Terror -- 'The Damned, The Shamed' [review]

Terror - The Damned, The Shamed
Century Media (6/10/08)
Hardcore / Metalcore

There's nothing new or particularly inventive about Terror's latest skull-crushing offering, The Damned, The Shamed, and really, you wouldn't want it any other way. The band offers up a thunderous dose of straight-ahead hardcore mayhem, with thirteen tracks clocking in at just over a half-hour of old-school, anger-fueled brutality, full of the trademark hardcore staples which may not break any new ground, but will combine for one hell of an album.

Chunky rhythm, riffs galore, down-tuned guitars, breakdowns, the familiar growled vocals... you name it, the band does it with the aggression and volume turned up to 10.

And they're is able to connect all of the pieces phenomenally. Check out the intense groove on "Betrayer"—hands-down the best Terror has to offer this time out. The band even throws in a slower bridge that just makes the song seem to expand well beyond its two-and-a-half minutes.

Also of note: "What I Despise" (frantic drumming galore and some inspired riffing), "Rise of the Poisoned Youth" (with some terrific bass work) and "March to Redemption" (great lyrics and vocals, and probably the best guitar work on the entire album). There really aren't any weak points on this album, although the first half starts to blend together a little. The band seemed willing to switch it up more frequently on the latter half of the disc (check out the opening to "Lost Our Minds" or the distortion on "Still Believe?") . Of course, track after track of roughly two-minute songs can’t really get too boring.

If you love hardcore, this album is for you. It's a no-frills blow to the face that most newer bands of the genre seem to lack.

Children of Bodom -- 'Blooddrunk' [review]

Children of Bodom - Blooddrunk
Fontana Universal Records (4/15/08)
Metal

It would appear as if Children of Bodom likes taking a different approach with each new album, as seen with the evolution from 2003's Hate Crew Deathroll (an explosive assault) to 2005's Are You Dead Yet?, which was a little more raw and less expansive. And now, with Blooddrunk, the band have taken the aggressive approach one step further.

The album spills out of the speakers like a wall of sound, as everything is thick, compact and foreboding. The band has incorporated more thrash elements to its repertoire, and it gives the material more of an edge than on its previous album. The rest is vintage Children of Bodom, with killer solos, mind-bending riffs, plenty of keyboards, choking double-bass drumming and a lot of melody to temper the breakneck pacing.

Bret Michaels -- 'Rock My World' [review]

Bret Michaels - Rock My World
VH1 Classic Records (6/03/08)
Rock

Let's just get this over right up front: I've always had a soft spot for Poison. Those first four studio albums, right up to Native Tongue... there's some good stuff on those albums.

So of all people, I'd be a good choice as someone interested in a Bret Michaels solo album. So lo and behold, in 2008 Michaels releases Rock My World, and all would seem right with this review. But, I'll let you in on a little secret... Way back in 2003, Michaels released Songs of Life, to little or no fanfare. And half of the songs on this "latest" disc appeared on said album five years ago.

Synastry -- 'Blind Eyes Bleed' [review]

Synastry - Blind Eyes Bleed
Year of the Sun Records (05/13/08)
Death Metal

Urgency is the key word to describe Synastry’s latest offering. The band definitely has a firm foot in the death metal genre (most notably with the vocals and certain musical elements), but merges that core feel with a more ethereal overall sound. It sort of sounds like a blending of earlier Slipknot and Fear Factory material (circa mid- to late-’90s) fronted by a singer content on channeling the bowels of hell without completely blowing out the vocals (think Obituary on the World Demise album).

Not too many bands are attempting this type of music these days, so it has a nice, fresh feel to it. And being able to vary up the typical death metal attack with synths or sound effects (For example, there's some nice use of alarms on “As the Dust Settles.”) gives the band this very subtle industrial edge to it’s sound and leads to this multi-layed attack which rarely bores the listener. The band itself has even referred to its music as a combination of the brutality of old-school metal with a futuristic edge.

With Dead Hands Rising -- 'Expect Hell' [review]

With Dead Hands Rising - Expect Hell
Mediaskare Records (04/29/08)
Metal

When a band chooses to call its album Expect Hell, what would you expect?

