I know my summary starts off by taking a slight jab at some old greats (no Nickelback is not an old great; but they too are monotonous and decrepit) but the fact is news is NEWS. You don't see news channels talking about things that happened ten years ago. So why do we as music news talk about the same damn bands and the same CDs we have all heard thousands of times. "Back In Black" is never going to be any different. Sure the immigrant song was monumental to me as a seven year old boy... But thirteen years and a couple thousand plays is ENOUGH. Time of your life was a very emotional song to hear... The first three hundred times. If you are tired of Axl and Slash controversies; possible Black Sabbath reunions and interviews with Zakk Wylde teaching the way to put as many pinch harmonics in a song as possible then my articles are for you.
The band I am going to touch on in this article is Today I Caught The Plague. Now Today I Caught The Plague (TICTP) is a melodic band from Ottawa, Ontario and I have the pleasure of calling them friends. They just finished a tour of the United States with Protest The Hero, Periphery and Jeff Loomis as well as the metal adventure tour with Scale the Summit.
A band with just one E.P. ("Ms. Mary Mallon") and one full record ("LORE") to some might seem trivial but history has shown most bands are best at the near relative start. ("Ride The Lightning", "Dookie", "All Killer, No Filler", "Watch Out!") This band has guitar riffs unmatchable by any except the virtuosos of axeology A la Steve Vai and Rusty Cooley. With a drummer who was invited to join BTBAM and a bassist with the stage presence of a gremlin on crack cocaine. It's no wonder they are considered by many in the scene locally and abroad to put on some of the best live shows anyone can offer. This is all before we even touch on the completely original and powerful voice of their singer David Journeaux. Dave is not only one of the nicest people personality wise; his screams are similar to a banshee tearing through a field of soldiers but then switches to the high pitched songbird singing many can only marvel at.
If you are a metal fan it is worth your while to check out their first music video for the song "From Bulwark To Bane" on YouTube. Thanks to Krank.TV.
That sums up the first article I have ever posted to UG and the first of many "Music That Is Actually Worth A Damn!" Have a ridiculous weekend but lets all make sure were still around come Monday!
Nice idea for posting this article!May I suggest you a few bands that are not known enough so you can present in some of the future articles? Check out Dorje and Sylosis from UK.
Also,"From Bulwark to Bane" is a great song. I'll check out this band.
Cheers!
This, all those new deathcore/djent bands have stupid names, name is supposed to be a name, for example, Slayer, is a name, Between the Buried and Me, is not a name. I dont have anything against BTBAM music, but the name sucks.
1) Gtfo! 2) This band is more prog rock than metal, despite the writer's claim that they are metal. 3) Just because you don't like metal doesn't mean you have be a doorknob about it and call metal "crap".
Well guess what, there is music without distortion, quit being a doorknob and yelling at people who don't need a can of bees going through their speakers.
Hey, guess what? If you don't like it, don't comment about it. Just because you don't like doesn't mean you have to be a "[it's like] a can of bees going through [my] speakers". That was the damn point.
As a big fan of metal, even I get annoyed by how many articles on this site are about metal bands. It's cool to expand your musical tastes and actually get a new influence from something.
Thanks .I'm going to hear Sylosis live in December(they're supporting Fear Factory and Devin Townsend Project).I cannot wait to walk into the venue they're playing at while wearing my Stag T-shirt and buy the Monolith and some other merch by them.
Greetings from a Sylosis fanboy \m/(+_+)\m/
As for Dorje, I love their combination of various influences with modern approach to creating something unique. I had been listening to live footage of Aeromancy being performed in Manchester when I stumbled upon this article.
Both bands are incredible and have established their own sound, and the best thing is they keep getting better .
Greetings from a Sylosis fanboy! \m/(+_+)\m/
That said, this band is hardly on the level that the writer advertised them as being. The solo is rather run of the mill. The singing is meh. The riffs are barely metal. The only good part of the band is the drummer. Yes, the band is progressive. However, they're hardly worth this article. If anything, I'm wondering what CC approved this. This belongs in the Thursday Rocks.
