AVERSIONLINE.COM - THE MP3 BLOG 2006 February

Posted on Tuesday, February 28th, 2006 @ 11:38 am Having been a big fan of Knut for many years now (believe me, we all owe a great deal for bringing this band to the attention of the US), I m disappointed in myself that it took me so long to finally pick up their latest disc. I ve read a couple of reviews of Terraformer , which is only the third full-length in the band s extensive discography, that seem less than enthusiastic, but I don t know that the fuck for, because anyone who s been into the band s past efforts should be well on board with these jams.

There are definitely some new twists and turns going on with this one – such as a number of abstractly melodic undercurrents that are truly fucking moving (check out the latter chunk of Kyoto below) – but for the most part the Swiss kingpins hold steady with their merger of mathy metal and noise rock, complete with loads of churning rhythms and occasional bursts of paint-peeling acerbity.
Aside from the aforementioned snippets of intriguingly atmospheric melodies and whatnot, the biggest surprise for me is the presence of a significant number of relatively short tracks (half of the album s songs hover right around two minutes), some of which are instrumentals or experimental noise interludes – and there are also a greater number of blatantly noisy textures employed throughout elements of the song structures as well. But fear not, there are a good number of meatier cuts that top six or seven minutes and unload a good ol fashioned pounding when necessary!

Of course, it is worth mentioning that well over half of the album is actually instrumental, which is another rather big surprise, but even though it tends to take a lot to keep me interested in the absence of vocals, I d have to say that when the vocals vanish from this record it does a pretty damn good job of ebbing and flowing. Needless to say they ve made splendid use of the more midpaced and discordantly melodic attributes of their writing this time around. Hear for yourself:
If you re a chump like I was until two weeks ago and still haven t picked this one up, remedy the situation now, kids:
Posted on Monday, February 27th, 2006 @ 1:17 pm I ve only been vaguely familiar with the Finnish label due to a handful of select releases over the years, but in the last chunk of 2005 they dropped three impressive whoppers one after another, and I recently purchased all three, so here s a quick rundown for your perusal (I d say more but I feel like shit and I m short on time today, as always).

First up is Ghosts of Loss , the long-awaited follow-up to Swallow the Sun s absolutely amazing debut, where this Finnish act continues to deliver a mesmerizing blend of crushing midpaced power chords and burly growls against loads of atmospheric clean breaks and intensely layered melodies with gorgeous singing vocals. These guys always seems to remind me of Novembers Doom to a degree, though perhaps they re a touch more energetic, but whatever the case we re talking about an incredible band here. They ve got a very strong songwriting approach with a good variety of tempos and lots of unexpectedly creative riffing shifts that really carry the weight of the lengthy tracks (which average around eight minutes apiece).

I d probably say that the recording on this outing isn t quite as pristine as that of The Morning Never Came , which doesn t hurt per se, but I do miss some of that perfectly smooth clarity at times. Though when all s said and done this album sounds damn near perfect itself, so I m not complaining! This is just extremely high quality material that deserves much more appreciation for what it has to offer.

Swallow the Sun is one of the best bands out there for this particular style, if not one of the best bands I ve ever heard within this particular area of metal period.
Like it? Then buy the damn thing:
Posted on Thursday, February 23rd, 2006 @ 11:03 am I can t believe I m going to post about Bleeding Through since the almost disgusting level of massive hype that has been able to generate around The Truth makes me gag – not to mention the fact that this CD has already sold a shitload of copies, so they certainly don t need my help, but whatever.

Somehow I actually dig some of these songs, and the video for Kill to Believe is actually kinda cool. That damn chorus got stuck in my head like a motherfucker for some reason, and actually made me curious to check this thing out when it hit my P.O.

Box. So yeah, it s definitely a shitload better than their last record (which I fucking hated), but it s just not a big deal. I mean, come on now, this is pretty far from the trend-proof middle finger toward the glut of over-saturation that threatens to destroy a scene this band helped to build .

And despite what the band may seem to state in interviews, they were not among the first to blend these metal and hardcore styles (though I suspect them to have been wronged by some slight misquoting in some of those big cover stories , to be honest): They were just one of the first to get popular .
I m still not down with the whole fashion/image-conscious thing, and the lyrics are still too goofy for me in many instances (I m all for blunt rage, but when it comes to painfully literal blunt rage about heartbreak it just seems silly and overly immature on occasion). Aside from one pretty painful ballad ( Line in the Sand ), which does have its tolerable moments (it s just that the singing isn t strong enough to carry it), the improved production values and greater reliance on thrashy riffing and harder speeds/power chords wins me over from time to time.

