If you would have asked me two years ago what I thought of E1 Music, first of all I would have corrected you and said their name is really Koch Records, but then I would have gone on to say that they released two lukewarm albums: In Flames A Sense of Purpose and Hatebreed's self-titled album. The former wasn't even technically released through E1, but just distributed in the US with minimal promotion or marketing. Both of these releases were rather "meh" as far as I was concerned.
And then in 2010 E1 released High on Fire's Snakes for the Divine. This album was quite buzz worthy in the heavy metal community last year and even appeared on several best of 2010 lists. While it did suffer a little bit from the jarring smooth and crisp production that always occurs when a metal band goes major, it was still a legitimate follow up to their 2007 Relapse Records album Death Is This Communion. It was still the slow and dirty metal we know and love, but now in a slightly more accessible package that greatly expanded the band's fan base. So with the release of Snakes for the Divine, I started to be more interested in this label. And it looks like this year that will pay off...
E1 will kick off the year with Crowbar's Sever the Wicked Hand. And what a kick off it will be. Formed in the late 1980s, Crowbar helped define the dirtiest of all the metals: sludge metal. Fans of the band have been eagerly waiting for new material from these guys since their last album Lifesblood for the Downtrodden which was released six years ago in 2005. Then E1 will release Darkest Hour's The Human Romance. I'm not sure this band really needs much introduction. Either you know them and you love every album they've ever released, or you've never heard of them and no one cares about you. Anyways, after spending a decade in the artistic toilet known more commonly as Victory Records, Darkest Hour could not wait to jump ship and start anew. In fact, the concept of cycles and rebirth was the theme to their 2007 album The Eternal Return. While I was a little skeptical with the release of "Savor the Kill," subsequent release of information and song clips have reassured me that these guys will not disappoint.
And that only brings us to the end of February!
The prog-nerds will also have their fill of great music through E1 this year. After going through several major line up changes, The Human Abstract will bestow upon us what will without a doubt be an incredible album. The group dropped their hardly memorable vocalist Nathan Ells for Travis Richter formerly of the scene band From First to Last. The metal world, and Sarah Palin, gave a collective WTF? How can this scrawny little emo kid survive in a progressive technical metal band? The release of "Faust" and "Patterns" proved that Richter was a diamond in the rough and spent far too much time as a guitarist when he should have been upfront and centered. Their album Digital Veil will be released in March. E1 also recently announced the signing of the prog/folk metal band Fair to Midland and anticipate a new album sometime this year. Their 2007 album Fables from a Mayfly was co-produced by the legendary Serj Tankian of System of a Down, who also released the album through his own label. Fair to Midland gained some minor attention when they opened for Tankian during his solo tour. Keep your eyes peeled for that.
The Human Abstract's "Patterns" from
their 2011 album Digital Veil.
Also, I notice Vision of Disorder is listed on the label's active roster, and I know they've been promising a new album for years now. This New York group had a hand in helping define what's now known as metalcore. Now-a-days the term "metalcore" can make a metal purist cringe. The 2000s variety took the worst aspects of hardcore and metal and also blended in a little Hot Topic-shopper mentality. In the 1990s, before metalcore was about eyeliner and lyrics that mentioned macabre themes for no apparent reason (case in point: Atreyu's "Bleeding Mascara"), the mixture of hardcore and metal was still a sensical move that picked up where Black Flag and Discharge left off. You may also be more familiar with Bloodsimple, an alternative metal side project with Tim Williams and Mike Kennedy of Vision of Disorder that saw some radio success with singles like "Out to Get You" and "Sell Me Out." Vision of Disorder haven't released an album since 2001's From Bliss to Devastation, but I think it's about time they crawl out from behind their rock and show Bullet for My Valentine and August Burns Red how it's REALLY done.
No comments:
Post a Comment