Deliverance - Camelot in Smithereens (1995)

There's a song written & recorded in 1964 called "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood".  This song is most widely known due to the version that The Animals recorded in 1965.  There's a lyric in the song so well-delivered that goes, "But I'm just a soul whose intentions are good.  Oh Lord!  Please don't let me be misunderstood."  This song, lyrically, is about a somewhat rocky love relationship where the man is laying his faults on the table and pleading with his love to understand that he's not perfect and that he is trying to do the best he can.  While contextually, this back story may not fit what I'm about to segue into, this lyric, in particular, so perfectly describes what Deliverance front-man & visionary Jimmy P. Brown II has gone through over the years.

Without going into a complete history of the band, the short version is that Deliverance started as a thrash metal band (an excellent one, at that), and morphed over the course of about 10 years from that original stylistic approach into something quite different, taking on a much more groove-oriented approach that become more progressive and intricate as more albums were recorded.  This shift away from thrash metal was disdained by a large contingent of the band's fan base, and prior to the original dissolution of Deliverance in the mid-90's, the die-hard fans who wanted the band to return to their thrash roots became ever more disenfranchised with their sound.  To avoid stepping in a veritable tar pit of hyperbole, let's just say that the Deliverance fan community was fairly split by the end of the band's initial run in terms of the quality and validity of the later releases.

So what camp do I belong to?  I'm of the artist mentality, whereby I don't make art to please other people, but to edify myself & please my own artistic exploration, as well as to please my Creator.  As such, I don't pay much attention to what people might want when I create art.  If I am happy with the finished product and I feel that it sufficiently glorifies my God, I don't concern myself with what other people are going to say, and how they are going to judge me.  If they dig it as well, that's icing on the cake.  I suspect the artist in JPB2 feels this way, but sometimes the musician & businessman in him goes the other direction, fretting over what his fans are going to do or how they will react to his latest output.  I think this force pulling him in both directions simultaneously is part of what makes his art so vital, which is why I hope he never completely loses that quality.

Musically, this album is both a tour-de-force, as well as a quite studied affair.  The guitar crunches with authority, but has a melodic quality to it that really helps the album to be more listenable & memorable than some of the band's earlier "groove" oriented works.  Solo work is well done here, but not overdone - it's flashy & tasteful at the same time, which is a nice balance.  There's some cool echo effects on some of the clean guitar portions, like in "Anymore", adding to the atmosphere of the song.  The album's centerpiece (ironically titled "Books Ends") combines highly melodic soloing, crunchy riffing, interesting structure, and a varied approach that works well.  I like how the album shifts between up-tempo numbers with a lot of guitar muscle to more laid back numbers that utilize other textures to great effect.

Vocally, Jimmy has never sounded better, and I mean that literally.  As a vocalist, he was always strong, but the early thrash works lacked a melodic approach that didn't show his true talent as a vocalist.  Here, however, he's in full singer mode, pulling off interesting melodies, some slightly disharmonic bits here & there that work well, and far more range & emotion than he had previously displayed on an album.  Jimmy doesn't have the level of aggression in the material here than he did before, but this material doesn't really need that - instead, his somewhat Bowie-esque approach is right on for the music.

Bass work isn't overly audible, but Manny Morales (when you can hear him) does things competently and helps move things along.  Drum work by former Betrayal skins-man Jeff Mason is excellent, with loads of rolls & interesting things going on.  Jeff has quite the sense of dynamics, which wasn't apparent in his previous position, being that full-on thrash generally requires you to practically annihilate the drum heads during each song.  Rather, Jeff's work here goes from "pounding the skins" to tasteful cymbal and drum work, with dynamics that keep up with the songs and make the perfect accent to the mood being created by the music.  The other thing that some may find interesting, and others will find annoying is the little "segue" bits at the end of some tracks.  These are semi-industrial bits with ambient noise, "found sounds" and so forth that work well when you're totally immersed in listening to this album, but when you're jamming it in the car or at the office, they just interrupt the flow.  I get why they did this, and it foreshadows the more industrial feel of the "reformation" album "Assimilation". 

