Nosebreaker. On the cover is a picture of a French Bulldog. Those don’t have a nose.

That aside, Nosebreaker is the debut EP of a Belgian, Brussels-based psychedelic Rock outfit called Coubiac. Or as they put it themselves, ”Heavy Chaos Rock”. The band is four dudes, P, F, S and HP, responsible for drums, guitars, vocals and bass respectively. I know no more. Let me briefly shine my light on Nosebreaker.

If you’re a fan of Tool, you’ll love this – or perhaps hate it for sometimes being a copy. Another link dumped by Rufio!

Rishloo, out of Seattle, formed in 2002 and aims to push the boundaries of Rock. Indeed, this isn’t really Metal. But it isn’t really Rock either. Well, sometimes it is, sometimes it isn’t. What I can say is that it’s mostly psychedelic and progressive, sometimes nuts and freaky. In short, it’s absolutely great!

There are many bands that can be lauded for their innovation and eccentricity, able to meld together seemingly opposing styles into a unique blend that feels more like an adventure than a collection of songs. Unfortunately, UK groove metallers Place Of The Hidden God have not quite reached this plateau, although certainly not for want of trying. The band describe the album as a journey fully open to interpretation both lyrically and musically, symbolizing struggle against control either as a personal or government-wide vendetta (appropriate enough in this current political climate). Taking two parts polyrhythmic rumbles of Meshuggah / The Ocean with one part Down / Lamb Of God, they tread the line between groovy Math Metal and Djent with their début album In Liberating the Conscience, We Free Ourselves from Restraint. Go read/watch!

So I’m getting involved in some top secret Metal blogging business that is about to unfold within the next two months or so. It will be landscape changing and all that shit, but right now I’ll keep you in the dark and laugh at you silently. Did I tell you ‘Asshole’ is my middle name? Anyfuck, one thing leads to another and for some not to be disclosed reason we end up at Brent Petrie. Who the hell is Brent Petrie?

He’s a musician. And no, I have no idea if that name of his is short for Brent petroleum. In fact, there’s much else I don’t know about him and for that reason I’ll limit myself to mentioning what I do know. Like that he’s Canadian – I think – and that he is the sole crewmember of his project…, named Brent Petrie. Simplicity can be refreshing, can’t it?!

These guys are good! Phase Reverse. I had never heard of these guys before, but I’m glad I did now, despite that they are ”not quite Metal, not quite Rock, but the best of both”. I guess that’ll depend on your point of reference. If you look back in music history and think about bands like Sabbath, this will definitely fall within your definition of Metal. If by Metal the first think you think of is gutturals, it won’t. In any case that band itself says ”our music is just Rock… Heavy Rock”.

In the end I don’t care much, this stuff has struck a chord in me and that’s all that matters. Out of Athens, Greece, these three boys don’t come from where their music would make you expect them to be from. That’s because they have intertwined their Retal / Mock with a thick, juicy, Bourbon-lovin’ Southern influence. How that becomes apparent? Well, music-technically I have no fuckin’ idea. It’s just an atmosphere they breathe and a feeling you get as a listener.

When I first saw the title of this album I was kind of confused. Never, ever did I see an alternative rock/metal outfit sing about gore. Because yeah, grinding organs is not something one does daily, doesn’t one? However, after hearing the lyrics to the title song, I was reassured, and images of meat pies filled with human body parts were left to the bin.

First of all, I’m very impressed by the graphical concept and design these guys display on their website and album. Congratulations guys, this is top notch.

Up for some more gentle stuff, anyone? Well you should be, because when I start throwing around gentle stuff it’s always of exceptional quality. In this case it’s not even that gentle, but in terms of quality it’s way up there with the champs. Goddess Gagged sports a rare mixture of all kinds of flavors of Rock and Metal, yielding something truly unique.

That’s not completely what I expected when I covered the band in our Rockin’ Out With series. We covered a song titled Sink or Swim in that, and needless to say that was primarily Rocky. But breathing in the full seven-song release now I get all the other elements thrown at me. Resurfaces is the Bombay-based outfit’s debut record and it’s a must-hear.

Much of the best Progressive Metal always seems to come from the UK. Whether it’s mixed with Death, Black, Thrash, Brutal, or lemon juice doesn’t seem to matter. Today we’ve got one by suggestion of Uzi that is just Progressive, without frails. Which kinda means it’s Metal with a lot of frails.

Haken, from London, England, consists of the same six members that joined up in the band’s founding year, 2007. Though a pretty standard line up – dual guitars, drums, bass, vocals and keys – the band’s music isn’t standard at all. It reverts to the Prog Rock of the Seventies, but infuses it with a very modern touch, using a bunch of effects and cheeky playing styles. Not, by far, as loud as you’re used to hear, but music educationally very valuable!

Another issue in the Rockin’ Out series! It’s the series started by Byrd36 to show the appreciation we Metalheads have for Rock, in all its shapes or forms as long as they are ”good”, as a genre that helped breed our beloved Metal. That doesn’t mean we only look at the stuff that’s gold and old, but instead we appreciate that Rock has grown in all of its own directions. That means that if it’s good, heartfelt and not by default meant to make fuckloads of cash, we potentially like it and potentially cover it.

Well fuck me sideways then, ‘cause today I’ve got something I pretty much instantly fell in love with. It’s by an Indian band named Goddess Gagged, pushed on to us by press release by India’s number one Metal musician and Demonstealer Records head honsho, Demonstealer. Demonstealer is already known for his good tastes – he likes hamburgers too we hear – but with this he managed to double our belief in his knack for finding and supporting pure goodness.

Warning: Hot fuckin’ shit inside! Something completely unorthodox, with great friggin’ clean vocals. In fact, they’re so cool they allow the use of a pink microphone!

Vanisher, from North Carolina, USA, came to be in 2010, when it changed its name from Zero System. Not long after, they released their first full-length album (they had released only two EP’s as Zero System). They named it The History of Saints and apparently Rufio has been listening to it, because he sent us the suggestion to check these chaps out. And so we did.