The three-piece power trio has etched its place in stone throughout rock history. None of those bands however played music as discordant and disruptive as New Haven’s Grizzlor.
If you were to look up the term ‘abrasive’ in the dictionary you may find a photo of New Haven’s Intercourse deep in the process of destroying everything you hold dear on one of the many Connecticut stages they frequent.
One of the newest bands on the heavy music scene is the doom/stoner rock outfit Owl Maker. In 2018 Connecticut saw the digital release of the band’s first two EPs (with talk of both being released together later this year on a physical format) and a plethora of shows around the state.
New Haven’s Apostasy has been releasing quality material for quite a while, yet it was the band’s 2017 full-length “Ghosts” that showed the band truly mastered its craft and hammered home its status as one of the best metal bands in the state.
The terms “progressive” and “death metal” often seem like they shouldn’t work on paper, but in the hands of capable musicians like New Haven’s Xenosis, it’s an aural display of extreme technicality beautifully dancing with the devil himself.
If 2018 was a stellar year for heavy music in Connecticut, the earliest releases in 2019 are proving this year will be just as good, if not better. The first great release of the year dropped on New Year’s Day as Hartford hardcore outfit scvm delivered its scathing self-titled debut album.
If you took the speed and ferocity of various forms of punk music and mixed it with the sheer brutality of death metal you may get an admittedly oversimplified definition of grindcore. It’s an extreme corner of the metal world that even some metalheads steer clear of. Yet, when done right, it can be an exhilarating thrill ride.