iwrestledabearonce – Hail Mary review

iwrestledabearonce are a band which have picked up a bit of hate during their career, mostly due to their wackiness and people simply not taking them seriously, what with the band’s name and their song titles, with examples such as “Tastes Like Kevin Bacon”, “You Know That Ain’t Them Dogs Real Voices”, “That’s a Horse of a Different Color”, and so on. Looking past the hate though, the band do make good music personally; they’re experimental in their music and add a bit of comedy into their songs. The latest album to come from them however shows the band maturing, similar to the way that The Devil Wears Prada matured with their 2011 release “Dead Throne”. Gone now are the wacky song titles and crazy bridges made of twangy country guitars and whinnying horses, and in with more serious titles and just as serious songs musically – personally however I like both the older IWABO and the new. “Hail Mary” also sees the band releasing their first album with their new label Artery Records.

The opening track and first single to come from the album “Gift of Death” begins with the recognisable sound of the strange time signatures and “far too fast for human hands” guitars – or if you want to talk genres, the mathcore sound – that iwrestledabearonce do. The song features a multitude of breakdowns and the usual mid-section odd intervals, which in this song is, as some have described, a strange and eery talking.

The third track and second song to be accompanied by a music video is “Green Eyes” is the first on the album to combine the heavy the typical IWABO sound with a more melodic one, with a nice blend of heavy guitar chugging with a light melodic picking in the background, all coming together for the songs chorus, where LaPlante swaps out the harsh vocals for singing.

“Erase it All”, the fourth track, deserves a mention simply for containing one of the best and most brutal outros to a song of the year so far, with an all out barrage of guitars and drums, backed up by the combined vocals of LaPlante and Suicide Silence’s Eddie Hermida.

At the halfway point of the 14 track album is “Doomed to Fail Part 2”, which I have nicknamed the albums breather track, in that it is an entirely melodic track with, despite a heavier guitar sound towards the end, an overall chilled out and relaxed feel to give the listener a chance to calm down after hearing the previous six tracks. This is obviously needed too, as the song is followed on by “Killed to Death”, which is simply an onslaught to the ears straight from the get go– in a good way, of course.

As an album overall, I feel that it is the band’s best work to date and that it really shows the band’s maturity while still keeping their older sound – rather than simply sacrificing it and starting from scratch. One complaint I have with the album could just be due to a fault on my end, but I feel like some of the songs can be heard and you’re left asking yourself “Which song was that? What was it called?” But again, that could just be me or it could be because I haven’t listened to the album just enough.

Top tracks for me are “Gift of Death”, “Green Eyes”, “Erase It All”, “Killed to Death”, “Man of Virtue”, “Wade In The Water”, and “Your God is too Small”.

Iwrestledabearonce – Hail Mary

1. Gift of Death

2. Remain Calm

3. Green Eyes

4. Erase It All

5. Curse the Spot

6. Doomed to Fail Part 1

7. Doomed to Fail Part 2

8. Killed to Death

9. Trips

10. Man of Virtue

11. Carbon Copy

12. Wade in the Water

13. We All Float Down Here

14. Your God is too Small.

Slipknot – .5 The Gray Chapter review

.5 The Gray Chapter is the first album to come from Slipknot in six years since All Hope Is Gone. Leading up to the albums release many were worried that the album wouldn’t live up to peoples’ expectations, which the band fired back with by claiming that it will be a blend of the bands’ 2001 Iowa and 2004 Vol. 3. I can tell you now that that claim definately came through. Unfortunately, some were still disappointed with the record and were very vocal about their opinions on it, many saying that it was too soft of a record. Having heard these opinions before my first listen, I was slightly worried that they would be true; but they were not. The album does have a few softer songs but so did Vol. 3 after all. The first heavy hitter from the CD comes after the three minute intro track XIX with the song Sarcastrophe.

After a one minute intro to the song, the whole band comes in full force with the harsh vocals of Taylor, the low guitar notes of Root, Thompson and filler bassist Alessandro Venturella; and the smashing snare of filler drummer Jay Weinberg. There’s no break from this from this aggressive onslaught either, as the following track kicks straight into action with AOV.