Lyrically, this is a bit of a challenging album.  I think Jimmy may have been going for a psuedo-concept album approach, not unlike Queensryche's "Operation: Mindcrime" release.  It's been said over the years that Jimmy was quite the Queensryche fan, and while he doesn't reach those heights (very few bands can boast that!) with this release, he does a sufficient job of tackling some difficult subject matter, like depression, sexual misconduct, questioning of one's faith, and seeking God.  The songs sort of have an emotional ebb & flow that begins with posing the question of "Where are you?" to God, followed by a recounting of some negative things going on in the protagonist's life, followed by a series of songs talking about the daily struggle between purity & sin, and wrapping up with a hopeful ending that takes the approach that no matter what comes in life, we are to look to God for hope, answers, and ultimately salvation.  It may take a few read-throughs to fully grasp the whole story, because it's written from a much more base-level emotionally, so it doesn't flow like a traditional story-based concept album would.  However, I think this quality is what gives the album more emotional weight than it would have if it was simply recounting a tale & having a "moral of the story" attached at the end.  It feels more like you're listening to the song from the perspective of the person(s) involved, which makes it hit home more.

Does this album have any flaws then?  Yes, a couple.  The quasi-industrial transitions aren't always very clean, and until you either get used to them or ignore them, they can be somewhat obtrusive.  If I come back to this album after having not listened to it for a while, and forget that they are in the mix, I sometimes get a little annoyed at their presence.  I realize it's part of the art as a whole, but I don't particularly feel they were as well thought-out as they could or should have been.  Jimmy's industrial experiments were much more completely fulfilled in the next album, "Assimilation".  Also, I think there are a couple spots where the lyrics are a touch clumsy.  It's not a major complaint, but with someone of Jimmy's capability I feel as though had just a bit more time been taken to hammer out the lyrics, those 2 or 3 bits may have come out stronger.  On the flipside, most people I know who enjoy this album don't care for (or vehemently dislike) the David Bowie cover, "Beauty and the Beast".  I'm not sure what everyone's hang-up with this song is, I think it's great!  Of course, I'm guessing most of these folks are the ones who disliked the song "Map" from the previous album as well, since it's enough of a departure from the rest of the material that they may not feel it gels with the rest of the album.  I say nay; the song does what it intends to during the course of the album, from a lyrical, musical, and emotional perspective.  All the naysayers need to listen again with fresh ears, because it's perfectly placed in the track list.

Overall, this is a high quality release that ultimately has been shunned unfairly by the metal community and Deliverance fan-base over the years.  To those who own the album & haven't spun it lately, I'd suggest they give it another chance.  To those who aren't into the earlier thrash metal releases and may be interested in something more progressive, I'd say definitely give this a whirl.  It's a deep, expansive album that reveals itself in layers, with subtlety enough to not lay all the cards on the table upon first listen.  I myself loved it the first time I played it, but grew to love it even more upon repeated listens, and over the years it has become an "old friend" of sorts, giving me listening pleasure here & there when I need something a bit more cerebral in my metal.  Highly recommended.

85/100

Walk the Sky - Walk the Sky (2005)

There's an old adage that most of us have heard more than once: "They don't make 'em like they used to."  There's a lot of truth to that, as is evidenced by a number of products that have been on the market for years.  I'm in Information Technology, so indulge my example of the floppy disk.  Does anyone even really use them any more other than in specialty markets?  Most of us use USB flash drives or various large capacity portable devices.  I remember playing computer games & booting up to MS-DOS on my family's first home computer, the trusty IBM PCjr.  The floppy disks that we purchased with or for that machine were expensive, but they were trusty.  I still have that old computer, and it still works.  Plus my old games & disks mostly still boot & are usable.  The same can't be said for other 5 1/4" or 3 1/2" disks I purchased in years since.  I don't think even the most recent batch of 3 1/2" floppy disks I purchased a few years back are even working - most of those have since failed after FAR fewer uses than my old King's Quest game or trusty MS-DOS 2.1 boot disks.

