299: DUNE, SIEGE PERILOUS, SHIVERED | Metal Promo Review

Transcript

Speaker: Five. Cast. Them. Down. Hail, Metal Nation! It is I, Tim. This is Podcast Them Down. Joining me, of course, is Mike. And it's been long overdue. We are doing Metal Promos. Again, I had to wait for some good ones to come. Now, it is up to you to decide if I just became impatient or we have good ones. Here we go.

Speaker: Saudi, thrash metal maniacs Dune unveil explosive single refuge from their debut EP Years of Chains out May 2024. Dune, the relentless force in the world of thrash metal,

Speaker: announces the release of their first lyric video for the single, Refuge, a relentless anthem from their debut EP, Years of Change, which is being changed, which is being unleashed this coming May 2024. Dune formed in 2004 at the pinnacle of the Saudi metal scene, has returned stronger than ever after a hiatus and is ready to metal faces. I'm sure they meant melt faces, but it says metal faces with

Speaker: I mean, that's pretty metal, too. Yeah. With their high -speed riffs and visceral vocals, Refuge has been in the works for quite a long time as the band shares, quote, in 2007, Refuge was a song that was recorded multiple times during the years, but we were never satisfied with the result as we faced issues with quality or it didn't sound as we hoped. Our vocalists screamed in the recording so hard that his balls started hurting the next day.

Speaker: Still, we didn't like the result. Well, poor guy. Well, it's reflected to the band's standard. Refuge showcases Dune's commitment to delivering a breakneck experience for metal enthusiasts. I just remembered. Yeah, I got the I got to have the artwork and stuff behind me. All right, there we go. For the twatchers.

Speaker: With its groovy orientation, aggressive feel, and heavy riffs, the track is a testament to the band's evolution and dedication to pushing musical boundaries and I guess perseverance in making the song work.

Speaker: It's hard with demonic verses and heavy self -expression. They are setting a high bar for metal in Saudi Arabia and beyond, and will be enjoyed by a wide range of metalheads, especially those who enjoy, ooh, these are all loaded, Testament Slayer and Pantera.

Speaker: Now those are bands with eras. So it's like, you know, if it's like demonic fucking diabolism music and anything after Cowboys from hell, I'm not interested. It's from Pantera's glam era. Now magic. Now I'm in. Yeah. Metal magic power metal. And there we go. Diamond Daryl. Yeah.

Speaker: I'm in. Well, judging by this artwork, I don't think, I don't think that's the era we're talking about here. So the, uh, the artwork. I don't even know. It's, it's like, uh, a rendering of, it's like, uh, someone's skull tattoo, but they're like, no, that's too detailed. You can't use that for your tattoo. So, uh, so now it's now it's, uh, an album cover. It looks like,

Speaker: OK, if your skull was a car and it needed regular oil changes, it looks like this one has been overfilled. Yes, violently. Right. I agree with that. Oh, here's here's the release date, May 31st. Banff has four dudes. I believe they're all wearing denim except for possibly guy on the left. That's a lot of long sleeves for Saudi Arabia. I thought it was hot all year.

Speaker: What do I know? And I'm seeing there's a bass and a guitar. They both look to be Ibanez's with multiscale, you know, fan frets. So interesting. Yeah. So if that tells you something about their sound, there you have it. They could be anywhere from Prague to Djent. So.

Speaker: Yeah, I'm pronouncing both those letters. There should be Umlauts over the J. So I'm imagining these other two guys are the vocalist and drummer. You know, they didn't want to... He didn't want to hold his drum set for the photo. His fanned drums. Yeah. Fanned fret drums. Multiscale drums. Oh, let's do this. Is that like as you play across the skin, it has like a different tone? Yeah.

Speaker: slap a patent on that. No one take her idea. Okay. Well, I'll start. Nothing about the, uh, the description of the music really did anything for me. I'm just curious about Saudi Arabian metal. I'm in, you know? Yeah, I, I was, it's, uh, I don't know how things were, but you know, the, uh,

Speaker: What's that? Heavy metal from Baghdad, the acrassicality guys? When they were living in that regime, all they got was like the purest metal in the underground, so their influences were pure. They had been filtered. They only got the best of the best.

