Mnemic

Mnemic (pronounced nem-ik) is a Danish industrial metal band which is currently signed to Nuclear Blast Records. Their music also contains themes of metal core and thrash metal as well. They formed in 1998 in Aalborg, Denmark.

The band currently consists of 5 members- Brian Rasmussen (drums), Rune Stigart (lead guitar), Tomas Koefoed (bass guitar), Mircea Eftemie (rhythm guitar, keyboard) and Guillaume Bideau (vocals). They have a much more electronic sound and a much faster guitar speed than most metal bands. To date they have released 3 studio albums.
After the band's initial formation, several demos and various lineup changes they eventually recorded and released their debut album in 2003. They titled this album "Mechanical Spin Phenomena" which is also considered their breakthrough album. Critics highly praised this album including Revolver magazine giving it 9/10, Metal Storm an 8.4, and Metal Coven 9/10. All of these are extremely high reviews for a debut album but critics loved the graceful fusing of industrial and thrash metal and the unique sound. However, sales for this album were weak outside of Europe.

After a year of touring Mnemic returned to studio and in late 2004 they released their second album entitled "The Audio Injected Soul". This album once again received high reviews (not as high as "Mechanical Spin Phenomena") but initial sales were weak in North America however, it sold well in Europe breaking the top 100. This album is interesting to listen to as they have been the first metal band to utilize positional audio software in an album. This means that they can cycle speakers in a live performance and it is coded to do the same on the CD, which makes for a unique and interesting sound experience.


It was after this album however that the band really took off when metal superstars Metallica heard Mnemic they offered them the supporting role in their multiple tours worldwide. This global exposure was excellent for Mnemic and pushed sales of "The Audio Injected Soul" to over 40,000 in the United States alone.

After three years of touring with Metallica and other large name bands Mnemic returned to the studio and in 2007 released their third album "Passenger". This album featured a different vocal style and gained more mainstream attention. As a result of their public exposure the album has sold over 60,000 copies worldwide. This was personally my favourite album and I recommend you check it out if you are interested in this band as it has the most refined sound. However, critics did not favour this album and criticized the softer and more mainstream turn the once aggressive sounding band took.
Mnemic is currently in the studio recording their fourth album titled "Sons Of The System" which is slated for release in January of 2010. They have toured with some of the most popular bands in metal including: Metallica, God Forbid, The Haunted, Machine Head and Arch Enemy. They have played in various large concerts in Europe to crowds of up to 80,000 people but have not garnered enough popularity to headline their own tour yet and as such still only play supporting roles.
Mnemic is still a young band which has experienced some great success but is still relatively unknown, as such I recommend you make an effort to purchase and album or see them live as they truly have a sound unlike any other. Their new album will be a large indicator as to the future direction of this band-if they venture towards a more pop-rock sound or return to their revolutionary roots. For more information, news, streaming music, release & tour dates as well as merchandise you can check out their official site which is linked below.

Official Band Site: http://site.mnemic.com/

Below are two of my favorite songs you can check out:
Deathbox


Meaningless

Protest The Hero

Protest the Hero is a Canadian metal band which has often been termed mathcore (a subsection of metalcore famous for using unique time signatures rather than the standard 4 beat time style. They formed in Whitby, Ontario in 1999 when the members were still in elementary school. They are currently signed to Vagrant Records.

They band currently consists of 5 members, interestingly enough and rather strange for a metal band they have maintained the 5 same members for their entire lifespan. The lineup consits of Arif Mirabdolbahi (bass, backup vocals), Luke Hoskin (rythm guitarist, pianist), Tim Millar (lead guitarist), Moe Carlson (drums) and Rody Walker (vocals).
They have released 2 studio albums and 1 live album. The band originally formed under the name "Happy Go Lucky" but they renamed it very early in their career. Their debut album was released on August 30, 2005 and was titled "Kezia". For a debut album from a completely unknown band this sold very well (6000 copies in one month) and received positive reviews including several awards for Best Indy Album and Best Debut Album. Critics everywhere commented on the level of emotion poured into this album and I must concur and as such highly recommend listening to this album as it is a truly unique experience and sound.Protest The Hero re-entered studio in summer 2007 and on January 29, 2008 they released their second album entitled "Fortress". This album was also highly successful and reached number 9 on US billboard charts and number 1 in Canada selling 8000 albums in it's first week. As for critical reception this album was praised once again for improving upon the mechanics and fluidity of the "Kezia" album. However, in my opinion "Kezia" was the superior album.

