Living Sacrifice - The Infinite Order - Review

Can any of you remember the early 90s? Well if you do, you might have been around when 80s thrash and hair metal was ending its “majestic” reign. Bands like Stryper and Whitecross were in their prime. But a new kind of Christian metal was venturing onto the stage, and its name was Living Sacrifice. Finally someone had the spine to try something heavier than the hair metal that was so popular. In their beginnings, the band played a dirtier, thrash-type death metal with vocalist Darren Johnson as their front man. By 1997 however, with the exchange of Johnson for Bruce Fitzhugh on vocals, LS metamorphosed into the groove metal/metalcore powerhouse we all know them as today. This was a pivotal changing point in their career, and they kept that style right up until their temporary dispersal in 2002.

Now, eight years later, they’re back at full throttle with their newest recording, ‘The Infinite Order’. There seems to be a trend in new albums released after long breaks from a band being very subpar. But I can tell you one thing, it does not disappoint.

A thunderous opening awaits you with the opening track, ‘Overkill Exposure’. An initial ear catching guitar riff hooks you in for the remaining blast beats and breakdowns. The first of the album’s breakdowns is slightly uncreative, but nevertheless this track prepares you thoroughly for the impending force of the album. What amazed me from the beginning is the retention of their classic sound. The only change I can hear is improvement.

By ‘Rules of Engagement’, Bruce Fitzhugh’s unforgettable vocal rhythm is dug up from the memories of old LS. This track is fueled by a very catchy guitar riff that is followed by a chorus reminiscent of Lamb of God’s ‘Redneck’, only sped up. Then with another style swing, it moves into a bridge that could easily be mistaken for Becoming the Archetype. With this album, LS has certainly grasped the current American metal flavour. At the same time, they retain their old sound quite beautifully with the dirty guitar sound of ‘Neitzsche’s Madness’ in its opening. As it becomes heavier in its breakdown-like chorus, it pounds into an entertaining percussion interlude. Without the return of Matt Putman in the band’s reassembly, the additional percussion that LS boasted in previous albums ‘The Hammering Process’ and ‘Conceived in Fire’ was not present in ‘The Infinite Order’. However, for the sake of old traditions, added percussion was still included on two tracks.

With the first of several guitar solos to melt your face on this album, you will see that guitarist Rocky Gray exercises his shredding skills with further exuberance than in previous efforts. In songs like ‘Unfit To Live’ and ‘They Were One’, it is easy to get swept up into the pounding, marching beat that LS has always injected into most of their songs. However, it is apparent that the driving beat is one of the only things keeping these tracks alive.

This is the only point that I was slightly disappointed, but my enthusiasm was quickly revamped. The beginning of ‘The Training’ made me smile big, remembering songs like ‘Flatline’ and ‘Burn the End’ and other songs that imposed anxiety for the oncoming attack on ‘The Hammering Process’. I got chills when the second guitarist joined the rhythm in the buildup. From this track onward, some more diversity is displayed on the new album, first with eerie clean vocals in the chorus and a courtesy interlude near the end to give listeners a chance to pick up their jaws off the floor.

Once you’re ready, buckle up, because ‘Organized Lie’ is going to hit you like a semi through a smart car. First your head will bang, and then the breakdown will crunch your stomach. Then you’ll feel like an idiot when the drummer changes his snare to the offbeat and your head bangs at the wrong time. This is pleasantly unexpected, but you will get no chance to argue at any point. Between the insane guitar solo and the baying gang scream in the chorus, “random, organized lie”, you’ll be drooling with an eargasm.

‘The Reckoning’ borrows a Demon Hunter-esque driving theme. The groove metal side of their sound is apparent in tracks like this and ‘Love Forgives’. The latter has such simple yet seducing chords that ask for nothing less than your full attention. I found myself quite immersed in this song, closing my eyes and humming along with the guitars. While still retaining its brutal persona, LS is demonstrating a very professional level of musical range across these later tracks. ‘God Is My Home’ welcomes a light tweedling guitar accompaniment to its pounding vocals and low, growling rhythm guitars. These altogether stew up a very ear catching melody that strays from LS’s usual forte of grungy death metal, while still successfully holding your attention for nearly five whole minutes.

