Sweatin To The Oldies...Thin Lizzy - Jailbreak

"Hey you...good looking female...c'mere"

Ahh yes, i remember 1976 like it was just yesterday. I can remember when "The Boys Are Back in Town" completely dominated FM radio airwaves. I can remember cruising along the coast with the wind in my hair, my girl by my side, and the law on my tail, listening to this fantastic album by Thin Lizzy...well sorta.

Okay, so what if i didn't hear this album until 30 years after it's release...this album is easily one of my favorite rock n' roll albums of all time, it's got beautiful melodies, thoughtful lyrics, hair-singing riffage, and lots and lots of attitude.

By the time 1976 had rolled around, Thin Lizzy had already put out 5 albums in the past 5 years and still hadn't really scored a hit, i mean sure, they had alot of great songs on those first 5 albums, but NOTHING the likes of which they'd see on "Jailbreak", or after it for that matter. Really, the super pretty melodic songs on Jailbreak like "Fight or Fall" and "I'll Come Running Back" and "Angel From The Coast" were a style the band was all too familiar with on their first 4 albums, on "Fighting" they really started picking up on their soon to be signature dual guitar harmony sound. Jailbreak was the album where Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson really synced up their guitars to create some incredibly gorgeous rhythms and riffage that still stand tall to this day. Everyone nowadays is absolutely high as a kite on bands like Metallica, Down, Mastodon, Kylesa, Baroness, and countless, countless other bands that use dual guitarists to create some absolutely disgusting riffage, and most of those bands have Thin Lizzy to thank for that, in fact most of them even cite Thin Lizzy as a HUGE influence on their sound, and by listening to songs like: Jailbreak, Cowboy Song, and Emerald, that influence is definitely obvious, but the one song where the future of the rock guitar was changed forever, truly was located in the song "The Boys Are Back In Town", the song starts off with a thunderous riff that still to this day forces people to turn the radio up as loud as possible, then the riffs on the verse dance wildly until it breaks back into the opening riff and then BOOM BABY at 1:05 one of the greatest guitar riffs EVER comes in...that twin guitar harmony is just...words can't describe the emotions that riff makes me feel. That song is easily one of the funnest songs ever to air-guitar to, the riffs are so incredible that ANYONE can feel like a guitar god when strumming along to such heavenly riffage, it's just one of the few guitar riffs in rock n' roll history that is truly perfect.

Of course, 'Boys is one of my favorite songs ever, however...my favorite song on this album is, of course, the title track "Jailbreak" it's a song about...well, a jail break, but that's now what makes the song so mighty.

It starts off with a very mighty riff that transpires into another one of the greatest guitar riffs ever played by anyone ever. The guitar riffs paint this big epic painting that indicate the desperation and attitude in which this jail break needs in order to be pulled off, and the lyrics paint a story of somebody who feels he and his cohorts are wrongly imprisoned, so most of the song is about planning the escape and at 2:18 Phil Lynott loudly and proudly proclaims "BREAK OUTTTTT" and the alarms and sirens actually wail as indicated in the song, once the break out is performed the guitar riff, which is the same as when the escaped was being planned, now makes you feel like you have to run for your life to escape from the law who is surely on your trail, but not before stopping to talk to a good looking female and telling her to "c'mere".

Needless to say, i revere this album very very highly in the pantheon of rock music and feel that if this album had not been created, that alot of really good bands may not have even formed due to the lack of an album with such attitude and beauty. Even though i didn't grow up in the era that this album came out, and it took me forever to listen to the entire album and not just the singles, this album ranks very highly on my favorite albums of all time list, in fact, dare i say that this album deserves a spot in the top 10? I dare. This album is definitely one of my top 10-15 favorite albums of all time.

Sweatin To The Oldies...Zao - The Funeral Of God

"There's no reason to be afraid, everything is under control"

Ahh yes, i remember the summer of 2004 like it was yesterday, i had been listening to bands like Living Sacrifice and Disciple and As I Lay Dying and Norma Jean, as well as Zao for a while at that point, and i had been going to alot of local shows and digging deeper and deeper for good music, it was sort of like a drug addiction...just one good band wasn't enough. At that point, though i had listened to Zao, i hadn't really LISTENED to them you know? It was one of those "oh, wow...these guys are heavy, and gritty...and kind of awesome....perhaps too awesome" kind of things; all that would change very quickly.

Zao had recently announced a full comeback, albeit with a new drummer and bassist, and they were newly signed to Ferret records, it was also announced that they would be embarking on the "Ferret Records Tour" alongside Scarlet, Misery Signals, and Twelve Tribes. With that tour announcement there was a shocker, they were bringing this tour to Shreveport! I quickly tried to find people who were going, and lo and behold my newfound friend Josh Gross was planning on going and he left me a spot so that i could come with him...after that trip to Shreveport to see Zao my life as i knew it would be changed forever, they quickly became one of my favorite bands ever and i couldn't stop listening to them, and then they announced the release of "The Funeral Of God" and i remember thinking "whoa, what an intense album title!", i waited patiently for the album to come out, and on July 13, 2004...my ears never knew what hit em!

I do realize that "The Funeral Of God" is a very very intense album title, almost controversial even...but the concept behind it is absolutely genius. According to Wikipedia "The album narrates an apocalyptic story in which God, fed up with the path chosen by humanity, decides to disappear, leaving humanity to its fate. Subsequently, the world falls into a state of war and self-destruction. However, man soon reverts to a state in which he waits for God to return."...see what i mean?

Wikipedia also states that the album sees them leaning more towards the metalcore sound of Killswitch Engage and Shadows Fall...which, in my opinion, is COMPLETE rubbish! This album is also, a very very underrated album, mostly because Zao has such an incredible back-catalogue, that it's very easy for a reunion album to get lost in the shuffle...but as far as i'm concerned, this is the best album they'll ever do...i'm not saying it's better than "Blood and Fire", but they will NEVER record an album better than this.

The Vocals are incredibly hoarse and grating, Dan Weyandt's howl on this album is part of the reason it's so good, that gritty, hoarse, "does anybody have a coughdrop?" sound of his voice is the perfect way to narrate such an intense story. Also, an interesting fact about this album is that they recorded it with a brand new rhythm section, including bassist Shawn Koschik and drummer Stephen Peck, and of course Scott Mellinger was back on guitar, but it's interesting to note that this was the first time in quite a while Russ Cogdell had been back with the band on a recording, and also this would be the last album he would do with the band.

My favorite part about this album though is the incredibly unique tones the different instruments have. The drums have a pretty standard sound, but the way they accompany the super downtuned bass, which, at times like in Praise the War Machine, and "Truly, Truly" sounds like it would fit in perfectly on a SunnO))) or Yob or Weedeater album, and the incredibly dirty sounding guitars is absolute perfection! The guitar playing is very gritty and heavy and there are more memorable riffs and breakdowns than i thought was humanly possible, there are also some incredible guitar solo's as well as some very cool insertions of noise and random noodling which always makes for good times when done well. But seriously, there are SO MANY good riffs on this album! Especially on Praise the War Machine, Breath Of The Black Muse, The Rising End, and Truly, Truly, This Is The End.

The aforementioned songs, plus the entire concept of the album, plus the incredibly doomy bass and the many many incredible riffs and breakdowns and breakdown-esque riffs (ie: lots of awesome chugga-chugs) and the incredibly beautiful, epic, and heavy as balls album closer "Psalm Of The City Of The Dead" make this album by far one of my favorite metal albums ever made, in fact, this album is very very addictive, i try to listen to this album as much as possible because due to it's incredibly disgusting nature, makes it very hard to stay away from. In fact, i once went an entire day without listening to it right after it came out and the entire day, all i could do was sing along and air-guitar the songs in my head because the riffs on this album are so incredible that not hearing them in some capacity drove me crazy.

But seriously, do yourself a big favor and buy this album (or download it) and, if you havent heard it before, listen to it with an open mind, noting that it is much heavier than most metalcore at the time, and it came before Deathcore bands brought alot of these elements into the mainstream, and if you are a diehard Zao fan, please break this album out and give it a spin or two.

In lieu of giving it a base-10 rating, i've chosen to rate this album according to where it would fit in the scope of my top 100 albums of all time, Zao - The Funeral Of God most definitely deserves a spot in the top 25 at least, maybe even the 11-20 area in fact.

Sweatin To The Oldies...Norma Jean - Bless The Martyr, Kiss The Child

"Mediocrity is a killer"

Back in the summer of 2002 i recall watching the new version of Headbangers Ball they played a video from a band called Norma Jean for the song Face:Face and i remember thinking "what the hell is this?" and then i recalled reading about them briefly on amazon during my phase when amazon and kazaa were my only means of discovering new music, i remember thinking the music was very noisy and raucous and it was quite unsettling, upon further investigation into this band i decided to check them out, it took me forever to find the whole album online, in fact by the time i did, one of the local christian book stores finally got the album in and i couldnt have been more happy to finally own it...

I've probably listened to this album at least 30 or so times my senior year in high school and it still never really sunk in how good this album actually is. I know people who loathe this album and say this it is boring and generic...but in my opinion, not only does this album still stack of formidably with most bands doing this style 7 years later...but if this album were released in 2009 it would rank very high on most people's year end lists...it's got EVERYTHING! The guitar tone on this album is absolutely perfect, the lyrics and scogin's vocal delivery are absolutely incredible, the drumming on this album is very frenetic and very very very solid, the basslines are groovy, there are alot of noisy feedback drenched moments, lots of gigantic breakdowns, lots of very catchy bits of assorted guitar noise and feedback floating in and out, the song "Pretty soon, i don't know what, but something is going to happen" is one of my favorites on this album, when i was in high school it was my least favorite on the album, but now that i've become retardedly fond of bands like isis that have made a career out of feedback and noise and 15 minute songs that take 12 minutes to fully develop, i actually love that song on a whole new level.