Track five of The Gray Chapter, Killpop, is my personal favourite track off of the album thanks to a blend of a more slow paced music and the ever aggressive vocals of Taylor. To top this off are the dark lyrics which accompany the music, which speak of lust & a twisted and controlling love, all coming together to form a violent end to the song with an attack to the listener from all instruments and the screams of Taylor with We were meant to be together / Now die and fucking love me / We were meant to hurt each other / Now die and fucking love me.

Three tracks later and we get to Goodbye this albums Snuff or Circle which a clear tribute and memorial to the late Paul Gray. Starting of soft, the song opens with a melody of synths: leads, bass, and drums, as well as a slight presence of guitar and bass guitar; all brought together to form the backing track for Taylor. The lyrics A long time ago we believed that we were united / So the last thing on Earth I am ready to do is say goodbye are the last lyrics to be heard before the band comes together, rather fittingly, to play together throughout the lyrics of A long time ago we discovered that nothing could stop us / This hasn’t torn us apart, so nothing ever will hard hitting and close to home lyrics for the band No one is going to save us this time / No one can know what we’re feeling, in that I may trust.

The first single to come from The Gray Chapter, which Corey Taylor stated was more of a teaser into how the album will sound, was The Negative One, an absolute throwback to the early sounds of the band with the eery sounding synth which opens the song to the amazing yet simple riff which plays throughout. The main riff in this song actually won my personal Best Riff of 2014 Award – almost being beaten by Sick Like Me by In This Moment or Reincarnate by Motionless In White. There’s also of course the music video for The Negative One, which if you for some reason haven’t already watched, I highly recommend; numerous symbols and imagery from previous music videos from the band and adding to the eeriness of the song.

If I had to put one thing wrong against The Gray Chapter it would actually be the album art, which I for some reason honestly can’t put my finger on on why I don’t like it; But what are you going to do, listen to the amazing work found on the CD or stare at the album art?
The Gray Chapter jumped high up in my favourite list of Slipknot’s albums, actually coming in second just behind 1999’s self titled record; so if you haven’t already bought the album or given it a chance, please, do.

Slipknot – .5 The Gray Chapter:

1. XIX
2. Sarcastrophe
3. AOV
4. The Devil In I
5. Killpop6. Skeptic
7. Lech
8. Goodbye
9. Nomadic
10. The One That Kills The Least
11. Custer
12. Be Prepared For Hell
13. The Negative One
14. If Rain Is What You Want

An Update on my Life

So this coming summer of 2015 I will be attending university to study Journalism and English; and best of all, I’ve received an unconditional offer which means that I’m allowed into the university no matter what final grade I receive in college! Really though, what else would you expect me to study but journalism? What do you think this blog is all about?

Frank Turner – Tape Deck Heart review

Frank Turner. I first heard of Frank Turner through some friends who raved about seeing him perform at Download Festival one year, and I’ll admit, I was a little skeptical about listening to him. The only reason for this is because at the time, I was, I hate to admit, really close minded about my music. But one day whilst browsing HMV, I thought to myself “You know what I’m just gonna buy a Frank Turner CD”. I didn’t care which one, but it ended up being this one, and boy am I glad it was this one.

The album kicks straight in with “Recovery” an amazing song which shows off Turner’s lyrical ability both in writing and performing, as well as his ability as a musician and guitarist. With a simple chorus allowing for anybody and everybody to sing along to and verses which can’t help but make you bop, it’s clear to see that “Tape Deck Heart” is a great way to start an album; as well as being an eye opener for me in terms of music.

One of the great things about this album in particularly is how pretty much anybody can find meaning within the lyrics, as well as relate to them. Why? Because like with many of Turner’s albums, this one has a theme; and the theme for this album is love/heartbreak, and let’s be honest, who hasn’t felt heartbreak at some point in their life? I for one know I have. An example of relatable lyrics heard on the album, as well as on of my favourites comes from track three, “The Way I Tend To Be“: “Some mornings I pray for evening / For the day to be done / Some summer days I hide away / And wait for rain to come / It turns out hell will not be found / Within the fires below / But in making do and muddling through / When you’ve nowhere else to go.” Now why is this one of favourite verses in the album? Because it’s just so simple yet Frank Turner’s lyrical ability make it seem so beautiful, which is a sign of a great songwriter: writing lyrics which, without music, could be mistaken for poetry. On top of this, again, who hasn’t gone through this in their life?

