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.

August Burns Red - Constellations

When I started going to shows, they pretty much entailed what ever genre of music my friend Chad wanted to go to. Back then he was into pop-punk as well as hardcore and metal, and yes, even some rap. Although we never did go to any rap shows, even though they were discussed. It was because of him I really started to go to more and more shows.

Aside from my first two shows being relatively bigger/more well known tours (Ska Is Dead and Warped Tour), the next tour that Chad thought I would enjoy going to him with was the tour in which Killswitch Engage and From Autumn to Ashes tour with 18 Visions and 36 Crazy Fists. This was actually the first time I had seen this type of show/heard this music live.

Back between its transitional phase, we went to see this show at the venue in Syracuse, NY called Club Tundra (both before and after it was called this, it is known as The Lost Horizon, one of the most legendary venues in the nation, also with a lot of history.) And needless to say, I loved the show, I love the atmosphere, I loved the energy. All considered, I was enthralled.

Over the years, I have been very picky over my hardcore/metal (whatever genre you want to call it, and what ever sub-genre you classify all these bands as. Either way, its fucking intense rock music that most don't dream of listening to.) I knew that I liked smooth breakdowns, open stringed usually, and more melodic than chaotic instrumentals.

When I first heard some songs by August Burns Red, I have to admit I was not a fan. I really did not like their music all too much. Yes, I would rather listen to them then say Lil Wayne or Kenny Chesney or Coldplay. However, as all of my friends started to like August Burns Red more and more, I decided I would give their new album a shot, and once again, I was surprised.

From beginning to end, this album contains almost all aspects of metal/hardcore that I do enjoy. They take some liberties in which I understand they try some new things. During the song "Ocean of Apathy" they actually slow it down for a minute and play what almost sounds like a jam band type riff.

A lot of their guitar playing sounds very technical, or if you will "math" like. It sounds very well constructed and like they did not want their new album to come out sounding half-assed...as another recently reviewed band seemed to have done. The vocals are very powerful and very well placed in time. At no point do I ever think "he shouldn't be singing, I want to hear this riff" or even like I have though before "why are there vocals over this breakdown, it would have been brutal."

Thats another point, the breakdowns in this album that do exist, aren't over-done, or lame sounding. They don't pump them up either, where the bass gets deep, time slows down, and you think "oh shit here it comes," only to be let down.

All in all, this album is absolutely solid. Check it.

























Album: 8 out of 10 zings.

Message to Band: Although this may be the first album I like from you, I completely respect experimentation and growth as a band. This album is solid, keep with following what you feel will make yourselves happy, and fuck the fans and public. After all, its your band, its about your music and your musical talent, not about what people want to hear.

Killswitch Engage - Killswitch Engage

Ever since I was a fan of metal/hardcore, there were a few bands I had always known about and had known of their music, or liked their music. Those bands included: Haste the Day, Everytime I Die, As I Lay Dying, Comeback Kid, and Killswitch Engage. Now, I cannot say that I have always been a huge fan of Killswitch (like I am of other bands, and have every song memorized), but I do know quite a few songs, and thoroughly enjoy them.

So when the new album was released, I immediately picked it up, and popped it into my car cd player. And off the bat, I can honestly say, I was impressed. The first two songs, I was in a mood to jam and hear some amazing lyrics and smooth instrumentals I had always associated with Killswitch Engage. However, as the cd progressed...a weird thing happened.

At this point let me say, this is going to be a short review, and you will soon find out why.

As the album progressed (meaning track 3 and so on), there didn't seem to be any defining sound, unique riffs, or insanely identifying lyrics. I started to actually get bored listening to this album. Actually, in the middle of the album, there are a couple of songs in which have instances (or mostly), drop the abrasive metal drumming and go into an older punk style of fast drumming.

Now, I am not adverse to punk music/drumming/etc at all. Infact, punk is how I got into the hardcore/metal/indie I am into now. I started off listening to Rancid, Transplants, Sex Pistols, NUFAN, Bodyjar, Operation Ivy, Dead Kennedys, Suicidal Tendencies, The Unseen...and so on.

