METAL WITH REASON: A blog about metal.

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March 2012

2 posts

BREAKING: ANIMALS AS LEADERS DRUMMER NAVENE...

Well, this sucks. Apparently Navene Koperweis, Animals as Leaders’ drummer, has quit the band. From Prosthetic Records’ press release: “These upcoming shows will not include Navene Koperweis, who has decided to leave the group. Says Koperweis, “Tosin and Javier (Reyes, guitar) are the two most generous, caring and understanding individuals I’ve ever met and I...

REVIEW: Cannibal Corpse's Torture

Death metal legends Cannibal Corpse are dropping their new record Torture next week. Are you excited yet? You fucking should be. The album is equal parts brutal, gory, and awesome. Classic Corpse album art. I love the fact that much of their album art has a similar appearance to it, almost making them feel more like a series of novels than a set of records. Maybe I read too many fantasy novels....

February 2012

4 posts

Thrice farewell tour w/ Animals as Leaders. Whoa.

That’s right. Thrice is going on their farewell tour, and they’re bringing Animals as Leaders as support. You can get tickets here. Unfortunately, presales have already sold out in many cities, including all of the ones in my region (Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit), which was only 30 minutes after Thrice’s official Facebook page posted info about the tickets. Sounds a lot like...

IT'S OFFICIALLY THE BEST DAY EVER. NEW TENACIOUS D... →

Review: Tetrafusion's Horizons EP

Some of you might have read my interview with Tetrafusion’s drummer JC Bryant last year. I also reviewed their album Altered State. Well, JC hit me up recently to do a review for their new EP, Horizons. I had to put it off for a few days, but I have given the record a solid spin and, I must say, I am quite impressed. Review after the jump. I really enjoyed Altered State, but there were a...

And we're back.

Greetings, Internet! I am not dead! My apologies for the extended and abrupt absence. Long story short, I just finished my last semester of college, and adjusting to post-graduate life has been tumultuous. Anyway, now that I’ve graduated, the focus of Metal With Reason is going to shift slightly. I’ll post some older interviews I aired on my radio show, as well as some that never...

August 2011

4 posts

MAYHEM interview #1: Straight Line Stitch

The first interview of the day was with Straight Line Stitch. I’ll be honest, I had only recently begun listening to the band. I listened to their album The Fight of Our Lives only days before attending the Rockstar Mayhem Festival, but it only took a few songs for me to appreciate this band. I’ve always been a fan of metalcore, and I’ll admit I’m a bit of a sucker for...

UP NEXT: MAYHEM INTERVIEWS!

Hey guys, Just a quick update: I’ll have interviews from Mayhem Fest up this week! Sorry for the delay. Working full time and running your own website is serious business. First up, interviews with Straight Line Stitch and Unearth! Stay tuned! -Jake

Soundcheck Rage: MWR interviews The Sword's Kyle...

Independent internet bloggers don’t always get to conduct interviews in optimum conditions. Sometimes rooms are dark, it’s not very quiet, and since I make a college students’ living, I don’t own very sophisticated recording equipment (yet). And sometimes all of those poor conditions rear their ugly heads at once and make an interview very hard to conduct. This was the...

TECHNICAL PROBLEMS SUCK. NEW INTERVIEWS ON THE...

Hey guys, I’m back again. Sorry for the unexpected hiatus, I just moved into a new house and have been working full time. I have 8 new interviews on the way, beginning with The Sword’s Kyle Shutt. However, I’ve encountered some problems with uploading the video, so it will be posted tonight after I get home from my day job. Thank you all for your patience and dedication! After...

June 2011

1 post

I'm back, and I've got a sweet interview with...

What a shitty month! Sorry for my unannounced hiatus, I had to take time off to find work, and to travel (I’m a debate coach, dude, I’ve got a lot of stuff to do). However, I am back in gear for the summer, and what better way to kick it off than with a totally ballin’ interview with Brendon Small. You might have heard of him, he made a couple of cartoons. One is Home Movies, a...

April 2011

11 posts

Softball Questions: Metal with Reason interviews...

So, as you might have figured out from my interview with Job for a Cowboy’s Jonny Davy, I went to see the Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues tour last weekend. It was easily one of the best live shows I’ve had the pleasure of attending, as every show featuring Between the Buried and Me usually is. Their live performance is something that will melt your face and leave you with nothing but...

