Slayer is: Tom Araya (vocals, bass guitar); Jeff Hanneman and Kerry (KFK) King (guitar); Dave Lombardo (drums).
I’ve been listening to Slayer for years now—ritualistically blasting ‘Reign in Blood’ while skateboarding in my high school parking lot during lunch. Slayer consistently stays true to their style, tirelessly creating solid albums, which are a staple in every metal head collection. My top three ranking Slayer albums include ‘Reign in Blood’, ‘God Hates us All’, and ‘Christ Illusion’.
‘Christ Illusion’ backs dark lyrics with strong vocals and the fierce, finger blistering KFK guitar riffs that prove this legendary band will hold their crown for years to come. ‘Christ Illusion’ is a must for any collector.
Chaotic song structures and powerful vocals amp the listener while Lombardo’s double-time drumming and KFK’s insane guitar solos blow you away into a meditative state where metal reigns as master to your servant. Araya’s unique vocal technique shines in this album and is not to be missed. ‘Christ Illusion’ is clearly the work of a band who will never sacrifice art for complacency, creating climatically stronger albums, and proving Slayer as an mainstay as well as innovator.
Produced By: Terry Date Unearth is: Vocals: Trevor Phipps, Guitar: Ken Susi, Guitar: Buz McGrath, Bass: John Maggard, Drums: Mike Justian
Unearth is the exception in today’s generic radio-friendly metalcore, with songs that are injected with raw emotion rather than the ever so popular commercial mainstay. “A lot of our friends who used to be in kick-ass metal and hardcore bands are adding these pop choruses now for no reason,” says frontman Trevor Phipps. “I think they’re making the same mistakes that all the bands in the early ‘90s made when metal turned to complete horseshit. They’re totally watering down their tunes to sell more records. We’re just trying to prove that bands can still sell records and tour and have a career by making a heavy fucking record.”
Despite the insurmountable pressure Unearth was under, recording this album in merely seven weeks, “III: In the Eyes of Fire” is perfection at its finest. Although working with legendary producer Terry Date (Pantera, White Zombie, Soundgarden), Unearth remains humble, consistently staying true to themselves, their fans, and their music.
Needless to say, this album is well mixed—an addict for Susi and Mcgrath’s speedy riffs,Maggard’s thick bass, Justian’s precisely blistering drums, and Phipps throat wrenching vocals, I had this album in loop for 2 weeks straight.
Unearth proves to be one of the top Metal bands of the year with just one listen to “III: In the Eyes of Fire.” Every song on the album is powerful, combining classic metal with a hardcore edge. I highly recommend this album to any metal or hardcore fan—raw force ignites intensity unmatched by any metal release this year.
“My Other Band Vol. 1″ is a compilation made of five artists: MY RED HOT NIGHTMARE, MATTHEW THIESSEN AND THE EARTHQUAKES, TYLER BURKUM, AGNES and ROYAL EMPIRE MUSIC. These are all people who play in other bands and on this CD they play with their side projects, to show some differet stuff. Hence the title “My Other Band”.
The album features new music from 5 different side projects from members of Relient K, Audio Adrenaline, The Supertones and Bleach. Matthew Thiessen and the Earthquakes (who is Relient K’s lead singer Matt Thiessen), Agnes (Dave from Relient K), My Red Hot Nightmare (Ethan from The Supertones/Demon Hunter with Dan from The Supertones and Josh from Ace Troubleshooter), Royal Empire Music (Davy and Jared from Bleach), and Tyler Burkum (from Audio A) deliver some music that is different from what they play on their “official band”.
The result is an unique recording where you can listen to these artists under a new light: for example, Matt Thiessen from Relient K plays three acoustic pop songs, including the demo version of “Faking My Own Suicide”, which is a hit on the new Relient K’s album “Five Score And Seven Years Ago”.
If you think you heard it all, if you are curious, check out this awesome and original compilation.