Plus there s just better songwriting all around, and the instrumental title track is actually pretty fuckin slick with its dissonant chord phrasings – I love that kind of shit. Overall the singing portions of the vocals aren t quite there yet, but it does work in most areas, though the harsher shit definitely comes across as more comfortable. The keyboards make a lot more sense on this album, too – though honestly I still think they d be better off tossing em.

In the end their approach still falls too close to overdone contemporary metalcore for me to really get into a lot of it, but there s still hope for this band yet. Oh, and the photography used for the layout is pretty badass, I have to admit.
I don t imagine many people reading this are Bleeding Through fans, but if you ve been swayed, just buy the disc online and hide it once it arrives so you can keep your shame tightly bottled beneath the surface.

Just rip it to an iPod and label all the tracks Cro-Mags to keep your reputation intact and make sure not to turn the headphones up too loud!
What else could I use to wash my hands of decent yet painfully overrated metalcore than the not quite kvlt but absolutely troo Norwegian black metal of Ljå s debut full-length, Til Avsky For Livet , on . I bought this last week because the cover art kicked ass (How s that for old school methodology?

) and the songs I heard from their demo were strong, and here we are with 10 tracks and 50 minutes of consistently fierce and tactfully razor sharp black metal with snarling vocals and just the right amount of melody. I thought their demo sounded a hint more powerful in terms of the guitar tone, but the drums and vocals are pretty dead on here, so I can live with the slightly overzealous bite of the distortion since things tend to balance out overall.
Like a lot of black metal there s not much deviation from the path with this one.

There are hints of dissonant melody in the guitar work, the vocal sneers sound pretty strained and raging, and musically speaking the song structures are fairly simple – offering a decent array of tempo changes that tosses in some of the almost oddly rocked out swagger that accompanies the work of those bands within the genre who tend to look to the past. And hey, that s fuckin alright with me. This isn t as cold or atmospheric as the kind of shit that really hits home, but I m down.

Rather than sneaking up behind you to slice your throat, these guys seem more likely to just punch you dead in the mouth before sitting back down with a beer, you know what I mean?
You ve probably got a little too much light in your life, so pick this up and feel the darkness. Maybe they ll throw in some spiked armbands to accent your wardrobe?

Posted on Wednesday, February 22nd, 2006 @ 12:06 pm I m giving the hard shit a rest today, so first up is the latest release from Slacks: Terrestrial , which is out on . Having been a fan of Slacks debut, I had been meaning to check out this follow-up for awhile once I finally got the chance. And I thought this was a full-length, but at seven tracks in about 27 minutes, it really plays more like an EP to me.

So now, I m not gonna lie, about 90% of what I listen to is metal and hardcore/punk, so for me to dig a band like Slacks as much as I do is sort of weird – except for the fact that if music is truly good, I ll generally enjoy it. So even though I fucking hate almost anything even remotely connected to country music and all that shit, there s something about the laidback yet emotive bluesy rock and countrified acoustic guitar/banjo runs that Slacks often delivers that just works. The bulk of these tracks are actually instrumental (two different vocalists contribute to the two full-on compositions), but it s still a really powerful listen for me, and it s more consistent than their debut as well.

It s actually really odd in that the songs always carry a somber undercurrent, and yet still often make you smile!? In a way that s totally fucked up, but I have to say, this band is fucking criminally underrated, and I really think there are a lot of people out there, just like me, who would totally love this shit if it crossed their path even when it doesn t necessarily make sense to love it!

But then again, it s simply good music, so how can you deny it?
I really respect this band a lot. They re doing something far different from what most of the audiences to which they re linked are accustomed, and they re doing so brilliantly.

Do yourself a favor and give this track a shot, you ll probably be pretty damn surprised.
This one comes very much recommended, so definitely pick it up if you re into it. And look into their debut as well:
I heard a few tracks from the Scottish outfit Aereogramme on the mp3 blog last year and had been meaning to buy a couple of their older albums, though in typical fashion it kept slipping my mind.

So when Seclusion , their latest release on , showed up I was psyched to finally get to hear more from these cats. Once again this disc seems to be being treated as a full-length, but at six tracks and 32 minutes it s barely scraping by, and I tend to expect closer to a minimum of 40 – 45 minutes of material from bands of this nature to constitute an actual full-length. No matter, though, as this is good stuff.

