Metal Monday: The Neologist

posted in: Artist Features • Rock

In the world of metal sub-genres, there are purists who want to preserve musical tradition and there are activists who want to stretch the boundaries of sound”and never than twain shall meet. One sub-genre of music that is all about being true to its roots is Gothenburg melodic death metal, which started with bands like In Flames and Dark Tranquillity. Though these bands have slowly evolved over time, many diehard fans have chastised their new sounds, and as such not many traditional Gothenburg melodic death metal bands exist now. Bands that boast the traditional Gothenburg sound are few and far between these days, but one band that executes it perfectly is OurStage’s The Neologist.

Formed by James Lewis and Devin Walsh in 2009 from the ashes of their previous project (SeVeR), the two set out to make music that they themselves liked to listen to (favorites include In Flames, Soilwork, Disarmonia Mundi and Dark Tranquillity) and they’ve done exactly that. With clear motives stated in their bio, such as being a musical outlet with no boundaries, they seem to be well on their way to accomplishing their goals for this project. Releasing The 26 Letters of Your Universe in 2010, The Neologist have put out a great and pretty traditional Gothenburg-styled metal album, and have been working on new material since.

The band’s current musical project is a series of In Flames cover songs in which they’re enlisting the help of Facebook to decide which tracks they should record. According to Lewis and Walsh, they have an incredible amount of musical flexibility being a duo, which allows them to make decisions in “1.8 seconds” (as quoted in their Facebook profile). It’s a good thing, too, because the first cover of this series is fantastic, and they’ll be able to create many more in a short span of time. They have reworked the classic “Jotun” from In Flames’ Whoracle, playing it almost exactly like the original but adding a touch of their own signature sound (and making an incredibly silly video to match).

The best part about The Neologist at the moment, however, is the fact that they’re giving away their debut album away for free! That’s right, all you need to do is click this download link and you’ll have twelve tasty tracks of awesomeness to feed your metal-craving ears. Not sold? You can listen to most of the tracks from the album right on OurStage with this conveniently-located player which contain eleven tracks: