THE RESISTANCE: “TORTURE TACTICS”

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Apr 212015
 

 

(DGR reviews the new EP by The Resistance.)

Torture Tactics is a weird release. The release itself isn’t weird, but as a whole Torture Tactics is an odd duck amongst EP releases. More on that in a second, as some folks may need some quick catching up.

Torture Tactics is the new EP by Gothenburg, Sweden-based melodeath supergroup The Resistance. If you’ve never crossed paths with The Resistance before, their members have quite the histories in other bands and somehow found their ways into one congealed group, constructed out of some fairly big names to make some pretty straightforward and punishing thrash and death.

For instance, in my case, The Resistance were a way to keep track of the Dimension Zero gentlemen, as both guitarists Jesper Strömblad — yes, he of ex-In Flames fame — and Glenn Ljungström have spent time within their ranks. Also on the roster, in terms of slightly more recognizable names, is Marco Aro, current vocalist for The Haunted — although at the time of The Resistance’s inception he hadn’t stepped back into that role yet. Continue reading »

THE RESISTANCE: “SCARS”

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Jul 192013
 

(DGR reviews the debut album by The Resistance, out now on Armoury Records.)

Everyone around these here parts knows I enjoy a bit of the melo-death scene, so it shouldn’t come as a shock that we were eventually going to come around to talking about The Resistance. It’s been a pretty good year for that scene, with a couple of groups firing on all cylinders for the first time in a long time and just dishing out absolutely amazing discs. When word got out that Jesper Stromblad of In Flames was involved in a group called The Resistance way back in late 2011/early 2012, I immediately perked up. I felt that he was responsible for a lot of the speed that In Flames had, and when he left, there was a big gap in that band’s sound. It seemed that he took the speed-playing with him to bands like Dimension Zero and now The Resistance.

The Resistance are something of a melo-death supergroup, composed of former (or once former and now current) members of groups such as The Haunted, In Flames, Carnal Forge, and many others. They’re a group formed of long-time veterans, so it’s not surprising how quickly the “supergroup” tag became affixed to them during the media blitz that lead up to this album’s release. Scars, which hit in late May, is a very solid slab of melo-death, but it also includes some other interesting ingredients as well.

Scars kicks off with “Clearing The Slate”, a pretty loud statement about what The Resistance are up to. It’s a quick, roughly two-minute flame-blast of pretty straightforward death. It sounds as if it were designed to rid the listener of prior expectations based on the previous band memberships of this group’s roster. However, things change the moment the vocals kick in, as The Haunted’s Marco Aro roars throughout the whole song, and by extension, the whole CD. Continue reading »

HIT AND RUN

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
May 062013
 

What do you do when you get flooded with tantalizing news and new music over the span of 24 hours, and it’s all too much to cover in your usual long-winded style of prose (I don’t mean your long-winded style, I mean mine)? You swallow all those words and you do this . . . really short blurbs about many items . . . from Howl, The Resistance, Strychnia, The Absence, Darkane, Mordbrand, and After the Burial. Whew!

HOWL

Today, Rhode Island’s Howl premiered a new official music video for “Demonic”, a song off their new album Bloodlines, which is out now and which features some incredibly eye-catching cover art. “Demonic” is a cross between scorching and crushing. Scorshing? It’s catchy, too. The video comes next . . . Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: THE RESISTANCE, ENDEZZMA, RAINBOWDRAGONEYES, AND MEDICATED

 Free Shit, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Dec 022012
 

Here’s a daily round-up of new metal I discovered today that I decided was worth your time. And, of course, who better than I to determine what is and isn’t worth your time? Such important decisions can’t be left up to you, because you would fritter away the hours doing ridiculous things like eating, sleeping, playing with your nether bits, and bathing your hedgehog.

What I have for you in this post: The Resistance (Sweden), Endezzma (Norway), Rainbowdragoneyes (U.S.), and Medicated (Finland).

THE RESISTANCE

If you wondered what had become of founding In Flames guitarist Jesper Strömblad after he left that band in 2010, The Resistance is what happened to him. Along with Jesper, the band also includes guitarist Glenn Ljungström (another In Flames alum), vocalist Marco Aro (ex-The Haunted, Facedown), and drummer Chris Barkensjö (ex-Kaamos, ex-Grave). [At one time, the band also included bass-player Alex Losbäck Holstad (ex-Despite), but he was ejected a few months ago.]

So yes, you could call this a super-group, but The Resistance insist that they are an on-going band and not a one-off project. Their debut EP, Rise From Treason, is now scheduled for release by EarMusic on January 25, with a full-length album projected for next April. Continue reading »

ART, AND A SONG

 Metal News  6 Responses »
Jul 252011
 

Two new works of album art caught my eye today, and I thought I’d pass them around. Also, a bit earlier  this afternoon a song began streaming from a band about which I’ve been very curious, because it includes ex-In Flames guitarist and band co-founder Jesper Strömblad, plus veterans of many other bands. So we’ll finish off this post by listening to that song from The Resistance. Evil corporate overlords have forced the removal of that Mastodon song we posted earlier today, so we have to replace it with something, right?

WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM

The first piece of album art disclosed today is the cover for Celestial Lineage, the fourth album from Washington’s own Wolves in the Throne Room. The album by these American black metal heavyweights will be released on September 13 by Southern Lord Records. The artwork was created by photographic artist Alison Scarpulla. In concept, it joins the album with its two predecessors, Two Hunters and Black Cascade.

Don’t let the natural setting of the cover image fool you, though. Although WITTR’s music is inspired by mystical thought and by the unique natural setting of the Pacific Northwest, I think it’s safe to assume this won’t be the kind of music embraced by your average plaid-shirted tree-hugger. Expect a flood-tide of eviscerating power.

After the jump, we’ve got the track listing as well as tour dates for WITTR, plus a striking Travis Smith album cover for the latest offering from a band called Redemption — plus that song. Continue reading »