At one point, Andreas “Slowoff” Asingh was one of the most critically acclaimed electronic artists in Denmark, working with internationally renowned artists like Raekwon while touring the world. Eventually, life’s twist and turns took Asingh […]
Tag: metal
Over the past couple of years, the Antananarivo, Madagascar-based JOVM mainstays LohArano — Mahalia Ravoajanahary (vocals, guitar), Michael Raveloson (bass, vocals) and Natiana Randrianasoloson (drums, vocals) — have received attention both nationally and internationally for a unique, boundary pushing sound that features elements of popular and beloved Malagasy musical styles like Tsapiky and Salegy with heavy metal.
The Malagasy JOVM mainstays further cemented their reputation for being one of the hardest working and prolific acts in the global scene with the release of last year’s Bae Nosy EP earlier this year, which featured, the urgent, mosh pit friendly EP title track “Bae Nosy,” a track that received airplay FERAROCK, which broadcasts across France, Switzerland, Belgium and Canada, and 50 other stations globally. The EP’s previous single “Koitra” landed on Spotify’s All New Metal and New Blood playlists, Deezer’s Metal Detector and Women of Metal playlists, Tidal’s New Metal playlist and over 250 other playlists.
They then closed out last year with “Velirano,” a mosh pit ripper fueled by the righteous outrage of people who have been fucked with, beaten down and cheated and have had enough. It’s the sound of young people frustrated with the same ol’ okie doke when the world is on fire, and the elders and authorities don’t have the same urgency.
The Malagasy trio return with “Dinjá,” which back home is a metaphor for cheap — both in terms of monetary value and how much our society values human life. Sonically, the song sees the band meshing elements of thrash metal with thrash punk. Anchored around scorching riffage and thunderous drumming, the song’s arrangement is a seething vehicle for Mahalia Ravoajanahary’s righteous fury.
Throwback: Happy 69th Birthday, Angus Young!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates AC/DC’s Angus Young’s 69th birthday.
Throwback: Happy 76th Birthday, Steven Tyler!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler’s 76th birthday.
Throwback: Black History Month/Happy Belated 66th Birthday, Ice T!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Black History Month — and belatedly Ice T’s 66th birthday.
New Video: Verona on Venus Shares Tool-like “Rodent”
Best known for his work in DevilDriver, guitarist and vocalist Michael Spreitzer stepped out into the spotlight as a frontman with his latest project Verona on Venus, which sees him pushing the scope of his […]
New Audio: Oklahoma City’s Taranis Shares Pummeling, Mosh Pit Friendly “Comply”
Formed back in 2021, the emerging Oklahoma City-based metal outfit Taranis— Caroline Deen (vocals), Tyler Casner (guitar), Asa Lake (bass) and Josiah Pringle (drums) — have played over 20 shows across the state of Oklahoma, while releasing three singles, including their latest one “Comply.”
“Comply” is a remarkably self-assured, forceful and downright pummeling, most pit friendly ripper featuring a vocalist, who is not only a force of nature, but who seems to be expressing the deep seated rage against a limiting, confusing and inequitable world that women have known forever. Play loud — and open up that pit!
New Video: Rat Mass Teams Up with Sami Michelsen on Feral “Holding Me Down”
Rat Mass — Ryan Taylor and Mitchell Sosebee — is a fairly mysterious, and emerging American metal duo, who frequently improvise to create heavy music with elements of ambient music and noise. The duo released their latest album Time Pulls The Trigger earlier this month, and the album’s first single, the PJ Harvey-meets-Chelsea Wolfe-meets Soundgarden-like “Holding Me Down” which features Sami Michelsen’s bluesy crooning and wailing over a menacing and scorching riffs, thunderous drumming within an arrangement that rapidly shifts time signatures and tempos.
The result is a song that feels and sounds feral, unpredictable, difficult to pigeonhole and wildly adventurous.
The accompanying video evokes — and seems inspired by our contemporary and seemingly unending hellscape of despair, protest, inequity, bloodshed and fire.
Throwback: Happy 54th Birthday, Zack de la Rocha!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Rage Against the Machine’s Zack de la Rocha’s 54th birthday.
Throwback: Happy 80th Birthday, Jimmy Page!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Jimmy Page’s 80th birthday.
Throwback: Happy 71st Birthday, Malcolm Young!
JOVM’s William Ruben helms celebrates the 71st anniversary of AC/DC’s Malcolm Young’s birth.
Throwback: Happy 78th Birthday, John Paul Jones!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Led Zeppelin’s and Them Crooked Vultures’ John Paul Jones’ 78th birthday.
Throwback: Happy 60th Birthday, Lars Ulrich!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Metallica’s Lars Ulrich’s 60th birthday.
Throwback: Happy 78th Birthday, Lemmy!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 78th anniversary of the birth of Motörhead’s Lemmy Kilmister.
New Video: LohArano Shares a Satirical and Politically Charged Ripper
Over the course of the past couple of years of this site’s 13-plus year history, I’ve managed to spill quite a bit of virtual ink on the Antananarivo, Madagascar-based JOVM mainstays LohArano. Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site during that same period, you’d recall that since their formation, the Malagasy metal outfit — Mahalia Ravoajanahary (vocals, guitar), Michael Raveloson (bass, vocals) and Natiana Randrianasoloson (drums, vocals) — have received attention both nationally and internationally for a unique, boundary pushing sound that features elements of popular and beloved Malagasy musical styles like Tsapiky and Salegy with heavy metal.
Continuing upon their reputation for being one of the hardest working and prolific acts in the global scene, the Malagasy trio released the Bae Nosy EP earlier this year, which featured, the urgent, mosh pit friendly EP title track “Bae Nosy.”
Building upon a growing international profile, the Malagasy JOVM mainstays went on to tour across the UK and France. The French tour featured a handful of dates opening for the legendary Fishbone. Along with that, “Bae Nosy” landed airplay from FERAROCK, which broadcasts across France, Switzerland, Belgium and Canada, and 50 other stations globally. The EP’s previous single “Koitra” landed on Spotify’s All New Metal and New Blood playlists, Deezer’s Metal Detector and Women of Metal playlists, Tidal’s New Metal playlist and over 250 other playlists.
The band closes out the year with the standalone single “Velirano.” “Velirano” is power chord-driven, mosh pit ripper fueled by the righteous outrage of people who have been fucked with, beaten down and cheated and have had enough. It’s the sound of young people frustrated with the same ol’ okie doke when the world is on fire, and the elders and authorities don’t have the same urgency.
The band explains that the song sees the band satirizing the contemporary politics and political situation of their homeland. They go on to say that they see their politicians taking advantage of a people living in misery, and are forced to accept whatever crumbs they’re given to survive. In the song, the politician character is — perhaps for the first time — being honest. In some way, the song feels a bit like a contemporary Malagasy version of Living Colour‘s “Cult of Personality,” and The Wall in which the politician reveals a violent, dystopian dictatorial fantasy.
The accompanying video features the band’s Mahalia Ravoajanahary as a sort of headbanging politician at the pulpit ripping it up behind her. Play loud and then open up that pit — right now!