Trivium -- 'Ascendancy' [review]

Trivium
"Ascendancy"
(Roadrunner Records)


It's a riff-heavy, double-bass filled sonic assault that features aggressive yet melodic singing.

It's the newest wave of American heavy metal, a movement that features bands like Lamb of God, Killswitch Engage and Shadows Fall at the helm.

Well, you can add one more name to the list: Florida's Trivium.

The band's second album (the group's Roadrunner debut), "Ascendancy," is filled with all the trademarks of a solid metal album. In fact, the album is probably one of the best (pure) metal releases to hit shelves in a while (possibly since Lamb of God's release last summer).

The one-two attack of dueling guitar from lead vocalist Matt Heafy and guitarist Corey Beaulieu is one of the album's higlights, and the two seemed pretty eager to stick as much heavy riff-age and hard-hitting solos as they could into each song. The two are kept on track by drummer Travis Smith and bassist Paolo Gregoletto, who not only work off each other quite well, but lay down some truly destructive beats that take center stage at times (especially in a bludgeoning bridge towards the end of "Rain") and outshine the rest of the band's sound.

Production wise, the album really shines, as each part of the band melds together into a crushing machine -- the thunderous beats, the riff-heavy guitar work and the interplay of melodic and scratchy vocals (courtesy Heafy, Beaulieu and Gregoletto).

Opening with a brief instrumental (that also features a piano), the album lulls listeners into a false sense of ease. "The End of Everything" soon gives way to the chunky riffs and machine-gun beats of "Rain." Heafy growls out his lyrics like a general leading a charge, though the Trivium vocal "sound" soon rears it's head in the chorus: throaty melody with more "clean" backing vocals (or vice verse).

"Ascendancy" is such a strong metal release, incorporating more contemporary metal elements in its sound, but still maintaining a classic (Priest or Maiden) feel. "Rain" grabs the listener, but "Ascendancy" doesn't allow a moment of air, maintaining the assault throughout: "Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr" (with its crushing pre-chorus); the blistering opening to "Drowned and Torn Asunder" along with the intricate guitar-work behind the chorus; the urgent nature of the title-track; the nod to the European metal scene on "Suffocating Sight." Track after track, "Ascendancy" comes across as a hit. Even the slightly out of place, more melodic "Dying in Your Arms" (a track the band had to push to have included on the album), with its unique tempo and hook-filled verses, sounds like a homerun.

Nothing on this album sounds like a radio track, yet everything sounds like a hit. "Ascendancy" is a welcome release from Roadrunner, a label built on metal that seems to have faltered at times in the past couple of years.

It's completely insane tracks like "A Gunshot to the Head of Trepidation," a song that turns on a dime from an metal juggernaut to a time-capsule from the 80s, the interesting "Dying in Your Arms," the choking "Suffocating Sight" and the amazing solos in songs like "Like Light to the Flies" that will make this one of the best albums of the year. Buy "Ascendancy" for the sheer metal bliss; overdose on the amazing guitar work throughout the album, feast on the spot-on vocals and bang your head to the sick beats overflowing in every track. This is an album not to be missed.

Norma Jean -- 'O God, The Aftermath' [review]

Norma Jean
"O God, The Aftermath"
(Solid State Records)


Norma Jean creates music that isn't immediately accessible to the average listener. The band specializes in a sub-genre of hardcore some have dubbed noisecore -- a type of music that relies on breakneck tempo changes and minimal song structure. Let's put it this way: what a band like Dream Theater might be to progressive rock, Norma Jean is to hardcore.

The band offered up an intense, bombastic release in 2002 ("Bless the Martyr & Kiss the Child") that left fans salivating for more. Little did they realize the sophomore release would take almost three years.

And what a tumultuous two and a half years it would be.

Shortly after the release of "Bless the Martyr," Norma Jean lost its front man Josh Scogin. For "O God..." the band picked up Cory Putman, who had previously worked with notable metal bands Living Sacrifice and Eso-Charis.

The band doesn't seem to have missed a beat. The entirety of "O God..." unfolds like a musical assault on the senses. Odd tempos fall over one another and give way to repetitive riffs and aggressive backbeats. While at times the sound will stop long enough to indicate a track change, for the most part the entire album is like one solid wall of sound. Song structures are scatterbrained at best; there's hardly a verse, chorus, verse foundation, much less noticeable verses or choruses on any of the tracks. Putman does a good job filling Scogin's shoes, though it seemed hardly a difficult task as a majority of the vocals are throaty yelps (though, it should be noted, Putman is far less guttural in his delivery).

But as much as Norma Jean's sound is built around the concept of a cacophony of sound, there are some impressive moments squeezed in too: there's a great melodic bridge towards the end of the album's second track, "Vertebraille"; the band almost channels the spirit of Fudge Tunnel's popular song "Grey" during the "chorus" of "Bayonetwork"; there's some fantastic "singing" during parts of "Liarsenic," probably the best and most easily accessibly song on the album.

Overall, Norma Jean is able to craft a pretty intricate, hard-hitting album. The songs easily bleed into each other and the vocals are pretty low in the mix, giving way to the music which is the real focus (or at least should be) of what Norma Jean is putting forth.

While it's not the most accessible album, "O God..." is exactly the type of album Norma Jean wanted to release. It's abrasive, it's in your face, it's unrelenting. And, for fans of the genre, it\'s a solid release for fans that have been waiting for a long time.

Black Label Society -- 'Mafia' [review]

Black Label Society
"Mafia"
(Artemis Records)


Black Label Society has been releasing new music almost non-stop since its inception in 1999 (an album a year), so it's no surprise that front man Zakk Wylde and his boys are a tight-knit group that know exactly how to craft a strong song, let alone a strong album.