So it goes with music, in a way.  When a style is new on the scene, it's vibrant & fresh, with lots of exciting things going on.  You have bands that play with wanton abandon and make music that is crazy good somewhat on accident.  Then there are bands that study their craft & take this new style to heart, playing it with absolute precision & technical prowess.  Still, you have bands that inject as much melody as possible into whatever style to increase its marketability and commercial appeal.  And the list goes on.  However, once a style falls out of favor, a much smaller contingent of artists continue to play that style out of a love for the music.  Sometimes the vibrancy and energy of the original movement can be preserved, but often as bands (and their membership) age, something gets lost in that aging process, which is why rock & roll is often considered to be a "young man's game".  However, there are bands that withstand the test of time, or come out of nowhere to capture a moment in time that reflects the peak of a style's success, whether commercially or musically.  Walk the Sky is a good example of the latter.

Walk the Sky is a project lead by former Regime and Soldier guitarist/song-writer Rick Hunter-Martinez.  For those unaware, both of these bands sort of flew "under the radar"in the late 80's and early 90's, being mostly known in "Christian music" circles for their commercial hard rock and metal sounds, but without making too big of a splash nationally.  Regime's "Straight Thru Your Heart" was a solid album of commercial metal and hard rock, and the recent re-issue on RetroActive Records exemplifies the quality of the material that Rick and company were capable of.  This album (complete with 2 Regime tracks re-done) is a shining example of another adage that a learned skill is never forgotten, "like riding a bike".  While it may have been 25 years since Regime and Soldier were active, Rick certainly hasn't forgotten how to play, nor has he lost his touch for writing great songs.

Musically, this stuff is excellent.  It screams "old school" but doesn't sound dated from the standpoint that the production is clean & sounds like it was recorded in 2005 versus 1988.  Guitars scream when they need to, riffing is diverse and catchy, melodies abound, and Rick's fingers fly when he plays solos that are at once flashy and tasteful.  Never does he dive headfirst into the murky waters of guitar solo overkill, instead content to showcase his talent in ways that make sense within the songs.  Bass work by Tom Young is competent, though as with much metal, not overly up front, so it's difficult to pick out from time to time, but there's nothing wildly unique going on here, just competent bass work that does the job without being too wild.  Vocally, Rob Bonstin is on-point and sounds great.  He sounds like he's about half-way between King James vocalist Jimi Bennet, and Stryper's Michael Sweet in terms of both his tone and range.  He fits the material well, and brings a good overall feel to the songs.  He delivers both Regime remakes with great aplomb, and the rest of the material he really shines on as well.  As for the drumming, Jeff Lemas does everything you expect from the standpoint of the songs - tasteful drumming that doesn't go too far off the beaten path, knowing when to add fills and bits here & there for effect, but not showboating.

My biggest complain about the album is not in the sound, but the consistency of the material.  Pretty much all the songs are great, but there are some tracks that don't immediately feel like they belong here: "Snake Eyes", "Make Up Your Mind", "What You Need", and to a lesser extent, "Touched By You".  These have a much more laid back, bluesy feel, and don't feel like they were written as part of a whole album, but feel like they're more just tracks that Rick & company wrote when they got together to just jam stuff out, versus feeling like they're a cohesive part of the album.  They're quality tracks, no doubt; matter of fact, I'd be interested in hearing an entire album of this bluesy hard rock style from this group of musicians, because they play it well and the songs are tight.  However, in the context of this album, they feel a bit out of place.  It would be like taking 3 or 4 random tracks from Cinderella's "Heartbreak Station" album (heavy on the blues rock) and inserting them into the band's debut, the somewhat heavier & more metal-oriented "Night Songs".  It's the same band, but it doesn't always feel like a natural flow from track to track.  Otherwise, this is all quality material.