Of course, when I initially popped this one in I was horrified to be greeted by hipster sounding keyboards and a weirdly upbeat little run that had me wondering if I was confusing Aereogramme with another band, but thankfully they put the synths to rest quickly and the remainder of the material herein is far stronger and a bit moodier as well. Not that their older material was over the top heavy or anything, but this time around there are lots of lush layers of swirling guitar riffs and soft singing with smatterings of keyboards or various electronic accents – limiting the occasional forays into heavier territory to rare excursions that generally refrain from exploding into full blown distortion. You can tell they re big on dynamics and creating a real journey within three- to five-minute compositions (though one mammoth track herein does top 10 minutes), and there are some extremely moving little melodies here, so the band s writing and the way they pay such close attention to details really pays off.

I really like the simple looking design of the packaging as well somehow everything fits together nicely to make for a concise little release that leaves you wanting a bit more.
Unfortunately this one won t actually be out until April, so you can t buy it yet (and for this reason advance promotion is annoying as shit, in my opinion), so if you dig this just keep em in mind for another month-and-a-half at which time the CD should be fairly well distributed in stores and whatnot, I d imagine. Posted on Tuesday, February 21st, 2006 @ 1:16 pm While they apparently used to work under the even more horrendous name of XDiary of a CorpseX, Florida s own XBishopX boasts not only one of the worst band names I ve come across in awhile (Even in the 90 s I couldn t really hang with the whole XPlace Nand Name HereX thing, what can I say?

), but quite possibly the stupidest looking album art of any hardcore record thus far in the new millennium. I m sure they were just going for something atypical and humorous, but god damn, if I ran a label and a band handed in something that looked like this I d have a fuckin heart attack. I guess that s a testament to dedication to providing artistic control to their bands, but whew, sometimes you need to bring the hammer down, man!

Thankfully, Suicide Party is actually a pretty good record. Aside from the fact that the recording feels a little suppressed to me, this one s generally chock full of short and pissed metallic hardcore tracks with a balance of 90 s chug and traditional chord progressions without sounding like a throwback. And hey, with a back to back attack of songs titled Go Fuck Yourself and Eat Shit , I have to give em credit where due for that one.

But there s really nothing fancy or out of the ordinary going on. It s not totally one-sided since they do toss in some unexpected twists here and there, but the gruff vocals and burly riffs aren t going to challenge the boundaries of the genre by any means and I m sure that s exactly how they want it, too.
Like it?

Buy it:
Also recently released by is the latest from Scarlet, This Was Always Meant to Fall Apart . I ve never been a big Scarlet fan, but I ve never really disliked them either (well, not since their earliest work, that is). I slept on their last full-length for a long time before finally picking it up thanks to one amazing song, but nothing else on the record could match that tune for me, so I m still somewhat undecided there.

This new effort sees the band more closely joining the ranks of caustic metalcore acts that blend ultra harsh screaming with fluid singing – which is of course nothing new – but as has been the case with Scarlet s progression in the past, this is another tighter and more focused effort.
Aside from the occasionally fucked up time signature or unexpectedly weird smattering of electronic programming, there s not much I d cite as original in terms of the chugging picking patterns and staggered staccato riffs, nor the plethora of wild pull-off runs that are rampant throughout. But the songwriting isn t nearly as borderline obnoxiously acerbic as their last outing, so things are easier to grasp without lacking an edge.

And I have to say that the loose melodic swells and tactfully employed (i.e. not overused) bouts of singing really help add some dimension to the listen – notably in the awesome The Separation Of , which is one of the band s finest tracks to date.

I believe they have a new vocalist on this one, which definitely provides for a noticeable shift. I m into the slick ass layout as well, where the booklet s outermost cover is printed vellum and all that jazz. I m still not floored or anything as a whole, but this is a solid offering that sees the band yet again moving forward after another lengthy delay between releases.

You know mp3 s are weak, so buy it if you dig it:

Ahhh, you ve just gotta love those numerical alphabet references.

Posted on Monday, February 20th, 2006 @ 1:32 pm I can t believe a Google search for these guys only returns two or three accurate results, one of which is from a review on my site. You d think there d at least be a couple of mentions of demos on trade lists or something, but apparently not.

That being said, I don t really know much about Structure Twentyfour anyway. They were from northern Virginia and formed in the early-90 s, releasing at least one demo prior to the In Our Disposition cassette, which came out on $iege Records in 1994. As you d probably guess from the band name, they bore the tagline Virginia Straightedge , and their music and lyrics were a pretty good representation of that whole scene at this particular time: Way more metal than hardcore (without being too far gone) with a pretty good blend of dissonant melodies and chunky power chords, lyrics that wandered from socio-political to personal issues, etc.