When it came down to this album containing what I was looking forward to, I was let down. The vocals are still right on, and I enjoy the sound of them, but it just didn't seem to match up this time for me.






















Album: 4 out of 10 zings.

Message to Band: Just keep on thrashing and producing, this is the first album that I didn't like that much. Maybe its just my warped brain, or maybe the effort going in dropped, I'm not sure.


P.S. I fully intend on blogging more frequently, now that so much personal things I had to take care of are out of my way.

Burden of a Day: Oneonethousand

So, my wife being from Southwest Florida, I have always been into finding bands from the Tampa Bay/Sarasota area. One day my search brought me to a Christian metal/hardcore band called Burden of a Day. I loved their EP, and followed them closely. After only about 2 months of listening to them, I read that they were writing a new album, so again, I kept a close eye on this.

The first song off the album, "Remember", was released as a single on their myspace. I noticed right off the bat that there was more singing in this album, and the vocals were a lot more crisp and clear. Nothing to complain about, his voice is a very nice asset to the band's sound. The instrumentals still sounded strong in this single, as well as the screams.

When the album was first available, I immediately downloaded it. I have to start off by saying, they very smartly and artistically mixed their screams and clean vocals. The clean vocals gives songs a bit of a poppy feeling to it, and makes the songs a bit more catchy than their previous EP had sounded.

Clean vocals on this album remind me a bit of Bedlight for Blueeyes, and I thought that their vocals were amazing as well. Not whiney, not too deep, and certainly doesn't sound like the vocalist is struggling to make his pitch.

The scream vocals on this album remind me a bit of The Devil Wears Prada and A Static Lullaby. Once again a band hits another good note and has their rough vocals easily understood. I cannot tell you how much I it when I cannot understand screams.

Lyrically, this album is a hit. I don't find it hard at all to connect with what the band is trying to convey or say in the songs. Instrumentally, this album is clean and has some very interesting riffs in it.

This album is one in which I do not skip and tracks, and once again I have found an album hard to rate portion by portion or song by song. The whole album delivers and I urge you to listen. If you like to sing along to your music, if you like to thrash, if you like to just jam out, if you like gang chants, I HIGHLY recommend this album.





















Album: 9 out of 10 zings

Message to Band: Keep on progressing as a band, and find the sound you like, or you have in mind. Personally, I am a big fan of Christian harcore/metal, so please keep up the good tunes, and you'll go places.

Vanna gives A New Hope

The way I found out about Vanna was actually boredom with the music I currently had in my music library. I was at Best Buy and just decided that I needed some new music, and I wanted to try and listen to a new band. When I usually did this, I started at A and made my way towards Z. This day however I went from Z to A, and Vanna was not all to far in. Their release from Epitaph "The Search Party Never Came" had a "comparable to bands like" sticker on it, and Every Time I Die was on there, along with some other bands I liked, so I decided to check it out.

I got into my car, and listened to the whole cd on the ride home. I was not sure what to make out of it, since they had quite a different sound. After a while, the cd grew on me immensely and I knew that I loved Vanna.

When their second CD curses was released, I was enthralled that they were releasing new music. "Curses" was an ok album, I was not swept off my feet by it, but I liked it. I found myself singing random parts of some songs and having them stuck in my head like "I don't wanna see you fall apart..." -continues to sing-. my favorite part of the whole album was actually the intro to the album.

Now...when I heard that Vanna was releasing even more music, I was kind of undecided as to whether or not I was going to check it out. I was a huge fan of "The Search Party Never Came" and didn't care all too much for "Curses", but nevertheless, I picked up the album.

"A New Hope" has been in regular circulation into my car's cd player ever since I have first gotten the album. I love the intro song, and the mix of screams and vocals are the most well mixed out of all their albums. There are only 2 songs in which I usually skip which are tracks 5 and 8.

