Just listened to the new single “Deep Inside” by Terminal, and its pretty awesome! It’s not overtly aggressive, but certainly metal. If you want a REAL progressive metal sound with a mainstream melodic vibe, I’d highly suggest checking out Terminal and their new album Tree of Life.
“Of Night and Silence” is the opening track of Sothis’ Candlelight-released debut album De Oppresso Liber which was tracked in Los Angeles and mixed by King Diamond guitarist Andy LaRocque at Sonic Train Studios in Varberg, Sweden.
Commented Sothis vocalist Drogoth of the new video: “After making the ‘De Oppresso Liber’ video, the band wanted to make a video for another song from the same album, but do something a bit more affordable without compromising quality. I came up with the concept for the ‘Of Night and Silence’ video because I felt that this song had great energy and perfect pacing for this type of concept. “
Israeli death metallers Salem have come out with a new trailer for their upcoming album, Playing God and Other Short Stories.
I don’t play guitar, so any equipment associated with guitars is beyond my ability to properly “review.” However, founder Rachael Becker’s work has inspired me to write a bit about her company, Heavy Leather NYC. Rachael’s company was created to make rock n roll and metal themed custom guitar straps that are surprisingly reasonably priced for a custom, hand crafted piece of work that, 
visually, is very artistic and bold in design. While I can’t speak to the quality of these straps, rock luminaries such as Lemmy from Motorhead, Slash from Guns N Roses and Velvet Revolver, KK Downing of Judas Priest and Kim McAuliffe from Girlschool have all sported Rachael’s straps, all of which are quite visually impressive (the straps, not the musicians…though Kim is pretty hot).
Perhaps most importantly is that while Heavy Leather NYC is a boutique operation, the prices for these custom made straps (as found on the website) are very reasonable for virtually any serious guitar player. If there are any readers out there who have purchased and/or played with one of Rachael’s straps, I encourage you to post your comments here or send me an email as I am quite curious!
Do yourself a favor and check out Rachael’s website at http://www.heavyleathernyc.com to see her work.
CODY
Here are some quality performances from Japan’s Thrash Domination last year
HEATHEN -- GOBLIN’S BLADE
EXODUS -- A LESSON IN VIOLENCE
KREATOR -- FLAG OF HATE
TESTAMENT -- SOULS OF BLACK
El Monte, California based KenoN is not your stereotypical California band, they aren’t riddled with “core” influences, nor any noticeable amount of thrash metal. KenoN is black metal through and through, and they are actually pretty good at what they do. Unlike many American black metal bands who while good on their own accord, do tend to throw in thrash and death metal into the mix to make it a bit more palatable with more traditional forms of American metal, however, KenoN and a small number like them, take up the flag of traditional Scandanavian black metal but without all the melodrama that comes with trying so hard to be evil and kult. KenoN’s EP From the Void Came Chaos is quite avant garde and well constructed, albeit more of a self made demo than a true EP based on the recording quality. Nonetheless, with access to a proper producer, KenoN could easily give America a new taste for their own brand of true black metal.
3/12/2010 The Jinx – Savannah, GA
3/13/2010 The Back Booth – Orlando, FL
3/14/2010 Crazy Marlins – Panama City Beach, FL
3/15/2010 Lenny’s – Atlanta, GA
3/16/2010 Bottletree – Birmingham, AL
3/17/2010 Hi Tone – Memphis, TN
3/18/2010 The Channel @ Meridian – Houston, TX
3/19/2010 Skillman Street Bar – Dallas, TX
3/20/2010 Encore – Austin, TX @ Tone Deaf SXSW Showcase
3/21/2010 Zombie’s – San Antonio, TX
3/23/2010 Launchpad – Albuquerque, NM
3/24/2010 Chasers – Scottsdale, AZ
3/26/2010 Ultra Violet – Los Angeles, CA
3/27/2010 Elbo Room – San Francisco, CA
3/28/2010 Rotture – Portland, OR
3/29/2010 Funhouse – Seattle, WA
3/31/2010 Club Vegas – Salt Lake City, UT
4/01/2010 Larimer Lounge – Denver, CO
4/02/2010 The Record Bar – Kansas City, MO
4/03/2010 Triple Rock – Minneapolis, MN
4/04/2010 Reggie’s – Chicago, IL
4/05/2010 Mac’s – Lansing, MI
4/06/2010 The Southgate House – Newport, KY
4/07/2010 The Grog Shop – Cleveland, OH
4/08/2010 Wreck Room – Toronto, ON
4/09/2010 Bug Jar – Rochester, NY
4/10/2010 Webster Hall (Studio) – New York, NY
4/11/2010 Khyber – Philadelphia, PA
4/12/2010 DC9 – Washington, DC
4/13/2010 Krug’s – Frederick, MD
4/14/2010 The Triple – Richmond, VA
Forward.com, an online Jewish magazine has written up a nice feature on Israeli based Orphaned Land and the positive spirituality behind their music. This is a great read about just another colorful type of metal out there making a difference in the world of music.
http://www.forward.com/articles/124448/
2/08/2010 Limelight – Nashville, TN
2/09/2010 Vino’s Brewpub – Little Rock, AR
2/10/2010 Red Eyed Fly – Austin, TX
2/11/2010 Smokin Aces – Mission, TX
2/12/2010 Zeros Hard Rock Club – Corpus Christi, TX
2/13/2010 Backstage Lounge – San Antonio, TX
2/14/2010 The Loft at The Palladium – Dallas, TX
2/17/2010 Brixton – Redondo Beach, CA
2/18/2010 New Oasis – Sparks, NV
2/19/2010 Ramona Mainstage – Ramona, CA
2/20/2010 Galaxy Theater – Santa Ana, CA
2/21/2010 Voodoo Lounge – San Jose, CA
2/25/2010 Reggies Rock Club – Chicago, IL
2/26/2010 Radmaker’s Rock n Roll Tavern – Tolono, IL
2/27/2010 Emerald Theater – Mt. Clemens, MI
2/28/2010 Station 4 – St. Paul, MN
6/26/2010 Warriors of Metal III Open Air Fest – Chillicothe, Ohio
So Richard Hoak of Brutal Truth and Total Fucking Destruction fame has come out with a short little grind drumming video which is wayyyy more interesting than virtually every other instrumental demo out there. Is it weird that I kind of want to have sex with the lady singing the song?