Tetrafusion's J.C. Bryant, pt. 2

Alright guys, here’s part two of my incredibly long interview with Tetrafusion’s J.C. Bryant. In this installment we discuss things ranging from touring to some of our favorite bands, as well as the history of Tetrafusion. Check it out after the jump! So, you guys have been together since 2006. How much touring have you guys done, if any? Since we’re so busy with school and...

DOOM & GLOOM: MWR interviews Job for a Cowboy's...

Last weekend my friend Sam and I drove all the way to Pontiac, MI for the Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues Tour, featuring The Ocean, Job for a Cowboy, and the mighty Between the Buried and Me. The show was absolutely phenomenal, of course, and totally worth losing my job. Yep, I’m unemployed now, and I did it all for metal. Talk about dedication! [Sam’s getting really good at taking...

Prog Jazz Fusion, bro!: Pt. 1 of MWR's interview...

Finally! I can write again! This is great. I’ve been going crazy not having enough free time to write for you guys, but the wait was worth it. I’ve got great stuff coming this week. First up: the first installment of my interview with Tetrafusion’s drummer J.C. Bryant! We had a very lengthy, awesome talk a few months back. As I began transcribing the interview, I started to...

How about that new logo, dudes?

Whew, what a shitty couple of weeks. Anyway, I’m back on track. I’ve got some big stuff in the works. Before I get to the rest of that though, you probably noticed the new banner on the page. I’m happy to present the new logo for MWR! Plato and Aristotle were obviously huge metalheads, and yes, Slayer can travel through time. Big thanks to my best friend Cameron Cranor for...

Fuck-it Friday.

It’s Friday. And I usually don’t have enough to post anyway, so I figured I’d try to start a new column where I just post something cool…on Fridays. Check out the trailer to this movie Hesher, due out May 13th. All I’m saying is it’s a movie about a metalhead, and it’s got Natalie Portman. Zaaaang.

Anonymous asked: Jake-
Little something you might not know about Tetrafusion. Their first album was all instrumental. Vocals are relatively knew to this group. Think they did a great job for first time including vocals in their compositions. Will be interested to see if they take some of your opinions from the review re well-placed harsher vocals or heavier sound.
Regards,
Rock Don

The Grammy Awards: Once prejudiced, now just plain...

I’m sure most of you guys don’t really care (as you shouldn’t), but the people behind the Grammy Awards have officially gone from being prejudiced against heavy metal and slightly irrelevant, to simply being a buch of ignorant fools with no real cultural significance or credibility. Until today, the Grammys were a set of awards I viewed with a passing interest. I never saw...

Album review: Tetrafusion's Altered State

A few months back, Tetrafusion contacted me and asked if I would be interested in doing some writing about them. I was happy to oblige. Unfortunately, the last few months have also been overly busy, so writing took a backseat, but I’m really happy to finally give you guys my review of Tetrafusion’s sophomore release, Altered State. Before we get into the review, check out Tetrafusion’s...

metalwithreason.com is live!

Well, like I said last night, today is a big day for MWR. I am proud to announce that I have officially acquired the domain metalwithreason.com! That’s right, no more of the .tumblr.com nonsense. I’ll still be using a Tumblr format until I can build the new layout, which will be done ASAP. Thanks for all of your continuing support and patience. Stay tuned, I’ve got an album...

GUESS WHO'S BACK

I won’t make any excuses for my recent absence, I’ll just say the honest truth: in the last couple of months, school won, and I haven’t had the time to commit to writing for MWR. That changes now. Pending some technology issues, I should have some BIG news tomorrow morning, as well as more posts (one of which is getting done tonight). I’m ready to reclaim the throne....

February 2011

1 post

eldoctorgavin-deactivated201112 asked: Favorite album of all time. GO

January 2011

1 post

At long last, MWR's Top 10 Metal Albums of 2010

It’s been pretty slow around the Metal with Reason office. I just came off of my winter break, and just started my last semester as an undergraduate student, so pardon me for wanting some actual time off. Life is crazy. I know a lot of you have been waiting impatiently for my top 10 albums of 2010, and I thank you for being so interested. Aside from my need for reprieve, the reason I waited...

December 2010

4 posts

Pictures: Dredg & Animals as Leaders 11/30/10

Click here to check out all my pictures from the 11/30/10 show in Indianapolis. They’re not great, and I’m not a professional (yet), but some of them came out pretty alright. -Jake

New Dredg in '11! MWR interviews Dredg's Gavin...

The same day as the Tosin Abasi interview, I was lucky enough to get to sit down and chat with Gavin Hayes, vocalist for the not-so-metal band Dredg. Much like Muse, Maserati, and Circa Survive, Dredg are one of those bands that isn’t quite metal, but more often than not metalheads will find something to love about them. I had my good friend Cody film the interview, however we had to use my...

