Christmas music and heavy metal have never really gone together. And why would they? Tough, mean, brutal heavy metal with cheery, happy, fun Christmas music? It just doesn't make sense. But when August Burns Red released the brilliant version of Carol of the Bells a couple years back, followed by equally as awesome O Come O Come Emmanuel the following year, fans wanted a full-length Christmas record. And finally, the band has given us what we asked for!
Sleddin' Hill is fun! It's a whole lot of fun! Flurries, an original kicks off the record and it's a fun, rifftastic song! As a whole, Sleddin' Hill is pretty rifftastic. At times you'd imagine this is what Between The Buried and Me or Animals As Leaders would do and I love that! The band rips through one instrumental cover of classic Christmas song after another. They break from the pure instrumental sound to give a fun, almost punk version of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Of course, I still think the best tracks are O Come O Come Emmanuel and Carol of the Bells but the whole album is great!
Sleddin' Hill is lots and lots of fun and just further proof of how extremely talented the ABR boys are! A great holiday record! I think even grinches who hate christmas music will enjoy this one!
Prophets, Priests, and Kings by Smalltown Poets is a great song and when I heard it for the first, I loved it. Like most of those mid to late-90's Forefront Records alternative releases, Smalltown Poets debut became a record I would spin endlessly. I rediscovered the rest of the band's discography a couple years back and fell in love with each record.
When the band announced their return and released a Christmas record (which has a fantastic version of In The Bleak Mid Winter) I was stoked. And a year after their return with the Christmas record we have a new Smalltown Poets ep.
Under The New Sun isn't really different from the band's previous work. Oh sure, there are some new and different elements but it's still a Smalltown Poets album. The title track and album opener are the most perplexing to me. It's an instrumental piece, that's cool, but is something you wouldn't expect from Smalltown Poets and feels a little out of place on the album. It doesn't set the stage for anything experimental or prepare you for a huge shift in sound from the band. It's just... An interesting instrumental piece to open the record. Not bad... Just unexpected.
Turn Around has some spanish flair in the acoustic guitar intro before busting into a super catchy chorus. Charlie Brown's Lament is classic Smalltown Poets all the way. It's warm and familiar and a great song. Grace Is A Song is more of what fans heard on the christmas album, an indie rock side of the band. It's subtle, but it's there. Jesus, I Come the ballad of the album (there's always one) and like every track before it, and every after, has a strong hook. The Ballad Of Time and Eternity is another great rock song before the album ends with I'll Fly Away.
Smalltown Poets first official new music since their return is perfect. A mix of some subtle new elements while keep the band's classic rock sound. An ep fans will love!
Side projects that involve the front-man from a band as the front-man of the side project are tricky. Even if the genre of music is something completely different, if the vocalist has a distinct voice, it's going to sound similar to people. It's not always a bad thing.
Enter Matt & Toby, the side project of Emery's front-man Toby Morrell and guitarist Matt Carter. On a shallow level, Matt & Toby's debut is an acoustic, less grand version of Emery's I'm Only a Man. But like I said, that's cheap and shallow.
Life of The Party kicks off the record and it's a fun song about having a good time. Plays In My Head, Prodigal Sons and Daughters, and Sunday Morning February 12th almost sound like an Emery b-sides. The instrumentation is different but the arrangement and lyrics sound like if you replaced the acoustic guitar with an electric, you'd have an Emery song. Take Me Oh Lord In Thy Hands is a great worshipful song. Songs like You Will Sing, Oh No, Good Boys, and Come Home are songs that, with the exception of Morrell's vocals, don't sound like they would have any place in Emery's discography, which isn't a band thing. The arrangements are perfect, soft-sproken with great melodies.
Yes, Emery fans will probably love Matt & Toby and non-Emery fans might find Matt & Toby as a gateway drug into becoming an Emery fan. But Matt & Toby is more than just Emery lite. The duo steps out from what they're comfortable with to create simple arrangements with great melodies and strong lyrics. Matt & Toby might not sound like a band taking a risk, but stepping out from Emery is a risk. And Morrell and Carter do a great job of creating something new.
I remembering hearing My Daddy Can Whip Your Daddy by Disciple for the first time and loving it. It was a solid hard rock ep that had elements of Rage Against the Machine in it's sound. This Might Sting A Little and By God were good and found places in my rotation but as heavier music overtook my tastes, Disciple got left behind. I've heard singles from the band and have been unimpressed. I even picked up 2010's Horseshoes & Handgrenades but was less then stoked about it. So O God Save Us All wasn't really a record I expected much from.
O God Save Us All isn't anything special stylistically. It's a hard rock album. But as far as Disciple records go, it's my favorite record they've done since By God. Outlaws is a solid opening track, with it's fun, upbeat, anthemic chorus that sets a nice tone for the record. The title track is a hard hitting song that reminds me of old school Disciple. It's nice to hear that Kevin Young can still scream! RIP is another solid, hard hitting rock song before the ballads kick in. Once and For All doesn't do a whole lot for me. Someday has a nice build and the hook is great. Draw The Line is a little more expected but I like it. The ballads are nice but I was ready for Kings when it kicked things back up to 11. Unstoppable is a killer song and my favorite on the album. The drums and guitar riff smack you in the face with some sweet, old school Disciple!
