Valtozash – Wizard-Bird

The Australian jazz metal fusion orchestra Valtozash is quite a newcomer, when it comes to their young age as a group, but they’ve already made their marks with their 2016 debut album, Iron Maiden Voyage. Barely more than a year later, they’re back with a sophomore release in Wizard-Bird. For those unaware, the ensemble is quite extensive: five saxophone players, three for trumpets, four trombones, and a vibraphonist all play alongside the traditional guitars-bass-drums trio. On top of that, the track from which the album title is taken features the Brisbane Symphony Orchestra! Through musical humour and a … Read more

Vmthanaachth – Inferotemporal

Chamber music is, by definition, classical music played by a small group of instruments, where each member has its own independent partition to play. For example, string quartets and your usual metal band can, technically, be considered chamber music groups. Due to the minimalistic nature of the formula, it’s where we see the most experimentation happen. Indeed, it’s easier to gather a few people to play weird, boundary-breaking music than to convince a whole orchestra to do the same. Texan band Vmthanaachth is a quintet comprised of two guitars, a viola, and two saxophones. That is, according to some pictures … Read more

Kurushimi – Kurushimi

Kurushimi album artKurushimi is a new collective of sorts including members of Serious Beak, Instrumental, adj. (bands we have covered here on CTEBCM!), Fat Guy Wears Wolf Shirt, as well as a few other members. They just dropped their self-titled debut on Art as Catharsis, and I’m going to be up front with you: there is no point trying to attach genres to this (so naturally we’re going to try it!). Like all great music, it defies easy attempts at description and categorization.

The first question that came to me upon hearing of this project: What does Kurushimi mean, anyway? Knowing nothing … Read more

ATOMIS Indiegogo Campaign

A while back I featured the metal band ATOMIS, but I just came to find out they have an Indiegogo campaign going to help fund their debut album!

There are only 6 days left in the campaign, so you better act fast if you want to get some of the exclusive rewards, such as t-shirts, posters & paintings (which won’t be reprinted!).

-Jeff… Read more

Polkadot Cadaver – Last Call in Jonestown

Avant-garde metal outfit Polkadot Cadaver’s new album Last Call in Jonestown comes out on May 14th, and pre-orders are ending in just a few days. I discovered this band last year when I saw them at The Palladium, and their unique take on metal really intrigued me. Their lyrical content is often very offensive and off color, but completely awesome at the same time. This band really tries to make a statement by doing things in their music that most people would be afraid to do, and just not giving a shit. They also write some pretty catchy stuff and … Read more