by rudyards | March 16th, 2013
Suplecs (New Orleans,LA)
https://www.facebook.com/pages/SUPLECS/118957221474238
As all real New Orleans chef’s know, the secret to Creole cooking lies in the recipe. The same can be said of New Orleans Rock and Roll. It’s all about the ratio’s and proportions, the painstaking methods and of course the down home ingredients. Take one part Metal, two parts Heavy Rock, a dash of Cayenne and then slow cook it all in the sights and sounds of New Orleans. Do it right and maybe, just maybe, you get something like Suplecs.
Formed in the Big Easy back in 1996, Suplecs has been grinding out heavy on the heavy Rawk New Orleans style for crowds of all shapes and sizes. Born and bred in the Cresent City Danny Nick and Durel Yates had been fixtures on the local scene for years before hooking up with Andrew Preen to complete the line up which proved to be a magical combination. The blend of the New Orleans sounds with their own unique style of metal caught the attention of renowned artist, Frank Kozik, whose Man’s Ruin Records released both the debut album (“Wrestlin’ with My Lady Friend”) as well as 2001′s “Sad Songs… Better Days” before imploding. Undeterred by the loss of their label Durel and Co. released a third album “ Powtin’ on the Outside, Pawty on the Inside” with Nocturnal Records. All seemed well again until nature intervened. Hurricane Katrina damn near wiped the band off the map but it seems that it’ll take more than catastrophic property loss to deter the men of Suplecs.
It took five long years to climb out of the hole that hurricane left but it left a stronger band in it’s wake. No longer the simple good old boys that like to make a stellar racket the men of Suplecs finally have recorded an album befit their pedigree. The resulting“Mad Oak Redoux” is a mature work from a band that’s learned when to pull it’s punches. Ten tracks of steady-as-she-goes rock that can swing and groove just as much as it can blow a house down. Look for a tour in Spring 2011 with Dixie Witch. Like étouffée, beignets and Po boy’s, Suplecs is one New Orleans delicacy that simply must be experienced to be fuller appreciated.
Gates of Slumber (Indianapolis,IN)
https://www.facebook.com/thegatesofslumber
“huge riffs, demonic growls and sword-sharp solos…these battle-ready warriors hail from the
hellish outlands” – SPIN
“Crom, I have never prayed to you before. I have no tongue for it. No one, not even you, will remember if we were good men or bad. Why we fought, or why we died. All that matters is that two stood against many. That’s what’s important! Valor pleases you, Crom… so grant me one request. Grant me revenge! And if you do not listen, then to HELL with you! ”
– Conan the Barbarian
Bruising bashers THE GATES OF SLUMBER deftly defy death on their latest volcanic eruption, Hymns of Blood & Thunder. Remember that time when Conan strapped your head to the Anvil of Crom, and then those three bearded, burley bastards bludgeoned it to a bloody pulp using a giant hammer forged of Wrought-Iommi? Well, it’s that time again as Indianapolis heaviest sons return with their latest full length epic!
THE GATES OF SLUMBER encapsulates the metal experience for true believers. The Indianapolis doom metal trio formed in the late 1990’s with the goal of creating a band whose sound delivered an updated take on the member’s long list of favorite heavy metal greats. Weaned on Black Sabbath, St. Vitus, the melodic might of Iron Maiden and a host of classic bands from Thin Lizzy to Rainbow to Mercyful Fate, THE GATES OF SLUMBER draw deep from heavy metal’s most powerful blood and deliver doom in its purest form.
The band’s hotly anticipated new album, Hymns of Blood & Thunder drops on the heels of the brightest and busiest year in the respected power trio’s history; one that saw THE GATES OF SLUMBER pack clubs during its first U.S. headlining tour and land atop many year-end media polls with Conqueror, an album that was hailed as “a breath of fresh air within the doom / true metal underground.” The record placed at the #5 position in Decibel’s “Top 40 Albums of 2008″ and made Village Voice Media’s “Top 10 Metal Albums of 2008″, joining an impressive list of some of the genre’s finest including AC/DC, Judas Priest and Metallica.
Now signed to the highly respected Rise Above Records – the London based independent record label owned by Lee Dorrian (vocalist of the band Cathedral and original lead singer of Napalm Death) – THE GATES OF SLUMBER unleashes its holy grail; the formidable Hymns of Blood & Thunder. A mighty document of both powerful songwriting and instrumental skull-crushing, the album is heavy and chillingly bleak; in an almost unrelenting way that hadn’t been heard since Judas Priest’s heyday (Sad Wings of Destiny, Sin After Sin, etc.). Displaying a newfound focus and direction and demonstrating a very compelling emotional range, THE GATES OF SLUMBER have upped its levels of both technique and melody, resulting in an album that is at once frighteningly dark in its effect, tight in its grooves and unrivaled in the sheer power of its jackhammer guitar riffs, all of which stamp the record an instant classic!
