Musical Enlightenment

I don't think I'm inside my own mind today...

Now I didn't exactly want to start this off on the wrong foot. But I want to make it clear first off this isn't going to be a blog where I push my interests on to the world hoping for heinous infamy. Although I'm certainly not going to hesitate to do that either, this is just a place for me to get things off of my chest.

That being said, today's blog is going to be about music. Many of us proclaim to be music lovers and I intend to enlighten some of you today, there's so much good music out there that we shouldn't have to have Rihanna and Nickelback shoved down our throats. I'm going to go over a handful of groups who make music that deserves to be listened to.(And yeah, I just happen to have a huge personal bias towards these groups, so what?)

The Mars Volta: labeled a 'prog-rock' group. They incorporate many elements of Latin music and jazz into their rock using a small army of musicians, the band has 9 members. Anchored by the wailing vocals of Cedric Bixler-Zavala and the masterful guitar work by guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez. This band has laid down an impressive groundwork of music over their five albums. The latter of which, titled "The Bedlam In Goliath", was just released this past January and is easily one of their strongest albums. I will admit their sound may not be the apple of everyones ears but if you're looking for something different this band might just be what you're looking for.

Check Out: Concertina, Roulette Dares(The Haunt Of), Cygnus....Vismund Cygnus, Viscera Eyes, Goliath, Ilyena

Protest The Hero: A young Metal group out of Whitby, Ontario, Canada. Their sound is uncompromisingly aggressive and their musical maturity shows beyond their years. They make music primarily for themselves but they are also a band driven to create music that they enjoy, and I can respect that. Why make music if you're not enjoying it right? Their first album, Kezia, was a concept album that gathered them critical acclaim. Their music blends a brute force sound with a technically complex sound structure. Their second album, Fortress, continued to further their name. This album saw them step away from the conceptual heavy center of Kezia and move toward a more lucid general tone for Fortress. Fortress continues their sound as a unstoppable force and they take their music in imaginative new directions. I cannot wait to see what their third album holds in store.

Check Out: Heretics and Killers, Bury The Hatchet, Blindfolds Aside, Sequoia Throne, Palms Read, Limb From Limb, Goddess Bound

Black Tide: A Heavy-Metal band hailing out of Miami. Every member of this four piece band is younger than twenty years old. Their lead guitarist, vocalist and songwriter, Gabriel Garcia, is only the brisk age of Fifteen years old, forming the band when he was only ten! Their sound has influences from late 80's rock, having elements of the 80's metal we like to remember (I'm talking to you, Metallica) as well as encompassing the feel of that hair-metal sound we love to sing along to. Their sound is refreshing and its surprising that such a young band has produced such an awesome first album. There is a band named Airborne that is getting a lot of attention and I think they suck. Black Tide is where it's at and if you're looking for a bit of nostalgia, check out their first album "Light From Above" Just released this past March its a winner!

Check Out: Shockwave, Warriors of Time, Enterprise, Hit The Lights

Alpha Galates: Formerly called "The Hollow", this group is a Canadian Progressive Metal band that. When I listen to their first album "Stimulus for A Reason" released this past February, it reminds me of the best of Megadeth and the imaginative nature of Tool all rolled up into one. Their songs run as short as three minutes and as long as ten minutes for some. If these guys opened for either of those two bands I just compared them to they would be absolutely huge. Hugely hugely recommended to anyone who is a fan of either or both of those bands, or bands like them. An interesting fact about this band is that all of their members, with the exception of the bassist, sing vocals.

Check out: The Darkest Eyes, Subliminal, Entropy & Chaos

I have covered a lot of rock so I also wanted to give props to an MC who drops some wicked beats.

MC Frontalot: Self-proclaimed as "the worlds 579th greatest rapper". Part of the 'nerdcore' genre of rap. He performs yearly at the annual Penny Arcade Expo. He raps a bout a lot of things, the aforementioned Penny Arcade has labeled him 'their official rapper'. The sings about a large foray of topics from things like weed, homosexuals, genius babies, goth girls and secrets from the future. If you enjoy a bit of lyrical devastation as I do on occasion but you're not a fan of the gangster heavy rap scene then maybe Front is your man, especially recommended if you're into anything geeky or at all funny in any way.

Check Out: Mountain Kind, Secrets From The Future, I Heart Fags, Pron Song

Until next time, have a good one guys.