If you want to break it down by song, the best songs on the album are at the very front, they are by far the most memorable, my favorite song on this album is "Memphis Will Be Laid To Waste" that song has EVERYTHING catchy memorable sing-a-long parts, absolutely filthy, disgusting riffage, the aaron weiss vocals on that song are absolutely gorgeous. Of course, Face:Face is the song that made me decide i needed to own this album, the songs other than 'Memphis...' that made me realize that this album was 100% completely worth my time were actually tracks 3 & 4 "Creating Something Out Of Nothing, Only To Destroy It" and "Pretty Soon, I Don't Know What, but Something is Going to Happen" make for an absolutely destructive 1-2 punch! 'creating something' starts out with one of the coolest drum patterns i've ever heard, and then the breakdown and all the chaos surrounding the lyrics "like bringing a knife to a gun fight" are just absolute magic, but what makes it so awesome is that as the song is ending it ends with a big fat heavy groove and alot of good sludgy guitar tone and builds into the next song which is a 15 minute monster...the tone on this song is so so heavy and the fact that it's 15 minutes long ensure there is alot of big huge dirty noise, but rather than just pointless instrumental wandering you can tell every riff being played on that song was played intentionally to build up for the next one which destroys that riff and then creates a new pattern that gets destroyed. Also, i love that when the song reaches just above the half way point Josh Scogin repeats the phrase "on and on and on and on and on and on" especially because people like myself who werent used to super heavy instrumental metal were thinking "yeah, it does go on and on and on and on" however due to the way that the riffs are so catchy and they just build on each other steadily is just awesome.

Josh Scogin's lyrics and vocals are incredibly volatile on this album, which fits the tone of the guitar and bass and even the drums perfectly. Every riff on this album serves a purpose, you can tell that there is certainly no filler on this album as every song adds something to the song before it, the only thing i don't like about this album is the fact that they threw the 15 minute mega-jam right in the middle of it, and while it doesnt kill the albums progress...it does leave it in a semi-meandering spot for a while, i mean, that many insanely catchy riffs all thrown together in one song would be better suited as the grand finale of the album. But my god, the guitar tone on this record is SO HEAVY! The thing that bothers me about this album though, is that even though it is known among Norma Jean fans as their best, nobody in any real metal circles ever gives this band any credit for what they did, most people just remember their blatant botch/coalesce rip-off albums that followed this one and they tend to forget how absolutely heavy this album really is, i know that it completely shattered my thoughts on how metal should be played, i mean, it's got alot of fantastically heavy songs, it's got alot of incredible groove from the drummer and the bass is very distorted and heavy and the guitars take on a life of their own in many different incantations and styles and sounds.

Of course i couldnt add enough 0's to the 10 this album would get if based on a 1-10 scale...however i've decided to see where it would possibly fit in my all time favorite albums of all time list, i think that because this album impresses me alot more now even than it did when i first started listening to it, that it definitely deserves a spot in the top 50, i would say that due to it's incredibly heavy, violent, technical, nature and the fact that there are so many riffs on this album that make me want to harm every living creature in a 10 mile radius, this album would fit quite comfortably at home in my top 25 so i'd say that out of my top 100 albums of all time this album would fit anywhere between 25-30 due to it's groundbreaking nature for the time and the fact that they've not yet since been able to come even close to the glory of this album, neither have any other bands in their genre really...plus the fact that it sounds even better now that i listen to it as a music snob, that this album is an absolute monster and i love it oh so much.

Sweatin To The Oldies...A Life Once Lost - Hunter

With the fiscal year for music quickly winding down, i only plan on doing one more batch of reviews of 2009 albums, with that being said, i've decided that i want to start taking a look back at some older albums that i still enjoy and find incredibly significant and relevant to today's music scene.

The first album in this series i'd like to start with is one that i still feel is one of the most underrated albums of it's genre ever...

A Life Once Lost - Hunter

"I need a miracle to conquer this endeavor"

In 2005 A Life Once Lost had been widely known throughout the scene as a phenomenal band, their album "A Great Artist" had created quite a bit of buzz, and they inked a deal with Ferret Records, who at the time could do NO wrong, with the release of bands like Zao and Blood Has Been Shed and Misery Signals Ferret was on fire and Alol was looking forward to capitalizing on this success, in fact for the vocal production of this album they even recruited Randy Blythe who was (and for the most part, still is) one of the biggest figures in the metal scene today.

The first song released from the album was it's opening track "Rehashed" which comes barreling in with a rock hard groove very familiar to their original sound, from their the album thrashes wildly and with an absolutely ferocious amount of groove, very reminiscent of 'far beyond driven' era Pantera, mixed with a lethal amount of Meshuggah, and still with the right amount of their core-sound.

My favorite song on this album, without question is Track 3, Vulture. This song has an absolutely disgusting meshuggah type bounce to it, and the lyrics are very sharp and violent and poignant "i can promise you one thing, I WILL HUNT YOU, TIL YOU DIE!" the drums are also quite bludgeoning, especially right before the solo at the 1:45 mark...all leading to Randy Blythe coming in and further decimating an already vicious song, the timing and rhythm and groove of this song are just absolutely fatal.

This album has 0 weak spots, no filler songs, just a big fat, huge, wicked groove, and alot of talent behind it. Songs like 'pain and panic', 'a rush & siege', 'with pitiless blows', and 'rehashed' are some of the best songs this band has ever written, and honestly, they could fit in very well on a metalcore (though it's not -core in the least bit) greatest hits album.

On top of the incredibly heavy riffs that supply this album with such a fat groove, there are also so many tasty guitar solo's, it seems every time they get jumping on a big awesome riff, it seems a guitar solo comes noodling it's way through to take the riff even further over the top. The album even takes a breather halfway through with the song 'hunter' which starts out with a slow ominous riff and then the vocals come in very sharply and then the song picks back up with the chorus "crush and rebuild, destroy and organize", which is quite ironic because that phrase sums up exactly what this album did for their career. It's just too bad the album's follow-up "Iron Gag" was pure garbage that saw them slowly coming back to earth.

This album is without question, a 10/10, if it wasnt i wouldnt have reviewed it, however the rating system i'm going with for this series of reviews is what number range it would fit in on my all time favorite albums list.

With it's obvious Meshuggah influence, and one amazing guitar riff after another, and one of the best vocal performances put to tape in quite some time, i do think this album deserves a spot in the top 100, as good as they are they really would be quite out of place in the top 50, but i think this album could fit in easily in the range from 50-75 on my favorite albums of all time list.

Mini Music Reviews Pt 2. (Cleanin Out The Closet)

This is the 2nd installment of my attempt to review all the new albums that i've been listening to lately, there is some good stuff in here that you should check out. Enjoy!

Black Dahlia Murder - Deflorate

Black Dahlia is a band that has taken quite a while to grow on me but with this new album they've finally produced something that is very for me to listen to multiple times.

Their past few albums had alot of parts where the vocals were horribly annoying and there were no discernible riffs to really get the blood boiling, on Deflorate however that is most definitely not the case. The addition of one of Arsis's 5 Million ex-guitarists Ryan Knight, and Trevor Strnad's new found ability to lay down legitimate vocals makes this album without a dout, a million times better than their previous albums, it took them alot longer than most of the bands in their genre to release their best album, but this one is most definitely a doozie. There's just alot of really really good, really brutal riffs on this album, and the production is solid, my only complaint is Strnad's lyrics...their pretty stupid.

This album blows their entire discography away and is full of some very memorable and very listenable riffs that are very much relevant today, and for that i think this album is an 8.5/10.

Muse - The Resistance

What can i say about this album that hasnt already been said, it's really epic.

I kind of knew that this album was going to rule based on their insanely rising popularity amongst twilight fans, and the fact that this band rarely writes a bad song. This album has so many epic parts in it that it's almost too much to deal with at times, i mean it's REALLY epic, the lyrics fit the theme of the album title "The Resistance" as most of them are very obviously about rising up against oppressors and whatnot but it's decidedly un-rock n' roll and more atmospheric. My favorite song on the album other than the main single "The Uprising" is "United States Of Eurasia" because it is SUPER epic and has a very very cool bohemian rhapsody moment that i absolutely adore.

The album has a very synthy, atmospheric feel to it and even ends with a symphony in 3 movements that would fit in just as well at an opera-house as it would to an arena full of rabid hipsters; this album is definitely deserving of a 9/10.



Fu Manchu - Signs Of Infinite Power

I must admit that i am incredibly biased about this album because i am 100% obsessed with this band. With that out of the way, i am, of course, excited about the release of this album, and even though it's only been 2 years since their last album, it feels like forever.

Their Century Media debut "We Must Obey" was an absolute work of art! Needless to say, my expectations for the follow-up were alot higher and though i will go on the record saying this album isn't better than 'Obey, it is most certainly not worse. They seem to have gotten alot fuzzier on this album and have gone back to the roots of their sound, as alot of these songs are very reminiscent of the Brant Bjork days, which is pretty cool. Their are still alot of monstrous riffs and plenty of songs to drive fast/skateboard to.

The thing that gets me about this album is that most bands who sign to a major label and take on a different sound for their debut generally appear doomed, but not only did Fu Manchu take on a different sound with their major label debut, it worked really really well, but the kicker is...they actually reverted back to their previous sound on their new album, generally bands on majors nowadays tend to go awry on their followup and take their previously redefined sound and ruin it completely by trying to capitalize on their success, but Fu Manchu just went back to their older sound and fuzzed everything out alot and brought back a really old-school vibe to their sound and for that i applaud them very loudly, 9.5/10 album.

Steel Panther - Feel The Steel

Okay, so i must admit...i used to have a slight obsession with hair metal bands my freshmen year of high school, an obsession that lead to me getting into some great bands like Guns N' Roses, and Van Halen, and of course there were bands like Dokken and Ratt and Motley Crue and even Def Leppard. Of course i'd be lying if i said that i don't still have alot of those bands on my zune.