“Just prior to the band’s 2008 U.S. headlining tour, I started working on songs for the new record with the goal in mind that it had to be a step forward for us compositionally as well as production wise,” THE GATES OF SLUMBER front man / guitarist Karl Simon remarks. “I knew that I personally wanted to work on more integrated and composed solos to allow for different sides of me to come out - sides that are more influenced by Judas Priest and The Scorpions, rather than the flurries of hammer-ons that I owe to Tony Iommi and Wino. The songs are more aggressive, more riff-y this time, but they also retain the musical elements that we’ve explored over the last couple of records. Lyrically it’s a continuation of our obsession with war, and death and the fantasy worlds where those things are all so common and cool.”
Hymns of Blood & Thunder is a sinister, muscular collection that ties the disparate strands of the band’s style together while jacking the adrenaline rush up to previously undreamed-of levels. The whole band is at the absolute peak of its powers in terms of technical execution and the result is a hard, driving sound that is harder, faster and louder. Produced and recorded in full analog at Chicago’s Volume Studios and produced by Sanford Parker (Nachtmystium, Lair Of The Minotaur, Pelican), the album’s crushing riffs brim with melody and solos “wail” as the strong vocals of front man Karl Simon and a storming rhythm section hammer home songs such as “Chaos Calling”, “Beneath the Eyes of Mars”, “Iron Hammer” and the galloping “Death Dealer”.
From the moment the album’s battering-ram sound kicks in all the way through to its ominous title track closer, the group’s fourth full length rocks with a classic heavy-metal vengeance and a hooky, driving momentum that’s usually absent in metal’s doomy end. Like it or not, heavy metal is here, there and everywhere and THE GATES OF SLUMBER scores a head-banger’s bull’s-eye with Hymns of Blood & Thunder.
THE GATES OF SLUMBER has clearly become a new American voice for underground metal, and has done so with maximum conviction. With plans for serious worldwide touring on behalf of Hymns of Blood & Thunder, THE GATES OF SLUMBER is out to show why it is regarded as one of the most talked about new true doom / heavy metal bands today.
Sanctuus Bellum (Houston, TX)
https://www.facebook.com/sanctusbellumofficial
This cd is spectacular… This album is one that grows on you slowly. No, it sneaks up on you, and infects your mind. It buries itself deep into your brain tissue, and once there, you have to keep playing the damn cd over and over again to re-nourish your brain cells; to keep them from drying up and going crazy. And because this cd is a grower on the listener, this means you won’t get sick of it like many other albums that have much more basic songs. And, whereas the band’s first 2010 demo, “Return to Dust” was much more restrained, and had a more distinct and immediate appeal; due to its simpler song structures, very catchy hooks and typical Sabbath clichés. “The Shining Path” was used more as a tool, to both demonstrate the band’s unlimited creative potential and to explore the many ideas or concepts that can be applied to a song to make for an amazing listening experience for the avid Heavy Metal fan. This album just charges forward in a much different and mature direction for the band, leaving more room for their immanent future growth. And it completely overshadows that first release with a much darker vibe and an overall, heavier complex approach. I literally can’t get enough of the sick doom that’s been emblazoned onto this crushingly sinister disc. - Reaper of Souls
H.R.A. (Houston, TX)
https://www.facebook.com/pages/HRA/138553769537193?ref=ts
H.R.A. bring me back to the early to mid 80s. They play some mean ass hardcore/punk/metal. Not the modern hardcore or metalcore or all that stuff. I’m talking the original hardcore that Circle Jerks and early Suicidal Tendencies played. This stuff is fast paced and fucking ripping. Total aggression and conviction displayed with the songs. Back then and even through the late 80s, we had quite a few killer bands here in California that played this style all over Los Angeles and Orange County before the death metal boom hit and took over. This is when D.R.I. started playing shows with Slayer and The Cro Mags were playing shows with Destruction. And places like The Country Club, Fenders, The Olympic and more would be battle grounds for punks/metal heads and other maniacs to fuck each other up. H.R.A. play that relentless type of hardcore/thrash that reminds me of early D.R.I., early Excel, Wehrmacht, Cryptic Slaughter and early Corrosion Of Conformity. The music is fucking violent and will punch you in the face hard, but it is all great fun in the end. There are a few bands now popping up these days that play this style, but HRA are one of the best ones that I have heard. Along with the aggressive style, these guys can play and write killer songs. The music is awesome with fast rippers, mid paced skank beats, cool old school punk “breakdowns”(when that term wasn’t lame), gang sing along choruses, catchy riffs and great musicianship. - Metal Hit.com
