At the mention of the phrase “music from Sweden”, the odds are you'll sing in your head a line or two from Dancing Queen or, if your affinities lie at the opposite pole, make a mental list of your favorite death metal bands from that part of the world. Much as outsider impression of Swedish music is limited to the spirited disco pop of ABBA and the baneful loudness of the country's vibrant metal scene, a genre that's somewhere near the confluence into which these opposing musical streams flow is peeking out for some attention.

Cavanaugh, a four-piece band from Borlänge, Dalarana, is among the proponents of this genre, which the group unabashedly calls “mainstream rock”. But even as we hear that from the band itself, a deeper look into its music reveals sensibilities that have recently been missing from the mainstream scene at large. The 2009 EP Far From Chicago, spirited as it is in a way heavy, is without most of the unneccessary trappings.

The songs are rife with beautiful, catchy – but not maudlin – melodies, insinuating regret and forlorn feelings over what has long been gone but still pined for. The melodies and their delivery take cue from 80s rock ballads, but not the ones bordering on metal; they lean much closer toward the work of post-Eagles Don Henley, as in the artist's The Boys of Summer. To achieve this, band employs a little heartland rock, in the vein of Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty.

The instrumentation, come to think of it, exhibits the greatest amount of the mainstream flavor the band speaks of. With the innocuous chugging guitars on Get It Right and modern-day riffings on Fade Away, the band's message is clear: it wants to be relevant. And indeed, it is, and not necessarily at the expense of its musicality.

Related Links:
Cavanaugh's Official Website
Cavanaugh on Facebook
Cavanaugh on YouTube

A hodgepodge of rock, alternative, grunge, noise and progressive rock, Life Support is a pretty good album to check out. This is the latest release from a singer/songwriter and producer from England who dubs himself as, Karmafish.

Although there's not much info on who this guy is, he sure has quite a number of albums under his belt. Life Support is his latest release following 4 previous records - all of which are available for free download on Jamendo and under a creative commons license.

This careful menagerie of sounds and noise is perfect for any rock lover. The artists' skillful and creative take on various genres of rock is impressive at best and certainly warrants a listen.

Life Support is filled with 10 tracks that  resonate like a "sonic patchwork" of sound. There are plenty of things going on in each track but it still manages to hold itself together and entertain.

Starting with the glorious rock opener, Eternal Sunshine, Karmafish kicks the door with some bad ass guitar licks while peppering the track with retro sounding, lo-fi vocal work. Sure, you can barely understand what he's saying but it won't stop you from head bobbing once in awhile. Most of the other tracks traverse the same vein while injecting a certain dose of hipster/Beach Boys feel on Where Do You Go?, pulling a noise progrock fusion on The Looking Glass, and even exuding a rockish yet eerie Floyd-like atmosphere in The Rule.

I'm not going to say that the album is a complete win but it does gather enough elements together to make it an interesting record to have. There were moments when I wished the vocals were more prominent. However, most of the time, I was too content with listening to the droning guitars, noise and various sounds littering the air to care about anything else. Take a listen and judge for yourself.

Related Links:
Karmafish on Jamendo
Karmafish on Myspace
Karmafish on Facebook
Karmafish on NME

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With such a big sound, you would think that Equals Conquest was at least a 3 or 4 man band. The fact is, there's only two of them hitting all the instruments, writing, singing and mixing the tracks.

The band is made up of I.m.i.x. Shish and Mike Mollura both former members of the Reading, PA hardcore punk band, Afterglow. What initially started as a solo effort for I.m.i.x. Shish, the band quickly become a collaboration; resulting in a sonic soundscape of noise, rock and a whole hodge podge of sound.

If you enjoy unusual music that is a bit difficult to classify as belonging to any particular genre, then this might be the album just for you.

Rummager is the second compilation for the duo. Their first effort, Manifest Destiny is also available as a free download on Jamendo. It was released back in 2006 and after a bit of a hiatus, the group finally went back to the studio and released this follow-up.

The duo took a similar approach from their first effort and applied it to this new record. They took the time out to record the songs the way they wanted it. Even though it took more or less 6 years, this second compilation echoes a much more mature and concise set of songs.

Tracks like OMFW and Double Von Double Di pack a good rockish flair coupled with interesting vocal work. On the other hand, songs like Duckets and In the End are more quiet. They incorporate hazy backgrounds along with a more experimental set of instruments and samples.

Even though it's tough to pinpoint the exact genre these guys belong in, there's no denying that they have a fairly unique sound that's worth checking out. Once you do, it's almost certain you'll find one song from the compilation that you'll enjoy.

