Our air-conditioning is working again (hopefully, for good), so I can focus on the task at hand. The task? Letting you know about the ripping metallitude of Unleash the Archers, a Canadian power/speed thrash band scorching the earth one listener at a time. I mentioned these folks a little over a week ago (yes, I hope to compile another edition of Stuff I'm Listening To soon-ish). I don't know if I sold them properly, though. The music is cool, but it's cinctured by a righteous, illimitable voice belonging to Brittany Slayes, duchess of badassery. I probably should have capitalized that. Fuck it. That may not be her real name, but it might as well be her given cognomen. She slays, you see. SLAYS.
Outside of Floor Jansen, she could be the most gifted female vocalist working in metal today. What makes her so goddamn gifted? Slayes can hit full-throat notes that only bats can detect. That's a lot of zeptohertz! I think. I need to beef up on hertz-to-decibel conversions. She slides in a speck of falsetto here and there, but for the most part, she screams her clit off. In fact, I suspect that she had balls at one point. I would single out one tune for you to inspect, but the incogitable truth of the matter is that she shatters glass on every track. It's awesome. Well, it's awesome if you dig singers with "holy shit" range.
As I stated earlier, the music keeps up with Miss Slayes. It's not jaw-dropping, but it doesn't exactly suck either. There are progressive flirtations. "Crypt" begins with a death metal dalliance, while "Dreamcrusher" fills nine minutes with an epic arrangement. Lyrically, we are trotting on Game of Thrones terrain. I wouldn't say, however, that 2015's Time Stands Still has the trots (oy). Oh, that's the album I'm writing about, by the way. It's their third full-length release, their second that I've heard. I also recommend 2011's Demons of the AstroWaste. Unleash the Archers are obscure upstarts, but you shouldn't have any problems finding their stuff.
If these motherfuckers weren't metal enough, the video for "Tonight We Ride" is not-so-subtly inspired by Mad Max: Fury Road. Is there anything I don't care for as it relates to Time Stands Still? Well, the intro is useless. I don't get the practice of pasting intro tracks onto each heavy record that hits your local retailer (lol). Seriously, why bother? They all sound alike, what with their moody affectations and industrial breedles. Honestly, I have nothing else to say. Buy this cassette tape!
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