Rip Mitchell
Bio
Lead singer of the band Vesuvian, lover of the metals, horror movies and grower of beards!
Stories (22/0)
All That Remains - 'Victim of the New Disease'
Formed in 1998 in the booming east coast metalcore scene All That Remains is a five-piece metal-core band from Springfield, Massachusetts. Started as a more melodic death metal style side project of then Shadows Fall vocalist Phil Labonte and Guitarist Oli Herbert. The band has since evolved from its melodic death metal roots to one of the forerunners of the 2000’s wave of metal-core. With the release of their second album This Darkened Heart and the addition of now longtime guitarist (and Oli Herbert student) Mike Martin, this group really started to help form what we now know as metal-core!
By Rip Mitchell5 years ago in Beat
The Ocean—Phanerozoic I: Palaezoic
The Ocean (or sometimes known as The Ocean Collective) was founded in 2000 by guitarist and songwriter Robin Staps. The often referred to collective based on in their first two years as a band they went through something like forty members outside of Staps. It seems like it took the full two years to make their first established line up and dropping their first album “Islands/Tides” which was one thirty minute song which would establish themselves as a very progressive post metalish band. This was followed by an instrumental EP called fogdiver released on Make my day records but did not truly become the band you hear today until in 2005 they signed to Metal Blade records, subsequently releasing Fluxion and Aeolian.
By Rip Mitchell5 years ago in Beat
It Came from BandCamp Volume 1
When doing three hundred and sixty-five albums in three hundred and sixty-five-day challenge I have heard a lot of odd things on the old Bandcamp. So I started to think, hey some of these are pretty good! But not a lot of these get much exposure, so I am starting monthly list and micro-review of a few of my favorite three or four finds from the dredges of Bandcamp!
By Rip Mitchell5 years ago in Beat
Into Eternity—'Sirens'
Formed in 1997 Into Eternity is a five-piece Canadian progressive metal band from Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada by Tim Roth, Scott Krall, and Jim Austin. Over their long time as an active band, they have gone through a long list of members and have released five albums in 1999’s Into Eternity, 2001’s Dead or Dreaming, 2004’s Buried in Oblivion, 2006’s The Scattering of Ashes and 2008’s The Incurable Tragedy leading up to this album Sirens. The line up for “Sirens” features the only original member Tim Roth long time members, bass player Troy Bleich, and drummer Bryan Newbury are joined by new members in guitarist Matt Cuthbertson and a lead vocalist Amanda Kiernan who started as a touring member and came on full time for this album. This album is seemingly their comeback album after nearly a decade since their last album was released, always known as a unique and interesting band from the late 2000’s how will they fair in this all but a completely new landscape of metal? Let us dig in and find out!
By Rip Mitchell5 years ago in Beat
Hate Eternal - 'Upon Desolate Sands'
Hate Eternal is a death metal band from Saint Petersburg, Florida that was formed in 1997 by Guitarist, Vocalist and renown death metal producer Erik Rutan (formally of Morbid Angel). Upon Desolate Sands is the band's seventh album and fourth on Metal Blade following other releases on this label including Fury & Flames, Phoenix Amongst The Ashes and a follow up to the techy affair that was Infernus. On the note of techy, Upon Desolate Sands is a relentless blur of tech fury somehow contained in a space that somehow feels like you are within a sandstorm. So put on your brutal goggles as we wade into this sandstorm upon the desolate sands!
By Rip Mitchell5 years ago in Beat
Horrendous—'Idol'
Formed in 2009 Horrendous is a former four-man old school death metal band turned progressive death metal band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. With three out of four founding members in co-guitarists and vocalists Matt Knox, Damian Herring, and drummer Jamie Knox old fans will still get staples of the writing quirks of the first few albums. Now with the relatively new addition of bass player Alex Kulick adding his own take and bass flare to the overall sound. Before this release, they had three full-length albums in The Chills, Ecdysis, and Anareta that was upon checking a lot more death metal than any kind of prog that people might think of. Idol is their first release on their new record label Season of Mist and is a large departure from their old sound in the best way, a change like this can show how a band can truly evolve from their roots to something impressive. So let us venture in and see how far Horrendous has progressed towards or even beyond their Idols shall we?
By Rip Mitchell5 years ago in Beat
Behemoth - 'I Loved You at Your Darkest' - Review
If for some reason you have been living under a rock for the last few decades, or who knows you might just be getting into the heavier side of music? If this is the case, welcome things are about to get really heavy! Behemoth is a three-piece blackened death metal from Poland, led by the only original member and architect Adam "Nergal" Darski. Nergal, who founded the band originally as a traditional black metal band in 1991 eventually filled out the lineup with a metal award-winning rhythm section in members know as Orion and Inferno. Being around that long they have accumulated a large back catalog that has helped lead the way in the evolution of extreme metal’s evolution. The album I Loved You at Your Darkest is their eleventh studio album and a follow up to the excuse the pun but behemoth of an album in 2014’s “The Satanist” which was a groundbreaking album not only for them be the album was a milestone in showing how far extream music has come. So how did they follow up something that has more accolades seemingly then words in this review? Let's dig in and find out!
By Rip Mitchell6 years ago in Beat
Benthik Zone—'Via Cosmicam ad Europam ab Gelid Inferis' Album Review
Benthik Zone—Via Cosmicam ad Europam ab Gelid Inferis: Benthik Zone is a darkwave influenced three piece atmospheric black metal band from Porto, Portugal on their full-length debut with Via Cosmicam ad Europam ab Inferis Gelid. This band was founded in 2016 and last year dropped two EPs predating this LP in Cyclum Vitam D'Aqua Pollutio and Alienum a Daemonum Inferni Squali. They are currently unsigned, active, and I will link at the end of the article where you can find these crazy dudes playing, hopefully, somewhere in your part of the world.
By Rip Mitchell6 years ago in Beat
Insane Art—'Human Nature Bright Side/Dark Side' review
Insane Art is an interesting four-piece Siberian Groove Metal band from Novosibirsk, Russia, with a monster of a two-part album for their first ever releases. Though they were released almost a year apart, they flow together so well that I wanted to review them as one body of work. Even just by title, these two seem to follow a concept of a lighter/dark-type double album, which, in concept, I, as a listener, really enjoy! Their overall sound is a good blend of traditional groove metal (ie: Lamb of God and Pantera) mixed very well with early 2000s era metalcore like Chimaira or Unearthed, which comes off as chaotic in the best way! As a vocalist and lyricist, I would usually talk about lyrics and the like, but for these dudes I'm going to give that a pass, as there is a bit of a language barrier. I can say, vocally, the lead singer has great chops on screaming as well as his cleans (don’t worry, my metalhead friends, when I say "cleans," it is closer to a thrash metal yell for the most part, nothing whine-y or autotuned will be found on theses disks). But enough about the dudes, let's get into what they have created!
By Rip Mitchell6 years ago in Beat
Botanist—'Collective: The Shape of He to Come' Album Review
Botanist is a five piece post-black metal band from San Francisco, California. They have been a band since 2009 and have released five albums and three EP’s before this album was crafted. One of the things that makes this band stand out from the rest is the fact they do not use guitars as the lead instrument. Instead, they use a hammered dulcimer which gives it a very melodic, if not slightly hypnotic, approach to this interesting take on metal. A word to the reader, I must say that there are a few tracks that I would not say transcends metal, but you could not even call metal. Now onward to the oddly unique album!
By Rip Mitchell6 years ago in Beat