With that being said, i'm extremely excited about Steel Panther! This album has all the punch and zazz that made those bands great, except they don't take themselves seriously. In the song "Death To All But Metal" there are alot of awesome jabs at people like Britney Spears, Madonna, Papa Roach, Sheryl Crow, and of course the line "50 Cent's a fag, so is Kanye West, shootin hot sperm, on each others chest!" haha, gotta love it!

Their lyrics are cheeky, the music is actually pretty good, the album has alot of re-playability and will have you both laughing and banging your head at the same time which makes me feel okay with giving it a 9/10.



Alice In Chains - Black Gives Way To Blue

*speaking in redneck accent* "Bruh, look! Aylic n' chaynz got a new al-bum out, wunder how dey sound now dat ole boy is ded...i bet it aint no gud without 'im"

Most people at the store seem to echo that sentiment, to which my mental reply is "yeah dumb-dumb, cause Layne Staley played drums, bass, guitar, and wrote all the songs..." because i think it's 100% ignorance to write off a band who's lead singer died, especially when their guitarist wrote most of the songs and gave them alot of the balls that they are famous for.

Now that i'm off my soapbox, i'd like to say that this album is really, really good. There are alot of very solid riffs on this album and you can tell that new singer William DuVall definitely added alot of heart to these songs even though Jerry Cantrell is the one that really propels this album, especially the two hit singles "Check My Brain" and "A Looking In View" which, when played on the radio, i can't turn my volume knob far enough to the right.

Now, there are a few songs on the album that are very similar to Staind and Puddle Of Mudd, however it's unfair to judge them for that because...after all, if not for AIC those bands would still be playing in bars, or wouldnt exist at all. The good on this album most definitely outweigh the more generic radio rock parts which is always good.

I believe that this album proves that Alice In Chains are not only masters of their craft, but are still very much relevant 14 years after their last album obliterated Billboard charts and it is worthy of a 9, however some songs are entirely too long at the album does drag on a bit too much, although that dragging-on feeling fits the mood of the lyrics and music perfectly which is very strange....i give this album a solid 8/10.


Rammstein - Liebe Ist Fur Alle Da

It's been quite a while since Rammstein put out a new album...and i must say, this one is a doozy.
Upon first hearing about this album it was revealed that the first single was called "P*ssy" which immediately caught my attention! And as expected, not only are the songs lyrics in terrible taste, but the song brings a smile to my face every time i hear it because of it's clumsy and perverted nature, but it is so much fun to listen to, and the chorus will stay stuck in your head for eons.

One thing that is very certain about this album is the musicianship though, the synth on this album is phenomenal, they add alot of really good elements to the music beyond the guitar and drums, there's so many really cool sounds going on in it in fact that it's best to listen to this album through headphones. The title track of the album has a very very catchy chorus, as do most songs on the album really.

The whole album is very eerie, finely crafted, and supremely catchy. The fact that you can't understand 98% of the lyrics really gives it a pretty neat little touch because not only are the lyrics in german...but they fit very very well. I have been a fan of alot of their work so i'm used to listening to just the music and ignoring my ignorance to what the songs are about, if you are able to do get past the german and enjoying the music and Til Lindeman's incredibly unique vocal style this album is incredibly enjoyable and i think it's at least an 8/10.

Wolfmother - Cosmic Egg

If you're a Wolfmother fan than you are most certainly going to enjoy this album quite a bit.

It's got all of the elements you'd expect from a Wolfmother album. You've got the gobs and gobs of influence from Zeppelin and Sabbath, plus a few new tricks added by a completely revamped lineup including a new drummer, bassist, and an additional guitarist, so naturally this album definitely goes in some new directions. The vocals are still very sabbathian in nature and semi-high pitched, and incredibly unique. The first single off the album "New Moon Rising" is definitely the best song on the album, but at the same time, that song is better than 99% of the stuff i hear on the radio now so that's not really surprising.

There's really no complaints about this album because it achieves everything i would expect from a Wolfmother album; it rocks incredibly hard, it's got some really good sabbathy riffs, plenty of songs that make you wanna shake your body part of choice, and of course it also avoids being a rehashed version of the last album which is always good. This album is at least 8.5/10.

Hatebreed - Hatebreed

Ever since listening to the covers album Hatebreed recently put out, i knew when Jamey Jasta released a new Hatebreed album it would most certainly be a horse of a different color, and i was definitely right...sorta.

You can tell 2 things upon first listen to this album
1: Jamey Jasta has been listening to alot of Crowbar recently, probably a by-product of Kingdom Of Sorrow
and
2: What they lost when Sean Martin left, is made up for a million times over by Frank 3-Gun.

This album has alot of the traditional Hatebreed elements, however they have become decidedly more metal. There are alot of really really awesome guitar solo's and old-school thrash parts on this album that separate it quite a bit from the rest of the Hatebreed discography.

It certainly isn't better than Perseverance, but Hatebreed is an absolutely super-solid album by these guys and though they are a million miles away from their original sound, i'd say Hatebreed have most definitely released an album that proves they are still relevant in the world of metal/hardcore and i think this album deserves an 8/10 for effort.

The Avett Brothers - I And Love And You

This is generally the kind of album i tend to avoid, because let's face it the term "Alt-Country" is at times vomit-inducing.

I will admit however, even though this album is classified as country, it is definitely not a typical country album. It is mainly driven by thoughtful lyrics, and alot of piano and acoustic guitar. I don't generally listen to this type of music so it's very hard to use the right verbage to describe it, but based on what i could tell, this album is very happy and folky and it has some very creative parts and at times the vocalist sounds like Aaron Weiss from mewithoutYou but a little less free-spirited.

I would imagine that this album would be thoroughly enjoyed by fans of: Bright Eyes, Bob Dylan, Fleet Foxes, and Wilco. I actually enjoyed this, at times i wish it would have had a little more energy, but i think that giving it a 7/10 is a fair judgement based on the fact that these guys could have made a much better album if they had pepped it up a little bit and lost the boring country parts.

Relient K - Forget & Not Slow Down

I've been overtly criticised many times for my unabashed love of Relient K and not once has it caused me any disdain towards them, because plain and simple, this band is incredibly creative and insanely talented.

Over the years the change in Relient K's sound has been not only insanely obvious, but also incredibly smooth, the way they shifted from a typical tongue-in-cheek pop punk band, to a tongue-in-cheek pop punk band with thoughtful lyrics, to a highly accessible pop punk band with very well told stories and a wide array of different instruments at their disposal.

These songs are not nearly as catchy as those from mmmhmmm, but they have taken the creative storytelling from their last album and advanced it quite a bit, every song seems to be a story, some even have intro's and outro's that flow smoothly and don't stick out too much which is pretty cool.

Without repeating myself too much i'll just say that this album is very happy and contains typical Relient K style catchy songs and alot of really cool progressive instrumentations, but it doesnt stray too incredibly far from the sound they've developed over the last few years. This album gets a well-deserved 8/10.

Jesu - Opiate Sun Ep

To quote Marvin Tickvah "4 al-bums with ya name on em in 1 yee-uh? cobb-on justin broadrick...cobb-on..."

Okay, so i'll admit i was incredibly psyched when the Greymachine project with Justin Broadrick and Aaron Turner was announced, even more psyched to find out that Jesu - Infinity was coming out too, then i saw where Mr. Broadrick was releasing the old final demos under the name White Static Demon...and i thought "uhh...okay...guess you gotta clean out the closet of some older stuff" and now this, Justin Broadrick has put out his 4th album of the year, which normally would never be a bad thing, except for the fact that this album sounds identical to every other Jesu album and really doesnt have any discernible differences that make it just completely amazing.

With that said...I really dig this album and i think it's got some really cool songs on it. It's got really good heavy guitar-tone plus the vocals are absolutely beautiful and it's most definitely a good album to listen to in the winter in front of a fireplace with a cup of hot cocoa in one hand and your other arm around the neck of the one you love, which is odd for a Jesu album, but not really, so to avoid sounding like another Jesu fan pissed because of over-saturation of my zune i'll just say that this album is a solid effort and gets at 7/10 rating even though it deserves higher.

Lye By Mistake - Fea Jur

I once had the luck/good fortune of seeing this band live once in a dive-bar in Shreveport and i couldnt be anymore excited about this fact.

Freshly signed to Blackmarket Activities like most of their friends, Lye By Mistake have finally put a new albumt out, but with one glaring difference, it's instrumental! As much as i love their old singer Tony, i think that this was probably the best possible direction this band could go in, because frankly, as talented as they all are i think that the dillinger-esque screams subtracted ever so slightly from certainn people being able to enjoy this band.

This album is an absolute wet dream for fans of instrumental music, metal with a bit of jazz-infusion, guitar shredding, and well played music.

It's really kind of a moot point to go into too much detail into this album so i'll leave it at this, Fea Jur is a smorgasbord of acid-jazz and instrumental metal but with guitar shredding that is absolutely to die for! The drummer and bassist lay a solid foundation throughout and Josh Bauman destroys it all with a jackhammer with his incredibly skilled guitar-work. This album rules alot and if you like instrumental metal then its definitely worth your time. It gets a 9/10.

Mini Music Reviews Pt 1. (The Cream Of The Crop)

So i've built up a massive backlog of awesome albums that need to be reviewed so for your viewing pleasure this is the first batch of music reviews that i'm working on...these albums are the real cream of the crop of what i've been listening to lately...there will however, be more to come later that has lots of good stuff in it as well so stay tuned...

#1. Converge - Axe To Fall

After attending a listening party for this album i can't stop listening to it! This album has been one of my most anticipated albums of the year ever since they released random practice footage and an announcement that a new album was coming. By far, one of the best songs on the album is "Dark Horse" when it starts out with just furious furious riffing you know your in for a very bumpy ride, from their the songs only get riffier, nastier, and more vicious.

