Mind Equals Blown

Folie is a very good album, though I have to admit that my musical tastes weren’t yet ready to accept and appreciate it when the album was first released. But now that I’ve had the time to come back to it, I find myself constantly spinning the record, while singing along at the top of my voice. They could’ve released a “new” album blending sound-alike songs, but I think a majority of their fans would agree that they wouldn’t have had FOB do it any differently. Roll on, Save Rock and Roll.

This is why OBPL is destined to become a hallmark album – if not for the genre, then at least for any band looking to evolve. There’s a plethora of influences and emotions on display in every aspect of OBPL, yet Polyenso doesn’t parade the decision to include trumpets, for example, on every track, ’cause it sounds cool. Rather, they’ve spent time refining and combing through each and every song with a perfectionist’s eye and a creator’s love. And it shows in the organic soundscapes they’ve created on their debut – nothing sounds forced or contrived.

When broken down into its individual elements, so many aspects of Russian Circles’ music shouldn’t work. The delightful, yet digestible complexity of its melodies. The hard-hitting riffs emphasized by the lack of a vocalist. Oh, and the fact that three-individuals can create an all-encompassing fog of metal-influenced bliss in the confines of whatever venue it’s playing in.

Having exploded out of the subconscious of Toronto’s hardcore punk scene in 2008 and becoming the darlings of critics everywhere with only their second album, Hail Destroyer, Cancer Bats are back with their highly anticipated fourth album, Dead Set on Living.

If you’re short on patience, then you probably can’t stand The Mars Volta. The quintet – infamous for their ever-changing soundscapes – are back with their sixth full-length, Noctourniquet, and as expected (though more so this time around), a complete reworking of the band’s sound has taken place. Notorious for their self-indulgent and unabashed abuse…

Listening to Dead Swan’s new EP, Anxiety and Everything Else, is exhausting. Not tiring in the sense that the music is a chore to sit through, but because it’s damned near impossible to remain seated while listening to the quintet from Brighton, UK, tear through the EP’s seven tracks. If anything, the band perfectly captures…

For the uninitiated, Lamb of God are a hard-rocking, whiskey-drinking metal quintet from Richmond, Virginia, though their name may convey images of a meek lamb in a meadow. That’s all the introduction you’ll need, because the band have returned with a brand spanking new album, Resolution, – their seventh studio album – and after the mis-step in 2009 that was Wrath, LOG fans will rejoice at the return to form.

Mind Equals Blown staffer Shaun Tan recently had the opportunity to interview two members of Japanese Metal/Electronica band, Crossfaith. He spoke to vocalist Kenta Koie and Terufumi Tamano, who handles sampler/panorama duties, through band manager/translator Rew Kubayashi.