Category: Music

Alcest Souvenirs d’un autre monde Review

Alcest Souvenirs d’un autre monde Review

Artist: Alcest
Album: Souvenirs d’un autre monde
Genre(s): Rock
Subgenres(s): Shoegazer
Released: 2007
Length: 41 Minutes
Language(s): French
Label(s): Prophecy Productions

Track List:

01. Printemps Émeraude
02. Souvenirs d’un autre monde
03. Les Iris
04. Ciel Errant
05. Sur l’autre rive je t’attendrai
06. Tir Nan Og

Souvenirs d’un autre monde (Memories of Another World) is the debut album by French multi-instrumentalist Neige working under the name Alcest. Apart from guest singer Audrey Sylvain, Souvenirs is a 1 man project that shows Neige casting off his black metal background to experiment with the sound of Shoegazer music.

His songs follow a rigid formula, meaning that after the first couple of songs you’ll know what Alcest is all about and you can expect everything to follow on in the same vein. The core of Alcest’s sound will have you bearing witness to tidal waves of guitar distortion and Neige’s disembodied voice calling out to you as though he where a ghost. Together this gives the music a strange melancholic quality.

The simplistic percussion patters away rapidly in the background of the distortion drenched music and manages to slow itself down to compliment the softer moments that are considerably shorter. The softer moments act as interludes to relieve your ears of the oppressive pressure put on them by the distorted guitar and in doing so, Alcest almost innovates but the guitar distortion takes hold again before the interludes have a chance to take root and be explored in greater depth.

Thankfully Tir Nan Og is the exception to the formula and sees that soft interlude music being transformed into a full song. Roots are taken and Alcest reveals an entirely different side to the music that flourishes beautifully when it doesn’t have to compete with the distortion.

Souvenirs d’un autre monde is a consistent effort with some good ideas and a lot of vision but a diverse take on the song-writing would have carried Alcest a lot further.

June 30, 2013
The Gathering Home Review

The Gathering Home Review

Artist: The Gathering
Album: Home
Genre(s): Rock, Ambient
Subgenres(s): Trip Rock
Released: 2006
Length: 60 minutes
Language(s): English, Spanish
Label(s): Noise Records, Sanctuary Records (excluding North America), The End Records (North America)

Track List:

01. Shortest Day
02. In Between
03. Alone
04. Waking Hour
05. Fatigue
06. A Noise Severe
07. Forgotten
08. Solace
09. Your Troubles Are Over
10. Box
11. The Quiet One
12. Home
13. Forgotten (Reprise)

Home shows yet another face of Dutch band The Gathering as their sound moves in a new but familiar direction where they have changed enough to keep long-time fans interested but not enough to alienate them either. The Gathering relied primarily on the use of textural keyboard playing and low key guitar lines to create a series of introverted songs that are kept grounded by simplistic percussion that works together to create some particularly subdued music.

With the exception of the Spanish spoken word verses on Solace, all of the songs are sung in English by Anneke Van Giersbergen whose dulcet voice is a more than suitable accompaniment for their reserved sound. Sadly, Home is the last album to feature her before she left The Gathering to pursue her solo career.

The songs are often bridged together by subtle interludes that begin at the end of 1 song and run through the start of the next to keep Home flowing while managing to be distinct enough from either song and stops them from blurring together. Unfortunately the flow of Home is shaken up as it draws near to its conclusion. The title track ends with 2 minutes of silence and Forgotten (Reprise) follows on with an unnecessarily dragged out finale that lasts for over half of its 8 minute duration due to an incredibly slow fade out.

The long silence and fade out could only have been included so as to push the album needlessly passed the 60 minute marker. The Gathering doesn’t do themselves any favours by doing this but it definitely isn’t something that should ruin the experience either.

Home isn’t the kind of album that will leap out and captivate most listeners immediately. Instead it will turn into a rewarding experience as it grows on you over the course of a few listens while being the perfect soundtrack for rainy days and quiet nights.

June 23, 2013
My Dying Bride A Line of Deathless Kings Review

My Dying Bride A Line of Deathless Kings Review

Artist: My Dying Bride
Album: A Line of Deathless Kings
Genre(s): Heavy Metal
Subgenres(s): Doom Metal
Released: 2006
Length: 61 minutes
Language(s): English
Label(s): Peaceville Records

Track List:

01. To Remain Tombless
02. L’Amour Detruit
03. I Cannot Be Loved
04. And I Walk with Them
05. Thy Raven Wings
06. Loves Intolerable Pain
07. One of Beauty’s Daughters
08. Deeper Down
09. The Blood, the Wine, the Roses

A Line of Deathless Kings is the 9th melodramatic outing by English metal outfit My Dying Bride. If the band’s name and song titles weren’t obvious enough, you can expect to hear a lot of what can only be described as funeral inspired music as interpreted by a metal band. Coupled with the morose lyrics of founding member and singer Aaron Stainthorpe, it becomes quite apparent that the members of My Dying Bride have being living in perpetual misery ever since their sand castles where kicked over one too many times during their childhood.

