We here at CastleDTC like to focus on bands from the darker genres of music, particularly electronic acts. We don’t feel they get enough press or attention and we’re just one spot on the world wide web devoted to giving underground bands the attention they deserve. Now, Metal falls in the “darker” category but there are already SO many blogs and sites devoted to that style that we try to keep our coverage of it to a minimum. Even so, there are times when it just begs for a blurb on our blog.

Case(s) in point:

EPHEL DUATH:
Italian avant-garde metallers who will release their fourth studio album, Through My Dog’s Eyes, in January of 2009.

WHY YOU SHOULD CARE:
You shouldn’t, really. They reference Tolkien with their band name and play music that tries to achieve the heights of acts like Fantomas and The Dillinger Escape Plan. Ben Weinman of DEP is even making a guest appearance on the album. But they don’t quite make it to the precipice. In fact I think they run out of oxygen half way up. The upcoming release is written from the perspective of the guitarist’s dog. “I wrote a few short stories and it was really fun for me to imagine myself as a dog and to imagine the world from a dog’s perspective. The challenge was to translate the words into lyrics,” Davide Tiso told The Gauntlet. Ummm yeeeaaaaahhh. I’m thinking this entire album won’t be as entertaining as the Dead Kennedys’ “The Man With The Dogs.” Speaking of dogs…

CANINUS:
Brooklyn, New York Grindcore act featuring a couple Pitbull terriers on vocals.

WHY YOU SHOULD CARE:
Again, you shouldn’t. Well, but these guys seem to really care about the animals. Their bio insists, “Both dogs (Budgie and Basil) were rescued days before euthanization from refuges. Caninus - all strict vegans. It has come time really to allow the animals to have their say.” Furthermore, word has it that the band accepts payment in dog biscuit form only. I don’t make this shit up. I don’t have to.

HATEBEAK:
Okay, this one’s the best of the bunch. Their name alone lends them a WIN.

WHY YOU SHOULD CARE:
A Grindcore act with a friggin’ parrot on vocals! No lie. That is just…beautiful. After all, a parrot can actually talk. Beyond that they have a track called “Beak Of Putrefaction” and if you’re a Carcass fan that’s funnier than Hell. You should own their latest album, Number Of The Beak!

Aaand then there’s BOVINUS:
French Grindcore act with, you guessed it, a COW on vocals. Sort of.

WHY YOU SHOULD CARE:
If you’ve made it this far in the post it really doesn’t matter. This one is kind of a scam anyway. You have to sit through three songs on their MySpace page before you get to one with cow vocals on it. And it’s far from brutal. Slaughterhouse videos are much more entertaining than this pile of chips. But they get bonus points for including vegan DTC faves Cattle Decapitation on their friends list.