Death of Kings : " Kneel Before None "

In the past I never felt the other recorded efforts by this Atlanta band were accurate representations of what this band really does on stage.

Death of Kings : "Regicidal Demo"

This is not our first time with Death of Kings as we reviewed their previous seven inch "Knife Hammer" This time around they recorded in the practice space, cutting the bulk of the tracks live. They have been one of those bands whose studio output I felt sounded little like what happens on stage. Some of this is due to the fact , the vocals are often sung in a lower register giving an older Mastodon feel, when in truth Matt Matson normally carries on with a thrash shriek falling some where between Udo of Accept and Kreator. Here those vocals are delivered and their punk roots kick up the sort of rowdiness that is a better representation of what they do and who they are. This is the first recording with Matt Kilpatrick in the band.

The first song that really stands out is the more metal gallop of "Sojourn" since the first two songs fast thrash that blurs past you and have a somewhat similar attack. "Sojourn" comes off of the speed and allows more of a groove to form. The guitar solo in this song breaks things up a bit. The band has not deviated much from their signature sound. They continue down a more metallic path with "Descent into Madness". The first verse finds the vocals taking on much more of Tom Araya cadence and musically has a lot in common with say "God Hates Us All"  Slayer, though funny enough their drummer Amos backs off on the double bass a little and their is more Slayer in his cymbal work. Around the three and a half minute mark things speed up in time for the guitar solos and this brings out more of their punk side.

I think they have found a formula that really works best for them when it comes to capturing the band's essence. This might not be the densest guitar sound they have ever recorded , nor the heaviest, but it is the most accurate. Some of the more dazzling solo section are plowed over in favor of an over all snarlier sound. Don't let the Suicidal Tendencies font fool you, these guys aren't joining the army any time soon, the crossover element is more at the intersection of where more modern Slayer collides with punk than 80s skate metal. A case of just because you like D.R.I doesn't mean that what is going to come out of your amp. The rawer production lends it self to an over all more feral experience shedding the nods to Iron Maiden for a gritty condensed punch that this demo packs. If you like what you hear here then make sure to catch the band when they roll through your town because what you hear is what you get.

 

Dispossesd an Interview with Artist Emily Harris

Atlanta artist Emily Harris is about to launch her Dispossed exhibit, that is a thesis study of the Atlanta metal culture, I caught up with her to discuss this and metal in general.

What inspired using metal heads as the focus of your visual medium?

I have been a metalhead since I was about 14. When I started grad school I was
in my early 30s and I guess you could call it sort of a mid life crisis. I was hungry to revisit my youth a bit and recall that feeling that metal music, hanging with my friends and going to shows was like back when I was a teenager. I didn’t know many metal heads in town and I found that making the local metal community my thesis focus, I was able to find friendship and also relate to people based on our bond to metal.

What kind of metal did you grow up on ? Hows does that differ from what you
listen to today? What are your guilty pleasures?

Well the first music I got into really was punk, with bands like Fugazi, Bad
Religion and the sort. I knew of metal but didn’t know much about it, then I
got Metallica’s Master of Puppets on cd and my life was changed forever. It
was the 90s so you had a lot of bands like Nine Inch Nails, Rage Against the
Machine, Stuck Mojo, Sevendust, Metallica, and Megadeth. I would say those
were some of the big ones for me then. I still listen to some of that stuff, but as
metal has progressed, so has my collection. As I got older I got into the more
extreme stuff like black metal. As far as my guilty pleasure, I like old school
80s hair metal. It’s super cheesy but man is it fun to sing along with!

What do you think separates the Atlanta scene from that of cities like New
York, Tampa, San Francisco or Chicago?

I can’t speak for the other cities because I am not as connected to their scenes,
but I do know that certain cities have fostered certain movements in metal, like
the Bay area Thrash scene of the 80s, or Tampa’s 90s death metal scene. My
goal is to help push the Atlanta scene and hopefully bring some recognition to
some of the great bands we have here! I think Atlanta has a strong sense of
community although it is a big town and very spread out.

Any subculture carries a certain conformity in their non-conformity what does
the Atlanta metal scene tend to conform to ?

Certainly, you are right, and I touch upon that a bit in my thesis paper. You
know that is hard to say completely because everyone I know in Atlanta’s
scene is all so vastly different. The one thing I enjoy is the southern
hospitality. Not everyone is friendly, but the ones that are really radiate that
southern friendliness.