Wow... couldn't agree more Colohue. Is this an article or an ad?? Way to write your first article about your friend's band. That really gives you come credibility...
Summary; "Guys, stop listening to all that old dumb music that has withstood the test of time and has proven itself to be groundbreaking/beautiful/monumental, and listen to my friends' prog/metal stuff that sounds like every other prog/metal stuff you've heard ever." If you're going to write a guest article for a guitar website, maybe don't bash some of the best musicians out there. I don't know how this made front page...c'mon UG.
no no. UG clearly agrees with what I have said. All anyone ever talks about in music is old news. I love all the old stuff; but there is never going to be a new breakout article on the production of the black album. So why do we constantly rework old things into repetitive boring articles. You may not agree but apparently since this is on the front page; UG feels its time for a fresh spin. I am trying to target any and all relevant music that deserves some words. I didnt advertise; but yes my first article is going to be for my friends. I have many others friends that play in bands that suck that I would never put my neck on the line for. These guys I would. Have a nice day!
dude **** these dipshits that did not get the point. keep doing these then between this and thursday rocks we might actually get new good shit to talk about.
Well at least your mate's band's got a lot of essentially free PR, so job done, I guess, but still... A bit crass.
In terms of the band, ignoring the dull name for a mo, they're technically very good, but musically? Ironic for a melodic band's song to not have a good sense of Melody though it may be, but it kind of defeats the point when everyone's too busy trying to demonstrate their abilities to pay attention to the flow. Sorry to say, but to me, it's not really a band as much as it is a group of guys showing off without the intelligence to take it in turns.
If your band's name is a sentence or phrase, they probably suck really bad. Cases in point: Bring Me The Horizon, Protest The Hero, Pierce The Veil, Bless The Fall, Verb The Noun... Damn, should I go on?
There's too much going on, the music it's like the band's name... too many for a regular person to process, it's ok if you are a musician and you like this for it's technicallity, harmony or whatever thing related to real knowledge about music, something that the regular listener doesn't have, the reason why they always talk about old stuff because they have balls and heart, they reached all kinds of people not only musicians, something nowadays bands just can't seem to do, I'm sorry but I'm gonna quote something I read in other comment
"Summary; Guys, stop listening to all that old dumb music that has withstood the test of time and has proven itself to be groundbreaking/beautiful/monumental, and listen to my friends' prog/metal stuff that sounds like every other prog/metal stuff you've heard ever"
This is the same as most new metal influenced by this so called "djent" (awfull name for a music stile btw)
The band it's good but they aren't "groundbreaking/beautiful/monumental" (at least what they are doing on the song you posted) If they don't change and evolve I can easily say that everyone can live their lives without ever listen to them and it will be the same (no offense just trying to give an constructive critic)
"it's ok if you are a musician and you like this for it's technicallity, harmony or whatever thing related to real knowledge about music"
There's not a ton of technicality or harmony. I'm not discounting that it takes some skill to play what they played. I'm not going to say it was technical or had great harmony. If anything, it was riffs with lead parts -- and none of it led to a cohesive whole in one's ear.
OH MY GOD SOMEONE ELSE HAS ACTUALLY HEARD OF THIS BAND!!!
I actually heard of these guys the first time when they followed me on Twitter for some reason, downloaded their album and was impressed enough to buy a physical copy and a T-shirt. I saw them on the tour that was mentioned in the article and they blew my mind... but no one else I know besides me has heard of them
...I have nothing nice to say about this other than they can play circles around me. Just sounds like more boring djent-prog in the vein of Periphery to me.
That said, however, the entire instrumental section of my band(which, ironically, is SUPPOSED to be power metal) been forcing Periphery on me all summer trying to make me become "t3h djentz l0l0l" so we can play music in 19/16 instead of power metal like we agreed on, and I can't stand them, so maybe that's why this hurt my ears so much.