Contents / Track Listing MY RED HOT NIGHTMARE
01 The Worst In Me
02 The Weight of Another
03 Hold Fast, Hold Strong
MATTHEW THIESSEN AND THE EARTHQUAKES
04 The Warmth of The Sun
05 The Calendar, The Energy (If This is You, Then Woe is Me)
After a couple of albums on Vagrant Records, and after releasing an Emo masterpiece like “Sorry About Tomorrow”, Hot Rod Circuit is back with a brand new disc on Immortal Record. “The Underground Is A Dying Breed” is one step forward for this quartet, as it signs the will to put innovative elements into the new songs: no more Emo choruses speaking of broken hearts, but angry rock and roll songs about how life is treating you.
“The Underground Is A Dying Breed” is a collection of post romantic songs, dealing with the good and especially the bad aspects of life, as on the lines of the incredibly melodic “Vampire” or “Battleship”, with a superb guitar riff that made me fall in love for this song. Hot Rod Circuit never disappoins on any song of this album, and the classy emo rock of “What We Believe In” reminds me why I loved this band back in high school. The two best tracks anyway come at the end of the record,
with “Spit You Our”, a real rock and roll anthem for the new generation, and “Cali”, a kind of hardcore punk song where Hot Rod Circuit leaves the melody out for a more furious, dirty and fast sound.
“The Underground Is A Dying Breed” does not refer only to the state of music today, but it’s a great look that stresses all the most hidden desires, fears, love and hate feelings inside the human beings. I highly recommend old and new fans of Hot Rod Circuit to check this out, because it’s quite possibly the best album these guys ever released.
Hawk Nelson is a four piece band from Canada, and their debut album on Tooth And Nail ( produced by Aaron Sprinkle, of Mae, Dead Poetic, Starflyer59 fame ) is made of 20 tracks for any lover of pop punk, and for any lover of bands like MXPX, Relient K and FM Static.
These four young kids are a little bit like Yellowcard on “One For The Kids”, except for the violin: in fact they mix super catchy melodies, choruses, singalongs and harmonies that would make any fan of good pop fall in love with their songs. “California” opens the disc with a great introduction, and then it all becomes clear on tracks like “Things We Go Through”, “Letters To The President”, “Someone Else Before” and “First Time” that Hawk Nelson plays some of the sweetest and most delicious soft songs ever. If you ever liked the bands above mentioned, check out Hawk Nelson too, you’ll be surprised.
PS: these guys are also nominated in the “Modern Rock Album of the Year ” at the DoveAwards.com.
Tracklist 1. California 2. Things We Go Through 3. Every Little Thing 4. From Underneath 5. Letters To The President 6. Right Here 7. Recess 8. Take Me 9. Someone Else Before 10. First Time 11. Like A Racecar 12. Late Show 13. 36 Days 14. Long And Lonely Road 15. American Dreams: The Story 16. My Generation 17. Every Little Thing (Acoustic) 18. Take Me (Acoustic) 19. Jason’s Thoughts In French 20. Letters To The President (Acoustic)
The Showdown’s sophomore album on Mono Vs Stereo is a collection of heavy metal songs where the fury of metal meets the melody of rock. Differenlty from the previous disc “A Chorus of Obliteration”, on “Temptation Come My Way” this five piece from Tennessee get even more extreme. If the previous disc was filled with crushing metal, the new one is a classic metal album in the vein of Metallica’s Black Album.
The eleven songs on “Temptation Come My Way” are made of crunching riffs and epic guitar solos, combined with enormous hooks and solid melodies to create a song cycle that appeals to metal fans as well as melodic rock fans. Songs like “Six Feet Under”, “Forget My Name” and “Death Finds Us Breathing” are made to break all the borders between the heavyness of metal and the softness of pop hooks.
If you ever missed Metallica’s best album, “Temptation Come My Way” will give you some great anthems to dance to.