What stereotypes do you think are most prevalent in regards to metal today?

I am working against the stereotypes, but I think overall the stoner would be the
most common. I am glad to see that the groupie is no longer a dominant
stereotype for women; at the very least we are working against it. Also,
possibly the alpha male meathead types linger around a little too.

What's a bigger issue in the Atlanta metal scene gender or race ? Is it
Homophobic ?

For me it would be the gender issue, but only because I am woman. I have
been accepted and respected for the most part which is awesome, but I do think
it is harder for a woman to be taken seriously when you are approaching a
group of guys. Atlanta’s scene is predominantly white, but we do have quite a
few other races mixed in and everyone is friendly; there is no racism here, at
least not that I have seen. I haven’t seen anything homophobic, but I also don’t
know many gay metal heads.

How prevalent are drugs in the Atlanta metal scene ?

Atlanta is a big town, so drugs are going to be prevalent no matter what scene
you are in. Mostly I see a lot of drinking, but as for the others, I choose to
plead the 5th.

Seems every decade Atlanta had it's one or two mainstream bands that broke
big and various bandwagons reared around them ranging from the 80's with Hallows Eve to Stuck Mojo and Sevendust to now Mastodon, where do you
think this cycle sits today in terms of the Atlanta scene?

You are right, yes every decade seems to foster a new hit band. Mastodon still
dominates but there are other bands coming up from our underground scene
that are becoming big like Lazer/Wulf. I think a lot of that southern
sludge/doom mixed with rock elements seems to be popular down here with
bands from Savannah too like Kylesa and Baroness. So we will have to see
where it goes!

Do make any note of the divide of Atlanta bands where the bulk of the
"metal" bands intown seem to have all come from a punk rock back ground,
where the suburban metal bands just play metal and take more influence from
90's Pantera era?

Ha ha, I just got into some discussions about this recently. I think the Atlanta
scene has a big crossover with the punk scene, something that is unique to
Atlanta. I think a lot of people that are into punk originally get into metal later
in life because it is more musically challenging and sometimes has more to
offer them mentally. As far as the city versus the suburbs, it’s hard to say
because a lot of the bands that live in the burbs play in the city all the time. I
guess it just has to do with their influences.

Why do you think thrash and death metal are more popular in Atlanta than
black metal, when that might not be the case in other cities like New York?

Yeah we don’t have a huge number of black metal bands here. I think thrash
and death metal are the most popular styles of metal and people gravitate to the
bands they grew up on and are influenced by. Maybe because we are in the
South and it’s warmer and sunnier than New York where people are more
distant and disconnected, but that might be a silly answer.

What approach are you taking with the art show Dispossessed and how is it
connected to the documentary?

For me the thesis was both challenging and exciting. The show itself I wanted
to be engaging and not in a typical quiet gallery setting, because the work is about metal music, and therefore I really wanted to have some of our local metal bands play. The photography portion highlights my love for the people in this scene, because this project is about our connection to metal music and consequently to each other. There will also be artifacts documented by myself
of objects from people in the local community. My film Atlanta Metal , which will also be premiering gives some focus on different aspects and struggles within our community and the metal community as a whole. Really the whole project and the upcoming show is a 3 yearlong journey

Summer Slaughter Tour @ the Masquerade

This was my first Summer Slaughter experience, normally package tours aren't my thing as the rarely have more than two bands I like , this year broke that streak so I ventured out. The crowd was pretty much what I expected from Atlanta a blend of the school battle vest metal hipsters mixed in with more trailer park elements with a few bros on the side, the high death metal quota eliminated the more awkward prog metal geek types. So basically Business as usual and business was good.

