2014's Most Notable Album!

It's that time of the year again to present the most notable albums of the passing year. In 2013, I only did a top five, but as there were several other great albums that released that weren't mentioned. This time, I believe. a list of albums (not in any special order) showing which ones are most notable is the best way to go. Also, there are fan mentioned albums at the bottom as well! So, let's get started!

Most Notable Albums of 2014

Lorelei - Lore of Lies (Feb, 2014)

Carnifex - Die Without Hope (Mar, 2014)

Benighted - Carnivore Sublime (Feb, 2014)

I Declare War - We Are Violent People By Nature (Apr, 2014)

Inferi - The Path To Apotheosis (Jan, 2014)

The Kennedy Veil - Trinity of Falsehood (Jan, 2014)

Nexilva - Eschatologies (Apr, 2014)

Alterbeast - Immortal (Mar, 2014)

Cognitive - Cognitive (Apr, 2014)

Hour of Penance - Regicide (May, 2014)

Cage of Torment - Exceed (May, 2014)

Serpents - Pestilence (May, 2014)

The Room Colored Charlatan - Primitives (May, 2014)

Structures - Life Through A Window (May, 2014)

GhostxShip - Cold Water Army (July, 2014)

Volumes - No Sleep (July, 2014)

Septicflesh - Titan (June, 2014)

Aborted - The Necrotic Manifesto (Apr, 2014)

Delusions of Grandeur - Reclamation (July, 2014)

Swine Overlord - Parables of Umbral Transcendence (Aug, 2014)

Acrania - Totalitarian Dystopia (Aug, 2014)

Within The Ruins - Phenomena (July, 2014)

Secret Band - Secret Band (July, 2014)

The Contortionist - Language (Sept, 2014)

Fallujah - The Flesh Prevails (July, 2014)

Rings of Saturn - Lugal Ki En (Oct, 2014)

Flub - Advent (Oct, 2014)

Depths of Hatred - Hellborn (Oct, 2014)

The Dali Thundering Concept - Eyes Wide Opium (Oct, 2014)

Hideous Divinity - Cobra Verde (Oct, 2014)

The Ghost Inside - Dear Youth (Nov, 2014)

Aversions Crowns - Tyrants (Nov, 2014)

Circa Survive - Schema (Nov, 2014)

Starbomb - Player Select (Dec, 2014)

Acranius - Dishonor (Dec, 2014)

Pathology - Throne of Reign (Aug, 2014)

Walking Dead On Broadway - Aeshma (Oct, 2014)
Shemales From Outta Space Of Death - Das Virus Ist Der Fetisch (Oct, 2014)
Suffocate With Your Fame - Item(s) (June, 2014)
Job For A Cowboy - Sun Eater (Nov, 2014)
Villains - Freudian Slip (Nov, 2014)
Combaticus - The Worst of One World (July, 2014)
Aera Cura - Dead Ends (Aug, 2014)
Shokran - Supreme Truth (Feb, 2014)

Most Notable Albums of 2014 From The Fans

Animal As Leaders - The Joy of Motion (Mar, 2014)
Whitechapel - Our Endless War (Apr, 2014)
The Acacia Strain - Coma Witch (Oct, 2014)
Upon A Burning Body - The World Is My Enemy Now (Aug, 2014)
I Killed The Prom Queen - Beloved (Feb, 2014)
Motionless In White - Reincarnate (Sept, 2014)
Texas In July - Bloodwork (Sept, 2014)
Architects - Lost Forever // Lost Together (Mar, 2014)
Numbers - Three (Mar, 2014)

Now I know I am sure I missed several great albums, but I was unable to listen to every metal album put out during the year. So, these the ones I got the chance to check out and really enjoy. Make sure you check them out yourself, and the albums listed from the fans. Thanks for reading, and here's to 2015!

Interview with State of Awakening!

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Genre(s): Progressive/Metalcore

Location: Ghent, Belgium

PSAB: Why did you choose the name “State of Awakening” for your band?

SOA: Our singer had this idea for a band name since he was a teenager. He suggested this name and it immediately stuck in our minds. Also SoA is a Dutch abbreviation for STD. We also were thinking to change SoA to “Seals Throwing Dookie”. Now, thinking of it, there is much more to the name than initially came to mind. That is why we stick by it.

PSAB: How was the feedback when you released Ruin To Rebuild? Are you still receiving feedback now? 

