Band of the Week: The Birthday Massacre, Chthonic, Sonata Arctica and more!

Soooo, might possibly have not posted for months. For anyone who does actually pay attention to and like my blog, apologies. On the plus side, I have an absolutely enormous list of bands to write about, so hopefully we'll get a few more posts out of me before I start forgetting again. Here goes.

First up, Canadian electro-rockers The Birthday Massacre. Delightfully creepy at times with excellent female vocals. Yum. Check out the video for Blue below and then go check out some more of their awesomeness.

Next, we have Taiwanese black/symphonic metal band Chthonic. So, OK, I can't decipher the lyrics to most of their songs, but the music itself is pretty brilliant. Have a listen to Takao from latest album Takasago Army.

Then we'll have a bit of Sonata Arctica. Power/symphonic metal from Finland. Check out recent single I Have A Right below.

Some Brit stuff now - metalcore in the shape of Sheffield natives While She Sleeps. At least, I'm pretty sure they're from Sheffield. Should probably check that... Anyhoos, their debut album This Is The Six is being released at the beginning of August, so for now check out the title track and then go have a listen to some more of their lovely stuff.

And finally, the loveliness that is InMe. Alternative rock/metal. Well worth checking out. Think we'll have Single Of The Weak.

That'll do, yes? Check it out and pass it on.

Review: Madina Lake at the Waterfront, Norwich

Madina Lake at the Waterfront, Norwich, 17/11/11 (support from The Super Happy Fun Club & My Passion)

Genre: Alternative rock/electro-rock/post-hardcore

Madina Lake make a triumphant, but rather ignored return to the UK almost 18 months after their last tour here. Kicking off with fellow Chicago natives The Super Happy Fun Club, the venue's only really half full. Which is a shame, really, because while the vocalist doesn't have much in the way of stage presence, their set is slick, polished and bloody good fun. Considering most of the crowd seemed to have no idea who TSHC are, they all got into the swing of things. Definitely a band to watch.

Next up are English electro-rockers My Passion. Plenty of screaming fan(girls) for them. Their set is heavy on material from their second album, which I'm personally not so keen on, but the energy levels rocketed, the crowd got moving and the venue actually seemed to be filling more. That said, their main vocalist has the strangest ability to irritate me without even trying – he just seems so very full of himself. But hey, the music's good and the crowd enjoyed it.

Audience suitably primed, Madina Lake took to the stage with all the energy they had on that last tour. It's so nice to see that – bassist Matthew Leone was severely assaulted last year and it's wonderful to see he's made such a great recovery. The crowd obviously agreed with me – this really was a triumphant return. Kicking off with Imagineer from the latest album, the set was non stop, rattling through a range of songs from all three albums. So, OK, Nathan Leone's vocals weren't great, but the energy and the atmosphere more than made up for it. And this time I managed to not to get stuck on the edge of a mosh pit. Happy times for me. Closing with the awesome Pandora, they left a thoroughly satisfied crowd, confident that Madina are back with a vengeance and a dogged determination to just keep going. All that said, it's such a shame that the Waterfront still wasn't full.

Madina Lake setlist:

Imagineer, Adalia, Never Take Us Alive, Let's Get Out Of Here, House Of Cards, Now Or Never, One Last Kiss, Howdy Neighbour!, Hey Superstar, Here I Stand, Welcome To Oblivion, They're Coming For Me, True Love, Me Vs The World, Pandora (encore)

Current Love: Your War by Aamir al-Loki

I love this lass, she's awesome. Not much to say really, other than that this is the latest scrumminess from the most wonderful Aamir al-Loki. Love love love.

Go show her some love. And then go and get your grubby mitts on her albums. I want the new one now, damnit - it has a title, Lyrics & Tyranny, but as yet no release date. No worries, I'll make do with what I've got until then.

Band Of The Week: super-mega-awesome feature... promise

Well, I didn't really feel like doing a proper Band Of The Week blog this week. So, instead, here's a few bands/artists I think everyone should check out.

Aamir al-Loki: Wonderfully odd self-described goth-pop. I'd put it closer to electronic rock, but goth-pop will do. Make sure to check out her new album Kill Your Demons. (Yes, I know I already wrote about her last week, but I'm just emphasising the point.)

Ahab: Funeral doom metal. I've never listened to doom metal in my life, but I'm pretty much in love with Ahab. Brilliantly atmospheric, plus their work's based on Moby Dick and whatnot. Someone on last.fm called it "whalecore". Made me smile.

