Bands : Different Bands

Metallica

2008-04-28T22:11:05Z

Metallica is an American heavy metal band that formed in 1981 in Los Angeles, California. Founded when drummer Lars Ulrich posted an advertisement in a Las Angeles newspaper, Metallica's original line-up consisted of Ulrich, rhythm guitarist and vocalist James Hetfield, lead guitarist Dave Mustaine, and bassist Ron McGovney. McGovney and Mustaine were later ejected from the band, in favor of Cliff Burton and Kirk Hammett, respectively. The ejection of Mustaine has subsequently resulted in a feud between him and Metallica. Mustaine later went on to form Megadeth. In 1986, Metallica's tour bus skidded out of control, and Burton was crushed under the bus and was killed. Jason Newsted replaced him, although he left the band in 2001 and was replaced by Robert Trujillo in 2003.

Metallica's early releases included fast tempos, instrumentals, and aggressive musicianship that placed them as one of the "Big Four" of the thrash metal genre alongside with Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax. The band earned a growing fan base in the underground music community, and some critics say the 1986 release Master of Puppets is one of the most influential and "heavy" thrash metal albums. The band rose to fame with its 1991 self-titled album Metallica, which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. Some critics and fans believed the band changed its musical direction to appeal to the mainstream audience.

With the release of Load in 1996, Metallica distanced itself from earlier releases in what has been described as "an almost alternative [rock] approach", and the band faced accusations of "selling out". Metallica filed a lawsuit in 2000 against Napster for sharing the band's copyrighted material for free without the members' consent. A settlement was reached, and Napster became a pay-to-use service. Despite reaching number one on the Billboard 200, the release of St. Anger in 2003 disappointed some critics and fans with the exclusion of guitar solos, and the "steel-sounding" snare drum. A film titled Some Kind of Monster documented the recording process of St. Anger.

Metallica has released eight studio albums, two live albums, two EPs, nine videos, and is working on a ninth studio album. The band has become one of the most commercially successful and influential musical acts. With over 100 million records sold worldwide, including 57 million in the United States alone, the band has won seven Grammy Awards, and has had four albums peak at number one on the Billboard 200. The band's 1991 album Metallica, has sold over 15 million copies, which makes it the 25th highest selling album in the United States.

My ALL TIME favorite song: Nothing Else Matters!

[youtube]JgiGrXpOhYg[/youtube]

My 2nd Favorite: Sad But True!

[youtube]2PsbT9r51PM[/youtube]

And A "just plain good ol' song": Master Of Puppets!

[youtube]WEL6_SuQCu8[/youtube]

Slayer

2008-04-28T22:06:26Z

Slayer is an American thrash metal band founded by guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King in 1981.Slayer rose to fame as a leader of the American thrash metal movement with their 1986 release, Reign in Blood, which has been called "the heaviest album of all time" by Kerrang. The band is credited as one of the "Big Four" thrash metal bands, along with Metallica, Anthrax, and Megadeth.

Slayer is known for its musical traits, involving fast tremolo picking, guitar solos, double bass drumming, and shouting vocals. The band's lyrics and album art, which cover topics such as death, deviants, genocide, necrophillia, insanity, religion, Satanism, serial killers, and warfare have generated album bans, delays, lawsuits and strong criticism from religious groups and the general public.

Since its debut record in 1983, the band has released two live albums, one box set, three DVDs, one VHS, two EPs, and ten albums, four of which have received gold certification in the United States. The band has received three Grammy nominations, winning one in 2007 for the song "Eyes of the Insane", and one in 2008 for the song "Final Six". They have headlined music festivals worldwide, including Ozzfest and The Unholy Alliance.

My Favorite!: Raining Blood!

[youtube]CUDWLp1yIWw[/youtube]

A good one!: Dead Skin Mask

[youtube]Zp_ntrq_K40[/youtube]

Chimaira

2008-04-28T20:28:12Z

Chimaira is a heavy metal band from Cleveland, Ohio and one of the most notable bands in the New Wave of American Heavy Metal. The name is derived from the word "chimera", which refers to a monstrous creature in Greek mythology.

