Chain Collector

Alright kids, it's Chain Collector today - CRANK IT!

Flashback - Sister Machine Gun

Where do the weeks go?  FLASHBACK!  By being the right guy in the right contract at the right time, Trent Reznor got the success; through a series of betrayals, Chris Randall got the shaft.  For my money, give me Sister Machine Gun every day of the week and twice on Sunday.  But good news, kids: today's video not only celebrates SMG's frankly-more-consistent-than-NIN catalogue, but also its impending return - that's right: look for a new Sister Machine Gun album this spring (and hopefully some shows - these guys leave it all on the stage.)  To tide you over, it's "Wired" - CRANK IT!

UPDATE:  The "Future Unformed" EP is out now - buy it!

Carnal Forge

Holy crap, kids - it's Carnal Forge - CRANK IT!

Parkway Drive

Alright kids, here's your metalcore fix: all the way from Australia, it's eco-metallers (yeh, that's a thing - see Gojira) Parkway Drive - CRANK IT!

Comments update

Some experimentation in person with some of my readers has revealed that you need to be signed into your Google/Gmail account to be able to leave comments on the blog posts (which now seems really obvious - don't I feel like an idiot.) So if you've tried to leave comments and weren't able to, please give that a try. I want to hear from you; it can only become your blog if you make yourself heard.

Avatar

Holy crap, kids - it's Avatar today.  Avatar is a bundle of contradictions; I don't understand Avatar, and I don't care.  The name seems to have no relation to the band's image or lyric content, but it looks and sounds cool (and admittedly, is a sort of nebulous buzzword of late); the guys look like they use Marilyn Manson's makeup artist and tailor, but their sound is often (but kindof only half the time) squarely under melodic death metal; and while they're based in Gothenburg, Sweden, not only do they not sound like a Gothenburg band (think In Flames), but listening to them is like listening to some guys who love classic American metal artists and can't decide which one to sound like.  Somehow, they make all of this REALLY WORK.  Enough trying to put into words what must be experienced.  Geez, I'm a little giddy - I've been diggin' on this band for a couple of weeks, and I don't know what to play for you first; wait, no, it turns out I DO know what to play first: it's "Let It Burn" - CRANK IT!