Beartooth - Sick

The words "featuring enter name here from Attack Attack" don't inspire a lot of confidence in me. So my excitement about Beartooth, new project from former Attack Attack vocalist Caleb Shomo, wasn't very high. 

But right out of the gate, Shomo's new project has no relation to his old band. Beartooth is a raw metalcore. No corny keyboard, disco/electronic breakdowns. (Hopefully no choreographed crabcore dance moves either). It's not just raw musically. Shomo is open and honest lyrically about his struggles to mask his pain and his need for God. 

I Have A Problem says it all in the title. It's Shomo's declaration and confession about his struggle with alcohol. The music is the backdrop for Shomo's words before yelling "But I wanna be alive." Then the circle pit beat kicks in and Beartooth goes crazy. The chorus is Shomo's statement of needing something more"

"My hands are in the air, and God I hope you're there, cause I can't make it myself, i'll never make it myself "

Go Be the Voice is a great song about standing up for and defending your beliefs. The intro reminds me of the Chariot but the song never materializes into that type of full blown chaos. Pick Your Poison is a hardcore/punk song through and through. While there's the underlying metalcore/Underoath influence in the song, there's a lot of great hardcore elements. 

Beartooth is a rebirth for Shomo, in more ways than one. And it's a good rebirth. Sick is a fantastic ep that will reintroduce fans to Shomo's music, but it will also, hopefully, introduce kids to quality metalcore. There's no traces of Attack Attack in Beartooth. Thank goodness!

Moving Mountains - Moving Mountains

It's no secret that I loved Moving Mountains previous album, Waves. Waves captured my attention and made me an instant fan. Listening to Waves transports you to somewhere beautiful that is being torn apart. Beauty, chaos, love, loss, pain, and joy. It was a record that stuck in my spirit.

When the band has mentioned their affinity for The Appleseed Cast, I didn't get that in their music. But I find it in the band's new self-titled record. The shift in sound, both stylistically, and just the fact that they went in a completely different direction, remind me of The Appleseed Cast (in a good way).

Moving Mountains is compelling in a very different way from Waves. The intensity and ambience of Waves is gone. And when I hit play and started listening to Moving Mountains, I was a little shocked and disappointed. My disappointment didn't last long. Moving Mountains is still beautiful. Maybe more conventionally beautiful at points.

Swing Set is an acoustic driven indie song, that instantly caught me off guard. It's unexpected. But I think the fact that's it's a little disarming is to the benefit of the record. All your preconceived notions go right out the window and you begin to put aside your expectations. Burn Pile has a similar melody style to some of the mellower moments on Waves but the composition and instrumentation give it a different vibe.

Seasonal and Hudson both share elements similar to Waves in song structure and Apsides   (which closes the album) has the ambient feel that's largely absent from this record. Even when you aren't reminded of Waves, the melodies and choruses are so well done and catchy, that you are lulled into a sense of comfort and enjoyment.

Moving Mountains is one of those bands that a lot of people might not be talking about, but they are releasing some of the strongest music to date. Moving Mountains might not be as compelling or moving  as Waves, but it's every bit as beautiful. And it's every bit as good.

The Meltdown 2.10

From last Wednesday: New music from Brett Detar, Braille, Jars of Clay, War Generation, and Norma Jean.

War Generation - Start Somewhere, Never Surrender

I always liked Sense Field, but it wasn't until Further Seems Forever's Hide Nothing that I loved Jon Bunch. He "saved" Further Seems Forever for me. He wasn't Chris Carrabba, but thankfully he wasn't Jason Gleason (I've since warmed up to How to Start a Fire).

War Generation doesn't sound like Further Seems Forever. Or Sense Field. But it feels familiar. Yes, that mostly comes from Bunch's smooth vocals, but War Generation is a band that should gain fans quickly. The melodies and hooks on Start Somewhere Never Surrender are strong and it doesn't take long to find yourself singing along. Nobody and Done and Gone kick off the record with great energy and solid hooks. Keeping Quiet still has a great melody but it's one of the more aggressive songs  on the record. Hardcore Love is fantastic song that I think music fans will really relate to. A strong, punk song about the love of music.