SOA: The feedback has been somewhat limited up to this point. However, most of the feedback and reviews are still on their way. Our friends and loyal fan base are very excited and so are several other sources. Each stage performance we gain enthusiasm. The less positive feedback criticized our divergent songwriting. Which is exactly the way in which we try to stand apart. Still, we cherish every piece of advice and feedback we get, be it positive or negative.

PSAB: What is the local metal scene like in Ghent, Belgium? 

SOA: In Ghent, but also more generally in Belgium, we have a lot of little scenes dedicated to a specific subgenre. Sadly, these scenes never have contact with each other. Even small booking agencies almost never work together or go to each others’ shows. The bands need to take initiative to cross the borders of their scene. And mostly, this only has limited results.

PSAB: What one band has played the most influence on your music? 

SOA: Every member of State of Awakening has their influence, our bassist is mostly influenced by Tool and our singer by the genius ABBA. But if we have to choose one band, we could say Avenged Sevenfold has had the most impact on us.

PSAB: Do you have any shout outs to give to your fans, and the readers out there? 

SOA: We are no strangers to love, you know the rules and so do we. In other words, we are never going to give you up, never going to let you down. We are never going to run around and desert you.

Peace out.

Interview with Pantheons!

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Genre(s): Hardcore/Groove/Progressive
Location: Southwest Virginia

PSAB: Why did you choose the name "Pantheons" for your band?

Pantheons: From the creation of this band onward, our lyrical content in its entirety has been based off of our fascination with mythology. Greek, Norse, etc.With That decided, it was only logical to choose a name that tied it all together. A Pantheon, by definition, is; / all deities of a specific religion considered collectively /. We all thought the name had a ring, fit the subject matter, and tied together whatever branch of myth we wanted to embody through our lyrics. So that's what we chose.

PSAB: What are your plans with releasing new music? Can we expect new material sometime this year?

Pantheons: Absolutely. After we released our EP "Primal Divine" In January, there was barely any period of rest before we started tossing ideas around for our full length. There's a lot of riffs, lyrics and possibilities up in the air at the moment, but what's certain is that it will be based off of the Norse pantheon, and it's myths. As far as instrumental direction goes, we're going to bring more of our individual influences to the table. A lot more than we displayed in our EP.

PSAB: You're currently unsigned, if you could be signed to any record label, which label would that be and why? 

Pantheons: Sumerian Records. A lot, if not most of the bands on that label have inspired at least each of us in some shape or form.They put out music that we all enjoy, and listen to on a regular basis.

PSAB: What is the local metal scene like in Southwest Virginia?

Pantheons: Small, but tight knit. There are few venues to play in, unless you travel to Johnson City/Elizabethton or into Kentucky. When you play one of those few, however. You get to see a lot of familiar faces. Most have which have been there from the very start. You can't beat that.

PSAB: Which bands play the most influence on your music?

Pantheons: It's a diverse list as individuals, but I'll list some bands we share. Particularly moving forward towards our full length: Monuments, Born Of Osiris, They Art Is Murder, Glass Cloud, The Korea, Gojira, Norma Jean, After The Burial,Hail To The King, Volumes, Whitechapel, The Afterimage

PSAB: Do you have any shout outs to give to your fans?

Pantheons: Raise hell, praise Dale, use more phaser. \m/

Nemertines releases new song "Iwantyou"

One-man band, Nemertines, released a new single earlier this morning titled "Iwantyou." If the artwork doesn't interest you enough, the song definitely will. It's a combination of djent, progressive, and math metal, which Nemertines has played very well in his past work; Death, My Love, Mechta O Mechte, Full Black and many more.The song can be found on his Bandcamp page, which is in the video's description.

Subdivisions - Breaking The Fourth Wall [REVIEW]

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Listen / Purchase (via Bandcamp)
Genre(s): Progressive/Hardcore/Power Violence

Breaking The Fourth Wall is Subdivisions first music release of the new year. The EP has six songs and roughly 30 minutes worth of listening materials. There are influences on a few different genres throughout the album, mainly death metal and hardcore. They keep up the same kind of upbeat pace throughout each song, except for two songs; the longest song on the album "Tremors 3" which could be considered an interlude, as it combined melodic instrumental sounds with the band's normal hardcore song, and the fifth song "Leap of a Whale from the Water." 

