Niacin - Krush

Niacin lovers, it's time to take your vitamins! Come get some of this sweet instrumental groove.I have been a big fan of the neo-fusion that Billy Sheehan, John Novello and Dennis Chambers have been putting out as the band Niacin for about 15 years now. I've mentioned many times on the show that I'm a huge fan of instrumental jams and whenever these cats get together, I get a big smile on my face. I first came on to them with High Bias' release in 1998, and I played the hell out of my Blood, Sweat & Beers DVD on many a lazy Sunday.

There's no surprise here for fans of the band in terms of the level of musicianship, as each member of the band is one of the foremost instrumentalists in their field. From Chamber's nimble percussive accents, to Novello's lush Hammond flurries, to Sheehan's incredible dexterity on bass, you just can't get enough of this stuff.

The Bottom Line: If you're a Niacin fan, come and get more of the stuff you love. If you're new to this awesome jazz rock trio, do like ol' Samuel L. Jackson says and "hold on to your butts".

Tracks to Keep You Musicians Nice and Humble: Krush, Tone Wheels, Car Crash Red, Cold Fusion, Prelude & Funky Opus, Drifting, Sly Voltage and Triple Strength

- Genghis would die a happy music lover to see these dudes play in a nice, small club...

Cinema Sleep - Make Your Way

This band could be the next big thing in the contemporary metal scene...seriously.It’s becoming clear that the current way of doing things in the music biz of the 21^st century is to release an EP to help build buzz and anticipation, be it for a new album from popular veterans or a debut from intriguing newcomers. The latter situation is where we find Cinema Sleep, whose Make Your Way makes for a tempting sonic appetizer from the young band - and I don’t just  mean young in terms of new; the average age of Cinema Sleep is 22, but you would be understood for believing this is the work of a more mature group of seasoned musicians.

The production is tight and polished but satisfyingly heavy while also being melodic – a winning formula in my book. There’s a lot of influence from numetal and post hardcore but it lies over a foundation of the melodeath I’ve come to enjoy for its heaviness and slick lead guitar work. I could see these guys getting a lot of positive feedback with the various buzz tours every summer. Seriously, there’s no reason these kids couldn’t be the next big thing in the contemporary metal scene.

The Bottom Line: I hope Avenged Sevenfold and Bullet For My Valentine have collected all of their checks and paid off their homes, because this ride wasn’t gonna last forever. There’s a new band in town, and they’re hungry.

Tracks to Make You Throw Out All of Your Non-Black T-Shirts: Light To Shadows, In Dreams and The Response

- Genghis is at that age where he wishes he was half his age again…

Swallow The Sun - Emerald Forest and the Blackbird

Finnish melodic doom metallers Swallow The Sun sound a bit like a much heavier Opeth - and it's great.I don’t often listen to doom metal but really only because of thematic differences compared to sludge or stoner metal. At the risk of offending fans of either camp with my tendency for oversimplification, it’s like the Goths vs the Stoners on the metal tip. Suffice it to say all things being equal, I’d rather get high than cut myself. 

But I’ve got to admit Finland’s Swallow The Sun’s fifth studio effort, Emerald Forest and the Blackbird, is a pretty damn fine album. I haven’t heard any of their previous material, but I really dig their melodic doom sound along with all of its Gothic overtones. The slower pace of the music, and the well-used dynamics that carry ethereal clean vocals to guttural growls to banshee-like screams while maintaining a very listenable melody, make me think of a scenario where the lads of Pink Floyd graduated high school at the turn of the 21^st century. Sure, I don’t understand the lyrics, but I don’t mind much when the atmospheric noodlings play with such a satisfying crunch. So…Uncomfortably Numb?

The Bottom Line: If you miss the time in between Opeth albums, Swallow The Sun may satisfy your Pink Floyd metal jones with great atmospheric melodies over crunchy rhythyms.

Tracks to Make You Both Love and Fear Your Black Light Posters: This Cut Is The Deepest, Cathedral Walls, Hearts Wide Shut, Silent Towers and Of Death And Corruption

- Genghis remembers his uncle’s blacklight poster with the tiger coming out of the jungle…

The Unclean - The Eagle

Who'da thunk that a bar band from Akron, Ohio could self-produce a down and dirty rock album this authentic?Yes, I've spoken before about bar bands, and how they are some of the most basic examples of pure rock and roll abandon. That's not to say that they're all successful at capturing this classic mode of music, just that when it is done well, it's uniquely satisfying. And so goes it for the Akron, Ohio-based rockers The Unclean. Their sophomore album, The Eagle, continues their efforts in the time-honored tradition of "no-frills, riff-heavy blues-based anthems" which is loosely associated with the retro sound that is en vogue these days. It's like ZZ Top and Motörhead's kids met in high school and skipped classes playing tunes in George Thorogood's garage.

I don't say "retro" in a perjorative sense, seeing as I've reviewed a lot of new bands with this old sound and generally like what I'm hearing. What I really dig about The Unclean is their self-reliance. Having played in the smallest of dive bars for years, rather than waiting around for record companies to come calling, they honed their live sound to a razor's edge and captured that on the album themselves (as in DIY production). If I have to find anything wrong with it...uhh...lead singer "Bremmy" (sound familiar?) needs to smoke a lot more cigarettes to get that voice just right.

The Bottom Line: Great bands like Motörhead can't stick around forever, and if someone has to pick up their torch, The Unclean is one of the many throwing their hat into the ring with thrust of their hip and swig of the bottle, in classic rock and roll fashion. Hell, I'll drink to that.

Tracks to Possibly Cause Spontaneous Moustache Growth: On We Go, Live For The Day, Away Too Long, Strange Kind Of Living and Been Gone

 

- Genghis will never be seen in public without a shirt on, and that's a promise...

In The Silence - A Fair Dream Gone Mad

This is one damn fine dark progressive debut from the Sacramento groupIt may seem as though Opeth single-handedly crafted the subgenre of Dark Progressive Metal which seems to be growing faster than any other subgenre of metal these days. Sacramento quartet In The Silence certainly seems to have been highly influenced by the band, as evident on their atmospheric debut, A Fair Dream Gone Mad. Now don't get me wrong, this is a fantastic, original debut album chock full of the things dark progmetal fans dig; haunting acoustic rhythyms, ethereal vocals, tight technical production, and moments of satisfying balls and chunkTM. This album sounds fucking great.

While the band formed back in 2007, their musical synchronicity was evident from the beginning and that cohesion can be heard on every track. And while it's easy to say "they sound like this other band", make no mistake that In The Silence should soon be making their name known in the dark progressive subgenre with some really great songwriting and an impressively seasoned sound for such a new band.

The Bottom Line: Fans of prog bands a la Opeth or Porcupine Tree should thoroughly enjoy In The Silence as a new subgenre favorite, but given a chance they may soon secure their own place in the field and have bands compared to their sound. Fantastic stuff.

Tracks to Make You Light Incense and Lie On The Floor With Your Headphones On: The whole album

- Genghis needs to get his mind right...