KEEW playlist for June 5, 2013 and an explanation of "simulated meat"

In the past two posts I've made reference to our new feature, Simulated Meat. If you've been tuning in, you'll know what I'm talking about, but here's a little more explanation of what this feature is and why I've introduced it.

(feel free to skip the ruminations and scroll straight to the playlist if that's what you're after) 

Motivation 1:
For the past couple of years I've become increasingly interested in the far reaches of the metal genre - the boundaries, the limit cases. Obviously, to some extent this is subjective, contextual and relative. But, speaking in personal terms, I'm intrigued by the number of bands or songs that I consider part of my metal listening (which, to be honest, is most of my listening), even though, if I stop and think to myself - is this metal? - my answer might be - not really, or, I'm not sure.

Often this happens with bands that were metal but whose sound has mellowed over the years (Anathema is a prime example). In other cases it might be a metal–nonmetal collaboration. Or it might be a nonmetal artist with a particularly metal ethos or aesthetic - something about them that screams 'heavy' in a metal way.

So I started thinking about taking this idea to the radio waves. And calling it Simulated Meat because, as a good vegan, I know that the things you consume don't have to be bloody to be satisfying.

Motivation 2: 
At the recent Heavy Metal & Popular Culture conference in Bowling Green, Ohio, Dr. Keith Kahn-Harris's keynote address suggested that we metal folks may need to rethink conventional understandings of what metal is - what is it that makes something metal? - if we want to keep the genre alive and vital in the future. If we don't, metal may eventually turn into a collection of fossilized remains while the innovation and energy move off into other areas of music-making and creative production.*

*Disclaimer: I'm paraphrasing and summarizing and leaving a lot out here. This also, to me, feels like an invitation to dialogue and debate rather than a straightforward instruction. Because I see some parallels between my thoughts on metal genre boundaries and Kahn-Harris's talk, I'm offering up Simulated Meat as an abbreviated contribution to this dialogue.

And all this is why we have introduced, with the return of Kill Eat Exploit the Weak, a new feature called Simulated Meat.

Now on to the regularly scheduled program: our latest playlist.

ARTIST	ALBUM	TRACK
Enabler	Shift of Redemption (Think Fast!)	Shift of Redemption
KEN mode	Entrench (New Damage)	Counter Culture Complex
Vilipend	Inamorata (A389)	Last Stand of the Hopeless Romantic
I	Between Two Worlds (Nuclear Blast)	The Storm I Ride
Volbeat	Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies (Universal)	Room 24
Axeslasher	Mark of the Pizzagram - Invasion of the Babesnatchers	Mark of the Pizzagram - Invasion of the Babesnatchers
Speedwolf	Ride With Death (Hell's Headbangers)	I Am the Demon
Author and Punisher*	Women and Children (Seventh Rule)	In Remorse
Duncan Evans*	Bird of Prey (Prophecy)	Bird of Prey
Long Distance Calling*	The Flood Inside (Superball)	Tell the End
InAeona*	IA / OX	Soldier
Anciients	Heart of Oak (Season of Mist)	Raise the Sun
Cynic	Focus (Roadrunner)	Veil of Maya
Hollow	Wacken Metal Battle Canada Vol 1	Landscape
Thrawsunblat	Wanderer on the Continent of Saplings	Bones in the Undertow
Atrocity	Okkult (Napalm)	When Empires Fall to Dust
Cathedral	The Last Spire (Metal Blade)	Cathedral of the Damned
Novembers Doom	Heart of Gold: A Tribute to Woods of Ypres	Wet Leather
My Dying Bride	The Manuscript (Peaceville)	The Manuscript
Kittens	Bazooka and the Hustler (Sonic Unyon)	Great Dane
Immolation	Majesty and Decay (Nulclear Blast)	The Purge

* Simulated Meat