The mood of the album is constantly changing. One moment you’re listening to a happy dance-y song, the next, a somber and emotional song. This variety of moods makes for a great listen. The ordering of the tracks compliments this variety of moods, making sure that the listener isn’t bombarded with too many sad sounding songs. If that were to happen, then you’d be too busy crying to be listening to and appreciating the fantastic artistry of Frank Turner.

After being blown away by this album, I then went and bought Turner’s previous album to this one – “England Keep My Bones“. Now I’m not going to review that album right now – that would after all be “review-ception” – but I will say that when comparing the two albums, I personally prefer “Tape Deck Heart“. The reason for this is because I feel that “England Keep My Bones” is good, but “Tape Deck Heart” just has more memorable tracks. Along with that, I also feel that “England Keep My Bones” is too “poppy” or radio-friendly sounding for my taste. Now I’m not completely pushing “England Keep My Bones” to the side here, I am a fan of both, but I personally would recommend, to a new listener of Turner, “Tape Deck Heart“. But of course, don’t stop there. Go and listen to his older stuff as well; then you can really hear the evolution of Turner’s sound.

Frank Turner – Tape Deck Heart:

1. Recovery
2. Losing Days
3. The Way I Tend To Be
4. Plain Sailing Weather
5. Good & Gone
6. Tell Tale Signs
7. Four Simple Words
8. Polaroid Picture
9. The Fisher King Blues
10. Anymore
11. Oh Brother
12. Broken Piano

2nd March 2015 UPDATE

It’s been quite a while since my last post – for the curious: 28th of July 2014 with my review of Rise Against’s “The Black Market”, which by the way, has tonnes of replay value as I’ve found since then.

Anyway, I’d like to apologise for my absence and lack of posts. At the moment, I’m in my final year of college and preparing for university, so I have quite a lot of work to do in college which is unfortunately taking up most of my time. But fear not! Even while I’m doing this work, I’m always listening to music, both new and old, so I will be posting reviews on albums I’ve listened to in the past eight months.

On the note of reviews, I’ve decided that I’m going to start doing reviews for albums that aren’t new – but still doing the same reviews of new albums of course. I’m doing this because while I love finding new music and sticking with bands or artists’ latest material, there are just far too many albums from the past that I just love.

So what can you expect to see from me in the upcoming weeks? On the “old albums” subject, the first review I’ll be doing will more than likely be “Tape Deck Heart” by Frank Turner. After that, expect reviews of Slipknot’s “.5 The Gray Chapter” and In This Moment’s “Black Widow”; as well as a review of an up-and-coming band “Treacherous Orchestra”.

Rise Against – The Black Market review

Illinois’ own Rise Against have released their latest LP entitled “The Black Market” following up from their 2011 release “Endgame”. The ’14 disk is a definite improvement on the ’11 one, with some of the old Rise Against making a comeback, in particularly the more aggressive sound and feel which we heard on previous albums such as the bands’ debut “Revolutions Per Minute” or the 2006 release “The Sufferer and the Witness”, and it does this whilst still keeping some of the more radio-friendly sounds which were heard on “Endgame”.

With the opening track, “The Great Die-Off”, we are greeted by a song which sounds like it belongs on “The Sufferer…”. While it may begin sounding like a song from “Endgame”, it quickly jumps to a more aggressive sound and feel, making for a great opening track to a great album. The old Rise Against also makes a comeback in terms of lyrics with more rebellious lyrics making an appearance; which in this song carry a “Creation of a new government” message – “But your numbers are dwindling now/Though endangered we’ll still hunt you down/With heads on a stake long may you reign/We want it all and we want it now/Tonight I watched your fires burn out/The cold dead hands we pried these guns from are yours/We want it all and we want it now/A tide is coming to drown you out/We make ourselves at home while your body’s still warm“