At this point, Living Sacrifice’s latest and greatest, post-reassembly, debut album is about ready to wind down. Ease into your seat and relax while an acoustic lullaby rocks you into a state of comfort, then nut up for one last epic throwdown with the final track, ‘Apostasy’. As far as album endings go, it’s hard to explain what’s required. There needs to be a sense of closure and respect that the album is over. That at least, there definitely is.

‘The Infinite Order’ holds true to LS’s own classic style, but fills in the gaps with the current progressive metal styles like Demon Hunter, Devil Driver, Lamb of God, or even Becoming the Archetype. The lyrics were very well written as well. In a progressive nature, they speak of a dying world engulfed in sin. But in tracks like ‘Love Forgives’ and ‘God Is My Home’, the mood is turned around to address the option of God’s redeeming love, as it is unfailing even in the midst of sin. ‘Apostasy’ finishes it off by turning away the misdirection of people who think that hope is lost. The words encourage those who have turned away from God to question their decision. “Love is present, grace abounds. What happened here? Was the world so enticing? Denial is treachery hard to reconcile.”

The strength and intensity that LS built up from the beginning of the album is successfully abused and then fully broken down within the containment of eleven tracks. And after sitting through ‘The Infinite Order’ in full, I am satisfied with what I heard. I give it 4 out of 5 Napkins. Now give me a glass of milk and I’ll be on my way. I’m all tuckered out.

Artist: Living Sacrifice
Album: The Infinite Order
Release: January 26, 2010
Label: Solid State
Length: 46:57
Rating: 4/5

Evergreen Terrace - Almost Home - Review

Attention to all you who nay-say the connection between hardcore punk and metal. I challenge you now! What evidence have I, you ask? Well today I come bearing Evergreen Terrace’s newest album ‘Almost Home’. This band has been on an upward slope for a long time now, and this one defiantly hasn’t gone over the hill yet. It has left delicious flavours in my mouth, manly flavours like metal and kick-ass! You take a couple breakdowns, and mix with a healthy sprinkling of punk beats and what do you get? Metalcore! A stomach sickness with feet and elbows.

Booked with Metal Blade Records, they share the spotlight with other well known acts such as As I Lay Dying and Unearth (as well as a lot of other bands that would scare your grandparents). They have propped themselves up into a place of comfort, but they’re still putting in effort. As their fifth full length album, it is impressive that they have improved with each one this far. I sincerely hope that with such a great album streak, that ‘Almost Home’ is not their peak.

The album opener introduces it very creatively with fun sounds that their guitarist can make, thus setting the mood. ‘Enemy Sex’ is a representation of the sound that they have adopted since ‘Wolfbiker’. The quick pace is still there, but an angrier metal presence is present. This time around, they’re favouring punk beats over simple metal chugging a good deal more. Only a minute or so into the song, their quaint love of the breakdown is still made apparent. I like it so far. The title track takes the next set with a very punk sound, but you also feel the metal influence from Andrew Carey’s unique scream. A guitar solo flares it up but the lovely clean vocals from guitarist Craig Chaney really take the cake on the chorus.

In beautiful Evergreen Terrace style, the title of the following song, ‘God Rocky, Is This Your Face?’ is a reference to TV show ‘Family Guy’. It’s a real pump up, fast beats, metal gang screaming, and precision drumming on the part of drummer Kyle Mims. It’s a merciless piece of work, definitely showing off the feeling of ‘Almost Home’ as it identifies itself from ‘Wolfbiker’ with much heavier aspects. ‘We’re Always Losing Blood’ kicks it back with standard clean vocals again, and even some tweedling, which seems to be much more prevalent in metal lately. Besides an out of place breakdown, this song is pretty chill. So don’t even worry about the hardcore comeback in ‘Sending Signals’. By now it became clear to me that ET hasn’t really changed much since ‘Wolfbiker’. But then again it doesn’t sound completely like the previous album.

The energy of their past effort isn’t as present as it was before, but the Evergreen Terrace sound is still etched into every song. It’s slightly more relaxed and even more composed than previously. A lot of the new songs sound more professional. But set aside what I said for a few minutes while you get your ears boxed by ‘Mario Speedwagon’. The high guitaring in this song is most impressive and actually reminds me of some kind of metal remix of Mario Kart music. But that’s just me.