I don t really remember how I came across this tape when I was a kid, but despite its fairly rough (though very tolerable) sound quality I always dug it, and For Shame definitely remains a favorite of mine. I don t know, there are just some interesting traits here that weren t overly typical back in the day. The last track below is just some unlisted silliness that comes after the final song on the tape, but I m a huge nerd, so I ripped it and included it just cause it s there:
6.

I think this was the last thing the band released, but I could be wrong. Their vocalist Aaron Edge Connell ended up relocating a lot and being involved in loads of solid bands like Anonymous, Christ, Genuine, Grip, Harkonen, Himsa, and numerous others. He s currently working with both Grievous and Iamthethorn (and yes, he s still straightedge), which you can check out through .

I have no real clue what happened to anyone else in the band, though.
And judging from the aforementioned lack of Google hits on Structure Twentyfour, it s probably safe to say that you won t be able to get your hands on an original copy of this tape unless you really scour the hell out of eBay or track down someone in the band that might happen to have one or two leftover.

Turn up the hate!

Posted on Thursday, February 16th, 2006 @ 12:16 pm Triac, from Maryland, is without a doubt one of the most underrated grindcore bands in the US right now, and they keep getting better and better. This band has been undergoing a blatant progression on every level from day one. I mean, their first demo in 2003 was damn good, but they re an entirely different beast now.

And shit, even their new t-shirt designs eclipse past efforts! There s no doubt in my mind that if these guys were on a label that had the advertising push of, say, Relapse or something, you d probably be reading about em all over the damn place.
Dead House Dreaming , their debut full-length on , blows through 13 songs in 21 minutes (Including a Bauhaus cover!

?), complete with everything from precise technical flurries to harried fits of caustic noisiness, as well as traditionally speedy tremolo picking and a dingy air of absolutely awesome slow to midpaced dissonance that really spices things up nicely – all with maniacal vocals under light distortion that don t sound like your usual growls/screams, which definitely helps to give the band a different sort of feel. Triac is just a killer fucking band, and has reached the point where everything they do is totally raging.

This outing in particular carries with it a harsh yet warm recording that harnesses plenty of punch for the nicely barbed songwriting that takes no prisoners and goes for an aptly raw and acerbic attack while still coming across as creative and striving for something beyond the usual perimeter of the genre. Oh, and great looking cover art from Stephen Kasner, too? Sign me the fuck up.

The end. Now shut your fucking mouth and buy this shit:

Is that kid feeding a fucking goat?

Posted on Wednesday, February 15th, 2006 @ 12:17 pm Autumn formed in Pennsylvania in 1994 from the remnants of a straightedge band called Forethought and played a fairly east coast sounding brand of metallic emo/screamo hardcore stuff that actually reminds me (musically, though somewhat vocally as well) of a couple of bands from my area around that general time period.

Of course, as with many such bands in this realm of the hardcore scene, the vocals are pretty damn shaky and definitely take some getting used to. But the riffs I mean, some of these riffs are fucking amazing, and dissonant shit like the intro to The Nameless (or the chorus about 37 seconds into My Eternity , for that matter) is the kind of stuff that I go nuts over, so it s really a shame that there are just so few bands around these days that still capture that particular style.
This 7 , Wire Hangers , came out in 1995 as a split release between Seven One Seven and Nevermore Records, and according to the insert the four tracks were originally slated to appear on a nine-song CD that was never released.

They had done a demo prior to this EP, and went on to release a four-song CD EP on Crisis Records, not to mention the obligatory handful of compilation appearances. I m not sure if the five leftover songs from the unreleased CD were doled out to the comps or not. Oh, and as you can see above, also similar to many other 90 s bands, these dudes had terrible taste in visual aesthetics, resulting in what is undoubtedly one of the lamest record covers in the history of hardcore.

Oh well. I personally think the music makes up for it:
4.
This one s out of print, of course, but you could probably find it on trade lists or something if you wanted, as I imagine there are plenty of people out there who couldn t get past those vocals.

Here s their track from The Tie That Binds compilation in 1996 just for the hell of it:
Posted on Tuesday, February 14th, 2006 @ 10:26 am The self-released version of Intronaut s Null EP is another that received awhile back, but I decided to give it a second hit now that it s being officially released by . The band features current and former members of Impaled, Uphill Battle, Anubis Rising, and Exhumed and cranks out some fucking wickedly creative metal that s almost sure to surprise fans of the aforementioned acts with its excellent musicianship and songwriting. Read the full review if you want specifics, cause I m just gonna let this song speak for itself.

At this point in my life it really does take a hell of a lot for a song to really hit me 100% and trigger an actual wave of emotional response, but Fragments of Character certainly succeeds time and time again. This was easily one of the top 10 songs of 2005 for me, and I can safely say that if you don t appreciate at least portions of this song I probably think you re a complete jackass and your taste in music is reprehensible. There are some riffs in this thing that seriously make me want to kill everything on the planet – in a good way.