If you are at all a fan of 80's-styled hard rock, commercial metal, or "hair metal" in any fashion, you need to at least hear this material, because no one is doing it quite like this these days.  Despite the disparity between some of the material, this is still a high quality album that I can't imagine anyone being into any of the aforementioned bands not liking or thoroughly enjoying.  Recommended.

75/100

Illuminandi - In Via (2010)

Sometimes I just love being wrong.  Mind you, I rather enjoy being right, and revel in the knowledge that I had the answer the first time, or that I knew something before others so I could have that joyous moment of "I told you so."  However, as a human being, I also recognize the importance of failure: growth and humility.  So as I stumble through my meager existence, I understand the need to fall on my face once in a while in utter failure so I can learn from those experiences and grow as a person, as well as grow in my faith.  It is these failures that shape & define us, ultimately helping us to grow closer to God in our walk with Him.


So how does that apply to Illuminandi?  I had first heard of them a few years back and checked out their Myspace page, as is the now standard way of looking into a band.  Even if a band sounds really raw up front, usually this is enough to see some potential.  For whatever reason, the demo tracks the band had up didn't impress me.  At all.  Despite some friends telling me that this was a good up-coming group, that first listen was discouraging and the band suddenly fell far enough off my radar that I didn't think about them again until I heard about the "Illumina Tenebras Meas" EP coming out.  Even then I recalled how unimpressed I was with the demo tracks, and didn't think much of it.  Fast forward to a year later, and I heard "Hymn Of All Creation" on a friend's radio show, and was blown away.  Was this the same band that had put out the somewhat poor quality demos I'd heard a year or so prior?  Surely not!  But after looking into it I realized the growth that they had from those early demos to the EP.


So after months of wrangling and sorting through my ever-growing CD "want list", I finally picked up the EP, and it's quite good.  Better than good, I'd say.  Thus, my initial fears were assuaged and I was delighted to find out how wrong I was.  Imagine my surprise, then, when a few weeks later I got an e-mail from the band requesting a review of their latest full-length release (yet to be released at the time of the e-mail) "In Via".  I was more than pleased to add it to my review queue, and even more excited once I started listening to the material and realize even more how wrong I was about the band initially.


What I find inspiring with this release is just how polished the whole package sounds.  The sound is crisp and clear, the instruments are all well produced and proportional (save for the bass guitar, the usual casualty in metal recordings), and the levels are also appropriate for instrumental versus vocals so that it's loud and heavy enough to please fans, but still allows the vocals to shine through.  Whereas their earlier material was more squarely in the gothic extreme metal genre, this branches out a bit more, including a lot more folk influence (with violins and other stringed instruments) to interplay with the more metallic backbone.  In addition, the band brings in other influences as well - there is some mild traditional doom in there, a sprinkling of hardcore and metalcore (some breakdown-like elements in a couple spots), and dare I say a bit of a mainstream-conscious smattering of influences from the likes of mid-period Paradise Lost.  It all adds up to a highly melodic, highly listenable mixture of folk, rock, metal, and gothic sounds melding together to form a fairly cohesive whole.  Nothing sounds out of place, even the aforementioned hardcore influences; it all blends together contextually to make sense.


