Meshuggah

Meshuggah are a Swedish metal band that formed in 1989, pioneering a new style of death metal that has becoming increasingly popular throughout time. They are still active today and are in the process of writing and recording a new album.

Meshuggah's first few releases were a lot more on the thrash metal side, still carrying a sound that had been well established in the metal genre. The None EP (1994) and the Destroy, Erase, Improve LP (1995) were the releases in which Meshuggah had begun to develop a sound that crossed boundaries and simultaneously belonged to none. Their songs became rhythmically complex in a way that is staggering, yet hypnotizing. In addition, Frederik Thordendal's use of obscure jazz fusion elements certainly separated Meshuggah from a typical style.

Nowadays, Meshuggah is considered a legendary band that has become an influence to a majority of current artists. Their approach is highly focused on rhythm, each instrument (including the vocals) being a factor in the multi-layered "groove". Due to the imposition of unaligned rhythmic groupings into a meter, Meshuggah's riffs turn out to have a three-dimensional quality. The full aural experience requires a simultaneous hearing of the intertwined layers of rhythm; this is what creates an entrancing, zen feel. It is similar to the simultaneity required in seeing magic eye images, or solving a Rubik's cube. Before I get too abstract, let's make things more literal with an example. Here's Meshuggah's classic two tracks "In Death - Is Life" and "In Death - Is Life" from their milestone concept album Catch 33.



This is from one of their more experimental release, so it's a bit more dynamic than a lot of other material. I have decided to cover one of Meshuggah's most recognized songs, "New Millenium Cyanide Christ". This is from the 1998 album, Chaosphere.

more Martyr

I have decided to cover one of Martyr's more accessible songs from Feeding the Abscess.




The audio quality is good on this one!

Martyr

Martyr is a French Canadian death metal band that has challenged the genre's standards to an unrivaled extent. Despite their lack of exposure and touring, they are a popular band among the death metal community.

Dan Mongrain is the frontman, lead guitarist, and composer of Martyr. Part of what separates Martyr from other bands are the jazz fusion elements that Dan incorporates into the music. His soloing style especially showcases this aspect, commonly being improvisation over a series of dissonant chords.

The most recent Martyr album, Feeding The Abscess, is a particularly exotic death metal album. What started as a metal band with progressive elements has evolved into a monolith of metal. Song structures, melodies, rhythms, chord progressions...all of these are warped into an unconventional mix of extreme musicianship. Here's a song from their 2nd album, Warp Zone.



..and now, a cover of "Perpetual Healing (Infinite Pain)" from Martyr's latest album.

Gorod

When I blogged about Gojira, I mistakenly posted a Gorod video at the end. For this post, I'll attach the Gojira cover that was meant for the Gojira post.

Gorod are another French death metal band. Their first full-length Neurotripsicks instantly brought them on the map with their mix of groove, melody and brutality.

What's great about Gojira is that they're not afraid to be melodic. There's an ever-growing fear of melody in death metal due to the limiting nature of melody. Gorod take melody and assimilate it into the aggression and groove that metalheads love about death metal. Also, for the first two albums, Gorod featured a female drummer. There you go, dudes. Chicks can be just as brutal.



That's the first track and first song of their album Neurotripsicks. They've changed considerably since then [2005], but the Gorod feel is always there. I covered "State of Secret" from the sophomore album a few weeks ago, and it's included in the Gojira post. In lieu of this inter-French death metal alliance, here's my cover of Gojira's "Remembrance".

more Necrophagist

I've decided to put up another cover of a Necrophagist song. Necrophagist was among the very first death metal bands I listened to, and this is the song that really did it for me. It was a mixture of the monster growls, blazing riffs and awkward song structure that got to me. Nowadays, this song is considered a classic from one of the genre-defining bands in technical death metal. Here's "Fermented Offal Discharge"!

Gojira

Time to introduce the French side of death metal with Gojira! Gojira is a 4 piece from Bayonne that is lyrically themed around environmental issues.

Gojira have a very tight sound with odd, start/stop rhythms. It is metal that grooves, and cares about the way humanity has treated our natural habitat. Gojira's third album From Mars to Sirius led to worldwide recognition and praise--and for good reason. Highly rhythmic and somehow highly melodic, this album takes you on a journey beyond Mars. Or Sirius. I'll let the music speak for itself.



This next cover is from Gojira's 2nd album The Link. At this point, it may be considered somewhat old, but it definitely holds a flame to any newer Gojira. Here's "Remembrance".

more Between the Buried and Me

Since BTBAM's discography is diverse, I decided to cover two Between the Buried and Me songs. This next cover is from their second album:

Here's a taste of the heavier side of Between the Buried and Me.



Enjoy!

Between the Buried and Me

Between the Buried and Me is an experimental metal group from North Carolina, USA. This is the kind of band that changes their sound with every release (with the exception of the last two full lengths), but the band's signature, eclectic sound pervades all of the releases. BTBAM have gained a large following with their later albums, becoming a band that represents an ever-growing popularity of fusing progressive elements with metal.

