Metal Microscope [#6]

Hey guys, I have a mix of old and new, two bands I found this week with recent releases as well as a year-old favorite with a free album.  One is a djenty metalcore band from Australia, another is a djent band from England with a free album, a fresh album from a young melodic tech death metal from Indiana.  Also, there is some new bonus content in the form of the most hilarious low-budget metal music video and a date for an upcoming album.

Fractured Minds by As Surfaces Align  (Tamworth, Australia)

I found As Surfaces Align on bandcamp and really liked the consistent and powerful sound coming from the band. I also thought it was funny that I preordered the new Windows 8 Surface RT yesterday, and immedately thereafter found this fantastic Australian metalcore band. I’ve become a big fan of Australian metal, they have some wonderful bands, showcased by Parkway Drive, Psycroptic, Headwound the Pony, and Ne Obliviscaris, and Signal the Firing Squad.

As Surfaces Align has a new 10-track album called Fractured Minds that was released on October 12th, 2012. I highly suggest you check it out here for a taste of progressive metalcore.

Gosh, I just wrote up a big long piece about a fantastic melodic death metal band from Quebec, but then I realized they were signed to an indie label. Maybe I’ll cover them down the line.  They’re called Aeternam and they had an album come out last week.

Red Seas Fire Self Titled by Red Seas Fire  (South of England, UK)

I’m going to jump back to one of my favorite DIY bands. They’re called Red Seas Fire and they’re from the UK. They have some super catchy djent metal and the best part, their entire debut album is available for free download!

FREE DOWNLOAD

Residuum by Dawn of Dementia (Lafayette, Indiana)

Since I’m a fan of crazy ridiculous art like this album cover, here’s the artist’s facebook page if you want to see other concepts:  Sarafin Concepts

Dawn of Dementia is a young 5-piece melodic death metal band from Lafayette, Indiana. On September 21st they released a new 5-track EP called Residuum available on their bandcamp for $5. I think the release is really strong and there is great potential in this band.  With two guitarists they can really cover a lot of ground, and they recently got a new vocalist to man the microphone. Their lyrics cover the existential relationship between man and technology as well as looking into themes of the mind’s susceptibility to illusion.

I just did a little research on the meaning of the third track’s title, Vitrification. Since I’m interested in science and we always see these cryogenic humans waking up from a deep icy sleep(Master Chief), vitrification is when you freeze water without allowing it to turn to ice. If you freeze human tissue, the water leaves the cells and collects together to turn to ice, thereby damaging the cells, unless you introduce a cryoprotectant that prevents that process. Thus, you can freeze tissue into a solid at very low temperatures without destroying it. Already organs are vitrified today to allow for transplantation, but scientists are working to decrease the toxicity of the cryoprotectant. Hey, you learn something new every day.  The actual lyrics of the song remind me of Dead Space’s Marker, as pictured below. The Marker is an ancient engineered device that causes biological life to kill itself or biologically change into a new shape, generally called a necromorph. The album cover also reminds me of the subject matter in this song. Some compelling lyrics to back up my case are below.

Within sacred sands lies the ruins,
Cryptic stones resonate the cosmic energy within,
Interlocking granite of geometric constructions by engineers of the ancients,
Vitrification by children of the sun,

Surrounded by an infestation of locusts,
The fortresses of the pyramid were created – influence of the divine,
Atop, the towered beams of light emit the energy within,
Toward the celestial beginnings of creation,

The product of mechanical precision of machinery inherited by ancient deities,
Stands the obelisks articulated in red granite stone,
Inscribed on the monolithic structure – displays the graphemes of the necroglyphics,
Re-erected pointing to the heavens in the sky,

The acoustic properties of the oracle,
Transform a trance of “higher” consciousness,
Embodied through fractal nonlinear resonance – death ensues,
The final form of conversion returning the soul to the stars.

 ’Vitrification’ by Dawn of DementiaGo like Dawn of Dementia on Facebook, they have less than a 1000 likes but deserve many more!

Double Bonus!

Infant Annihilator, the 2-man brutal death metal group I covered three weeks ago released a smashing new music video. It’s super low-budget, but it is so much fun to watch, these guys bring smiles to a genre that is not known  for happy thoughts. It’s also NSFW with some rape scenes.

I love the drumming on tree stumps and especially the slow skipping through the field at 1:40 during the solo. I think its also really nice to see what you can do with a nice camera out in the forest. Infant Annihilator announced their debut album The Palpable Leprosy of Pollution for release on 12/12/12.

In case you still don’t think this band is super creative, they mixed some death metal into Psy’s Gangnam Style. Song and Free download are below.

 FREE DOWNLOAD

Also, if you live in the NY area, Necropia is playing a show in Amityville tonight.

Thanks for reading, and sorry for the late post, it has been a busy week. If you make DIY metal music, send me songs @MetalMicroscope. I’d much rather promote bands who are doing the hard work of promoting their music. We can even schedule an interview!