Speaker: I assume that's not the case in Saudi Arabia, but what do I know? So, but I'm curious. I'm going to check it out just based on that. That's two full ears from me. Oh yeah. I forgot that part. Yeah. We, we, uh, we rate these based on how many years we will be given to set item being promo. So two ears is full attention and then one year is half attention and so on.

Speaker: Yeah, I mean, I wasn't particularly interested until I heard that they're from Saudi Arabia. I'm trying to find the name of the police, but there's like a – The police, I believe that's – what's his name? Sting. Yeah. Yeah, I think Sting walks around Saudi Arabia.

Speaker: There was or is a religious police. Oh, no. Yeah. That sounds like that sounds like the heavy metal and Baghdad thing. Like they had to have their concerts in secret.

Speaker: Yeah. I wish I could remember what the name was, but maybe they're not around anymore. I don't know. But it makes me wonder how a band like this exists.

Speaker: Metal Archives has 22 entries for bands from Saudi Arabia. And it looks to me like about two thirds of them are still active. Others are unknown split up or on hold. Or is it folk metal band? Interesting. Yeah. So there's also metal death with folk influences.

Speaker: Yeah. I mean, I've got a feeling that I'm not going to like this band, but I do want to hear them. I, you know, it looks like the logo, despite it looking like it says didn't, I think it's pretty cool. You know, it's just, they reuse the end for the you or vice versa, but I'll give it an ear and a half. It's like, it's like,

Speaker: Have you seen that DVD of the princess bride where they wrote, if you flip it upside down, it still says the princess bride. No. Like they did something with the typography. I think that's what's going on here. The D and the E, if you rotate the logo, like, you know, 180 degrees, it'll be the same logo. I think that's, I think that's the point. Oh, that's actually pretty clever. Okay. Yeah. All of a sudden that's way cooler to me.

Speaker: Yeah, I, I still, I give it an year and a half. Like I'm definitely curious. I have a feeling I'm not going to like it. All right. Well, let's see if you like the next one. Siege perilous flaunt their triumphant new single sons of the verdant off upcoming EP creations call out August 2024.

Speaker: We'll skip over the picture because of the pictures next. We'll come back to that. Denver -based power metal outfit Siege Perilous has once again ignited the flames of epic storytelling with their newest single, Sons of the Verdant, which comes off, which comes from their second EP, Creations, calls slated for an August 2024 release, influenced by LARP historical events

Speaker: and fantasy literature the single is sure to grab the attention of listeners across the metal spectrum the band comments i'm laughing at my own buzzing of larp i'm sorry quote

Speaker: This song has an interesting combination of dark and triumphant. The story is a fantasy version of a story we see repeated throughout history, that of the native resistance to colonizing oppressors. One of the cool things about fantasy is the ability to take these universal themes and be able to apply them without having to point at one group of people and borrow their story, especially since there are so many instances of it from antiquity to modern day.

Speaker: The band goes on to explain that this is probably one of their most musically, musically complex songs featuring longer and more varied instrumental sections. Yes. You're dying. It's far too hard. It's far too hard to tell somebody else's story. Therefore, we're going to invent...

Speaker: having vocals be almost more of a punchy accent than the driving force it oh they're our vocals suck so we hit them in the mix anyway hitting at the right times well really letting the amazing instrumentalists in the band rock out

Speaker: set to enrapture audiences with its fantastical lyrics and thunderous guitar riffs. Sons of the Verdant invites listeners into realms of adventure and wonder. It is highly recommended for fantasy fans and those with an interest in... Sabaton. I'm gonna... I'm gonna buzz that. Sabaton. They've jumped the shark. Alright. Man o' War.

Speaker: I'm gonna ding that, even though they've also jumped the shark. And Iron Maiden. There is no coming back from that last album. They have proven how terrible they are. But, you know, these are all, again, bands you need to put eras on. Early Sabaton, Early Man of War, Early Iron Maiden, there.