Instrumentally, this album is a joy.  Everything sounds crisp and clear, the mix is really good, and the production values really shine.  Guitar sound is varied and interesting, ranging from crunchy riffing and thick guitar sounds to a less gritty tone in the high notes.  There is a fair amount of groove in many of the tracks, more so than many bands of this genre outside of the mainstream wanna-be "goths" playing in heavy rock bands that populate rock radio as of this writing.  Guitar solos are not ever present here, as with much gothic-styled metal, but rather the occasional accent.  There are a couple spots where a cleaner guitar sound is utilized, and it works well with the music, despite being a bit of a departure.  Bass is more apparent here than in much metal, having both that background rumble as well as having some definition and real audible notes.  On a good audio system, the bass really comes across well, adding a good layer.  The symphonic instruments sound great, giving that slightly folky feel to some of the material.  Drumming is varied as well, switching it up between slow and steady "rock" style drumming to a full-on attack when necessary, and being careful not to overpower the songs, but to instead be an integral part of the material.  Vocals often have a typical lower-end gothic metal sound, with a real "throaty" feel to them.  Some parts are nicely overdubbed to give them a more "full" sound as well.  Death metal growls are sprinkled throughout, sometimes being the dominant vocal style within a song, other times just providing additional texture or effect.  There are some times when a bit more of a spoken/shouted hardcore vocal is utilized (like in "Wejdz"), but it doesn't feel like the modern hardcore shouts, having more of a 90's groove metal kind of vibe.


So all this sounds like a winning combination, right?  For the most part, yes.  Obviously for me not knowing the Polish language, some of the lyrics will always elude me until such time that an English translation is made available online.  While the songs are catchy and enjoyable, they're not quite as memorable overall as I had hoped.  That said, this is still a fine album that fans of the band will readily enjoy, and fans of the gothic/folk metal genres in general will also have plenty here to love.  With such skilled instrumentalists I would have liked to hear the band branch out even further, with a few more guitar solos, as well as perhaps even more folk influences here and there.  But as it stands, "In Via" is successful in melding gothic and folk metal with a decidedly accessible bent, and they will likely grow their audience as a result.  Recommended.


80/100

Review format change, sort of...

So I'm sure anyone who is an avid reader of this blog (does such a person exist?) will notice that the last several months have been nothing but posts related to my radio show rather than new reviews.  I'm hoping that will change with this adjustment to the blog.  That adjustment is that I'm no longer going to be recording a video review to accompany each written review.  I feel the quality of the videos has taken a dip of late, mostly due to the fact that I haven't had a lot of time to record and edit them properly.  As a result, I've not been totally satisfied with how they have turned out.

So it is with both a heavy heart and a renewed spirit that I must temporarily put the video portion of my blog on temporary hiatus.  I have several reviews in queue that I will post immediately, and some others I have been working on that I will finish and post soon.  I have a couple reviews I had promised to bands months ago that I haven't been able to deliver because of sticking to my video review format.  Now that I am going to put that on hold, I can finally make those obligations.  I won't stop recording videos completely, I will just reserve that for when I have time, and when I feel like I have enough to say in addition to the written review to make the video worth making.  I may return to recording videos for all reviews at some point, but for now it will just be as I have time.  Hopefully this will spark new life into this blog!

The Gamut - Episode 95 playlist!!!

No giveaways this evening, just loads of great music, so tune in tonight via http://www.untombed.com at 9 PM EST for all the great tunes!

