Salt The Wound

Posted by JAMEZ on Nov 11, 2009 in Death Metal, Deathcore | Comments Off

Salt The Wound, from Cleveland, Ohio, have released their follow up to 2008′s Carnal Repercussions, with Ares. They have stayed true to the path of delivering melodic deathcore chalked full of formulated break downs, high pitched vocal squawks, and monotonous guitar riffs. Unfortunately, Ares is sub par to their debut.

Only a couple things have changed, as far as their sound is concerned, and they both revolve around the vocals. Salt The Wound, just as Job For A Cowboy, has taken the axe to the “pig squealing” and have put an interesting twist to the high pitch screams which is most noticeable on “From My Hands.”

Most of this album dwells in mediocrity. Every track sounds the same. Ares drags at the same moderate pace the entire album. I feel like I am listening to the same drum beat and guitar riff the entire time. “When People Are Shameless” is the only track containing an original sounding guitar part which is only presented in the first quarter of the song. There is really not much to say about Ares other than its simply, O.K. If you never hear this album, you wont be missing much. And do we really need another album themed around the god damn Romans?

Artist: Salt the Wound
Album: Ares
Genre: Deathcore
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/saltthewound

-Tracklist-
1. Mutations
2. From My Hands
3. Foot of the Thrown
4. An Era of Revolution
5. When People are Shameless
6. Jafar
7. Hail the Locusts
8. Take a Bow

Try Album [Megaupload] | Salt The Wound – Ares

Arsonists Get All The Girls

Posted by JAMEZ on Aug 9, 2009 in Death Metal, Experimental, Hardcore | Comments Off

Arsonists Get All the Girls started in 2005 as a joke and wanted to be the heavier version of Horse the Band. Horse the Band almost invented the genre Nintendocore with a hilarious keyboard and synthesizer sound in their metalcore. Besides a lot of humor they can also write catchy tunes and that’s exactly what Arsonists Get All the Girls lacks in most of the songs on ‘Portals’.

Yes, these fire-raisers can handle their instruments and come up with hot guitar riffs and funny keyboard parts. Still the breakdowns, moshparts or keyboard tunes are just cut and paste work. When this album continues you getting bored by the simple keyboard lines and also the melodic guitar riffs, especially in the 7 minute song “Portals” that’s just way too long. If you want to imitate Between the Buried and Me you should also have their song writing qualities.

No, Arsonists Get All the Girls from America is just one of the bands that jumps on the buzz Horse the Band created and although this album is already their third I can’t hear they have a sound of their own. The un-funny synthesizer sounds in for example “I Lost My Loss of Ruin” and “To Playact in Static” get on my nerves, just like the standard breakdowns do.

Review By Maurice

Artist: Arsonists Get All The Girls

Album: Portals [2009]

Genre: Hardcore / Death Metal / Experimental

MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/agatg

-Track List-

01.Interdimensionary 01:24
02.The 42nd Ego 03:30
03.My Cup’s Half Empty 03:01
04.Skiff for the Suits 03:39
05.In the Empyreans 04:03
06.Saturnine 03:22
07.Violence in Fluid: Triceratops 04:01
08.Portals 07:26
09.I Lost My Loss of Ruin 02:58
10.To Playact in Static 04:50
11.Tea Time Tibbons 14:44

Try Album [Mediafire] | Arsonists Get All The Girls – Portals

Job For A Cowboy

Posted by JAMEZ on Jul 9, 2009 in Death Metal, Deathcore, Metal | Comments Off

Man JFAC has come a long way. It didn’t hit me until my 2nd or 3rd listen of Ruination just how far this band has come. They have jumped leaps and bounds ahead of their 2005 Doom EP, which started circulating through myspace. JFAC ultimately became one of the faces of deathcore. Their major label debut Genesis saw them breaking away from their deathcore roots. Which, while it was a step in the right direction, the album itself was very bland and generic sounding. Ruination picks up where Genesis left off, in the sense that JFAC is still distancing itself from deathcore.

First off, this album is undeniably technical death metal. Though not mind blowing in it’s technicality. This album is very straight forward in it’s delivery. A band that instantly popped into my head when thinking of this style of technical death metal, was Decapitated. This album has that “Decapitated” feel to it, so much so that if it weren’t for Jonny Davy’s stand out vocals, it would be hard to distinguish the two in some occasions.

