RECORDS OF THEIR YEARS...with South Louisiana sludge infused progressive duo Radiant Knife

Hailing from South Louisiana, Radiant Knife plays the sort of sludge-infused progressive metal popularized by fellow southerners Mastodon, but play the style very much in their own way.  Their new album “Science Fiction” is packed with inventive song structures and trampling riffs that are underscored by a strong sense of melody.

Although often lumped into the post-metal category, Radiant Knife's broad sonic spectrum lands somewhere between experimental projects such as Zebulon Pike, King Crimson, “Willpower” era Today is the day and Zombi. Today we’re excited not only be premiered a fantastic new track “Suffer Under God” but Greg Travasos (drums) and Stephen Sheppert (guitar, vocals, keys) chat to us about their “Records of their Years”.  Check it out below.

SL: Favourite album from the year you were born?

Greg:  Motörhead, “Ace Of Spades”.

What can I say it's a classic, plus it’s the only thing that I liked out of that year that I can find. Really there self titled is the jam but I wasn't born in 77’. Also Phil Taylor rips.

Stephen:  Probably Rush, “2112”.  I was born in 76, and although this is not my favourite album by Rush it’s a good album.  Also I believe AC/DC’s “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” was released that year also so that’s up there as well.

SL: First album you bought with your own money?

Greg:  Metallica,”...And justice For All”. Yeah, I was at a K-Mart if those exist anymore, where cassette tapes came in oversized plastic things. I remember my cousin telling me to get it because they had lyrics that said “Put your Mother to death” I thought that was pretty sick so I got the cassette, and loved it since. Heaviest album I had at 11.

Stephen:  Now that I really think about it, it was probably Guns n Roses, “Appetite for Destruction”.  I would sit in front of MTV for hours figuring out all the hair metal stuff on guitar. My pops was/is a rocker and didn’t limit any of my music choices.  Most of the time he bought the tape/record before I did.

SL: Favourite non metal / rock album?

Greg:  Father John Misty “I love you Honeybear”. Great compositions, songwriting and lyrics. I have much relatable laughter with his lyrics and cynicism. Much relatable truths I can see in my day to day life. Also could be a comedy album as well.

Stephen:  Polvo, “Exploded Drawing”, or really any of their albums.  Some great dissonant guitar work and great songwriting on those albums.  They have a knack for keeping it low key, dark and angular. All good stuff.

SL: Favourite album of all time?

Greg: This is always are hard question to answer, as I don’t really have a favourite album of all time.  I like a shit ton of albums, but Suffocation,“Pierced from Within” definitely stepped up heaviness in metal for me when I was younger. Listened to a lot of death metal, punk and grindcore in my younger days and this was the go to then. Crazy riffs, time changes, low growls, sick drumming.

Stephen:  King Crimson, “Red”.  When Dillinger Escape Planunleashed “Under the Running Board”, that started a whole musical journey into off timed/progged out music that eventually led me to the source of all that stuff.  That source IS King Crimson, “Red”.It’s a great album, but when listening to it, it’s also like paying homage to my elders.

SL:Favourite album (s) of 2018?

Greg:  YOB, “Our Raw Heart” Heavy and emotional crushing, jammed this album a couple of times. Atmospheric and cool. You can feel Mike Scheidt’s pain in this album, which explains this album title.

Stephen:  YOB, “Our Raw Heart” as well.  I’ve never been a YOBworshipper like some but to me this album brings a more positive, over the horizon emotional vibe compared to their previous work.  It’s shoegazish at times and you can definitely tell some of the songs originated on acoustic.

SL:...and finally The last album you bought

Greg: Spazz, “La Revancha”.I had this CD a long time ago, lost it, recently repurchased. Short fast bay area  skater grindcore. I remember playing the shit out of this in high school. Definitely brings back memories of how shitty and awesome the late 90’s were.

Stephen:  King Crimson, “Discipline” reissue on vinyl.  Not my favourite album by them but the song “Frame by Frame” itself probably spawned countless math oriented bands/songs, including much of Don Caballero’s catalogue.

“Science Fiction”is available to preorder/buy here

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Dead Empires, "Designed to Disappear"

By: Mark Ambrose


Album Type: Full Length

Date Released:23/02/2018

Label: Silent Pendulum Records

 

“Witnessed live and through my speakers, “Designed to Disappear” is a juggernaut of a record – one that hops easily between genres while remaining the work of a distinct, remarkable quartet.  I’m onboard for whatever challenging, inspiring output they have in store.”

