The Black Dahlia Murder From: USA   Discography:  “Unhallowed” (2003), “Miasma” (2005), “Nocturnal” (2007), “Deflorate” (2009)   Formed in early 2001, The Black Dahlia Murder after releasing one demo and one EP, signed to Metal Blade Records in 2003. Battling numerous line-up changes and session musicians through out their eight years, the only remaining original members of The Black Dahlia Murder are Trevor Strnad- vocals, and Brian Eschbach- guitar. Rounding out the line up is:   Ryan Knight- guitar (ex- Arsis) Ryan Williams- bass Shannon Lucas- drums (ex-All That Remains)   Honestly I’m a sick of the ongoing debate about just what kind of metal The Black Dahlia Murder is. Upon first hearing them years ago, I thought they were a melodic death metal band and my opinion remains un-changed. Lets hear it from the man himself though, Trevor Strnad relates to pyromusic.com: "I've always said that we're melodic death metal. We are mostly influenced by Swedish bands and Carcass. The heavy end of our sound is the American style creeping in, with some Floridian influences like Morbid Angel, Malevolent Creation and that kind of stuff. We've been labeled more often because of our look than our sound, which is dumb, and speaks volumes about what kind of geniuses are out there!"   There you have it.  For fans of: The aforementioned bands, At The Gates, (new) Job For a Cowboy, Entombed.   Links: www.myspace.com/blackdahliamurder            

Belay My Last (RIP) From: Fullerton, CA   Discography: “Belay My Last” (2005), “The Downfall” (2007)   Belay My Last was a death metal/core band that after releasing one demo, one full-length, and touring extensively, disbanded in 2008. Belay My Last’s last know line up was:   Jason Denny- vocals Nick Leavenworth- guitar Ilal Lebel- drums Garrett Harrer-bass   Belay My Last didn’t really have a chance to make their mark on the scene but given the opportunity again, I imagine they would. Belay My Last stood apart from the other core acts of the day with a creative vibe rooted in progressive metal. Sometimes a bit heavy on the ‘chug-chug’, and other “core” staples, Belay My Last were still, in my opinion, talented songwriters. As I said before, they did have a lot of time to find their sound- but given that time I like to think they would have made some killer records, maybe pulled a Job For A Cowboy? Who knows, a guy can dream though.  For fans of: From the Shallows and Knights of the Abyss.   Links: www.myspace.com/belaymylast

 The new Despised Icon album, “Day of Mourning” dropped today, despite reading three times over that “they made a leap towards traditional metal” I really just don't hear it. If a few less pig squealed “breee’s” and a few more riffs means that they are a not a death-core band anymore than sure, I just don't foresee this album winning the band over very many new fans the way Job for a Cowboy’s “Ruination” did them.

Gwar will be hitting the road this fall, touring with Lamb Of God, Job For A Cowboy and The Red Chord. 

Click here to see the dates and line up:

This one comes from Job For a Cowboy's EP, "Doom", all the way back in 2005. As you may know JFAC just released an album in July, we will have a song from that and a review later this week.