Monolithic guitar plods are woven together with haunted but infrequent keyboard ambiance and some contrastingly speedy percussive rhythms that create an eerie yet powerful sound for A Line of Deathless Kings. The album is highly consistent and My Dying Bride only breaks character momentarily on Loves Intolerable Pain and at the end of The Blood, the Wine, the Roses to go from their usual mournful tones to delve into flashes of rage that come as quickly as they go.

My Dying Bride lives up to their subgenres namesake and the poetic lyrics will be a treat for fans of the macabre but for those wanting something to smile about are better off looking elsewhere.

June 16, 2013
BB King Blues on the Bayou Review

BB King Blues on the Bayou Review

Artist: BB King
Album: Blues on the Bayou
Genre(s): Blues
Subgenres(s): Electric Blues
Released: 1998
Length: 64 minutes
Language(s): English
Label(s): MCA Records

Track List:

01. Blues Boys Tune
02. Bad Case of Love
03. I’ll Survive
04. Mean Ole’ World
05. Blues Man
06. Broken Promise
07. Darlin’ What Happened
08. Shake it Up and Go
09. Blues We Like
10. Good Man Gone Bad
11. If I Lost You
12. Tell Me Baby
13. I Got Some Outside Help I Don’t Need
14. Blues in G
15. If That Ain’t It I Quit

Blues on the Bayou is a self-produced studio album by blues icon BB King. In contrast to his previous 3 albums (Blues Summit, Lucille & Friends and Deuces Wild) Blues on the Bayou sees him abandoning the different-guest-musicians-appearing-on-every-song theme in favour of writing and producing a smooth and finely polished album with only his backing band supporting him this time around.

All of the songs are extremely relaxed and sound as though they were tailor-made for the recording style he opted for. BB King still possesses a deep and powerful voice that you wouldn’t immediately associate with this album but it fits the songs surprisingly well. His playing shares the spotlight equally with his backing band that includes a brass trio and a piano/organ player, all of whom can be heard with a great deal of clarity on each song.

By the time you get half way through the album it becomes apparent that he got himself stuck into a particular idea when you find that most of the 15 songs are written in the same way and keep the same mid-paced stride. If the album was shorter it wouldn’t be as noticeable but the overly long running time does take something away from the otherwise soulful and relaxed mood that BB King has proven to be more than capable of crafting.

June 9, 2013
Children of Bodom Follow the Reaper Review

Children of Bodom Follow the Reaper Review

Artist: Children of Bodom
Album: Follow the Reaper
Genre(s): Heavy Metal
Subgenres(s): Power Metal
Released: 2000
Length: 38 minutes
Language(s): English
Label(s): Nuclear Blast, Spine Farm

Track List:

01. Follow the Reaper
02. Bodom After Midnight
03. Children of Decadence
04. Everytime I Die
05. Mask of Sanity
06. Taste of My Scythe
07. Hate Me!
08. Northern Comfort
09. Kissing the Shadows

Follow the Reaper is the 3rd album by Finnish metal quintet Child of Bodom. It shows the band stepping away from the black metal tinged sound of Something Wild and Hatebreeder to focus on traditional heavy metal offshoot speed metal and the well-established subgenre of power metal.

Vocalist and lead guitarist Alexi Laiho manages to retain his high pitched screech that makes him sound like an aggravated troll that just found out that someone has walked over his bridge. He is still impossible to understand even if the lyrics are written out in front of you. This makes you wonder if the lyrics where written just for the sake of having a vocalist as Follow the Reaper would have made for a fantastic instrumental album otherwise. This won’t be of any detriment to their fans but it will certainly ward off many other potential listeners.

The drums, bass and second guitar all find themselves in strict rhythm roles on Follow the Reaper and while the drums and guitar are easy to hear, the bass is reduced to background noise unless the listener pays close attention to it.

Children of Bodom haven’t gone through a metamorphosis in their decision to move away from their black metal influence but it is still easy to hear where their well-earned reputation stems from on Follow the Reaper. The most impressive aspects the album are the premier song-writing abilities of Alexi Laiho and the interaction between himself and keyboard player Janne Wirman. These elements are what make Follow the Reaper a staple of the Children of Bodom discography and a highlight of the metal scene upon its release.

June 2, 2013
Spiritual Beggars Demons Review

Spiritual Beggars Demons Review

Artist: Spiritual Beggars
Album: Demons
Genre(s): Rock
Subgenres(s): Hard Rock, Stoner Rock
Released: 2005
Length: 49 minutes
Language(s): English
Label(s): Icarus Music, Inside Out

Track List:

01. Inner Strength (Intro)
02. Throwing Your Life Away
03. Salt in Your Wounds
04. One Man Army
05. Through the Halls
06. Treading Water
07. Dying Every Day
08. Born to Die
09. Born to Die (Reprise)
10. In My Blood
11. Elusive
12. Sleeping With One Eye Open
13. No One Heard

Demons is the 6th effort by Swedish quintet Spiritual Beggars. The band draws on influences that span across the rock spectrum to include elements of psychedelic rock, blues rock, hard rock and even heavy metal for the colossal song In My Blood. When meshed together these diverse influences form the basis of the semi-obscure stoner rock scene, of which the Spiritual Beggars are usually associated with.

The lyrics are quite straightforward and focus on the struggles of life, regrets and depression but are presented in a way that is more akin to perseverance than misery. It is the last album by Spiritual Beggars to feature singer Janne “JB” Christoffersson (Grand Magus) whose powerful grit laden voice brings the songs on Demons to life in a way that few others ever could.

