Underground Music Monday: Week 2

ryanrimmel Welcome to week 2 of my Underground Music Monday series. If you guys have any other band you feel should be included, please message them to me or leave them in a comment. That being said, let's start.

1. BLACK BREATH (Extreme Metal/Crossover/Crust Punk)
I saw Black Breath as a touring opener for Goatwhore over the summer, and they were awesome. That tour gave Black Breath a good amount of notoriety in the metal community, but they could use more. They are very versatile, they black Death Metal, Thrash/Crossover Thrash Metal, Hardcore Punk, Crust Punk, and Black Metal. They just released their 3rd album, Slaves Beyond Death and it kills!

2. SATAN (NWOBHM)
One of the most underrated bands from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. Metal Injection recently listed them as #1 in their list of most criminally overlooked NWOBHM bands. The band has an epic, Iron Maideny sound, which leaves me wondering why they are so underrated.

3. BASS DRUM OF DEATH (Garage Rock)
Originally a one man band, they have gained notoriety in the underground music world over the last year or so. They had a song featured in Grand Theft Auto V, which gained them attention, including from me. They have some great music, and if you remember last week's band, The People's Temple, they are very similar.

4. DOOMSWORD (Doom Metal)
They have been a popular band in the metal underground, but have not gained nearly as much success as fellow Doom Metallers such as Candlemass, Katatonia, Sleep, and Type O Negative. Along with Candlemass & Solitude Aeturnus, Doomsword are sometimes labeled, "Epic Doom Metal" and their themes include medieval history, fantasy, and mythology.

5. DISILLUSION (Progressive Metal)
You can thank IronSabbathPriest for this band. I haven't heard many bands mix melodic death metal with prog, or any good ones for that matter, but Disillusion is great. It's been almost a decade since their last album. They have a prog sound similar to Opeth.

6. EDGE OF SANITY (Progressive Death Metal)
You don't hear about Progressive Death Metal unless it's about Opeth, or maybe some stuff by Cynic. Edge of Sanity is up there as one of the best Prog Metal bands and are criminally overlooked. I recommend this band to anyone.

7. BLASPHEMY (Black/Death Metal)
The band has gained attention by touring with bands such as Rotting Christ and Immortal, but they never got big in the extreme metal community. Their lyrical themes are mostly centered on war, leading them to be labeled "War Metal". When it comes to the black metal underground, Blasphemy is one of the most legendary bands. Their debut album, Fallen Angel of Doom, is cited as one of the best and most influential albums to War Metal.

8. VORTEX (Thrash Metal)
I came across these guys on YouTube, and the first song I heard was 'Thrash Metal Holocaust', and it is one of the best First Wave Thrash songs I've heard. Yet these guys don't get nearly as much attention as Havok, Evile, Municipal Waste, or Gama Bomb. These guys are awesome! Check them out.

9. T.S.O.L. (Punk Rock)
True Sounds of Liberty, or T.S.O.L. are an extremely popular band in the Punk Rock underground. So why are they on here? Well 1. The Punk community is rather small compared to Metal, and 2. When people think of punk, they think of pop-punk, like Green Day and Blink-182, and have no idea who bands such as The Dead Kennedys, TSOL, and Descendants are. These guys had a song features in Grand Theft Auto V called Abolish Government/Silent Majority. What is really amazing is that SLAYER covered this song in their album Undisputed Attitude.

10. TARTARUS (Blackened Death Metal)
Well I felt the need to put Tartarus in here. My friend and coworker is the drummer of this band. They only have their 5 song EP released, and are currently in the studio recording their debut album. They are a female fronted black/death band, which is very unique in my opinion. They actually managed to land as an opening band for Overkill in September, but dropped it and decided to open up for Goatwhore instead. They are definitely worth checking out. Tartarus1.bandcamp.com

Thanks for checking out week 2, and thanks to all of you for the support! Once again, leave your suggestions in a comment or message, and I'll see you next week!

-RR

Comments

I'm familiar with Vortex, Edge of Sanity, True Sounds of Liberty, and of course Disillusion. But the rest have slipped past me. They sound very interesting though! - IronSabbathPriest

Damn ISP, how do you keep finding these great prog metal bands? - Songsta41

I have actually heard of a couple of these. - visitor

Don't know what you metalheads will think of me for saying this, but Feint (D&B) is an underrated and fantastic musician. - PositronWildhawk

I've never heard any Drum & Bass musicians - bobbythebrony

Why not try this one? - PositronWildhawk

Didn't know about tsol and doomsword - visitor

The description of you friends band sounds interesting - I wish them luck and success! - Metal_Treasure