Of Mice & Men is now a metalcore band. Take that John Steinbeck! This is the band's first recording, although you may know the lead singer from Attack, Attack! fame, Austin Carlile. Now, I've never listened to AA before. Hell I didn't even know who they were before getting this album in th email and doing a little homework. I decided to listen to some AA to get a little background. All I could say was "WTF!?". Techno breakdowns in the middle of a song??? (see Stick Stickly). What the hell did I get myself into??? I was a bit relieved when giving the debut album from Carlile's new efforts a listen. I've read in other reviews and interviews with the band that this was suppose to have a southern metal sound, but somehow I just can't hear anything that reminds me of the Confederate flag here, just lots of chugga-chugga guitar riffage.
TOP TRACKS: John Deux Trois, Those In Glass Houses, The Ballad of Tommy Clayton & the Rawdog Millionaire
FINAL VERDICT: Listening to one song from Attack Attack! made me want to blow men in a rest stop bathroom somewhere along Interstate 66. Of Mice & Men is a lot less gay, but still gay in a guilty pleasure kind of way. Not Liberace gay, but wear a pink t-shirt gay. Not that there's anything wrong with that. To quote Steinbeck, "Course Lennie's a God damn nuisance most of the time, but you get used to goin' around with a guy an' you can't get rid of him." This album grows on you like a retard that will slow you down.

RATING: 3/5

Its probably time to stop being surprised when a death metal band showcases a female vocalist. A lot of the times people pass it off as a gimmick. Sadly, and as sexist as it makes me sound, it sometimes is a gimmick usually started to launch some chick's pop career or maybe get her on American Idol or something. Landmine Marathon's vocalist Grace Perry lays all thenay-sayers to rest. Yes you've seen her gracing Revolver's Hottest Chicks in Metal issue. The difference between her and the other gals? Perry is metal. She's not some trained classical vocalist who "happened" upon metal. She's the real damn deal. Landmine marathon evokes sounds of Napalm Death and Bolt Thrower. Sovereign Decent pays homage to the grindcore and death metal bands who started their respective genres.
TOP TRACKS: Foul Revolt, Steadfast Hate, Chained By The Same Fate, Flood the Earth, Rise With the Tide
FINAL VERDICT: The album is a metal onslaught from beginning to end. I was playing it so loud the other day my neighbor thought someone was getting murdered in my living room. Score.
RATING: 5/5