Moving on, a somber opening to ‘Failure To Operate’ confuses at first but strikes hard in a matter of seconds. By calming down the choruses in a lot of the songs with clean vocals to replace the screaming, a healthy balance is found. A breakdown for a bridge trims up the ensemble and left me happy. Another sober intro in ‘Hopelessly Hopeless’ explains a change up in this album. Not nearly as many songs start off fast and hard like before. I’m glad they’re trying new things, but I miss the fast and hard. The album sounds more mature, but that isn’t always a good thing in my books.

Time for an interlude! ‘The Letdown’ is a compression of intensity. It builds you up and then shatters your enthusiasm by ending at the minute-forty mark, in true hardcore punk style. But it’s like an appetizer for what’s coming up next, one of the best songs on the album. ‘I’m a Bullet Proof Tiger’ goosebumped me up all good. The guitar riff in this song is ominous and menacing. It’s a keeper really, they even managed to fit in a catchy chorus and mix their clean vocals and screaming agreeably. I only had to wait too long to hear it.

The final song, ‘Not Good Enough’ was as close to ‘touchy feely’ as I think a song can be while still holding a metal stance. It wrapped up the album in a good way. It felt like an ending to me. So by the time the album came to a close, I felt satisfied.

It wasn’t as incredible as I thought it would be, to be honest, but at the same time there was nothing wrong with it. It just didn’t hold itself and my attention up as well as ‘Wolfbiker’ did. That being said, many of you to hear it may disagree and think it is a step up from last time. It has the potential to be a great album; it was a different album and told a different story. I personally enjoyed the hairy, mangled sound of their previous efforts. So all I can say is that I encourage any fans to listen in and form your own opinion. I’m handing over 3 and a half napkins out of 5.

Artist: Evergreen Terrace
Album: Almost Home
Label: Metal Blade Records
Release: September 29, 2009
Rating : 3.5/5

Threat Signal - Vigilance - Review

There have been many new bands in metal since the turn of the millennium, but few have impressed me with their first album as much as Threat Signal. From our very own Hamilton, Ontario, these big boys made it up to Nuclear Blast Records and made a point to stay there. Their first album ‘Under Reprisal’ was original and sick and as a puppy, and finally they give us our metal fix and pump out their sophomore album ‘Vigilance’. But don’t let the unoriginal album cover fool you, it’s actually a good album.

One big thing to mention is that ‘Vigilance’ is a lot tamer than Threat Signal previously demonstrated with ‘Under Reprisal’. You can hear it in the album opener ‘Afterlife’ right from the get go. Vocalist Jon Howard is obviously favouring his cleaner, yet still gruff, vocals this year. Change isn’t surprising though when a band’s lineup alters between album releases. Threat Signal got an entire overhaul though, as they lost guitarists Kyle McKnight and Rich Howard, bassist Marco Bressette, and drummer George Parfitt (all within the three year space between albums, mind you). They were replaced by Travis Montgomery, Adam Weber, Pat Kavanagh, and Norman Killeen, respectively. With the only surviving member being the vocalist, style change is to be expected. And even the vocalist changed. You won’t be hearing nearly as many of his jaw splitting high screams as before. He gave his medium screams plenty of time to shine and at most times sound a lot like those of Sonic Syndicate or The Bereaved . I think it’s a waste personally. There’s no vocalist I’ve heard scream as high. In Arkaea, his side project shared with Fear Factory, he also favours the rough singing over the screams.

‘Afterlife’ says a lot about the album. The overall sound is much less like death metal or metalcore and takes a more classic metal approach. The guitars are much more basic and the drums are nothing to speak of. The beats aren’t as fast and oddly timed. In fact, sometimes they are painfully basic. In fact, it reminds me quite a lot of Trivium’s new material. To be blunt, it sounds like they’ve merely toned down the amount of talent that they used to exude. At the core, they still sound like Threat Signal, but the way they go about it is much plainer. Terrible opening song choice on their part, but fear not, with the second song comes a faint glimmer of hope.

‘Through My Eyes’ fills much bigger shoes than the beginning of the album. It is faster and more oddly timed, the vocalist screams high again, and sound much more like Threat Signal should. It slows down into a strangely mellow breakdown, but it kept my attention with its relaxed metal tempo. ‘The Beginning of the End’ sounds suspiciously like Killswitch but Jon Howard’s high scream transforms it back into TS soon enough. Catchy, slide guitar and a disgustingly sweet guitar solo hold this one together better than most. Hold up, there’s also a fist injuring breakdown immediately following. Yeah, this album’s getting better. Not quite the TS I remember, but still a sick sound besides.