Speaker: If it's later Sabaton, later Man of War, and later Iron Maiden, I don't give a fuck. Listen to me. I mean, it's not... I was really expecting a Camelot influence from the name. I mean, I think Siege Perilous is not 100 % unique, but... Yeah, but it's... I mean, like, it's a Camelot album. This is Epica Part 2.

Speaker: Track listing, Oath sworn, Across the Rubicon, Sons of the Verdant, Creations called, Brothers of the Five. Band lineup, Sean C. McDaniel on vocals that have been minimized. Because fuck that guy. Scott Hancock on guitar, Cody Mon. Martinez on guitar, Eric Fisher on bass, Mark Girard on drums. All right, their band photo.

Speaker: is so they're all wearing garb and they're out in the snowy plains in front of the in front of some mountains which i assume are just in one of their backyards because they're in denver let's see what get one guitarist has what looks to be an explorer then a less paul and then the singer has a sword a mighty sword at that

Speaker: Which I don't know how you play that. Drummer is holding a drumstick and smiling coyly at me. And the bassist has, I believe that's a Jackson concert bass similar to what Dave Lefson used, or uses. I'm a fan of those. So yeah, I think their garb is on point.

Speaker: Uh, especially the shoulder armor. Like if you're going to attack anyone in this band, if you want to take out their shoulders, you're going to have a hard time with this singer. If you don't impale him, no, if he doesn't impale you, you're not going to be able to smash his shoulders in with some sort of blunt weapon. Anyone else fair game. Those guitars aren't going to stop a mace.

Speaker: I am really struggling. I want to be kind. My score will be kind. Point of order. So the artwork is like a fantasy. Okay. So like picture you've gone, you're at the beach. I know that's hard for people from Denver to picture, but

Speaker: You're at the beach, you go into, like, the hippie store, and there's, like, paintings of dragons and moons and stuff on the wall. Well, they slap their logo on one of those. But the point of order is the font that they put the album title in, Creations Call, has a sigma instead of an E, so it says Creations Call.

Speaker: And also that's because I'm a different kind of nerd than these guys are. And, uh, you know, I frequently use Greek letters in my, in my day to day life. I become hypersensitive to misused Sigmas. I honestly, if you made, if you made a fantasy RPG and you released it in 1995,

Speaker: This is what the cover would look like. I agree with that. Does this dragon have a third eye? Is that what his forehead thing is? Yeah, he genuinely like the. OK, in Kingsfield for the PlayStation, which is the predecessor to the Dark Souls series. Yeah, now who's a nerd in the first US version, first US game,

Speaker: There's a there's a dungeon where you face a dragon and then you can get the moonlight sword. And I feel like it has vaguely this color palette, which is like. Yeah, I want to say pinks, but they're like lavenders. But that's what I all I can think of is I'm trying to get the moonlight sword. That's that'd be a good full length, though. The moonlight sword. Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker: Yeah. I mean, how great is this logo though? There's a dragon head coming out of the S and it looks like it's, you know, gold relief. That's pretty cool. It's gold leaf. Actually salt Bay to put it on. Oh God. Okay. It feels busy.

Speaker: But looking at it, maybe it's because it's kind of low res in your screen share. Looking at a higher res version of it, it's not too bad. I mean, it's a little weird. Their website is siegemetal .com. You got to lean into the siege metal thing because that's cool. That is cool.

Speaker: All right. So yeah, that's awesome. Yeah. Just to punch it up for them, drop LARP up the siege metal element of things. Wow. What a great domain. Oh, man. Give that vocalist the credit. He has to stand around during all those instrumental breaks. He's just going to be.

Speaker: I mean, he's doing more work than the rest of you. He's literally holding up metal on his shoulders. You know, you're just, you're just holding a less Paul. I mean, come on. Yeah. So give the vocalist more stuff, dude. I, again, we haven't listened to any of these. We are basing these entirely on the promo. So I'm gonna,

Speaker: I'm going to let you give your score first because I want mine to be the epic surprise that it deserves. I'm going to give this an ear because I can't. I'm going between fascination and cringe. And I can't really decide where I lie on that line. I know exactly where I lie on that line. This gets one and a half years. I know I just spent like 10 minutes trashing them.

