Monday 22 October 2012

Snailking - Samsara - Swedish Doom/Sludge

Things have really kicked off over the past few months for Sweden's Snailking. Without doing down the bands own hard work in the process, a post by one of the members on the website Reddit a few months ago was picked up by users of the site and the band gained real interest very quickly. Within a few days of the original post, a follow-up was posted saying that Snailking had been approached by a record label. This week, their album - Samsara - was released by ConSouling Sounds.

With influences from the likes of Ufomammut and Sleep, this album is an absolute stormer. From the first atmospheric notes of the 14 minute opener 'Shelter', to the dying end of 'Samsara', the record has a feel that is rare in debuts. Every part of the album compliments the next, from the spoken opening lines and spacey guitar work through the introduction to the crushing, chugging monolith of the rest of the track. Vocally, the track leaves nothing out, gutteral death growls compliment the clean vocals which in places feel like David Bowie and Maynard James Keenan serenading one another.

This band is very exciting to me personally, and early feedback on the record is overwhelmingly positive.

Samsara is available for download at Snailking's Bandcamp, whilst physical CD copies can be ordered from the ConSouling Sounds page.


More bloggery to come soon, including a feature on five new and rising British metal bands.

Bastard out.

Wednesday 3 October 2012

The Big Metal Band Feature - Disfracture



Hailing from the same city as the Kaiser Chiefs, The Pigeon Detectives and Chumbawumba, Disfracture are sorting Leeds out good and proper. This is a band that can't quite be put into one genre or another, with a huge array of influences and songs containing elements of death metal, groove, symphonic and progressive sounds. They kindly spoke to Big Metal Bastard through the medium of electronic mail.

Formed in early 2011, the band has developed in terms of both style and influence. What started as a performance module project at university quickly became independent of that and became an entity in it's own right. The band have overcome the problems of balancing music and jobs, ground through the recording process and are now well on their way to establishing themselves as a force to be reckoned with.

With each band member being influenced by a huge variety of music, to go for one particular standout influence is difficult, Meshuggah are mentioned, but it is clear when listening to their stuff that the intention was never to become a copy of them or any other band, instead developing their own sound that is not limited to one school of heavy metal thought.

Gigs for Disfracture are listed on their Facebook page under tour dates, although priority is at the moment on getting a new EP out (hopefully, they say) around December of this year, to be released via their Bandcamp site, where a free 3 track sampler is available to download (It is also available from their Soundcloud page here, if you prefer) featuring my personal favourite track - False Prophecy (which has an insane growl right at the start, check it out), Scarred Remains, and Commander to the Throne of Jeopardy. Three intensely heavy tracks for no cost, can't argue with that!

When asked who they would most like to open for, the response is a little odd - Lady Gaga, "to watch the faces of 50,000 unsuspecting victims experience the brutality that is Disfracture". When you put it like that, they may well have a point. Terrifying an O2 packed full of children would be quite the sight.


Disfracture are one of the most exciting bands around at the moment, combining brutality and raw aggression with complex musicianship and a hell of a lot of hard work, it can only be a matter of time before Disfracture are given the attention they deserve, they're certainly going to be a name to look out for in 2013.