Abraham : idsungwüssä"

 Abraham was a sludge band from Switzerland. Their new album finds less overt metal and more of a blustery noise rock chaos possessing things. There i a metallic aggression lurking in the outburst of "The Fate of Man, Lies in the stars" that builds up into. The vocals are coarse below that claw its way out of the dense mix of guitars clanging. I have always adhered to the fact that sludge is what happens when crust punks try to play doom, and this seems to be evident on "I am the Vessel and the Vessel is Me." They are going into a darker, more experimental direction, which works for what it is, but is a left turn for the band. 

By the time I get to the third song, I am noticing a writhing unease haunting the sonics of this album that feels more like Blut Aus Nord; the patter of the drummer's cymbal work also hints at more black metal influence seeping into what they do. The vocals shift to a more sung approach midway through the song. "Naked in a Naked Sky" finds post-rock colliding with them, reverting to a more Nuerosis-like sound.  "Suurwhut" finds them to continue simmering in this more spacious contemplation, which works better than the denser chaos that marked the first few songs. The gruff grumble of the vocals is a little too similar to what they did in the previous song. They also maintain a similar mood on the song after this one as everything begins to run together. 

"0600.4ou" finds the vocals taking a more prominent role to set the mood. It builds marginally in a sonic sense, mainly putting emphasis on the hypnotic mood. They bring things to a conclusion with the 11-minute "Home"; it also works off a more hypnotic drone as it casts an ominous shadow with its brand of sullen post-rock.  When the vocals come in, it's clear they are haunted by the Neurosis influence. I will give this album an 8; they take things in an interesting and darker direction, which I enjoy. Dropping on Pelagic Records. 

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Killswitch Engage : "This Consequence"

Metal core has changed since the days of Myspace. Can this band stay relevant, while working off a formula that went stale years ago? Playing faster and keeping things at a more frantic thrashing while going with the big melodic hook for the chorus where the vocal production sounds the same each time is the answer. At times some of the hardcore influence comes through at others it feels more like Slipknot, this only works for the first two songs, before it begins to all sound the same. Jesse Leach has a better hard voice than Howard Jones, whereas Howard possesses a more charismatic singing voice than Jesse. This affects the band's current sound and works off a formula established back during the decade of Howard Jones. 

At times it feels like Leach is singing under Jones's shadow, which is the opposite of when Jones replaces Leachadhad those expectations to live up to. If you wanted a band that embodied what kept metal alive during the Mysapce year these guys would be the poster children. It sounds like their successes are so invested in a formula that deviating from that would be too much of a risk for them, so they now clock in and just make the sounds they know will sell. The first song that I like is "Where it Dies" which takes on more of a groove. "Collusion" that follows it might not live up to "Where it Dies' but it's also a better song that does not feel like they are just punching a clock in the studio. 

 " Broken Glass" starts off with more promise. It is more deliberate, and marginally darker, though I think the entire album should be darker, the vocals at least take a different approach Midway into things, and it becomes a too-familiar undercurrent. "Requium' works better, as it carries more of a hook. The trash riff driving it is not the most original thing I have heard but the vocals balance things out with a catchier chorus. I will give this album an 8. I imagine they are somewhat limited by the exceptions of their fan base in terms of the formula that works, but this is too middle of the road. They are pros at what they are doing so the same ole same ole at least sounds pristine for radio-friendly metal. This dropped on Metal Blade. 

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Body Count : "Merciless"

 At 66 years of age, Ice-T decided to record an 8th album with his metal band, which worked as a novelty when their first album came out back in 1992, which is the last time I listened to the band. I did see them when they performed with Ice-T during the first Lollapalooza tour. I also like his "O.G" album where he first debuted with them. Since then it sounds like they have evolved into a halfway decent thrash band. Not the most original band riff-wise, as there is almost a straight-up Slayer riff on the first song. The reason I stopped listening to them after the first album was nu-metal and hard-core bands were soon making similar music better, and there are only so many hours in the day to listen to music, so I tend to invest that time wisely. 

Corpsegrinder is on the second song to lend some legitimacy to things. Joe Bad from Fit For an Autopsy is on "Psychopath", which is another pretty decent thrash tune. "Fuck What You Heard" is lyrically strong as it compares politics to gangs, and says they are two wings on the same bird. "Live Forever" is the first song that feels like filler and Howard Jone's vocal is pretty weak. There is a decent groove to "Do or Die". They got David Gilmour to help them cover "Comfortably Numb" which finds Ice-T randomly rapping over the verse. Gilmour just rips guitar solos, which are better heard on his new solo album. He can't save this song.

"Lying Motherfucka" is pretty much warmed-over nu-metal. Max Cavalera helps them on "Drug Lords'. The verse is more of a punk song. "World War" is an improvement over the previous songs. I think when they turn "Mic Contract" into a metal song, it was a good move and perhaps the direction they should go more often. They could do it with Ice-T's first three albums for sure. I will give this album an 8, it's better than I thought it would be for sure. 

