Adversary “Singularity” CD

Compared to the other artists on Trustkill Records roster, Adversary was a relatively new addition and because so I wasn't sure how well they would fit with the NJ based label. So when their latest album "Singularity" came in, I wanted to see how much this five-piece from Manassas VA could bring to the table. And I've got to say, for a band I just found out about a few weeks ago, Adversary really has some break out talent. The clear production and crisp sound quality are at the center of a set of dueling melodic guitars and crashing drums. I first thought of the masterful guitars and charging percussion of All That Remains (minus the whiney singing) and substitute it for brutish growls, high pitched screeches, and some well delivered singing. Adversary seems to love pushing it to the limit with blistering fretwork and an unstoppable tempo. "Singularity" does follow a fairly well treaded path with regards to the collective sound of the whole album. You will begin saying to yourself "wow this sounds a lot like (enter metal band name here)," but usually if a band is very good at what they do, the unique critique gets left in the dust. Adversary will receiving many hours of play time in my stereo not because of how original they are, but because of how well they can do the already discovered. In my book, if it has talent and flawless guitars, it can't be wrong and that is this album to a T. Or a singulariT.

Terror “Forever Crossing The Line” CD

A while back I had the pleasure of reviewing Terror's Rhythm Amongst The Chaos EP and thought it was the shit so I was glad to see Forever Crossing The Line:5 Years In The Making land on my desk. As expected, this disc is loaded with raging pit riffs, massive break downs and old school shouted vocals. Terror have just solidified their spot amongst the H/C elite.

Too Pure To Die “Confess” CD

Trustkill Records There is absolutely a benefit in the music industry to creating a DIY fan base the way that Des Monies, Iowa's Too Pure To Die has been able to amongst the hardcore underground scene. With their fan base standing strongly behind them they were approached by hardcore label extraordinaire, Trustkill Records, signed a deal with them and are set to release "Confess," their debut album with their new label. By having co-producers Zeuss (Throwdown, Shadows Fall, etc..) and Jamey Jasta, front man of hardcore pioneers Hatebreed in the studio with them, Too Pure To Die has been able to hone in on their sound, crank it up a notch, and offer their fans a truly amazing album. While hardcore isn't necessarily a scene I dive into often, there is no denying that this is a band that stands alone with the sound they have created. The vocals aren't just flat out screaming like so many bands in this genre, but rather stay in your face and understandable adding a very unique element to this album thus making this an easier one to listen to then most. But for you hardcore fans that like the heavier sounds, never fear, those exist here as well. They pull together their metal and hardcore influences perfectly as the guitars assault you more often then not, and the rhythm section pounds right through you. It is so nice to have an album that offers the heavy driven sound that combines energy and anger, but also includes great vocals. This is easily going to be the next big album from Trustkill, and I suspect Too Pure To Die is going to proudly satisfy hardcore and metal fans alike with "Confess."

Walls Of Jericho “The American Dream” CD, 12" vinyl

Some genres in music just seem to naturally lend themselves to those of the XY chromosomes and few of these styles are more testosterone dominated than metal and hardcore with their "tuff guy" identities and lyrical messages within the music. One might even draw a parallel between them and say, football or rugby, where girls, simply put, don't play, or at least are not taken seriously. However, with the advent of respectable female fronted groups like Arch Enemy, Lacuna Coil, and, Nightwish, that seems to slowly be changing. But generally there also seems to be a certain expectation that these women will strictly sing and stay out of man's hallowed vitriolic territory. Angela Gassow clearly changed this mentality with her appearance of a drop-dead gorgeous blonde as well as her ability to make noises that would scare full grown men. In her wake many groups have formed balancing the two extremes, albeit with a more mainstream slant, however there really haven't been many of these bands since Arch Enemy to create such an uncompromising "middle finger to the mainstream" sound; Walls of Jericho is one of these unusual groups. Enter Candace Kucsulain, a cute and innocent looking demon in disguise. From her outward appearance she looks like a heavily tattooed Haley Williams, but couldn't possibly sound less like her. Instead she unleashes positively destructive, vein-bulging wails that will leave even the staunchest metal heads in shock and possibly horror (yep, she's a chick alright). There are also two other things that really make her standout as a metal/hardcore vocalist, one being her relentless ferocity. Many of the better known gals in metal today often tend to mix the hooky radio-ready choruses of metalcore into their arsenals to broaden their appeal; Candace makes virtually no such concessions. With the exception of a brief melodic stint in the bridge of "A Long Walk Home" and her soft, bluesy croons in the surprisingly calm closer "The Slaughter Begins," she roars all the way through the record. When she actually does sing she proves herself to be every bit as effective and sinister, with a tone not so different from that of Fiona Apple. The other attribute that really separates her from her peers is her range. Many female metal vocalists tend to be limited to higher register screams which quickly makes their voices tedious to listen to. Kucsulain isn't restricted in these regards; be it fierce mid range shouts, gang vocals, brutal death-ish growls, and even paint-stripping shreiks; she can do it all. Even despite her unwillingness to sing, her vocals rarely become tiresome. As good as Candace is she isn't the only thing that makes Walls of Jericho special. Whereas many metalcore bands today follow the typical establishment of using harmonized Gothenburg guitar leads to drive their music, WOJ takes a more old-school approach instead steroid pumping their sound with classic thrash metal riffs that will bring a smile to any Slayer fan's lips. These riffs make for some insanely catchy tunes like "II They Prey," "Feeding Frenzy," and "Discovery of Jones" that in no way compromise on heaviness. Additionally they supplement these with heavily distorted and even discordant melodies that also call Slayer to mind. Unfortunately there are no solos on the album, however it is unclear how well they would have worked in many of the songs, considering their relentless pacing. People typically aren't too enthused about breakdowns in heavy music anymore given how badly they've been abused and misused by many bands. While Jericho's breakdowns are not excessively technical the group knows how to take something simple and chunky and just make it heavy as shit. Hearing the thrashy riffs, and speedy double kicks rush over them as Candace roars lines like "FUCK THE AMERICAN DREAM" and "WE MUST TAKE BACK OUR LIVES" in her nastiest snarl sure make for some hella brutal bridges. There are a few nagging flaws that keep The American Dream from being great, one of which is the sense of repetition on the record. The band doesn't necessarily have a dead set formula for all their songs like many metalcore bands do, however the consistent punch of their music can dull a little after multiple listens and some of the songs do tend to blur into each other. There are some neat switch-ups here and there like the atmospheric intro of "The New Ministry" and the acoustic fadeout in "Discovering Jones," however considering the lack of solos, technical parts, or clean vocals, there should really have been more of them. Many of these complaints are fairly minor considering the fact that at just over thirty-five minutes in length, The American Dream hardly gives you any time to get bored; you'll be headbanging so hard you won't have the brain cells left to remind you that some of the band's songs sound a little similar. The American Dream is a very solid album in every sense that will appeal just as much to thrash aficionados as it will to hxc! tuff guys. Walls of Jericho are not just another band that knows how to plays a couple power chords with a pretty face yelling on top, but a group of heavy music lovers who can make one hell of a ruckus and with their most recent release they have crafted one of the most urgent and catchy core' albums to come out in 08'.