I never heard of Movies With Heroes before getting their brand new CD in the mail, sent from their European record label, Rude Records. Well, when it’s the first time I listen to a band, I tend to judge it from the band name, the cover artworkt, the package and this kind of stuff. I am very superficial, I know, but the music is the last thing I actually get, because putting a CD in my stereo is the last thing I do. Anyway, after being impressed with the package of this new band, I listened to the whole record and I must say I was quite impressed. Not for something specific nor unique not original nor “this is the first time I heard it, oh my God!”, since “Nothing Here Is Perfect” might fall in the classic emo rock album for fans of Acceptance, The Get Up Kids and Long Since Forgotten, but because I heard damn good songs.
The opening track “Wake Up” is made of a catchy and dynamic melody that stick in your ears for all the song, while other stand out tracks are “The Wave” and “Wildflower”, where the rock and roll guitars meet the pop sensibility of vocals and lyrics.
The weak point of the album is the production: I don’t know if it’s due to some specific reason, but the songs could have been produced so much better, and even tough Ed Rose put his hands on some songs of the record, the overall result is low. On the album the drums sound really bad, and sometimes the sound of the guitars is rough: I have no idea if this was intended, to give a more “old school emo” feel, but it’s really hurting my ears sometimes.
Anyway, the final result is that “Nothing Here Is Perfect” is a strong, powerful emo rock album for the people who miss the good times when Further Seems Forever, The Get Up Kids and The Promise Ring were releasing their best albums.
Tracklist 1. Wake Up 2. Ink 3. Wildflower 4. Nothing 5. Believe 6. Warmer 7. The Wave (mp3) 8. Moth And Rust 9. Need It Now 10. Miracle Drug
After an LP on Side Cho Records entitled “Sing, But Keep Going”, the now-quartet Californian band Sherwood is back with it first LP for MySpace Records. “A Different Light”, just like the previous two EP’s and LP by Sherwood, is made of very sunny album, with a lot pop rock influences, ranging from emo rock to indie rock, going through electronic music.
Differently from the previous material, the new twelve songs sound really well (and sometimes maybe over) produced: Lou Giordano (The Ataris, Taking Back Sunday) helped these guys out, and his work can be heard very well: all the songs sound very polished, clean, and so damn catchy.
Musically, the band is truly original, with pop hooks like the lines of “Song In My Head” or “I’m Asking Her To Stay”, where you really start shaking your head felling like you’re spending a nice day in the sun, even tough outside it’s puring. Such tunes as “Middle Of The Night”, and “The Best In Me” have got the catchy pop punk guitar hooks that will make you fall in love with Sherwood.
The element of innovation here is introduced by synths: “Alley Cat” is a song that sounds like Death Cab For Cutie/The Postal Service, with a serious sick melody that sound so unique it made me cry. The rest of the album is relaly good, even tough sometimes songs like “Home” and “Never Ready To Love” brind you a little bit down, because the rest of the record is so good you wish Sherwood could have made all the songs on the same level, but I guess it’s just my impression. “Give Up!” has got some serious addictive harmonies and I think it’s the best/most innovative song on the record.
I wish every person out there in the world could stop a secod and listen to Sherwood (do it here!): they might bring more love into the world with their solar and positive anthems, and that would be so good.
Trackilist 1. Song In My Head 2. The Best In Me 3. Middle Of The Night 4. For The Longest Time 5. Home 6. Alley Cat 7. Give Up! 8. Never Ready To Leave 9. The Only Song 10. Alive 11. The Simple Life 12. A Different Light 13. I’m Asking Her To Stay Buy “A Different Light” here.
As the title of their new album says, after seven years and five albums, pop-punk rockers Relient K are back with their fifth record to date. Knowing that all of their three previous albums (”Anatomy Of The Tongue In Cheek”, “Two Lefts Don’t Make A Right…But Three Do” and “Mmhmm”) went gold, and the first two’s also have been remastered as “Gold Edition”, it’s hard not to predict that this record will be huge, too.