There are alot of guest spots on this album, but my favorite is Steve Von Till from Neurosis, because his is by far the most disgusting thing he, or Converge have done in quite a while.

Basically, this band can do no wrong, and have done no wrong yet again with this album, it is without a doubt a 10/10 album.

#2. Baroness - The Blue Record

This album is also very very difficult to stop listening to. It's got so many awesome elements to it, it's very very doomy and heavy, but at times also incredibly catchy and reminiscent of classic rock like Thin Lizzy.

Baroness manages to take what their contemporaries in Kylesa, Torche, and Mastodon have done with their classic rock and metal influences and expanded upon it even further with this album, the guitar leads are absolutely gorgeous! This is a hard album for me to review though honestly because i like it so much that it's really hard to nail down one thing that's awesome about it accept for the fact that it's just a nice amalgamation of catchy classic rock riffs and doomy metal destruction to put a big smile on my face and especially on the faces of fans of mastodon, torche, and kylesa

This album is also without question a 10/10.

#3. Shrinebuilder - Shrinebuilder

Oh man...talk about a dream-team of doom. Everything Scott Kelly touches turns awesome so naturally when you combine him with the master of Doom metal Wino, and Al Cisneros the incredible bassist from Sleep and Om and Dale Crover of The Melvins you're going to get really awesome results.

"The dark signal returns", from the second the album starts you can tell it's going to rule, Dale Crover's drums come in quite noisily while Wino starts out on vocals and then leads to Scott Kelly who comes in and destroys the entire rockin tone Crover and Wino had going and they proceed to take the song in many different directions. Basically the sum of Shrinebuilders parts are equally as awesome as the whole. I had really high expectations that this album would be awesome, and it totally is.

To sum this album up without going too fanboy i'll say this; Wino and Kelly provide a vicious 1-2 punch of doom, rock n' roll, and beautiful noise while Crover and Cisneros provide an incredibly solid rhythm section, and every member has their moment to shine on this album where the vibe at the time sounds like one of their previous projects...which i don't think was meant to happen...it just kind of came out...which is awesome that these guys can just play what comes natural and manage to have the other 3 musicians going along with it perfectly without missing a beat. There is not one bad song on this album...in fact there isn't anything bad about this album except that it's entirely too short.

This album is also VERY deserving of a 10/10 because it rules entirely too much.

#4. The Gates Of Slumber - Hymns Of Blood And Thunder

This album is yet another amazing album that i've spent alot of time listening to lately because it is just really really good and well put together, i had not heard these guys until it was announced they signed to metal blade, then i read a glowing review of them that intrigued me to listen to this album and needless to say...it rules...alot.

It's got a very throwback sound very reminiscent to Black Sabbath and Candlemass, as in, it's incredibly doomy and the lyrics are very battle-oriented but the music has a very analog-tone and it sounds like it was recorded in the 70's which is pretty cool, the only other band nowadays that can really master the old school sound without sounding too cheesy is The Sword, which these guys are very reminiscent of.

This album has alot of awesome songs like "Beneath The Eyes of Mars" which has a very Sleep-oriented vibe which is very cool, the only downside to this album is that it's just entirely too long; it's one of those albums where certain parts just drag on forever and i find myself wondering when the album will finally end which is not a good thing...but this album is still good enough to deserve an 8.5/10 because it's got alot of really really awesome parts in it.

#5. Pelican - What We All Come To Need

Pelican have forged a very devoted fanbase (myself included) who are very fond of their instrumental doodlings, and they have taken a very big turn in sound over the years; with the release of their Southern Lord Records debut Ep "Ephemeral" you could tell they were undergoing a major overhaul in their sound...it was becoming MUCH crunchier and alot more rock oriented and on their first full length for Southern Lord you can tell the overhaul is finished because this album is a completely different sound from their previous efforts, it's alot faster and the riffs are ALOT bigger and crunchier and dirtier than before, rather than relying on atmosphere to take over like before, Pelican are letting their guitars do all the talking.

When i saw Pelican live earlier this year i remember being disappointed by their song structure because they didnt play any songs from "fire in our throats" however, i did notice that the standout songs were all the ones from the Ephemeral Ep and the rest of the songs just lacked punch after hearing these big crunchy riffy monstrosities. Plus, the drums and bass set a very very solid rhythm section which helps contribute a great deal to the awesome punch that this album seems to pack in a major way.

Needless to say, Pelican have put out yet another gem...albeit one that may take a little getting used to (hint: their are semi-vocals!) but it's definitely a really good step in the right direction for these guys because as heavy and crunchy as it is...it is still equally as catchy and happy and awesome. This album definitely merits a 9/10

Mini Music Reviews (Every Time I Die - New Junk Aesthetic)

Every Time I Die - New Junk Aesthetic

So, i just "attended" a listening party for this album and here are my thoughts on the album track by track based on how it sounds on the first listen. Etid is a band that i'm very very very fond of, but sometimes they don't always sound as good on the first listen as they do on the 2nd, 3rd, or (in Hot Damn!'s case) 350th listen, so in order to avoid sounding biased to the album due to listening to it 10 times and getting it completely lodged in my brain i figured it'd be best to write down my thoughts as i hear it for the first time.

Roman Holiday - starts out with a nice noisy intro, super super violent keith buckley vocal hook with a nice non-generic etid riff...almost a convergey type riff in the background. good times so far!
nice bit of noise to begin and end the track

The Marvelous Slut - starts out as a typical etid type song...however it's really really heavy and...very very hot damn!ish...yeah that's right they've reverted back to the hot damn! era of nasty punk rockey voracity...except the vocal style is obviously much stronger because buckley's voice is so gravelly now...the breakdowns are very old school etid as well

Who Invited The Russian Soldier - Another really fast etid song with a nice punk rock riff that at first sounds like the same old etid but it actually has a weird vibe...like it sounds like Andy Williams and Jordan Buckley are playing through Kurt Ballou's equipment...seriously! This is like...it's a familiar etid but you can tell they are going more for a violent punk rock attack than the poppy stuff they have done in the past. I love the Hot Damn! meets You Fail Me kind of attack they are going with...

Wanderlust - Starts out with a nice southern rock riff and then KB's vocals have a very very weird tone to it...he's singing but it's not his typical grungy singing...it's actually really clean and almost maylene and the sons of disastery but then when he kicks into his gravelly whiskey bark/howl it sounds good again. This song isnt bad really...but...well...i dunno his sung vocals are really catchy...and i guess the only thing i don't like is that he strays from his excellent screaming pattern although that's not too bad...i guess you gotta keep it from getting stale...which if that's the case is smart i guess...this song is a grower...the music has that weird southerny generic style they had been leaning towards ever since Gutter Phenomenon...the style that Maylene and Underoath have been ripping off for years haha.

For The Record - Back to the Hot Damn!esque punch! It's got that really nice etid punk n' roll attack...this song actually sounds like a b-side to hot damn! haha it sounds just like romeo a go-go at times haha (not like that's a bad thing!) this song is great!

White Smoke - Starts out with a punchy type riff and it kind of keeps that punchy vibe going...it's got a nice break...really this is just another solid song off of a very very solid album that's worth every penny i'm going to spend on it based on this listening party.

Turtles All The Way - Starts out with a very priestess-sounding intro which is awesome...keith buckley is howling over some really sweet bit of guitar noise with a bit of a keyboard effect in the background then the song kicks in with that weird intro riff but it's picking up piece. Andy and Jordan have outdone themselves on this album...more unique singing from keith buckley...he's really been practicing his vocals alot with this...i'm surprised he hasn't experimented with a vocoder yet. Really good driving riff with a nice old school hesher type swing.

Organ Grinder - Starts out with a nice enough bit of neurosisy guitar noise...here comes the cool punk rock drums...then they launch into a nice old etid riff...this song is yet another driving example of why this band is by far the best of their genre and why they are the only band from that era left that is still on top of the world. Mmmm nice breakdown at the end and buckley's vocals only make it sound better.

Host Disorder - Starts out with another heavy and not generic etid riff that kicks into that familiar punk n' roll dirge from the hot damn! era that really makes it go. This album is very very dancey

After One Quarter Of A Revolution - Starts out really heavy, the drums are super super punk rock drumming and keeps the fury up.

The Sweet Life - Last song on the album and it keeps the same kind of nasty punk rock vibe the whole albums had rofl @ the whole "aint nothin gonna break my stride, aint noone gonna hold me down" line haha

Okay, so i have this to say about the new etid...it sounds like they were trying really really hard to recreate what made Last Night In Town, and Hot Damn! absolutely essential albums to any fan of "metalcore"'s collection and honestly, though i did enjoy the big dirty and gutter phenomenon...it's really really good to see ETID back to their familiar stride of bringing for super nasty cheeky punk/hardcore n' roll fury with keith buckley's familiar gravelly howl...now sure they still have a few elements of the big dirty and gutter phenom on this album with some "southern rock"y type riffs and keith buckley doing a bit of poppy clean vocals...but for the most part this album is full of all the filth and fury that made them so great in the early 00's and with this being their last album with Ratboy...they will have GIGANTIC shoes to fill when they do their next album because he absolutely tears the drums up on this album...so many just really nice pounding driving super fast punk beats but also...Jordan Buckley and Andy Williams stepped it up BIG TIME they used alot of their old tricks from the older albums and rehashed a few riff-styles from the big dirty and gutter phenomenon when they wanted to be taken seriously as a rock band and not a hardcore band...but they pull of some different stuff on this one that gives it a much more familiar sound...they experiment with new guitar tones and they stray away from their usual riffs to create a little more atmosphere at times...in a very converge...almost neurosisy at times type fashion.

All in all i'm gonna give New Junk Aesthetic a 9/10 on first listen because i really really liked it and it had some really really good parts and it definitely leaves the big dirty and especially gutter phenomenon in a smoldering pile of rubble which is VERY good news for etid fans! If you enjoyed Hot Damn! and/or Last Night In Town buy this album!