‘United We Stand’ tempos up a breakdown beat through most of the song, along with guitars that make my shoulders twitch with goodness shivers. A twin guitar solo chills it down until it revs back up with another breakdown. Not such an original one, but head bopping. ‘Beyond Recognition’ finally whips out the double kick, but I still stick to my earlier statement that the drummer is subpar. The beats and fills are basic but the fancier guitar work almost makes up for it. ‘Another Source of Light’ takes inspiration from the European metal sound, sporting slower tempo beats with a lot of low intensity yelling. This song almost sounds like something Soilwork or In Flames might have put together as a more emotional switch out of their normal heaviness.

‘Hate Machine’ brings back the American guitars but keeps the European thrash beats. This one has some appealing guitars riffs and just might psych you up again. ‘Severed keeps the generic song formula alive with its turn-taking heavy verse to a calmer chorus. This turns into a classical guitar opening in ‘Lost’, (a welcome addition – there’s no overabundance of mellowing down in this album) but then soon changes to some melodic chugging and earlier said basic metal song formula. Kick in another amazing guitar solo. By the end of the song, any pussyfooting they were doing before stopped dead as soon as ‘To Remember’ funneled through my speakers. In true metal tradition, it ends heavy. I left a ring of drool on my shirt; it’s such a step up from the last few songs.

The basic formula goes on for a total of thirteen full length songs, which I must say is a tasty and satisfying breath of fresh air considering all the half hour albums lately. I commend TS for that, and for handling such a crazy lineup change so well. All things considered, they maintained Threat Signals identity fairly well. The loss of a better drummer than they currently have hurt them, but their new guitarists satisfy my metal urges. I am not happy about their dulling down the intensity that they held in ‘Under Reprisal’, but I do like the pages they took out of the Euro metal scene. And of course with the loss of their guitarist Rich Howard, the clean vocals that backed their last release are gone. I did enjoy them before, and they will be missed.

As their sophomore album, it is difficult to succeed a strong first album, but I still expected more from them than they gave me. I think they tried to make it too generic. It doesn’t possess the originality and all out brutal condition that ‘Under Reprisal’ did. I’m crossing my fingers that this downslide doesn’t continue, because that has been the fate of too many good bands. It would be a shame if their best years were their first. But I have confidence in them. It was a difficult hill to climb this time around, but I’m giving ‘Vigilance’ 3 out of 5 napkins. Hamilton, you build a tasty five-piece.

Artist: Threat Signal
Album: Vigilance
Label: Nuclear Blast Records
Release: September 11, 2009
Rating: 3/5 napkins

Skillet - Awake - Review

There’s always a level of expectation for any band’s newest LP, sometimes they aren’t very high. It usually depends mostly on how successful the previous album was with fans. So along comes a band that’s been releasing albums for years and suddenly let loose an amazing album that everyone loves. That’s all fine and good, but how are they expected to top that amazing album next time? There’s a staggering amount of pressure on that band. This time that band is Skillet, the archetype for all modern Christian rock. They cycled through a lot of genre changes until they released ‘Collide’ and seemed to settle on that style with another masterpiece, ‘Comatose’. Now they have to top it or at least do as good. Unfortunately their newest addition ‘Awake’ did not meet my expectations proceeding ‘Comatose’. The biggest and most irritating reason that fuels my opinion is their song choices.

The album opens raw and fast with ‘Hero’; immediately I got pumped up for a sick album. It sounds just like hard rock should. Catchy riffs and sing-along worthy vocals from lead vocalist/band master John Cooper. I was impressed by the beautiful backing vocals from Jen Ledger, the drummer and newest member of the group (appearing in the leave of former drummer Lori Peters). Personally, I enjoy her voice even more than the yet-worthy vocals of Korey Cooper in ‘Comatose’. The fun fest keeps going in the second track, ‘Monster’. This only gets my hopes up even more for an amazing album. The song is catchy and powerful, albeit the lyrics are a little bare. But other than the disturbing electronic growl close to the end, it continues the album nicely.

