Happy Tuesday release day everyone! So now that were back on track after a much needed vacation, we jump right back into things here with some notable albums coming your way! There is a good mix of the always reliable metal genre, but also dab into just plain ol rock n roll and even country...yes, country. If you feel the need to ask, I have always been a fan of the comedic Big N Rich for their lyrical content and no-nonsense country hooks. A few albums I have been following and promoting such as Devin Townsend, Becoming The Archetype and Down and I gotta tell you, I am liking what I have heard thus far.
So whether you are near a local record shop or you are online all the time (like moi), then you can pick up a few of these albums and show some support/love to the artists who made them.
"The band’s frontman succeeds when he stops trying to be the Jersey guy he’s not. Sentimental ballad 'Here With Me' features one of his most affecting vocals. 'There’s another world you’re living in tonight,' he sings with a chill-inducing softness. 'Deadlines And Commitments' offers a dose of reality, creating a new recession genre — we’ll call it The 99% — that’s quite literal. 'If you should lose your way,' Flowers croons, 'there is a place in this house you can stay.' The arrangement gallops, a fine marriage of synth, bass, guitar and drums. It’s fantastic.
For the most part, Battle Born is overwhelmed by captured-in-amber imagery of a white bread American fantasy. There’s a sense here that The Killers have become a too insular. With each album recorded in their hometown of Vegas, they seem to be spinning in place, chasing arm-waving arena moments. That’s great in a concert setting — it binds the band and its audience together — but it doesn’t always make for challenging music. Sometimes the only way to grow up is to leave home." -Idolator
"But Epicloud, for all its use of the two, doesn't hit on the same wavelength. It doesn't even come close. And the issue is in the vocals. One listen to 'Kingdom' shows Devin placing a lot of emotion in his delivery - the scream of 'I'm FINE!,' the clean roar of 'stay with me' - it's all there. It's a powerful song. But compare it to a song like 'Save Our Now,' a song whose lyrics seem to press for urgency, but whose vocal force is a croon from both Devin and Anneke. Even the 'aggressive' choruses of the song sound disingenuous. And it sounds this way because we know the range of these two. We've seen them strain on Addicted, fighting for those tough notes to complete the feeling of the internal struggles that only music can convey. And that's not here on Epicloud." -Sputnik Music
(Deluxe 2CD Version)
"Airy harmonics introduce 'Chosen Ones' as Gould's bass weaves and wobbles through Shaffer's topsy-turvy distorted chug. Wackerman bludgeons with each calculated stomp on 'No Secrets', while Krolikowski's vocal brilliance utterly shines during a strangely gorgeous 'Beautiful Side'. These separate artists converge in this dark musical manse of Shaffer's design, and it's utterly thrilling.
The six-minute plus centerpiece, 'Dissolve', illuminates the genius of Fear and The Nervous System as a collective. Krolikowski's harmony transfixes as Shaffer seamlessly shifts from subdued vulnerable textures into psychotic 21st century thrashing.
The ride concludes on 'Ambien'. Here Shaffer arranges a grandiose finale worthy of the preceding eleven songs. Strings glisten hauntingly practically bleeding into his guitar as each element cascades into one last dark crescendo. Shaffer architects the record like a filmmaker, ensuring that every movement and sound contributes to the overarching vision. At the center, his guitar playing tells a painful and powerful tale.
This is another step forward for heavy music. This is Fear and The Nervous System." -Artist Direct
"As good as all this is compared to vomitously awful bands like The Devil Wears Prada or Avenged Sevenfold, you still have to enjoy basic hardcore ideals crushed through a heavy metal filter. VOD are masters of cool parts but they don’t always write great songs. At times one part of a tune will outshine the rest of it, such as the chorus for 'The Enemy', which is so good that the rest of the tune feels flat. The opening groove to 'Hard Times' is awesome but a minute in we’re subjected to fairly standard chunk-chunk metalcore riffs. Every time the opening groove returns it shines a bright light on how boring the rest of the tune is. Nothing on The Cursed Remain Cursed is bad, but it isn’t groundbreaking either. This is a decent metal record that’s an outstanding metalcore record and that dichotomy is interesting but doesn’t motivate me to want to hear the record very often.
