Vultures :- Axewound

Vultures – Axewound

British supergroup soar on debut album

Rating: - 7/10

There are only two types of supergroup, those that succeed and either rival their original band or even in certain cases eclipse them ( A Perfect Circle, Down, Transplants). Or there are the ones that crash and burn never to be heard from again (Them Crooked Vultures,Adrenaline Mob,Chickenfoot).

Axewound, founded by Bullet for my Valentine mainman Matt Tuck and consisting of members of Glamour of the Kill, Rise to Remain, Pitchshifter and Cancer Bats, where described by Matt himself as sounding like a cross between Slipknot and Pantera whilst being “metal as fuck”. To be honest he isn’t far off.

Their debut album Vultures is significantly heavier than any of Bullet’s previous offerings, offering up a much harsher and thrashy production and vibe, as well as the riffs becoming more furious and brutal than Matt has written before, even producing some Meshuggah esque grooves during the title track Vultures. There are some moments when the band set into Bullet territory, the track Cold which features Matt sharing lead vocal duties with Liam Cormier from Cancer Bats, could have easily featured on Bullet’s last album Fever, but still packs the punch that has been missing from that album.

Man of the match award on this album clearly goes to Jason Bowld of Pitchshifter on the drums. He provides a powerful backbeat to the album as well as the occasional scatter gun fills that are peppered throughout the record. Liam also proves once again why he is one of the best vocalists and frontmen in the game, adding hardcore swagger to the vocals which adds another dimension to the mix, practically on the single Post Apocalyptic Party.

The album does fall into heavy Bullet influenced territory on tracks like Exochrist and the heinous ballad Collide, which is the albums main weak point. But these flaws are made up for with the rest of the album maintaining a high level of consistency as well as being rammed full of ragers like Post Apocalyptic Party, the title track (featuring Synester Gates from Avenged Sevenfold on guitar) and the thrashy Testament inspired Victim of the System.

Overall this is a solid debut album from the group, which easily warrants another release from the band further down the line. The album is easily the heaviest project any of the members of the band have worked on, as well as being packed full of visious riffs and killer vocal hooks. As supergroup’s go Axewound is pretty damn good, lets just hope some of it translates into the new Bullet album. Unlikely though

For Fans of: - Cancer Bats, Avenged Sevenfold, Slipknot, Bullet for my Valentine

The Union of Crowns - Bury Tomorrow

The Union of Crowns

Bury Tomorrow

Nuclear Blast

Rating: - 7/10

British Metalcore crew attempt to reinvigorate genre

                For the past few years Metalcore has been stuck in a rut. The old guard (Killsiwtch Engage, Shadows Fall, All That Remains) have all delivered below par album, especially All That Remains who’s last offering For We Are Many was so bland that it sank like a cruise linear in the Mediterranean. Bands such as Parkway Drive and The Devil Wears Prada have stepped out from the pack, this has to with Parkway being the best at the heavier end of Metalcore creating monstorous beatdowns, The Devil Wears Prada on the other hand have branched out from the generic Metalcore formula adding influences from the world of extreme metal especially on their latest release Dead Throne and the absolutely fan fucking tastic Zombie EP.  The new breed haven’t faired much better to be honest with bands like Rise to Remain, Of Mice & Men & Miss May I have produced good but generic records that reek of the sum of their influences, there albums aren’t bad they just sonically remind the audience how absolutely groundbreaking Alive or Just Breathing really is.

                The arrival of Hampshire’s own Bury Tomorrow, who on their second album The Union of Crowns have delivered the huge jump start that the genre desperately need. Whilst this album may not be as constant as The End of Heartache by Killswitch or The Fall of Ideals by All That Remains and may not stray from the template created by those bands. But it does make up for it by creating Metalcore anthems; the track Lionheart could rival established classics such as The Rose of Sharyn and This Calling. The band have clearly taken influence from the bands that inspired the first wave of Metalcore, riffs can clearly be heard that would have fit onto At The Gates albums or any band from the Gothenburg scene. This makes the album stand out from the rest of the bands in the scene adding a crushing brutality that has been missing from the scene for a long time, possibly since the very early Unearth and Vision of Disorder albums.

                Like fell British Metalcore pioneers While She Sleeps, Bury Tomorrow have resisted sticking to the formula and falling into mediocrity. Instead the band have strayed from the path and delivered a album that not only takes influence from what was great about Metalcore and moderises it will a killer production making everything sound as huge as possible. Hopefully more bands take notes on what Bury Tomorrow have done and follow their example. Metalcore could be in for resurgence.

For Fans of: - Killswitch Engage, At The Gates, While She Sleeps.

