Pre-order links for "Outsides" have been made available via John Frusciante's website, along with a lenghty description written by John himself.
On August 27th, John Frusciante will release the Outsides EP via Record Collection (August 14th in Japan). The bonus track “Sol,” available in hi-quality source audio, comes as an instant download with each pre-order.
Pearl Jam are preparing for the release of their tenth studio album this October 15th. "Lightning Bolt" was produced by Brendan O' Brien, who also produced their previous album "Backspacer".
Japanese website "CD Japan" has released information about a new John Frusciante EP coming up next month, on August 14th to be precise. The site describes it as "CD from John Frusciante features three tracks total, including a bonus one. Comes with lyrics and a description.".
Another description which is written in japanese suggests the album will be similar to PBX Funicular Intaglio Zone.
The Dillinger Escape Plan is a band known for crafting albums that come close to rupturing your eardrums and for doing it in a way that is remarkably enjoyable for the listener (or at least those adventurous enough for the sonic ride). While this is true for their newest album One Of Us Is The Killer, their first in Sumerian Records, the band has been experimenting with more traditional and even melodic compositions.
Make no mistake, the album still kicks and punches and it's knuckles have cymbal-shaped studs, but from time to time the album abruptly changes from a carefully crafted mess to a more traditional hard rock sound and vice versa. The title track is an example of this new refined songwriting that the band "experiments" with, making use of soft verse-loud chorus dynamics and keeping a slow, steady tempo for the whole song.
Each member has something to offer to both their new sound and their "old" one. Ben Weinman's riffs are lightning fast, dissonant and they sound like pure evil, specially when combined with James Love's rhythm guitar, Greg Puciato's furiously versatile vocals are largely responsible for the melodical side of their new sound, effortlessly jumping from quiet breakdowns to chaotic shredding to more melodic yet hard rocking segments, Liam Wilson adds a lot of atmospheric bass lines and Billy Raymer's epileptic drumming are a driving force in the hardest hitting songs and a source of groove in the breakdowns, taking the spotlight for the instrumental CH 375 268 277 ARS (something that instantly reminded me of Hella's 2011 album Tripper) and contributing a great fill for the phenomenal title track.
The production is very good, every instrument can be picked apart, even in the midst of chaos, though at the cost of trying to sound loud and agressive the album has a bit of clipping; sometimes the drums may sound too compressed and some of Weinman's arrangement's are partially lost in the mix.
In short, it's still DEP, it's not for everyone, it hits hard, it's raw and it's noisy, but the band shows it's not afraid of going into new directions and broadening their horizons, something I have always respected, and something to be expected from those who put their hearts into their music.
There's a lot of discussion around the use of the term djent, similar to the way people use the word indie to describe a particular sound or "genre", there's a lot of musicians who either embrace the term or refuse being refered to as a "djent band".
British rock band TesseracT has separated from the djent tag not by speaking out against or in favor of being tagged as a djent band, but by expanding and growing their sound release after release; commencing with their 2011 debut LP "One" (in my opinion a masterpiece of progressive metal) and later with their 2012 EP "Perspective", introducing a new vocalist and showing an unexplored side of the band.
Altered State goes further in that direction, leaving out growling vocals completely, turning down the distortion in favor of a more processed, electronic sound and refining their songwriting. From the first song you are greeted with new vocalist Ashe O'Hara's (Voices From The Fuselage) vocals and the sound of distant, echoing guitars before the song jumps in volume through a crescendo of processed guitars.
While some songs like Exile and Singularity are long and have a strong progressive feeling about them, most of the compositions offer more traditional structures, often building around different variations of the same riff or beat. The drumming keeps the songs together, both keeping a straight 4/4 beat and laying down heavily synchopated polyrhythms regularly, which are one of the trademark elements of TesseracT's sound. The first single Nocturne is a perfect example of both these things, and it does a very good job at showing what this new record is about.
Altered State keeps things fresh and shows the band hasn't suffered at all from changing vocalists three consecutive times, an excellent record overall, and one I'll be listening to for a long time.
One has heard the phrase "don't judge a book by it's cover" so many times at this point that it has almost lost it's meaning, well, I made that mistake when first looking at the cover for Leprous' new album Coal. Their previous album Bilateral was a very strong contender for my personal album of the year when it came back in 2011. Jeff Jordan (mostly known by his work with The Mars Volta) took care of the artwork last time with his signature saturated-high contrast-bad trip made painting style, and it fit the variety, density and texture of the album perfectly, so when I took a look at Leprous' new cover artwork (also by Jeff Jordan) I thought they had gotten heavier and darker than ever and I expected a lot of double-bass and growling vocals... well I couldn't have been more wrong.
Coal is a completely new direction for the band, much more melodic, softer but also heavier at times and with a strong emphasis on groove not as prominent in their last album. The first thing I noticed when I first listened to the first two tracks was the drumming is very different, for a moment I was sure Leprous had replaced Tobias Andersen, but after checking the credits I was suprised to see that he's still behind the kit.
The drumming, just as in Bilateral, is great yet on a completely different way, with much more groove, laid back at times and less "metal", often sounding a little gospel. The same could be said about the bass, keeping the songs together and adding a lot of groove in between instrumental sections. The keyboards are much more prominent and the building blocks of songs like The Cloak and The Valley, adding to the atmosphere and Einar Solberg's dramatic vocals, who really shines in The Cloak.
There's also a great change in the songwriting, with the songs being more focused, each instrument making it's way into the sound the band creates before reaching an instrumental climax near the end.
In short, Leprous has managed to surprise me with this album, setting aside the pressure of crafting a follow up to 2011's Bilateral with a strong new direction and complete cohesiveness.
