The Wake

During the past year, I have come across a lot of great unsigned metal bands. So, I am going to expose you to the cream of the unsigned metal crop in a variety of sub-genres.

From the Faeroe Islands comes T_r. On their 2003 release, Eric the Red, T_r impressed me. They are an interesting combination of power metal, progressive metal, and Nordic folk music. The music is usually fast, aggressive, but also quite upbeat. The vocals (Heri Joensen) are clean, and are most certainly of the Scandinavian folk variety with a touch of Blind Guardian’s Hansi Kursch. Though their appeal to the metal community will lie more in their power metal songs, with hints of folk, my favorite by the band is “Regin Smi_ur,” which is an all-out bombastic folk track with electric guitars added in, sounding more than suitable as a Viking drinking song. With lyrics in English, Danish and Faeroese, based out of the Scandinavian myths and Faeoroese ballads, T_r is both educational and an extremely talented and unique metal band.

Wastoid is a band from Philadelphia that also sounds like they are from 1980, but in metal, such a time warp can be a very good thing. These old school metallers play a mixture of Raven, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Rainbow and early Mötley Crüe. Cozine’s vocals remind me of John Gallagher (Raven). Their Say Your Prayers album is steeped in the very rock-oriented metal of the new wave of British heavy metal. The album even has four tracks with “Rock” in the title, but face it: a little old school metal cheese can be a good thing, and that is the case here.

Winterfell have a strong resemblance to Iced Earth at times. This Pennsylvania band’s singer is the greatest example, as Robb Graves could be mistaken for ex-Iced Earth vocalist Matt Barlow (my favorite singer). His soaring vocals are aggressive, highly emotive and he can reach very high notes quite effectively. The sound of the band is akin to a somewhat simpler aggressive power metal band. The guitar work is often forceful, but can also utilize Craven and Nadeau’s skills to add some powerful and progressive touches to Winterfell’s songs. Their EP, Winter Is Coming, has me hungry for more, as I know after honing their craft further, Winterfell will be a name to know.

Psypheria are an extremely talented death metal band from California. Their music is highly technical, but does have moments of sheer brutality, and they also incorporate an influence from classical music that really shows through in Lyle Livingston’s keyboard work. Vocalist Adam Roberts brings to mind a combination of Deicide’s Glen Benton and ex-Morbid Angel vocalist Trey Vincent. Cory Valdez is an extremely talented drummer, showing a great ability to play technically intricate music with a certain brutality. I highly recommend Psypheria and their Embrace the Mutation album.

I could not conclude this piece without one of Minnesota’s better unknown bands, The Blood Shot. They play in a late 1960s doom rock/proto-metal style. Their sound lies somewhere between the MC5 and Black Sabbath. Guy Low (bass) and Jay Zweifel (drums) lend an ultra-heavy rhythmic hand. Vocalist/guitarist Andrew Kereakos has a laid back, slightly nasal vocal approach and creates some rather catchy, heavily distorted riffs. They are a great live experience and their album Wake Up and Die Right will make doom fans quite happy.

I will also give a quick listing of some great unsigned bands that I don’t have the space to write more about: you should check out Transient (mellow rock from metal musicians), Hostile Groove (Pantera meets hardcore, plus a little rapping), Slumber (intelligent raw black metal), and Sword of Darkness (local black metal). Now, by all means, take a listen to the unknown and underground!