The Damned Things: Pretty much straight up rock, with some melodic metal influences. Fall Out Boy + Anthrax + Every Time I Die evidently = a brilliant combination.

The Left Rights: Brainchild of Jimmy Urine and Steve, Righ? from Mindless Self Indulgence. Bizarre, crude, not all that imaginative, but good fun. Warning: may offend. No, seriously, may offend. I've seen the comments on some of their stuff.

Me And The Mountain: English, female-fronted rock. And if you dare compare them to Paramore I'm likely to kill you. Just because it's a female fronted rock band doesn't make it like Paramore. Besides, Me And The Mountain are shitloads better than Paramore. The debut EP Ruthless is due out at the beginning of February - should be on the iTunes store.

Get Scared: Post-hardcore type stuff. Or possibly rock with post-hardcore influences. Who needs this whole Black Veil Brides hype when you can have Get Scared and they're so much better?

The Blackout: More post-hardcore. Better live than on disc, so if you get the chance to see one of their gigs, take it. Although I warn you, it may mangle your knees. Check out their new track too - free download at the mo.

Last but not least, the wonderful Emilie Autumn, love of my life. Well, my musical life and she's a gorgeous woman too. Hey, a girl can dream. Ahem. Self-labelled "victoriandustrial", look out for the epic electric violin solos against industrial beats. On top of all that scrumminess is her voice. Eargasm, much. Seriously, go check her out. Hmm... maybe next week's band of the week can be for EA. Seeing as she's my favourite musician and all that and I don't babble about her enough. Mmm.

Anyways, go check them out, tell me what you think and pass it on.

Band of the Week: Aamir al-Loki

Well, Band of the Week has been rather MIA the last few weeks. My bad. But it's back now - happy times all round! This week we have the lovely Aamir al-Loki, a solo project by a lovely lass I bumped into online.

Aamir al-Loki is a self-described goth-pop musician. Personally, I think there's more of an electronic rock influence than pop, but I can see the gothic tendencies - subject matter, tone and overall feel. I first checked her out some time last year when I asked for suggestions of new music on deviantART.com. I can't say I was all that enthralled at the time, but then I did just skim through the tracks available without really properly listening. I was also slightly put off by the somewhat silly artist bio. Then last week I was asked by the artist if I'd write a review of her new album, Kill Your Demons. Well, I needed some music to review for the group I run on dA, so I figured I'd have a look. This time I listened properly (you kinda have to when you're reviewing) and I fell in love. I downloaded the album within a couple of minutes of hearing the 30 second preview snippets, stuck it on repeat all day and the next day pumped out a glowing review. Said review has now been tweaked because no one wants to read my gushing about how brilliant it is. It is brilliant though.

That done, I had to download the debut album, It's Easier In The Afterlife. That's now going through it's fifth rotation since I bought it yesterday afternoon. I'm as much in love with that as I am with the new album. Now, instead of gushing some more about her brilliance, I'm going to attempt to explain why Aamir al-Loki is worth spending your money on.

Firstly, she has a voice which I would personally rate as one of the best I've heard recently. It puts me in mind somewhat of Emilie Autumn (who just happens to be my favourite musician EVER) - beautifully ethereal in parts and yet capable of turning harsh within seconds. The music reflects this, with hard electronic beats powering the tracks along underneath sometimes exotic sounding instrumentation. This is why I'm more inclined to label it electronic rock than goth-pop. Or maybe electro-goth. Can you have electro-goth or have I just made that up? Whatever.

I also love that there's so many little influences showing up. There's an instrumental track on Kill Your Demons called How To (Properly) Utilize Your Newfound Immortality. My first thought on hearing it was "this sounds like it's come out of the 80's". It's a lovely little chunk of synth-pop. I should have expected it really - I know she loves Tubeway Army.

What else to say? I love her. She's awesome. Go download her music now - (Kill Your Demons) (It's Easier In The Afterlife). Or if you're of the CD buying kind (which I would be if I had a CD drive, grr), and you live in the US, you can buy a physical copy of Kill Your Demons here. Check it out, let me know what you think and pass it on.

Assorted Aamir al-Loki links:
Myspace
Ourstage
Youtube

Recommended tracks:
From It's Easier In The Afterlife: My God, Guillotine, Myopia, It's Easier In The Afterlife, Let's Start A Cult
From Kill Your Demons: How To (Properly) Utilize Your Newfound Immortality, John 3:16, Romans, Khuda ke Bacchey, Kill Your Demons