Following the good start is ‘Don’t Wake Me’, a slower track and a comfortable breather, not surprising for Skillet’s album style in the past. I wouldn’t be surprised if I heard one or two more. That alone wouldn’t bother me, but let’s just move on for now shall we? Close to the end of this song as well, John Cooper’s vocals seem to be failing him slightly as he attempts to sing higher notes. Honestly, surprising. Now as would be expected, another rocker, ‘Awake and Alive’, opens up with a short launch of strings, a fancy touch they pulled from their previous two albums. Still welcome in my opinion. They fill in the background noise through most of the song yet as well. Drummer Jen Ledger joins in to duet with John Cooper again for this one. Overall it isn’t as heavy as the beginning of the album, but still trademark Skillet sound, most enjoyable. However, don’t expect to be hearing anything like the opening tracks after this. ‘One Day Too Late’ stirs in another dose of heart-felt mellowness. Still not surprising.

Now, a slow song has just played, you expect something heavier to lift you back up into rock mode right? Wrong. The song that follows is not exactly my favourite. ‘It’s Not Me, It’s You’ is less than inspiring to say the least. It isn’t totally a softer song. By no means, it has some of the heavier riffs thrown in, but it’s terribly cliché and predictable. I am aware that Skillet is trying to sound mainstream, but this is exactly the kind of dreg that every awful mainstream rock band writes. What bothers me even more is the lyrics. Lines like “It’s not me, it’s you, always has been you. All the lies and stupid things you say and do. It’s you.” And “You were a poison. Flooding through my veins. Driving me insane, and now you’re gone away.” In all honesty it pains me to hear such a talented band write such amateur lyrics.

With that over, prepare to hear another soft song with subpar lyrics ‘Should’ve When You Could’ve’. If this song impresses anyone, I have lost all hope in humanity. This is where my hopes begin shattering. Another soft-side song plays through called ‘Believe’. This is even more disappointing because it is actually a pretty good song with good vocals, an epically soft guitar solo, and soothing strings, except I just heard a couple mellower songs, I don’t want to hear another one already. On that note, ‘Forgiven’ is another sappy emotional song, not impressing me even more. ‘Sometimes’ finally picks up the pace a little bit, finally! Not as heavy as ‘Hero’ or ‘Monster’ though, but the low guitars and occasional angry vocals at least get my blood pumping again, slightly. A very short guitar solo takes place near the end, but doesn’t last very long. I wish they could have impressed me with a whole solo at least once like the awesome one in ‘Falling Inside the Black’ from their last album.

Don’t get used to that blood flowing though, as the last two songs slow down the album even more than had been previously done. ‘Never Surrender’ starts very melancholy with a unique string set, but veers over from a slightly more upbeat chorus into very sluggish verses. Lastly ‘Lucy’, the song that ends the album is directed to mourning the loss of a loved one. It’s a beautiful song, I won’t deny that, but it only pushed me further down into the sad rock rut that the better half of the album forced me into. Then the album ends, and I totally forgot that it started with two good songs. Wow.

I know it’s hard to top an album released at the peak of a band’s musical ability, but they didn’t have to take such a steep step down from ‘Comatose’. They just sound sad. John Cooper was quoted saying that this album would have “a lot of today’s heavier rock influences”. I’m just wondering what bands he thinks are “heavier rock”. Savage Garden? Coldplay? Even the best songs on this album didn’t compare to older songs like ‘Rebirthing’ and ‘Falling Inside the Black’. Cooper said he wrote 40 songs in preparation for this album. And he picked these 12 as the best? I think I might cry if I heard his other material. I may sound negative, but I just don’t know how such a good band can disappoint me so much. I loved Skillet’s last two albums, but this one just made me sad. I’m giving Skillet’s ‘Awake’ 2.5 out of 5 napkins. I know they can do better.

Artist: Skillet
Album: Awake
Label: Ardent/Lava/Atlantic
Release: August 25, 2009
Length: 42:12
Rating: 2.5/5

Oh, Sleeper - Son of the Morning - Review

"Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you", Ephesians 5:14. A lot of bands write music about any odd thing they can piece together. Mostly, it will be about certain struggles or individual experiences of the writer. Sometimes, however, the band as a whole writes and plays for a specific cause. Any band that really knows what they dedicate their sound to usual does a good job of it too. That’s why I believe Oh, Sleeper has lyrical efficiency on their side. They know who they’re playing for. With their first full length album, ‘When I Am God’, they quickly accumulated a fan base dedicated to their unique metal style. The majority of the genre listeners however took issue with their sound, as it held little musical structure, but hopefully with their sophomore release, ‘Son of the Morning’, they can claim a few new listeners.