Even if I didn’t love this album, I hope the return of VOD takes metalcore in a better direction. The genre isn’t going anywhere so the only hope is that it gets better. A band like VOD, if the kids embrace them, might break the hold of hipster metal that currently grips metalcore. I’ll never be a fan of this genre, but if more bands produced albums like The Cursed Remain The Cursed, at least I could respect it." -Crave Online
"'Dumpster World' features a jarring change of pace within the song, between its 'Horse With No Name'-like opening and coda. Its midsection gets thrash-y, but the track doesn’t work at either pace. Album closer 'Heartbreak on the 101' could’ve thrived on the eerie effect of Bridwell’s smoky, near-spoken word delivery, but Johns, in his only failure, allows strings to over-saturate the track. As for 'A Little Biblical', it’s a little light.
Mirage Rock isn’t a perfect record, but it’s one to own. By adding Glyn Johns behind the boards, Band of Horses allowed a master to do his work. They trusted him, and he showed them a new direction down a track of empty and quiet spaces in addition to rum-soaked treks through dark Saturday nights. The southern rock grip that is 'Electric Music' sums up the record better than I can: 'This is what it does/ Traveling the open road.'" -Consequence of Sound
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"If you're looking for a few of the best tracks to listen to, I would suggest 'The Time Bender', 'The War Ender', and 'The Planet Maker'. Near the beginning of 'The Time Bender', the guitar sounds like something that The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza would write and Becoming The Archetype pulls it off flawlessly. 'The War Ender' is a great track and what makes it stand out to me is that it's one of the fastest and heaviest tracks on I Am. The track that stands out the most to me, however, is 'The Planet Maker'. Right from the first riff, I knew that it was going to be a personal favourite.
Since releasing Terminate Damnation in 2005, Becoming The Archetype has put out solid album after solid album. While I Am is not their best work to date (I believe that title belongs to Dichotomy), it displays loads of progression and maturity from their previous albums, and still maintains some of their original style." -Megusta Reviews
"As much as the ballads add the 'something more' to Big & Rich's fun and good times aesthetic and a sense of 'seriousness,' they remain at their best on the tempo songs and explicitly showcase this on songs like 'Rock The Boat,' 'Get Your Game On,' 'Cheat On You', and 'Can't Be Satisfied.' Each of these three songs could very well be the follow-up single to 'That's Why I Pray.'
It's been over five years since Big & Rich have released an album together (in that time John Rich has released one full length album and two EPs while Big Kenny released his own solo record, with both scoring Top 40 hits off in the process). Still despite the moderate success of their solo work, the dynamics that Big Kenny and John Rich have together is undeniable and it's certainly good to see them back together doing what they do best, releasing entertaining modern country music. That being said, if you've never been a fan of their music, chances are you will not become one now as the Hillbilly Jedi are leading a freak parade that never was meant to be 100% wholly mainstream (the mainstream of country has somewhat come their way, though)." -Roughstock
(Down - IV: Pt. I-The Purple EP)
"The structure of this record has a profound impact on the listening experience. Rather than a huge slab of a record that many fans are used to, The Purple EP (and the other forthcoming three albums) offer lighter fare, a tasting menu, each six-song unit offering a taste of a different aspect of Down's sound. The EP structure works extremely well for the heavy-but-muscular sound that they are working with here, and really lets the listener dig into the tactile, physical qualities of the songwriting.
'Witchtripper' is the first single from the album, and is certainly one of the catchier numbers on The Purple EP, but it's the nine-minute monolith of 'Misfortune Teller' that really steals the show with its urgent pace, inexorable slow burn and palpable weightiness. This is a song that the listener feels they are carrying, like a physical weight, the slow throb of the rhythm pressing them forward as the tempo ebbs and flows.
While the sound of this record is classic Down, delivered without experimentation or flourish, the form of the album is where the band allow themselves freedom to explore, and very successfully. The Purple EP is at once extremely satisfying, but also leaves the listener hungry and wanting more – a fine balance." -About.com
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