Happy Easter! Or Happy 420, if that is your thing. Whether you are listening to this while getting high on sugar or some other substance (or both), we have four new albums this week that you should find (overall) more enjoyable than last week’s selections. We did! For good measure, we have a live review of a tour that you probably should have gone too. If you missed it, you are SOL now, but I am sure you’ll be able to see the bands again soon.
Reviews: Ancient Ascendant – Echoes and Cinder (Candlelight); The Drip – A Presentation of Gruesome Poetics (Relapse); Shores of Null – Quiescence (Candlelight); Skinfather – None Will Mourn (Streetcleaner)
Live Review: “The Decibel Magazine Tour 2014” feat. Carcass, The Black Dahlia Murder, Gorguts, Noisem @ Best Buy Theater, New York, NY on April 11, 2014
Shores of Null – Quiescence
The Drip – A Presentation of Gruesome Poetics
Ancient Ascendant – Echoes And Cinder
Skinfather – None Will Mourn
The Sideshow Podcast 
During the Carcass show, I am assuming that Jeff Walker was contractually obligated to endorse Decibel and give them free advertising as part of his stage banter. It wouldn’t be the Decibel tour if Decibel wasn’t sponsoring it.
Were you referring to Nick when you wrote: “we have a live review of a tour that you probably should have gone to”? Because I don’t think he went.
I’m starting to think that my enjoyment of a concert is directly proportional to the number of beers I have before and/or at the show. I had 4 beers for this week’s Sabaton/Iced Earth show and only 2 beers for last week’s Carcass/BDM/Gorguts show and I think I enjoyed Sabaton/Iced Earth twice as much. I look forward to a review of Iced Earth/Sabaton in next week’s episode.
While it was a month ago for you, it was only this week that I was able to buy Shadowed by Vultures by Polar. This album is pretty awesome. The best I can describe it is progressive hardcore, which certainly isn’t a mix of genres that I’ve ever heard before. The songs that mix things up from being just straight hardcore are what makes this album special. Where did you guys find this album? I haven’t seen it get a lot of coverage in the blogs.
I don’t know if he was referring to me me specifically, or to anyone that may not have gone in general. …We’ll have to wait for him to chime in on that one.
Interesting note on beer:enjoyment for concert experiences. For me it hinges primarily on sound, followed super close by how tight the audience is packed in. If I have room to breathe without some shirtless sweaty dude next to me – I’m probably going to have a much better time. …..though, I suppose if I had a good buzz going, maybe I wouldn’t care as much…..
I totally agree with you on Polar. I keep going back to that album. We got notification of that one ahead of its release through Prosthetic. They are did the release for it domestically and we get advance notice and access to most/all of their catalog.
I highly doubt Walker was obligated in any way to should out Decibel, especially promoting subscriptions . On the Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival, you don’t hear every band telling you to go by a Rockstar Energy Drink. When Metalsucks and Metal Insider sponsor tours, you don’t hear those bands tell you to go visit the blogs. I think he was just being silly and also taking a shot at the EIC, since Walker joked about how desperate he was to get subscriptions.
And yeah, I was referring to the listeners, If I wanted to call Nick out on something, I would be far less subtle.
I think my enjoyment is inversely proportional to beers consumed. I had zero alcohol at the Carcass show and I enjoyed it much more than the Iced Earth show, where i also had 4 beers. Maybe I needed more just to be drunk, but being in that in-between buzz just kinda fogged me up and I couldn’t get into it as much. Some of that may have been the music itself, but I’ll discuss that more next week. Also, to Nick’s point…I am the same way. Sound needs to be good and I don’t mind a crowd, but I like to be able to have some space if I want it, unlike, say, at a sold out Irving Plaza show.
I am with you both on Polar, but I still am not sure I would use the word “progressive” to describe it. I’ll have to spin it again later and see, but I just remember it being catchy without losing it’s heaviness.
Regarding Polar being “progressive”, I suppose I mean the term in the sense that they take hardcore to places it hasn’t gone before. They “progress” hardcore beyond what it typically is. Female vocals and acoustic interludes expand the boundaries of what is otherwise a hardcore album.