How about the firm slap in the face that is “The Possession.” Indeed, the intense brutality of With Dead Hands Rising’s music married with absolutely horrifying vocals plays out exactly how you’d expect the soundtrack on your journey to hell would sound.

But the band is far from a one-trick pony. There’s this really subtle melody haunting “Beckoning the Glass Cased” that almost goes unnoticed, but once you do, you just shake your head at the brilliance of it all. The same could be said for “Ultima,” where the band keeps sneaking in these moments of melody among the madness of the metal.

The band sounds tight as hell, tearing through each track with a vengeance, drums and bass shake the listener to the core like a depth charge with a dueling guitar attack taking out anything left moving. It can do the up-tempo speed stuff, and slow everything down to a grinding dirge (just listen to the crushing bridges in “A Lurid Account of Murder”).

And the band does a great job of putting together really epic-sounding material, too. Of particular note is “Distress Patterns” and “Tourniquet Girl.” Both songs are simply relentless in their assault, but there’s plenty of tempo-shifting and incorporating of melodic rhythm that, even though each clocks in at just under five- and just over four-minutes respectively, they feel much fuller just from the broad scope of the music. (There's some really good blasts beats toward the end of "Tourniquet Girl" that you can't resist headbanging to.) Fantastic stuff all around.

There’s little dead space on here. In fact, the lowest point of the album is the instrumental “Hammer of the Gods,” and even then the only real problem with the track is that it clocks in at under a minute in length. The band can do sick instrumentals when it wants (the slower, melodic “Momentary Alphabetic Convergence” is proof of that, and the group even works a piano into the mix!).

Another huge surprise release on the metal scene this year. A must-listen for fans of brutal metal at its finest.

Story of the Year -- 'Our Time is Now' [DVD review]

Story of the Year - Our Time is Now
Image Entertainment (05/13/08)
Unrated
100 minutes

There’s really only one group of people who would be interested in the new Story of the Year DVD, Our Time is Now: fans of the band.

The disc, subtitled Two years in the life of …, is basically a collection of home video shot by the band over a two-year span of touring. It’s the usual montage of backstage antics and tour-related tomfoolery. And while there’s moments of live performances captured, apart from three or four songs sprinkled through the hour-and-a-half-plus on the main feature (with accompanying black and white grainy footage, for some reason), it’s pretty much a documentary of the band’s life off-stage.

The special features are the more interesting aspects of the disc: an hour-plus making of In the Wake of Determination, the band’s 2005 release; two “making the video” documentaries for “We Don’t Care Anymore” and “Take Me Back” (and the corresponding videos); some deleted scenes; and a unnecessary trailer for the DVD. It's neither groundbreaking nor cutting edge, but manages to do the job.

Since it’s all shot on a home video, the video quality is to be expected (read slightly grainy at times and not too polished), and is all presented in 1:33:1 aspect ratio. The sound is clear and crisp for the most part (there’s some hairy moments shot from the stage where the sound is completely blown out), and is presented in stereo (no need for surround).

This sort of stuff isn’t groundbreaking. For example, back in the early ’90s Skid Row released two similar videos, but instead of solely being a collection of home video footage, the band also offered up a hefty set of live songs from throughout the tour, and also a collection of music videos. For what it is, Our Time is Now is fine, but this wasn’t the most interesting time in the band’s history (making the sophomore album after years of touring). The more interesting video would have been shot prior to the band's major-label release, a video that would have told the story of a band struggling to get noticed, earning a record contract and then going out to prove itself. There’s no drama here, just a group of guys who already “made it” that now have the privilege to goof off and presume fans care. Well, fans will, but not too many others will.

Warbringer -- 'War Without End' [review]

Warbringer - War Without End
Century Media Records (02/05/08)
Metal

It’s 1985, and you, being the metal head that you are, pull out your box of tapes from the back of the closet, album after album of speed and thrash strewn before you . Look, it’s Slayer’s Hell Awaits. Hey, Megadeth’s Killing is My Business … and Exodus’ Bonded by Blood. There’s probably a copy of Anthrax’s Spreading the Disease and Overkill’s Feel the Fire in there, too. And no doubt a worn copy of Metallic’s Kill ’Em All (most probably a copy off a friend).