The album opens quick and strong with the title track, embracing a formula of odd and on time chugging as well as some pro tweadling from the lead guitarist. A successful breakdown fuels the pace before they represent their progress as a band with a wise inclusion of exquisite clean vocals front and background. Slowing it down at first, ‘The New Breed’ carries on the album successfully. It’s not as intense as ‘Son of the Morning’, but makes a loud point nevertheless. This is enough already to show that their sound hasn’t changed much, which is good. They’re holding tight to the signature sound they’ve found, but tweaked it a bit at the same time. The song structure is obviously more fixed down, giving it a more professional sound overall since their last release. ‘In All Honesty’ opens up strangely with some almost off tune singing reminiscent of Underoath in their ‘They’re Only Chasing Safety’ days, but it moves into story-telling passion soon enough. The way it’s all pieced together, it really sounds like I’m listening to a story being told. Different vocal patterns keep popping up at different intervals and overlap, like a scene with characters. They accomplish this well, as ‘Son of the Morning’ is a concept album.

‘Breathing Blood’ blasts through in the usual style at first, but softens up for a minute or so demonstrating the band’s level of transition from heavier parts, which is good for the most part. Even at softer times, the intensity is still evident. The clean vocals are effective, trimming up the harsher parts nicely. They have found a much steadier balance in this release than in ‘When I Am God’.

‘Reveries of Flight’ has a long, slow, monologue-like opening. But then it steps straight up suddenly, leading off into a decent remainder. ‘World Without a Sun’ is a gem of a song though. I dare you not to smile and clench your gut at the increasing kick pedal role and dauntingly long opening scream at the start. A sick, but weird riff pulls it along into a breakdown that essentially lasts the remainder of the song, ending it short in my opinion. In ‘A Banquet For Traitors’, a back and forth swing of breakdowns to harmonies exhibits the band’s love for ugly notes and some of the stranger noises a guitar can make, then ends angrily in a fit of metal essence. The pace is cut short with another slow intro into ‘Commissioned By Kings’, but quickly throws a lot at you at once. Constant showboating by drummer Matt Davis and lead guitarist Shane Bay is proceeded by a short singing interlude to let the audience breathe. This is drowned back out by another blast of metal concentrate, riling you up for ‘The Finisher’.

A final end to the album (that came too quickly for me) truly narrates a battle of unearthly proportions. A choir-esque harmony fills in the gaps of pure head banging terror. With ears twitching from musical ecstasy, packing no less than a couple of mini guitar solos, I couldn’t ask for a better end to the album than the overall power of the very last breakdown, with the vocalist screaming “I’ll cut off your horns!”.

‘Son of the Morning’ is very lyrically driven, telling the story of the final battle between God and the devil. The opening song is cleverly structured, with the screaming vocals being the devil speaking, “Where I'll lead them and teach them to feast on the skin that defeats them, the skin they crave”, and the clean harmonies being God’s responses to him, “If you could see like me you'd see you haven't won anything. If you could see like me you'd see, it's by my grace that you're breathing." ‘The New Breed’ speaks about rising up from the filth of the world and claiming a place on the side of God.

‘In All Honesty’ and ‘Breathing Blood’ both narrate people wishing for God to turn their sinful lives around. “Please teach me how to breathe because this air keeps failing my need.” Then, the end begins in ‘World Without A Sun’, just like Revelation says, with the sun turning black. The battle against hell takes place in ‘The Fire Dawn’, narrating an individual fighting the legions of hell outnumbered “one on one-thousand”. Finally, to end it all, ‘The Finisher’ contains God’s final speech to the devil, informing him that he will soon lose the battle he started. “Your challenge has been met, because with a breath I could snap your neck. This won’t be like the first time you tried, because my patience and mercy for you has run dry.”

