May 042010
 

Let’s conduct a little survey. Which of the following styles of music do you like?

a) Math metal
b) Metalcore
c) Technical death metal
d) Progressive metal
e) Cool jazz
f)  Rap
g) All of the above

If you picked (g), then have we got a band for you! Long Island’s Painted in Exile self-released a three-song EP last year called Revitalized that includes all those genres — not from song to song, but within each song. Okay, we’re exaggerating a little. Only one of the EP’s songs includes rap, and it’s a brief bit at the start.

We can guess what you’re thinking — that if these dudes are any good, they must be showing off; that this high degree of schizophrenia can’t possibly maintain coherence; that you’d like to see world peace in your lifetime but aren’t hopeful about it.

To which we say: These dudes really are good; they may be showing off a little, but if you got it, flaunt it; the songs do hang together amazingly well; and we’re not putting any money on world peace either (those have got to be the longest odds in Vegas, hands down).

We’d like to have been flies on the wall while Painted in Exile were writing the three songs on this EP. But however they worked out when and how to shift from one style of playing (and singing) to another, Revitalized is a creative fireball of attention-grabbing music.   (more after the jump . . .)

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May 032010
 

My NCS collaborator IntoTheDarkness listens to all sorts of metal, but he’s got a particular weakness for deathcore — and he’s not embarrassed to admit it. There might be a deathcore band somewhere in the world he hasn’t heard yet, but I wouldn’t bet money on it. So when he told me that Italy’s Corroosion (pictured above) was really worth checking out, I couldn’t ignore that.

At the same time, he pushed me to check out a band from Long Island called Painted in Exile, which had been recommended to him by one of the dudes in Long Island’s Ever Forthright (a kick-ass band in their own right).

In both cases, IntoTheDarkness proved to be as reliable as ever. Both bands are worth some attention. Today we’re giving it to Corroosion, and tomorrow, Painted in Exile. (And by the way, these bands sound nothing alike.)

CORROOSION

Yes, we wondered about that name too, and no, it’s not a typo. This band is from Turin, and after releasing EP’s in 2007 and 2008, they put out their first album (on Rising Records) in 2009. Called Punish the Mind, it’s indeed a punisher — but in a good way. Now, if you’re dead set against deathcore, this album isn’t going to convert you. But if you’re a fan of the genre when it’s done right, or you’re still trying to make up your mind, this is a damned fine example of deathcore’s visceral appeal.   (more after the jump, including songs . . .) Continue reading »