Crooked Teeth - House vs Hurricane

Crooked Teeth

House vs Hurricane

Rating 5/10

                Changing singers can be a dangerous step for a band to take. Take Iron Maiden, replacing Paul Di’anno with the almighty Bruce Dickinson propelled the band to new heights and established them as one of the biggest heavy metal bands of all time. However, when Van Halen replaced Sammy Hagar with Extreme’s Gary Cherone the band entered a period of both critical and commercial failure resulting in the band going into hiatus following the release of Van Halen III. With Aussie Hardcore mob House vs Hurricane on the other hand recruiting new singer Christopher “Chris 2” Shaw has proven to be a mixed bag.

            Lets start with the positives, the harsh shouted vocals make an amicable accompaniment to the meat and potatoes hardcore backing, the music doesn’t really do anything to stand out but the chugging riffs and breakdowns would please any hardcore fan. The beat & breakdowns pack the type of punch you would expect from a band with a song entitled “Get Wrecked”, which is performed and sounds exactly the way you would expect it to. As far as simplistic hardcore goes the music is more than acceptable and would serve as an ideal support band to a scene group such as Emmure or Parkway Drive.

            Sadly the album tries its hand at clean melodic passages and chorus’s. This is where the album falls on its arse. The clean vocals miss the mark by quite a distance, coming across not catchy and anthemic like Bury Tomorrow but whiny and annoying, like as if a 5 year old wont leave you alone on a long haul flight. The vocal lines fail to the standard and quality if their peers especially Architects who for my money are everything that House vs Hurricane strive to become.

                The album could have been vastly improved by cutting out the unnecessary clean vocals, the band suit being a shout along hardcore band with anthemic hooks such as While She Sleeps. Without developing their sound I fear they may fall by the way side and become lost amongst their peers. However if they adapt to being a straight up hardcore outfit hey could have a strong presence within the hardcore scene.

For fans of:- Emmure, Last Witness, Architects

The Hunter - Mastodon

The Hunter by Mastodon

Atlanta’s metal behemoths do it again!

                “I killed a man because he killed my goat” bellows drummer and vocalist Bran Dailor. From this line alone you can probably tell Mastodon are a band who aren’t afraid of pushing the the boat out with there lyrics and musical ability or showing there influences through there music. There new release “The Hunter” shows that the band have continued to experiment but haven’t forgotten their heavy metal roots.

Since their inception in 1999, Sludge metal kings Mastodon have produced four critically acclaimed albums which any classic metal band would be proud to have in their discography.  2003 brought their sludge metal classic debut “Remission”, their next album “Leviathan proved there was more to Mastodon then just riffs heavier than a heard of elephants, they could write excellent songs as well, the album spawned the bands first single “Blood and Thunder” and earned the band the prestigious award of Terrorizer magazines album of the year award. Leviathans follow up “Blood Mountain” allowed Mastodon to branch out from their sludge metal roots and incorporate more stoner rock influences; widely considered to be their breakout album earning the band their first Grammy nomination for the track “Colony of Birchman” the track contains a surprising guest appearance from ex Kyuss guitarist and current Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme.  Finally Mastodon released their critically acclaimed fourth album “Crack the Skye”; on this release the band branched out further by incorporating progressive rock sound scapes, ambient keyboards with cleaner vocal and clean guitar tones. However the band didn’t forget their roots, balancing their new progressive rock direction with their huge riffs and brutal cookie monster vocals. Drummer Brann Dailor dedicated the release to his sister “Skye” who passed away when he was young.

                After playing a storming set at this summers Sonisphere festival, where for my money they wiped the floor with everyone who played on the Sunday.  Every member of the metal community from black metal fans to hardcore fans was waiting for their first fix of the new album. Many expected Mastodon to pursue a more progressive direction on this album, following on from their previous album which was influenced heavily by Pink Floyd/ Rush. However, they couldn’t have been more wrong. On their new album Mastodon have allowed all there influences to flourish, on this album you can clearly hear that Mastodon have been influenced by bands from a Sludge metal background like Neurosis, Progressive  rock bands such as Rush and Stoner rock bands such as Kyuss . The result is an album which sounds as if it was a Mastodon greatest hits compilation. Whatever part of Mastodons discography you like there is a part of this album you will love, whether it’s the brutality of “Remission” and “Leviathan” then there are tracks like Blasteroid and Black tongue which could fit in seamlessly on either of those albums. Or if you prefer the strong song writing which was included on “Blood Mountain”, there are tracks such as Curl of the Burl and All the heavy lifting which could easily be placed in heavy rotation on rock/metal radio stations across the world or even play listed on radio one’s a list (yes the chorus’s are that huge and catchy). Even if you preferred the progressive elements of their progressive masterpiece “Crack the Skye” there are tracks such as the title track which contains a guitar tone and guitar parts the legendary Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour would have been proud to have written. Or the opening to Octopus has no friends where Dailor pays homage to the legendary Rush drummer Neil Peart.

