Creative Melodic Hardcore: Of Glaciers

Melodic Hardcore is a very tired sub-genre these days, especially for some people who can’t even hold in their lunch at the name. In fact, it started getting old right around the time melodic hardcore bands started calling themselves “melodic hardcore”. But just like every other genre and sub-genre out there, there is simply a heinous imbalance between good music and bad. Creative examples of melodic hardcore are hard to find, but for those of you who still enjoy it when it’s polished and there’s real effort put in, whet your beak on Of Glaciers, most notably, their first full length album Heart Museum.

Misery Signals Premiers New Track, "Absent Light"

After five years, and a phenomenally successful indiegogo campaign, we have a brand new sample of Misery Signals magic! They're newest track "Luminary", off of their upcoming studio album Absent Light, premiered today over on MetalSucks. I won't ruin it with my very biased opinion, but I can tell you that it sounds a bit more visceral than their previous record, Controller, and breathes throughout with a classic metalcore sound.

Misery Signals will be heading out on their North American album release tour with Elitist, The Color Morale, and Intervals later this month, and Absent Light comes out July 23rd!

For Fans of: Cloudkicker, Dan Dankmeyer - Bend The Sky

I know that the margin for completely enjoyable instrumental metal is small. A lot of people don’t care for it. They think it’s boring or not unique enough to stay interested. But if you apply it to the proper setting, say: contemplative thought, it becomes a joyride.

Take the Aussie four-piece outfit Bend the Sky. I have been jamming their sounds for months, whenever I want heavy, full, and cascading ambiance, but still metal. On their Facebook page, they describe themselves as “Atmospheric post-rock, djent, symphonic, death & math metal with (at times) elements of classical orchestration and keys.” That sounds like it’s all over the board, but they have crafted a very characteristic sound. At times, beastly breakdowns; at others, grooving, ululating riffs. Their signature however, is the constant background of orchestral synth that makes the music sound much more top-shelf. From their 2012 full length, Origins, gentle keys open tracks like “Reform” and “A Mindful Wave”, and eventually move into simple yet elegant chord progression that just sounds sincere. This is beautiful music that creates an enormous atmosphere for whoever is listening. Perfect for writing, reading, thinking, whatever you do to unwind.

Recommendation: Animal Giant

Cleveland metalcore outfit Inhale Exhale, formerly of Solid State fame, have recently called it quits and will be playing their final show at the Alliance Festival in Pittsburgh, PA in August. This was a blow for me right in the childhood, because Inhale Exhale was one of the very first metal bands I ever listened to. Their debut with Solid State, “The Lost, The Sick and The Sacred” was like my starting pistol to find more heavy music. I will always think of them fondly.

Fortunately, founding member John LaRussa has just the thing to dry up our tears: an EP of his very own under the name Animal Giant. “The Glory.”

About Heavy & Loud

I've been recommending music to my friends and family for as long as I've been listening to music, simply because I am fulfilled by introducing people to music I think they will love. Heavy & Loud was created as an official source for the rest of the world, now that my friends and family have all the music they could ever need.

The prerogative of this blog is to unearth talented musicians of "heavy" and "loud" music that deserve more attention. I want to benefit them, and I want to benefit you, the reader, by helping you find more awesome music. There are plenty of other sites out there that cover the news in the metal scene and that review well known artists. Maybe one day with enough traffic, Heavy & Loud will too, but for now there are a lot of artists out there who work extremely hard to hone their craft and supply us with their tunes. I want them to be heard

In addition to blog posts, I want to offer an even more personal service. Anyone who is looking for more heavy music is welcome to email me at heavyandloud@gmail.com or contact me from the main page, and I will find you more heavy music. Simply give me a short list of the music you already love, and I will dig up more artists that you may like based on that.

My dream is to bring notoriety to bands that deserve it, and perhaps some time in the future build Heavy & Loud into an official heavy music source on the internet, with a real website and other contributors, the works. But for now I'm here to broaden your horizons, if you wish them so broadened.