Tonight's playlist!!!
Becoming the Archetype - Path of the Beam (Progressive Death Metal)
Hemotheory - Lift (Groove Metal)
Leper - In Love With the Fall (Gothic Rock)
Vision - Mountain In the Sky (Progressive Rock)
Hawthorn - Master of Lies (Symphonic Black Metal)
Crumbacher - Crashlanded (In Another Time Zone) (80s Rock/Pop)
Ransom - Break Into Darkness (Female-fronted Hard Rock)
Arch of Thorns - The Bright Morning Star (Black Metal)
Dana Angle - The Time Is Now (Rock/Contemporary)
Onward to Olympus - The War Within Us (Metalcore)
Undercover - The Fight For Love (80s Rock)
Rob Rock - Garden of Chaos (Power Metal)
Fire Born - Hell Bent (Heavy Modern Rock)
Callisto - Rule the Blood (Post-Metal)
Crosswire - This Richman (Hard Rock)
Bride - Hot Down South Tonight (Hard Rock/Metal)
Bedeiah - Of the Lord (Black Metal)
Lordchain - Hiding Place (Groove Metal)
Crystavox - Stand (Metal/Hard Rock)
A Hero Remains - Attempt #2 (Metalcore)
Extultet - I Soldati della Croce (Folk/Black Metal)
Men As Trees Walking - Seal Upon My Heart (Alternative/Pop)
Harvest Bloom - Natural Compulsion (Female-fronted Hard Rock)
A Hill To Die Upon - The Chant of Mighty Offspring (Black Metal)
Hope of Glory - Back In the Woods (Jesus Music)
Rick Cua - Can't Stand Too Tall (80s Rock)
Last Battle - Choose Life (Black Metal)
Sion - To Take Pleasure In Freedom (Metalcore)
Kekal - Tabula Rasa (Avant Garde Post-Metal)
Under the Sun - Stride (Doom Metal)
Hguols - Epitome of Threnodies Abided (Hlodyn)
Lanny Cordola - Livin' In Spin (Singer/Songwriter)
Eisley - The Valley (Female-fronted Indie Rock)
Emery - The Cheval Glass (Post-Hardcore)
Nomad Son - Can't Turn the Tide (Doom Metal)
Holy Blood - Shining Sun (Folk/Black Metal)
Benevolence - Retribution (Death Metal)
Death Poems - Apocalyptic Visions (Black Metal)

Check out the re-designed Untombed website @ www.untombed.com !  You can tune in easily via the web-based player on the front page, link to the stream via your regular audio player, read album reviews, get music news, and link up to other great resources, including the newly redesigned Divine Metal Distro site, your one-stop source for all things Christian rock and metal!  Don't forget, station chat has moved to Untombed.com at the bottom of the site, so make sure you sign up or use a Facebook or Twitter account to sign in and chat w/ me and other listeners during the show!

Alternate links to listen to the stream in a separate player (Winamp recommended, though Real Player, VLC, iTunes and others work as well):
http://207.192.71.70:8000/listen.pls
http://radio.fuhell.com:8000/listen.pls

Here's the link for Windows Media Player:
http://207.192.71.70:8000

Also our stream can now be heard on Nintendo Wii! If you have a Wii, here is what you do:

1.go on the net via your Wii console
2. type "www.Wiihear.com" into your browser address box
3. type "207.192.71.70:8000" into the Search box
4. Click the play arrow

It can take 5-10 seconds to load up & buffer, so please be patient when using this feature :)

You can also stream the station via xyzmp3.com on your PSP, PS3, Wii, iPhone, or even your TiVo!  Plus you can stream the show via your Windows Mobile phone with the free GSPlayer application!  Listen in from your Android device via the "A Online Radio" or StreamFurious applications, as well as the new beta version of Winamp for the Android platform!

"The Gamut" - tonight's playlist!!!

No giveaways this evening, just loads of great music, so tune in tonight via http://www.untombed.com at 9 PM EST for all the great tunes!