Bleeding Through “Declaration” CD, 12" vinyl

I have to admit, I’ve had a soft spot for Bleeding Through ever since a friend of mine brought a copy of “Portrait of the Goddess” back from a trip to the states. Yeah they weren’t doing anything amazingly inventive, but what they were doing was about twice as fast as everyone else, and I’m a sucker for speed. This time they recorded with Devin Townsend, who I bloody love –- so my hopes were pretty high. This album is their last for Trustkill, in what appears to have become a tempestuous relationship –- a blog by the band stated the label hadn’t paid for the album, and that the band were refusing to hand over the masters until the matter was sorted. It revealed the band’s desire to leave the label because of lack of funding, unpaid royalties and the re-release of their last album without the band’s consent. All-in-all, it seems like the things weren’t all that happy in the Bleeding Through camp during the recording. So has it affected the outcome? Well… no. Not in the slightest in fact. It sounds exactly as you’d expect really –- break-neck riffing, throat-scraping vocals, pinpoint drums and silly keyboards in the melodic sections. They still gallop along like no-one else — the punk drumbeat/death metal riff combo makes me smile every time — and they still mix their hardcore roots with death metal grandiosity better than most. The only real difference is the change in guitarists. Replacing Scott Danough with Jona Weinhofen (ex-I Killed The Prom Queen) has lead to two small adjustments in sound: firstly, the solos are a smidgen better and tad flashier, and secondly not every phrase is ended with a pinched harmonic. Even though I kind of miss the cheesy squealing at the end of every riff, if anything it lets the guitars flow a bit more. Vocalist Brandan Schieppati sounds as fierce as ever, and there’s slightly less in the way of clean vocals this time round. I’m still not taken by his melodic vocals –- they may have gotten better technically, but tonally he sounds more and more like he’s shredded his throat. One other point of note is the constantly improving keyboard/synths. Long gone are the one-note-held-for-the-entire-choruses, and now there’s even full orchestration such as on ‘Finnis Fatalis Spei’ and the title track. It really does add something to the compositions, and makes a great counterpoint to both the clean and growled vocals. Picking out the best tracks is difficult, as truth be told there isn’t a huge difference between any of them – but that also means there’s not much filler. Saying that ‘There Was a Flood’ is particularly theatrical, with stabbed strings and creepy piano, and ‘Beneath the Grey’ bursts forth after a brief interlude, marking itself out as probably the heaviest track. ‘Sister Charlatan’, the (predictably extended) closer, is also a great track. Starting with a quiet, remorseful intro of clean guitars and cello, it turns electric on a dime, and then erupts into one of the fastest verse riffs the band has ever penned. The chorus is a whole new level of epic for the band, and there’s a great harmonised guitar solo too. Sadly, what should be a pretty solid continuation of form is actually not all that enjoyable to listen to, thanks to a subpar mixing and mastering job. Not only is every instrument compressed to within an inch of its life, but then the track as a whole is too. What little dynamics the band has are wrecked, as the epic moments and gentler parts are both just as brash as the full on thrashes, and the drums teeter on the edge of being too robotic. On top of that, the whole mix pumps like mid-90’s dance track in places –- the snare cracks the guitars sink into background for a split second, before the snare’s decay brings them charging back up to the front, and the keyboards and vocals feel like they’re fighting for the same space. It makes it tiring to listen to and hard to concentrate on. You have to wonder if it’s in part down to the label shenanigans that surrounded the release. It also needs to be pointed out that this CD has the weakest snare sound I think I’ve ever heard. There’s no punch at all; it’s all high frequency snap with no body. That aside, this remains a damn fine album. Despite being surrounded by copycat metalcore acts, Bleeding Through have managed to craft their own unique sound — and even though it hasn’t advanced a great deal since their major label debut (2003’s ‘This Is Love, This Is Murderous’), with every record the song writing gets neater and leaner. This is another batch of consistent, technically proficient metal songs played at stupid speeds, with just a touch of variety and a few changes of pace to keep things interesting. The issues with the sound are a real shame, as it’s just about the only thing stopping this album from being their strongest yet –- but it’s still enough to prove once again that they deserve to be top of the pile.