�Early days (1998�2000)

Chimaira's initial lineup consisted of vocalist Mark Hunter, lead guitarist Rob Arnold, rhythm guitarist Jason Hager, bassist Andrew Ermlick, and drummer Andols Herrick. An early demo the band recorded began to receive widespread airplay on several college radio stations around the area. Even landing a spot performing on the short lived USA Network show Farmclub.com. The band was known to be relentlessly booed at early shows due to them choosing not to play a "pure" metal style and adopting a more "hardcore" image.

�This Present Darkness & Pass out of Existence (2000�2003)

Eventually, the band recorded their first EP, called This Present Darkness, which was released in 2000, during this process they replaced bassist Andrew Ermlick with Rob Lesniak. Later on Ben Schigel, the band's producer and studio keyboard/turntables/electronics provider joined them live temporarily. Banking on the success of the EP, the band was signed by Roadrunner Records and quickly recorded their debut album Pass out of Existence in 2001, by this time Jim LaMarca was now bassist and Chris Spicuzza was handling all electronics duties. Shortly after the release of the album and the tour that was to follow, Jason Hager left the band when he found out he was going to become a father. Matt DeVries, from another local band called Ascension, was recruited to take over as rhythm guitarist.

�The Impossibility of Reason (2003�2005)

The band returned home in late 2002 to begin writing and recording their next full-length album, The Impossibility of Reason. The making of the album was documented and later seen on their debut DVD release called The Dehumanizing Process. After the release and ensuing tours that followed, drummer Andols Herrick decided to leave the band. As evidenced in the DVD documentary, Herrick appeared to be unenthusiastic about constantly being on the road. He returned home to attend college to obtain a music degree.

Chimaira eventually welcomed Ricky Evensand as its new drummer. Evensand, hailing from Sweden, was probably most notable for being a part of Soilwork for a short time. Evensand's stay in Chimaira was relatively short-lived. Due to visa problems and his temperamental nature, Evensand eventually left the band. Going on advice from Slayer guitarist Kerry King, Hunter contacted Kevin Talley, an experienced death metal drummer who had previously been in the bands Dying Fetus and Misery Index. With Talley on board, the band finished their remaining tour dates before returning home for some downtime. They soon began the writing and recording process on their next album.

�Chimaira (2005�2007)

By the first quarter of 2005, the band had finished most of their next release and hit the road once again. The self-titled album, the first (and only) one featuring Talley, was released in August of 2005 while the band was taking part in the inaugural Sounds of the Underground tour. Hunter and DeVries had also taken part in another musical project that year, Roadrunner Records' twenty-fifth anniversary CD entitled The All-Star Sessions. Also taking part in the recording of several songs was former drummer Andols Herrick. These recording sessions reignited Herrick's interest of being in a full-time band. Eventually, in early 2006, Herrick and the members of Chimaira conversed and Herrick was welcomed back into the band. Talley's split from the band was amicable, as he was already being offered spots in several different bands and projects (The Red Chord, Misery Index, D��TH).

�Resurection (2007�present)

In 2006, the band was released from their contract with Roadrunner Records and eventually signed with Ferret Records for United States distribution. They also struck a deal with Nuclear Blast for international operations. The band was said to be excited about their new deals, and their fourth album Resurrection was released on March 6th, 2007. Hunter and Arnold have revealed that this album has shaped up to be their heaviest and most musically technical album to date. The band feels rejuvenated after their split with Roadrunner and the readmission of Herrick on drums. The only downside of this happy event was that the band decided to call off the Eastpack Antidote tour with Soilwork, Sonic Syndicate and Caliban. Chimaira was replaced by Dark Tranquillity.

My personal favorite: Split!

[youtube]w7XBFAvIJo0[/youtube]

A really great song: Ressuretion!

[youtube]mzv7O9siFXY[/youtube]

Another great song: Nothing Remains!

[youtube]DZSTlrK1HmU[/youtube]

Killswitch Engage

2008-04-28T20:16:35Z

Killswitch Engage (often abbreviated as KsE or Killswitch) is a metalcore band from Westfield, Massachusetts. They are known for being one of the leaders in the New Wave of American Heavy Metal.� Formed following the disbandment of the bands Overcast and Aftershock, Killswitch Engage's lineup consists of vocalist Howard Jones, bassist Mike D'Antonio, guitarists Joel Stroetzel and Adam Dutkiewicz, and drummer Justin Foley. Signed to Roadrunner Records, Killswitch Engage has released four studio albums�and one DVD.

