Browsing articles in "Music Reviews"
Mar
16
16
Engloria – Drive EP – Mini Review
Albany NY four-piece Engloria have been slowly building their fan base with the help of their infectious rock streaming online, as well as having a few plays on local radio. After hitting all the right notes with their 2010 EP, “Sundown,” James Stewart and the rest of Engloria sought to recreate their catchy hooks and heart-tugging acoustic ballads with their new release, “Drive EP.” read more
Mar
13
13
Every Time I Die – Ex Lives – Review
In need of no introduction, these road warriors have added another notch on their guns that are being hung on the walls beside the line of records released by them from the past decade. Here to bring them into the next, through a reckless crusade of initiating the party in every city in the world they roll through is Ex Lives. It lands as the sixth in the catalog and that being said, it has seemed like they’ve been losing the edge that we all knew of them to have from their former past efforts. I’ve come to miss what I was looking for anytime I would throw on a new ETID disc these past years. The rawness and emotional energy that would make me want to punch the walls from the creative breakdowns and southern bluesy riffs. It seems that is far from the case here….. The Everytime I Die that we came to know and love is fucking back and it’s more brutal heavier, and chaotic than ever before. read more
Mar
13
13
Cannibal Corpse – Torture – Review
What is there to be said about Cannibal Corpse that hasn’t already been said? Yeah I really don’t know either. Seriously this is Cannibal Corpse’s 12th full length album, and 24th year of their existence, holy shit. So, Torture brings twelve new tracks from the OG death metal titans, sounds good to me. The intro track Demented Aggression shows the band is still pissed and likes to play fast. read more
Mar
13
13
Spawn Of Possession – Incurso – Review
Spawn of Possession, damn it’s been awhile 5 years since their last release. Incurso marks the first release via Relapse Records. Don’t let the intro track fool you they haven’t gone still wave the tech death flag high with the likes of Obscura and Necrophagist, and go figure the band is made up of members of the two fore mentioned bands. Incurso features nine new tech death symphonies for you to slam into large drunken dudes. read more
Mar
9
9
The Projection – While You Were Out – Review
Taking the path less traveled and starting a band the good ol’ fashioned way with DIY hardwork and spray-and-pray guerrilla marketing, the pop-punk trio The Projection have been playing together for several years now (vocalist Jacques LaMore having started the outfit we he was 12) and have already toured with such popular acts as There For Tomorrow, Ivoryline, and Thieves and Villains. Recently the band was able to stuff themselves into a cramped studio with producer Enoch Jensen (The Used, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus) long enough to record their sophomore full-length “While You Were Out” which looks to outshine and (outsell) their 2009 debut record “Thanks For Caring.” Well, those are at least the projections we have. ::chuckle:: read more
Mar
4
4
Caliban – I Am Nemesis – Review
German metalcore five-piece, Caliban have been terrorizing their underground scene for going on 15+ years now, never making themselves known among the “mainstream” (As I Lay Dying, Bleeding Through, etc) and being completely content with that. During their long stretch they have toured with legends such as Slayer, Pantera, and Morbid Angel, while recently sharing the stages with American acts like After The Burial and ::shutter:: Emmure; all the while releasing seven full-lengths, two revealing EPs, and a pair of splits with fellow Deutschland band, Heaven Shall Burn. After recently releasing the 2011 EP “Cloverfield,” Caliban horded themselves away in a studio with Benny Richter and and band’s guitarist Marc Görtz, to create their next installment of their rampantly unbridled metalcore with the release of their eighth album “I Am Nemesis.” read more
Feb
20
20
Hope Dies Last – Trust No One – Review
It’s about time Italy finally retaliated at the US for enduring the visit of the overly-tanned, machismo-drenched, Jersey Shore gang (relate or jump off a bridge). The country has done so by unleashing the five-piece screamo outfit Hope Dies Last (originally from Rome) upon our wholesome ears — complete with band members with cartoon-ish Italian last names; Tofani, Calanca, and Mantovani just to name a few. Of course you shouldn’t be listening to a word I’ve said because the band doesn’t sing in Italian, instead using an ancient unknown language “English” (hope I’m spelling that correctly) and has been releasing music here in the states since 2004; even attracting the likes of indie label Standby Records when recording their debut full-length, 2009′s “Six Years Home.” The band has since toured with their appropriate peers such as Attack Attack! and recorded their latest album “Trust No One,” which recently hit store shelves through the above mentioned label. read more
Feb
8
8
Bleeding Through – The Great Fire – Review
Over the span of Bleeding Throughs arching 14 year musical career, the band has covered more ground than a solar-powered lawnmower. Starting their journey as a garage metalcore/death metal band, this O.C. CA six-piece (then five) released the underrated gems “Dust To Ashes” and “Portrait Of A Goddess.” The band then shifted focus to a cleaner metalcore facade with their 2003, break-out effort “This Is Love, This Is Murderous” which was filled with rampant guitars, a superior vocal presence, and of course, the bands love for movie sound bytes. Since then BT has bounced around independent labels, changed genres a couple of times (finally settling on a sub-section of death metal with their previous albums “Declaration” and Self-titled), and managed to stave off upending group member exodus — a true test of strength now-a-days. With the announcement of the groups new album “The Great Fire,” and notice that the band would self-produce it, I was curious if they could still capture the melodic spirit and professional recording of past efforts. read more
Feb
8
8
Abigail Williams – Becoming – Review
Abigail Williams has transformed from an atmospheric blackened metalcore band to more long winded atmospheric blackened metalcore band. But, wait some doomy post rock sounds right out the gate, I am intrigued. The revamp is quite pleasant to hear, but my patience seems to falter somewhere amidst the eleven minute opening track “Ascension Sickness.” The dropping of the metalcore aspect of the band did quite shock me as I expected the same mediocre sound that hit the scene feeling like an attempt to be edgy black metal deathcore. This album is so far beyond that. read more
Jan
30
30
Hit The Lights – Invicta – Review
Of all the pop punk bands in recent memory, there hasn’t been one that acted as the perfect guilty pleasure as much as Hit The Lights did in 2006. The sugar-dosed melodic guitars and dance-inducing tunes of “This Is A Stickup…Don’t Make It A Murder” were an instant classic — even influencing the name of our website. Since then this five-piece from Limo, Ohio have been steadily releasing new EPs and full-lengths with a renewed tenacity, case in point was 2008′s “Skip School Start Fights,” which while exerting a much more poppy sound, still kept the bands punk spirit alive, with catchy riffs and angsty, yet potent, lyrics like “Stay Out“‘s, “Stay out all night, ’Cause rest is for the dead. So we won’t stop, no we won’t stop. Raise your glass high.” Since then, Hit The Lights has not only majorly changed the tone with their latest effort “Invicta,” they have also changed their album art style. A man-o-war in space? Where’s my splattered neon paint and face vectors? read more
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