In recent affairs on September 29, 2009 Protest The Hero released their live CD/DVD titled "Gallop Meets The Earth". It has sold moderately well, but contains a wide sampling of their work and plenty of bonus content. I recommend any metal fan puchasing it for their highly energetic live performances and to support Canadian metal bands.

Protest the Hero is currently on tour supporting In Flames, Killswitch Engage and Between the Buried and Me with their new album in the process of writing, practice and recording and is set for an early 2010 review.

They are a young band (none of the members are over 23) but they have been fairly successful thus far and have been allowed the opportunity to play with some of the large name bands in the business such as: As I Lay Dying, The Devil Wears Prada, Darkest Hour, Fall From Grace, The Acadia Strain and Trivium.

While they are a young and moderately known band in the metal world I highly recommend any fan of the genre give them a chance due to their enthusiastic and affordable live performances (I paid $15 to see them in Toronto), unique sound with clean (sound wise) lyrics and most of all because they are one of the few Canadian metal bands which has made it in the international scene.

You can check them out at their official site below, which offers merchandise, tour dates, band news and information as well as it allows for streaming of their videos.

Official Band Site: http://www.protestthehero.com/

Below are two of my favorite songs you can check out:
Sequoia Throne


Blindfolds Aside

As I Lay Dying

As I Lay Dying is an American metal core band which is currently signed to Metal Blade records. The band formed in 2001 in San Diego, California. All five members of the band are Christian and the music is sometimes classified as containing Christian themes, however they do not consider themselves a Christian band.

The band currently consists of 5 members- Jordan Mancino (drums), Nick Hipa (lead guitar), Phil Sgrosso (rhythm guitar), Josh Gilbert (bass guitar, backup singer), and Tim Lambesis (lead vocals).
They have released 4 studio albums, 1 compilation (best of) album and one live DVD. Their debut album, "Beneath the Encasing of Ashes", was recorded 3 months after their formation and released on June 12, 2001. Initially this album sold very poorly and received fairly mediocre reviews but after more than a year of touring the sales picked up as people experienced their energetic concerts.On July 1, 2003 As I lay Dying released their second album entitled "Frail Words Collapse". This album is considered their breakthrough album and sold fairly well. As for critical acclaim it was mostly hailed as a very solid metal album but lacked innovation. It was after the release and sales of this album that As I Lay Dying were invited to tour with some larger name bands such as Hatebreed, In Flames and Shadows Fall.

In 2005, As I Lay Dying returned to studio to record and release their third album which was titled "Shadows are Security". This album released on June 14, 2005 and sold very well (250,000 albums in total) and received very positive reviews. It was in the running on many lists for best album of the year but did not receive any wins, however it still had excellent comments from the critics.

On May 16, 2006 As I Lay Dying released their compilative album "A Long March: The First Recordings" which sold surprisingly well but received mostly negative reviews. I am forced to agree with the critics in this matter I feel it was too soon in their career for the band to re-record most of their earlier songs and unreleased songs.

However, to make up for this somewhat disappointing (in my mind) album they released their fourth and latest album on August 21, 2007. This album was titled "An Ocean Between Us" and it has been As I Lay Dying's best selling album to date selling 39,000 albums in the first week and reaching number one on the billboard charts. It was well received by fans and fairly well received by critics but considered a step towards more main stream rock and thrash metal and a step away from metal core. The song "Nothing Left" from this album was nominated for a Grammy for best metal performance. I highly recommend picking this album up as it is the perfect blend of As I Lay Dying style: rough lyrics, melodic choruses and fantastic guitar play.

On April 14, 2009 As I Lay Dying released their first live DVD titled "This Is Who We Are". This has been a highly succesful concert DVD which has sold over 40,000 copies worldwide and attained Gold status within the United States.

They are a considered a young but successful metal band with over 1,000,000 albums sold worldwide and are currently on tour and in the process of writing songs for their new CD. In recent news from the bands official site, for which the link can be found below, they have won a Grammy for Best Music Video with their video for "The Sound of Truth".
As I Lay Dying is currently on their This is Who We Are tour across the world and in the past have played with some of the largest metal bands in the world including: Children of Bodom, Shadows Fall, Lamb of God, Bring Me the Horizon, Haste the Day, Trivium, In Flames and God Forbid.

While they may be a fairly well known metal band with a unique sound I recommend you give them a listen or purchase their two latest CDs if you have not heard them before. You can check them out at their official site below, which offers merchandise, tour dates, band news and information as well as it allows for streaming of their videos.

Official Band Site: http://www.asilaydying.com/

Below are two of my favorite songs you can check out:
Nothing Left


The Sound of Truth

Lamb of God

Lamb of God is an American heavy metal band which is currently signed to Roadrunner records. They formed in Richmond, Virginia in 1994. They initially formed as the band Burn the Priest but renamed themselves after one album.

