Music Non Stop: Instrumental albums

Instrumentals have always been hit or miss with me. The first instrumental I heard was Metallica's Orion. Clearly, a hit. In fact, that song sort of set the bar for other instrumental songs.

Instrumental albums are usually a miss for me. It wasn't until Animals as Leaders released their album a couple of years ago that I realized instrumental albums could be good.

Well it just so happens that there are already 3 instrumental albums on my top albums of the year playlist already. Best part? You can download them all for free or "pay what you wish". There seems to be a trend now of musicians putting out instrumental albums for people to enjoy. These bands aren't signed, but you couldn't tell by the production values.

First up, Dan Dankmeyer and his album Arcologies. This is very similar to Animals as Leaders, which made my top 10 in 2009, so of course this peaked my interest. It's not total shredding. I can't describe it, but he has a way of keeping each song interesting. There is jazz, metalcore, progressive metal, and classic metal. If you are a fan of Animals as Leaders, then this is a no brainer.


Next up is some industrial instrumental music from Tyrants of Death, and their album Dark Space. I thought that Before the Fall was a good mix of Fear Factory and Strapping Young Lad, well ToD is in the same vein with even more SYL thrown in. There is also a ton of electronic samples thrown into the mix as well. This is that class Devin Townsend "wall of sound" music that you either love or hate. The drumming never stops. I absolutely love what they have managed to create. The guitars have that classic Meshuggah sound to them as well.


Last but certainly not least is Soul Cycle, not the greatest name I guess. But musically, they might be the best of the 3. They play classic thrash/melodic death metal. Their debut album is pure greatness. If you could imagine a swedish death metal band or thrash band doing an instrumental album it would probably end up like this. The solos are melodic, but can go into shred mode at any time. The drumming isn't just blast beats either. They play an important part to the melodies as well. If Metallica was to make an instrumental album, it would probably sound something similar to this.


I think the worst thing I have heard about these bands is that they are thinking of getting vocalists to sing over their music. I can't imagine any vocalist being able to make this any better, but whatever. These bands are all unsigned and have their music out there for everyone to enjoy. Go take a listen.

Music Non Stop: More new bands

Time to change it up a bit and get back to something that makes me happy...music.

A couple of new bands (new to me at least) have found their way onto my radar. First one up is Before the Fall. I read about them on The NewReview. The samples they had were pretty awesome. When I hear them play I hear some Fear Factory/Divine Heresy mixed with Strapping Young Lad, yeah that's a winning combination. The drums are insane. Nonstop with those classic stop and go riffs on top of it. It's been done before, no doubt, but these guys are right behind those bands above. In fact, if clean vocals turn you off a bit ala Fear Factory, you won't get that here. Straight screaming. I checked out most of the album on their myspace page and was even more impressed than before. Hopefully the album maintains the brutality I have heard so far, but this is good. For those solo fans, there is some soloing, but nothing fast or technical...and from the songs I heard, not in every song. Check out the intro song

Next up is another female fronted band, Izegrim, but unlike other female fronted albums the girl is a screamer much like Arch Enemy. Once again, this isn't ground breaking because Arch Enemy has been doing the exact same thing for years now. And yet, once again, it's good. In fact, there are times that I think I am listening to Arch Enemy. The screams are good, don't get me wrong. Musically it's solid as well. I would say though that it is more thrash oriented than Arch Enemy. This isn't a band that is a one trick pony and puts the girl in the front why? Because the girl also plays bass and not that bad either. I haven't heard all of the album yet, but what I have heard makes me want to hear more.

Here is a video from their last album, Point of No Return;


Both of these bands remind me of Lazarus A.D. Their debut reminds me so much of Exodus, the vocal delivery and the music was all too familiar, but it wasn't a carbon copy. They stood out from the Neo-Thrash movement. These two bands are the same. They sound like other great bands, but they manage to write songs that help them get out of that pigeon hole.