Fact: If you listen to any kind of heavy music and don t like this song, you are fucked.
I m not sure if they remastered this version of the EP or not, but I feel like I m having a slightly harder time making out the basslines (which are absolutely impeccable, though really the band s entire rhythm section is monstrously badass) this time around, so hopefully they ll up the levels a touch on their next outing. I ve also found that the recording on this one works better in headphones, whereas the somewhat dry muddiness (if that makes any sense) loses some impact out in the open somehow.

No big deal, though. The songs deliver the goods.
The disc won t really be out until later this month, but you can get it early from the label if you pay a little extra for a t-shirt package deal or something.

But whatever the case, buy this shit and keep your eyes peeled for more from these cats I can t fuckin wait.
Posted on Monday, February 13th, 2006 @ 1:03 pm I recently received a package from Sweden s , and I m fucking psyched that they sent a copy of Craft s latest, Fuck the Universe , because I had first heard these Swedes years back with Total Soul Rape , which I enjoyed, but since I wasn t floored I hadn t really followed the band since then. Well, that was a massive mistake on my part, because this is an absolutely incredible record on every level, and it wipes the floor with 95% of the black metal that I ve heard in the last several years.

The riffs are fucking badass across the board – whether they re in the vein of old school black metal with that hardcore/punk kind of vibe or the colder, eerier dissonance associated with mid- to late-90 s black metal on into the present. There s definitely some mangled shit going on with some of the guitar work, and those twisted chord phrasings and discordant textures definitely add a lot to the overall atmosphere of the record. It s basically true-to-the-roots, no frills black metal, but it thankfully lacks the usual dose of redundancy that comes along with that approach, so they basically go straight for the throat while achieving an absolutely flawless sense of chilling feeling.

You just can t fucking lose. This disc seriously nails pretty much everything that I look for in a black metal album. I love it.

I ve actually read a couple of reviews of this record that complain about the production, and I can state without question that those reviewers should be benched for life, because this thing sounds fuckin great especially considering the nature of this particular band and the black metal genre as a whole. Is it raw? Yeah, somewhat.

But if you think this is a bad sounding black metal record? You re fucking deaf. This is a damn near perfect album and I find no faults with the sound quality whatsoever.

Listen for yourselves and you ll see what I mean:
I think this was being billed as Craft s third and final release, but thankfully that s not the case. They recently lost their drummer but have decided to continue on. I ve gotta grab their past releases as soon as I get the chance, without a doubt.

Southern Lord released this one on CD in the US, so it should be easy to grab most anywhere. I can t recommend this one enough. Great, great work.

Money well spent, so make the buy:
Posted on Thursday, February 9th, 2006 @ 11:57 am Edit: Purchasing information for this CD has been removed, as Alan Dubin emailed me to let me know that this is in fact an unauthorized bootleg. The good news is that the band is currently in negotiations with a couple of interested labels to secure a proper CD release for this classic material!
Old Lady Drivers (usually referred to as OLD) were from New Jersey (It s just a coincidence this time, I swear!

) and released their debut self-titled LP in 1988 on Earache, and at the time consisted of the trio of Alan Dubin, James Plotkin, and Ralph Pimentel (the core of the band – Dubin and Plotkin – are of course in Khanate at present). This collection, titled Regurgitation , sees that 1988 LP on CD for the first time, along with the band s half of a split 7 with Assück (1990), and the Regurgitation (pre-Old Lady Drivers) Bathrooms Rule demo (1987). Now, inexplicably listed under the CD tray and tacked onto the end of the disc is a 16-track Extreme Noise Terror live set recorded in 1988 in Burladingen, Germany – which makes this entire release just scream bootleg, especially since I have no idea who sent this to me, and the only contact information listed is a Huntington Beach P.

O. Box under the name of Old Lady Drivers Records . Plus, the layout totally blows ass (though it does include lyrics and some weird liner notes that seem to be minimal commentary penned by the guy who pressed this up), so I dunno.

It s always cool to see rare material become available again, especially on CD, so I m down with that, but bootlegs are definitely touchy. I don t know the story behind this release though, so fuck it.
As you ll hear in the tracks below, the initial incarnation of OLD was a raw, silly grindcore band with smartass humor just oozing from every track.