Tonight's playlist!!!
Neocracy - Here's To the Reckoning (Extreme Metal)
Random Eyes - Deep Waters (Power Metal)
Neizbezhnost' - Would It Be Reasonable (Melodic Black Metal)
Pastor Brad - Cold Blooded Killer (Heavy Metal)
Lordian Guard - Behold a Pale Horse (Female-fronted Gothic Metal)
xDeathstarx - Burn Everything (Metalcore)
The Hoax - Tearing Me Down (Hardcore Punk)
Vector - Sometimes (New Wave/Rock)
In the Midst Of Lions - The Machine (Deathcore)
Dogwood - Never Die (Punk Rock)
Sacred Warrior - Uncontrolled (Classic Metal)
Dying Blaze - Deicide (Black Metal)
Daniel Amos - Losers and Winners (Jesus Music)
Undercover - All That I Am (Alternative Rock)
Joy Electric - Keep Him In Your Thoughts (Synthpop)
Dysfunctional Rotout - Autopsy: Insanity (Grindcore)
Starflyer 59 - Droned (Shoegazer/Alternative)
Project 86 - Rebuttal (Modern Heavy Rock)
Angel 7 - New Sky Upon New Lands (Black/Power Metal Hybrid)
DeGarmo & Key - Charge of the Light Brigade (80s Rock)
Hit the Deck - Heads, You Lose (Hardcore Punk)
Magdalen - Baby Insane (Hard Rock)
Paramaecium - Untombed (Doom/Death Metal)
Morella's Forest - Sand and the Sea (Female-fronted Alternative Rock)
Discern - Behold the Heretic (Death Metal)
One-21 - Ghetto Blaster (Punk Rock)
Love Coma - Empty (Alternative Rock)
Hope For the Dying - Our Fallen Comrades (Progressive Extreme Metal)
SinBreed - Newborn Tomorrow (Power Metal)
Once Nothing - Gunfire Is the Sound Of Freedom (Metalcore)
King James - Swing Of the Street (Metal)
ManufraQture - Ultraviolent (Industrial)
Grave Robber - Burn Witch, Burn (Horror Punk)
EDL - Jetstream (Rapcore/Heavy Rock)
Bloodgood - Anguish and Pain (Classic Metal)
Extol - Inferno (Death/Black Metal)
InnerWish - Burning Desires (Power Metal)
Betrayal - Retalitory Strike (Thrash Metal
Mortal - Mission (Techno Rock)
Sacrament - Absence of Fear (Thrash Metal)
Saving Grace - Pukelips (Metalcore)

Check out the re-designed Untombed website @ www.untombed.com !  You can tune in easily via the web-based player on the front page, link to the stream via your regular audio player, read album reviews, get music news, and link up to other great resources, including the newly redesigned Divine Metal Distro site, your one-stop source for all things Christian rock and metal!  Don't forget, station chat has moved to Untombed.com at the bottom of the site, so make sure you sign up or use a Facebook or Twitter account to sign in and chat w/ me and other listeners during the show!

Alternate links to listen to the stream in a separate player (Winamp recommended, though Real Player, VLC, iTunes and others work as well):
http://207.192.71.70:8000/listen.pls
http://radio.fuhell.com:8000/listen.pls

Here's the link for Windows Media Player:
http://207.192.71.70:8000

Also our stream can now be heard on Nintendo Wii! If you have a Wii, here is what you do:

1.go on the net via your Wii console
2. type "www.Wiihear.com" into your browser address box
3. type "207.192.71.70:8000" into the Search box
4. Click the play arrow

It can take 5-10 seconds to load up & buffer, so please be patient when using this feature :)

You can also stream the station via xyzmp3.com on your PSP, PS3, Wii, iPhone, or even your TiVo!  Plus you can stream the show via your Windows Mobile phone with the free GSPlayer application!  Listen in from your Android device via the "A Online Radio" or StreamFurious applications, as well as the new beta version of Winamp for the Android platform!

"The Gamut" - tonight's playlist + 3 CD Giveaways!!!

Tonight is a great night for The Gamut because CD giveaways return!  Yes, you read that right - I'll be giving a way 3 CDs in the show tonight!  First, the latest release by black metal masters Elgibbor, "Soterion Apollumi Hamartia"!  Then I've got some crushing technical deathcore with I Built the Cross' "Bridging the Gap Between Heart and Mind" release!  We also have the Mexican black metal Hortor's latest release "Ancient Satanic Rituals Are Crushed Into Dust" to give away too!  So tune in tonight via http://www.untombed.com at 9 PM EST for your chance to win!

Tonight's playlist!!!