"Mafia" sounds like the bastard son of Ozzy Osbourne and Alice in Chains -- the perfect blend of metal and southern rock groove that you can't help but nod along with. This new album takes a page right out of 2002's "1919 Eternal." It's chock-full of blistering riffs and insane guitar solos that continue to solidify Wylde's place among the metal elite.

"Mafia's" first single, the intentionally plodding "Suicide Messiah," rumbles along at a deliberate place, showcasing Wylde's Ozzy-influenced vocals, as well at the intricate guitar work he is know for. And the rest of the band (in its current incarnation) live up to the BLS label. Craig Nunenmacher is a beast behind the drums, accentuating each track with impressive fills and subtle cymbal crashes. Nunenmacher and bassist James Lomenzo (who previously worked with Wylde in the band Pride and Glory) lay a solid foundation that Wylde dances around vocally, on the guitar and, at times, on the piano as well.

While "Mafia" is packed with impressive bombast, there's a couple of surprises on here too. The heartfelt "In This River" (a tribute to guitarist Dimebag Darrell) is one of the highlights of the album. The ballad-esque track features Wylde on piano (with some fantastic background guitar-work and a tight little solo), accompanied by Lomenzo on bass. The song isn't over-the-top trite, but the emotion really seethes from the speakers as the song slowly takes shape and repeats.

The moments of beauty -- "In This River," the piano opening to "Forever Down," the haunting "Dirt on the Grave" -- hardly tip the scale of head-banging goodness on show throughout "Mafia." Tracks like "Fire it Up," "You Must Be Blind" and "Electric Hellfire" are vintage BLS, while the Lynyrd Skynyrd cover, "I Never Dreamed," might be one of the best songs Wylde and the boys ever recorded (and the song closes with one of the sickest solos I've ever heard).

Most are quick to point out that "Mafia" is simply more of the same from BLS, but the truth is that the band has a blueprint for the music it creates, and Wylde is such a great artist that while each song might sound like something the band has done before, that doesn't make you want to listen to it any less. Wylde is one of the rare guitarists that seems to have his craft literally flowing through his veins; it appears as if he simply plugs in his guitar and solos pour out.

While "Mafia" may be nothing new and Wylde's vocals can get slightly repetitive at times, it's still a solid rock-metal release with enough "surprises" to keep casual and diehard fans interested. BLS is definitely in an upswing and if you liked any of the band's previous work, you'll love this album.

Open Hand -- 'You and Me' [review]

Open Hand
"You and Me"
(Trustkill Records)


There's a lot of band's out there making great music ... band's that, despite being on an established label and having a tight, solid sound, still manage to slip through the cracks.

Open Hand is one of those bands.

Formed in 1999 by guitarist/vocalist Justin Isham, drummer Alex Rodriguez and bassist Michael Anastasi, the band combined elements from a variety of genres (alternative rock, hardcore and amazing melody meshed together to form a truly dynamic sound) and quickly built a solid fan base through tours with Thursday, Glassjaw and The Juliana Theory.

The band released a couple of independent EPs, and was courted by a handful of major labels (which led to a few "false-starts" for the band) before finding a home at Trustkill Records, a label known predominantly for hardcore bands. The band released "The Dream," a combination of the out-of-print EPs and a couple of new tracks, at the beginning of 2003. By the summer, the band was touring Europe with Poison the Well.

But, as they say on VH1s "Behind the Music," things were about to change...

Following the tour, the band's bassist and guitarist abruptly quit, forcing Isham and Rodriguez to put the band on hiatus. During this time Isham questioned the band's future, while "The Dream" continued to find new fans (eventually finding its way onto various critics' "best of" lists for the year).

Rodriguez eventually left too, and Isham was forced to reinvent the band, connecting with Paxton Pyror (an old friend and versatile drummer). The two picked up bassist Michael Anastasi (from the original line-up) and guitarist Sean Woods (another one-time member) along the way and Open Hand finally got its sophomore release, "You and Me," on shelves in the public's hands.

"You and Me" is a change of pace for the band that, at one time, drew strong comparisons to bands in the vein of older Sunny Day Real Estate or, perhaps, later Jawbreaker material (think initial "emo" movement for lack of a better term). On this new release, Open Hand takes that original sound and mixes in some stoner rock, alternative metal and punk -- think Queens of the Stone Age and CKY meets the Foo Fighters and Thursday, with the most ethereal vocals to grace speakers in some time.

The band pumps out a strong 14 tracks in just over 41 minutes, touching and melding all genres of influence along the way. The album explodes with the frenetic "Pure Concentrated Evil," a just over a minute and a half power rock song to make any Clutch fan smile. The song abruptly ends, giving way to a more subdued "Her Song," chock-full of slow, distorted guitar and groovy backbeats. Not only do Isham and Pyror work great together musically with rhythm and structured beats, but their vocals complement great as well.

Speaking of vocals, Isham also shares vocal duties with the opposite sex on a couple of tracks (Hayley Helmericks on "Tough Girl" and "Take No Action" and Katy J on "Waiting for Katy").

"I've always wanted to have other people sing on our records -- especially strong, empowered women," Isham says on the band's Web site about the collaborations. "It's so boring to just hear a dude singing all the time about the kind of stuff that dudes sing about. It's refreshing to get a female perspective. What's really cool about it on these songs is that the girls' voices are so much harder and more raw than mine. I sing the pretty parts. It's awesome."

In the end, Open Hand has crafted one fantastic hard rock album, an album that pulls influence from a variety of places and manages to defy yet embrace multiple genres. Open Hand is a band that has been overlooked long enough and would be a great addition to any music fan's collection.