Nine New Bands to Watch (Part 2)

     Earlier this week, I began a list of ten relative newcomers this year who had, plain and simply, blown me away with their debut work. Today, I'm going to finish the list. Here are five more bands that you should check out.
     Again, these artists are in NO particular order.

       6 Glass Cloud

       What's better than 8-string-heavy post-hardcore? Jerry Roush's vocals with 8-string-heavy post-hardcore! Ex-Of Mice & Men vocalist's side project turned major act, Glass Cloud released their debut album The Royal Thousand to almost universal acclaim in July this year. With a combination of furious energy, reverberating guitars, and a stage presence that will knock your socks off, Glass Cloud's massive start has made it very clear they're here to stay, and if Josh Travis' blistering riffs don't beat that message into your head, then you're missing out. Coming out swinging with a signature sound without even an experimental EP, or a synth to boot, Glass Cloud have laid their claim to the post-hardcore battleground.


     7. Waking Theo

        Flawlessly combining metalcore and melodeath into their own hybrid of awesomeness, ABR-tinted British act Waking Theo are have been around for a while, releasing EPs quietly since almost 2005. Upon parting with their vocalist last year, the band has battened down the hatches and are currently dead set on making new material. With a new release slated for the end of the year, the absence of former vocalist Mikey Slatcher will undoubtedly put the band in a new direction. For this reason, the band has my attention - will their interesting genre fusion finally propel them out of the ditch of obscurity? Only time will tell, but this is an exciting prospect.

    8. Muse

         As disgusted as I am with Matt Bellamy's decision to mix dubstep with his band's signature sound, I have to admit it's an interesting idea. While Muse is hardly a headbanging act, it can't be denied that dubstep does have a very hard sound to it - while it's not the muted roar of an electric guitar, gritty bass drops and djent-y breakdowns sound moderately similar. And that's saying nothing of the mosh pits dubstep fans are wont to start at their shows. What's going to be interesting to watch is twofold - firstly, Muse's take on dubstep as a genre. YouTube is full of failed dubstep artists who release a single song, get 2,000 views, and then are never heard from again. Because it's such a recent genre, people are still experimenting to find the right formula. Hell, even Skrillex can screw up! Secondly, adding a dash of heaviness to Muse's strange mix of synthpop and rock is the reverse of what's happening to rock these days. By all accounts, the new Muse album is worth investigating.

     9. Jamie's Elsewhere

           Of course I couldn't go a full countdown without these guys sneaking in. A sleeper hit for the past four years, Jamie's Elsewhere owe their rise to fame to internet music boards, propelling their innovative brand of post-hardcore to the forefront of indie hardcore fans. Despite the departure of lead vocalist Aaron Pauley, a new album remains in the works, and with the band's recently garnered popularity, the effect this band will have on the genre is going to be interesting to watch as a whole. I also posted a massive circlejerk about this band. Bottom-line: the new album's effect on the genre is going to also be an interesting thing to watch.