Killswitch Engage rose to fame with its 2004 release The End of Heartache, which peaked at number 21 on the Billboard 200, and was certified gold in December 2007 for over 500,000 shipments in the United States. The title track, "The End of Heartache", was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2005, and a live DVD titled (Set This) World Ablaze was released in 2005. Killswitch Engage has attended Reading and Leeds Festivals, Ozzfest, Download Festival and the Warped Tour, and is scheduled to continue touring until May 2008.

�Early days

Following the break-up of his band, Overcast in 1998, bassist Mike D'Antonio jammed with Aftershock Guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz. As both bands had disbanded, Dutkiewicz recruited guitarist Joel Stroetzel from Aftershock, and Jesse Leach of Nothing Stays Gold as vocalist. Former Overcast vocalist Brian Fair was considered for the role, but he was unable to join due to obligations with his band Shadows Fall. D'Antonio said the band was initially going to be for fun and a "thing to do on the side".

The band's name originated from the break-up of Overcast and Aftershock, using aspects that pushed and elevated the band and putting the combination into a new category. D'Antonio commented "basically shutting everything down that we once knew and starting over. Killswitch, which is like turning everything off. Like if someone�s hand gets caught in something in a metal working shop the foreman will press one button that will turn off the machines. A killswitch. Then the engage is just turning it back on or something like that".

�Signed to a label, self-titled and Alive or Just Breathing

While touring with Steve Young and Shadows Fall, and opening for In Flames, Killswitch Engage was noticed by record label Ferret Music and signed the band to its label. The band released its self-titled debut album, and although initially the album was not a financial success and didn't enter any charts, it garnered the interest of Ferret Music founder Carl Severson. Severson, who worked at Roadrunner Records at the time, handed Killswitch Engage to several Roadrunner representatives. An A&R of the company, Mike Gitter, contacted D'Antonio and attended several of the band's shows, and his interest led him to offer the band a recording contract with Roadrunner. Declining offers from several smaller labels, the band accepted the Roadrunner deal as they thought the company had the resources to promote and distribute Killswitch Engage releases.

Killswitch Engage began writing new material for their second album in November 2001. With a larger recording budget, the band entered Zing Studios in Westfield, Massachusetts�in November, and was able to spend more time "getting things right". Mixed in January at Backstage Studios by producer Andy Sneap, the album was titled Alive or Just Breathing for lyrics in the song "Just Barely Breathing". A music video for the single "My Last Serenade" increased the band's exposure, and the album peaked at number 37 on the Top Heatseekers chart. After the album's release, which was written and recorded for two guitarists, the band decided to expand and become a fivesome when Dutkiewicz moved to guitar, and former Aftershock drummer Tom Gomes joined as drummer. Kevin Boyce of CMJ New Music Report described the record as "more addictive than crack cocaine that's been smothered in caffeine and nicotine and drenched with chocolate", and Jason D. Taylor of All Music Guide said the release is "a pure metal album that seemingly has ignored any fashionable trend and instead relies solely on skill and expertise to sculpt some of meatiest heavy metal since the glory days of Metallica and Slayer".

�New lead singer and drummer

After Leach got married on April 20, 2002 and began touring again he started to become depressed. This started to affect his screaming as he would put too much emotion into the screaming and not enough technique. At his worst Leach would do a show then head back to the bus and go to sleep. Leach left the band a few days before the band was meant to play a show and sent the band members an e-mail telling them he had quit. D'Antonio thought that "after three years of hanging out with the dude, and considering him a brother, to just get an email was a little bit harsh."

The band immediately started to search for a replacement vocalist and found Howard Jones of Blood Has Been Shed. Jones disliked the band's sound when he first heard it. He commented "I was like, �Meh.� I come from hardcore and dirtier metal, and Killswitch sounded so clean. But the more I listened to it, I realized there�s some really good songs here". After hearing about Leach's vocal problems, Jones contacted the band and was accepted as the replacement. Without listening to the entire self-titled album or Alive or Just Breathing, Jones had to memorize seven songs for his debut at the 2002 Hellfest.