Five Score And Seven Years Ago marks Relient K’s first full-length album, and the first featuring bassist John Warne and guitarist Jon Schneck (formerly of Christian rock band Ace Troubleshooter, a Tooth And Nail band) – although the two appeared on the band’s Apathetic EP, released in late 2005. With original guitarist Matt Hoopes and drummer Dave Douglas completing the lineup, Relient K is now a quintet with each of the members contributing vocals. The backing harmonies, stunning throughout, amp up the infectious “Must Have Done Something Right” and serve as an ironic counterpoint in “Deathbed.” But the biggest change is in the control booth.
The new album is made of 14 songs that sound so tight and compact as a whole that it’s almost scary. Impressive, actually. The tunes sound so well all together and you can really say that Relient K had a good time and good ideas / inspirations while making this record.
Produced by Howard Benson (The All American Rejects, My Chemical Romance, Less Than Jake), “Five Score And Seven Years Ago” is a never ending trip in the life of Matthew Thiessen: the main songwriter and lead singer of the band describes stories about his personal life and experiences, and if you think the band has matured, well, it’s hard to say it.
The album has still got some high sense of humour, as such songs as the opening track
“Plead the Fifth”, written from the viewpoint of an 19th century man with an outlandish
conspiracy theory about Lincoln’s death and it features lead vocalist/guitarist/pianist Matt Thiessen using his mouth to simulate each instrument of a drum kit, or the 10 second song “Crayons Can Melt On Us For All I Care”, which is really funny. But the record also features high and deep themes, as the closer track “Deathbad”, which more than a song, is a poem, which includes Switchfoot’s Jon Foreman on guest vocals and has a somber setting as its title implies, the masterfully woven tale of a man’s life and death brims with witty observations and aural ironies.
In general, the album picks up where “Mmhmm” left, with incredibly catchy and powerful pop punk songs as “Come Out And Say It”, “Devastation And Reform” (the guitar riffs at the beginning of this song is incredbile and Hoopes is a tralented guitar player) and “Bite My Tongue”, where Relient K not only plays catchy guitar riffs, but also have melodies that stick in your ears for days. The things slow down sometimes, as Thiessen and friends leave their heavy guitars for piano driven harmonies, as on “Forgiven” and “Give”, with piano elements and acoustic guitar parts.
In the end, “Five Score And Seven Years Ago” is one of the very few albums of today’s music that can still give something new to the fans: fresh harmonies, catchy hooks and a lot of ironic (and sometimes serious) lines, and it’s just a shame that you will not hear it on most popular radios or televisions.
Anberlin is back with their third full length album on Tooth And Nail Records: “Cities” - which comes out both as a regular cd and as a deluxe package cd/dvd - is a 12 track album where Anberlin shows what playing energic rock music means. These five (now four) guys know what the energy or rock is all about. They display some really catchy yet furious melodies on this new album, which is more complete than the previous two, since on “Cities” you can really find anything, from hard rock melodies to pop punk catchy hooks, from slow piano ballads to fast rock guitar riffs, from harmonic pop songs to acoustic guitar ballads.
“Cities” is a record that starts with a boom: after a brief intro, where you can even hear the sound of an ambulance in the underground, it starts with “Godspeed”, the hit single every rock band would love to have written: with catchy choruses yet furious guitar riffs, the song displays what Anberlin is all about: making you feel good, keeping you anchored to reality. Yes, I said reality, because the songs and their lyrics deal a lot with personal issues, relationships, stories and how it’s hard to feel good today. A song like “Alexithymia” - which is probably the best song Anberlin ever wrote - is about addictions, family and feeling alone. There is a lot of loneliness in the cities described by Anberlin on this record: “Hello Alone”, “Reclusion” and “Dismantle, Repair” all deal with this issue, but there is still space for hope, on such anthems like “There Is No Mathematics To Love And Loss” and “A Whisper & A Clamour”, with its positive and sing-a-long chorus.
“Cities” is a very dark, complex and rocking album: Anberlin is not a simple band but they wirte songs that sound simple and hit you the first time you hear them. If I had to pick the greatest Tooth And Nail release ever, I’d pick “Cities”.
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