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Finding a band that fits a person’s individual personality is as tough a proposition as finding the right jacket. There are no objective criteria to assess—taste is not, as most blogs would have you believe, a psychic checklist—things simply gel or do not. New Zealand’s Beastwars gel with me. From the sound of it, these are musicians I could get along with.
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Beastwars – “Empire”
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For starters, they share a moniker with my preferred childhood cartoon show. “Beast Wars” was a computer-animated Transformers series in which incredibly toyetic transforming robots land on a prehistoric earth littered with smoking volcanoes and mysterious obelisks; lacking cars to disguise themselves as, they turn into ice-age mammals (heroes) and dinosaurs (villains). Beastwars the album shares that prehistoric aesthetic: they play sludge with a rubbery bass tone and tribal-influenced drum beats. But their songs have mechanical discipline as well: sludge often meanders, but Beastwars proceeds from point A to B in a direct, hook-laded line, usually in under 5 minutes.
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Transformers Beast Wars Intro (season 1)
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Vocalist Matt Hyde plays center-field here. He portrays a real character on this record, in turns charismatic as David Kaye’s Megatron in “Beast Wars”, then stark raving mad as one of Lovecraft’s afflicted protagonists. Hyde lets the riffs carry the hooks, while still heightening the drama a la LG Petrov on Wolverine Blues—actually Sludge N’ Roll is a good genre tag. Get on it, Wikipedia.
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Beast Wars: Megatron ‘Yes’ Compilation
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Entombed is not the biggest touchstone for Beastwars; their most obvious influence is early Mastodon, some of my favorite music. But, unlike almost every band with that same influence, they keep the vamping minimal. Their list of song titles even reads as short and punchy as the backside of the Leviathan LP. Universal has as much faith in Beastwars as Warner had in Mastodon—that label is re-issuing this album after it made financial waves in kiwiland two years ago.
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Beastwars – “Damn the Sky”
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I don’t see Beastwars and company breaking the Billboard 200—their sound is too noisy, and Hyde’s stories are too aggressive. Mastodon got to their financial peak with vocal harmonies and emotional lyrics. Beastwars have neither, nor do they have the workout music appeal Lamb of God has. But on the off chance they do achieve mainstream acceptability, I will not hesitate to sing their praises anyway—on this debut, at least.
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HEAR BEASTWARS
Listen on Beastwars Bandcamp
BUY BEASTWARS
Bandcamp (Digital download)
Gravedance Records (LP) [America]
Witchhunt Records (LP) [UK/Europe]
Ozium Records (CD) [Europe]
Smoke CDs (CD) [Rest of world]
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The kids show will always have a special place in my heart. That opening theme still gives me goosebumps…
Beast Wars was fucking terrible to watch but you couldn’t take your eyes off of it.
BEAST WARS………………
RAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
One of the best albums of 2011.
Oh man. This is great. Thanks for the heads up.
this band is TOTALLY UNDERRATED. sometimes, i even get small traces of a sludgy Deep Purple/Thin Lizzy/early Iron Maiden vibe from them. In other words, 70′S MOTHERFUCKIN METAL
These cats are tops blooby!!
Oh my Grod, cartoons are so much better now than they were when I was a kid.
For the record, Beastwars are one of those bands where the songs sound better live than the album (the music gets slammed right THROUGH YOU!!!), and given the album is bloody awesome you better make sure you don’t miss them if they are playing in a town near you!
Off of the songs presented here, i get a strong HOF Vibe as well.
I agree, I get a very strong High on Fire vibe, but hardly any Mastodon, the latter never had that loose Motörhead swagger that’s front and center here.
And that’s not a bad thing at all.
One of the best bands in New Zealand at the moment, they are killing it over here in amongst glut of absolutely shit bands.
Ulcerate?!?
Fuck yes Ulcerate! and Razorwyre, Meth Drinker, Sex Pest, Numbskull et all.
Also Bulletbelt and Exordium Mors if you are black metal inclined.
I suppose it was only a matter of time until metal bands started naming themselves after metal fashion accessories. I look forward to Patchvest, the NWOBHM throwback, and Shoulderpads, the Vital Remains cover band.
“Sludge N’ Roll” a.k.a. Grunge
Uh Diocletian & Witchrist put out the 2 best New Zealand metal albums this year.
I bought the album immediately after hearing this track. Thanks for helping to suck my account dry IO.
my top album for 2012! it’s been on bandcamp for over a year now but whatever. their sophmore has already been recorded.
i totally dig what you say about melding with the music. the vocals the lyrics the riff the heaviness; all jive with me.
and i do work out to a few of their jams. heavy music equals heavy lifting.
great to see beastwars on this site