Video: MWR's 2nd Interview with Animals as...

The epic tour consisting of CODESEVEN, Animals as Leaders, Dredg and Circa Survive just wrapped up, and while I’m a little disappointed that I didn’t get the chance to check it out, I was excited when I found out Dredg and Animals as Leaders would be doing an off-date in Indianapolis on Nov. 30th. I obviously jumped at the chance for interviews, and was very excited when Tosin Abasi...

Jake Lentz is old: MWR's interview with We Came as...

Let me first say that whenever I use the term “scene band” I mean no condescension. It’s merely a term I use to describe a band whose main demographic is teenage scene kids. Nothing wrong with that. We can all agree that objectively, there are a lot of bands out there that fall into this category. Personally, most of it is not really my cup of tea, but love it or hate it, a ton of kids out there...

October 2010

2 posts

Quick EP Review: Ghost of Maine's Persistence of...

Ghost of Maine is one of those bands from Indiana that I’ve watched grow for many years, so I was really pleased when their guitarist Jesse Boggess asked me to write a review of their new Persistence of Vision EP. You can read the review after the jump. It’s always kind of disappointed me that these guys haven’t blown up already. Not disappointed in the band, just disappointed it hasn’t happened...

Anonymous asked: Hey, have you met OTEP yet?

September 2010

2 posts

Hey guys, I’m going to have to delay posting for a few more days, as much as I hate to do it. Long story short, shit’s wild, and I’ve got some business to take care of. -Jake

Hey folks! Sorry for my recent absence, life’s been pretty nuts with two jobs and a full class schedule again. I’ve got some big things coming up in the next few days: interviews with Decapitated, We Came as Romans, Votum, and many more, album reviews, and some random articles. Looking for a Wednesday night/Thursday release on those, stay tuned! -Jake

August 2010

2 posts

THE STUPIDEST QUESTION YOU COULD ASK ANYONE: MWR's...

Last week I had the pleasure of attending my second year of Summer Slaughter. All of the bands were phenomenal (I’ll get back to that in another post), and I got to meet some very cool people, including Carnifex’s vocalist Scott Lewis. Our interview was postponed all day, which is not atypical. It happens, big shows like Summer Slaughter get pretty hectic. Eventually I was able to sit down...

Warped Tour is a 14-17 year old girl: MWR's...

The Dillinger Escape Plan are a big deal to me. I’ve admired them ever since I bought Miss Machine when it came out. I picked it up at a friend’s insistence, and I’m glad I did. TDEP is probably one of the most progressive and inventive bands of our time, and one of my personal favorites, so this interview was a bit of a dream come true. Plus, since it was the last interview of the day, I was...

July 2010

11 posts

Hey guys, First of all, THANK ALL OF YOU SO MUCH FOR READING AND RE-POSTING. I cannot express my gratitude, so to thank you and keep you happy, I’ll keep doing what I do and interviewing bands and writing stuff. Seriously, I have had one of the best weeks of my life seeing you liking my posts or sharing them. I’m glad you guys like what I’m making. Thank you, thank you, thank...

Garden Shed Feng Shui: MWR's interview with Enter...

I’ve known about Enter Shikari for around two years since I was shown their video for Sorry, You’re Not a Winner by a friend. I liked the song a lot, despite my general dislike for anything techno/dupstep/involving synthesizers. After the release of Common Dreads I became more familiar with the band’s music. I knew I was going to have a lot of friends calling them a scene band or gimmicky...

Emmure's Frankie Palmeri got me good.

I was holding off on posting this video, but I just can’t wait anymore. It’s too funny. A little backstory to this interview… I had not scheduled an interview with Emmure that day, simply because I didn’t think I had time. When Frankie and another member walked into the press room without a single person signed up to interview them, I figured I’d do them a ...

Just a Good Ol' Boy: MWR's Interview with...

Last summer I got the chance to meet Phil, Whitechapel’s vocalist, at the Indianapolis stop of Mayhem Festival, so it was cool that I got Zach this time around. He’s one of three guitarists in the band, so I was interested in hearing what he has to say about songwriting. Whitechapel are from Knoxville, Tennessee, the town I had just spent a weekend in visiting my stepmom’s family....

Chick Metal: MWR's interview with Eyes Set To Kill

I like Eyes Set To Kill. My first exposure to them was last summer at my internship with Heavy Hitter. ESTK had just released The World Outside, and I helped with the radio promotion for a minute. I was pretty impressed with it. It’s not my typical sound, but they’re very talented. I’m a sucker for ladies that can sing, and I appreciate any good female-fronted metal band. It’s good to prove to...