Mini Music Reviews (Supermassive Back-Log)

Okay, so i haven't done any music reviews in a while...but this batch should be a doozy...i was of course on vacation and didnt really do a whole lot of anything except stay busy while i was there which is good i guess but now i've got about a TON of albums that i'd like to review/give my opinion on that are either out already, or coming out very soon.

#1. Greymachine - Disconnected

I've been highly anticipating this one for quite a while and once i finally heard it...it was just as might as i expected! I've read a few reviews of it and none have been really favorable...and to those people i say suck it! Aaron Turner and Justin Broadrick have crafted a monumental amount of noise with this album...from the intro to "Wolf At The Door" you can tell this album is going to be insane, and sure enough it just manages to get heavier, noiser, and alot dronier...the intro to "Vultures Descend" is pretty awesome. Honestly, every song on this album is very reminiscent to both Broadrick and Turner's other bands...and that is every bit as awesome as you'd think it would be. The bass on this album hits so hard, i mean seriously, the tone on the bass on this album is so heavy that it is quite reminiscent to what it would sound like if a bass guitar were plugged into a wall of double stacked amps and laid on it's back with strings facing up and then notes were played by dropping monster trucks onto said bass.

I give this album a 8.5/10 because Turner and Broadrick managed to put out an album heavier than a 10 ton bag of rusty nails...which is ironic because when that bag drops the impending emotions are exactly what it feels like when you listen to this album

#2. Assjack - Assjack

Okay, so i had really really high hopes for this album that it would be the absolute bees knees...however i was highly disappointed. I mean, sure this album has some pretty cool parts, the tone is very sludgy and you can tell hank III brought alot of superjoint ritual influence to this album...but at times it just sounds very...i dunno...stupid? It sounds like what drowning pool or somebody would sound like if they were trying to rip off pantera and crowbar or something. The First song on the album "Tennessee Driver" is awesome but from there the album is just a big amalgamation of cool riffs and bad vocal parts. It's like good cop bad cop but more like good riff bad riff, or maybe good riff bad vocal or something?

I'm gonna give this album a 7/10 for effort because the whole southern sludge/punk thing is good...they just didnt quite pull it off as consistently as i had hoped.

#3. The Bronx - El Mariachi Bronx

Okay, so this album is an absolute longshot. I mean, literally, it is a nasty dirty hardcore punk band from new jersey that has a song that goes "slit wrists are the latest fashion, your sheets see the dirtiest action. we're independent lovers. broke kids and loveless gutters. here comes your sh*tty future! one more time your sh*tty future!"...except it's mariachi! Yeah, mariachi, and it's not even done ironically...i mean these guys studied the art and rules of mariachi very closely and have done...a really good job with it! I mean, i have always had a part of me that kind of appreciates spanish music/mariachi but i never really listen to it that much because...well...i don't speak spanish well. Anyways, this album is awesome because you get the nice peaceful rhythms of mariachi music, but done in english by a very very talented punk rock band.

I'm gonna give this album a 9/10 for effort because you can count on 1 finger exactly how many bands have the balls to pull this off and actually do a good job with it. Touche' guys!

#4. Winds Of Plague - The Great Stone War

Okay, before there is a massive chorus of "THAT BAND GAY!" shouted...just keep in mind...and honestly i've thought this for a while since their first album came out...Winds Of Plague...on paper is a great band. I mean you've got really good shredding metal, really nasty deathcorey breakdowns, hardcore vocals, epic keyboards and really really good guitar tone combined with a bit of an asian twist...however in practice, they arent as good as they could be. I mean this album really has alot of potential...but they overdo it...every thing! The breakdowns aren't as nasty as on the last album, and even the super epic ones arent as good as the one on "the impaler" and the shredding metal parts are cool but get boring after awhile and their singers voice gets SO ANNOYING...less annoying than the last album however.

Basically this album really had potential...but instead i'm gonna give it a 5.5/10 because they really could do ALOT better.

#5. Showbread - The Fear Of God

Oh, hey Showbread! what's goin on guys...it's been a really long time since you've guys have had an album out! That last album "No Sir, Nihilism Is Not Practical" was so aweso...wait what? they've put out 3 albums since then? Haha, actually i kid, i've listened to their last few albums...though they've offered no redeeming value except to remind me of the time i saw them play to 100 people in jackson and how i almost got in 3 wrecks that night...it's good to see them getting away from their whole "we love Nine Inch Nails and Norma Jean!" sound of the last 3 albums...this album is really the best possible follow up to "nihilism" it's got that same kitschy keyboard sound with the nice driving "raw rock" guitars and the vocals are pretty cool. Actually,Showbread did a great job on this album.

I'm gonna give this album a 7.5/10 because the music is good...but they really need to bring the black singer back.

#6. Mutemath - Armistice

Hey, this is that band from the twilight soundtrack right? Haha, it's nice to see a band with buku's of artistic integrity hit it big with a song on one of the highest selling movie soundtracks in years with the song "spotlight" which is actually a really really good song. Actually this album is full of really good catchy songs with alot of creative force so any more i say about it would be a moot point. Although i will say this, everytime i hear Paul Meany's voice all i can hear to myself is "I SEE JESUS RIDING ON A WHITE HORSE, WITH SPARE ROOM FOR YOU AND I....TO FLY! RIDING ONNNNN A WHITTTTTEEEEE HORSEEEEE GONNA FLY GONNA FLY SO HIGH!" hehe

This album gets a 8/10 because it's a typical mutemath album which means it's super creative, super dancey, and super catchy but meaningful

#7. Third Eye Blind - Ursa Major

Been waiting for this album for a really long time, and i'm so glad they finally released it. They were amazing live and all the songs from this album were really really good live. "Can You Take Me" sets such a great pace for this album because it's a really good typical catchy driving pop rock riff as they are very much accustomed to. Of course other songs like "Bonfire" and "Why Can't You Be" are also very deserving of their place in 3EB's discography. The end of this album kind of slows down to a crawl before ending with a nice instrumental song...but that doesnt hinder it much because this is a very well written album and i can't wait to hear the b-sides that should be coming out later this year.

This puppy gets a 8.5/10 for it's catchy and rock n' roll nature but i wish the last few songs were a little more upbeat

#8. Shadows Fall - Retribution

Mmmm Shadows Fall...i must say that i am a fanboy and have been a fan since my senior year of high school...the first time i heard "the art of balance" my taste in metal was forever ruined. I'll be honest with you, i didn't have much hopes for this album; I kind of half-expected it to be a generic, boring attempt to reclaim their old sound and reclaim the spot that lamb of god and killswitch stole from them as america's favorite "NWOAMC" band, but i was proven wrong. The album kicks off with a very atypical acoustic interlude but then the album kicks in with a very very heavy riff and though this sound is all too familiar with Shadows Fall fans and fans of the NWOAMC sound...it's still really good because it's got that familiar swing...but with a much punchier sound...the mix/production on this album is top notch...also the solo's and drumming are incredible. Basically...these guys put out yet another pummeling, thrashy, metal album with awesome drums, great solo's and breakdowns, and incredibly tight playing which is all that a true ShadFall fan can ask for anyways.

I'm gonna give this album a 8/10 just because it holds up well amongst their back catalog...and though it won't make you want to throw "the war within" away...it'll definitely make you reconsider "threads of life"'s spot on your shelf.

#9. Gwar - Lust in Space/Chevelle - Sci-Fi Crimes

Okay, so i expected big things from both of these albums...and they both disappointed. Gwar was okay...and i of all people should know not to judge gwar based on lyrics...nor should i judge Chevelle based on a radio single that reminded me alot of their older stuff before everyone with a southern accent and/or access to modern rock radio fell in love with them...but i felt the need to rate both of these albums at the same time...because why waste breath...err..keystrokes right?

Both albums get 5/10 because i sort of like them but hate their new albums

#10. Burnt By The Sun - Heart Of Darkness

So i have to admit...i never really listened to this band back in their hay-day and even when i was all about discovering new bands of their ilk...i never really saw what the big deal was with BBTS however after hearing the new album i can say this...Dave Witte is a MONSTER on drums and their singer has a penchant for very annoying vocals. All in all though i'll say that this album is pretty awesome...i mean, it's got alot of really sweet dirty grind and groove to it...but it never really gets boring. Dave Witte pounds the hell out of his drums on this one though...the riffage is also quite pummeling on this album. Yeah, if i had to sum this album up with one word it would be....Pummeling.

This album gets an 8/10 because it is heavier than an aircraft carrier full of kids from the local fat camp eating chocolate cake on their monthly field trip.

#11. 3 Inches Of Blood - Here Waits Thy Doom

Okay, so i have to admit...aside fro the song that they had on tony hawk a few years ago...i really just cannot stand this band...mostly their singer Cam Pipes. The guy just has an epic voice...but it's SO ANNOYING!!!!! This album has a very thrashy, maideny kind of vibe...but honestly...it's not really for me...plus the whole "bloodshed during battle" schtick has been done by so many bands that sound so much better...this band should have to "answer the call of the hammer" to Amon Amarth and Ensiferum and Amorphis who put 3IOB's weak attempt at battle metal upon a pyre and feast upon it's barbecued corpse

Okay 3IOB, nice try and whatnot with the solo's and catchy thrash parts...but you will get a 6/10 just for annoying me

#12. Ensiferum - From Afar

Just so you know...i....absolutely...LOVE...ENSIFERUM!!!!! Epic as hell battle metal! They are just so musically talented...but also talented at...well...spitting forth many many nasty oden-approved riffs of mightiness that will have you wielding an axe and smoking your enemies out of their cave by lobbing a flaming raccoon into their dwelling in no time. Honestly, i'm just a sucker for catchy pounding, fast, thrashy swedish power metal and this album does not let me down by any means...i still think the new amorphis may be the best power metal album of the year...but this one is close!

Ensiferum gets a 9/10 for this album because it's epic, catchy, thrashy, and really really really good.

