The Unsigned Underground: January 2015
Each month we bring you a handful of unsigned bands from across the globe that deserve your attention. They run the gamut from death, black, thrash, power and progressive metal all the way to hardcore and hard rock. Born from the underground, the metal community is only as strong as its DIY scene. Support these and other unsigned bands.
Interested in having your unsigned metal band featured in this column?
Email your promo material to heavymetal@aboutguide.com with the subject line Unsigned Underground. You must send a link to your recording and a bio. We will personally check out all submissions, but only the month's best will be featured here.
Genre: Speed/Black Metal
It’s right there on The Manifestation of Evil’s cover: A Midnight logo. James McBain – the one-man demolition crew behind Aberdeen, Scotland based throwback black metal project Hellripper – knows the inspiration’s there and refuses to deny it. You know in a job interview when you’re asked if you have prior criminal charges and you lie? This dude would go full-tilt boogie with his rap sheet.
Hellripper knock you out with four tracks of fiery riffs and bullet-belted sky-punching, angel-kicking speed metal that feels like a punked-up, Venom-laced Hellhammer record dripping with well whiskey and lo-fi snarls. Plainly put: your party’s not a party if this bad boy isn’t playing.
Hellripper on Bandcamp
Hellripper on Facebook
Genre: Hard Rock/Punk
Following the proud American Midwest tradition of MC5, Magnasaur play grimy, foul-mouthed garage rock that rubs shoulders with pre-mainstream grunge. On this eponymous album, these troublemakers from Indiana strut, howl, and crash between rock subgenres with abandon.
Magnasaur are probably too punk for what punk means in the 21st century, but they give us a reminder of punk rock’s old audacity with a cover of Misfits deep cut “Spinal Remains.” Along the way, “Champagne Bullets” also touches on the stoner groove I expected when the band name conjured images of mighty dinosaurs. If you’re looking for a band cooler than the new Jurassic World trailer, this is your jam.
Magnasaur on Bandcamp
Magnasuar on Facebook
Genre: Hardcore/Crust
“The End of War” is a seventy-five second business proposal from No Fealty, the Copenhagen-born crust/hardcore outfit. Currently seeking a label to help co-release their new 10” vinyl, the song is their pitch, and it’s a winner: A bombastic assault of crust, grind, hardcore, and venomous feedback that leaves you feeling like you survived a catastrophe against all odds.
Based on this new sample and the furious energy of their 2013 release In the Shadow of the Monolith – which landed at #27 on my personal year-end list of top metal albums – look for more punishing sounds in their future. Don’t be afraid, be very afraid.
No Fealty on Bandcamp
No Fealty on Facebook
Genre: Death Metal
By the end of album opener “Hävinneet,” Finnish ear-bruisers Plaguebreather already inject their contagious four-song self-titled EP with Stockholm-flavored death, D-beat, hardcore, and sneaky melodicism. If you like metal of the comfortably-classified cookie-cutter variety, the refreshing unpredictability displayed here will decidedly frustrate you.
“Blood Crown” builds with subtle tone shifts while “Torment” snarls into crossover thrash territory, both propelled by drummer Ville Raittila’s deft balance of technicality and power. It’s an impressively polished debut, and the band could go one of a million directions from this promising launching point. Just be safe and wear a plague mask if you’re gonna headbang in the front row.
Plaguebreather on Bandcamp
Plaguebreather on Facebook
Genre: Stoner Metal
My Spanish is embarrassingly poor, but my exhaustive research – see: Google Translate – informs me that Viajando’s band name means to travel, journey, or voyage. On their Counting Days EP, these rockers from Charlotte, NC guide us on an expedition through lush forests of fuzzy riffs and jagged mountains of hooks.
There’s something for every listener with a fondness for stoner rock and metal here, from shades of The Atomic Bitchwax to the poppy-field sludge of Torche with the bite and bounce of Baroness. If you see a trailblazing explorer on the cover artwork instead of a lumbersexual hipster, this release is for you.