You haven't listened to much Periphery, have you? Because Periphery and these guys are not a comparison.
Also, what exactly is wrong with playing in 19/16 or 9/8 or whatever other odd rhythm? I would think, assuming your band has the musical capability to do it, that you could play power metal in whatever rhythm that's humanly possible.
"I would think, assuming your band has the musical capability to do it, that you could play power metal in whatever rhythm that's humanly possible."
Yeah, but you wouldn't want to. People cant dance/move to stuff in esoteric time signatures. That stuff appeals to musicians who love the technicality and weirdness, but not the average punter. And for a band to be successful they need to appeal to the average punter, and preferably the female type too.
I wouldn't call this metal, then again I like my metal thrashy. I also wouldn't bet on them making through the test of fashion (cause this style of metal is pretty much a fashion, like most "core" styles of metal), let alone the test of time (how many are going to remember them in 10 years?). Awful name, awful song, props on the PR though.
Kalisia. Write an article about them. They're a French metal band that have written one album (Cybion) which is a modern day masterpiece. It is the best album I have ever heard hands down and I do not think they are well known throughout the community (though I don't know for sure).
thanks for all the feedback! I am looking into all these bands you guys have mentioned; some pretty amazing stuff being thrown around here! I have respect for all the old greats; just dont think they are relevant in music NEWS. just like i have respect for world war 1 veterans but dont want to see articles on how the tommy gun from 1941 functions in a gun magazine...id much rather see how the brand new thomas 2012 works. Everyone should be able to see the merit in that. Cheers!
i dont respect your poorly disguised advertisement and i really disagree with your opinion for this article. yeah sure UG keeps rehashing the same old topics for articles, but articles have nothing to do with classic MUSIC. the music is an art. a newer painting isnt better than the mona lisa or anything because its new. new music isnt better because its new.
We have Thursday rocks for showing new bands. We don't need MiKE Hendryckz biased idea of what's new and exciting, especially not if you idea of "new and exciting" is to showcase your friend's band. I really don't want any more articles from you. This was deplorable.
i've listened to old songs a thousand times and i'll do it again . i haven't heard any new band worth listening to... they usually have one or two good songs and the rest is crap
well each to his own i guess. But I don't agree with the fact that all new bands have almost no good material. Maybe try finding some other bands to listen to. There are some really good, and new bands out there that have amazing music.
bringing in steve vai was just unwarranted. so was suggesting that one should be tired of the "old greats." music is timeless and we are all musically in different places as well.
Not to mention that Steve Vai is hardly a tired "old great". If the writer listened to Vai's new material, he'd realize that there's a damn reason Vai is considered great. Hell, if he listened to his OLD material.
The summary on the front page reads "Nickelback, Metallica, Green Day, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin... What is there to say that hasn't already been said."
Refraining from comments on that odd list, the answer to your question is "Nothing that these TICTP guys have to say." Horribly generic in their niche.
A waste of an UG article.
Ask that band about the Pysidius reuninon show haha
Pysidius was a local band but they broke up. TICTP was the headliner and Pysidius were before them with their one night only reunion. After Pysidius finished, only about a tenth of the audience stayed. I grew up with them, and have seen them play many times. The internet's opinion is: this genre of music is boring, and this band is more so
Quote ~ MiKe Hendryckz " I know my summary starts off by taking a slight jab at some old greats (no Nickelback is not an old great; but they too are monotonous and decrepit) but the fact is news is NEWS. You don't see news channels talking about things that happened ten years ago. "
From where did you get the notion that music = news?
Why on earth would that need to be the case?
Good music = good music, regardless of the decade from where it came.
Music is an artifact of human expression, not some throwaway news article item to be forgotten next week. You don't see art galleries dismissing works because they were created a few years ago.