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Terminal Nation : "Echoes of the Devil's Den"

This dark hard-core band opens up their new album with a bleak doomy sound of dystopia burning. The vocals snarl and bark with animalistic anger. When they gain momentum it's difficult to hear where the metal ends and the hard-core begins. The chug driving this album is powerful. "Written By the Victor" gains more speed and finds them attacking with the hyper aggression of death metal. His vocals even focus more on a lower guttural growl. Todd Jones from Nails lends his voice to this song as well.  This might be one of the heaviest albums you have heard in some time. "The Spikes Under the Bridge" starts at a more deliberate pace, then gains steam from the double bass that bubbles up beneath it. 

The ebb and flow of this album seem to find them in a tug of war against the need for speed and this weightier chugging. It is not a perpetual breakdown being fostered, but a more metallic spirit that flows through their musical DNA. They are raging against the system pretty well, and seem pretty angry at the police, In fact, it is the album's angriest moment so far. They push further into death metal, while still balancing things with a hard-core stomp. They are riff-oriented enough to keep things hooky, even when the vocals lock into a barbaric chant. There is a Metallica feel to "Embers of Humanity" where they indulge in impressive guitar solos. 

They pour on the death metal speed for "Merchants of Bloodshed". They are skilled enough to not attempt rushing the song, by but allow for grooves to develop. Lyrically it's about the military-industrial complex which I can appreciate. Jesse from Killswitch Engage lends his voice, to provide a more soaring climax to the song. "Bullet For a Stone" has more of a modern metal groove to it. "Dying Alive" finds them stomping onto the gas, and accelerating to more of a thrashing speed that brings earlier Entombed to mind. While the logic to their songwriting is influenced by hardcore, they do not conform to the breakdown formula. 

The production of this album is very raw and in your face. Despite being incredibly dense, the guitars sound like they are being cranked through blown-out speakers. "Immolation" has more of a death-metal feel to it. They also bring back more of the Entombed influence that lurks in the background. Dwid from Integrity joins them on the last song. He fits well within the scope of what they are doing here. Dwid has an almost Lemmy-like rasp here. I will give this album a 9.5, it's a dark and gritty take on metallic hard-core that crosses it with death metal in a manner that is more deserving of being called metal core or deathcore than the kids who have taken on those labels. 

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Killswitch Engage : " Atonement"

These guys pretty much defined Myspace metal. They did it very well. Now with original singer back for another, they seem to be carrying their own torch.The opener is stronger than the song that follows for sure.  Jesse finds himself in a strange position as he is trying to sound like the singer who replaced him. The sung vocal hook is not as strong as the the opener's . "Us Against the Wall"  dins the vocal hook getting back closer to where it needs to be.  They get into a more aggressive thrash feel with "the Crownless King".  It kinda reminds me of Goatwhore, with no black metal aspirations. Things get more melodic for "I am Broken Too". This is the strongest vocal performance so far. While there is some high school angst to the melodramatic lyrics of the song, it is the best song so far. More mid paced the tempo allows for groove.

The first song I take note of the drumming is "As Sure as the Sun Rise" . Th chorus vocal works, but other elements are not as consistent.  There is more of a Pantera side to "Know Your Enemy". The reason I continue to give these guys a chance is because when Overcast broke up half the band went to Shadows Fall and the other half formed these guys. The more nu-metal moments to "Take Control" as well written and hooks you in, even though they are really going for the Sirrus radio crowd. Sure it doesn't touch where these guys once were at their peak, but it is one of the best moments from where they currently are at. The big break down tinged metal core riffs show up on "Ravenous" which gives way to the sung hook. I think even with some of the more commercial moments this is a heavier effort than we have heard from theses guys in a minute. "I Can't Be the Only One" sets a more pop metal vocal against thrasy guitar though the shoot for the FM dial with it.   

When they get heavier on the last song it feels like they are trying to hard to prove they still are mean. I  hear they can play it, but I am not convinced they are feeling it. I will gie this album an 8. It is not their best moment nor their most inspired. It is however generally well done and the stronger songs balanced they ones they are not feeling as much. If you are a fan then you are going to like this , as it will give you enough of their varied sides.This album comes out August 16th.

Light the Torch : "Revival"

How is Howard Jones doing now that he is not in Killswitch Engage? Well that depends on what side of the band did you like?


 A- The side that owed more to 80s thrash metal than Myspace?

 Or B- the big hooky choruses that made them more accessible.



 If you answered B, then you can go check your friend's list on Myspace and masturbate to the girls that never talked to you on in the first place on there because they were porn robots. Now for the rest of us who like heavy music. This album sounds more Sevendust than Killswitch Engage. This gets worse with each passing song and it's pretty bad by the time we get to "the God I Deserve" . The only thing that makes it easier to listen to than Sevendust is the fact Morgan Rose is not doing his annoying drill Sargent bark. The first two songs are well written in the same way pop songs are well written with "the God I Deserve" leaning on the chorus too much. I retract what I said about the Morgan Rose vocals as they come in , but in the form of gang vocals on "Calm Before the Storm". Yes, the lyrics are as bad as the song titles suggest. I just finished reviewing the new Kamelot album and these two albums have more in common than you might expect. This is not much heavier than the new Kamelot. Like the Kamelot album, the rule changes from "cool riffs alone do not a good song make" to " vocal hooks alone do not a good song make". Vocal hooks alone might work better, but when the riffs are just generic hard rock wanting to be metal chugging, then they fall flat.

