Well folks, like I mentioned this morning on AFGM Facebook, there seems to be quite the amount of new music coming to your ears today via music stores and online retailers. There was even enough material here for me to split it into TWO articles. We're going to leave most of the hard n' heavy stuff for the one article and 'all the rest' for another (haha). Seems fair right? Anyways...
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A Life Once Lost - Ecstatic Trance
"I understand if particular people take issue with some elements of Ecstatic Trance. Some people may be wishing for more 'Firewater Joyride,' and become disappointed when they discover that A Life Once Lost is not the same band anymore. Some people may find the Trance aspect of the album too repetitive, but that’s okay. This is metal, not top 40, it’s not supposed to appeal across the board. Ecstatic Trance is profound, engaging, and original, and that’s what I believe is important." -The New Review
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Bison b.c. - Lovelessness
Each successive Bison album has had a slightly longer average track length, indicative of their letting songs breathe with open, crawling passages that last for aeons, taking a more prominent role in their songs. The pounding fury that gives them their namesake still exists in droves, but on this record we’re given more pause in between those moments where the tension builds more fully, rattling the listener all the more when it finally breaks with rage bursting forth. Bison is completely coming into their own sound; once a band that sounded like one of many Mastodon clones – albeit one of the better ones – they now retain only vestigial similarities inherent to occupying the same broad genre, possessing a gritty drive that marks anything they touch with the indignant trudge of Bison B.C.
The band lays its outlook bare on this record, making you feel it through the construction of their songs and a wall of sound that pushes forward relentlessly like a tidal wave. It’s an almost shamefully satisfying record, like smashing something in a brief spasm of rage. It’s a sick, twisted beast; a hate-drunk bull treating the human heart as a china shop, ill content until everything we value is ground to dust under hoof and horn. -Axis of Metal
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Heartist - Nothing You Didn’t Deserve [EP]
"Southern California based Heartist is a good fit on Roadrunner Records’ current artist roster. And it’s an equally good fit for fans of bands the likes of As I Lay Dying, My Chemical Romance, and Set It Off. The way that the band melds together its guitars and screaming vocals with the more melodic keyboard parts and actual singing makes the band’s debut EP, Nothing You Didn’t Deserve a record that metalcore and emo fans will appreciate." -WNCT
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Ill Niño - Epidemia
AFGM - Ill Nino: Epidemia
"The songs are freshly compounded prescriptions of what the formula provides. Great drumming from the under-rated Dave Chavarri mixed with croonin’ Christian Machado, richly smothered in a stopwatch sauce of strongly seasoned loud and soft. Actual dynamics riding on a power jazz rhythm built atop a thinly disguised backbone of pop melody became nü metal and Ill Nino’s Latin infusion gave them a foot up on everyone when they entered the genre." -About.com
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Wintersun - Time I
"TIME: The answer is yes. Though the lack of 'time' is annoying after such a long wait, knowing that there is another impending release on the way puts my final judgment on hold until I take the two in tandem. The material presented on 'Time I' achieves some of the highest musicianship and production values I have heard. The songs are slow and sweeping, atmospheric and airy, but lack more of the extreme side found on the band’s debut LP, which is more of an informational adjudication and not a complaint. However, part of the band’s uniqueness has been lost though 'time,' and Wintersun finds itself trying to catch up with so many other acts just from the band’s own homeland. Despite the loss of 'time,' the effort is still stunning." -Metal Underground
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Pig Destroyer - Book Burner
"The one thing that's hard to deny is that Book Burner's even less user-friendly than Phantom Limb, which wasn't exactly a freindly how-do. It's like PD decided to take the innovations of Limb-- the massive and unashamed riffage, the body-bruising weight-- and apply it to the chewed-and-chopped frenzy of their first few, more traditionally grind LPs. One thing for sure though is that PD continue to play with an invention and intensity that sucks the breath out of fans, a dedication to both grind's visceral appeal and shaping it into new forms that puts them leagues beyond most of their peers. It's that raging conviction, the totalizing whomp of their sound, one you can feel in your gut as much as hear, that makes them powerful, above and beyond however much their sense of rock groove and rock drama nudges their genre's self-imposed boundaries forward." -Pitchfork