BTBAM's debut album Between the Buried and Me introduces us to the diversity of sound that BTBAM is known for, despite sounding somewhat "young". Their next release The Silent Circus, my favorite in particular, has a more refined sound. The production is thick while maintaining clarity, and the music is brutal with a wacky twist. Alaska was recorded with significant line-up changes, bringing in Dustie Waring, Blake Richardson and Dan Briggs. This was the onset of the new sound of BTBAM, which went even further into experimental territory.

Colors is the next album, and it is probably their most widely regarded due to its more sophisticated songwriting. Every song is seamlessly transitioned to blend as one epic song.



Here's a video of my playing the closing track "White Walls". This song puts together various musical segments from the rest of the album in a brilliant way. Enjoy!

Lykathea Aflame

Hailing from the Czech Republic, Lykathea Aflame is (yet another!) unique death metal band. If you thought that all death metal was about raping cadavers, then you haven't been enlightened by the spiritual journey that Lykathea Aflame brings to you on Elvenefris.

Unfortunately, Lykathea Aflame have been more or less inactive for the greater half of a decade. Elvenefris is the only album released, and that was back in 2000. It almost makes the album that much more of a gem, knowing the fact that music like this will never be made again. What makes Lykathea Aflame so special is their approach to death metal. Musically, they embody all of the traits of death metal, but it's complemented with synth keyboards, eastern melodies, melodic passages and superb drumming. The vocals are beyond incomprehensible but they convey the savagery that is paralleled in the music. Lyrically, the band focuses on inspiration, emotion, and being positive within a world of despair.



The current status on the band is unknown, with little hope of any resurgence. In honor of Lykathea Aflame, I decided to cover the track "Shine of Consolation" on guitar.



Please check out Lykathea Aflame!

Ulcerate

Ulcerate is a death metal band from New Zealand that makes chaotic, melancholy music in a relatively new style. Aside from their last album The Destroyers of All, Ulcerate songs are generally fast paced with sparse moments of breathing room. Ulcerate songs are prone to dissonant harmonies, abstract song structures, riff layering, and explorative drumming.

As soon as they released the album Everything Is Fire, Ulcerate hit the radar. Hard. Every song exudes an unearthly atmosphere, filled with energy and precision. Since the song structures don't follow normal standards, the songs can be hard to digest at first. Initially, I couldn't listen to more than 2 songs at a time, because anything after that would fly over my head. However, repeated listening warrants fresh experiences. There are new things to be heard each time you listen to the album, which is one of my favorite qualities of abrasive music. The track "Drown Within" is the perfect album opener because it showcases the range of diversity throughout the entire album.




Here's my cover of Ulcerate's "We Are Nil", the second track on Everything Is Fire. I hope it's as enjoyable as it was learning the song.

Animals As Leaders

Animals As Leaders are a progressive metal band from Washington D.C. and despite their youth as a band, they've been making a big impression on the metal scene. The founder of the band, Tosin Abasi, is an up-and-coming guitarist that rivals many of the great guitarists of the past. Tosin has razor-sharp technique which he has used to push his songwriting further. I was floored when I first heard their first tracks on myspace.

The first and only album (so far) is the self-titled debut Animals As Leaders. A year or two before it was released in 2009, Tosin Abasi had many ideas, but nothing ready for a full album. So Tosin Abasi went to Misha Mansoor aka "Bulb", who so happened to live a few minutes away, and asked him to program the drums and produce the album. Contrary to popular belief though, Misha wound up doing a lot more than that for the record. He and Tosin co-write a large part of the album. Sometimes, Misha just added layers to riffs and provided transitions, but Misha states that there were times when he and Tosin were writing riffs second by second, together. Unfortunately, Misha was never credited for being part of the songwriting process. But after listening to his songs for over 6 years, I can certainly say that Misha's contributions are prominent. Check it out for yourselves!




Following the debut release, the album reached worldwide popularity in no time. Tosin went out to find touring members, and wound up recruiting a full band. Animals As Leaders is now Tosin Abasi, Navene Koperweis (ex-Animosity) and Javier Reyes. They've been touring extensively with a wide range of bands and now they are set to release another full-length named Weightless on November 08, 2011. The album can be preordered here:

http://prostheticrecords.bigcartel.com/


In lieu of this new release, here's me playing "Modern Meat" from the self titled. This is the first video I uploaded to youtube, so the quality's far from being the best.



Enjoy!

Gorguts

Gorguts is an influential death metal band from Quebec. Changing their sound with every album, Gorguts has steered the genre into unfamiliar territory.

Along with releasing classic death metal albums in the early 90's, Gorguts is known for their experimental releases "Obscura" and "From Wisdom to Hate". Obscura in particular, raised the bar in experimentation with atonality. The album was written with the intent to disregard any tonal "regulations" of modern music. Despite all that, the album has it's own unique feel and style that is only now, 13 years later, being recognized as a particular form of death metal.



The last album they released, From Wisdom to Hate combines the progressive feel of Obscura and the older albums to create yet another unique aural experience. Nothing has been released since then [2001]; however, Luc Lemay (frontman/guitarist/composer) has brought back Gorguts with an all new lineup that sounds promising. In hopes of new material soon, here's a cover of Elusive Treasures off of From Wisdom to Hate.

more Periphery

Misha Mansoor's writing style is strange and unfamiliar, and that's exactly why it's fun to play his songs. Here's Insomnia.

