I was a huge fan of As Hell Retreat's debut album, Revival. But I understand why a lot of people wouldn't have been. There wasn't anything super special about. But it was a pretty solid modern metalcore/death metal album. So I was looking forward to Volition.
My first thought is, if you didn't like Revival, don't write off Volition. As Hell Retreats really stepped up their game and flipped their sound. Violation is still brutal and heavy but the overall sound takes on a more melodic feel. Tyler Riley's guitar riffs are much more interesting on Volition.
Young Heretic kicks the album off, and fans of As Hell Retreats will instantly notice the band going in a new direction. The song is super melodic and instead of your typical breakdown there's a lone clean guitar being strummed before breaking back into the chorus. The Loss is an instrumental Dillinger esque jazzy guitar before busting into Matriarch. Matriarch is more along the lines of what I expected to hear but even then, there are a lot of nice melodic undertones in the guitar. Shun, Heaven's Bane, and Misanthropist are all similar brutal tech-death metal tracks in the vein of Revival. A Beggar switches things up. Really minimalist in sound, a lot of single strikes, as Jackson Greene's vocals and lyrics take center stage.
In a scene that's over run with bands that all sound the same, As Hell Retreats does a good job at switching up their sound just enough to distinguish them from their peers. It might not be new and As Hell Retreats isn't reinventing the wheel but Violation does break free from the pack. If you weren't a fan of As Hell Retreats, Volition is different enough from Revival to give these guys a second chance.
This weeks album comes from Finland band Revival Hymns.The band is self described as Shoegaze, Indie, and Post Rock. I don't think the band fits the shoegaze bill but they do have some solid post rock riffs in their music. Regardless of genre, Feathers is a solid debut and Revival Hymns are offering it as a free download.
I think we can all agree that metalcore has gone as far as it can. But I was interested in giving Phinehas' Red Chord Records full-length debut, The God Machine, a spin. There has been a lot of hype around this band and comparisons to Haste the Day got me interested. Maybe a band could still make a metalcore record worth caring about.
Phinehas is a cross between Darkest Hour and Haste the Day. There is some killer guitar work on The God Machine and the solos add a nice touch. A couple of catchy hooks here and there, but overall I don't really understand the hype. There's nothing that stands to me to make this record anything special.
The Speaking Stone is a cresendoing intro that jumps into Bad Blood. Bad Blood avoids having a clean vocal chorus structure and the arrangement is a little more interesting then what most of the metalcore genre is offering but it's still a verse-chorus-verse song structure, with some chug chug wee thrown in for good measure. A solid guitar solo instead of a breakdown bridge. A solid song but just nothing that grabs my attention. A Pattern in Pain is clean vocal city. While some of the guitar riffs are interesting and the hook is a pretty catchy melody, a found myself hoping for something more.
Tracks like I Am Lion, From One End of the Sky to The Other, My Horses Are Many, and Grace Disguised By Darkness are all solid tracks. Crowns is probably my favorite song on the album. The guitar riff instantly catches my attention and draws me in. But songs like Legacy, a short, minimal piano instrumental track, The Wishing Well, Pendulum, and That I May Love You, all take away from the album for me. I understand being diverse but it creates to extremes.
Phinehas isn't the worst band I've heard and there are enjoyable songs on The God Machine. But with all the hype I was really hoping for something special, something that would jump out and grab my attention and I didn't hear that on the God Machine.
From 1998 to 2001 Takehold Records was releasing the best Christian hardcore/indie/emo albums and had quickly become a favorite label of mine. Takehold was the label that first grabbed Underoath (although a much different version of the band). They originally released Hopefall's classic No Wings to Speak of ep, and put out a split that featured the first tracks from Further Seems Forever. On top of all that the label released albums from FewLeftStanding, Narcissus, Stairwell, and the Operation.
But by far my favorite release from Takehold is Twothirtyeight's Regulate the Chemicals. Regulate the Chemicals saw Twothiryeight move away from the emo sound of their first two records (Missing You Dearly and Matter Has a Breaking Point) and moving into a much more interesting math rock/indie rock style.