Most fans will have already seen the bizarre (yeah really bizarre) video for the albums debut single Curl of the Burl. Most fans however will be surprised to learn that although the single is a terrific song, containing an amazing riff (which some critics have already claimed to be “this generations Enter Sandman”) it is not one of the albums stand out tracks. That honour goes to Octopus has no friends, from its breathing taking drum opening, to the tracks surrealist lyrics and its haunting vocal harmonies which flow effortlessly through the song.

                Ultimately, this is a album which not only can stand up to the bands already impressive back catalogue but also take the Pepsi challenge with any band in contemporary metal, whether that be Machine Head, Lamb of God or even Metallica.  These tracks can easily be placed in the live set and sound as huge and power as tracks from the previous four albums. If they continue to produce classic metal albums to the standard of Crack the Skye and The Hunter, Mastodon could easily be the next band to headline a major festival such as Download and Sonisphere. 

Rating:- 9/10

Influenced by :- Neurosis, Rush, Metallica

Also Try:- Blackwater Park :- Opeth

The Blue Album :- Baroness

Blues for the Red Sun: :- Kyuss

Graveyard Skylines - Hellmouth

Graveyard Skylines

Hellmouth

Paper+Plastick

Following the recent success of Black Breath, Trap Them and Kvelertak. Hellmouth have released a punishing barrage of Entombed esque Death and Roll, played with the ferocity and savage nature of Converge. The 15 tracks blend furious brutality, with Entombed’s Wolverine Blues guitar tone which appears on so many cutting edge metal releases, adding a slab of gang vocals such as “It this aint hell then I can’t tell” from Tragedy of a City gives the album an anthemic feel whilst never detracting from feeling that a riff the size of wrecking ball is about to hit you. An Outstanding debut, hopefully they will be over some time in the year

Rating 9/10

For fans of:- Converge, Black Breath, Trap Them

Born Villain - Marilyn Manson

Born Villain – Marilyn Manson

The AntiChrist Superstar attempts to find himself on 8th album

      From the God of Fuck to the God of Fuck all? Over the past 10 years Marilyn Manson has been on a Downward Spiral, destroying his legacy and his infamous notoriety that made him the Anti Christ Superstar we all know and loved. Whether it was his disastrous performance at Download 2009 (in which he made as much sense as Boris Johnson fronting Converge), to Eat me Drink me which bombed and alienated his fan base by ditching the industrial metal template and focusing on a more new romantic, gothic sound. His last album “The High End of Low” was defiantly a step in the right direction, but lacked the quality or edge of his previous work. In this time period he’s lost members and seemed to loose his ability to not only be dangerous, but also be entertaining. The question is does the world still need Marilyn Manson?

       By the account of his new album “Born Villain” the answer is possibly. Whilst still not having the edge of his back catalogue this release at least ups the heaviness with tracks like “Hey, cruel world” which see’s a return to the anti Christ era sound. The albums first single “No Reflection” contains an almost Rammstein industrial riff and see’s a return to the industrial 4/4 of the Manson of old. Where this album falls down is on quality control, the album tails off near the climax and becomes repetitive and ploddy with the albums title track fading into insignificance. Manson, who is no stranger to covers caps this release off with a cover of the Carly Simon song “Your so Vain” featuring Johnny Depp, Seriously? Who wants to hear this in 2012?  This interpretation adds very little to the original and adds the Tim Burton effect (make something creepier for the sake of it), ironic really when you consider who’s playing guitar.

Overall this is not the return to form that most fans expected and wanted from Manson, but it does have encouraging signs of things to come. He may never be dangerous again, but by the sound of this album he can still have a role in contemporary music. Let’s just hope he can stop drugging himself into the abyss and put on a good live show again.

                                                                    

                                                                     Rating;- 6.5/10

For fans of:- Nine inch Nails, Ministry, Rammstein

Hope and Hindrance - Heart of a Coward

Hope and Hindrance – Heart of a Coward

Rating: - 7/10

Former Sylosis frontman comes into his own on  debut album

                After his split from UK metal titans Sylosis in 2010, vocalist Jamie Graham has returned with his new band Heart of a Coward. Although this release does not have the technical precision of Sylosis particular their epic (yet incredibly long) 2011 album “Edge of the World”, Hope and Hindrance combines the sound of Sylosis with a hardcore energy reminiscent of bands such as While She Sleeps.  The album could have been as generic as many other metallic hardcore bands who just stick to monotonous breakdowns rather than pursue new musical ideas and are perfectly happy to belong to a scene, what sets Heart of a Coward apart from the pact is the use of the Djent guitar tone taken from the mighty Meshuggah which adds a toughness and intensity to the bands riffs and especially during the crushing breakdowns. The album does go a little too metalcore at moments and could leave listeners wondering if they had been transported back to 2003 and at times the album does fall into the typical breakdown hardcore clichés. Where as this album may not set the world on fire it is a solid and interesting release from a promising UK band who are at least combining their metallic hardcore roots with a new and exciting musical idea and sound.

For fans of :- Sylosis, Meshuggah, Hatebreed