If any of those albums were in your collection, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see War bringer’s debut War Without End in there, too. Well, except for the fact the album was released in 2008.

But enough with the analogy. If you’re a fan of any of the abovementioned bands; If you’ve owned any of those albums or heard a song off of any of them, then you know what Warbringer sounds like.

Solos galore, crushing riffs that just tumble over one another and drumming that bears down on the listener like a freight train. And don’t forget those snarled vocals that are so pissed-off there’s no need for the singer to scream.

Warbringer seems more than willing to wear its influences on its sleeve, so much so that chunks of the album (moments in the songs) sound like they were lifted right out of 1985. It’s likely not thievery, more of an homage, but it stills hinders the band in that nothing on the album sounds particularly inspired or new.

Sure, “Hell on Earth” is a terror, the riffs on “Shoot to Kill” are inspired, and “At the Crack of Doom” just crushes, so the band is sure to earn plenty of new fans. But any die-hard fan out there would rather pick up any of the (at least) 20 classics that were released in the mid-’80s instead. And that’s a shame, because Warbringer has crafted one punished metal album in War Without End. A definite two thumbs up for this debut, so dig out your suitcase from ’85, put on your tight jeans and denim jacket, and prepare to bang your head. This album is great as a one-off. One just has to wonder what the group could possibly offer for an encore.

The Ghost Inside -- 'Fury and the Fallen Ones' [review]

The Ghost Inside - Fury and the Fallen Ones
Mediaskare Records (4/15/08)
Metal / Hardcore

The Ghost Inside is another one of those bands not necessarily doing anything new or inventive. On Fury and the Fallen Ones, its debut album, the band offers up this juggernaut of metal with a hardcore soul. There are the breakdowns and growled vocals, but everything else is expansive enough (more rhythm guitar and melody and so on) to make it more than hardcore.

And while it's nothing new, The Ghost Inside presents the set in such a powerful package, where every song just seems to have this edge and rawness, that you just can't help but nod along to every song.

Stick to Your Guns -- 'Comes From the Heart' [review]

Stick to Your Guns - Comes From the Heart
Century Media (5/13/08)
Hardcore / Metal

There's a time and place for everything. But sometimes, at some point, the "get in, kick ass, get out" approach becomes a cliché. And that was the obvious aim Stick to Your Guns was taking with Comes From the Heart (the album's ten tracks clock in at under a half-hour). So, let's consider that strike one.

Then there's the hardcore scene in general. Unless you're taking the brutal, old-school approach (take a listen to last year's Warriors album for a good example of this), or shifting toward the metal end of the spectrum (Hatebreed isn't reinventing the wheel every outing, but you can't dismiss any album that the band has released), you're pretty much stuck. Hell, Remembering Never was singing about beating a dead horse back in 2004. So for a band to try carrying that "core" movement, made famous by the likes of Atreyu or maybe From Autumn to Ashes (and I'm talking back around '01 or '02 here), it's unclear whether we're supposed to respect Stick to Your Guns for carrying the banner, or shake our heads for the group ... well, beating a dead horse. So there's strike two.

If it wasn't already clear, Stick to Your Guns has a fairly formulaic approach to its music. There are hardcore breakdowns, attacking riffs and this positive (albeit brutal) element to the music. The vocals oscillate between the typical hardcore howl and clean, sometimes melodic, singing.

But don't get me wrong; it's not all boring. "Tonight's Entertainment" is a nice little brutal slab of hardcore, while the drumming on "Driving Force" is pretty impressive, and there's some pretty good rhythm guitar work on there, too. And there are some nice solos sprinkled about the album, especially on "We Must Look Like Ants From Up There". And to throw listeners for a loop, there's "Interlude", which basically consists of sampling and acoustic work in a very laid-back, mellow vein. It's entirely out of place on the album, and doesn't really work, as a result; but it's a nice try nonetheless.

Comes From the Heart is a little too short, and not the most original album out there, but Stick to Your Guns doesn't do a terrible job producing this type of music. Not fantastic, and not horrendous, this album is just sort of there, and listeners will either love it or hate it.