The albums opener, Hands of Men, doesn't really set the tone for the rest of the record. It's laid back and has a strong hook. A solid song and if Regulate the Chemicals had sounded like Hands of Men, the album would've still been great. But when the guitar kicks in on There Is No Dana, things shift into high gear. The song moves from section to section, shifting and evolving. I remember the band playing this song at Purple Door and the crowd roaring the chorus so loud, that the band couldn't be heard. Coin Laundry Loser is a fun and upbeat song musically, while the lyrics are a little tongue and cheek about being poor.
This Town Will Eat You is one of the first songs I remember moving me so deeply, that every time I listened to it, no matter what was going on, I would stop what I was doing and just listen to the song. The Bastard Son and The Spoiled One was one of the first moments in my Christian music experience where I had to question what it was I was listening to. But the song is about how ungrateful we can be about what God has done for us. Songs Will Write the Words is another song like There is No Dana, just moving, evolving, catchy, and all around great.
Tooth and Nail would eventually buy Takehold Records and keep Twothirtyeight. They re-released Regulate the Chemicals with two new songs, Les Wirth and The Sticks Are Woven in the Spokes (a song that would also be on the bands next album). Tooth and Nail also changed the name of The Bastard Son and The Spoiled One to The Spoiled One so the album could be sold in Christian bookstores (although it would eventually be banned for the language in the song anyway).
Regulate the Chemicals remains a timeless album to me. It's fantastic indie rock album and was instrumental in moving my musical taste away from solely hardcore.
I came across Blue Sky Law by accident the other day and I'm glad I did. The band plays a style of post-hardcore/post-punk the reminds me of the great DC scene in the 90's. Fans of Fugazi, Jawbox, and Quicksand will love Blue Sky Law's new ep.
Death Cab For Cutie - Title Track
Belle and Sebastian - If You're Feeling Sinister
Pedro the Lion - Magazine
M83 - Kim and Jesse
Map - Riverside
Richard Swift - Beautiful Heart
Frank Lenz - The Man With the Curse on His Head
The Smiths - The Queen is Dead
Slowdive - When the Sun Hits
The Lassie Foundation - El Rey
Cocteau Twins - Evangeline
Ester Drang - I Don't Want to Live (In a World With Infinite Keys)
Rosie Thomas - Farewell
LN - Nerves Left Exposed
Damien Jurado - Waters Ave South
If Strike First is Facedown's minor league affiliate, it won't be long before Altars is called up to the big leagues. Opposition is metalcore done right. The band is a nice balance of the modern scene with falling to the stereotypical. No constant breakdown, followed by a bass drop, into another breakdown, into some poorly sung clean vocals. You might even call Altars a throwback to the early European metalcore scene. While listening to Opposition, the music reminds me of early In Flames and Soilwork.
The title intro opens the records and instantly puts me in the frame of mind that I'm listening to some late 90's Swedish metal. So when the vocals and breakdown kick in Advocate, I was a little bummed. But the song quickly transitions back into an In Flames style riff and the keyboard undertones and help carry that driving melodic sound. Altars does a great job all throughout Opposition of balancing a love for European metal and combing it with a sound similar to bands like For Today and Impending Doom. The music is driving yet has a great sense of melody at times. Opposition isn't full of breakdowns, so when there is a breakdown, the listener doesn't feel like they're being assaulted with the same song over and over again.
Opposition is a great debut ep from a band with big things ahead of them. Altars deliver a solid and refreshing metal album in a scene that is far too often similar and stale.
If you've never listened to the Dingees you're missing out on one of the great Ska/Punk/Reggae bands. Their 3 records on Tooth and Nail each offer something different and are equally great. The band returned last year with The Rebel Soul Sound System, a mostly reggae inspired album full of great songs. The more I've listened to this album the more I've enjoyed it. A nice relaxing album for your nice summer nights.
You ever feel like as soon as you get into a band they break-up? It happened with Haste the Day, The Famine, He is Legend, Alove For Enemies, Wrench in the Works, and now Call to Preserve. Thankfully before Call to Preserve called it a day they headed into the studio to give us four more songs. And they gave us their best yet.
Call to Preserve stepped up their game on Life of Defiance and with Validation the band builds on that sound and improves upon what they started. Exploit, Neglect, Condemn comes storming out of the gate. Hard hitting, circle pit inducing with a melodic guitar riff and chain vocals on the chorus. The title track reminds me of Shai Hulud (which is a good thing). I love the guitar riffs on this track; Really melodic and driving. Closer is another circle pit track. A four count and right into the fast paced song. The whole album reminds me of the mid-90's hardcore scene.