The music consists largely of noisy guitar riffs and blasting percussion with cackled vocals that run the gamut from shrieked screams or snarled yells to more lighthearted fare, and some of the guitar parts have that humorous edge happening as well. On occasion there s an oddball clean break or something a little more melodic and musical (if not left-of-center), which indicates as a precursor to their later material that the band wasn t exactly a straightforward grindcore act by any means, but the bulk of these jams bears more in common with a snotty hardcore/punk or crossover act of the mid- to late-80 s, so its age does show (which isn t a bad thing). As one might expect, the Regurgitation demo sounds like OLD with a more straightforward crossover thrash/grind sound and a barely rawer recording, but the live tracks from Extreme Noise Terror sound pretty damn weak and it was an incredibly stupid decision to include them on the CD in my opinion.

Here s a handful of tracks from the real content of the disc:
Posted on Wednesday, February 8th, 2006 @ 12:22 pm Now that I try to approve all submissions ahead of time, I don t get many demos anymore, but when I was contacted by Canada s about their 2005 demo, I sure as hell gave em the green light, because this shit kills. Members of the band have previously played in numerous other groups, among them Grade and The Swarm, but their style of metallic hardcore is heavily influenced by the 90 s sound, and more specifically that of the Cleveland area, so the end result comes across sounding not unlike a contemporary take on Ringworm s early heyday. But there s a good amount of variety here, with ample tempo changes, a balance of hardcore and metal influences, a smidge of dissonant melody (see the awesome From Fear and Hate Sets Free below), etc.

But the bottom line is that the songwriting kicks ass and totally throws you back to a better time when eyeliner and shitty melodic Swedish death metal riffs were of no concern. That says it all.
This a free demo, so you can download the entire thing at , or possibly have them send you a hard copy – which comes in a nice looking textured folder sleeve (but you should at least offer em postage money if they re willing to hook you up).

They also recorded this shit themselves, which is pretty impressive considering it s only a touch rough around the edges. A slightly thicker and more fluid recording could be truly devastating, but I m pretty pleased with where they stand at the moment, and I m definitely looking forward to hearing more. Good stuff.

Posted on Tuesday, February 7th, 2006 @ 11:05 am Having been totally floored by their 7 , I d been really looking forward to the debut full-length (barely, it s only 23 minutes long, and a little over two of those minutes are made up by the overloaded drones that bookend the album) from No Idols, and indeed the Syracuse outfit blows through 11 killer tracks on Low (Swing the Pyramid Hands) , coming from the fine folks at . I find it really interesting how this band manages to somehow defy general categorization. I m hearing a little more of a rhythmically surging post-hardcore influence on these tracks thanks to a really full and natural sounding recording that lets the dissonance ring out with maximum efficiency, but they certainly don t sound like any of the bands that the term post-hardcore brings to mind.

It s also wholly heavy and hard-hitting, but there s nothing that sounds like a metal influence whatsoever. And while hardcore at heart, aside from the fierce vocals there s nary a traditional hardcore reference to be found. That s not to say that it sounds like some groundbreaking redefinition of hardcore as we know it, I wouldn t say that at all, but there s definitely something unique about it.

It s not easy to take these types of frantic riffs and discordant textures and craft powerful, memorable songs out of em, but these guys nail it. Weird layout, too. And I really dig the flow of the lyrics as well.

This is just great shit. Very much recommended.
You have no excuse not to make the grab if you dig it, and you damn well should, so go for it:
Also from Syracuse, also from , and also a debut full-length, Engineer s Reproach unloads nine tracks and about 35 minutes of pummeling metalcore (for lack of a better term) with badass low vocal shouts over everything from Botch-esque pull-off runs and winding dissonance (not to mention some angular textures reminiscent of the above No Idols disc) to crushing walls of dense power chords and occasional little rocked out runs.

The density of the recording combined with the general beefiness of the riffs tends to create a darker atmosphere on this one – sort of like Deadguy making out with His Hero is Gone – but I wouldn t tie Engineer all that closely to any of the bands that I ve named off thus far, these are just reference points. There s definitely a serious sense of massiveness going on in terms of just building up the layers and plowing through without looking back – they re not fucking around here. This one s also got a slick looking visual aesthetic and concise lyrics that fit the tone of the music very well.

Another keeper from the Hex camp.
I m not seeing this one around at distros yet, so unless you feel like waiting for it to hit your normal sources, just grab it straight from the label for $10 (their site refers to it as a pre-order, but it s officially out now):
Someone sell me the Age-9 Gross Times CD, god damnit. The label won t email me back to let me know whether or not they actually have any copies left and there s no damn reason it should be so hard to find a used copy of that shit.

