Music Releases For July 30th, 2013

Kind of a quiet week for music releases as I was basking in some sunlight on a beach somewhere in southwest Ontario.  Some very notable albums that I was eager to throw on my playlist nonetheless.  I was very excited to see one of my favourite blues musicians (Buddy Guy) throwing out a double disc of two very different genres.  As a longtime fan of Mercenary (dating back to 2006 "The Hours That Remain" album), I was happy to see new material coming out even if it had a lineup change.  Same goes for the infamous Chimaira who are now into their 7th full length album.

(*side note: everyone paying attention to the new material from A7X?)

Five Finger Death Punch's last effort was a little too weak for my taste and really started to put my fondness for them on the backburner.  Not completely jumping off the bandwagon for these guys.  I've been following them since their first appearance in Toronto on the Family Values second stage and always saw great potential for them.  "The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell Vol. 1" has reaffirmed my trust in these guys when it comes to song composition and tenacity.  Whatever momentum [I feel] they lost during their last album was surefire brought back on this one.  I am very much looking forward to volume two.

So hopefully folks some of these albums caught your attention and kick started your appetite to visit your local record store, online retailer or other legal source for your musical desires.  Cheers!

(Buddy Guy - Rhythm & Blues)

But it's also generally true that the "Rhythm" disc is big, bold, and brassy in a way Buddy rarely is; often, it's much closer to the late, great Bobby "Blue" Bland, albeit a hyper-charged, over-scaled version of soul-blues. Guy has rarely attempted this kind of horn-driven, soulful blues and it's fun to hear him tackle such sounds as he wrestles the rhythms while spitting out gonzo, gnarly guitar runs. Better still, he finds a place to settle down within the slinky grooves of "I Go By Feel" and the Keith Urban duet "One Day Away," which are not only the two greatest surprises in tone, but also the two songs that sink their hooks in deep. That's not always the case here, at least for the originals, particularly on the "Blues" disc which either trades in pastiche ("Meet Me in Chicago," "All That Makes Me Happy Is the Blues") or function as simple showcases for Guy's guitar. If this package can sometimes feel a little too pat, put the blame on producer Tom Hambridge, who also helmed Skin Deep and Living Proof and now has a track record of pushing Guy just enough to form a narrative but not enough to break him out of the box. Buddy himself remains a bit of a live wire, his voice sounding younger than Steven Tyler's and his guitar continuing to be a muscled monster that steamrollers everything surrounding it. That continued potency is reason enough to give Rhythm & Blues a spin. -All Music

(Mercenary - Through Our Darkest Days)

Being that this features almost the same line up as Metamorphosis (Peter Michael Mathiesen joins as the new drummer), it offers ample evidence of just how far the band chemistry and song writing has improved. Every aspect of their style sounds more mature, thought out and complete.  Jacob Molbjerg and Martin Buus Penderson don’t try to reinvent the wheel with their riffing and a lot of their leads have been heard many times before, but they amplify those with some interesting ideas and nice solos and the end result works well enough.Merc The vocals by Rene Pedersen are much improved and while I don’t care for his screamo style, he mixes it with enough death roars to make it tolerable. His clean singing however, is very good and he shines on every chorus. He has a great tone to his cleans and really makes the transitions pop while causing their sound to lean toward power-prog like the old material did. -Angry Metal Guy

(Five Finger Death Punch - The Wrong Side of Heaven and The Righteous Side of Hell Volume 1)

While there’s never doubt that this is a 5FDP album, the disc is a diverse one, featuring more radio-friendly melodic songs like ‘Wrong Side of Heaven’ alongside intense metal tracks like ‘You.’ When it comes to lyrical depth, songs like ‘Burn M.F.’ leave a lot to be desired, but you’ll find yourself singing / chanting along after a single listen.

Like their past releases, ‘The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell, Volume 1’ is straightforward, brash and unapologetic. And if you don’t like it, Five Finger Death Punch don’t care. They make it crystal clear on ‘Dot Your Eyes’ when they sing, “Could give a rat’s ass what you think about me.” -Loudwire

The biggest flaw to Crown Of Phantoms is the wide variation in quality. The first four tracks are by far and away the weakest. While Chimaira's usual stomping groove is still present, there is a blandness to these tracks that makes them difficult to get into. With “Plastic Wonderland” however, the quality picks up considerably, and the real bloody meat of the record can be found in the later tracks. “Spineless” is a harrowing, roaring track with vast energy, while “Wrapped In Violence” has a seething, searing rage that elevates the entire record.

Clearly still finding their feet with the new lineup, Chimaira seemed more vulnerable that usual on the uncertain Crown Of Phantoms. Above all else, the record could have benefited greatly from a harsh editorial voice, and may have emerged from the resulting cuts a tight and might more high quality EP rather than a sprawling and unsure full-length. -About.com

Singles: