Author Archives: Mark

Looks like I may be a father…

“Craigslist can be whatever you want it to be. You can use it to find a flat, secure a new job, sell your car…and now, it seems, search for the father of your unborn child after a brief encounter at a rock concert.

As observed by Fuse, an American woman has turned to the online classifieds site  to track down a man who knocked her up at a Megadeth & Motörhead concert in Chicago in February. The woman in question describes herself as: “Blue hair, silver tube top, fishnets, Knee high black biker boots,” whilst the dude is sporting a similar look: “Red mohawk, black pentagram gauges, viper piercings.”

[Source: Thenextweb]< Fucking bollocks. Knew I should have worn a condom.

Review: Echoes – With an Eye on the Shoreline & a Hand to the Sea

Those feeling depressed from the two long years it has been since Envy‘s brilliant last album, wash those tears away, because there’s a new hardcore band on the block, and one well worth checking out.

Formed in 2010, Echoes are a post-metal band from Winchester, UK, playing a diverse blend of ambient hardcore and metal and drawing influences from artists such as This Will Destroy You, Rinoa, Devil Sold His Soul and Hans Zimmer (you can check out the band’s awesome cover of ‘Time’ here by the way).

A couple of weeks ago Echoes released their debut EP With an Eye on the Shoreline & a Hand to the Sea (thanks for making me spend 3 weeks typing your EP title guys!) and I can’t resist giving it a Dose of Metal review.

Echoes – With an Eye on the Shoreline & a Hand to the Sea

1. ‘Leaving None Behind’ – 5:25
2. ‘Rivers’ – 5:10
3. ‘Safe it Seems’ – 5:06

With an Eye…  opens with the epic and ambitious ‘Leaving None Behind’. Desperate screams from vocalist Joshua resonate over ambient melodies and explosive harmonies, succeeding in coercing emotion to the listener without reducing the music to generic Clichés and cheesy lyrics. The murky bass moves the verses forward and helps the melody flow whilst atmospheric clean guitar lines glisten upon the surface.

Next track ‘Rivers’ demonstrates Echoes’ desire to not repeat themselves. The song is a lot gloomier in its approach, with an initial grunge sound in the verses. The bridge and chorus are more upbeat however, once again being driven by the powerful, emotional vocals and instrumentation.

The EP’s closing track ‘Safe it Seems’ is a climatic and fitting conclusion to the demo. Providing a mix of high uplifting shrieks of  guitars with pummeling drums. When the track break downs into a beautiful interlude, the final crescendo is used to create maximum impact, providing a haunting finale to what has been a fantastic start from this young band.

Overall, Echoes have made a impressive start to their career with this EP/sampler, and with it being offered as a free download via their website, there really isn’t any excuse to pass up on this excellent release. Now all I can say is, bring on the full album!

Links:
Facebook
Official website
Merchandise

Lady Gaga is a Heavy Metal Lover

Global mega star Lady Gaga literally can’t go five minutes without trying to prove how ‘metal’ she is. Whether it’s attending Iron Maiden concerts, hanging out with members of Anthrax or whatever else it is she does, she’s always trying to prove she is a heavy metal lover.

So what’s her next move?

It was revealed earlier today that Lady Gaga has tapped The Darkness as support when she hits the UK this September.

Awesome, a Queen parody act supporting a Madonna parody act? This is going to be fun kids (please note obvious sarcasm).

[Source: Metal Hammer]

Review: Archetype EP (2011)

It’s been a while since I’ve posted at Dose of Metal. It had to happen. At some point, I had to wake up, snap out of it and realize that I’m not a rock star (or should that be metal star?), earning millions and married to my ten wives (all of which are Playboy bunnies, of course). Enter real life: A world where I have commitments, have to earn money and pay rent. We all do it, but hey, I’m still going to bitch about it – because I can.

But sooner or later, I would need to post back on DoM, for at least my sanity’s sake. So here I am, and I figured the best way to get back into it, would be to post some reviews of the music I’ve listened to, good and bad, over the last month or so. So here we go…

Archetype self-titled EP (2011)

1. ‘Decease to Exist’ – 4:39
2. ‘The Fault of My Design’ – 3:50
3. ‘The Silence’ – 3:04
4. ‘Into Infamy’ – 4:02
5. ‘Ruination’ – 4:03

An EP logged in my recent purchases on Amazon comes from relatively unknown unsigned UK act, Archetype. The two-member melodic death metal band, hailing from my hometown, combine a fury of ferocious screams, death metal blastbeats and thrashy riffs, making them one of the more interesting melodic death bands in recent years.

Being an unsigned, young, two-member band, you could be forgiven for thinking that Archetype will be another generic At The Gates ripoff act with little talent. However, this is far from being the case. The amount of talent on display from the two members is incredible. Combining the groove of At The Gates, the triumphant melodies of Arch Enemy and the thrash style of early era The Haunted (before they went a bit shit), Archetype merge various styles, as well as their own unique progressive vision to craft what is a creative take on the melodic death metal genre, avoiding many of the pitfalls and clichés that a lot of their contemporaries fall into .

Musically, the band are on fire for the entire EP, with vocalist Danny McAuley screaming with conviction often unseen with modern metal acts. Musically, Matthew Phillips’ guitar harmonies interweave with violent chords and  pummeling drums. Additionally, the demo is full of some powerful hooks, melodies, and brilliant solos that make this a must have for fans of melodic death metal. The most interesting aspect of the songwriting, however, is the use of motifs throughout the EP, creating continuity between tracks.

Melodic death metal fans looking for something new and fresh, look no further. It’s short and sweet, but for just 3.45 Great British Pounds, you can’t go wrong with this entry EP from newcomers Archetype.

Lyric videos suck

Yeah, I know what you’re thinking, my first post in months, and it’s this? But I cannot stand lyrics videos. Something has to be said. Nothing is more pointless, lazy and obscene than the release of these so called “videos”. But hey, I get it, it makes marketing sense. Get the song out there as soon as you can with a cheaply put together lyric video. Then you can release a ‘proper’ video later down the line.

If you look above, Revoker have released a video for the track ‘Born to be an Outlaw’. Not only is it a lyric video though, the song also sucks, so don’t bother listening to it.

[Source: Metal Hammer]