O God Save Us All is a surprisingly enjoyable hard rock record the flashes at some old school stylings, while keeping the recent feel that fans both old and new will enjoy.
As soon as I hit play on Koi No Yokan and Swerve City kicked in, I knew the new Deftones record was going to be an instant favorite of mine. The beat drops instantly and you're thrown right into the Deftones brand of melodic metal. While Diamond Eyes wasn't as atmospheric as the band's previous two outings, it's obvious from Swerve City that this record is going to be something new and different.
Romantic Dreams is a slicker/sexier riff than Swerve City and has a nice feel to it and the ambient guitar sounds show their head a little but the track has a solid hook and great movement. Abe Cunningham's grooves are as strong as ever. Leathers sneaks in, like there's some left over guitar noodling from Romantic Dreams before the song slams in and Chino's vocals come blasting through your speakers. Poltergeist sounds like an updated version of White Pony. Entombed is the first track on the record that has a similar vibe to Diamond Eyes. But it's short lived as Graphic Nature hits you with a dirty riff and a solid back beat.
Koi No Yokan is solid start to finish. Not that I expected anything different from the Deftones. I loved Diamond Eyes and honestly, I've never not loved a Deftones record. But Koi No Yokan is by far the best record they've put out since White Pony and I'd go as far to say it's the band's best record to date.
In a year with a lot of good records but nothing stellar and super attention grabbing, Koi No Yokan will make you stop what you're doing and pay attention. The Deftones have delivered if not the best, one of the best albums of 2012.
Hype is the enemy. And boy does For The Glory have some hype. The OC Supertones return is a big deal for ska fans and just older Christian music fans like myself. The Supertones were on of my first real band obsessions and having them back is awesome! But I also have to remember that outside of the band's first two albums I've never loved an album start to finish from the Supertones. So in my own head I'm battling. Should I be super stoked and amped about For the Glory and jump right in or do I hold to my reservations and be skeptical going in.
Naturally my excitement took over when I downloaded the record and gave it a spin.
All The Way Alive is a solid opening track that hits you with the horns and upbeats right away. But it's the title track that will make you get up and dance. For the Glory is an awesome, anthemic song with a strong hook that has radio hit written all over it. It's probably the best Supertones song since Resolution. There are 3 great tracks near the end of the record. On The Down Beat, Fight On, and Pretty Little Lie are strong skacore tracks. It's the Supertones at their best.
With the good comes the less than impressive. There are a bunch of low key acoustic and rock steady tracks, which aren't bad songs. It's more a preference of what I want to hear more of. I love the anthemic, up-beat, full on skanking ska tracks. And For The Glory is missing more of those.
It's great to have new music from The Supertones and For The Glory is full of some great, fun, and extremely memorable songs. But like previous efforts from the band, there are just some moments that keep me from being completely in love with it.
There aren't many bands currently creating soundtracks so beautiful and moving as Hammock. From listening to Winter Lights on repeat while stuck in the snow, to Take a Drink from My Hands being my prayer soundtrack for months, each ambient masterpiece the band has released as found a special place in my heart.
Departure Songs is by far the band's grandest and most accomplished release, which is saying something. The two disc album is not only full of ambient masterpieces but it finds Hammock continuing to push their sound forward.
Departure Songs is a beautiful combo of all the things Hammock has done in the past. From simple ambient pieces that ebb and flow, to some of the most post-rcok sounding tracks Hammock has produced to date, there's not a flaw on this record. Each track captivating on it's own. Each vocal begging you to listen a little more carefully to catch the lyrics. There are moments, like Tape Recorder, that drive you to tear up and get emotional, as is always the case at least once per Hammock record.
(Let's Kiss) While All The Stars Are Falling Down is one of my favorite moments on the record. It's something completely different for the band, unless you count their cover of Black Metallic. A fantastic ambient, but really driving, piece with beautiful vocals that reminds me a lot of Slowdive.
Underoath will be no more as of January 2013. And no matter what you think of the band, their influence on the metalcore/screamo genre is undeniably huge. Anthology gives us the band's final two new recordings, as well as a nice retrospective.
Both Sunburnt and Unsound continue the progression of the band's final full-legnth, Disambiguation. But each track still points toward the band moving forward. Sunburnt feels like a track that fell in-between the cracks of Disambiguation and Lost In The Sound of Separation. It has that darker ambient vibe but being much poppier and lighter than anything that was on Disambiguation. Unsound is Paper Lung without the screaming vocals. It's the first Underoath track without any screaming vocals. Both are solid tracks.
The rest of the album is a look back at Underoath's career, newest to oldest, which includes the b-side I've Got Ten Friends and a Crowbar. I'm glad Tooth and Nail included tracks from the band's first two records on this album. And I think people could argue the tracks from each record all day (I personally would've chosen the last from Cries of the Past instead of the album's title track), it's an all in all great showcase of the band's discography.
Anthology isn't a must have for Underoath fans. You can buy the two new tracks on iTunes and it will complete your discography nicely. But for anyone looking to dive into Underoath and aren't sure where to start, Anthology is a solid look at the band's entire catalog.