His voice is backed by a plethora of catchy, driven guitar leads and passionate solos courtesy of founding member Michael Amott (Arch Enemy, Carcass). This contrasts with bassist Sharlee D’Angelo as his playing seems to exist somewhere in the middle of everything else and while never being washed out, he rarely comes to the forefront. He gives the album a denser sound quality but lacks many of the outstanding moments you’ll hear coming from the guitar.

Spiritual Beggars frequently delve into fluid instrumental passages that give each band member the chance to really come to life and show that they have perfected their craft. Drummer Ludwig Witt injects creative fills between verses and keyboardist Per Wiberg provides colourful, sometimes textural keyboard lines (and an extended solo at the end of Dying Every Day). He often sounds like he is taking on a support role but if he featured more prominently it could have introduced an exciting and different dynamic to their sound.

Spiritual Beggars embody the heart and soul of rock music on Demons and in doing so they create a genre defining album that should have a place in the collection of all rock fanatics.

May 26, 2013
The Atomic Fireballs Torch This Place Review

The Atomic Fireballs Torch This Place Review

Artist: The Atomic Fireballs
Album: Torch This Place
Genre(s): Jazz
Subgenres(s): Swing Jazz
Released: 1999
Length: 39 minutes
Language(s): English
Label(s): Atlantic Records, Lava Records

Track List:

01. Man With the Hex
02. Mata Hari
03. Swing Sweet Pussycat
04. Caviar & Chitlins
05. Lover Lies
06. Spanish Fly
07. Pango Pango
08. Hit by a Brick
09. Calypso King
10. Drink Drank Drunk
11. Flowers in the Sand
12. Starve a Fever

Torch This Place is the first major label album and last ever release by The Atomic Fireballs. Finding initial success on the Vans Warped Tour in 1998, the band released Torch This Place the following year but unfortunately they never followed it up and subsequently faded into obscurity before they could make a name for themselves, much like the short lived swing revival scene.

While best described as a swing revival act, The Atomic Fireballs effortlessly match the powerhouse performance style of bands associated with the punk scene, which is something that cannot be said for most swing revival acts. This, along with John Buckley’s distinct throaty singing voice, makes The Atomic Fireballs stand apart from their contemporaries.

Their sound is not centred on a single instrument and instead opts for letting them interplay with each other to create a layered and rich listening experience that is easiest to recognise on Mata Hari and Flowers in the Sand. The brass section consists of a trumpet, trombone and a tenor saxophone that steals the show more often than not. Drummer Geoff Kinde provides a good number of short and sharp fills between his powerful and rhythmic percussive thumps.

The double bass and piano make louder contributions the quieter numbers Lover Lies, Hit By a Brick and Starve a Fever but can still be heard well enough on most of the other songs. The guitar on the other hand is by far the quietest instrument on the album and it is hard to hear it outside of Mata Hari and Spanish Fly.

The Atomic Fireballs are often over looked due to their short career but their ability to write swing jazz songs with punk-like energy makes Torch This Place a unique and electrifying album that is definitely worth your attention.

May 19, 2013
Behold the Arctopus Skullgrid Review

Behold the Arctopus Skullgrid Review

Artist: Behold the Arctopus
Album: Skullgrid
Genre(s): Heavy Metal
Subgenres(s): Progressive Metal
Released: 2007
Length: 34 minutes
Language(s): N/A
Label(s): Black Market Activities

Track List:

01. Skullgrid
02. Canada
03. Of Cursed Womb
04. You Are Number Six
05. Some Mist
06. Scepters
07. Transient Exuberance

Behold the Arctopus’ Skullgrid will either leave you in awe of the bands musical abilities or recovering from a throbbing headache. If you do manage to get passed the intense musical acrobatics of Skullgrid you’ll quickly find that there isn’t much left to intrigue you with beyond that.

It’s nearly impossible to absorb and remember any of Skullgrid because no part of any song is present for more than a few seconds before it changes into something else. There are some strong moments but they are scattered throughout the album and get lost between the meandering instrumental passages on either side of them.

Canada is probably the most coherent song on Skullgrid with the opening segment being repeated a handful of times at seemingly random intervals, making it at least partially memorable. Song lengths vary greatly on Skullgrid with the title track being just over a minute long, You Are Number Six clocking in at 9 minutes and the other 5 songs going from 3 to 7 minutes in length.

There is easily enough material on Skullgrid to be fleshed out into multiple full length albums but instead you will hear Behold the Arctopus play every guitar scale, drum pattern and rhythm under the sun packed into a brief 34 minutes. The trio have technical abilities in spades but they would rather show off said abilities instead of crafting a series well thought out instrumental songs.

Skullgrid can best be likened to masturbation: self-indulgent, messy and no one else should have to hear about it.

