Five metal studio projects worth listening to

Seeing a band live is exhilarating – watching the energy of each member’s stage presence backed by huge monitors blasting the tunes straight in your face is an experience few words can describe. A great deal of musicians never take to the stage, though, for one reason or another. Some prefer to grind away and provide content at a faster rate than touring musicians, and others have so many projects to manage that some are confined to the studio. Touring is expensive, as in tens-of-thousands of dollars expensive, so it’s not for every band. Regardless, it never detracts from the quality of these artists – in some cases, it’s far enhanced. Whatever the reason, here’s four bands that may never take the stage, but are more than worth your listen:

BERRIED ALIVE

The husband-wife duo of Charlie and Kaylie Caswell in Berried Alive is a personal favorite. The best word to describe the team is “prodigious” – both are not merely virtuosos on their instruments, they’ve crafted the band into a full-on business with top-of-the-game merchandise and a fervent release schedule that never lets up. For several years, mostly everything was done in-house – no label, no manager, no producer interference meant more music for the fans, backed up by eloquent, stylish merch drops that stand out in public. I should know – I dropped almost $200 on their Hellapeno jacket I wore all winter and it was worth it. Garnering the attention of the likes of Tom Morello and releasing several custom burst guitars with Legator, Berried Alive is well on their way to being a metal household name.

ANDROMIDA

Andromida is best-described as the DOOM soundtrack on crack. The project of Ramon Gutierrez, he also handles the masterful production for these massive tracks. The larger-than-life riffs, soaring synths, and infectious groove in each Andromida offering makes for perfect background tunes that can’t just be listened to once. The music proves so engrossing that I got deeply immersed and lost my train of thought more than once while writing this section of the article. Much like Berried Alive, Andromida’s output is unreal, and a vast amount of the project is solely in the creator’s hands. This easily falls in must-listen territory for djent/instrumental fans.

TERMINA

Headed by two content-creating beasts in Nik Nocturnal and Andy Cizek, Termina is one of the most underrated acts around. The best part? They’re just getting started, with their debut album Dysphoria having been unleashed just last year. A seamless mesh, the two seasoned artists play off each other majestically, resulting in a punishing metal onslaught. With Nik busy entertaining us with regular uploads and Andy giving his all in Makari, Monuments, and Wvnder, though, it may be a while until we hear more from Termina; that’s quite alright, as Dysphoria is an all-timer not even a year removed from its release.

GALLEONS/VALIANT HEARTS

This last entry is a two-fer for artist Tom Byrne. Vocalist, visual artist, and songwriter for both Galleons and Valiant Hearts, these acts each possess a bewitching take on post-hardcore that has sat at the front of my plays the past two years. Galleons’ self-titled last year was a triumphant, master-class nostalgia trip to early 2010’s acts like Emarosa/In Fear and Faith, whereas Valiant Hearts’ Yonder this year showcases Byrne’s versatility in a unique, instrumentally-flourishing presentation sure to captivate fans of the genre. How Tom can deliver his impressive vocals in two separate projects and provoke the same reaction out of me is so noteworthy that I had to showcase both of these studio projects.

Will we ever see any of these projects live? The answer is likely no, but never say never – who knows what they have in store? In the meantime, enjoy these amazing tracks!