The albums pop sensibilities get to be too much on "Raise the Dead". To the point that I begin having to fight the urge to fast forward past this. That makes this song what I call a "Fast Forward Classic". "State of Disbelief" could very well be Trapt or Breaking Benjamin. The harsher screamed vocals are very sparse. Then the keyboards come up in the mix as the urine starts to flow. The rest of the song begins to become just bookends for the formulaic chorus. "the Great Divide " shows that they would not mind being Faith No More, the drums really drive this point home. Sure it might be better than half the songs on that last Faith No More album, but that's because the guitars have distortion on them. This might be the album's best song. On  "the Bitter End " they are like "Oh wait aren't we supposed to be pretending we are a metal band?" So they drag out a half baked Slipknot riff.  It's like filler from Slipknot's last album, just less angry. It's more of a nu-metal break down than a hard core one when it comes. You realize that the only reason Killswitch Engage was worth a shit with either singer was because they had the other half of Overcast who didn't go on to form Shadows Fall. I can't imagine Shadows Fall are fairing much better.

Mainstream metal satellite radio shows will eagerly play "Lost in the Fire" ,hell normal suburban rock radio might play it for the people who still listen to the radio out in the corn fields. The half time part is probably the best thing about the song. They get heavier on "the Sound Of Violence". Thankfully harsh vocals dominate the song. This is coming from someone who prefers singing. It feels like they are trying to redeem themselves in the albums more aggressive third act. Though the melodies on "Pull My Heart Out" somewhat run of the mill for Jones. By the end of the song it sounds like heavier Sevendust. I'm kind indifferent to it , but it's better than the first half of the album. I am ok with them backing off with the heavy if they do it in the way they do to close the album with "Judas Convention". It does veer into nu-metal, but in a way I can deal with. There is a "King For  Day" feel to the song and I like when Jones explores a lower croon. I'll round this down to a 6.5, as it's very middle of the road, though it does begin to get better towards the end.

Killswitch Engage : "Incarnate"

I used to be a huge fan of this band out of Boston called Overcast. When they broke up they split into two bands Shadows Fall and Killswitch Engage. Shadows Fall got off to a better start than Killswitch, though the latter got bigger faster. A flip flop of singers later here we are at album seven. Sure they are lowest common denominator Myspace era metal, but they are good at what they do. The big clean vocal choruses are entact and Leech's voice sounds better than before. The vocal production is so fine tuned that he sounds almost too much like any commercial radio rock singer out there. The first two songs are strong, for what these guys do. They loose some steam on "Cut Me Loose". While they might have a hard core background, but I am not sure there is enough still here for them to be called metal core.

Their very formulaic approach begins to wear on me by the time I get to "Strength of the Mind." They chug back to life on "Just Let Go". The drums could be a little more thunderous in the mix. It's not the melodic elements that I mind, it's the fact that I'm always feeling the heavier edges. While on paper "Just Let Go" should work there is still something very vanilla about it.  They get back some of the needed teeth on " Embrace the Journey" which shows shades of their hardcore past. I do like the melodic middle section on this one as it gives them the dynamic range to the chug toward the end count more. Even the acoustic intro to "Quiet Distress" still leaves all the weight to the big chorus to carry the song. "Until the Days" tends to fade into the background, I had to listen to it twice to form a formal opinion about it and I decided it's pretty bland. The vocals are more Engaging on "Falls on Me", too bad the riff didn't compliment this.

The shades of heavy become to similar on "Ascension". The higher soaring guitar part in the background is the most interesting part of the song. The vocals begin to bore me a little here.He has a good voice, but keeps putting it in the same places.The harmonies improve the song a little and keep me from hitting fast forward. "Reignite" doesn't really live up to it's name and instead plays upon all the conventions of post-Pantera metal, the sped up section is really weak. The break down really needed to provide the pay off and it didn't get me there. The more punk paced "Triumph Through" is another tedious exercise in color by numbers metal. It's funny how this just doesn't seem heavy anymore, I'm sure back in 2002 this would have been next level shit. "Tragedy" might be the second part of the previous song, but it works better on it's own. The lower growl works better than most of the harsher vocals on this album, which often are more forced shout rather than growls or screams. "Loyalty" closes the album and takes Pantera and fuses it with Meshuggah. Production wise this sounds more like a demo in comparison. The big arena rock vocal hook doesn't hook into as well as it did earlier and I think it's because there bag of tricks begins to dull in this far into the album.

I'll give this album a 7, if you think you hearing metal even you listen to rock radio then this will really seem heavy to you. I think most of their fan base has grown up and over this sort of thing. They are still good at what they do I think if this album had been stream lined down then it might work.