The problem is, it's only four songs that clock in at 10 minutes long. By the time the record ends you feel like you just started. I found myself spinning this album over and over again just because I enjoyed it so much. Why do bands hate to release their best music right as they're breaking up?
I just got an e-mail from Deep Elm Record. They're giving away a free album every week for the rest of 2011. They'll offer a new album every Wednesday (expect weeks when they have a new album out). You do have to become a fan on Facebook but again I say, a small price to pay for free music.
This weeks album is The Emo Diaries Chapter 12: I Love You But In The End I Will Destroy You. This compilation has featured the likes of Jimmy Eat World, The Appleseed Cast, Brandtson, Planes Mistaken For Stars and tons of other great acts. Chapter 12 has songs from The Dandelion War, Ease the Medic, Summer Hours, and more.
Like Deep Elm on Facebook and enjoy free music for the rest of the year. http://on.fb.me/deepelm
Sleeping Giant has been a band I've always slept on. I love Sleeping Giant but I've always slept on them. I didn't hear the band until they performed at Facedown Fest East Coast. I picked up their debut record and loved it but when Sons of Thunder came out, I ignored it. When I did eventually pick up Sons of Thunder, I loved it and regretted not getting the album sooner. So I knew when Kingdom Days In An Evil Age came out, I wasn't going to wait around to listen to it.
Kingdom Days is great. It's one of those albums that is so good and there aren't really words to describe why. Sleeping Giant are just one of those bands that creates quality, meaningful hardcore and each record is amazing. Just a solid band.
Throne Room Militance is a solid intro, a little short but it jumps right into the machine gun drums blasts of Dead Men Walking. Frankie Palmeri from Emmure lends his vocal talents to Eyes Wide Open, which seems like an odd choice for a guest vocalist on a Sleeping Giant track and even stranger considering the song is about praying for those around you but his vocals fit into the song perfectly.
There seems to be two sides of Kingdom Days. The first half of the album is a call for change and social justice. The songs are about taking stock of your world and your beliefs. It's a call for God to move you to action. But the second half of the album is almost a worship record.
Tithemi declares "All fear, all pain, all hurt, all grief, all lies, must bow to Jesus name." Tongues of Fire talks about speaking destiny and life. The Unnamable Name is a song about those who have given their life for Christ. Morning Star is another full on worship song, asking for Jesus to come. Enthroned ends Kingdom Days in a similar fashion that all sleeping giant records end, with a softer worship song (Oh Praise Him, He Will Reign).
From start to finish Kingdom Days In An Evil Age is an incredible record. Another great outing by Sleeping Giant. Just another reason why they're one of the best bands in the current hardcore scene.
When The Great Commission announced their new album would be called Heavy Worship and that the band was starting a new genre called heavy worship, I was honestly expecting something different from the band. I thought I was getting the most hardcore and awesome worship record ever created. Seeing that the band had even covered Hillsong United did nothing to put these thoughts aside. Well for those like me who were looking forward to banging your head while you raised your hands in praise, this isn't your record.
In fact you might say Heavy Worship isn't really the type of album you'd hear played in church... You know if churches actually played metal.
Heavy Worship is a solid hardcore record. A solid hook is a solid hook. I love a catchy hook that has me singing the chorus the second time through the song. That's my pop sensibility coming out. Even metal and hardcore need a catchy chorus once in a while. And The Great Commission does a great job at writing memorable lines.
The record kicks off With Don't Go to Church, Be the Church, a song that starts pretty similar to tracks on the bands debut record, And Every Knee Shall Bow. But at 50 seconds in when "Here Comes the Pain" is yelled, the track changes and my mind raced back to xDeathstarx. Then the chorus comes in and it's catchy. The song is a little scattered and has several changes but it does nothing to deter my general enjoyment. Anything that reminds me of xDeathstarx and has a catchy sing-a-long chorus is great in my book.
Walking Dead is a little more of what you'd expect from The Great Commission. Just heavy and sludgy, full of breakdowns. When It Rains is another song with a super catchy hook. Not as disjointed as Don't Go To Church, but every bit as good. Draw the Line is another moment where The Great Commission showcases their strong song-writing abilities and their newfound talent at getting songs stuck in my head. Second time through the chorus I was singing along.