And if anyone in Europe (since I can t imagine there s many people in the US that would) happens to have a CD copy of Calhoun Conquer s Lost in Oneself that they don t want, sell me that, too! I ll pay fair prices! Posted on Monday, February 6th, 2006 @ 12:32 pm No offense, but let s face it, in a perfect world, no band would ever name themselves Zack the Rookie, you know what I m sayin ?

Sure, I don t know what meaning the phrase might hold for the band, and hey, what s in a name, right? I know I can be a little too picky about such matters, but I can t help but wonder if that kind of decision might hinder the band s ability to reach the number of listeners that they should. Of course, the rather unattractive CD packaging isn t doing them any favors in that regard either, but that s life I suppose.

The good news is that the only real fault I d cite with Lonesome No More , the band s debut full-length for the increasingly diverse , is that it s entirely too long at 16 tracks and 57 minutes. Were they to trim things down to around 10 tracks/40 minutes they d be set, because I m pretty into the songwriting with this one.
I know nothing about this band other than the fact that they re from Louisiana, but their brand of somewhat standard contemporary emo with some lightly metallic riffing and a blend of singing/yelling still reminds me quite a bit of the mid- to late-90 s leanings of the genre, and that s a good thing.

The vocals could probably use a little more work to feel totally comfortable, but I really like the charming quality of the singing s rough spots – to the point where I think the band might be better off without using harsher vocals at all. At their best the cool melodic riffs and catchy harmonies win me over, and there s definitely tons and tons of potential here considering how huge a couple of comparable bands have become in the last several years. I ll be looking forward to hearing where these cats head down the road
This one s not officially out until next week, though I think you can buy it from the label right now, so for ordering information if this is something that interests you.

Posted on Friday, February 3rd, 2006 @ 11:02 am Ocean originally sent me their two-song demo around autumn of 2005 (though the demo was dated 2004) and I was way impressed. I was in the middle of making the decision to stop writing full-length reviews at the time, so unfortunately I never got around to covering it on the old version of the site, and then when I went to write it up here in the blog, I learned that the band already had a brand new full-length out! So I figured I d wait and cover that instead, but in typical fashion it took me a good couple of months to get around to buying the disc, and then I sat on it for a few more weeks so here we are.

Here Where Nothing Grows is Ocean s debut full-length on . Be not misled by the fact that there are only three songs, however, as the shortest track runs just shy of 20 minutes, and the total running time tops an hour without even flinching. This is seriously some of the best oppressively bleak doom I ve heard in ages, and as you ll hear in the eight-minute clip below there are a number of lengthy instrumental passages driving the bulk of the material.

While the pacing is almost exclusively slower than dirt and the approach is certainly one of a rather stripped down and organic nature, there s actually a good breadth of riffing styles employed, from your usual dose of grittily churning power chords and bashing percussion to twisted feedback, eerie clean riffs, and subtly melodic dissonant textures. The band originally traveled to record in Chicago but weren t satisfied with the results, so they re-recorded the entire album in Portland, Maine (the band s home state), and I d say that move paid off, because the fucker sounds great: Everything s warm, load, and clear. The sheer force of the band s material definitely deserves a stronger visual accompaniment in my opinion (the deluxe packaging edition had sold out before I ordered, so I m not sure how it compares, but the visuals on their hand-packaged demo actually looked cooler than this standard version of the full-length), but that s not a big deal.

These guys roll like a fuckin steamroller, and any fan of this particular style should shit themselves over this stuff:
So, if you like your poundings bone-crunchingly slow and methodically sinister, I highly recommend picking this up. I m expecting much bigger and better things to come from these guys. I honestly find the prices on this CD to be a little steep anywhere other than direct from the label (who adds a couple bucks for shipping), but their ordering process is a little weird in that you have to email em first and then they ll send you a total so you can pay using PayPal or whatever method you choose.

So if you re too impatient for that, grab it from StonerRock.com s All That s Heavy store – though at $13.99 (better than the laughably inexcusable $16.

98 pricetag at Amazon.com) if they add shipping charges the price would be higher than I d pay, to be honest. I simply won t pay more than $15 (if that) for a newly released CD within the US.

Ordering from the label adds a day or two to the process, but they re reliable folks
Like Ocean, my first exposure to The Ocean (who tend to refer to themselves as The Ocean Collective) came from their original demo back in 2001, though I inexplicably never followed the band afterwards despite enjoying that material quite a bit. Here we are five years later and the German act is about to release their second full-length (their first for ), Aeolian , after another demo and an EP, as well as a couple of split 7 s (one of which with the mighty Burst).
Aeolian was actually recorded during one long series of sessions from January – April of 2004 that also yielded the band s debut album, Fluxion , and on this particular outing the band s core lineup consisted of four musicians and one lead vocalist (they add four more members for live performances, including one for visuals), along with an astounding six additional vocal contributors – including guest appearances from Tomas Hallbom (Breach), Nate Newton (Converge, Doomriders, Old Man Gloom) and Sean Ingram (Coalesce) – truly making sense of the collective aspect of the band.