In this album, I can find no flaws other than things they probably should have included, like a little more range in the lead vocals, or some more time to show off the amazing skill of the lead guitarist. But the structure is solid this time, not so pieced together like ‘When I Am God’. They threw a lot at me at once, but it wasn’t too crowded to enjoy. Usually one end is chugging and the other is continuously shredding like he has ADD. The drummer kept it interesting by changing up the beat often, and overall they play with such an urgency that makes your heart race. I had to hold myself back from screaming along some parts, but my fingers wouldn’t stop tapping along with the drums. The second album is always a tough hill to cross, but I believe they managed well. I give ‘Son of the Morning’ 4 out of 5 napkins for a “pretty great but not perfect”.

Artist: Oh, Sleeper
Album: Son of the Morning
Label: Solid State
Release: August 25, 2009
Length: 32:23
Rating: 4/5

Texas In July - I Am - Review

It used to be normal that a band’s first signed album wasn’t usually that good, but it seems the standards are being raised. I’m seeing more and more fresh faced bands releasing professional sounding albums. That being said, Texas In July, ever heard of them? Me neither, but their first LP, ‘I Am’ has got raw talent written all over it. (And interestingly, they’re from Pennsylvania.) This is one of those bands that will make you feel lazy and inadequate. Forming only two years prior with band members ranging from ages 15 to 17, they already have a record deal with CI Records. What have you done in the last two years?

After an intro track, the first song, ‘It’s Not My First Rodeo’ introduces the album very well, showing off just how brutal the band is. Very quickly, you get to hear how crazy talented the lead guitarist and drummer are at what they do. The vocals could use a little work, but the range is commendable at least. ‘Elements’ and ‘Lancaster’ continue the intensity with a lot of breakdowns, a few gang vocals, and even a few finger licking bass drops. The following track, ‘Hook, Line and Sinner’ opens with a quick paced beat humming to a southern metal feel. But it doesn’t last very long before they’re back into another breakdown. Drummer, Adam Gray has no problem showing off in this song.

Now take a break for a few minutes with the beautiful instrumental interlude ‘I Am Yours’. I really like how this track dissolves all the tension you built up from the previous tracks. Because, namely, when it leads into the next, you appreciate the brutalness of it even more. ‘Aurora’ pulls no punches, prepare for your face to be distorted in the best kind of way. This fun bus is mostly sick-as-anything breakdowns and something else. At this point, I really noticed how much Texas In July sounds like August Burns Red. If you’re sitting down, remove all near-face objects, as your head may hit them repeatedly.

‘Page One’ is essentially the same thing I just described, but condensed into a minute and a half. It’s concentrated metal for your body-flailing pleasure. ‘Reflections’ is definitely the highlight of the album. It starts out like the others, but with the help of another couple of breakdowns, it slowly materializes into a shredding session from the lead guitarist. But the point is that they aren’t just slapping breakdowns together to make a song. I think this track culminates the entire band’s musical prowess quite well. This is what they should be aiming for in their next album.

As they progress closer to the end of the album in the last two tracks, starting with ‘Satellites’, they seem to be inching slightly away from just the breakdown fetish and moving a little closer to the melodic intensity that they can actually pull off really well but don’t do enough of. The song ends with a sweet vocal guest appearance from Gwen Stacy’s Geoff Jenkins. Finally, the last song, ‘Father Time’ ends ‘I Am’ the way every metal album should, powerfully and emotionally.

For the band’s first album, this effort is quite impressive. The vocals have room for improvement and the drums don’t sound extremely well recorded, but neither of these things are huge annoyances. One issue I have that only half bothers me is how similar their style is to August Burns Red. Although this is the first band I’ve heard do so, they probably shouldn’t piggy back their sound too much. Hopefully their next album will improve on that. Nevertheless, the fact that they can mimic ABR so closely is a skill to be commended, especially at their age.

They seem to be overly fond of breakdowns as well, a mistake a lot of fledgling metal bands make. On the up side, they do make each breakdown original and exciting. There are definitely a lot of premium breakdowns on the album, I just can’t get over that they may have put in too many. The reason being that by doing so, they take away from the time they could spend showing off their other musical talents, of which I’m sure they have plenty.

Speaking of time, the LP is way too on the short side, at only 32:38. But I’ll let them off with a warning this time because it’s their first album. But anyone sporting August Burns Red, slap these guys a high five for a great first effort. Give them some support, they’re an up and coming band that’s a little wet behind the ears, but they show a lot of potential. I’m giving them an honest 4 out of 5 napkins. They had a few notable problems, but they made up for by sounding really sick. I’m definitely keeping an eye on this one.