May 12, 2013
Team Sleep Team Sleep Review

Team Sleep Team Sleep Review

Artist: Team Sleep
Album: Team Sleep
Genre(s): Electronic, Rock
Subgenres(s): Trip Hop, Trip Rock
Released: 2005
Length: 54 minutes
Language(s): English, French
Label(s): Maverick Records

Track List:

01. Ataraxia
02. Ever (Foreign Flag)
03. Your Skull is Red
04. Princeton Review
05. Blvd. Nights
06. Delorian
07. Our Ride to the Rectory
08. Tomb of Liegia
09. Elizabeth
10. Staring at the Queen
11. Ever Since WWI
12. King Diamond
13. Live from the Stage
14. Paris Arm
15. 11/11

Team Sleep is the self-titled debut album and end result of an extensive collaborative project that manages to pull together a myriad of influences ranging from shoegaze, post rock, dream pop, instrumental hip hop and glitch music. When combined, these influences are used to create a low key trip hop/trip rock album that focuses on ambience and textures with an experimental edge rather than big choruses or flashy instrumental leads.

The trip hop/trip rock songs that make up about 2/3 of the album are abruptly broken up by the more experimental and challenging songs littered through the track listing. The post rock/shoegaze styling of Your Skull is Red and Blvd. Nights will make you feel like you’re being swept under by a tidal wave of noise.

In contrast, the hip hop and glitch inspired song Staring at the Queen features programmed percussion that clangs around like a lumbering machine and is rounded off with skipping and looping effects in an effort to make it sound as dysfunctional as possible. King Diamond on the other hand uses samples of Chino Moreno and Mary Timony to create an odd spoken word collage with a similar musical style. While arguably not the highlights of Team Sleep, they are certainly memorable.

Paris Arm is a straightforward love song that is unexpectedly sung entirely in French by Sandy Lakdar, who is not credited in the album booklet but does get mentioned on the Team Sleep homepage. It is also one of the shortest songs on the album, only outstretching the interlude Delorian by 9 seconds.

While the brooding ambiance makes Team Sleep a suitable soundtrack for the small hours, the noisy post-rock/shoegaze and glitchy hip hop inspired songs will provide enough variation to stop the songs from running together.

May 5, 2013
Cryptopsy None So Vile Review

Cryptopsy None So Vile Review

Artist: Cryptopsy
Album: None So Vile
Genre(s): Heavy Metal
Subgenres(s): Death Metal
Released: 1996
Length: 32 minutes
Language(s): English
Label(s): Wrong Again, reissued on Displeased Records and Century Media Records

Track List:

01. Crown of Horns
02. Slit Your Guts
03. Graves of the Fathers
04. Dead and Dripping
05. Benedictine Convulsions
06. Phobophile
07. Lichmistress
08. Orgiastic Disembowelment

None So Vile is an unyielding auditory terror created by Canadian death metal masters Cryptopsy. The album features troglodyte impressionist Dan Greening (better known by his stage name Lord Worm) whose polarising vocal performance consists of grunts, growls and howls that make the lyrics entirely undecipherable. His performance will leave the eyebrows of the uninitiated permanently raised.

The most memorable performance on None So Vile is provided by drummer Flo Mounier, who hammers away relentlessly at an inhuman speed with unnerving endurance. His playing often takes centre stage but guitarist Jon Levasseur steps into the spotlight to take the lead role occasionally and plays some short but infrequent solos between it all.

Bassist Eric Langlois is hardly heard through Cryptopsy’s 32 minute cacophony. He does manage to make some distinct appearances during the bridges of some songs and can be heard clearly on parts of Slit Your Guts and Benedictine Convulsions. Cryptopsy manages to soften up for the better part of 35 seconds to play a calm solo piano piece on Phobophile. It gives your ears just enough time to recover before the band gives in to temptation and resume their aural bombardment duties.

While there aren’t any lacklustre songs on None So Vile, Cryptopsy doesn’t change their sound much from song to song. Instead the band relies on their technical abilities to make the songs distinct from one another. None So Vile lives up to its name and delivers on all accounts. It will be loved or hated by the listener without much room for a grey area but as far as death metal goes, it has certainly become a staple of the subgenre.

April 28, 2013
Device Device Review

Device Device Review

Artist: Device
Album: Device
Genre(s): Rock
Subgenres(s): Hard Rock
Released: 2013
Length: 40 minutes
Language(s): English
Label(s): Warner Bros. Records

Track List:

01. You Think You Know
02. Penance
03. Vilify
04. Close My Eyes Forever (feat. Lzzy Hale) (Lita Ford Cover)
05. Out of Line (feat. Serj Tankian & Geezer Butler)
06. Hunted
07. Opinion (feat. Tom Morello)
08. War of Lies
09. Haze (feat. M. Shadows)
10. Through it All (feat. Glenn Hughes)

Device is the new collaborative project started by Disturbed frontman David Draiman and former Filter guitarist Geno Lenardo. The sound can best be described as a continuation of where Disturbed left off with Asylum, only with a return of the electronic effects reminiscent of The Sickness while performing under a new moniker.

Song-writing ultimately remains the same as what you would expect from Disturbed but with a few small deviations. Hunted is the most obvious song to point at for the new bands experimentation. It has Device jumping into the deep end of the pool as they infused slow, ominous electronic segments with louder guitar passages that makes it a credit to the album. If this fusion was a common element in Devices debut, it would definitely bring the album into its own.