Necrophagist

Necrophagist is a technical death metal band that originated in Germany. The founder, frontman and composer of the group is Muhammed Suiçmez, a Turkish/German guitarist.

He started the band in 1992 and wound up putting together the debut album "Onset of Putrefaction" by himself in 1999. It was quickly embraced by the death metal world for it's blazing speed, intricacy, and classically-infused compositions. Once Necrophagist came out with their second album "Epitaph" in 2004, it was not long after that Necrophagist rapidly gained a large following. After the release of that album, Necrophagist set out on world tours and festivals galore. In fact, they've haven't released any new material since then because all they've been doing is touring. This frustrated many fans, especially because of the fact that the members of Necrophagist do nothing to inform the public of their status. Knowing how much of a perfectionist Muhammed is, I'm sure the next Necrophagist album--when it finally comes out--will be another milestone in the realm of technical death metal.





Enjoy the cover of the solo in Epitaph!

Periphery

We began with Defeated Sanity--one of the more obscure, atonally intricate bands in death metal. Now that we've delved into the heavier side of metal, it's time to introduce a melodic approach to modern metal, and one band that represents this is Periphery.

Periphery has been around for the greater half of the last decade, but they released their debut record just last year. This was caused in part by the constant change of band members, and was coupled with their perfectionist work ethic. For the most part, Periphery's music is composed by one of the guitarists, Misha Mansoor, aka "Bulb".

Bulb (as a person) is a leading figure in the DIY scene of today's music. Throughout the 6 or so years that Periphery had not released any albums, Bulb had an account on soundclick (click here to view Bulb's soundclick), on which he uploaded instrumental tracks of all the songs that he wrote. He recorded everything with home recording equipment, never having to rely on a "professional's touch" from a recording studio.

The most important thing to mention here is that Bulb released those instrumental tracks for free. FREEEEEE. His music allowed him to rely on the quality of the content as a way of promoting itself. Sure, it took a few years for things to really kick off. But as soon as the internet started recognizing Misha Mansoor's music and Periphery, record labels began to take interest in signing the band. The members of Periphery went about patiently and diligently in signing to a record label. They knew that most bands get screwed when it comes to creative politics, so they found themselves negotiating a contract with Sumerian Records--a contract that allowed them full creative control and good care on the side of the label. As soon as that was a done deal, Periphery's journey as an official band took off straight away. They've been touring around the world, recording and writing more music--and even doing clinics, guitar sit-downs, lessons, videos, etc.

Talking about the band is one thing, it's time to hear their sound. Here's a song off of their debut, and following that is a video of me playing a cover of the song "Buttersnips".

more Defeated Sanity

Defeated Sanity have recently reissued their first two albums, "Prelude to the Tragedy" and "Psalms of the Moribund", with Grindethic Records. Both of these reissues include bonus tracks that were recorded in Queens, New York at Colin Marston's studio, The Thousand Caves.

If anyone is looking to support this fantastic band, you can do so at the Grindethic website.

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http://www.grindethic.co.uk/
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The third album, not included in the picture above is "Chapters of Repugnance".

This is the latest Defeated Sanity release, with vocalist AJ Magana of Disgorge. The music is still hard to digest, yet the band has reached a more refined sound with better production, seamless compositions, and powerful execution.

Here's a cover of the track "Blissfully Exsanguinated". A big thanks goes to the members of Defeated Sanity for producing official guitar tablature for this song.

Defeated Sanity

First band we're going to get into is Defeated Sanity. They're a brutal death metal band from Germany, and the current line up looks something like this:

DS were formed in 1994 by a son and his father--the drummer and original guitarist, Lille Gruber and Wolfgang Teske. In 2010, Wolfgang died of cancer at the age of 57. Despite being sick, Wolfgang was active in the band and went on for as long as possible.

RIP Wolfgang Teske

He was an integral part of the group and helped redefine the standards of death metal. Defeated Sanity are known for their experimentation with atonality within the musical frame of death metal. Initially, hearing this kind of music can be off-putting and abrasive due to its overwhelming and unfamiliar nature.



Defeated Sanity have three full-length albums released, their latest one being titled "Chapters of Repugnance". Despite having slightly more distinguishable production, the listening experience is just as challenging mentally. In order to fully appreciate what Defeated Sanity has to offer, here's a video I made of myself, playing the song "Salacious Affinity" on guitar.



I'll post another video highlighting the guitar work of Defeated Sanity soon. For now, here are some reference links:

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/DefeatedSanity

Bandcamp:
http://defeatedsanity.bandcamp.com/

Welcome

Heyyy, this is my blog for Social Media Marketing. It'll consist of music recommendations, additional resources adhering to the music, and videos of me playing songs. I've always enjoyed watching guitar covers and I feel like it's a good way to promote the musical content. The music that will be hosted will be among genres that are relatively underground. Hopefully, this blog will help promote the artists that I will reference.