Artist: Texas in July
Album: I Am
Label: CI Records
Release: August 11, 2009
Length: 32:38
Rating: 4/5 Napkins

For the Fallen Dreams - Relentless - Review

Hearing For the Fallen Dreams’ first album ‘Changes’, I had built up pretty high hopes for their new album ‘Relentless’. However, upon listening to it for the first time, I was just a little bit disappointed. I had established some very keen enthusiasm for their first album, and this one is a little different. But don’t fret; as I listened to it a few more times, it has grown on me. Really its only flaws are evident when comparing it to its last album, which I honestly think was better in some respects. Take my word though, that standing all by itself, it is a great album.

It opens with a silly little intro track, but after that, ‘Perceptions’ spells a new, angrier sound for the band. I quickly noticed that they have drastically reduced their emphasis on the raspy, high toned guitars that made them who they were throughout ‘Changes’, and replaced it with more background tweedling. If you don’t know what I mean, check out Misery Signals. But anyway, I was caught singing along to the line ‘Our dreams won’t die, they’ll never go away’ the first time I heard it. ‘A Plethora Of’ continues on a catchy note with a cool guitar riff to open it and carry through the verse. This pulls into a well built up breakdown that made me smile. And finally, after finishing up there, you get to hear some beautiful, clean harmonies that really bring a welcome improvement to their sound. It gives a little meaning to my “classy metal” moniker.

End the sap fest with the fist pumping ‘Nightmares’. It gruffs the album right up, squeezing out that goosebump-giving rage that jams you up something fierce. Even still, it quiets down in the chorus with some clean vocals you may recognize. Courtesy of none other than Jeremy McKinnon of A Day To Remember. The anger continues in ‘December Everyday’. They whip a few old school punk beats as well, feeling a bit more metalcore again for a second. At the end, a point of impression is the brilliantly coordinated transitions between yelling and growling from lead vocalist Dylan Richter. He has obviously improved since last year as well, removing a lot of his hardcore yell sound from his screams. A welcome fix in my book.

'Defiance' shows off another choice breakdown. A neat thing about FTFD is that the backbone of most of their songs are constant breakdowns behind the rhythm, but when they want you to notice one, they’ll jazz it up so it’s not just a generic chugging session. Even if they’re not always that technical, they keep them fast paced and energetic, and usually add vocals half way through so you don’t get bored. Also, drummer Andrew Tkaczyk intros them nicely with his technical fills I loved back in ‘Changes’.

The rest pretty much goes on like that, but for your interest: ‘Smoke Signals has a short guitar solo, ‘In Sincerity’ is a prelude with echo-y guitars and clean harmonies, ‘Two Twenty Two’ is super pissed off, and ‘Resurface the End’ gives you something to bang your heads to. But ‘The Pain Loss’ I didn’t think did the album justice as an ending song. It just doesn’t feel like the album should end after it. Although that could be because the album is only 37:36 long! I mean seriously, is this the way CD’s are being made now? What am I paying for with only half an hour of tunes to hear?

Anyway, as far as anyone listening can tell, this is a pretty sick piece of work. But some of the things they took out, I wish they hadn’t. It doesn’t catch my ears quite like ‘Changes’ did, but that’s just me.

A far as the lyrics go, there is a lot of negativity in the words. They deal with depression and confidence issues, how to deal with the problems in the world. They are very poetically written, but it would take some studying to decipher the more specific meanings. I doubt most people will care anyway since the vocals are mostly hard to understand before you look them up.
Take a listen and find your own opinion, but I can’t accept this album as much of a step forward. They changed some things for the better, like the clean vocals and the catchy guitar riffs, but their old sound has come and gone. ‘Relentless’ places more focus on angry chugging than meaningful melodies. Maybe if you haven’t heard their old album you won’t see my point, but then again I would say don’t miss out on it. In the end they’re still For the Fallen Dreams, and I love ‘em. I’m giving ‘Relentless’ the benefit of the doubt with a solid 4 out of 5 Napkins.

Artist: For the Fallen Dreams
Album: Relentless
Label: Rise Records
Release: July 21, 2009
Length: 37:36
Rating: 4/5 Napkins