Device features a multitude of guest performers with perhaps the most memorable being Lzzy Hale (Halestorm), who performs a duet with Draiman on their cover of Lita Fords Close My Eye Forever. While faithful to the original song that featured Ozzy Osbourne, Device injects their personality into the song to give a fresh take on it that prevents them from cloning the original.

Devices debut will probably be a hit amongst hardcore Disturbed fans after they went on hiatus in 2011. Unfortunately not enough has been done with Device to step out of the shadow of Disturbed sans the occasional flirtation with the electronic elements.

April 23, 2013
Free the Robots Free the Robots Review

Free the Robots Free the Robots Review

Artist: Free the Robots
Album: Free the Robots
Genre(s): Electronic
Subgenres(s): Trip Hop
Released: 2007
Length: 23 minutes
Language(s): English
Label(s): Elsewhere Studios

Track List:

01. Listen to the Future
02. Diary
03. Jazzhole
04. Yoga Fire
05. Lonely Traveller
06. Session Two

Free the Robots is the first EP by Chris Alfaro to be released under his pseudonym Free the Robots. The self-titled EP shows elements of ambient, jazz and hip hop being brought together to create a short yet highly imaginative collection of songs under the trip hop banner.

While largely an instrumental effort, there are some sparse vocal arrangements delivered in a variety of ways over the course of the 6 songs. A delicate balance with the music is struck that allows for the vocals to be listened to actively or as a background part to the music. Yoga Fire is the only song to features female singing and is an upbeat, psychedelic song. It is just shy of the 3 minute marker and is the shortest song on Free the Robots.

Some sampled instruments including a saxophone and a piano can be heard on the 2 jazz inspired songs, Jazzhole and Session Two. Listen to the Future, Diary and Lonely Traveller take on a different sound altogether and instead show off the ambient themes of the EP while featuring a strong percussive backing.

There are a lot of ideas that have been put into practice for the first Free the Robots release, but nothing on it sounds overbearing or forced given its short duration. Instead it is a celebration of diverse genres being reassembled to create something original and exciting.

April 16, 2013
Porcupine Tree Deadwing Review

Porcupine Tree Deadwing Review

Artist: Porcupine Tree
Album: Deadwing
Genre(s): Rock
Subgenres(s): Progressive Rock
Released: 2005
Length: 60 minutes
Language(s): English
Label(s): Lava

Track List:

01. Deadwing
02. Shallow
03. Lazarus
04. Halo
05. Arriving Somewhere But Not Here
06. Mellotron Scratch
07. Open Car
08. The Start of Something Beautiful
09. Glass Arm Shattering

Deadwing makes for another impressive foray into progressive rock by Porcupine Tree, who used their previous effort, In Absentia, as a blueprint to build off for this album. The brooding soundscapes have been replaced with a dreamlike ambiance created through the heavy presence of keyboards, synthesisers and pianos. The metal-esque guitar tones now resemble a driven, rock-orientated sound, while Steven Wilson’s singing remains firmly in their established passive and unstrained style.

The rock-centric portion of the album is often mid-paced, while the ambient portion is restrained with steady percussion and subtle bass playing that stops it from drifting into formless soundscape territory. The soft sounding moments are easily recognised on Mellotron Scratch and Glass Arm Shattering as the ambient textures lead them. Many of the songs switch between these styles and because of this, the album rarely stays static. Instead, they opted to create sprawling and imaginative passages with plenty of dynamic changes.

The different styles are brought together seamlessly over the course of Deadwing and never feel out of place with one another, which is exemplified with Arriving Somewhere But Not Here. This is Deadwings centrepiece and epitomises the albums sound over its 12 minute duration. The length of the song could seem daunting to some, but it builds up and flows into new passages effortlessly to keep the listener interested and comes to an end before you know it.

Deadwing is an excellent introductory album to the current progressive rock scene. It is also a worthy addition to the already lengthy Porcupine Tree catalogue and easily ranks amongst their strongest and most rounded efforts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ug8CWIasWi8

April 9, 2013
Andrew WK Close Calls With Brick Walls Review

Artist: Andrew WK
Album: Close Calls With Brick Walls
Genre(s): Rock
Subgenres(s): Art Rock, Noise Rock
Released: 2006 (Japan), 2010 (international release)
Length: 48 minutes
Language(s): English
Label(s): Universal Music

Track List:

01. I Came for You
02. Close Calls With Bal Harbour
03. Not Going to Bed
04. You Will Remember Tonight
05. Pushing Drugs
06. Hand on the Place
07. One Brother
08. Las Vegas, Nevada
09. Dr. Dumont
10. I Want to See You Go Wild
11. When I’m High
12. Golden Eyed Dog
13. Into the Clear
14. Mark My Grace
15. Don’t Call Me Andy
16. The Background
17. Slam John Against a Brick Wall
18. The Moving Room

Andrew WK Close Calls With Brick Walls Review

Close Calls With Brick Walls shows Andrew WK stepping down from the wall of sound approach of I Get Wet and The Wolf entirely. Instead, he allows for his creative spirit to run wild and takes his sound in a direction that no one could have predicted.

The throaty shouts are just a memory at this point as more conventional singing techniques have taken the helm, but perhaps the biggest change of all is the lack of adrenaline pumping guitars that were a staple of his sound up to this point. While the guitars still have an important role on Close Calls With Brick Walls, equal focus has also been put on writing more memorable moments for the bass, piano and drums that let them share the spotlight.