Preaching To The Choir is going to step on people's toes. My first listen through, the chorus had me stop dead in my tracks and hit rewind on my cd player to make sure I was hearing right. When the chorus is "Some say Christians don't tell lies, they just sing them on Sunday mornings" people are bound to get offended. It's a great message in the song and I love the point of the song. But it did make me say what and really listen to the song.
While the rest of the album is solid, there's nothing else memorable. The riffs all blend together. I still enjoyed the songs but there wasn't anything I hadn't already heard. Weight of the World is a nice hook but isn't as catchy to me as the earlier songs. I do love the cover of Hillsong United's Came to My Rescue. It's a nice refreshing take on a worship genre that's kind of stuck.
Nothing new and a lot of people will call this another deathcore album. But I enjoy it. The Great Commission have written some really killer songs and have a great message. And I can get behind a band with a purpose.
Because funds are limited I've only been able to keep 4 or 5 shows on the Meltdown live at one time. So if you've gone back to look for older episodes, they're not there. I've now uploaded the older episodes to mediafire for you to download and enjoy. The link is on the side of the page or you can click here: http://www.mediafire.com/?34drka881bc2x
Remember you can always go to www.mybloodypatton.podomatic.com and subscribe to The Meltdown on iTunes and get every new episode downloaded automatically.
A song comes along every so often that just wins you over. I wasn't a huge fan of My Epic but when I heard Lower Still off the bands second record Yet, I was sold. Yet was fantastic album and I was looking forward to hearing new music from My Epic. But when the band announced they would be releasing a new acoustic ep, I wasn't sure how much I'd like it. What distinguished Yet from the band's debut, I am Undone, was an intensity in the music.
Broken Voice on the long side for an ep, at 8 songs and nearly 33 minutes. Centuries is a nice instrumental intro the goes into Beloved. A simple song: just acoustic guitar, cello, and vocals. It's beautiful, a little underwhelming but beautiful none the less.
And then Alone kicks in. Alone hit me the same way Lower Still did. The hand claps start and then acoustic guitar and vocals come in. When the chorus hits and the drums come in, I stopped what I was doing to truly pay attention to the song. Lyrically Alone is a 3 sided song. The first verse deals with the idea of being wrong about God or God not being there anymore. We'd be alone without the Father. Verse 2 is about Jesus and how he always with the Father and God never left him and Jesus, with all that he went through, was never alone. Verse 3 talks about the death of Christ and how in that moment, when Jesus took on our sins, Christ was completely alone. It's such a beautiful haunting song and the lyrics "You didn't die for sin, you died covered in them" hit me super hard. Alone is one of my favorite tracks of the year and it makes Broken Voice worth buying.
The whole ep is really beautiful. Lazarus reminds me a lot of Page France (RIP). A nice laid back, shuffle groove, with a touch of country. I love ending the ep with the Doxology. It's like the perfect ending. Broken Voice is a fantastic ep and My Epic continues to get better and impress.
Before David Bazan was a solo artist chronicling his "break-up" with God and before (and even after) he was a controversial Christian artist, David Bazan was a champion to Christian indie rock kids everywhere with Pedro the Lion. While each Pedro the Lion album is great, It's Hard To Find a Friend has always been my favorite. The bands first full-length album and first release on Jade Tree records.
Bazan has always been an amazing story teller with his lyrics and he shines on It's Hard to Find a Friend. Of Up and Coming Monarchs tells the story of a draft dodger. Big Trucks is the conversation between a father and son and the importance of having patience. Bad Diary Days is about a cheating wife; When They Really Get to Know You They Will Run Away is about the pressures of fashion and looking good all the time.
But even outside the great story telling that Bazan delivers is the spiritual honesty in his lyrics (which made Curse Your Branches such a great album). The Longer I Lay Here is Bazan in need of God to help him get through life. Secret of the Easy Yoke is the song that got me really hooked on Pedro the Lion. This is the earliest moment of Bazan dissatisfaction with Christians on recorded music as he laments about not being able to find God in church and within the Church. It's a killer song. Honest, heartfelt, beautiful. Promise is a fantastic closer and a great song about blind faith.