Related Links:
Equals Conquest on Jamendo
Equals Conquest on Myspace
Equals Conquest on DP Records
Equals Conquest on Facebook

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Premiers Maux features an accomplished studio production that enhances what Clownage does instead of take away from it. The clean mix helps the guitars and vocals stand out. The album opener "Clones" utilizes a soaring guitar riff underneath the mix that propels the song. There's a nice break down that then builds to a crescendo with vocals and guitars competing with one another. "Change" is a ballad in the middle of the album that balances the high energy of the previous songs. Jérôme's vocals shine on this track as well as having a female vocals on the track to soften it a bit more. The title track album really kicks into gear 5 minutes in and the guitars burning white hot for the last minute and change of the song. A fitting end for this album. Clownage is working on a new EP so keep an eye out on their Facebook for the info on it.

Related Links:
Clownage on My Space
Clownage on Last.fm
Clownage on Facebook
Dedicated Ears Legal Free Album/EP List

Prepare for some mayhem when listening to Ära Krâ. This death metal band from Germany knows how to knock your socks off or wipe sleep from your eyes in an instant.

I'm not exactly an expert in the metal genre, in fact my musical exposure to the genre is limited to Children of Bodom, In Flames and Lamb of God -if you count them as death metal. Nevertheless, Ferne Tage or roughly translated, "Distant Days," is a pretty solid album filled with hardcore rock with good beats and ass-kicking vocals.

Released just last April 15th, the album comes with 7 free tracks that you can individually download. Although it's mostly loud screaming and kickpedal drums, the songs are quite good. Sure, it might be hard for non metal lovers to appreciate the sound emanating from this band; the album is still equipped with tracks that are catchy and pretty much hardcore.

Opening with rolling drums and loud screaming; September, showcases the amount of energy these guys have to offer. The track serves as the perfect introduction to all the sweet chaos that awaits listeners. It's followed by the 5 minute cut, Odem. Again, more skillful screaming and instrument work from the guys. IThe band is definitely trying to define their sound and put a stake onto solid ground.

Although this album doesn't offer anything extremely new, it's a very decent record. Recording quality is pretty good and clean. For a debut, it certainly has its merits and worth checking out for any death metal lover out there.

Related Links:
Ära Krâ on BandCamp
Ära Krâ Music Review
Ära Krâ on MusikReviews

BlocSonic once again releases their infamous collection of lovely, free tracks that music lovers everywhere can enjoy. The label unleashes several compilations throughout the year. This includes, maxBlocs, which consist of promotional maxi singles; Originals; Extended Editions, Extras and netBlocs, like this one.

This is the 31st netBloc from them so far. For compilations like these, they gather up about 10 or more indie artists from all over the world; offering a peek at the music they play in the album.

It's definitely an awesome way of discovering potential new playlist staples. The record is available for free download under three formats, simply choose which one you most prefer and enjoy!

The album often compiles tracks from different, and very diverse genres. Some cuts included in this particular compilation comes from hiphop, metal, pop, indie and even trip-hop. It's not just the genre that's diverse, but also the location. Each of these tracks feature artists from places all across the globe like Switzerland, Germany, Italy, France and the US.

Opening with NanowaR by NanowaR of Steel; the album starts off with rolling drums, insane licks, chanty choruses, ballsy rock and roll as well as some high-kicks from this gay parody metal band. The group hails from Rome, Italy and has just released their album, Into Gay Pride Ride, last September 2010.

From the Hip Hop department, there are several representatives, you have underground NJ rap group Dead Poets; electro-hip hopper The Insider, and the trip-hop french outfit, Mik le Désaxé & YuAir.

Meanwhile on the indie, acoustic pop department; indie favorites like Josh Woodward, Entertainment for the Braindead and Pinkle (all three of which have been featured in Frostclick) have chipped in their cuts to add to the diversity of the compilation. Other artists inlclude, Coolzey, Big Blood, Silence is Full of Birds, mGee and Architect 25.

A worthwhile compilation, this one definitely covers much of what you need to start off your year right. Give it a go, it's licensed under creative commons and available for free download.



Related Links:
BlocSonic Official Website
netBloc 31 on Archive.Org
netBloc 31 Official Page
netBloc 31 on Twitter

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Deied is a German electronic duo composed of n1n0 and din-tah aeon. (Don't ask me how to pronounce those.) The duo is set on creating some of the darkest and coolest industrial, electronic sound there is. According to their website, this is the duo's 11th collaboration, although there are only 7 albums available in Jamendo as well as their official website that's up for free download.