Calls With Brick Walls should solidify the artistic integrity of Andrew WK and dispel any notions of him as a gimmick act. The new direction will also probably alienate some hardcore fans who were expecting him to follow up in a similar fashion as before, but Close Calls With Brick Walls will reach out to new listeners and long-time fans alike. Andrew WK’s new sound is unique and just as engaging as his previous efforts but in an entirely different way.

External Links:

Andrew WK Homepage
Andrew WK on Wikipedia | Close Calls With Brick Walls on Wikipedia
Andrew WK on Discogs | Close Calls With Brick Walls on Discogs

April 2, 2013
Atari Teenage Riot Is This Hyperreal Review

Artist: Atari Teenage Riot
Album: Is This Hyperreal?
Genre(s): Electronic, Rock
Subgenres(s): Digital Hardcore
Released: 2011
Length: 43 minutes
Language(s): English, German
Label(s): Digital Hardcore Recordings, Dim Mak Records

Track List:

01. Activate
02. Blood in My Eyes
03. Black Flags
04. Is This Hyperreal?
05. Codebreaker (feat. Steve Aoki)
06. Shadow Identity
07. Rearrange Your Synapses
08. Digital Decay
09. The Only Slight Glimmer of Hope
10. Collapse of History

Atari Teenage Riot Is This Hyperreal Review

Is This Hyperreal is Atari Teenage Riot’s first album after a decade long hiatus and continues in the exact same fashion as they left off; setting out to create a furious wall of oppressive noise that is achieved by melding hardcore punk, techno and breakcore while covering it in a blanket of distortion just in case there was a chance that some part of the album could be considered an easy listening experience.

Male and female vocal duties are shared between digital hardcore pioneer Alec Empire and newcomer Nic Endo respectively, although Endo does become the primary voice on the album as it progresses. Not surprisingly, the vocals are also drenched in distortion whereas the lyrics are unfortunately reduced to blathering repetitive, half-baked pseudo-political rhetoric and social commentaries without any deep meaning or discernible thought process behind them.

Shadow Identity features one of the few relaxed moments on the album and has softly sung passage performed by Endo towards the end. It breaks up the pace nicely before Rearrange Your Synapses interjects itself with Alec Empire spouting out angry ramblings in the style of a street protester bellowing into a megaphone. This happens just before the song turns into something at could only be described as the soundtrack to a panic attack. It features a few illeisms that are present in Black Flags and the title track as well.

Atari Teenage Riot manages to mix several genres together in a cohesive and exciting manner but let themselves down with poorly thought out lyrics that are often pushed to the front of each song. They do not offer any real insight or solutions to the problems addressed which become tiresome quickly. If this was an instrumental album then it would most likely be viewed in a completely different light.

Atari Teenage Riot Homepage (contains flashing lights)
Atari Teenage Riot on Wikipedia | Is This Hyperreal? on Wikipedia
Atari Teenage Riot on Discogs | Is This Hyperreal? on Discogs

March 26, 2013
Andrew WK The Wolf Review

Artist: Andrew WK
Album: The Wolf
Genre(s): Rock
Subgenres(s): Hard Rock
Released: 2003
Length: 43 minutes
Language(s): English
Label(s): Island

Track List:

01. Victory Strikes Again
02. Long Live the Party
03. Tear it Up
04. Free Jumps
05. Never Let Down
06. Your Rules
07. The Song
08. Make Sex
09. Totally Stupid
10. Really in Love
11. The End of Our Lives
12. I Love Music

Andrew WK The Wolf Cover

Andrew WK The Wolf Review

The Wolf has some noticeable changes when compared to Andrew WK’s debut effort, I Get Wet. The most striking of which is that the overly sleek, everything-must-be-as-loud-as-possible approach that left all of the instruments in uniform before has been abandoned in favour of creating a more varied and dynamic album. This can be seen through the introduction of flashy guitar leads, louder and improved drum work as well as keyboard/piano playing that comes to the forefront on occasion.

He no longer relies on the simple mantras to be the focal point of each song and has instead opted to replace them with longer verses with marginally less repetition. The lyrics tend to deal with motivation, life and positivity in addition to the love and party themes that Andrew WK has become known for. While sometimes singing clearly, he also falls into a throaty singing voice that isn’t always easy to understand and can feel out of place at times now that the tempo has been cut back across some of the songs.

The expansion on his established style prevents him from becoming a self-parody and won’t alienate his core audience anytime soon with this album as he has managed to put enough new material forward to keep the listener engaged without thinking that it is just a reworking of his last effort.

External Links:

Andrew WK Homepage
Andrew WK on Wikipedia | The Wolf on Wikipedia
Andrew WK on Discogs | The Wolf on Discogs

March 23, 2013
SPY What the Future Holds Review

Artist: SPY
Album: What the Future Holds
Genre(s): Electronic
Subgenres(s): Drum and Bass, Liquid Funk
Released: 2012
Length: 73 minutes
Language(s): English
Label(s): Hospital Records

Track List:

01. You
02. Analogue Dreams (feat. Diane Charlemagne)
03. Back Again
04. Love Hurts
05. Infiltrate
06. See the Light (feat. Diane Charlemagne)
07. What the Future Holds (feat. Ian Shaw)
08. Surge
09. Hammer in My Heart (feat. Diane Charlemagne)
10. Nightcall
11. Bass Terror
12. Adrift
13. Kiss the Sky

SPY What the Future Holds Review

SPY (or S.P.Y.) is the alias of Carlos Lima, a Brazilian born, London based musician who released his first full length album, What the Future Holds, in 2012 through Hospital Records after issuing a number of EPs dating back to 2006. He focuses largely on the liquid funk branch of drum and bass and combines a heavy dose of ambiance mixed with loud, repetitive percussion to keep the songs moving forward.

