Best Bands To Watch – March 2017
CLRVYNT is a new music site devoted to the latest and greatest in all things rock. From the punk to the metal to the indie and back again, we give you the hot bands of today and the bands that all your friends will ask you about tomorrow. As such, we’ve teamed up with Loudwire to prepare this list of bands that are poised to take that big step forward into larger venues, larger record sales and larger fan bases. The following four bands are who YOU should look out for in March and beyond.
CODE ORANGE
RIYL: Hatebreed, Fear Factory, Nine Inch Nails
Progression is something that every band strives for but rarely achieves. To be fair, there are many, many roadblocks, be it complacency or the struggle to balance moving your band in a new direction while keeping your core fan base happy. The band formerly known as Code Orange Kids have been at it for almost a decade now, evolving from blast-happy hardcore with a debt to Converge to full-fledged juggernaut. Their new Roadrunner LP, Forever, is their true grownup moment, cementing a sound that is 100 percent mosh-ready hardcore, but employs noise, industrial, synth work and even melodic vocals. In an age where a band can be memed into oblivion based on a stylistic change (looking at you, Suicide Silence), Code Orange wear this new suit well — and with a level of maturity. Look for Code Orange to support at several major festivals this year and make some serious waves.
ICYMI, CLRVYNT went to a WWE event with Code Orange.
Code Orange, "Forever"
KING WOMAN
RIYL: Windhand, Chelsea Wolfe, True Widow, Electric Wizard
Sure the riffs are great and the songwriting is on point, but what really grabs you on King Woman's Created in the Image of Suffering is the approach, the melancholy and the vocals. Kristina Esfandiari's haunting vocals sets the band apart from the masses, whether Sabbath-y fuzz or slow burn gothic rock, focusing and elevating the LP with harrowing darkness and obscured beauty. They say that an artist spends a lifetime writing their debut LP, we wish the results for most other bands were any where near this compelling.
ICYMI, CLRVNT hosted an extensive profile on Kristina.
King Woman, "Deny"
POWER TRIP
Recommended If You Like: early Exodus, Cro-Mags, Leeway, Anthrax
Power Trip have been a staple amongst the hardcore set for some time now, despite only having a single LP to their name. Their live show is positively arena-ready, their music has elements of modernity but tips its hat to the forefathers, and they’re just plain fun. Power Trip’s new LP is called Nightmare Logic, and it was just released via Southern Lord. The record, produced by the uber hot Arthur Rizk, is positively their best work, crystallizing their sound as a menacing crossover band with songwriting abilities in spades.
Surely, a great record is one thing, but this band is poised to push toward the upper hemispheres based on their touring habits as of late. On a recent tour with Anthrax and Lamb of God, they absolutely commanded the crowd, drawing the biggest pits that we’ve ever seen from an opening band, despite being the first of four. They’ve got the chops, the drive and the talent. The only thing that can stop Power Trip is ... Power Trip. ICYMI, Loudwire recently called the new LP "pit-perfect thrash" and CLRVYNT interviewed drummer Chris Ulsh about his many projects.
Power Trip Live at Southwest Terror Fest
UNIFORM
RIYL: Godflesh, Nitzer Ebb, Youth Code, Negative Approach
The duo of Ben Greenberg and Michael Berdan have been around the block. With credits in bands like Veins, Drunkdriver, Pygmy Shrews, Hubble, The Men, Zs and so many more, Uniform are their "return to their punk roots." Using sequenced drums, live guitar and Berdan's confrontational vocal style, Uniform are closer to a hardcore-Godflesh, counting on thundering drum samples and heavy riffs to drive their new LP Wake in Fright forward. Catch them on tour in 2017, you'll be hearing about them plenty.
Uniform, "The Killing of America"