#13 Swashbuckle - Back To The Noose

Okay, so to be fair...when i first heard of this band i just assumed they were a poor Alestorm rip off and didn't pay them much attention until i realized that not only were they from America...but they have been around for about as long as Alestorm has...and they are way thrashier. So listen, this album is a really heavy fast thrash album with lyrics about doin pirate stuff except it's not as catchy as Alestorm and more violent and pissed off like a pirate might actually be more akin to sound so to them i say "Touche' me-harties!"

This album is deserving of a 7.5/10 the 7 is because it's not really very power metally like a pirate metal album might sound...and it's also not as pissed and filthy as a thrash album should sound...but it's still a decent mix of the 2 styles...and the .5 is because i am a sucker for bands like this with a gimmick!

#14. Masters Of Reality - Pine/Cross Dover

"They say we're barely alive but we're kicking and beeping" Chris Goss is in fact a genius. Without question and if you disagree...well...we'll fight in a back alley or something! Because listen, Chris Goss has produced almost every album Kyuss did, and he has produced every Queens of the Stone Age album, as well as all the other desert rock bands that you've never heard of...but back to Masters of Reality...their self titled album in 1988 continues to be one of my favorite "desert rock" albums ever...and this album...though it's entirely different from the self titled...any all of his other albums for that matter...it still fits in quite comfortably. It's got a very "electronic" guitar vibe on some songs that one can only contribute to the fact that Goss has been friends with Josh Homme since the late 80's so of course JOHO's incredibly catchy guitar tone shows up on this album...alot of that has to do with Dave Catching (Qotsa) and Brian O' Connor (EODM) but then there's also songs like "Absinthe Jim" that have a very old school Goss type guitar tone which sounds like nothing else on the album until the chorus kicks in with that homme influenced type riffage. Honestly, you have to be a really big fan of Queens Of The Stone Age, or Kyuss, or like myself...the entire Desert Rock Scene, and every band that's come from it to really like this album...but i sincerely desire that you listen to it because it's really really really really good. The last song on this album is an 11 minute jam that was recorded upon the first meeting of goss, catching, o' connor, and the drummer so it's totally improvised and...though it doesnt sound like it is improvised...it's a really really really really really awesome song..

This album deserves nothing less than a 10/10 due to the fact that i'm an avid fan of all things Josh Homme/Chris Goss/Desert Rock

#15. Brand New - Daisy

I fully expected this album to be very very very laid back and almost acoustic in nature due to the fact that jesse lacey did a full on acoustic tour a few years ago...but then after the opening singing sequence on the first song ended all of a sudden my speakers are assaulted by a riff that is very converge/glassjaw in nature which is really really really cool, and from that point this album continued to win me over with every song. I...like alot of people my age...have a soft spot for Brand New and am not afraid to admit it...and this album makes me feel even less guilty about it because it is absolutely killer. Jesse Lacey's voice and lyrics are very touching and wrought with emotion and whatnot, and of course there are also some very heavy parts on this album which is very weird for a band like Brand New...however it fits the new style they are heading towards quite well because it makes them touching and heartfelt...but still able to let out their anger and aggression...but within the right context of course.

I'm gonna give this album a 9/10 for creativity but i really can't wait to buy it when it comes out and digest it alot further!

#16. Dying Fetus - Descend Into Depravity

Okay, so there's only a few ways to say the words "heavy" and "grinding" which are the 2 best words to sum up the new Dying Fetus album...so i'm going to let thesaurus.com do the work. Dying Fetus's new album is very gravid and corpulent and it attenuates at a very zaftig pace. Of course, as is typical with a 'Fetus album...the drums are incredibly beefy and pregnant and the guitars buzzsaw along at a very "Burdensome" pace and also who could forget the "Lead-Footed" vocals that levigate, mill, pestle, pound, powder, and pulverize the listener and leave the listener with a very parturient feeling.

I'll give this album a 7/10 because it is WORLDS better than their last album...this is...all kidding aside, quite a good metal album...if you can stand the grunting vocals of course...

#17. Megadeth - Endgame

First of all...i must admit...i am a big time Dave Mustaine fanboy and even though he's a huge douche at times in the media...musically he can do no wrong in my eyes.

With that being said...this album...this album rules so much! It's funny because you can tell alot of the legendary thrash metal bands are trying to kind of return to their roots nowadays but most of them like slayer and metallica kind of fall short in recreating the sound of their hey-day but still manage to put out great albums...but with this album Dave Mustaine literally went right back into the 80's and yanked all of the great parts of 80's era Megadeth...and mixed it with the massive feverish solo's and lightning fast rhythms and incredibly tight drumming that made the last Megadeth album great. Also, you can tell the songs on this album tell stories like "44 Minutes" which tells a story about a police shootout which is a pretty interesting song...also there's a song called "1,320" which is about driving cars really really fast and includes and awesome sample at the beginning which is cool. Dave Mustaine has most definitely outdid himself with this album....i mean it's got alot of really cool signature Mustaine solo's and shred riffs...but he doesnt overdo it...and the songwriting is good and...it's just a really really really good Megadeth album and i'll be picking it up immediately following school on September 15th because Dave Mustaine deserves every penny i shall spend on this album...it's actually even worth buying the deluxe edition just to watch Mustaine shred.

I'm gonna go ahead and give this album a 10/10 because i'm a huge Megadeth fan and this album completely lives up to my expectations and then some!

Mini Music Reviews (Lots of stuff you've never heard of)

Okay, so there's been way more music dropping on my desk than expected lately and i couldn't be happier...except i don't have the time of day to actually sit down and listen to it fully and write my thoughts on it...so this time i'm going to get lazy and avoid rambling too much by just posting twitter-sized (or at least greatly cut back in length) reviews of new (or newish) albums that have dropped or will drop this year that you should (or shouldn't) listen to, for your enjoyment (not that anyone actually reads this crap anyways).

#1. Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears - Tell 'Em What Your Name Is!

Incredibly funky, soulful, jazzy and genuine...but also rather playful in nature. You can tell these guys listened to alot of james brown...very fun album.

Rating: I give it a 8/10 because nobody seems to be able to put out this type of music anymore...and if they do it's not near this type of quality...very old school and happy music.

#2. Behemoth - Evangelion

Incredibly heavy, very violent, drumming is incredibly tight. Musicianship on this is as good as death metal gets. This album most definitely lives up to the hype.

Rating: I'm giving it a 9/10 because it delivers on every front...it's not too long or too short..it ends when you are ready for it to...and it absolutely destroys every cell in your brain...which is rare for a band on metal blade these day

#3. ChthoniC - Mirror Of Retribution

Absolutely gorgeous, symphonic black metal with some incredidbly creative riffs and musicianship. The production is great, the riffs are incredible.

Rating: This one gets a 9/10 as well...it delivers the speed and fury that you expect from black metal, as well as lots of beauty and incredible use of foreign instruments to the black metal world. Taiwanese politics never sounded this awesome!

#4. Drudkh - Microcosmos

Now see, this is how atmospheric black metal should sound. Lots of good atmosphere, lots of heavy black metal pummeling. Plus, it sounds like it was recorded in a cabin in the woods which is perfect!

Rating: This album is getting a 8/10 because it's very heavy and dirty but has lots of incredible atmsospher and it doesnt get boring...yes...that's right...an album where the drums sound like they were recorded in a soup kitchen and the singer sounds like he is a regular at said soup kitchen doesnt get boring! God bless atmospheric black metal!

#5. Blut Aus Nord - Memoria Vetusta II: Dialogue With The Stars

More sick atmospheric black metal! The drums are fast and heavy, the vocals are abrasive and grinding, the guitars are grinding and churning, but somehow also create an atmosphere built for wielding an axe in public...sans pants of course.

Rating: This album also gets an 8/1o for being really really awesome! Super heavy, with great drum tone...the guitars paint a wonderful atmosphere that mixes a candlelit dinner under the northern lights and guzzling mead and fighting bravely in the field of battle...seriously one guitar is creating a beautiful but unstable atmospher while the other guitarist creates a grinding unsteady buzz that can only mean blood has been shed. Again i say, god bless atmospheric black metal!

#6. Amesoeurs - Amesoeurs

I read about this band in a magazine that made them sound awesome so i had to check them out...and sure i've listened to like 6 other black metal bands today...but this is again...just a little different from the others! The grinding black metal riffs are very very dirty with the signature rapid fire pounding on anything in sight in a cabin in the woods drum style couple with shredding grinding guitars that conjure imagery of a great war where the action is brutal and the atmosphere is unsteady. Think of this band as...Isis...if they listened to nothing but Darkthrone for a year.

Rating: Another black metal album...another 8/10 i think i'm just a sucker for fast lo-fi metal with a bit of atmosphere and alot of buzzing noise and no discernable rhythm...also this album has a bit of melody which gives it a sonic youth vibe at times which is...just creepy. Again i say...god bless atmospheric black metal!

#7. Pissed Jeans - King Of Jeans

So this isn't black metal...but it's equally as noisy and socially awkward. The vocals are very abrasive and the lyrics are equally as odd. Very stoner metal at times...mostly just really weird noise rock with a very heavy melvins type undertone. Also, lots of jesus lizard thrown in for good measure...with just enough of their own unique touch to make this album A: really awesome B: not considered really awesome until you listen to it enough times to finally understand that it has no real genre in mind...just noise and awkward emotions...

Rating: This album takes a long time to grow...it still hasn't fully sunk in with me yet...but i appreciate what their going for so this one gets a 8.5/10 just for trying so hard to be weird.