He expands on his sound to create the standout crossover song Love Hurts, which has slow jazz piano chords playing with a subtle double bass and jazz drumming that is at times washed out by the overlain drum and bass percussion. While the jazz portion of the song is a slightly sped up sample of My Precious Thing by Llorca, the only other obvious samples that exist on the album are the distorted spoken word dialogue on Surge that has been lifted from the Remedy Entertainment video game Max Payne and a telephone being dialled and ringing on Kiss the Sky.

More notably, the title track has a live performance of an oboe, bassoon and flute performed by Emily Johnston, Harry Ventham and Gemma Hawkins respectively, which are used to create a cinematic quality within the song and departs entirely from the drum and bass sound for roughly half of its length.

Diane Charlemagne creates some memorable vocal performances on Analogue Dreams, See the Light and Hammer in My Heart, helping to distinguish the songs on the instrumentally lead album. Vocalist Ian Shaw features on the title track but unfortunately, like the jazz drumming on Love Hurts, he has to compete with the percussion to be heard clearly during his performance. Minor edited background vocals are also present on Bass Terror and Adrift but don’t have the same presence as the other performances.

Unfortunately, What the Future Holds loses steam about 3/4 of the way into the album. This is partially due to most of the songs keeping a similar pace throughout, but mainly because SPY fails to justify the excessive length of the album, as there isn’t always enough material to flesh the songs out for as long as they are while keeping the listener engaged. If the CD edition was cut back to the length on the vinyl release (songs 1 to 8, making it 46 minutes long) then the condensed time would have greatly improve the listening experience.

External Links:

SPY Homepage
SPY on Discogs | What the Future Holds on Discogs

March 17, 2013
Dropkick Murphys Signed and Sealed in Blood Review

Artist: Dropkick Murphys
Album: Signed and Sealed in Blood
Genre(s): Folk, Rock
Subgenres(s): Folk Rock, Hardcore Punk, Punk Rock
Released: 2013
Length: 41 minutes
Language(s): English
Label(s): Born & Bred Records

Track List:

01. The Boys Are Back
02. Prisoner’s Song
03. Rose Tattoo
04. Burn
05. Jimmy Collins Wake
06. The Seasons Upon Us
07. The Battle Rages On
08. Don’t Tear Us Apart
09. My Hero
10. Out on the Town
11. Out of Our Heads
12. End of the Night

Dropkick Murphys Signed and Sealed in Blood Review

Signed and Sealed in Blood is the Dropkick Murphys 8th album overall and if you’re familiar with their previous output then you’ll already have a rough idea of what you’re in for. But for those not in the know, the septet mixes bagpipes, acoustic guitars, whistles and accordions among other instruments with the standard punk rock format of guitar, bass and drums to forge an unforgettable and explosive listening experience.

Sonically, the majority of the songs are still firmly rooted in the folk punk style that they have become known for, but this time around there seems to be a stronger emphasis on creating the most glorious gang shouts and infectious hooks possible. The album features a few folk-centric songs that bring the folk instrumentation to the centre of the stage and Out on the Town even allows for a chirpy whistling break mid-song. All of this makes for a subtle, yet noticeable change in composition that allows the band to retain their trademark attitude and personality, all while branching out enough to keep their well-defined style fresh and interesting.

The vocals are clearly sung, spluttered, shouted, bellowed and chanted by 6 of the 7 band members over the course of the album. Lyrics tend to revolve around drinking, celebrating, unity and situations in life as told through fictional characters. The best example of this is in The Seasons Upon Us, a sarcastic caricature of a dysfunctional family that recounts their miserable annual Christmas gathering and is guaranteed to leave you grinning. It’s worth noting that while being a Christmas song, albeit unconventional, the way in which the lyrics are written make it timeless so that it can enjoy at any time of the year and not just when the Christmas season comes around.

The band tones back the cacophony on occasion but they rarely slow down the tempo significantly. The exception to this trend is End of the Night, a somewhat sombre sounding song that lets the listener know that the album is coming to its end. It features a rare appearance of the piano, not the most commonly used instrument in their arsenal, which is also used on Don’t Tear Us Apart to create a memorable opening and makes another small appearance later during the bridge.

Signed and Sealed in Blood is packed full of memorable choruses, catchy hooks and a passionate, energetic performance that blends 2 distinct genres, several singing styles and a variety of instruments into just over 40 minutes, which prevents it from overstaying its welcome. It will keep you coming back for more listen after listen and because of this, it could already be on its way to becoming one of the best albums of 2013.