 

The sound is each song is roughly the same besides the two listed which is a combination of sometimes progressive sounds, chuggy giffs, and or an experimental/mathcore kind of sound. A good example would be the song "Crippler." The vocals through the album seldom change, mainly mid screams and high screams. Overall, the album is okay and is worth checking out.

Score: 2.5/5

Interview with Slice The Cake!

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Genre(s): Progressive Death Metal

PSAB: Why did you choose the name "Slice The Cake" for your band name?  

STC: Around when we were starting out, we were throwing a bunch of “serious” names around just to see what would stick, stuff like “Gaia Aflame” .. None of the stuff we came up with was particularly appealing so our name was left as this big unknown until Jonas started working on a logo. We still didn’t have a name, so he just put Slice The Cake in place of whatever the real name was to be and it just kind of stuck. I’m not even sure if the whole verb the noun subversion was intentional on his part originally but we realised pretty quickly that it works on a few different levels. 

 

PSAB: Your first EP came in 2010 and you quickly became decently known among the metal community due to music sharing websites. The same websites also share illegal downloads of albums. So, that brings up the question. What are your opinions on whole illegal download/piracy of music?

STC: We’re generally totally cool with it, as it’s done nothing but good things for us. The entertainment industry as a whole is changing, not just the music industry, and piracy is generally seen as this big “issue” that needs tackling in some way, and there are various philosophies concerning this, and ours is that piracy isn’t going away so we may as well use it to our advantage, and it’s paid dividends for us. The other thing about piracy that rarely seems to be acknowledged is that some people that have pirated your shit may then actually go and buy it if they like it enough. It’s not just some black or white issue like “PIRACY IS TERRIBLE AND BAD” because for us, it totally hasn’t been. 

Even outside of the world of music this seems to be pretty evident, I personally keep up with the games scene a lot and the piracy discussion is equally as big with games and there have been a couple of great examples of how to deal with piracy in a positive way. The creator of Hotline Miami (for those of you who haven’t played it, you totally should, it’s a hyper-violent, Lynchian clusterfuck of a fever dream with an amazing soundtrack!) put the game up on the pirate bay and urged people to download it, but to support it with some moneys if they were vibing with it. The way the guy dealt with it made waves in the gaming press, and suddenly fucking everyone was playing it and it made the dude a ton of money. Hell, perhaps it’s taboo to admit it, but I’m one of those that pirated it.. And guess what.. I bought it literally as soon as I had the money to out of respect for both the dude’s openness and the art itself. The more you try and stop people from freely sharing art around, the more people will share it just to spite you and I don’t blame them for it at all. Art is something that transcends money and financial value, and I think that’s an idea worth defending and upholding.  

As well as that, I frankly think we’d be kind of hypocritical if we didn’t take this stance. We didn’t make this band with the intention of making money or becoming famous or anything like that, we never could’ve anticipated that STC would blow up the way it did.. All of our music has been made more for our own sake than anything else. It’s an exorcistic process more than anything else.. And I don’t think you can put a price on that. We encourage people to acquire our music however the hell they want to, but to treat our bandcamp as a donation box if they really feel what we’re doing. All the money we’ve made has been poured back into stuff we’re now using to make Odyssey to the West and that’s purely the result of people’s generosity. If we hadn’t made a penny doing any of this, we’d feel the same about all of it.

PSAB: Your upcoming album Odyssey to the West is set to release later on this year. When can we expect a taste of the album with a new single? Anytime in the near future?

STC: Yeah, sometime fairly soon. We were aiming to release the album on March 1st originally, but over the past couple of months it became apparent that it needs more time to be as good as we want it to be, so right now we’re just saying “when it’s done.” We don’t want to put too much of a time frame on it because we don’t really know ourselves. Perhaps some time during the summer? But don’t take that as gospel!

PSAB: While on topic of your new album, will there is a b-side release after the initial release? Like when you released Other Slices after The Man With No Face. Or do you plan on releasing all tracks with the initial release?

STC: Probably not. Other Slices was probably just a one-time kinda deal. It was a fun album to make but for all of us it feels a bit hollow, since it’s literally just a collection of songs without anything that fundamentally binds them all together on a conceptual level. 