#8. Dan Auerbach - Keep It Hid

So, honestly when i heard that the singer of the black keys had a side project i kind of wondered what the point was because i assumed it was just be black keys b-sides...however, this album does have it's own unique little touch. I mean, sure...the guy has alot of songs that sound like black keys songs...but the guitar riffs are so bad ass and awesome and bluesy and just...really really really awesome that it doesnt matter. Blues is one thing this album has alot of...another element this album is that dan auerbach is a really creative guitarist that can play the same time of music as his main project and still keep it hid from the black keys sound (seewhatididthere?) Basically this album should have just been a new black keys album...HOWEVER! It is full of some really really awesome songs and lots of blues/country riffs along with alot of dirty distorted guitar riffs and even a few random beats that give this album no particular genre association except that of the "awesome" genre.

Rating: I'll give this album an 8.5/10...mostly because he doesnt have to try hard to stay away from the black keys sound...but in doing so he stays away from no particular sound at all because this album has elements of hip hop, funk, blues, country, folk, and of course rockn'effinroll!

#9: Funeral Mist - Maranatha

So this album intruiged me because it's one of very few albums decibel magazine gave a perfect 10 so i HAD to listen to it. Upon further review i'd like to say this album is heavy as balls! Super super super fast grinding nasty dirty filthy black metal...simply put. Really really heavy black metal with a very black sabbath influence at times. This album is more than just grinding black metal though...some very strange bluesy type riffs at times and then some really big heavy sabbathy type riffs combined with some maniacal almost german sounding rambling vocals. This album is very heavy...and very disturbing/unsettling. Lots of grind and black metal sounds throughout.

Rating: So i can see how decibel gave this album a 10...i'm going to give it a 7/10 because it's a little too abrasive and maniacal and ridiculous even by my standards...i mean if you like crazy retarded reckless black metal that will make you commit a hate-crime this is the album for you...for some reason i can't really grasp my head around it...mostly because the vocals are just too much...the guy rambles in a very rammsteinian german accent. This is recommended for fans of Mayhem for sure.

#10. Hands - Creator

So finally, facedown has found a christian band to rip off isis...but in traditional facedown tradition it's still full of generic hardcore drivel. Really this album isn't that bad...but i just don't understand why there is a need to mix war of ages and isis. Beautiful awesome atmospheric heavy riffs combined with hardcore posturing and generic breakdowns just ruin whatever likeability i held out for this band. Attn: Facedown Records...just because post-rock/metal have pretty big fanbases doesnt mean you have to push that style on your listeners by injecting stupid hardcore screaming and breakdowns into it.

Rating: I'll give this a 5/10 because this is a lame attempt at mixing metalcore and post-metal which is a pretty stupid move and...honestly it could be done pretty well...but these guys just failed massively. I'll say this again...it's not a good idea to try and mix War Of Ages with Isis.

#11. Robin Trower - What Lies Beneath

Okay, so let it be known that my dad once referred to this guy as "the white jimi hendrix" and i agree...for the most part...Bridge of Sighs is a wonderful album. Now, with that being said...he probably should have tried harder to go with the whole "white jimi hendrix thing" because the songs on this album are just...strange..it has a very weird coffee shop vibe and some weird hip hoppy type drum beats. Basically, Robin Trower has released an album with sub-par studio musicians trying to add a little bit of background noise to his guitar playing which paints some pretty cool images actually...very rarely can you actually picture a setting and scenery by just hearing a guitar riff. This album is like a fake-blues album. I mean it's got alot of cool blues licks but it just doesnt have that awesome blues vibe to it...honestly this album has alot of potential but it just kind of gets boring. The guy is a great guitarist...why doesnt he just SHRED!!!?!?!?!

Rating: I give this 6.5/10 because some of the songs are just pointless and boring...but the guitar work is awesome...i'm sure i'd really like this album if i listened to it more...but it's just got a very weird laid back nature to the beats that make it kind of hard to sit through the entire time.

#12. Yob - The Great Cessation

I'm so glad these guys are back after a long and dramatic hiatus...their last album slayed and then they broke up and put out an album as "Middian" which got them all kinds of sued by a guy that didn't even really make music or have a record contract which is hilarious to me. You can tell these guys were chomping at the bit to make some nasty heavy music and that's exactly what they've done. This band is one that you just kind of know what to expect and they live up to the expectations completely...but the thing is...sometimes when you've heard the same kind of doom riffs played over and over and over by every band with access to beer and a detuned guitar...it just kind of gets old after awhile...granted these guys have alot of innovative things going on on this album...actually they really don't it's just really really heavy riffs played really slowly with alot of feedback and noise in the background and some angry screaming

Rating: I'll give it a 7/10 because it's not bad...though it's not original and songs take forever to actually move away from the same riff over and over...it's good for it's genre.

#13. Poison The Well - The Tropic Rot

For being a pissed off florida hardcore/post-hardcore/metalcore/whatevercore band these guys sure are catchy...very very angry and catchy. I didn't really get into these guys until you come before you came out...so naturally hearing an album that's like a much more punk rock and angry version of it makes me very happy. This album is a typical poison the well album but it's not boring and it's very catchy and contains some really really good riffage and whatnot.

Rating: This album is definitely 8/10 because it's easy to listen to multiple times and not get bored or want to change it...it's very punk rock in nature but sounds alot like You Come Before You which to me...is better than hearkening back to their old days which was...in my opinion...clumsy at best. (Y DEW YUR EYEZ PURRALYZE MEH?!?!?!?"

#14. Blitzen Trapper - Back River Killer

This album caught me WAY off guard...i expected it to be boring generic indie (YOU HEAR THAT FLEET FOXES!?) But i was wrong. This album has a very Bob Dylanesque indie/folk/country vibe to it...but with just enough rock n' roll influence to keep my attention. It also contains some incredible storytelling within the songs and their singer's voice is incredible. Also this album contains some very cool riffs...alot of indie folky type songs...but even the generic folk/indie parts are pretty cool. This album can be pretty addictive if you listen to it enough and it's great to sleep to.

Rating: You know what...i'm gonna just give this one a 9/10 because i know once i buy it and listen to it enough i'm really really really gonna like this album alot.

#15. Thrice - Beggars

Okay, so this album leaked really really really really early and i'm still not entirely sure this is a real version of it...although i am...after listening to what can only be Dustin Kensrue songwriting...98% sure it's real...so just go with me on this. Thrice is a band i fell in love with in high school but never really blossomed into anything more than "yeah...the artist in the ambulance is a great album as well as the song deadbolt" but i will say this...this album is pretty awesome so far (i just got confirmation it's real btw). There are some very cool, creative riffs going on here...and i must say after listening to Dustin Kensrue's solo album enough i am very much a fan of their style now...this album actually at times reminds me of the dustin kensrue solo album...but with a full band and less country influence which isn't a bad thing really. This album gets a little old after awhile...but also this could just be a demo and the album isn't even finished yet so i'm going to say that there's a small chance it could sound better. Maybe it's just me...i think i kind of get bored too easily by this kind of stuff. I will say though that based on what i've heard from them...this is a very big change in direction...although not a bad one really.

Rating: I'll give it a 7/10 because i think it has alot of potential...but something about it just doesnt really get me yet...however i'm sure once i listen to it more i'll probably actually enjoy it because there is some pretty creative stuff going on here.

#16. Against Me! - The Original Cowboy

Honestly, this album doesnt really need to be reviewed...i just thought i'd throw it in here because Against Me! rules alot and i felt like talking about them. Okay, so this album is basically the original demo's of all the songs from "as the eternal cowboy" which is cool and whatnot...but there's one glaring problem here...they didn't put sink florida sink on here...that is kind of lame because that's my favorite song of there's so of course...why not just not include one of the best songs on that album on the re-release right? C'mon guys! Either way...all these songs are awesome so i'll let it slip...it's pretty cool hearing the original intent of these songs and then listening to the eternal cowboy and hearing how they ended up.

Rating: Well, i have no choice but to give it a 10...but alas i'm only gonna give it a 9/10 because i'm still pissed they didn't include sink florida sink!

#17. Arctic Monkeys - Humbug

So, this is the first album i've ever heard by this band...and the reason is because they had so much hype over their last 2 albums that i felt the need to stay as far away from them as possible...but of course they had to go and get JoHo to produce some of the tracks on it so i had no choice! To make it short i'll just say that this album has a very cool vibe to it and you can tell very easily how much influence Josh Homme put in it because it has some very cool bass lines and the guitar work is pretty creative and awesome.

Rating: I'm giving this one a 9/10 just because Josh Homme produced it...the actual songs themselves aren't bad either...i'm gonna give this one a few more listens because it sounds pretty awesome.

#18. Jesu - Infinity

Justin K. Broadrick rules. Beautiful atmosphere. Heavy awesome riffage. Heavier than most Jesu albums. This album is 1 song that spans 49 minutes of awesomeness

Rating: 9/10 just because JKB is the man.

Mini Music Reviews (Lots of gnarly stuff!)

This is the best year for music quality wise that i've ever seen...there's so much great music coming at me from every corner this year! Let's hop right to it.

Album #1: Mew - No More Stories Are Told Today, I'm Sorry, They Washed Away. No More Stories, The World Is Grey, I'm Tired, Lets Wash Away

This album is as awesome as it's title is long. Simply put, this album is a beautiful piece of work, much too vast for my words to actually give it justice. It's a very happy album with beautiful and creative instrumentals, much like Sigur Ros but less icelandic and more dancy and full of very pretty and catchy riffs.

Comments/Complaints: Really, this album doesnt need alot of introspection because it's full of beautiful bassy, dancy riffs, and lots of creative beautiful sounding atmospher and very catchy awesome vocals.

Ranking: 9/10 because this album makes me smile and nod my head and hug my grandmother

Album #2: Keelhaul - Triumphant Return To Obscurity

Keelhaul is a very very heavy, very very awesome band. This album opens with an incredibly heavy, dillinger/converge with colin marston on bass vibe. Keelhaul play a very unique type of heavy music that has alot of converge meets dysrhythmia riffs on it. Basically put, these guys remind me alot of these arms are snakes, and other post metal bands with a rock n' roll aesthetic...but it's alot stranger than most of those bands and played with alot of anger and a hint of a southern rock attitude. Nevertheless, the riffage is absolutely amazing, especially the bass and the drums, the basslines are very heavy and the drums are very fast and technical, the guitar riffs have a very post metal sound to them. Basically Keelhaul manage to take about 2 different styles that i'm fond of and lump them in together to make them a big rock n' roll/post metal monster that will eat any puny planet that tries to get in the way...on the downside though...until the album grows on you...it gets old after about 5 or 6 songs.