Though naturally one would point out that JFAC has gone through several line-up changes since it’s first incarnation, and this is most likely why they sound so different. While this is true, and new comers Al Glassman (Despised Icon; Guitar), and Jon “The Charn” Rice (Drums) certainly bring something new to the table, the band overall has matured. The first noticeable difference, is there is virtually no pig squeals. Gone are the days of Jonny Davy relying on them like a crutch. Though to be fair, he had already been moving away from using them, however there were still some featured on Genesis. Returning guitarist Bobby Thompson has matured as well. Brent Riggs’ bass still isn’t audible, which isn’t surprising for death metal.

One of the few stand outs from Genesis, was the lyrics. Instead of typical death metal themes (I.E. gore, death etc) JFAC chose to write more about religion, and the apocalypse (not very unique, I know). Genesis was in a nut shell about the birth of the anti Christ, and how he becomes this huge politician and ultimately takes over the world via the VeriChip (or, the “mark of the beast”). Ruination, while not a concept album like Genesis, still follows similar topics. Ruination’s topic are more political than anything else. Ranging from human rights in North Korea to the use of torture in American military tactics.

Despite being technical death metal at it’s core, Ruination still exhibits influences from various different genres. For instance, the solo at the end of “March To Global Enslavement” is clearly melodeath. Which, while it is short and not amazingly mind blowing, it is played flawlessly, and sounds very crisp and refined. Which is generally how the album is overall. It’s not terribly creative, but what it does, is done right almost to perfection most of the time. Another example of this, would be the solo midway through “Unfurling A Darkened Gospel”. Again, while not terribly creative, it’s played well, and also showcases power metal influence. Also on “Unfurling A Darkened Gospel” is a short breakdown at the end of the song. It doesn’t have the core band breakdown feel to it, but it does feel misplaced. At the beginning of “Ruination”, there’s almost an ambient black metal sound going for it.

One of my few complaints, is the album burns out through the second portion. The last track, “Ruination” is a good example of this. While it does serve as a good ending track (slower nature songs generally are), it still feels tame in comparison to the rest of the album.

Also, while the production is very good, there’s a few occasions where it’s almost as if the vocals and guitar are fighting to grab your attention. It feels as if they are clashing, and sounds clunky and unorganized. The ambient effects may potentially be viewed as overkill as well. They really aren’t needed, but they aren’t very abundant, and at least to me, seem to work for the most part (at the beginning of “Regurgitated Disinformation” for example).

The straight forward nature may also potentially be a turn off. Ruination has no intros/outros, or instrumentals for that matter. Aside from the title track, this album does not slow down. The sheer brutality versus technicality may be another deal breaker as well. If, for instance you like to have your face melted by mind blowing technically (Necrophagist, for instance), this may not be your cup of tea. If you prefer a band like Decapitated, this album is right up your alley. Though, let’s face it, JFAC is no Decapitated.

When it all comes down to it Ruination is undoubtedly a step up from Genesis. A surprising turnaround from a once hated deathcore band. JFAC has certainly proven to be one of those bands that learns from their mistakes.

Review By SputnikMusic

Artist: Job For A Cowboy

Album: Ruination

Genre: Death Metal / Deathcore

MySpace: http://myspace.com/jobforacowboy

-Track List-

Try Album [Megaupload] | Job For A Cowboy – Ruination

Suicide Silence

Posted by JAMEZ on Jun 25, 2009 in Death Metal | Comments Off

Suicide Silence, a relatively underground band that essentially “broke out” after their major debut, The Cleansing. Almost over night this band became very popular (within the genre, that is). Ultimately becoming the “new” Job For a Cowboy. Soon every Hot Topic loving teenager was sporting some form of Suicide Silence apparel. Be it t-shirts, wrist bands, belt buckles, you name it. However, the actual album, really wasn’t that good, and not deserving of the mass amount of attention it received. So what if anything has changed?

The first major difference you will notice right off the bat, is the clean production. For No Time to Bleed Suicide Silence has thrown out the live quality that was The Cleansing. Instead, the album is now tracked. Overall, I think this worked out for the best, and I personally prefer a clean production versus a raw sounding album (though granted, The Cleansing wasn’t even that “raw”).

