HOMICIDE BLACK – HOMICIDE BLACK 2012

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Homicide Black’s debut CD arrived with a business card slipped under the plastic shrink wrap. Nothing unusual about that, I thought. Then I looked a little closer. Underneath band name there’s a statement, ‘Salvation for an ailing metal world.’ Really? That’s a bold statement from this Pittsburgh power trio.

One clue to Homicide Black’s influences and sound comes from the one cover song on the album, Black Sabbath’s Fairies Were Boots. I always liked the song and the band does a decent job with it. This debut follows in that vein of traditional heavy metal, sometimes with touch of doom metal.

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Nigel Dupree – Up to No Good 2012

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NIGEL DUPREE – son of JACKYL frontman Jesse James Dupree – will release his new album, Up To No Good.

In live news, catch The Nigel Dupree Band featuring Nigel on vocals and guitar, Alex Foretich on bass, David Buchanan on guitar, and Sebastian Anderson on drums at the following shows:

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Haley Bowery & the Manimals – Born Strange 2012

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Rising Glam-Punk Rock band Haley Bowery and The Manimals announced they will release their debut LP Born Strange on June 19th, 2012. Born Strange is a high-energy anthemic 10-track album, which is produced/engineered by Andrew Krivonos, who has worked with JoJo Pellegrino, Kaci Battaglia, and Wu Tang. The songs were recorded at The Brewery Recording Studio in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Earlier this year, the album received pledges – effectively donations- from more than 45 backers via a Kickstarter campaign to allow the band to promote and distribute the debut album.

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Filthy Angels – L.A.F.A. 2012

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Hailing from the North of Ireland Filthy Angels sound like they’ve been brought up on a heavy diet of heads down rock ‘n’ roll, drawing their influences from a plethora of ’80s rockers.  There is definitely a hint of The Wildhearts (‘Destroy’ era), some no nonsense hard rocking Almighty style here and there, as well as a smidgen of The Dogs D’amour to name but three influences heard on this here pledged album.

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Synful Ira – Between Hope & Fear 2012

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Synful Ira was born in April 2007 and features Fabio Balducci (Ancient Bards) on guitar and Marco Renzi (Absynth Aura) on drums. It all began as an Evanescence’s and Nightwish’s tribute band.

“Between Hope and Fear” was inspired by a true story. It is a mix of very different sounds: melodic parts with an extensive use of piano and acoustic guitar, symphonic parts with orchestral arrangements and heavy parts with strong guitar arrangements intertwined with very modern and attractive electronic keyboard riffs, in order to follow as a great soundtrack the unfolding of history.

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Brothers in Arms Band – What’s Life For 2012

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BROTHERS in ARMS BAND ‘Whats Life For” is the third release from band . The album is Heavy hitting rock in roll with southern roots. It’s what BROTHERS in ARMS BAND fans come to love about the music. Staying true to Rock in Roll…

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thank you scientist – maps of non-existent places 2012

Now!WOOOW!

If high scores were given for album art alone, New Jersey’s Thank You Scientist would score big for their first full-length album, Maps of Non-Existent Places. I love sci-fi art from the classic period, especially when it’s packaged in a format of early stereo records. Yet, what lies within? Something I couldn’t have expected.

Here’s a band of seven fellows, adept in many genres and very talented, playing about twenty different instruments, including cello, saxophone, and trumpet, to create ambitious progressive rock. I say ambitious when other words are also required. The arrangements are thick with complexity, significant mood and time changes, and individual showcase performances. There so much going on in every song, it takes several spins to wrap the arrangements around your head.

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Bloodcargo – Muriel’s Dance 2012

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This quintet from Lillestrøm makes a clear and good debut album, “Muriel’s Dance” on Ovis Records. It is quite clear where the band puts the list, and should probably be something for everyone who likes a little sludge, metal and rock. The music itself is probably not as exciting for the seasoned, perhaps, but there are some things that pull up on the execution. Among others it has scope to Daniel (vocals), which makes up well for the album. The jump from a little more Phil Anselmo on the rock-sections, and second, maybe Dan Svanøe the softer, shows that it does well to have some experience in the field vocalist. I assume that this is something the singer (s) will continue to stay focused on, since it did well at several places during this album.

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Love Stricken Demise – Psychotrip 2012 (EP)

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From out of Dallas comes the hard rocking quartet that calls itself Love Stricken Demise, and they’ve just released their first EP, a four track disc called Pyschotrip. Although the band may be unfamiliar, some of the members may not be, particularly if you are a fan of American Idol.

Founded in mid-2011 by guitarist (and actor) Billy Blair and drummer Rico, Love Stricken Demise went looking for a voice and quickly convinced American Idol finalist Nikki McKibbin to front the band. They soon added bassist / guitarist (and celebrity hairdresser) Holly Wood and the lineup was complete. After a few live gigs they hit the studio to record a single, “Celebrity High,” and then their EP. Psychotrip was produced by Grammy award winner Sterling Winfield (Hellyeah, Damage Plan, Pantera), and the veteran’s touch is obvious – allowing LSD to deliver a very polished and consistent sound.

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REPLOSION – Resting Place Of Illusion 2012

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On the ground italicize flag of U.S. school progressive metal (Dream Theater, Symphony X) seems to have taken root in a marked … only in the last period on our virtual desk will be landed at least ten discs falling within this genre! Futile statistics aside, also present here Replosion, quintet led by brothers Galletto (guitar and drums respectively), and orbital areas of Mantua in Lombardy, Veneto and Emilia, may well be classified in the chaos of the kind mentioned above. What we believe can (and will increasingly) to this interesting group to emerge from the standard of the genre is a seemingly innate propensity to compose melodies well-aimed, that softened the difficulty and the high technical content of the songs and bring the proposal at levels more user friendly, allowing the band to avoid the trap of proposing mere exercises in style and technique. The latter is certainly present in all the work (the borrower guitarwork strongly the lesson of Romeo of Symphony X, blended with a drumming school Portnoy, amply demonstrate), but fortunately is not the only goal of the band, which seeks to move away from merely trying to put quotations in the overall sound a bit ‘of sound speed and strength drawn from the power metal (“Push Me Down”), and also some shots of elegant rock settantiano, which help to soften the

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