Femme-Metal Friday: Hail Sagan “Stealing the Crown”

Band photo

In case you missed my post yesterday, I am expanding on the Hump Day Hot Ticket feature due to a high volume of reviews. Now I will not only share a video on Wednesday to get you over the Hump Day slump, but now I will add a little extra goodness to your Fridays by featuring some of the best female-fronted metal I can find.

This week, for the first edition of “Femme-Metal Friday”, I bring to you a band I have written about here before: Hail Sagan, another L.A. band that I really enjoy and hope to share more of as time goes on. Consisting of vocalist Sagan Amery, guitarist Nick Quijano (also known as Sci55ors from the band Powerman 5000), and masked bandmates known as “The Nothing”, Hail Sagan brings together the sounds of goth, alternative, electronica, and puts a heavy metal bite into it.

As mentioned before in my review of the band's “Dark Cloud” video, Hail Sagan also uses music as a way to raise awareness for issues that matter to them: Sagan is an outspoken advocate for anti-bullying, and like fellow musicians Lindsay Schoolcraft and Alissa White-Gluz, promotes a healthy vegan lifestyle. The band also plays fundraisers for veterans and mental health awareness. One thing about bands from L.A. that often gets overlooked is that we are a socially conscious town, and even if a band is not openly political in their music, most local musicians can be found supporting one cause or another through their music (even Slayer, the most brutal metal band ever to come out of Huntington Park, has been known to cuddle with rescue cats!). It is something I have always been proud of as a native Southlander, and it is something I find very admirable about Hail Sagan.

For their latest video, “Stealing the Crown”, the band gets more in touch with their dark aesthetic sensibility by giving us imagery of a snowy landscape while we are still in the middle of summer! I once read somewhere that MTV Europe (or some other video music channel from way back when) never aired wintry-themed videos during summer months, and I can see why—seeing all this snow and fog when it is over 100 degrees outside makes me a little wistful for a chilly breeze. Then again, I'm from Southern California, where it never snows, so it has about the same effect in July as it would in January!

The Nothing is dressed all in black, a stark contrast in the white snow, as Sagan moves through the woods in her trademark purple, like a Little Violet Riding Hood! She is carrying a basket, dropping dollar bills along her path (just like Hansel and Gretel, she is leaving her figurative “bread” behind; “bread” being an old slang term for money). She is being followed by some shady characters known as the “Greed Monsters”, who immediately swipe her money no sooner than it hits the ground. Looking dead-eyed and listless, the Greed Monsters catch up to her, taking her basket away and ripping off her hood. The camera shows the torn cloak in the snow, as Sagan flees from them into an icy pool of slush, where she finds the titular crown and claims it for herself. Now wearing the crown on her head, she and the band are all dressed in white, blending in to the frosty backdrop.

For more information on Hail Sagan, visit their official website.

Hump Day Hot Ticket: The Amatory Murder “U & I”

Photo courtesy of Hyato Foto

As my musical travels take me around the world, every now and then I come across a stop right here in the U.S. that makes me take notice. This week it's Brooklyn-based The Amatory Murder, whose brand of pop-flavored alternative is a fun throwback to ’90s rock.

The bands latest video, “U & I”, is a fun, catchy, upbeat song that is markedly different from their darker, more gothic sound; but its still got plenty of attitude! The video alternates between clips of the band either walking along the beach, or jamming on their instruments by the same shore. Later on, they are seen rocking out in a small room before returning to a cool shot of their guitarist ripping a killer guitar solo on the giant rocks along the beach.

Musically, the electronic elements in the music lend a youthful vibe, making this a tune that would sound perfect in a teen movie during the big party scene. (This is a compliment, by the way!) For all my enjoyment of everything rock and metal, I do appreciate the occasional pop-infused song, and this tune has got plenty to keep your toes tapping and your head banging.

For more information on The Amatory Murder, visit their official website.

Special thanks to Scott Genovese.

Hump Day Hot Ticket: Secret Rule “I Have the Sun”

Photo courtesy of MCCN Photography

It's been a couple months since I last wrote about the Italian symphonic/gothic metal band Secret Rule, but they have a new video out and I really like their music so I feel inclined to write about them again.

If you read my last review of the band's previous video, then you already know that Secret Rule features an impressive guest list consisting of some of the biggest names in symphonic metal, from Delain to Within Temptation; proving that this band has the chops to become among the next breakout stars on the scene.

In the video for “I Have the Sun”, the concept is somewhat similar to the videos for Lacuna Coil's Delirium album, and the song has a bit of a Lacuna Coil feel to it as well: a blend of gothic and hard rock, yet with a little upbeat pop thrown in as well. A lot of “insane asylum” imagery: straitjackets, pale faces with dark, smudged eye makeup and blood-red lips and words scrawled across the wall. The band is also seen jamming in a dimly-lit room with clocks and photographs on the walls.

Secret Rule's latest album, Machination, is now available through Scarlet Records. For more information on Secret Rule, visit their official Facebook page.

Special thanks to Angela Di Vincenzo.

Hump Day Hot Ticket: Hail Sagan “Dark Cloud”

Hail Sagan frontwoman Sagan Amery

Sometimes, when searching all over for new music to feature here every week, I come across a find that is close to home, and such is the case this week with Los Angeles-based band Hail Sagan, who consists of vocalist Sagan Amery (the band's namesake, I am guessing!), Powerman 5000 guitarist Nick Quijano, and a rhythm section called “The Nothing”.

Mixing sounds of gothic rock, punk, and alternative, the video for the song “Dark Cloud” is a rallying cry against abuse, harassment, and bullying. The video shows images of the band rocking out on the song while Sagan sits at her crystal ball, which invokes images of people screaming, crying, inflicting self-harm, and replaying incidents of abusive situations. At the end of the video, The Nothing is seen approaching the victims with the same dark skull masks that they wear, seeming to suggest that the people in the video are therefore empowered and are not alone anymore. On the band's YouTube and official website, information to contact various centers such as the National Suicide Hotline and the National Domestic Violence Hotline can be found.

To listen to more of the band's music or to purchase official merchandise, visit the official Hail Sagan website.

Special thanks to Demas Miller.