Smaragos - EP

Santa Cruz knows death metal, and Smaragos is certainly no exception. Featuring 2 members of Son of Auerlius, vocalist Riley McShane and bassist Max Zigman (who also did guitar/programming), the release ranges from blistering tech-death/grind to eastern sounding stuff; at one point a sitar is even employed. It's immediately clear they have a wide range of influences they seek to combine effectively, which is an aesthetic I enthusiastically embrace.

My only gripe is the EP is too short, and I'm left wanting more. Clocking in at just over 11 minutes, they seem to be following a grind template, length wise, but hopefully a future release is planned because I'd like to see this become a more serious project.

Car Bomb - w^w^^w^w

If you're aware of Car Bomb, then you probably know how long we've waited for their sophomore follow up to "Centralia," an album which brought some serious innovation and freshness to the tech-metal scene. Well, I can tell you that it was certainly worth the wait. Before the first track had even concluded I was practically elated at the amount of content they'd manged to fit within just the first 2-3 minutes. This is an album with incredible density and attention to detail.

"w^w^^w^w" is available on Bandcamp for just $9, and considering the amount of enjoyment I've already received from Centralia, it's totally warranted. They have truly outdone themselves with this release.

Arbus / Bilo'u - Yellow Scale (The Twist of 2187 x 1000)

Artist: Arbus / Bilo'u

Origin: Japan

Genre: Mathcore / Progressive Metal / Metalcore

Album: Yellow Scale (The Twist of 2187 x 1000)

Release date: 2012

Tracklisting:
Arbus:

01. Snails

02. Double Dealer

03. Break One's Back (Bilo'u cover)

Bilo'u:
04. 1887

05. Shimmer

06. Earplug (Arbus cover)

Format: 320kbps, mp3

Download: Mediafire

Website: Facebook

Arbus have returned with a release that had flown completely underneath my radar, and they've brought along their friends, Bilo'u (Below), who sound something like Arbus, but tend to favor a more of Dysphoria type sound.

You can also nab Arbus' previous 2 releases here.

Danza - The Alpha The Omega

Alternative Press has premiered another a new Danza track, and it is nothing short of thrilling. The track features a crushing triple vocal assault near the end, with guest vox performed by Alex Erian of Despised Icon, and Phil Bozeman of Whitechapel.

Plague Widow / Oblivionized - Split 7" Teasers

Plague Widow have released a short teaser video featuring some new songs off their upcoming split with UK grind act, Oblivionized. No official release date has been slated, but both bands are clearly well in the midst of writing and recording, with Plague Widow again returning to Sacramento's own Mayhemeness Recording.

Pig Destroyer - Burning Palm

Pig Destroyer has just released a new song (complete with unfortunate lyric video) from their upcoming album, "Book Burner," which drops October 22nd.

Save Us From the Archon - Fall Demo

Save Us From the Archon has just released another track of instrumental technical metal, which can nabbed on their bandcamp for just a buck, or downloaded here.