What’s also very noticeable early on, is the bands seemingly unwillingness to change anything. It’s very clear they want to sound like The Cleansing, while still one upping it.

“Wake Up”
The album starts off with Wake Up. One of the tracks that had been played already during their live shows, and had been circulating. This song can easily be summed up as “Breakdowns, and lots of them”. This entire song consists of (you guess it) breakdowns, decent drumming, and “Wake up” being yelled several (and I do mean “several”) times. Essentially every time the chorus comes up (Which is “Wake up!, Wake up!”), there’s a breakdown. The guitar work is as mediocre as ever, though listenable. The solo at the end, does at the very least sound nifty, but far from mind blowing.
Overall 2.5/5 – One of the reasons this album is rated low.

“Lifted”
Yet another song that had been previously circulating prior to the album being released. This song unlike Wake Up had been released on the bands Myspace, or in another words the “finished” product, rather than some person recording one of their live shows. This is the first song where the new clean production really becomes noticeable. As well as having a clean production, there’s random bits of ambient effects. At the very beginning of the song, and several occurrences where the guitars have a “distorted” feel to them. This song really grew on me. At first, I had the same feeling towards it, as I did with Wake Up. A very generic, and mediocre sounding song. However, after repeated listens, a lot more becomes apparent. This song reminds me a lot of No Pity For a Coward (off of The Cleansing). The riffs are somewhat unique (unique to deathcore, that is), and the solo at the end is much in the same vein as that of the one from No Pity For a Coward. Overall this is one of those songs where you will naturally want to bang your head to. As usual the drumming, and vocals remain the stand outs. Though Mitch sounds almost exactly the same as he does in every other song, he at least showcases his ranges, and various screams/growls, etc.
Overall 3.5/5 – “3.5″ may feel a little high at first, but as I said, it grew on me.

“Smoke”
Smoke picks up where Lifted left off, in the sense that the various ambient effects become noticeable. At the beginning there’s a very annoying screeching (like a high pitch train) after every rift. Smoke is a good example of Suicide Silence following the tried and true recipe for deathcore. You have your abundance of non technical breakdowns, and excessive one liners (for this song, it’s “Burn it down!”). Aside from this song sounding like everything else, there are a few seconds here and there of actually decent guitar work. If you can pick up on it (it’s very subtle, and scattered throughout the song), you will be somewhat surprised.
Overall 2.5/5 – Generic and mediocre. Not much to say other than those two words.

“Something Invisible”
This is hands down the best track on this album. At it’s core it’s like any other deathcore song. However, everything is done right. The entire song just sounds very heavy, and the guitar work is superb (compared to the other songs). There’s hints of melodeath in some of rifts. The chugging sounds almost machine like in a way (think Pestilence’s Resurrection Macabre). It may not appeal to some, but I enjoyed it. There’s still breakdowns (surprise surprise), but they are placed a lot better in this song. They don’t have that “hit a brick wall” feeling.
Overall 4/5 – One of the few songs I wouldn’t be ashamed by if someone walked in on me listening to it.

“No Time to Bleed”
Before I listened to this song, I had high hopes. I assumed Suicide Silence chose this song as the album title for a good reason. Sadly, this is yet another example of “generic”, and “mediocre” (I apologize if I’m over using those words). If anything this is below average, it’s such a disappointment after listening to Something Invisible, I found myself skipping this song all together. Though it does have a comedic flare going for it, Mitch screams “Ello, Ello” at the beginning, and sounds like a British nanny.
Overall 2/5 – Easily one of the worst on this album.

“Suffer”
Suicide Silence followed the forumla for this song, and at the very least did it right. Though they didn’t make any attempt to astray from it. There isn’t a lot to talk about this song, virtually nothing is a standout. It’s merely everything you’ve already heard before done right.
Overall 3/5 – Generic, but a tad above mediocre.