Formation of Chaos is filled with 10 dark electronic tracks often infused with melodic vocal work and layers of instruments.

It's an album that combines a whole lot of synth, dark, symphonic musical elements that makes you feel as if you're moving through the deep dark woods under a full moon sky. The group recently signed onto AF-Music, a cool German netlabel. However, they maintain that much of their musical values still remain intact and until now to them "DEIED is PAIN, DEIED is INSANITY, DEIED is ART."

This 10 track album opens up with the dark synth romp, Tribal. This is probably one of my most favorite cuts in the album. There's a rich layer of sounds that makes me think it's the type of music Darth Vader would have had on his iPod. Meanwhile, Pandora is another track that's heavily infused with hard rock industrial components. As usual, it reflects a pitch black atmosphere and showcases whispery sweet vocals.

Meanwhile, Noctem is a bit more dance electronica inspired than most tracks. Its growly synth-upped vocals remind me of a darker, more evil version of Rob Zombie's Enter the Rave.

Overall, the album is a great mix of beats. It has a nice 80s touch to its sound and incorporates several music genres distinctively. Pretty awesome production values as well.

Related Links:
Deied Official Website
Deied on Jamendo
Deied on BandCamp
Deied on Myspace

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Dead End from Stave the Grave is a fast-paced, rocking 4 track compilation, that comes loud and proud. With elements of rockabilly, metal and even a hint of progressive rock in there; the band throws punchy, rhythmic tracks that's enough to get your gears going.

For fans of horror rock and that 70s rock sound, Stave the Grave is definitely one band to watch out for.

Made up of Alessandro Melle on drums, Diego de Benetti on guitar and vocals as well as Luca Rista on bass and backing vocals; this hard rock trio has been making waves in their local rock scene since 2006. Their latest release Dead End features four energetic and pulsating rock tracks that's sure to make you do more than just tap your feet.

Even though there are rockabilly elements, there are also instances where the band sounds like they've taken one or two lessons from the Slayer handbook. Cuts like Stupid Illusion, notably its intro, showcases this distinct guitar work influence; building a straight up, in your face sound that makes you stand up and take notice.

Related Links:
Stave the Grave on Myspace
Stave the Grave on Facebook
Stave the Grave on Jamendo

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Fast-paced, ballsy rock and roll. Dragstrip Rodeo is a three piece rock band hailing from "D-Town." Their music is characteristic of rolling, fast drums, electrifying guitars and screaming yet coherent vocals that will definitely let you take notice and rock on.

Featuring rock tracks that pounce and bite back, this 5 song release is definitely one worth checking out.

Dragstrip Rodeo certainly knows how to get their listeners going. They feature tracks that are passionate, loud and fast; with each track clocking in at less than 4 minutes. Their fast, hard rock numbers are reminiscent of Avenged Sevenfold, as they combine clear almost melodic vocals to thundering drums and concrete guitars.

Tracks like Brandnew Song and Motorbull are some of the best cuts in the album, although each song definitely has its appeal. It's perfect for those who are looking to inject some hard rock into their otherwise mundane afternoon. Basically, it's an album that has its merits and will certainly please every hard rocker out there.

Related Links:
Dragstrip Rodeo on Myspace
Dragstrip Rodeo on Facebook
Dragstrip Rodeo on Jamendo

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Alternative progressive four piece from Germany. With the influx of generic alternative rock bands, it's hard to find bands (famous or not) that conform to the norm yet still stand out.

Futile is one of the few bands that can do this. Truth be told, they do sound like just another rock/alternative band on the horizon, but some of their songs are quite good and worth checking out. Think German, slightly unrefined version of Staind, with a little bit more progressive.

By fusing clean vocals with a hard rock alternative edge, Futile creates a marvelous compilation of tracks in 7 nightmares. The band easily creates a mixture of prog rhythms along with melancholic lyrics. Each track has its own little hook which makes it catchy and easy to like. Although the music is not exactly ground breaking, the songs are done nicely and the quality is pretty good.

Some of the tracks that's worth checking out include "Dance of the Scarecrow," and "Breathing Fire." Futile has been around since 2006 and 7 Nightmares is their first official album.  The group is made up of Oliver Reinecke on vocals and guitar; Dominik Schaetzel on guitar; Nico Klettenheimer  on bass; and Patrick Spotka manning the drums.

This album is available for free download under a creative commons license.

Related Links:
Futile Official Website
7 Nightmares Official Download Website
Futile on Last FM
Futile on Myspace
Futile on Facebook

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.