Viajando on Bandcamp
Viajando on Facebook
Interested in having your unsigned metal band featured in this column?
Email your promo material to heavymetal@aboutguide.com with the subject line Unsigned Underground. You must send a link to your recording and a bio. We will personally check out all submissions, but only the month's best will be featured here.
Hellripper – 'The Manifestation of Evil'
Genre: Speed/Black Metal
It’s right there on The Manifestation of Evil’s cover: A Midnight logo. James McBain – the one-man demolition crew behind Aberdeen, Scotland based throwback black metal project Hellripper – knows the inspiration’s there and refuses to deny it. You know in a job interview when you’re asked if you have prior criminal charges and you lie? This dude would go full-tilt boogie with his rap sheet.
Hellripper knock you out with four tracks of fiery riffs and bullet-belted sky-punching, angel-kicking speed metal that feels like a punked-up, Venom-laced Hellhammer record dripping with well whiskey and lo-fi snarls. Plainly put: your party’s not a party if this bad boy isn’t playing.
Hellripper on Bandcamp
Hellripper on Facebook
Magnasaur– 'Magnasaur'
Genre: Hard Rock/Punk
Following the proud American Midwest tradition of MC5, Magnasaur play grimy, foul-mouthed garage rock that rubs shoulders with pre-mainstream grunge. On this eponymous album, these troublemakers from Indiana strut, howl, and crash between rock subgenres with abandon.
Magnasaur are probably too punk for what punk means in the 21st century, but they give us a reminder of punk rock’s old audacity with a cover of Misfits deep cut “Spinal Remains.” Along the way, “Champagne Bullets” also touches on the stoner groove I expected when the band name conjured images of mighty dinosaurs. If you’re looking for a band cooler than the new Jurassic World trailer, this is your jam.
Magnasaur on Bandcamp
Magnasuar on Facebook
No Fealty – 'The End of War'
Genre: Hardcore/Crust
“The End of War” is a seventy-five second business proposal from No Fealty, the Copenhagen-born crust/hardcore outfit. Currently seeking a label to help co-release their new 10” vinyl, the song is their pitch, and it’s a winner: A bombastic assault of crust, grind, hardcore, and venomous feedback that leaves you feeling like you survived a catastrophe against all odds.
Based on this new sample and the furious energy of their 2013 release In the Shadow of the Monolith – which landed at #27 on my personal year-end list of top metal albums – look for more punishing sounds in their future. Don’t be afraid, be very afraid.
No Fealty on Bandcamp
No Fealty on Facebook
Plaguebreather – 'Plaguebreather'
Genre: Death Metal
By the end of album opener “Hävinneet,” Finnish ear-bruisers Plaguebreather already inject their contagious four-song self-titled EP with Stockholm-flavored death, D-beat, hardcore, and sneaky melodicism. If you like metal of the comfortably-classified cookie-cutter variety, the refreshing unpredictability displayed here will decidedly frustrate you.
“Blood Crown” builds with subtle tone shifts while “Torment” snarls into crossover thrash territory, both propelled by drummer Ville Raittila’s deft balance of technicality and power. It’s an impressively polished debut, and the band could go one of a million directions from this promising launching point. Just be safe and wear a plague mask if you’re gonna headbang in the front row.
Plaguebreather on Bandcamp
Plaguebreather on Facebook
Viajando – 'Counting Days'
Genre: Stoner Metal
My Spanish is embarrassingly poor, but my exhaustive research – see: Google Translate – informs me that Viajando’s band name means to travel, journey, or voyage. On their Counting Days EP, these rockers from Charlotte, NC guide us on an expedition through lush forests of fuzzy riffs and jagged mountains of hooks.
There’s something for every listener with a fondness for stoner rock and metal here, from shades of The Atomic Bitchwax to the poppy-field sludge of Torche with the bite and bounce of Baroness. If you see a trailblazing explorer on the cover artwork instead of a lumbersexual hipster, this release is for you.
Viajando on Bandcamp
Viajando on Facebook
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