Following the protest anthem that is track one comes track two, the first single to come from the album, “I Don’t Want To Be Here Anymore”, which shows the greatness of Rise Against by combining sounds from “Endgame”, “The Sufferer…” and “Appeal to Reason”. The lyrics have a similar message as “The Great Die-Off” does, this time warning of a revolution if things get any worse than they are – “I don’t want to be here anymore/I know there’s nothing left worth staying for/Your paradise is something I’ve endured/See I don’t think I can fight this anymore/I’m listening with one foot out the door/And something has to die to be reborn/I don’t want to be here anymore/The point where we break gets closer everyday/But where do we go?/But where do we go?”

After a more pop-punk sounding song that is track three, “Tragedy & Time” and an “Appeal to Reason” throwback that is track four, and the title track, “The Black Market” comes track five, “The Eco-Terrorist In Me”, a very clear throwback to the Fat Wreck Chords era of the band with thrashing guitars, speedy drums and the harsh vocals of McIlrath combined with the melodic sounds of the chorus’ and bridge to create what is my personal favourite track from the record.The lyrics in this one speak of an Orwell like future –

“Spray paint the cameras/Jam the frequency/What you killed/Just kept alive in me/Under bandannas/But not an enemy/You can’t define us/Anyway you please”

“When it all comes down, will you say you did everything you could?/When it all comes down, can you say that you never gave up?/Were you standing by, to watch it fall away?/Will you hold on or let it go?”

“Instead of doing what’s right, they build higher walls/Where we can’t shed a light, on true criminals/When business and suffering are one in the same/when laws fail the people they turn to the flame”

“When the lights all go out/And roadblocks go up/And you sleep to the sound/Of alarms going off”

The album as a whole is a great combination of every Rise Against album to date with some songs having a more hardcore punk focused sound than others, and shows how amazing and flexible a band Rise Against are to be able to create such a blend of songs and I most definitely recommend you add this one to your collection.

Rise Against – The Black Market:

1. The Great Die-Off
2. I Don’t Want To Be Here Anymore
3. Tragedy & Time
4. The Black Market
5. The Eco-Terrorist In Me
6. Sudden Life
7. A Beautiful Indifference
8. Methadone
9. Zero Visibility
10. Awake Too Long
11. People Live Here
12. Bridges

Black Stone Cherry – Magic Mountain review

Ah, it’s finally here. After a three-year gap, the Kentucky greats have released their fourth LP, the 13 track long Magic Mountain, featuring the singles “Me and Mary Jane” and “Runaway”; and yes, the rest of the songs on the album are just as amazing. Personal favourites for me include the hard rocking “Me and Mary Jane“, the soulful. “Sometimes“, and the country fueled “Hollywood in Kentucky“.
As the band have said in an interview with “Classic Rock Magazine”, their record label gave them complete freedom on this record, and its easy to tell when you compare it to the 2011 record “Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea” which some call their radio friendly album, as this album features a lot more of the bands earlier sound. The album starts off with the song “Holding On… To Letting Go” which kicks off the song, and the album, with a classic BSC bass line, closely followed by the rest of the band joining in before we are introduced to Robertson’s unmistakable vocals.
Me and Mary Jane is track four, and the first single to drop for the album. The song features, in my opinion, the best riff I’ve heard in a while, with, again, the classic BSC sound. Featuring the anthemic chorus and catchy melodies, the song comes to a close with an amazing blues rock solo duel between Robertson and Wells. It’s easy to tell why the band released this as the first single to promote the album. And make sure you check out the acoustic version which the band released on their YouTube channel.
Between here and track nine are a collection of similarly hard rocking tracks, especially with the hard metal sounding track seven “Never Surrender”. Track nine on the album, “Sometimes” is one of my top three tracks on the album, featuring beautiful acoustics and an echoey slide guitar, topped off with Robertson’s vocals. Incredible beauty comes in the form of the solo – violins and the sweet melody of the slide guitar behind it – before coming back to Robertson’s powerful vocals. I’ve thought it in the past, but this track has made me hope more than ever for an acoustic LP or EP.
Jumping three tracks lands us at “Hollywood in Kentucky”, the final track in my top three from Magic Mountain. I’d say that this is most definitely the bands homage to their home state, which is fairly obvious when looking at the tracks title. This is also seen from the content of the song, with country-esque leads, vocals and rhythm. Whilst maybe not as anthemic of a chorus as that in Me and Mary Jane, it is definitely just at catchy.