The band consists of 5 members- John Campbell (bass), Willie Adler (rhythm guitar), Mark Morton (lead guitar), Chris Adler (drums) and Randy Blythe (vocals).
They have released 6 albums and 3 live DVDs. Their debut album was the self titled album "Burn the Priest" which was recorded and published in 1999. Due to being banned from playing at a number of venues due to their name they renamed to Lamb of God.

Sporting their new name and a record contract they released the album "New American Gospel" in September 2000 and it received some favorable reviews and sold moderately well.

In May of 2003 the band released their third album titled "As the Palaces Burn" and the album was a tremendous success. It is widely regarded as their breakthrough album and was praised by Rolling Stone, Metal Storm and won album of the year from Metal Hammer, Revolver Magazine, and Guitar Magazine.

It was on tour in support of "As the Palaces Burn" album that Lamb of God filmed their first live DVD which was entitled "Terror and Hubris". This DVD was released in 2003 and was a large hit.

Lamb of God released their 4th album, "Ashes of the Wake", in August 2004 and it was highly successful in regards to both reviews and sales. It won album of the year again from several prestigious music and rock sites and publications.

Their music video from Ashes of the Wake for the song "Now You've Got Something To Die For" was awarded best music video of the year for 2004 and toured for two years to support their album.

In August of 2006 after much anticipation Lamb of God released their fifth album entitled "Sacrament" which doubled the sales of all previous albums and is one of the most critically acclaimed metal albums of all time. I highly recommend buying this one, you won't be disappointed.

It was on tour in support of "Sacrament" that they filmed their second live DVD and documentary "Walk With Me in Hell". I highly recommend purchasing this DVD if you are a fan as it contains 5 hours of concert footage. This includes their spectacular performance at Download Festival in England to a crowd of more than 100,000 people.

After three years of touring Lamb of God returned to the studio and on February 23, 2009 their sixth and latest album was released, entitled "Wrath". This album received mostly positive reviews from critics but the fan response was excellent and as such this album outsold "Sacrament".

They have become one of the world's most successful heavy metal bands, selling well over 2, 000,000 albums. They are currently on tour in support of their Wrath album and are playing a number of huge shows with metal superstars Metallica as well. In the past they have played with the likes of: Machine Head, Children of Bodom, God Forbid, Slayer, Mastodon, DevilDriver, Megadeth and Shadow's Fall.

While they may be one of the better known metal bands I recommend you give them a listen or purchase one of their more popular albums if you have not heard of them before. You can check them out at their official site below, which offers merchandise, tour dates, band news and information as well as it allows for streaming of their videos.

Official Band Site: http://www.lamb-of-god.com/

Below are two of my favorite songs you can check out:

Walk With Me In Hell


Redneck

All That Remains

All That Remains is an American metal core band which is currently signed to Prosthetic records. They formed in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States in 1998.

The band currently consists of 5 members- Jeanne Sagan (bass), Jason Costa (drums), Mike Martin (rhythm guitar), Oli Herbert (lead guitar) and Philip Labonte (Vocals).
They have released four studio albums and one live DVD. Their debut album being released on March 30, 2002 and titled "Behind Silence and Solitude". Their second album, "This Darkened Heart" was released on March 23, 2004.

After limited success with their first two albums they adopted a more melodic sound in the choruses with hard guitar riffs and brutal sounding lyrics in their July, 2006 album "The Fall of Ideals". Many critics call this their breakthrough album and I feel it is their best album and encourage any metal fans to give it a listen.

Building on the success of "The Fall of Ideals" the band recorded and released the album "Overcome" on September 16, 2008. This album was met with even better sales but harsher criticism due to a softer sound.

They released their concert DVD "All That Remains: Live" on October 30, 2007.

They have become a moderately successful metal band and have sold over 500,000 albums in North America alone. They are currently on their "Napalm and Noise" tour along with Story of the Year, Haste the Day, and The Devil Wears Prada. They have previously toured with such well known bands as: Divine Heresy, Light This City, Chimaira, God Forbid, Killswitch Engage, Trivium, Marilyn Manson, and Bullet for My Valentine.

While they may be a lesser known metal band with a unique sound I recommend you give them a listen, you can check them out at their official site below, which offers merchandise, tour dates, band news and information as well as it allows for streaming of their videos and music at no cost.

Official Band Site: http://www.allthatremainsonline.com/

Below are two of my favorite songs you can check out:
Two Weeks


This Calling