That idea of each album being a self-contained, singular, unified vision is something that has always been pretty strong for us but it’s been more important to us than ever. Other Slices doesn’t fit that mold at all, and like I said, it was fun, but we probably won’t be doing anything like it any time soon. Plus it was just a really, really good opportunity to make an awful bakery related pun in an album title… You only get one of those before people start thinking you’re a joke band. 

But yeah, we do have a few leftover tracks from the last year or two, but if they were to be used for anything they’d need a fair bit of re-working and they’d need to be relevant to whatever project we were trying to shoe horn them into. We have a few vague ideas for future releases and we have a couple of albums coming from side-projects (a post-black metal behemoth by the name of Fissures and an album of soundscape/doom metal by my solo project Musica Masonica) in the coming months too, so we’re getting all of those out of the way before putting any serious thought into future releases.

PSAB: Just recently you were signed to Subliminal Groove Records. Why did you choose to sign with that label over other labels? Also, what are your favorite bands on the SGR roster?  

STC: Well we’ve been keeping an eye SG since its early days and it’s really started flourishing as of late. We’re good friends with the guy’s from Ovid’s Withering and Lorelei but after the shit show that was Myriad Records we wanted to make absolutely sure that SG was the kind of label that wasn’t all just big talk. Perhaps it’s just conjecture but you hear all kinds of horror stories about label dudes promising you the earth and then never actually delivering on any of it. Myriad was totally one of those labels, but SG has had a totally different vibe from the offset. 

There’s also a really strong communal, family type of vibe with SG and that’s what swung it for us I think. Aside from that, SG just totally has its shit together on every level and that’s become massively apparent after spending just a few days on the roster, they’re a well oiled promotional behemoth for this kind of music and the amount of eyes we’ve had on the signing announcement alone is just insane. I mean, this is just the beginning of our experience with SG and we’ve got nothing but good feelings about the partnership, so we’re stoked as fuck.  As for favourites? Probably Ovdi, Lorelei and Nemertines.  

PSAB: Do you have anything to say to the readers of the site, and the fans of Slice The Cake?  

STC: Yeah, like I was saying earlier, it’s down to word of mouth and sites like this that our music gets heard as much as it does, and the fans that have supported us with such passion and fervour. When we started doing this we never would’ve dreamed that it’d catch on in any meaningful way, since we’re just some dudes that made some art out of going quietly insane in our bedrooms at 4am, but we just hit 25k likes on our Facebook page and we’re working on our 3rd full length album. Considering we’re “that cake band,” this never ceases to totally blow our minds and we have the utmost gratitude for it all!

Sean Hall releases new album Chariots of Fire

One-man band, Sean Hall, released a new album recently titled Chariots of Fire. Unlike his previous albums, this album has vocals that are done by Matt Turkington. It isn't really a two-man band, it is just Sean Hall's instrumentals used with Matt Turkington's vocals. Either way, if you're into progressive metal, or djent, definitely give this album a listen and purchase it on Sean Hall's Bandcamp!

Matt Marshall - The Freakshow [REVIEW]

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Genre(s): Instrumental/Heavy Metal/Metalcore/Progressive

Matt Marshall's latest single, "The Freakshow" combines elements of heavy metal, metalcore, and progressive metal. There are also probably some other sub-genres that could be thrown in, but I don't want to drag out that list. This song is pretty good, and is fun to listen to. The pace of the song is upbeat, not really fast nor slow. The mix of genres change the pace quite a bit through each portion of the song. 

 

The song varies from heavy metal sounding riffs, melodic metal solos/riffs, some breakdowns here and there, and then there is some progressive metal heard in other parts of the song as well. Basically, this song is all over the place with different sounds, and the way Matt Marshall plays the guitar is great. So, I recommend this song to anyone who is into instrumental metal, or instrumental music in general. 

Score: 4.5/5

Interview with Terraform!

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Genre(s): Groove/Progressive/Djent

PSAB: Where does the band name "Terraform" come from exactly? Also, why did you choose that name for your band?

TF: Terraform by definition is to transform (a planet) so as to resemble the earth so that it can support human life. Terraform grew from the ideas built from our current guitar players Nick Kelly and Josh Solvedt which started to form around a year ago. At that time when the first instrumental demos were recorded, many different individuals tried out, didn't fit well, or went in and out of showing interest in committing to the project. Basically, Terraform was chosen because the meaning translated to finding a solidified lineup. 