The new lineup played on the Road Rage tour in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands in 2002 with 36 Crazyfists and Five Pointe O. Touring continued through the New Year's Day, and in 2003 the first song to feature Jones, "When Darkness Falls", appeared on the soundtrack of the 2003 horror film Freddy vs. Jason. Following the 2003 Ozzfest, drummer Gomes left the band because he wished to spend more time with his wife, to pursue his band Something of a Silhouette, and because he was tired of touring. He was replaced by Justin Foley of Blood Has Been Shed and Red Tide, and Foley's first tour with the band was the MTV2 Headbangers Ball in 2003.

�The End of Heartache

The End of Heartache was released on May 11, 2004, and peaked at number 21 on the Billboard 200 with 38,000 sales in its first week, and it also peaked at number 39 on the Australian album chart following an Australian tour with Anthrax. The album went on to sell more than 500,000 copies in the U.S and was certified gold on December 7, 2007. The album received mostly positive reviews, with Jon Caramanica of Rolling Stone calling the album a "stunning collection, retaining much of their signature musical brutality". Ed Rivaria of All Music Guide commented "riff upon riff are piled sky-high into each number that follows, it's the unpredictable rhythmic shifts used to build and then relieve internal pressure that fuel the Killswitch Engage power source".

In late 2004, the band supported Slayer on its U.S. Jagermusic dates, and headlined shows with From Autumn to Ashes, Eighteen Visions, and 36 Crazyfists. "The End of Heartache" became the main single for the movie Resident Evil: Apocalypse, and in 2005 the song was nominated in the Best Metal Performance category for the 47th annual Grammy Awards. The award was given to Mot�rhead for "Whiplash". In late 2004, The End of Heartache was re-released as a special edition album, with a second disc featuring various live performances, a Japanese bonus track, and a re-recorded version of "Irreversal". During the summer of 2005, the band returned for Ozzfest, and on November 1, 2005, Alive or Just Breathing was re-released as part of Roadrunner Records' 25th anniversary. On November 22, 2005, the live DVD (Set This) World Ablaze was released, which contained a live concert at the Palladium in Worcester, Massachusetts, an hour-long documentary, and all the band's music videos. The DVD went gold in the U.S. on April 8, 2006 for 50,000 sales.

�As Daylight Dies

Killswitch Engage played the Reading and Leeds Festivals in August 2006, having already played Australian dates without Dutkiewicz, who was suffering from back problems and needed corrective surgery. On May 23, 2006, the song "This Fire Burns" was released on the WWE Wreckless Intent album. The track was intended to be the new theme song for WWE superstar Randy Orton; however, it was scrapped and later became the theme song for the WWE Judgment Day 2006 pay-per-view. "This Fire Burns" is currently used as the entrance theme for ECW wrestler CM Punk.

Recorded in three months, As Daylight Dies was released on November 21, 2006 and peaked at number 32 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart with 60,000 sales in its first week. It also entered the Australia album chart at number 29. Mixed by Dutkiewicz, the album received mostly positive reviews�Thom Jurek of All Music Guide called it "a Top Five metal candidate for 2006 for sure". Decibel Magazine contributor Nick Terry said "To call As Daylight Dies addictive would be an understatement. That it outdoes its already impressive enough predecessor could almost go without saying". Cosmo Lee of Stylus Magazine commented "the album is astonishingly badly sequenced", even though it contributed to the album being "less emotionally heavy-handed, and a lot more fun". As of November 27, 2007, As Daylight Dies has sold more than 300,000 units in the United States.

The album's first single, "My Curse", peaked at number 21 on the Hot Mainstream Rock chart, and was available as a bonus song in the popular game Guitar Hero III. "The Arms of Sorrow" peaked at number 31 on the same chart. The band's cover of Dio's "Holy Diver", originally recorded for a Kerrang! compilation album titled High Voltage, peaked at number 12 on the Mainstream Rock charts. Early in 2007, the band had to cancel three of its European tour dates with The Haunted due to Dutkiewicz's back problems. He required emergency back surgery and was replaced on the tour by ex-Soilwork guitarist Peter Wichers.

�Further tours

Killswitch Engage headlined the No Fear Tour in early 2007 with Dragonforce, Chimaira, and He Is Legend. Due to Dutkiewicz's back problems, he was replaced by Damageplan and The Mercy Clinic frontman Patrick Lachman, who was formerly the guitarist for Diesel Machine and Halford. Dutkiewicz recovered and was able to finish No Fear tour, and the band began filming its video for As Daylight Dies's second single, "The Arms of Sorrow".