Comments/Complaints: This album is a grower...it's hard to get into at first, but you know once you really give it a chance, you'll really really like it. But admittedly because it's got so many different directions it can possibly go in sometimes the songs wear a bit thin on the ears and you find yourself wondering "when is it going to be over?" which is not good.

My Ranking: I'm going to give this album an 8.5/10 because i respect how awesome it really is and the effort put behind this album...despite the fact that it does take a bit to really soak in

Album #3: Band Of Skulls - Baby Darling Doll Face Honey

The song death by diamonds and pearls off of this album gets played pretty regularly on the radio and that's how i discovered this band, i mention this because rarely do i hear something on the radio and think to myself "i have GOT to check this band out!". Needless to say, after checking this album out i'm very glad i did so...it's got a very bouncy, indie/blues-garage rock vibe to it. There are alot of awesome basslines on this album which make the dirty bluesy guitar riffs sound even better. This album is very radio friendly, in fact one of the songs even reminds me of franz ferdiand. The female singer in this band is actually pretty good too.

Comments/Complaints: Very radio friendly bouncy indie rock with a bit of a blues and garage rock type vibe to it.

Ranking: I give this album a 7/10 because it's a good solid album, but doesnt give itself a whole lot of reasons to be listened to for any song other than the radio single...which is in fact an amazing song.

Album #4: The Used - Artwork

Now, i'd be lying to you if i said i didn't used to be a huge fan of the used...their first album is just absolute genius! It's a fine piece of work and i'm still glad i bought it. But they let me down with the 2 albums after that, i mean they had some pretty good singles, but the albums themselves were kind of boring, however, i'll give them credit for having a distinctly distant style on each album which is good. On this album i have to say i'm pretty impressed with it, i mean it has that same vibe they've had over the years but with a sound that's very catchy, but also incredibly heavy. Dare i say, that this album is heavier than their first one which got them on ozzfest that year. There are breakdowns located on this album, and a ton of pent up anger but not as much of the lame annoying pop crap so heavily prevalent in their last 2 albums. I can certainly find the merit in listening to this album more than once, it's heavy, catchy, and has a familiar sound, it's also got a very anthemic vibe to it. I think that the used have finally put out an album to satisfy the people that have been with them since 2002 and that's a pretty good thing.

Comments/Complaints: If you're a fan of the band, or even if you just liked their first album, you'll dig this album alot because it's got a familiar sound, but it's slightly less radio, and more like a good album to listen to in the summer time while on a road trip.

My Ranking: I give it a 7.5/10 the 7 is because it's managed to rise above mediocrity but didn't land among the ranks of "really awesome, solid albums" but the .5 is to show that it's close to that status.

Album #5: Modest Mouse - No One's First And You're Next

Oh man, Isaac Brock truly is one of his generation's best songwriters. This album has all of the things that made me love modest mouse when i first heard the song float on on vh1 one day, but it also has all of the elements that made people fall in love with the lonesome crowded west and the rest of their entire back catalog. Songs like Satellite Skin have that familiar modest mouse stomp and lots of isaac brock's signature vocal hooks...but this album also has some incredible guitar work. Johnny Marr and Isaac Brock have teamed up to unleash a hellacious barrage of awesome guitar riffs written in a catchy, but non-commercial vibe. You can tell they weren't trying to capitalize on their huge status and sell more records with this album, this one is most definitely just for their own enjoyment as well as their rabid fanbase. There will be elitists who say "i hate them now because they are commercial and gay" but disregard those people because this album contains nothing but awesome songs written with great artistic intent and lots of catchiness to make itself very much worth listening to next to the rest of their discography.

Comments/Complaints: Touche' Mr. Brock and Mr. Marr and the rest of Modest Mouse, because this album rules alot.

My Ranking: I'm givin this one a 9 because a 10 would be a bit too much praise..however the album definitely rules and has alot more redeeming qualities than the last 2 albums.

Album #6: Spinnerette - Spinnerette

This album has been getting a ton of playtime in my cd player, and for good reason! It's awesome! It seems that not only was Brody Dalle impregnated with Josh Homme's child, she was also impregnated with his musical ability because on the new album, it sounds very much like queens of the stone age at times. It's got a real awesome, bouncy vibe to it, but also a hint of sexiness. I find it weird that she used to make annoying punk rock when she was married to tim armstrong but now that JoHo is in the mix she's making sweet ass dance rock! There are of course a few songs on this album that fall short of the mark of excellence...but most of those are post track 9...everything from tracks 1-9 is AWESOME!

Comments/Complaints: a sweet dance rock album by brody dalle that shows that the new qotsa album will be awesome, because if momma is feelin sexy and dancy...everyone is feelin sexy and dancy!

My Ranking: This one will get a 9/10 because of how rapidly increasing my enjoyment of this album is everytime i hear it.

Album #7: Sweethead - The Great Disruptors

This is an ep put out by Troy Van Leeuwen's new project Sweethead...which is him and some random people...it's very qotsa in nature, which is cool...i mean it's dancy, and sexy...but really it's just kind of like qotsa but without all the awesome stuff contributed by everyone else...Troy Van Leeuwen is kind of like a good tight end in the nfl though...sure, he's awesome...but if he doesnt have a good quarterback to throw to him or at least one other good receiver and/or a good running back to draw attention away from him then he's kind of useless. By that i mean...the guy's a great guitarist and stuff...but without other really good musicians around him like JoHo and Dean Fertita on guitar and Mikey Shoes on bass, and The Sexy Mexi on drums he just kind of comes off as a little bland you know?

Comments/Complaints: Instead of putting this out, troy should have probably just saved these riffs for a new qotsa album instead of pouring them out into a generic dance rock album that will fall to the bottom of his discog quality wise

My Ranking is a 6.5/10 really...i think there's alot of potential here...but he probably should have just used that on the new qotsa record

Album #8: Municipal Waste - Massive Aggressive

Let's see, this is a tricky review because...their music has been done to death before. So lets just say...this album is really really fast awesome thrash metal with a very dri intensity...it's really gnarly thrash that would be a great soundtrack for a night with friends a few 100 beers and a beer bong. This band is thrash metal for the kids that listen to deathcore and mallcore who are too cool for metallica and slayer and anthrax and sepultura and megadeth but like to thrash

Comments/Complaints: Simply put...this album is just awesome, gnarly, party thrash with a familiar vibe...but it won't have you throwing reign in blood away yet...

Ranking: I'll give it a 7/10 because though it's generic...it's really talented punk thrash and i like it...but i know there's plenty out there better

Album #9: Cave In - Planets Of Old Ep

Man, Cave In is such a great band with so many different sounds and possibilities...their newest ep actually showcases 4 completely different Cave In sounds basically.

Track 1: Starts out with a very isisy intro then comes in with a heavy as hell bassline and the vocals are very voivod in nature and full of super super heavy riffs, this song is very similar to old isis/old cave in...which as i'm sure you can tell...is awesome.

Track 2: Starts out with a riff that reminds me of a dropkick murphys song but it sounds really cool...the vocals come in still reminding me of voivod while some really cool riffs dance in and out over really cool punk rock type drumming.

Track 3: Starts out running at full speed! Very punk rock as hell! The drums are really really fast, the vocals are reminiscent of nick oliveri and has a really sweet bassline stomping around on it over some creative post-punk/hardcore riffage, the breaks where the guitars and screaming stop and it's just double bass kicks and that awesome bassline with guitars kind of peppering a bit of noise in and out is SO AWESOME!

Track 4: Starts out with more voivodian vocals and lots more punk rock drumming, but this song has a different vibe...more like newer cave in...but less poppy. But still very punk rock and very catchy that chorus "air escapes our lungs every day we won't lie, we don't say, air escapes our lungs every day" with the guitar riff matching the rhythm of the vocals...it's just awesome and then the slow sludgy breakdown part with the same rhythm is just awesome.

Comments/Complaints: This album shows a renewed vigor by these guys. The album is very very heavy, and very very very punk rock, but the vocals remind me alot of voivod...which isn't a bad thing...they just have kind of a weird robotic tone to them which is cool

Ranking: I'll give this a 9.5/10 if it were longer and kept with the same vibe this would definitely be a 10/10 no question. This album rules alot!

Album #10: He Is Legend - It Hates You

Wow, so this one came from way out in left field...

First of all i'd like to say that i absolutely loved loved loved i am hollywood when it first came out.
Second of all, i'd like to say that my heart broke the day i heard "suck out the poison" that is one of the worst excuses for an album i've ever heard...i literally listened to the beginning of the first song on that album and then immediately hit delete.

With that said, this album absolutely rules. It has all of the elements of I Am Hollywood that made that album excellent, creative riffs, excellent melodic vocals, catchy riffs and vocal hooks and whatnot, however, the basslines are really good, and it has a very Faith No More vibe at times. There's a few breakdowns here and there...but in a tasteful way. This album is really catchy, really heavy, and very very rockin. There actually isn't 1 bad song on this album which is pretty cool..but i just don't understand how they did a complete genre/sound/fashion overhaul and then decided to jump right back into their old sound and act like suck out the poison didn't even happen...which is cool...but you know...if you're going to sink the ship you should at least go down with it...not jump into a lifeboat and go back to your old ship that was really awesome.

Comments/Complaints: This album is incredibly surprising, heavy, awesome, rock n' rolling, non crappy.

Ranking: This puppy gets a definite 9/10 because it's really really good...you know..if you liked i am hollywood you'll think that anyways.