Her Death and After - Demos

It seems I get more and more legit band requests on my myspace every day. While I am glad that I am finding more bands worth the time to listen to and even review, I still get hit with the frequently horrible band that shouldn't be around, or at least shouldn't have posted a song on myspace until they could have had a better recording quality. Seriously, a quick note to all those bands starting out - I know you want to get your music out there and share it, but it shouldn't be a live session in your drummer's basement, which is recorded with a Rock Band mic hooked up to a laptop with Audacity set up to record.

All that shit aside, a band named Her Death and After added me on myspace. Although I usually don't like band names that pertain to death and such, and it usually turns me away from listening to them, I figured I would give it a shot. Holy shizz up the spout, I am glad I did not skip of these guys.

Killer vocals in each and every song, that are absolutely solid. The vocalist has great diction and is easily understood. Both clean and growls are smooth, and the two vocals mix well together, as opposed to some bands that have the two ranges of sings and screams clash, they seem to be complimenting each other and actually harmonizing.

And let me state, the breakdown at the end of "I Stand Corrected" near made me piss myself. Absolutely beautifully constructed and put together, nothing sounds off beat or poorly put together. In fact, none of these songs sound half assed. To me, it sounds like if they had a problem while writing one of these songs, or something didn't sound right to them, or not good enough for their standards, they may have gone back and re-wrote part of the song just to make it shred all the better, that or they are just that good.

Seriously, every song I have listened to by these guys is absolutely solid. From breakdowns to sing alongs, these guys cover a lot of ground. Quite honestly, I wish they already had a CD I could put into my car's player, or even a digital album to download onto the eyePod.

Who would I recommend these guys to? I would say fans of A Day to Remember, On the Last Day, Four Year Strong, Set Your Goals, Vanna, Catherine, Machinemade God, Silverstein, A Skylit Drive, Alesana...and so on.

























Her Death and After demos - 10 out of 10 zings

Message to band: Honestly, I think you guys are on a whole nother level than I have been hearing lately. You guys can shred like no one else. This is why I gave you my first 10 out of 10. Very comparable to all of my favorite heavy bands, and have a lot of potential to grow as a band and make something of what your passion is, and I honestly hope you guys do. The only other band/album that would get 10 out of 10 is ADTR's "Homesick" (which I have yet to review), and Silverstein's "Discovering the Waterfront" (my favorite album of all time). Seriously, keep it up, and don't give up. You guys have amazing potential.

Memory of Mayhem - Demo

Again, it has been a while since I have updated, my apologies. All that bull aside, I think it is finally time for a new review! And since the last review of a demo album/unsigned band went so well, I figured I would try it again. Now remember, I'm not going to review an unsigned band just to slam them, so of course this will be a recommendation!

As I rarely check my myspace anymore, my inbox gets filled with tons of garbage bands that I usually don't even take the time of day to listen to because they fill their request message with smiley faces and "we will love you forever" type things. If you stoop to that low, as to begging, you must suck.

In any event, Memory of Mayhem sat at the top of my request list, and I figured I should give them a check, since the band name is obviously predicting carnage.

I was a little let down that I would only have one song to judge them on, usually not a good sign. Nevertheless, I hit the play button and was instantly captivated. The intro sounds like something from War of Ages, beautiful lead guitar riffs, killer double kicks, but not over done.

As I've stated, I am a big fan of breakdowns, and seeing as how the breakdown in the near beginning of the song is repeated many times throughout the song, amazing, and its not a shitty sounding one either.

Vocals are fierce, I can't put my finger on what it sounds like, its pretty much its own sound. The clean vocals are decent, nothing to swoon over, but it doesn't exactly sound like shit either, better than most. The best part: you can understand both screams and clean vox. And I do love the gang vocals nearer to the end.

Only complaint about the one song is it seems a little long/repetitive after a while. Either way, I am looking forward to hearing more from these guys.

















Demo: 8 out of 10 zings.

Message to band: lets hear more from you guys! I'm sure you are working on it. I've played this song more than once.

Gamma Pulse - Demos

I wanted to take some of my time and my writing and write about some bands that I find/that find me. Be it on myspace or opening at a show, I figured some of these guys deserve a review, especially the good ones! So here I present to you: Gamma Pulse.

Between the time I have been spending transferring my old skate videos of me and my friends onto DVD, and the time I have spent getting addicted to facebook games such as Pixel Ranger, I am still on the scout for good new music, as it seems hard for me to find new bands to get into.

I know a lot of you are probably like me, and get tired of the constant flood of bands trying to add you on myspace, just so that maybe someone else that visits your page will see their "thank you for adding me" comment. Let me just say, these guys sent me a request with a down to earth message attached to the request. For some reason, something pulled me to their page, so I gave them a listen.

All I can start off by saying is holy shit. Absolutely amazing. They only have three demos up on their page, but they all completely rocked me in a different way. Once again, as I said in a different review, this band actually seems to contain everything I like in heavier music. Honestly, I don't even know how to review them, I really am just that stricken for words.

Each song (as I cannot choose a favorite because each of them are as equally awesome as the next. "Stranded", "Blueprint for Escape" and "Heart I Hold" are each brutal songs. Very strong guitar parts, and when I say strong, I mean strong. Very interesting, and sometimes a bit technical of riffs. Infact in "Heart I Hold" there is an increasingly fast guitar riff that almost reminds me of the old Mighty Morphin Power Rangers riff, except 10 times more powerful and ready to melt your face off.

The drumming is sick. Full of double kicks and perfectly planned crashes and drums rolls. The drumming during the breakdowns are not over done, neither is the guitar and the vocals. Once again I don't find myself thinking "there should or shouldn't be singing during this part."

Now, I don't know how many other songs these guys have written, but to me, these demos sound like amazing, simply put together songs.

Oh, I didn't even touch the vocals. Do you like clean vocals that aren't high and whiney? Do you like amazing screams that you can understand and not wonder "what the hell is being sung, it sounds like 'wakka wakka wakka' "? Do you like growls and scowls that make your bones rattle? If you do, don't look any further, I can guarantee that you will be in awe.

All in all, for what I am assuming (since I don't know much about this band) is the band's freshman Demos, I am simply stunned by the ability these guys have to make an a song, and most likely an album, work so fluently.

Honestly, in my opinion, Gamma Pulse is for fans of bands such as Vanna, Bury Your Dead, As I Lay Dying, Still Remains, August Burns Red, UnderOATH, and so on. Yes, they really are comparable to this bands.









Demos - 9 out of 10 zings.

Message to band - Dude, just keep killin' it. I don't know how else to put it. There were only one or two instances that were very short that bothered me, but I am sure its due to the quality of the demo production. Nothing to be ashamed of, honestly, get an album out there, by far will raise to the top as one of my favorite bands.