 

By July of 2013 the name stuck with Nick, Josh, and recruited drummer Mike Schuler; a band mate with Nick in their hardcore project The Opportunist from Iowa. Finally in August of 2013, Terraform found it's final two pieces. Wisconsin metal band Our Judgment had recently decided to call it quits after returning from tour with Facedown Records artist War of Ages, leaving former members without a determined project. Demos were sent, hangouts were scheduled, and the Terraform brand finally took hold and went live in November of 2013 with vocalist Jake Olson and bassist Chris Galetka.

PSAB: You recently released a single called "Ascending Steps" in December, 2013. How was the feedback for that single?

TF: We were very impressed with the feedback for Ascending Steps. It djents/The Djent-lemens Club exclusively premiered our lyric video created by Swenson Visuals to their some 50k followers, which propelled us to over 1k fans and 4k views in under two weeks. We think Julian Rodriguez (Elitist/Parallel Focus Studios) did a great job and it has been a great experience working with him. We also want to mention our friend/engineer Ben Monroe, he was the building block to our recording process.

PSAB: On that note, when can we expect a new single or new music in general from you?

TF: Our debut EP Dream|Construct is already recorded and is set to release March 10th 2014, information we haven't released until this interview ;). There are a ton of surprises on this EP; dimension in song composition being one, the rest of the album is not going to sound exactly like Ascending Steps. We're testing the waters for our full length, finding our groove if you will. One of our favorite things about this band is that every member is determined, and new music will never be far away.

PSAB: You plan on going on tour in the summer. Do you have any bands in mind you want to tour with, or will the tour(s) be done solo?

TF: Yes, tour this summer! We're hoping we can generate enough hype to show our fans this isn't just a studio band and have a successful first tour as Terraform. WE WANT TO PLAY SHOWS AND MEET YOU. We do want to bring someone on this tour with us, and have a few in mind. However, we would love to hear suggestions. The tour is from June 6th-21st throughout the midwest area, dates of which are already being booked. If you'd like to hop on a show or book the tour shoot us an email at terraformUS@gmail.com

PSAB: What bands have played the most influence on you music?

TF: Our biggest influences are the bands out on the road right now. It's what we love and feel we are meant to do. Some musical influences include Architects, Northlane, Substructure, Villians, Modern Day Babylon, Volumes, Tesseract, Periphery, and Adaliah. Other influences include delicious foods, fine wines, natural scenery, quilting, and pets of all shapes and sizes.

PSAB: Do you have any shout outs to give to your fans and the readers?

TF: Shout out to everyone who has supported us so far and made this first Single/EP possible. Shout out to A Brand New Tattoo, Horizon Clothing, and After Eleven Apparel. We also want to thank anyone that read this interview in it's entirety, thank you for taking time to learn about Terraform!

All questions answered by Chris, the bassist of the band.

Wherever They Fall - Reflections [REVIEW]

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Listen / Name Your Price (via Bandcamp)
Genre(s): Deathcore/Metalcore/Progressive

Wherever They Fall's 2013 EP release Reflections is a mix of different genres; deathcore, progressive metal, symphonic metal, metalcore, etc. The mix of the genres and the way they're used in this album is awesome, and they only add to it. It has five tracks and about 25 minutes worth of listening materials.

The first track is "Ananias" and from the start, you can hear symphonic and progressive sounds. The song is entirely instrumental. In the first minute, symphonic and progressive guitar can only to be heard. Midway in, the instrumentals change to more chaotic sound with some minor guitar chugging. That sound continues on until the end of the song.

The fourth song is "Lo And Behold" and it isn't an instrumental song. The instrumentals are guitar chugging and progressive in this song, not so much with the symphonic elements that the introduction had. The pace is pretty upbeat and fast going. The vocals are screams from majority of the song, with the exception of some clean singing that can be heard midway in the song. Near the end of the song, it becomes a bit heavier with low screams and more guitar chugging.

Reflections is a solid EP with a mix of different musical elements; symphonic, progressive, chaotic, metalcore, deathcore, etc. There is a little bit of something for everyone, which I do like a lot. So, if you're into any one of those genres listed previously, I'd suggest you check out Reflections! It is name your price on their Bandcamp page!

Score: 3.5/5

Nexilva releases teaser to upcoming 2014 album!

Seriously can't fucking wait for this album. Knowing Nexilva, it's going to be massive.