External Links:

Dropkick Murphys Homepage
Dropkick Murphys on Wikipedia | Signed and Sealed in Blood on Wikipedia
Dropkick Murphys on Discogs | Signed and Sealed in Blood on Discogs

March 10, 2013
The Darkness Permission to Land Review

Artist: The Darkness
Album: Permission to Land
Genre(s): Rock
Subgenres(s): Hard Rock
Released: 2003
Length: 38 minutes
Language(s): English
Label(s): Atlantic

Track List:

01. Black Shuck
02. Get Your Hands off My Woman
03. Growing on Me
04. I Believe in a Thing Called Love
05. Love is Only a Feeling
06. Givin’ Up
07. Stuck in a Rut
08. Friday Night
09. Love on the Rocks No Ice
10. Holding My Own

The Darkness Permission to Land Review

Permission to Land is the over the top debut album by The Darkness that features the flag song and lead single I Believe in a Thing Called Love that they quickly and deservingly became known for. The album throws back to the hard rock sound of the 70’s and 80’s, while overflowing with memorable guitar riffs and solos, audible bass (somewhat of a rarity in rock music), and the outrageous vocal talents of Justin Hawkins. The drums, while not getting as much of the spotlight, provide a solid backing to each song and have a more noticeable presence in the power ballads and during the bridges and breaks of the louder songs.

In addition to standard rock instrumentation, there are some incredibly brief and overly subtle uses of a keyboard on Get Your Hands Off My Woman and Holding My Own, a barely audible piano in Friday Night (which also features a low, quiet purring noise) and an acoustic guitar that shimmers on Love is Only a Feeling.

Hawkins’ voice stays firmly in the falsetto range for the majority of the album and isn’t afraid to flex his vocal cords to show off his abilities. There are some offbeat moments as well, such as on the albums opener, Black Shuck, in which he alternates between high notes most women couldn’t reach and a snarling tone before jumping back into the style that he has become known for. He later performs a 10 second shriek-slash-gargling noise that sounds like it came straight from the bowels of Hell itself.

His voice is pushed right to the limits on Stuck in a Rut (listen from the 2.40 marker) and the lyrics throughout this song (and sometimes others) become incomprehensible amidst his ear piercing performances. In between all of this, he somehow manages to find time to break off to perform a manic laugh that makes you think he’s fallen right out of his tree.

As you can judge from some of the song titles alone, lyrical themes revolve largely around love, making love, women, a mythical creature on Black Shuck and probably the most, if not only, upbeat song about using heroin I’ve ever heard (Givin’ Up).

With all the catchy, sing along moments and guitar solos combined with the fun loving, lively approach to both composition and performance, this is easily everything you’d want to hear on a rock album and doesn’t fail to deliver on anything.

External Links:

The Darkness Homepage
The Darkness on Wikipedia | Permission to Land on Wikipedia
The Darkness on Discogs | Permission to Land on Discogs

March 3, 2013
Andrew WK I Get Wet Review

Artist: Andrew WK
Album: I Get Wet
Genre(s): Rock
Subgenres(s): Hard Rock
Released: 2001
Length: 35 minutes
Language(s): English
Label(s): Island

Track List:

01. It’s Time to Party
02. Party Hard
03. Girls Own Love
04. Ready to Die
05. Take it Off
06. I Love NYC
07. She is Beautiful
08. Party Til You Puke
09. Fun Night
10. Got to Do It
11. I Get Wet
12. Don’t Stop Living in the Red

Andrew WK I Get Wet Review

I Get Wet is a short collection of non-stop, hyperactive party anthems by an extreme extrovert named Andrew WK, who draws stylistically from 80’s hard rock and the glam rock scene while fusing it with the speed and simplicity of punk rock. The average length of each song isn’t much over 3 minutes and most of them barely take a moment to slow down.

The music is dominated by the guitar and has keyboard and piano lines playing alongside it with thumping hard rock drums not far behind, whereas the bass is pushed underneath all of this and you’ll have to listen intensely if you want even a small chance of hearing it. The album is accompanied by an overly sleek production style where everything is loud, fast and repetitive, leaving little space for variation. This might sound negative but when put into practice it has a surprisingly positive outcome, although it’s worth noting that this could have just as easily been the downfall of the album.

Most of the lyrics are straight forward and are presented largely in the form of mantras and shout along anthems, all of which will get firmly lodged in your head for weeks after listening to them. Themes strongly revolve around partying to your last breath, women (Girls Own Love and She is Beautiful), motivation (Got to Do It and Don’t Stop Living in the Red) and more partying.

There are two oddities that break away from the established formula for the lyrics. The first is about killing people in Ready to Die and the other is I Get Wet, which seems to have been written from a woman’s perspective but is barked non-stop almost entirely by Andrew WK for the duration of the song and you can’t possibly keep count of many times the title line is repeated. It does feature female vocals for the last part of the song, which are probably there to break up the snarling and yelling voices momentarily.

At the end of the day I Get Wet is a big, loud, straight forward, over the top party album that lacks any form of subtlety where you don’t need to engage your brain but you will get hours of fun out of it so long as your tongue is planted firmly in your cheek.

External Links:

Andrew WK Homepage
Andrew WK on Wikipedia | I Get Wet on Wikipedia
Andrew WK on Discogs | I Get Wet on Discogs

February 24, 2013