Speaker: That's because I love this style of music. Oh, I mean, I'm going to check this out. Sounds like sounds like it's going to be awesome. It's just. Yeah, I don't get it. No, I mean, it's like with Camelot. Like, I feel like every time I talk about Camelot, I rip and like rip into them. But I love Camelot. So you're probably right. All right. Last one. Here we go. Oh, look at that guy.

Speaker: All right. Shivered gothic doom metal from Iran album. Existential morning. Yeah. Topical word. Topical. Oh man. Okay. There's really not too much here, but Iran caught me, caught my eye. So the artwork, let's talk about the artwork. This looks like

Speaker: This looks like the background art to Camelot lyrics inside the book. Yeah. So I can see that it's some naked lady curled up and clearly going through some sort of existential mourning in a dark room.

Speaker: with some crooked pictures, you really gotta really gotta angle those pictures. And why are they so low? She's like, okay, she's sitting, right? One of the pictures is about her head level. Who hangs pictures that low? Who? Maybe, maybe they do things differently in Iran. Also the plaster on the wall is cracking. That's probably not a good thing. You should, you should probably take better care of your house. Anyway, well, it's a smooth finish though. So I mean, maybe it's,

Speaker: Maybe it's just this design. Yeah, and maybe she wouldn't be shivered if she was wearing some clothes. Just saying. And no, you can't see anything. It's rated PG -13 at best. I mean, it depends how many times they say shit, I think, in the movie. All of the lyrics are on Metal Archives for this album.

Speaker: Nice. Just a heads up. All right. Like I said, there's almost no words. Here's the track list for the album. Paranoiac. Ashes of Innocence. The Lighthouse. Nihilistic Serenade. Pale painted black. Unending weight. Paradoxical dread. Existential mourning. Weary toll of time. As the sun sets me.

Speaker: Total running time, 55 minutes, 12 seconds. Second release, Iranian Shivered released the second anticipated album, Existential Morning. Touching mix of slow haunting riffs with atmospheric keyboards. The most melancholic yet heavy work by the gothic doom metal master. I love how in metal promos,

Speaker: You can't, it can't be soulful. It can't be more than full or introspective without being butt heavy as fuck. Don't worry, heavy as fuck, brother. It's just Hulk Hogan. Yeah. Mastermind, Mohammed Maki says about Ashes of Innocence. It was the first song I wrote for the album and it's an homage to all victims of abuse and crime. It's not a soft song by any means.

Speaker: The band was established 2015, Gothic Doom Metal for fans of Catatonia, Paradise Lost, Swallow the Sun, Gothic Metal, Doom Metal, Bullet Points, the second full length, you already said that, Mix of Haunting, okay, okay, great. They just repeated the same things from before. Lineup. All right, sit back. Muhammad Maki, all instruments and vocals.

Speaker: That's it. This on paper is is very much a thing I would like. Like, I don't know, I'm pretty curious about this, actually. Like, I like the logo, existential mourning, I mean, and, you know, like the the logo is basically. Like a Halloween font. Yeah, it's not a font, it's clearly been like like the ease don't match.

Speaker: but it's got like some spatter. Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's, it's definitely a level up from a font. The band photo is the dude wearing a hoodie and he's looking at me. I'm pretty interested in this. I know why I am too. I'll give this two years. I'm not going to go that far. I'm going to go all the way to one and a half years. This was a good one.

Speaker: You I mean, usually, yeah, usually the average is below one year. I want to I want to give it to all three of these bands. You know, great job. I think we I think we have a tie. Yeah, we do. Oh, it's a three way tie. We have to play them all in the next one. Oh, nice. All right. Well, I think that wraps it up. So until next time, mental nation,

Speaker: Lots of metal from the Middle East, so thank you. Keep it up. And again, if you're going to attack that band, go for the shoulders, except for if it's the singer. That's what I'm trying to say. There you go. Because he'll fucking cut you before you make a dent. All right.

Speaker: I'll never have a comfortable ending to the episode.