlass
3. Glaciers
4. The March
5. Helmets and Fiery Endings
6. Chocolate and The Lovelorn Girl
7. Marauder
8. White Boxes
9. End of The Line
10. Hammering The Bones
11. A Universe of Strings

In Each Hand A Cutlass(IEHAC) consists of Daniel Sassoon(guitars), Roland Lim(guitars), Jordan Cheng(drums) and Amanda Ling(keys/samples). They've recently changed their bassist, so I'm not too sure on whether the new bassic is part of the studio recording or just the live band line up.

Now on to the tracks in the album. Intro track, The Escape creates a build up of sounds to the hard-hitting and catchy, Inspector Cutlass, which features an addictive drum intro that builds up into a barrage of guitars and groovy bass slapping that just goes all out to hook you in and makes you wanting for more.

Next up, Glaciers, one of IEHAC's most epic compositions in the whole album. Clocking in at a little more than 8 minutes, it begins with a dreamy intro that slowly pulls you in and bashes you aurally with its abrupt and loud bridge/breakdown. This song is slow at its build up but once it has reached its climax, you'd definitely place it on repeat.

Next interlude, The March, brings us to the emotionally-charged Helmets and Fiery Endings. Other than the bridge in the track which features a little of that synth/keyboard from Amanda Ling, the guitar playing carries most of the song with its melodic riffs and fills. Following up next is the feel good track, Chocolate and The Lovelorn Girl. To be honest to label it "feel good" is a tad wrong, but as compared to the other compositions in the album, Chocolate and The Lovelorn Girl is more of a lush and soothing journey of textural sounds woven together than a sonic attack to our eardrums. Thus the "feely goodyness" of it.

IEHAC's ambitious approach to songwriting really takes center stage with tracks Marauder, White Boxes and my personal favourite, Hammering The Bones, which features an intro that will certainly raise eyebrows. With its infectious guitar and synth combo that captures your attention, it later teeters off to a purposefully off-timed bridge that's later patched back together fluidly with a crunchy guitar riff and thumping drum line. Definitely a must-listen for progressive music lovers.

In a full overview of the album, A Universe Made of Strings is progressively self-indulgent but still tries to maintain a certain catchiness and familiarity to each of the songs. It might turn off some conventional rock lovers but for those who would like to listen to creativity being tested, they will love A Universe Made of Strings.

However, the few downfalls in the album is that it sometimes gets a little too self-indulgent and the guitar wizardry takes too big of a space on the album cause there times in the album that I felt like there should be something else in place but it usually gets cut short by the brilliant guitar work. I'm not trying to tell IEHAC how they should write their songs, but after listening to the album, I think some of us would agree that the song writing of the album mostly revolves around guitar parts rather than the accompanying instruments.

6 out of 7 sins