A lot of these songs are catchy. You can understand his screams as well, which I find to be a very important of heavier music that has screaming, be it screamo, hardcore, metal, etc. The singing voice is also very enjoyable. I can garuntee that if you give this album a listen, you will definitely enjoy the lyrics, and find yourself singing them regularly.

Honestly, I know in my previous blogs I try to review album song by song, or portions of album in chunks. However with this album I can't do such a thing. The album remains strong throughout the playout of the tracks. Each track delivers powerful and mindblowing vocals, through screams and sings.

























Album: 8 out of 10 zings.

Message to Band: Keep up the good work. Your progession as a band has done nothing but astound me. I hope to hear more music from you guys soon, and I hope that you stay true to yourselves.

"A Shipwreck in the Sand" is More of a Salvage

Let me be the first to say, I love all Silverstein albums. However as the band has progressed, they have experimented a little more and more each album, and get a more and more definitive sound with each album produced. This band is definitely one of the best at producing what music they feel like producing, and Shane does an amazing job of writing about what he feels.

When I first heard When Broken Is Easily Fixed, it was easy to say I was in love. I believe that album did not leave my car cd player for over 2 months. Within the first week I knew every song and sang along loudly. That album seemed to fuse all aspects of music that I liked, and still do. The correct timing of screams with vocals, heavy and light riffs, etc, beautiful.

So when their next album "Discovering the Waterfont" came out, I was excited, and learned that whole album within a week as well. I can't say that the album didn't leave my cd player, but most of my favorite songs come from that album, including "Call It Karma" and "My Heroine" and for the longest time "Smile in Your Sleep" was my favorite song, until "My Heroine" grew even more on me.

Needless to say, when I found out that Arrivals and Departures was in the making, I was pumped. "If You Could See Into My Soul" was an excellent song. However, I felt like I didn't connect with a lot of songs on the album, and it made me less interested. The instrumentals on a lot of songs didn't appeal to me either. I am not saying I don't like this album, but it definitely got the least play time out of all of them.

Now, when "A Shipwreck In The Sand" was announced, again, I found myself salivating at hearing Shane boast his amazing vocals. The single "Broken Stars" was an amazing single in my opinion with some classic Silverstein signature in which the screaming is powerful and kicks in at the end, when, in my opinion, the passion of the song is strongest.

So when I first gave the album a listen, the first three songs were signature Silverstein, and I loved the guest vocals on "Vices". I was a big fan of on "18 Candles" album how Shane had WiL from Aiden guest sing in "Bleeds No More" and thought that they should definitely have more guest vocals.

Over the next couple of tracks, the album takes a little bit of a lighter turn. Still as passionate, and still sending a great message as do the other songs. Shane did a great job writing so that the emotional connection to the songs could be felt. Then, the album takes a heavy turn once again for a couple songs.

Those few songs in the middle of the album come out of no where with a powerful punch. I give a lot of credit to a band who has never really had a breakdown per-se in a song, into having two in an album. I am not saying they were very moving breakdowns, but they were good. When I first heard them, my heart lept out of my chest. I would love to see Silverstein produce a couple more heavier songs like this...maybe even a bit heavier.

The final songs in the album end the album nicely. I don't feel like there should have been more songs added, or that some songs should have been taken out. The album was the perfect length and no song made the album awkward. The album flows nicely together, and its not too heavy, its not too light, the vocals don't have "whiney" parts, nor do they have too deep of vocal parts.

This album for me, reasserted why Silverstein is my favorite band. They again showed their progression and ability to write and produce amazing music.





















Album: 9 out of 10 zings.

Message to Band: Keep on doing what you're doing. I love Shane's ability to write, I respect everyone else's ability to play amazingly (Billy, Josh, Paul, Neil). Stay true to yourselves, and I will always love you guys, and so will your fans.

Punk Goes....everything

I figured this was a much needed review, as covers are a very big part of the punk/hardcore/etc industry and world.

Every Punk Goes...album has produced good covers, from Crunk, Pop, 80's 90's and yes, even Metal. I am always willing to pick up a Punk Goes... album from Fearless records, because more often than not, there is always a good listen.

