Thursday, July 30, 2009
AUGUST BURNS RED
Constellations
Solid State Records
One day I was bored out of my mind and decided to see what iTunes suggested listening I would appreciate. A band called August Burns Red popped up and I decided to give it a try. The album I listened to back then was named Thrillseeker. Since then, I've been a rabid fan, and their number of plays on my playlist trumps most bands on my iPod. Constellations is the third full length release from the Pennsyvania quintet. As with the previous albums, ABR doesn't dissappoint with their signature heavy breakdowns and odd-meter riffs, only this time they throw in a little melody exemplified in "Indonesia". ABR is three for three so far as I'm concerned.
TOP TRACKS: Where do I start? "Existence", "Ocean of Apathy" has a pretty groovy stoner breakdown riff in the middle of it, "White Washed", "Indonesia", "The Escape Artist", "Meddler", "Rationalist"...
FINAL VERDICT: Metalcore never really did anything for me until I heard these guys. I mean you can throw a rock and hit the next "up and coming" metalcore band these days. The genre is just over-saturated with, well...shit. August Burns Red stays true to the wonderful musical catastrophe it created when they first started.
RATING: 4 out of 5 Assbanditos
-GDeViL
(Yes, that's ABR doing aBritany Spears cover)
GOD FORBID
Earthsblood
Century Media
I'll be the first to say I have missed the train on NJ metal artists, God Forbid. Their most recent release, Earthsblood, is, sadly, the first I have heard from this band. I guess God Forbid has always been one of those bands I hear so much about, but never actually got a chance to listen to? Or I'm just a complete hermit? My therapist would agree with the latter. So without hearing any previous work by God Forbid I had a great and rare opportunity to give this album a purely unbiased review. Earthsblood comes five years after their previous release, Consitution of Treason. Its been reported that guitarist, Dallas Coyle, left the band almost immediately followong this release (He has been replaced as far as i know by ex-Darkest Hour guitarist, Kris Norris). After a month of listening to the album I have to say I'm sorry I haven't tuned into God Forbid sooner. Straight up metal goodness.
TOP TRACKS: "Empire of the Gun", "The Rain", "Bat the Angels", and the single-worthy "Walk Alone"
FINAL VERDICT: Earthsblood made me realize how many times I've passed the chance to go see these guys play at a small local venue. I'm kicking myself in the balls now. I got the chance to listen to their earlier stuff and as usual, I like the previous releases more. This album, although good, was a bit too cleaned up compared to the older stuff, but again, a great album through and through.
RATING: 3 out 5 Assbanditos!
POISON THE WELL
The Tropic Rot
Ferret Music
Poison The Well have always been the average girl at the high school prom in my opinion. In other words, they ain't the ugly duckling with no date, but they aren't the prom queen either. A respectable 6 or 7 on the 1-10 scale if you will. That's why when I picked up PTW's latest album, The Tropic Rot, I wasn't expecting to be blown away, and I wasn't expected to listen to complete crap. For argruments sake, I have never been a huge fan. Not that I didn't like them, I just never got around to getting into them. Speaking to a few die hard PTW fans, I hear that this album is sort of a return to their original sound. At first listen, I would compare this album to a Deftones album sans White Pony era, only grittier. Not a bad thing to sound like at all.
TOP TRACKS: "Sparks It Will Rain", "Cinema", "Antartica Inside Me", "Are You Anywhere", and "Makeshift Clay"
FINAL VERDICT: Beautifully chaotic sounds that will keep you interested for sometime. If this is a return to their original sounds I'm impressed. Solid effort.
RATING: 4 out of 5 Assbanditos!!!
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