Music is often about universal themes, and a song written about financial strife in the 1940s great depression is just as relevant in the 2010s recession.
If you need to hear new sounds to keep you interested in the music, that doesnt mean that you can only like something penned on the 32nd August '12. It means you need to hear something you haven't heard yet, something that's newto you , and there is so much of that has already been written and recorded over the past century.
Just because it's not new doesn't mean it's not fresh - but if you're bored of a song, stop listening to it, that's hardly rocket science; but that does not mean the music isn't worth a damn to somebody else, so it's arrogant to declare on behalf of your readers that these artists are bland and that you can see the light. Don't devalue stuff just because it isn't your cup of tea.
So yeah, seek out innovation and seek out pioneers, but bear in mind that today's innovators are no more innovating than the innovators of every genre in every period of musical history.
You seem more interested in fashion, though. One the other hand, you could try writing an article that's worth a damn.
Dude, you are my hero. I have been saying this for so long. We live in a world where guitarists from the 60's and 70's are known as the greatest guitarists to ever live. I can name 20 guitarists who could outdo all the "greats" posted on this old fashioned website. Before 40 year old dudes come at me saying "Yeah technicality doesn't mean anything IF YOU DON'T HAVE SOUL" message me and i will enlighten you.
Just a few bands worth mentioning:
1. Between The Buried and Me: Listen to "Ants of the Sky" from their album Colors.
2. PsyOpus: Listen to "A Murder to Child" from their album Odd Senses.
3. Devin Townsend: Everything this man has to offer is brilliant.
4. The Dillinger Escape Plan: "Weekend Sexchange" from their album Calculating Infinity for all you drum nerds out there.
5. Protest The Hero: "The Dissentience" from their album Fortress.
You're wrong. Playing fast isn't a new phenomenon, and complaining about 'soul' makes you look like a fool;
1.Jimmy Bryant
2.Al Di Meola
3.Paco De Lucia
4.George Benson
5.Chet Atkins
6.Django Reinhardt
7.Allan Tittyfuc king Holdsworth
I'm sure any of those guys would 'outdo' any of your greats.
But that statement, and yours like it, is quite retarded.
Music is subjective.
Music is not a contest.
Fast =/= better
Slow bends =/= better
It is all in the ear of the beholder. Because it's fuc king music.
That said, I do think you are quite ignorant of the awesome guitarists that laid the foundations for the guys you mentioned to widdle over.
I do think that if any of your guys met any of my guys yours would bow down at their feet in respect of the sheer musicality, as well as instrumental skill - which would certainly cut short the need for a cringeworthy guitar battle.
I agree with you about those guys who set the foundations, but I support the idea of this article: to promote new talent and broaden people's musical taste. Just because Mike Hendryckz is writing about new bands doesn't mean people should stop listening to the old greats.
On a sidenote, Allan Holdsworth is GOD (and one of the nicest people I've ever met in my life).
Honestly, I think that why those bands still tend to be popular and are continuously talked about is because there are kids every day who discover these bands along with the new ones. And "shockingly" enough they actually enjoy the bands to the point that they want to learn the music or meet these so-called legends. And if you personally, are sick of hearing the songs after listing to them over 1000 times then go find the new bands. Help them get known and become famous musicians that will one days become famous. The only reason that people get famous is because of their fans. They only become legends when they keep their fans. And they only keep their fans if the music has meaning and they are considerate of the ones who support them the most... You don't see as many jerk bands as you see super nice awesome bands out there. Mainly it's just because they can't get recognized. The fans see them, notice they are rude and don't support them... But hey that's just my opinion and my belief. Like whatever band you want to. Just don't forget the other older generation of bands that the new generation looked up to for inspiration.
Brilliant bands cant wait for monolith 
and buy the Monolith and some other merch by them.
Also,"From Bulwark to Bane" is a great song. I'll check out this band.
Cheers!