Overall, this album is one of the bands bests – I’d personally say it’s their best, but everybody will have their own opinion. After a release date in Europe on the 4th of May and in the US on the 5th, the album is available everywhere now, so be sure to pick it up – you owe it to yourself.

Skindred – Kill the Power album review (And my first review, too!)

The time has finally come! After three years since the release of Skindred’s previous album “Union Black”, they have released “Kill the Power”. Now, I may have only recently got into the band, “Union Black” being the only other album I own from the band, but I was so excited for this release, as if I’d been a fan since the beginning. So, is “Kill the Power” a good album, or should you kill the power to your music player before even putting the CD in? (You see what I did there?) Well, I’ll tell you now, you can keep the power on. So let’s get going, shall we?

Right, from the get go we have the second single from the album, and the albums title track, “Kill the Power”. If you ask me, this is one great way to start an album, with the typical anthemic sound we’ve heard from the band before and that the band is known for – such as Doom Riff and Cut Dem from the “Union Black” album.

The second track “Ruling Force” shows rather clearly the combination of genres which Skindred are also known for, in particularly though the combination of dubstep and metal, rather than dubstep, metal and reggae. With the introduction having a prog/nu metal sound to it – similar to “Rational Gaze” by Meshuggah, in my opinion – the verse blends in from the intro with a harmonic and goes straight into the “wub-wub” with Benji’s vocals rapping behind it. The chorus comes in with the tempo dropping quite a bit, and the general sound more ballady – lets say. Overall, this is a good song, the highlights for me being the intro, verses, post-chorus’s and the outro – so basically everything except for the chorus. Now I’m not saying it’s a bad one, I just feel like it sounds too different from the rest of the song.

The third track on the album is “Playing With the Devil”. Right from the get go, we see that this is a hybrid of all three genres which Skindred work with, with the verses having a reggae/dub feel, while the chorus’ go full dubstep/metal. Once again, a section of this song has a ballady sound, this time in the bridge. That doesn’t last long though, as a fast rap from Benji brings back the chorus, the final one having being just guitars, bass, drums, and vocals, no “wub wub” anywhere.

Next we have “World’s On Fire” which starts with a simple guitar riff and not necessarily a reggae sound, but instead a reggae feel a, mostly thanks to Benji’s vocals. Then, the chorus, which is just metal, like the outro of “Playing with the Devil”, guitar, bass, drums, vocals, and the ending of the chorus being a lead by a scream of “World’s on Fire” – so that’s why the songs called that… Now the bridge of this one definately has a prog sound and feel to it, with the odd sounding time signatures of the guitars clashing with the normal time signature of the drums – or in layman’s terms, the guitars aren’t playing in time with the drums, but in a good way!

And now, the fifth track of the album, and the first single to be released from it, “Ninja”, which is definately one of my favourite songs from the album, with the guitar riff opening and leading into the the whole band playing the riff, which just sounds heavy! The verse drops the guitars and we have yet again the reggae sound and feel. Now this being a single, it’s definately going to have a catchy sounding chorus, meaning an anthemic sounding one, with “Ninja” being chanted behind Benji’s vocals. The bridge of this one may sound odd at first, with the notes from the vocals in the chorus being played in an 8-bit sounding style, but I personally love it.

It’s here!

I was awoken this morning by my girlfriend dropping a package on me – lovely I know…
Anyway, I open it and what’s inside? The new Skindred album! Which means a review for it will be up soon!

My first review! Well, soon anyway…

In just a few days, I will be starting work on my first ever review – at least one that will be published for all to read. Now of course I’ll need time to listen to the album and get an opinion on it before writing, but that’s obvious anyway.
Oh, what album am I going to be reviewing? Kill the Power by Skindred, which is set for release, in the UK, on the 27th of January.
So until then, farewell!