“Designed to Disappear” CD//CS//DD//LP track listing

1. Spectacular Ruin

2. The Form

3. Slay Rider

4. Reverse Speak

5. A Summertime Song

6. Ones and Zeros

7. Ergot (feat. John Carbone)

8. Designed to Disappear

The Review:        

The term “progressive” gets thrown around pretty egregiously in metal – most often you’re left thinking of bands like Dream Theater or Iced Earth, and even then thinking in terms of scale, length, or concept albums.  Far too frequently, it’s easy to forget how the genuine first wave of “prog” artists, from King Crimson and Santanato Yesand Rush, embraced weirdly abstruse musical styles.  While a ton of modern prog enthusiasts will point to the longform arena rock epics like “2112”, there aren’t many who hold up the 80s pop experimentation of Yes as key progressive cornerstones.  Yet with the supremacy of total oddball artists like Mike Patton and his onetime collaborators in the dearly departed Dillinger Escape Plan in the 1990s and 2000s metal/math/whatevercore scenes, there is growing appreciation for boundary-free heavy music.  New York state’s Dead Empires, formerly an instrumental trio, have all the hallmarks of these monumentally talented virtuosos with a healthy injection of pop sensibility to match. 

Intro track “Spectacular Ruin” displays the muscular guitar- focused energy at the heart of Dead Empires winning formula, allowing John Bryan space to lay down harmonized, rousing leads that will please the Thin Lizzy fanatics out there.  “The Form” unleashes vocalist Jason “PRKR” Sherman for the first time – his monstrously distorted vocals and noisy manipulations are all the more exciting when his melodic strengths come to the foreground later.  The rhythm dynamic of Phil Bartsch and DJ Scully is monumental – heavy as the heart of a neutron star.  And Bryan’s apt countering of chugging rhythm and shrieking high end melodic guitar work sounds like the best Mars Voltaleads we never got. 

“Slay Rider”, a thrashy two minute blast of galloping drums and blast beat choruses, is a great example of the Dead Empires’ bold disregard for genre conventions – they could have forged on with the noisy, experimental math rock of the first two tracks and had a pretty solid record, instead, they go full on groove-thrash attack before the heady, jazz grind freakout of “Reverse Speak.”   And that’s only the first two minutes of the track, before a beautifully salsa infused guitar and piano (guest Jason Volpe) tradeoff, pounding double bass drumming of Bartsch, or the magnificently melodic bridge vocals.  Just when you think you have Dead Empires’ formula pegged they drop into a spaced out dub metal (is that even a thing?) track like “A Summertime Song”.  Like a 311song if they could just muster the grit to be HEAVY, “A Summertime Song” is the unlikeliest, weirdest 7 minutes I’ve heard on an album this year that actually works as a pop single.  DJ Scully’s gnarly bass gets some time to shine here and it’s easy to see why he’s an in demand multi-genre bassist – dude has some serious tone and chops.

The instrumental “Ones and Zeros” is a bit of a palate cleanser after the consistent tonal changeups of the record so far, recalling the meat and potatoes harmonies of “Spectacular Ruin”, with some moments that recall Big Country(maybe the most overlooked non-metal guitar group of the 80s), and others that once again have me thinking of Phil Lynott and company.  “Ergot”may be the most “conventional” post-metal/metalcore piece of the whole record, if a punishing metal song in the midst of all this post-rock beauty, featuring a spoken word coda courtesy of Moon Tooth’s John Carbone, can be called conventional at all.  The epic, titular finale is a 12 minute, anthemic journey through regret and mortality that is cinematic, rewarding, and ultimately uplifting, even with lyrics like “death, the great equalizer / everything will end one day / that’s the hard truth we go to bed with everyday, / designed to disappear we all go away”.  Somehow it’s far more inspiring than you’d imagine, with moments of seriously dissonant brutality.  More than any other track, I could see this as full on arena rock – it deserves an audience of thousands to truly appreciate its massive scale.

Though there are only eight tracks on their newest record, Dead Empires’ offer lightning fast jaunts through multiple genres, embodying the bold heart of progressive music’s infinite potential.  While their forebears like Dillinger Escape Plan have retired, or Mike Patton has stopped only occasionally to focus on projects that exist as more than one-off experiments, Dead Empireshas the potential to continue as a band to watch, as every move seems to take you to new, unforeseen destinations.  It’s really amazing to see it replicated live, as I had to pleasure to experience this autumn, and hear so MUCH coming from a stripped down quartet.  If you have a chance to see them during the upcoming tour, I’d absolutely recommend it, as the pure intensity and prowess is somehow just as monumental, even in a small venue.  Witnessed live and through my speakers, “Designed to Disappear” is a juggernaut of a record – one that hops easily between genres while remaining the work of a distinct, remarkable quartet.  I’m onboard for whatever challenging, inspiring output they have in store.

“Designed to Disappear” is available here

Band info: bandcamp || facebook