Killswitch Engage played the 2007 Download Festival with Iron Maiden, Evanescence, Linkin Park, Slayer, and Marilyn Manson. The band also toured at Bamboozle 2007 and Warped Tour. On August 6, 2007, Dutkiewicz was forced to leave Warped Tour so he could fully recover from his back surgery and continue daily physical therapy. He was replaced by Killswitch's guitar technician Josh Mihlek for select songs, until his return on August 14, 2007. Killswitch Engage spent November 28 through December 17, 2007 on a U.S. tour with co-headlining band Lamb of God, and supporting acts DevilDriver and Soilwork.

Killswitch Engage took part in the Soundwave Festival in Australia during February and March 2008. Other bands attending include The Offspring, Incubus, As I Lay Dying, Alexisonfire, Haste The Day, Saosin, and Carpathian. The band will tour until May 2008, and may discuss writing a new record, which would be released in 2009.

The band is about to kick off a small tour for the month of May in Canada and the United States, kicking off in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and ending in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Support for this tour comes from Poison the Well, Throwdown and The End.

Like In GH3: My Curse!

[youtube]bxJAiV-YF3Q[/youtube]

My favorite: End Of Heartache!

[youtube]I0APr2Zo4oE[/youtube]

The Human Abstract

2008-04-28T20:10:30Z

The Human Abstract is a progressive metal/mathcore band with neo-classical elements. They are from Los Angeles, California. The band's name references a poem of the same title by William Blake (Songs of Experience, 1794).

Guitarist Dean Herrera and guitarist/keyboardist A.J. Minette formed The Human Abstract in 2004, adding drummer Brett Powell and bassist Kenny Arehart, and singer Nick Olaerts. The band recorded a couple demos and played a number of regional gigs before signing with Hopeless Records in 2005. Soon After Signing to Hopeless Records THA replaced singer Nick Olaerts with Nathan Ells - a recommendation from Look What I Did's frontman Barry Donegan. Nathan Ells joined the band 1 month before heading into the studio to record the bands debut full length release "NOCTURNE".

They released their debut album Nocturne on Hopeless Records on August 22, 2006. The band has been critically acclaimed for their technical proficiency and stage presence. In the past they have toured with bands such as All That Remains, God Forbid, Misery Signals, The Devil Wears Prada, Shai Hulud, Folly, Drop Dead, Gorgeous, Protest the Hero, It Dies Today, Mushroomhead, Mnemic, Goatwhore, Look What I Did, Arsis, and The Chariot. They were on the 2007 warped tour's smartpunk stage. The Human Abstract performed on 2008's TAKE ACTION TOUR feat. Everytime I Die, From First To Last, The Bled, and August Burns Red. The band played a few of their new songs to the Take Action Tour crowd culminating in an instant acceptance, the performance is still there, and so is the vivid, fast, technical, melodic music, breakdowns, and now more fluent keyboards. Excellent clean vocals and vocal patterns.

During the writing and recording process of their upcoming 2008 album, fans noticed that lead guitarist A.J. Minette was not shown in any of their studio pictures on the band's myspace page, instead there being replacement guitarist Andrew Tapley. This led to the worry and assumption that A.J. had left the band, but there was no official word until vocalist Nathan Ells commented on February 4, 2008 saying that A.J. and former member Travis Khan had left the band because they were simply tired of playing metal, A.J'S exact words being "I don't feel like I can get onstage and feel honest about playing metal anymore." The rest of the band felt that totally changing the sound would have been "like a smack in the face to all those that had been coming out and supporting the shows." Travis stated clearly "you know im tired of this shit me and A.J can go cross the rubicon somewhere else." There is now a street in Staten Island, New York named after Travis for his honesty as a student and individual. Nathan Ells wrote, "The Human Abstract has always been, and will continue to be, a heavy band." Dean and brother Clark has taken the position as Lead Guitarist and stripper on tour leaving people in awe with his skills, playing the most technical songs with the least effort by constantly saying "suuup matt."