Fans of bands like Bad Religion, AFI, and Sins will love War Generation. But I think fans of Jon Bunch will also find an attachment to Start Somewhere Never Surrender. A solid punk record with killer melodies and catchy hooks top to bottom. There's nothing about War Generation to not like.

Leaders - Indomitable

I had mixed feelings about Leader's debut, Now We Are Free. It was a nice hardcore record with some solid melodic moments. But it was very catchy or a record you could sing-a-long to. It was just another hardcore record. Nothing wrong with that, but nothing special.

Indomitable still has similar hardcore elements. But instead of being a hardcore record with great melodic elements, Indomitable is a hardcore record that has a lot of deathcore influence. Which saddens me. It's not that I hate or dislike Indomitable, it's just not the direction I had hoped to see Leaders go.

Hell, the album's first single and opening track, is a smack in the face of the new stylings from Leaders. A lot of people will probably talk about how brutal and heavy it is. And it is heavy. Dark eerie ambient bass riff to open the song before a monster break down rips the song open. Yes, the hardcore influence is in there when the verse hits but the breakdowns on the "hook" and scattered throughout the song become tiresome quick.

Weak Minds grabbed my attention and gave me a glimmer of hope. The song hits with a fast paced intensity that reminded me of The Famine's brilliant record, The Architects of Guilt. The solo isn't anything to write home about the song is great until the breakdown comes tramping along at the end of the track. Still my favorite song on Indomitable.

There's a lot of hardcore, death metal, and deathcore influence on the record. Even some hints at nu-metal (Underdogs). There are some genuinely solid moments on Indomitable (I Know You, Weak Minds, My Home). But there's just something generic and stuck about Indomitable that prevents it from ever being truly great. It's a record I've heard before. A lot. And After Now We Are Free, I thought Leaders could build on what they did and deliver something fresh and interesting. But Indomitable seems like a misguided step sideways. Not terrible in any sense. Just not all that interesting and compelling.

The Meltdown 2.9

From last night: New music from Beautiful Eulogy, Jars of Clay, Leaders, Stryper, and Denison Witmer.

Listen to internet radio with Minister Grok on BlogTalkRadio

Jars of Clay - Inland

Jars of Clay gets a bad rap. I feel like people are still stuck thinking of the band that released Flood eighteen years ago. We forget the fact that the band followed that up with a complex and masterful album (Much Afraid) and has gone through various phases where the band has experimented with 80's new wave rock (The Long Fall Back to Earth) to straight up rock and roll (Good Monster), to beautiful stripped down hymns (Redemption Songs), and just about everything in between. Jars of Clay have come a long way in their twenty years together. And yet whenever someone mentions Jars of CLay, most people go back to the band's hit single from two decades ago.

Inland is the band's eleventh studio record. Inland is honest and reflective. It's sparse and rich in sound, all at the same time. It's an exploration of human emotion and questioning. It's a beautiful record. It's at times the poppiest Jars of Clay has ever been. And it's for sure the most introspective the band has been.


Inland is solid top to bottom. And while all the songs are great, the standouts grab your soul. Love In the Hard Times is a heartbreaking, soul crushing lament of a ballad. Whether written about a relationship or God, the song hits hard. Wanting to know you're not going through life alone and having love no matter how bad things get. The upbeat pop rock sound on Loneliness and Alcohol has enough swagger and groove, without crossing into "mainstream" territory to please even the hardest of indie critic. The catchiness of the hook is instantaneous and you'll find yourself singing the song days later without realizing it.  The heartache in I Don't Want You To Forget is not overshadowed but enhanced by the sweeping string section and the biting guitar lead. The title track is a beautiful song about the need for community.

Of course those are only my favorites on the record. After the Fight is a great understated rock song. Think Good Monsters on ritalin. Age of Immature Mistakes hints at Haseltine's pop side project, The Hawk in Paris.

Inland might prove to be my favorite Jars of Clay record to date. It might be their best work to date. It is the artistic change and progression the band has been seeking. It's a masterpiece.

The Meltdown 2.8

From last night: Music from Training For Utopia, The Juliana Theory, Run Kid Run, Ghoti Hook, and more.

Listen to internet radio with Minister Grok on BlogTalkRadio