The doors were way early, I think I just finished getting a prescription filled when they opened. I milled around looked at merch and checked schedules, set up interviews and such, before I wandered into catch Goatwhore. This was my first time catching them, despite being an avid Acid Bath fan, the stars just never aligned. I have most of their albums, so was pretty familiar with their material. Even then these guys were caught me by surprise and we the most fun I had all night, coming in tied with Morbid Angel for being the best act of the night. They possessed a ton of energy, Louis's stage persona, was down to earth, he rocked with you not at you, but still maintained the needed air of metal majesty to control and command the crowd. Sonically, they had great tone, were not a bunch of booming loudness, but their riffs were very distinguishable. At times the transported me back to my days as a kid seeing classic thrash bands like Testament, Vio-lence and Overkill. The black metal elements were not as prevalent live and there was not a sense like when seeing Watain that something evil was coming your way. They are trying to have fun not open any portals and that worked for me. Next up I caught locals Death of Kings. They played to a much smaller crowd on the mid level stage. The was iffy, they did not have the clarity in their riffs Goatwhore had due to this. Having seen them before, the Iron Maiden elements were toned down. They sometimes came off like thrashy death metal. The singing much more high end screeching , than their last 7 inch suggested. This gave it a more Laaz Rockit feel. The drumming continues to be a strong point. My girl friend felt that their song writing was geared to focus on the shreddy sections of soloing. I don't really see them as a shred band, as they tend to hit the frequent soloing with a more Kerry King wild abandon than anything technical.They seemed to go over well with the crowd that did catch them and are worth checking out if you like a more bombast take on thrash. The Faceless lost me on their last album which was too much like mall metal for my tastes. I liked "Planetary Duality", but the last one seemed like djenty mall metal. They continue to rock the suburbs live, as their tone is so processed to shred that it lost any balls and for all the break downs in the world, they could not convince me they were heavy. Guitarist Micheal Keene's attempt at clean vocals was pretty sad, they were weak and even being heavily auto tuned, the pitch elements shone through the layer of effect he tried to hide them behind. It seemed that not only Goatwhore have a bigger crowd, but the crowd was more into them, so good music won out for once.

This was my 6th time seeing Morbid Angel, so you would think it would be o.k here we go again, but they really impressed me. The last album that drew so much internet back lash did not make me tuck my forked tail and run, but I am glad that it doesn't appear from the live show that we are going to have to have an industrial era of Morbid Angel like we had a disco era Kiss...though truth be told I like both disco Kiss and Vegas Elvis... and can also tolerate cock rock Celtic Frost. This was my first time seeing them without Pete the feet, but they held up and even kicked ass. Hearing "Fall From Grace" in and of it's self made me happy as "Blessed Are the Sick" is my favorite album by them. David Vincent sounded great holding down his goth clean vocals as well as his growls, there was a moment when early on he stopped playing bass to make a rock star posed and I yelled for him to play his fucking bass, but other than that brief stage indulgence they were great and inspired me to dig up all the old albums. Overall this package had less of a mall metal feel and is recommended to check out when it hits your town. If you are in Europe and abbreviated version with Dying Fetus , Goatwhore and Fallujah is coming your way this winter.

Interview the Bands of Hammerheads 3

Saturday the 15th punks and metal heads will be drinking away post- valentine blues at the Basement in Atlanta for the 3rd Annual Super Bowl of Hammerheads, which is being billed as the Sharknado of Souls, ... I'll take Megadeth for 500. The Punk and metal scenes in Atlanta have an incestuously divergent history so I spoke with three of the bands on the bill about the show which seems to be a celebration of that fact.

Adam Edgewood of the Vaginas

So this show is a coming together of punk & metal bands, you guys obviously fall on the punk side of the fence. What influence has metal had on you?

We have always listened to metal, we grew up listening to it. We started out as a joke , we formed to play an open mic in Alpharetta and it kept going. We think of yourselves as a punk metal band.

How do you compare the entanglement of punk and metal scene in Atlanta vs other cities you have played?

There isn't a punk scene in Atlanta anymore. Metal is where it's at in Atlanta now.

What are you looking forward to the most about this show ?

Whenever do this show it's a party. Glad to bring our friends from Harkonnen out from Texas. Its always a killer show, with beer being sprayed every where.

What else do you guys have planned for 2014?

We are setting up another festival for may/june and we are playing with the Goddamn Gallows at Smith's Olde Bar.

Alex from the House Harkonnen

 So this show is a coming together of punk & metal bands,what side of the fence do you see ourselves falling on.

Alex- We are more metal. Grew up as metal kids, but still kinda both. We are almost more of a hard rock band. We have been playing with the Vagina's forever. We  are maybe a little heavier, though they are equally heavy just in a different way. In some ways similar so it always has been a good fit playing with those guys.

What album got you into punk-

Alex - Static Age. I mean we grew up into stuff like Sunny Day Real Estate and now more modern stuff like bands like Floor.