“…and Then She Bled”
Suicides Silence first instrumental track. I seriously hope they never do it again. This piece of trash is disgustingly bad. It’s laughable bad, but not the good kind (where you can, you know, actually laugh at it). It’s one of those songs where you just stop, and cover your face with your palm. It’s a huge attempt at trying to be scary, yet fails so hard. The entire song is played over what appears to be a 911 recording of someone claiming her family is dead. Or something to that extent, it’s somewhat distorted, and played under the instruments, so you can’t always make out what the person is saying. And what about the instrumentals you ask? Utter trash, usually the drumming is half way decent (the guitars are really hit or miss throughout the whole album, so when you hear a “miss”, it’s not that shocking), but it’s not even listenable here.
Overall 1/5 – Avoid this at all costs.

“Wasted”
This song, similar Something Invisible has random melodeath influence in the various rifts. Though in this song, they’re more hidden, and overall just not many of them. There’s a short rift near the end of the song, which is actually half way decent. Though I haven’t touched much on this, I would like to now. I feel this album is over edited. Having clean production is one thing, but the ambient effects are overkill for the most part, and Wasted is a perfect example. Near the middle of the song, there’s a factory like sound (at least that’s what I think of when I hear it). There’s no point to it, and upon listening I’m sure you will agree. It sounds very misplaced.
Overall 3/5 – Despite the oddly placed ambient effect it’s still a decent song. Yet again, it’s still generic, but not entirely mediocre.

“Your Creations”
This is one of (the few) stand out songs in this album. Though not mind blowing, it escapes the “generic” tag, because they actually did something other than following the same 3-step formula. (1. Breakdowns 2. One line chanting 3. Solo at the end). The guitars have an almost doom metal feel to them, laced with groove. Also, believe it or not, there’s actually a small bass solo.
Overall 3.5/5 – This is a good example of Suicide Silence showcasing that they’re not necessarily a one trick pony. While not being extremely amazing.

“Genocide”
This another song that has a No Pity For a Coward feel to it. Especially the solo near the end, which is decent. Though I hate to repeat myself so much, this is another prime example of both Suicide Silence being both generic and mediocre (maybe you’re starting to get a feel for the album now).
Overall 2.5/5 – I’m not going to type those two words again, I’m not doing it.

“Disengage”
The final song on the album. I’m happy to say, the album leaves on a good note. One of the stand out tracks, this song is overall slower paced (it kind of has that sluggish, but in a good way feel to it). The song slows down (almost to a stop) periodically, and has a somewhat high pitch (high pitch for death metal) rift, while the drums tap away (yes, tap) on the ol’ cymbals. After the song picks back up, the slow chugging onslaught begins. Surprisingly enough, it’s actually good. Like Something Invisible the guitars have a mechanical feel to them. The chugging usually ends in a high whale. The last minute of the song it starts to change. For roughly 15 seconds the song feels more traditional death metal than anything, and fades into that “sluggish” feel again, while the guitars take on the “groove” aspect, similar to Your Creations. The last 30 seconds is merely the song coming to a slow end.
Overall 3.5/5 – Good song, and a great way to end an album.

Suicide Silence is notorious for having a very good live show. It’s often the case where a fan absolutely hates their albums, but loves to hear those songs live. It’s not surprising Suicide Silence took the route that they did. Their entire point of this album was to add more songs to their live show. It explains the excessive breakdowns, and chanting. However it’s sad that the band chooses to limit itself, and I do honestly feel that they could do better (some may disagree).

As far as the album goes, you may enjoy it, you may not. It’s really hit or miss. If you enjoyed The Cleansing to any extent, you will find some enjoyment in No Time to Bleed as well.

On a final note, I would like to add that I rated this album within the genre (deathcore). I often see people who obviously hate deathcore rate deathcore albums, and rate down based off of characteristics of the actual genre itself (breakdowns are the usual target). Which seems absurd to me. This goes without saying if you don’t like deathcore, you will not like this album.

Sputnik Review

Artist: Suicide Silence

Album: No Time To Bleed

Genre: Death Metal / Deathcore

MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/suicidesilence

-Track List-

01. Wake Up (3:48)
02. Lifted (4:08)
03. Smoke (3:09)
04. Something Invisible (2:58)
05. No Time to Bleed (2:22)
06. Suffer (3:57)
07. …and Then She Bled (3:56)
08. Wasted (3:13)
09. Your Creations (4:00)
10. Genocide (2:18)
11. Disengage (4:03)
12. Misleading Milligrams (Bonus Track) (4:18)

Download [Mediafire] | Suicide Silence – No Time To Bleed