The Singer Nathanael Ross Ells Has A Solo Album Out April 22, 2008 Titled "Book Of Changes"�� http://www.myspace.com/nathanaelrossells

My favorite song they've made: Nocturne!

[youtube]ub076kNkcdc[/youtube]

An Also very good song: Crossing The Rubicon!

[youtube]hszW_3Bzgis[/youtube]

All That Remains

2008-04-28T20:05:13Z

All That Remains is a metalcore band from Springfield, Massachusetts.

This very talented band released their debut album, Behind Silence and Solitude on March 26, 2002 through Prosthetic Records. The style of the album differs from their future releases, as it is void of clean vocals, and more prominently contains elements of melodic death metal. It was also the band's only release featuring guitarist Chris Bartlett and bassist Josh Stolowitz. Shortly after the album's release, singer Philip Labonte tried out for the vacant vocalist position in Killswitch Engage as mentioned in their DVD (Set This) World Ablaze. Labonte and Killswitch bassist Mike D'Antonio mentioned he was the runner-up to eventual winner, and current vocalist, Howard Jones.

Their second album, This Darkened Heart was released on March 23, 2004 through Prosthetic Records/Razor & Tie. Produced by Killswitch Engage guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz, the album featured better production compared to its predecessor, as well as the use of clean vocals. Three singles were released from the album in "This Darkened Heart", "Tattered on My Sleeve" and "The Deepest Gray".

Their third album, The Fall of Ideals was released on July 11, 2006 through Prosthetic Records. Once again, the album was produced by Adam Dutkiewicz. The album is also considered to be the band's breakthrough release, as it entered the Billboard 200 charts at number 75, selling almost 13,000 copies in its first week. "This Calling" was released as the album's first single. Two music videos were created, with one incorporating footage from Saw III (as it was the lead song from the movie's soundtrack). A music video was made for the album's second single "The Air That I Breathe". The band were also a part of Ozzfest 2006. The song "Six" was featured in Guitar Hero II. On June 20, 2007, it was announced that The Fall of Ideals had surpassed 100,000 sales in the United States. A music video for the album's third single "Not Alone" was filmed on July 4 and was released in August.

Recently they received and played a spot in Wacken Open Air in Wacken, Germany.

On September 10, 2007, the band released the music video to their third single from The Fall of Ideals in "Not Alone".

They recently finished up their tour with Chimaira, Light This City, and Black Tide. They are now beginning to write the next upcoming album. In Early May, they are heading to Audiohammer Studios to record the album with acclaimed producer Jason Suecof.

The band is currently working on a new album set to release in the summer of 2008. Jason Suecof will produce this album. It is the first record of the band not to be produced by Adam Dutkiewicz of Killswitch Engage.

Here's a Song that can be found on GH2: Six!!!

[youtube]UvKi7rHDjp0[/youtube]

My personal Favorite: This Calling.

[youtube]UcfLkrDXdn8[/youtube]

And one that's a bit more technical: Not Alone!

[youtube]mnDEFyV88Qs[/youtube]

Threat Signal

2008-04-28T19:59:20Z

Threat Signal are a metal band from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently signed to Nuclear Blast.

Early years

Threat Signal was formed in late 2003 by cousins Jon and Rich Howard, eventually they added guitarist Kyle McKnight and began writing material. In early 2004, drummer Adam Matthews joined the band. Threat Signal posted their song "Rational Eyes" on an international metal chart on GarageBand.com. After a few weeks, the song reached #1, and it has received many awards including best guitars, best drums, best male vocals, best production, song of the week, and song of the day. In August 2004 Eric Papky, Kyle's former guitar teacher, joined the band on bass. Success on GarageBand.com sparked some early record label interest and helped create a large following even prior to the band ever having played live. In August 2005 Marco Bresette replaced Eric Papky on bass guitar.

Nuclear Blast and Under Reprisal

The band travelled to Los Angeles, to record with Christian Olde Wolbers of Fear Factory in September, 2005. In November of 2005, the band announced they had signed a recording deal with Nuclear Blast records. In early 2006 Adam Matthews left the band, and he was replaced by George Parfitt. In July the band took part in the Earthshaker Fest, alongside notable acts as Scar Symmetry, Communic, and Arch Enemy On August 1, 2006, the band announced that guitarist Rich Howard had left the band to pursue other personal goals, and he was replaced by the band's bassist, Marco Bressette. This left the bass guitar duties vacant, and in late September Pat Kavanagh was announced as the new bassist. In October, the band began a North American trek with Soilwork, Mnemic and Darkest Hour. The tour ended in November, but the band announced a headlining tour of North America in early 2007 as well.