Whats the scene like in Arlington these days as far as punk and metal goes?

Alex - Its mainly metal in Fort Worth, there is still some fall out in the after math of Pantera ,with a lot of bands got new metal and stupid. There some bands playing sludge and southern rock , but it's a lot like it was back in the early 90's.

What are you looking forward to the most about the show Saturday?

Alex- Its a good party the is the third one we have played. Its always at pretty interesting venues.
We love playing with the Vaginas. There's always an after party and we will probably end up crashing at Adams. We have never played with Death of Kings before so are looking forward to playing with them.

 What else do you guys have planned for 2014?

We have a new album , so we are selling that, then work on the next album. 

Amos and Matt From Death of Kings

 This show is a coming together of punk & metal bands, and you guys are a metal band now but come from a punk past, so what album was an influence that brought you over to the darkside ? 

Amos- It goes all the way back to  listening to Iron Maiden and Megadeth. It's like you mean it's faster and more technical than punk well sign me up.

Matt- Scream Bloody Gore, it was an easy transition. 

How do you compare the entanglement of punk and metal scene in Atlanta vs other cities you have played?

Punk there is a little more interaction at the shows, with people getting up on stage and getting knocked out, that doesn't really happen at metal shows. 

Matt- there are a lot of punk kids that you see going to metal shows, then at house parties afterward you never know what is going to end up on the record player so theres alot of kids getting exposed to metal or punk that way.

Amos- I'll second that, there's a gray area where you see a lot of the same people at both shows.

What are you guys looking forward to the most about the show Saturday? 

Matt- With  all this bad weather, we have had to cancel shows, so I have been getting a little stir crazy so it will be good to get out and have a release for that restless energy. It's good to see friends and it will be positive energy. Excited to play with Harkkonen. 

Amos- My old band use to play with the Vaginas all the time, so it will be good to have a place for punk kids an metal kids to have a place to come together. 

Matt- Yeah we go back with the Vaginas, those guys always put on a great show you never know what is going to happen. I did sound for them once at Jack's Pizza and I turned up the p/a as loud as I could and it still wasn't loud enough, they just kept playing. 

So you guys just released Knifehammer, what else do you guys have planned for 2014? 

Matt- We are doing a 6 day tour hitting places like Asheville and Savannah, it will be the first time that we have played these places with the current line-up that's on Knifehammer, so looking forward to that, getting to check out local records stores. 

Death Of Kings -Knifehammer 7"

Thrash has always been the marriage of punk to metal, with bands like Slayer serving as the entry point for punk kids to get into metal . Metal was once a bad word in the Atlanta scene until Mastodon broke big on the road, encouraging a cross over  that saw punk kids adding more metal to their sound. Death of Kings , comes from such a back ground when the band started as Das Manics it was more of a punk band  

This 7" is product of a refinement to the bands sound since it released it's first album in 2010.The guitar is very much in your face on both songs. The vocals carry a Udo Dirkschneider sneer melded to a more Kreator like aggression, though bands like Vektor also employ a similar gurgled shriek.When the gang vocals chime in, its clear the the band members retain their punk roots.Their chops capture the dexterity required of the genre with impressive interplay between the bass and the guitar dueling,

The frantic pace the thrash gallop lends itself to more nuanced accents in the groove of  "Beneath the Obsidian". The vocals take a similar approach  The solos have more of a rock n roll feel to them on this track. The vocals carry a more grit in their delivery at time, they sound as if they are being spew rather than roared, growled or screamed.

Around the two minute mark the band finds a particularly tasty groove amid the otherwise breakneck pace , that wouldn't sound out of place on an Amon Amarth album. The Iron Maiden influences that very faintly lingers isn't in the twin guitar attack, but in the way their drummer Amos accents certain phrases and then it's the rawer feel of  Clive Burr rather than Niko.  

In this particular release elements of  power metal or death metal are not particularly present, but this 7" inch feels like a much more accurate depiction of the live sound. If you like your thrash fast and chocked full of solo, then this will not disappoint.

Knifehammer was recorded at Ledbelly Studios, where other Atlanta bands Withered, Irreversible and Royal Thunder have all recorded.  The album was produced by Sam Leyja and Matt Washburn. Mixed by Matt Washburn.  Was released  November 2013 on colored vinyl via Boris Records.