Wrench in the Works - Faith is a Virus (Noisy Metalcore)
Bride - Human Race (Alternative/Hard Rock)
Harmony - Kingdom (Melodic Power Metal)
Elder - Down the Stairs (Grunge/Rock)
Galactic Cowboys - Young Man's Dream (Progressive Metal)
Katamari Deathroll - Twin Bed Nation (Electro-Hardcore/Dance Punk)
Sotahuuto - Kaillo (Modern Extreme Metal)
Morella's Forest - Gentle Go the Hours (Female-fronted Alternative Rock)
Ultimatum - Heart of Metal (Thrash Metal)
Elgibbor - A New Warrior King (Black Metal) - CD Giveaway!!!
LSU - Let Me Out (Alternative Rock)
Mortificatino - Priests of the Underground (Thrash/Power Metal)
Resurrection Band - American Dream (Classic Rock)
Overcome - House of Cards (Hardcore)
I Built the Cross - Hatred From the Religions (Technical Deathcore) - CD Giveaway!!!
Majestic Vanguard - Don't to be an Actor (Melodic Power Metal)
Dance House Children - Keepsake Melody (Synthpop)
The W's - 101 (Ska)
The Culprits - Misery (Hardcore Punk)
Honey - Missing You (Alternative/Indie Pop)
Hortor - Ancient Satanic Rituals Are Crushed In Dust (Black Metal) - CD Giveaway!!!
Exhumed Alive - The Nature of Maggots (E-Grind)
Regime - Borderline (Commercial Metal)
POD - Run (Rapcore)
Soul Shock Remedy - Dreamz (Alternative Rock)
Metanoia - Offensive (Death Metal)
Believer - Stress (Technical Thrash Metal)
HB - It Is Time (Female-fronted Melodic Metal)
ForChristSake - O (Thrash/Death Metal)
Common Yet Forbidden - Violence (Thrashcore)
Driver Eight - Strange (Alternative Rock)
Extol - Emancipation (Technical Thrash Metal)
Demon Hunter - Relentless Intolerance (Melodic Metalcore)
Undecover - He Takes Care Of Me (Pop Punk)
Darkness Before Dawn - Undeserved Hatred (Melodic Death Metal)
the Human Flight Committee - Wolves In Cheap Clothing (Indie Rock)
Towne Cryer - Political Man (Female-fronted Metal)
Saint - Phantom of the Galaxy (Classic Metal)
Crystavox - Break Down the Wall (Hard Rock/Metal)
Ruby Joe - Get It Right (Rockabilly)
Stryper - Keep the Fire Burning (Commercial Metal)
Consecrator - Free From Death (Thrash Metal)
Thy Will Be Done - Bloodwitness (Metalcore)

Check out the re-designed Untombed website @ www.untombed.com !  You can tune in easily via the web-based player on the front page, link to the stream via your regular audio player, read album reviews, get music news, and link up to other great resources, including the newly redesigned Divine Metal Distro site, your one-stop source for all things Christian rock and metal!  Don't forget, station chat has moved to Untombed.com at the bottom of the site, so make sure you sign up or use a Facebook or Twitter account to sign in and chat w/ me and other listeners during the show!

Alternate links to listen to the stream in a separate player (Winamp recommended, though Real Player, VLC, iTunes and others work as well):
http://207.192.71.70:8000/listen.pls
http://radio.fuhell.com:8000/listen.pls

Here's the link for Windows Media Player:
http://207.192.71.70:8000

Also our stream can now be heard on Nintendo Wii! If you have a Wii, here is what you do:

1.go on the net via your Wii console
2. type "www.Wiihear.com" into your browser address box
3. type "207.192.71.70:8000" into the Search box
4. Click the play arrow

It can take 5-10 seconds to load up & buffer, so please be patient when using this feature :)

You can also stream the station via xyzmp3.com on your PSP, PS3, Wii, iPhone, or even your TiVo!  Plus you can stream the show via your Windows Mobile phone with the free GSPlayer application!  Listen in from your Android device via the "A Online Radio" or StreamFurious applications, as well as the new beta version of Winamp for the Android platform!