Tag Archives: rise records

A Star Wars Cover Band Played the National Anthem at a Hockey Game Because Why Not

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Photo credit: Bob McCoy

In 2016, Galactic Empire rose to fame with their cover of John Williams’ famous Star Wars theme from 1977. This act is comprised of members from such metalcore bands as This or the Apocalypse and Alustrium. Empire’s rise to fame has seen them share the stage with acts like BABYMETAL and Dangerkids,but on Saturday, they found a new frontier: a hockey rink.

Mark December 14th as the first day that a metal outfit played the national anthem for a sporting event. Galactic Empire headed off the match between Rocket de Laval and the Rochester Americans. I’ve seen my local AHL team, the Chicago Wolves, have a Star Wars-themed night, but to go this far is a whole new level.

Since the game took place between both Canadian and American teams, the rockers treated the audience to both countries’ national anthems. While this may just be a few minutes of music before a few hours of hockey, this further cements the bands’ legacy that it’s accumulated in a brief few years. Here’s hoping a future Blackhawks game sees the rise of the Empire in triumphant fashion.

Thumbnail credit to Bob McCoy.

In defense of Issues’ brilliantly insane new single “Flexin”

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When Issues released their much-hyped single “Flexin” on Friday, the third taste of their upcoming album Beautiful Oblivion debuted to the most polarized reaction in the “Warped Tour scene” in recent memory. As of the time of this writing, the music video was sitting about 3,100 likes and 2,400 dislikes on YouTube, and the fanbase’s comments were all over the map… with some instantly connecting with the song, and others insisting the band had “sold out”. No favors were done to the public reaction by the delirious fever dream of a music video, which features an elderly Tyler Carter breaking out of an assisted living home.

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Hands Like Houses pull off engaging and sometimes thrilling reinvention on “-Anon.”

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When Hands Like Houses made their debut in 2012 with Ground Dweller on Rise Records, they immediately stood out. At the time, Rise’s roster of new signings was filled to the brim with dime-a-dozen metalcore bands that did little to distinguish their stereotypically angsty and melodramatic music from the then-dominant groups of the Warped Tour scene… or from each other. With their label dominated by so much sonic homogeny, it was downright refreshing to see Rise take a chance on an Australian sextet who flipped the script, crafting a progressive sound where sonic intricacy meshed with nuanced lyrical storytelling, a combination that could reach genuinely riveting heights.

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Dance Gavin Dance take you on a “Midnight Crusade”

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Dance Gavin Dance are back with a bang. After weeks of teasing, the Sacramento post-hardcore juggernaut has returned with the first single (and music video) from their eighth studio album Artificial Selection, due out June 8th on Rise Records. The new track is called “Midnight Crusade”, and is sure to thrill longtime fans and new converts alike, as the group’s signature brand of quirky intensity is present in full force.

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