While The Ocean bear a literal degree of plodding sludginess and occasionally lengthy songs (running times range from one-and-a-half to nearly 10 minutes) in common with simply Ocean, a close band name and certain atmospheric tendencies are all the two really share, as the Germans tend to run a significantly wider gamut of influences, not to mention far more active tempos. Loose comparisons to the earlier work of contemporaries such as Isis and Cult of Luna wouldn t be uncalled for in some instances, and there are occasional discordant metalcore-ish tendencies (in a good way) reminiscent of some of Hydra Head s late-90 s roster as well, though I would not under any circumstances place this band within that musical category. The focus is definitely on powerful rhythmic surges and intense vocal interplay, and I m into it.

Oh, and this one does have a spectacular layout, printed entirely on matte stock with slick looking typefaces, subtle metallic ink, and a consistent overall aesthetic that really fits the music. Good stuff.
This CD isn t out in the US until March, which is odd since I ve had it for like a month already, so they must ve started promoting this shit pretty damn early.

If you like it, keep your eyes peeled around the second week of March and pick it up from your source of choice. I ought to do some backtracking and pick up their prior releases now, as well!

No fucking justice is more like it.

Posted on Wednesday, February 1st, 2006 @ 10:56 am It drives me fucking insane that I didn t discover No Motiv until a year after their most recent record, Daylight Breaking , hit the streets (which was in 2003) when I bought a used copy of Diagram for Healing (their fourth full-length) on a whim for like $3 or so because I liked the cover art and it seemed like something I might be into. Sure enough, I was hooked from the start in a major way, so I ended up buying three of the band s albums that week – and you bet your ass I played the hell out of every damn one of em.
No Motiv formed in California in 1995, and from what I can gauge based on their earlier material that I ve encountered (though I ve never been able to track down their rare first two albums) they were initially more of a pop-punk type of band with occasional emo/indie leanings.

While their sound evolved quite a bit over the years and could ve easily flirted with mainstream alternative bands at times or what have you, one wouldn t be stretching to use outlandish classifications such as post-hardcore emo-rock pop-metal or something along those lines to describe the band s incredibly diverse yet cohesive approach on their most recent two records. They tend to nail heavy sounding recordings with a darker edge, but loads and loads of melody and incredible vocal harmonies drive the tracks – making No Motive one of the most infectiously catchy bands I ve ever heard in my life. This is seriously the kind of shit I can just listen to over and over and never get sick of it.

Daylight Breaking is a definite 10/10 even for a finicky bastard like me, and I can barely narrow down my song selections here:
What hurts the most is that the band is strongly rumored to have broken up, and the fact that their website hasn t been updated since May of 2005 does little to fight that assumption. I just don t get it, either: Why the fuck aren t these guys huge? Someone, somewhere should have their kneecaps busted over the fact that this band isn t sitting on millions of dollars right now.

I mean, fuck, look how big a band like the Foo Fighters is: These guys are kind of like the Foo Fighters if the Foo Fighters actually wrote more than one or two good songs a record and stayed away from disgustingly sappy ballads that simply make no sense coming from anyone with a penchant for catchy melodic rock songs that actually rock. Yet another unfathomable injustice against an impeccable set of musicians these motherfuckers should ve been one of the biggest bands on Vagrant. Fuck Dashboard Confessional, fuck Senses Fail, and fuck Alkaline Trio, among other Vagrant labelmates whom No Motiv effortlessly shits upon.

I can t even begin to express the level of rage that I feel over the fact that such brilliant music can pass by without receiving its proper level of appreciation. Buy this record immediately, and buy Diagram for Healing soon afterwards, you can often find them so cheap it s unbelievable:

Best line I've heard all year: "Sorry, but that music style totally sucks. Old school thrash.

.. that does not sell anything in Finland.

"

There's a very cool available for download from Dissonance Radio. Check it out.

Walter Schreifels is a fucking genius, but I sort of hate him for finally releasing the Moondog tracks through .

If he also does this with the World's Fastest Car material I think my face will explode, because I refuse to purchase mp3's.

If 2007 has taught - or reminded me of - anything, it's that Madball is one of the greatest bands of all time.

Enjoy from one of the most outstanding cock rock bands ever to, uhhh.

.. rock, or something.

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