New material and touring

In March 2007, Threat Signal began demoing new material, but was hampered by another departure, this time Marco Bressette's. The band announced a search for a new guitarist the same day. Threat Signal was tapped as the opener for the Tour and Loathing tour alongside Protest the Hero, All That Remains, Blessthefall, and The Holly Springs Disaster.

The band have recently added a new demo song entitled "Beyond Recognition" onto their myspace page and it is believed to be set as a song for the band's second studio album.

Here's one of their good songs: Rational Eyes.

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And what I would say, their 2nd best song: As I Destruct.

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And one last one: Inane (Live)

[youtube]1RwiH8mqkJg[/youtube]

Protest The Hero

2008-04-28T19:47:25Z

Protest the Hero (often abbreviated as PTH or simply Protest) is a Canadian band from Whitby, Ontario. Formed in 1999 under the name Happy Go Lucky, their first release as Protest The Hero became A Calculated Use of Sound EP (2003) and later released their first full length Kezia (2005) on the indie label Underground Operations. On January 23, 2006 the band officially signed with Vagrant Records for Kezia's United States release. Kezia was released in the US on April 4, 2006. Their second full length, Fortress was leaked on January 22, 2008, and was officially released on Underground Operations in Canada and Vagrant records worldwide on January 29, 2008.

The band is composed of five members: Rody Walker (lead vocals), Tim Millar (guitar, live backup vocals), Luke Hoskin (lead guitar, live backup vocals, piano), Morgan "Moe" Carlson (drums) and Arif Mirabdolbaghi (bass guitar, lyricist, live backup screaming/clean vocals).

The day that the band members finished their senior final exams, they left on a three-week tour from Toronto to Halifax called "Cock the Vote" in order to gain recognition, as well as raise awareness for the upcoming Canadian election. Protest the Hero's popularity is slowly expanding outside of metal scenes in and around the cities and towns they have performed in. Now teamed up with Universal Music Canada for distributional services, Protest the Hero hopes to become popular over most of Canada and, with their recent signing to Vagrant Records, the United States as well. In 2004 they won the Canadian Independent Music Award for Favourite Metal Artist/Group, beating out much more known Alexisonfire. They were nominated for the 2006 Canadian Music Week Indie Awards' Favourite Metal Artist/Group, which Kataklysm won in March of that year. Also in 2006, the band was also nominated for the CASBY Award. In addition, members of the band appeared in a televised commercial for the instrument store, Long & Mcquade. Bassist Arif was also featured in the Closet Monster music video "Mamma Anti-Facisto (Never Surrender)"; he can be seen to the left of London Spicoluk during the main group scenes.

A music video for their song "These Colours Don't Run" from the album A Calculated Use of Sound was released in 2003. The video begins with the band discussing the meaning of the song and features the band playing the song live at numerous locations in Toronto, Ontario, with the album music dubbed overtop of the actual live music. At each location, the band would hand out lyrics to passers-by and encourage them to listen or sing along. The band has also released videos for the songs "The Divine Suicide of K", "Blindfolds Aside", and "Heretics and Killers" from Kezia, and for "Bloodmeat" from Fortress. The video for "Heretics and Killers" received airplay on MTV2 and FUSE, partially because of the interesting premise of the video: the band play the flying monkeys from the Wizard of Oz after they were fired. In addition, the song "Divinity Within" is featured on the NHL 07 videogame soundtrack, and "Bury the Hatchet" is featured in a download pack for Guitar Hero II on the Xbox 360.

Protest The Hero started officially writing music for their newest album in January, 2007. They finished recording it on August 10, as said by Rody during the 2007 Vans Warped Tour in Barrie. The album is called "Fortress" and was set to be released by Vagrant Records on November 12th, however the band had decided to push the release back to January 29, 2008.

Here's one of there big hits ; Heretics and Killers.

[youtube]7JA8K1PDM5M[/youtube]

And another; Blindfolds Aside.

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And more: BloodMeat.

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