We're Awesome: MWR's Interview with Suicide...

I knew this one was going to be fun as soon as Mark walked up. He’s my age, 22, but pretty tall (or maybe I’m starting to finally realize just how short I am). Match that with his copious tattoos, large beard and long hair, and you’ve got a dude that looks much more intimidating than most of my peers. Then again, my peers are dudes like Mark, so I guess I should stop being surprised....

BADASS! MWR interviews The Bouncing Souls' Greg...

After the interview with Chris, we went back inside to talk to Greg Attonito, vocalist for The Bouncing Souls. This, ladies and gentlemen, was a dream come true. The Bouncing Souls are one of my most favorite bands ever, one of the first punk bands I ever loved, and a huge influence on my entire taste in music. I’ve been listening to these guys for a decade. I was almost a little starstruck,...

A Snake is Fine, Too: MWR's interview with Closure...

After interviewing Moi, we returned to the press area. I barely had time to enter the room before Bethany looked at us and said “Here, these guys are great, tell them about your band!” I was introduced to Chris DeCinque, vocalist for Closure in Moscow. Like Tomorrows Bad Seeds, I’d never heard of this band in my life, but I had some time to spare, and I had nothing to lose, so we headed...

Not Quite Metal: My interview with Moi from...

After interviewing Andrew WK, Josh (my photographer) and I were hanging around the press area when Bethany, Warped Tour’s press coordinator, came in with another band called Tomorrows Bad Seeds. I started chatting with Moi, the vocalist. I’d never even heard of these guys before, but I decided since we had already started chatting, we might as well do an interview. The interview is after ...

Party Party Party: MWR's interview with Andrew...

I never really knew much about Andrew WK, to be honest. All I really remembered of the guy is seeing the video for Party Hard and thinking it was pretty cool. Granted, I was about 12 or 13 when that happened, so I was way too preoccupied with whatever Green Day was up to (yep, I was one of those kids). Basically, I knew that he really liked parties. If Party Hard isn’t enough to convince...

Upcoming interviews and posts

Well folks, I went to Warped Tour last week. It was a good decision. That day was probably one of the best days of my life so far. I’ve got TEN interviews coming up from Warped (and almost as many from other shows), and transcribing takes a long time (I can’t wait to be able to pay someone to do this for me). I interviewed some bands I love and a few that I had literally never heard...

June 2010

2 posts

Here's Johnny!: MWR's interview with Johnny...

Back in April I got the chance to catch the Chicago stop of the Overkill, Vader, God Dethroned, Evile, and Woe of Tyrants tour (thanks Dave!). Unfortunately, due to mistakenly trusting a GPS device (NEVER AGAIN), I missed WoT’s set. And that’s a huge bummer. Very few things get me as pumped up as singing along to songs like The Seven Braids of Samson. Anyone who knows me knows I will sing ...

Site under maintenance!

Hey guys, First of all, I’M BACK. I’ve had some severe tech issues that have kept me from updating the site for weeks, but hope is near. My laptop is (barely) functional, so I’ll be updating the site for a few days, maybe changing the layout, and if all goes according to plan, posting all those interviews I’ve got tucked away for you. It should be a productive week. Stay...

May 2010

2 posts

Quick EP Review: Holy Grail's Improper Burial EP

(NOTE: I decided to rate EP’s on a 5 point scale instead of the 10 point scale I use for albums. I just don’t feel right comparing the two. If it really bothers you, double my score and take it out of 10. Jerks.) I was first introduced to Holy Grail last Fall by my buddy Bryce Baldwin. He moved to L.A. and saw them live a couple times and told me to check them out. I checked out...

RIP RONNIE JAMES DIO

Well, early this morning I posted that Dio had passed away. It was not true at the time. However, this morning at 7:45, Ronnie James Dio did pass away. You can read more about it at Blabbermouth. I won’t write his obituary, but my prayers go out to Dio’s family and friends.

March 2010

3 posts

Woe of Tyrants' Threnody: The Metal with Reason...

I am really, really excited to be able to write this review for all of you. If you read my 2009 Top 10 list, you know I love Woe of Tyrants. I got into this band around December ‘08 when I heard Kingdom of Might, the band’s last album. I played it on my radio show and got hooked. My appreciation for Woe of Tyrants soon grew to an all-out endorsement. Kingdom of Might is an album...