There’s a new (nu?) trend afoot in the world of emerging metalcore bands and that trend is similar in its makeup to nu metal when it came out. Instead of chug heavy riffs, we start with metalcore and instead of rap, we have RnB. Gavin Lloyd grew up with nu metal. Is this new trend as worthy or original, though? Hmmm…

I grew up during nu metal’s heyday and the likes of Limp Bizkit and Slipknot went a long way towards shaping my taste in music and making me the metal-loving scamp I am today. Nu metal was huge and had a mainstream crossover appeal that hasn’t been seen since in terms of heavy music.

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It’s not the first time that a metal band has reached #1 in the UK Albums Chart, but it feels like a rarer and rare occasion, so Raz talks about why we should all celebrate Avenged Sevenfold doing so with Hail To The King.

Avenged Sevenfold have reached #1 in the UK Album Charts with Hail To The King and that’s a great thing for Heavy Metal because, like it or not, it is a subculture. Sure, it’s a subculture that sells out Wembley Stadium and fills Donington Park every year, but metal is a niche genre nonetheless.

It requires effort to keep up with and only the very dedicated (me and you) ever know what’s going on in the metal world on a daily basis. That’s why Avenged Sevenfold appearing in such a high-profile position in non-metal media is important. It reminds “them” that “we” are still here.

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With the August Bank Holiday weekend rapidly approaching, Reading & Leeds Festivals are once again upon us. As with every year, Reading & Leeds have a bit fat dollop of heaviness in among the landfill indie, so for this week’s Sunday Slaylist we’ve put together a Spotify playlist of the hardest and heaviest from their 2013 line-ups.

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Palms
Palms
Ipecac Recordings
25 June 2013

by Ollie Connors

It’s fair to say that, from its inception, this project has been recieved to the widespread spaffing of pants. You’ve got two major and winning components here – three former members of post-metal demi-gods Isis providing the instrumental backdrop to the unmistakable vocal of Deftones‘ Chino Moreno; a match made in heaven.

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TesseracT
Altered State
Century Media
27 May 2013

By Ruth Booth

When doom-mongers spoke of the world’s end in 2012, TesseracT may have felt a tiny bit paranoid. Their lauded debut One had seen them branded standard-bearers of UK Djent, but a cancelled major tour, and the departure of their second vocalist in 12 months left TesseracT struggling to tread water. That they reached the end of the year with both new album Altered State in the can and the New Blood Prog Award must have left them wondering if they were victims of some great cosmic joke.

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We love Deftones so when they played Brixton Academy last week, we figured we should pop down, have a couple of beers and do some moshes. Then we figured we ought to review it, so we did that as well. We provide a complete service. Sure.

Six things we learned when Deftones played at the London Brixton Academy:

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Well, it’s all been leading to this. The votes are in, the results have been tabulated, calculated, and any other kind of mathematically something-lated you can think of. This is the Thrash Hits Top 20 Albums of 2012.

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It’s December. It’s Christmas. So for this week’s Midweek Bootleg we’re getting all festive with curious cover c/o Far and a couple of their pals from Deftones and Will Haven.

Yeah, we’re those annoying pricks who get really, really, REALLY into Christmas. We’re the pricks who insist on organising the office Secret Santa. We’re the ones drinking nothing but eggnog and mulled wine for the next five weeks. We’re the ones posting weird Christmas cover songs in our (mostly) weekly Midweek Bootleg feature. Yep, we are those guys.

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Those Sacramento not-quite-nu-metal-but-they’re-kinda-stuck-with-that-tag-now metallers, Deftones, have released yet another track from their forthcoming seventh studio album, Koi No Yokan. This time it’s a track by the name of ‘Tempest’, and as it happens, this one is the first “official single” to be taken from the album.

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One of our favourite bands of all time, Deftones, have released the first taster of their forthcoming seventh studio album, Koi No Yokan, and they’re giving it away for free. If you head on over to their official website, you can download ‘Leathers’ with absolutely no strings attached – they’re not even forcing you to join their mailing list, or Like them on Facebook, or any of the usual tricks bands play when they dangle freebies in front of their fans.

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