David Bazan has always made great albums and Pedro the Lion holds a special place in my heart.
The Radio Sky is a rock band that features Corey Brandon from Norma Jean on guitar. Last year they released their self-titled debut album and put it online for free. I haven't heard any new news from the band (as all the info on their album is still on myspace) but their record is great. A solid rock album that should be checked out and enjoyed.
When Creator came out, it was a breath of fresh air in a scene quickly becoming stagnant. It was also a reintroduction to Facedown records and hardcore in general for me. I had spent a lot of time out of the genre and Hands was a nice welcome back.
Give Me Rest blows Creator away. There's a tension in the music, in the lyrics. There's an intensity that lacked on Creator, but to contrast that, Give Me Rest has some of the most beautiful pieces of music you'll hear this year.
The drums come pounding in on I Will as Shane Ochsner screams "Rise! From the Quiet I Will Rise!" The guitar comes in quietly and as the clean vocals come in singing "Rest my soul in you alone" the tension slowly builds and the listener is waiting on this ever-expanding musical field to fully gain steam and explode and then it does. It's like an exhalation. Water doesn't waste any time building. But even on Water, as the music slowly dies and the vocals whisper, "Be still so we may hear his voice", it creates this tension with the listener and as the music erupts back in, it's like an exhalation.
Hands do a good job at making sure the music stays fresh and isn't a constant building tension into a crescendoing exhalation. Cube has more of a straight rock riff on the guitar and while the song is still heavy, the vibe on the intro to the song is a nice transition. But when Shane screams "Somebody throw the switch, shut it down", the music explodes back into the listeners face. As the vocals and ambient guitar open up Helix, you're relaxed and concentrating on the lyrics. Even when the band fully kicks in, the ambient lead guitar line playing under everything sets a mood of tension and unease and the lyrics accompany that unease.
"I believe Your hands hold the sun. But in the deepest of my mind, I question everything you've done."
So when the music fades and the guitar line lingers, as the band begins to build, you're ready for the downpour of sound that comes rushing through your speakers.
Here I Am is where the album starts to shift. The bass line intro is nice and has a very familiar feel to it. Even as the vocals scream this tension that Ochsner is feeling, the music carries a different weight. Jovian has a weird interplay between some choir vocals and the guitar riff that create a unique sound. Not unpleasant, just different. Northern Light is where the post-rock influence on Hands' music really kicks in. Very Appleseed Cast esque, and as a huge Appleseed Cast fan, I'm all for it. It's the end of a slow shift that had been happening over the course of the last couple of songs so unlike modern metalcore records where the ballad attacks out of the blue, Northern Light is just a beautiful piece of music and Hands pulls off the atmospheric sound really well.
After the relaxation and deep breath that was Northern Light, 2005 brings the tension element of the music back into play. "Burn this body down. To the ashes and the dust, from which it came." "I am bound by the chains of temptation. I am bound by the demons, staring back." The song cresendos with the declaration "By Your Grace I am released!” Restart is like the great close and acceptance we've been waiting for. Not an end, but a move towards acceptance and an end of tension.
Give Me Rest ends the album beautifully. It's that peaceful calm that is the perfect end to a record full of tension and questioning.
Give Me Rest is the concept of the album, as the phrase, along with Be Still, is repeated several times. The lyrics accompany the music perfectly and vice versa. It's heavy and beautiful, tense and calm. Give Me Rest is by far the best record I've heard this year.
Summer is in full swing. Trips to the beach and the pool are well underway. 4th of July is upon us. Barbecues and fireworks out in the heat. Great memories are made in the summer time. A lot of my summer time memories include going to Creation, Cornerstone, and Warp Tour, suited up and skanking in a dusty pit to my favorite ska bands.
Sitting out by the pool isn't complete for me if it isn't accompanied by upbeats and a horn section. Ska and summer go to together like peanut butter and jelly. They were made for each other.
Indie Vision Music, like myself, believes that ska is a great thing and isn't dead yet. So just in time for the 4th, they released Ska Lives Volume 2. 29 tracks of ska goodness including new tracks from The Insyderz and The Dingees, the OC Supertones 2005 version of Adonai, plus music from Blood and Water, Staked Liked Pancakes, Tiki Joe and the Bamboo Band, Skamikaze!, and more. It's a fun compilation.