Punk Goes Pop 2 is the newest release from the line of albums. I have to admit, I don't really listen to the radio all too much, so I don't even know a lot of "pop" songs I guess you could say. Most of what I do hear is from commercials, or have seen bands covering on youtube.

This album actually had a bunch of songs I already knew though. The bands range from the electronica-indie type deal, to some metal.

First off let me say that the choice of songs on here was an amazing...well...choice. My only complaint is enough with the Britney Spears covers already. Baby One More Time has been covered more times that my extended family has fingers and toes as it is. But, the cover of Toxic is quite alright. I believe its the first cover I have heard of it as well.

The only two songs I have to give a thumbs down to are Baby One More Time by August Burns Red and Icebox by There For Tomorrow. It seems August Burns Red tried a little to hard, or it just wasn't the right cover choice for them. And There For Tomorrow didn't interpret the song at all and it still sounds very R&B.

All in all, the best covers are by far those by Silverstein (apologize) and A Day To Remember (Over My Head), purely for the fact that they interpret the song, change it up a little bit, but don't over do it. After all, if you are covering a song, it should be something you connect with, and not struggle with. Bayside is in a close third place to all those.

I really don't have much to say about this album, it is quite good. All I can say is give it a listen.


























Album: 8 out of 10 zing.

Message to band(s): covers shouldn't sound like you struggled with them...if you hear it and it sounds like that, rethink your choice. Also don't just karaoke it either.

I Am Ghost: "Those We Leave Behind"

Ever since the release and my first discovery of this band, I have been a huge fan of their music. We Are Always Searching was an amazing first album, probably one of the most distinguished sounds I had ever heard from a newer band, especially for one of their first major releases. The music style, the exchanged between dark male voices and a beautiful female vocal with violin was the most amazing thing I had heard for a while.

When Lover's Requiem had been released, a freshman album was followed up by a very strong sophomore album. I have to say I was very pleased and very enthused with the quality of the album. The re-make of a couple songs on We Are Always Searching were very well done. The soft songs, the heavy songs, the ballads, the connective lyrics. Everything was very well put together, and yet again was another album that I did not want to skip any tracks on.

So when I heard interviews about the new album being "the darker album" and "one of the most lyrically connected" to the lead vocalist's feelings about what he has been feeling and going through in the past couple years, I was pleasantly awaiting a listen. When "Bone Garden" was released on myspace, I was very pleasantly surprised and content with what they had written and decided to release.

On first listen, I was expecting the type of intro they had, as they have used similar types of intros on their past albums. The album starts off great, with strong instrumentals and strong lyrics, and continues to stay that way throughout the entire album. The violin and key parts never conflict and create and ear-ache, mind-confusing tune. The arrangement of every song is very clear, and riffs are easily understood, as are the lyrics, even during the screams.

I agree with what was said, the lyrics portray a very dark image. Granted the fact that the instrumentals were always kind of a mix of a lot of genres, the dark guitar, almost dark metal sounding, throw a great feeling of musical confidence from the band. It almost seems effortless for them to create great songs and makes it very easy to feel like you can connect with the band.

Honestly my only knit-picking would be to give us a little more screaming, I love his passion when he screams. I also would not mind a little more double kicks on the drums. I can't complain about that all too much though, as their musical arrangement and technique is amazing for I Am Ghost.

This album is one in which I only skip a couple songs on the album. Not because they're not good songs, but because I don't connect with the lyrics. It is very rare in which I find an album where I don't skip tracks, so being that I like every song, is a good sign. I also would not mind a couple more breakdowns. I am a sucker for open-string bass riffs and slow drumming with crashes.

For the most part, I could keep listening to this album over and over, and couple probably memorize all the lyrics within a couple days if I did so. I Am Ghost is one of those bands who are just themselves, and I love them for that.





















Album: 7 out of 10 zings.

Message to Band: Ignore what I say and keep doing what you're doing. Your progression into what this new album has become was amazing. I have a feeling your next album will melt my face off.