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Sister Sin - Now And Forever
"A short and snappy review but what do I think? Sister Sin definitely has a different look on Metal. More melodic than thrash which is slightly more easy listening compared to having to be in an angry mood to listen to. Something more similar to The Damned Things where singer Keith Buckley’s gruff vocals make more of an impact than the guitars and instruments, to what you normally associate with ‘Metal’ bands. Hopefully you don’t have to be a Tool listening, black-hoody wearing metal head to enjoy and hopefully you will have another ‘most listened’ to album in your iTunes playlist." -What Culture
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Stone Sour - House Of Gold And Bones: Part 1
AFGM - Stone Sour: House of Gold & Bones
"...even touching on the jagged ferocity of early Slipknot in places. However, it maintains the personality and swagger of Stone Sour and certainly touches on influences such as Alice In Chains, especially on the crunching neo-grunge of lead single 'Absolute Zero' that manages the neat trick of marrying an infectious chorus with tech metal and breakdowns. 'Gold Sovereign', on the other hand, is a galloping metal cut in the vein of Judas Priest or Iron Maiden, with Taylor doing his best Dicko over the top. Perhaps what's most immediate upon listening to 'House Of Gold & Bones' is the sheer step up that Stone Sour have made as musicians. The likes of 'RU 486' and 'Tired' simply would not have been possible if they'd been attempted by the band in their 2006 'Come What(ever) May' period. Simply astounding." -Big Cheese Magazine
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The Sword - Apocryphon
"There are some subtle electronic elements on the album, including the title track. ‘Dying Earth’ has a trippy synth intro before kicking into a fairly straightforward and catchy song. Speaking of catchy, ‘Execrator’ is packed with memorable hooks. It’s lean and mean, and you’ll find yourself singing along to the chorus after just a couple of listens.
‘Apocryphon’ is the Sword’s best album to-date. Their existing fan base will love it, and it will be a big draw for stoner metal fans. In addition, fans of classic rock, hard rock and traditional metal will find plenty to sink their teeth into, as well." -Loudwire
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The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza - Danza IIII: The Alpha – The Omega
"If 'IIII' is truly the final THE TONY DANZA TAPDANCE EXTRAVAGANZA album, then so be it, but it should be noted that Josh Travis and Jesse Freeland’s concluding Mathcore opus is a beast, and an exclamation point that exemplifies everything great about the oft-ridiculed Core subgenres. Congrats to the band – they’re one of the few who were able to save the best for last." -Metal Observer
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Upon This Dawning - To Keep Us Safe
"Production quality of this album is as good as any other of the genre and scene. The screamer has a powerful voice, the clean vocalist albeit a bit whiny also adds a good quality voice to their music. Guitars sound good, but don’t bring about a lot of innovation which is rather disappointing. Drums of course are of high quality, so you won’t have to worry about this album sounding scratchy or muffled in your headphones or speakers.
To Keep Us Safe is one of those albums that don’t bring anything new to the table, but take what was made before, recycle it, and make it their own. I can’t say that the album is bad in any way, it’s certainly listenable, and sounds good, but it’s definitely not a genre innovator, and in my opinion, artists should strive to bring something unique and different to the game. I know I’ve definitely heard this before just in other bands like Make Me Famous, or That’s Outrageous!. To Keep Us Safe is a decent metalcore release and if you’re the type of person to like hearing what the newest thing of that genre is, this is for you." -Kill The Music
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Motörhead - Vol. 2-World Is Ours
"The band rock it out performing songs from all eras of their career, the crowd rocks out with them and delights in every fist pounding and head banging note.
Few bands rank with Motorhead when it comes to pure testosterone fueled hard rock. Lemmy may claim the band’s music is just rock and roll but the truth is Motorhead is much more than that. It is rock and roll with a twist of Lemmy, that twist consisting of sweat, blood, piss, vinegar and jizz." -Classic Rock Revisited
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Stay tuned for Part II...
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