Showing Teeth : " A Fate Worse Than Loneliness"

 This is a solo artist who works with session musicians. This would not be odd if it were a pop artist, but instead it's a commentary on where the genre is heading. She has a very specific vocals paproach that is not broken up with clean sining until the second song. Her clean vocals are the kind of smooth pop hook that we now expect from the pop-focused corner of the genre that is spreading the fastest; you can hear Spiritbox influence in this but without the same scope of songwriting. My first thought was this was being done by AI, as it takes a middle-of-the-road approach even at its angriest. 

"Make It Out" employs more groove. The pop vocals lead the way here; the chorus is not as explosive, and the song itself backs away from the metallic approach until midway in and then it feels predictable. She has a decent voice but is not Courtney.  Laplante has a more defined personality. Once we get to 'Rip," things take more ofa turn toward generic. There is a more technical aspect to the riffs bringing the chaos to this one that jerks you around a bit. 

"Shallow Grave" finds the screaming and chugging back in place.     It really does feel heavy or hooky at this time as it follows the formula KillSwitch Engage laid out over 20 years ago. "Paradigm' closes the album out. It's a ballad that finds you waiting for the other shoe to drop, because you know it will, as it's basically a power ballad. A pop beat comes in to keep it moving before the guitar comes in.  Like Nostradamus, my prophecy comes true, and the harsh vocals come in before the song ends. This drops on Spinefarm September  4th, and I am sure she will be hitting the big rock fest circuit stages. I will give ths album a 8.5, as it is effective at what it does. 

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Death is June - Balmora - "These Graven Halls"

Here is another album that blurs the lines between metal-core and death metal. I suspect these kinds of kids feel cooler by having a label for themselves that is not just death metal, since that has become, in some circles, like thinking of it as dad rock. The second song does have a more breakdown-style riff, which could be divisive among metal purists. But there is not a great deal of space between what they do and the Black Dahlia Murder. Though these guys are more melodic at times and might even care more about writing dynamic songs if we are judging them by the impressive "Ophelia."

"The Beautiful Writing " is faster and blasty in places with melancholic guitar harmonies racing around in some places.A lower death vocal counterbalances the higher snarl. A sung vocal refrain comes in, which might lean it more in the metalcore direction, though it feels like it's from the early 2000s. They throw some hooky riffs in for good measure. There is qa very technical element to what they do that feels like it should put them closer to At the Gates than the karate in the pit crowd.

Until the more symphonic passage of "Inheritance & Solitude," I thought it was still connected to "The Beautiful Writing," even though they do not let their songs sprawl out like that . There is one song later in the album that breaks the six-minute mark, but generally speaking, things are pretty concise, though at times experimental, yet always anchored in the heart of death metal that pulses from this album's sinister core. The more gurgled lows attached to what kids call the slam genre begin to surface here and there. What I like the most is that they are not afraid to break away from the pummelling to create melody and atmosphere, before taking off on a racing riff. 'Needles and Rags" drops this in one of the more unpredictable ways. 

"The Day You Died" has more of a bouncing hardcore cadance from the vocals, though the rest of the band is buzzing and blasting under it. The epic squeal of the guitar melodies is pretty metal. "Augustyne" is all over the place but somehow keeps it together. By the time we get to "Moonlit Hysteria' there is a more uniform quality cast over the songs, but they have left it varied for the bulk of the album. The six-minute Timor Mortis" is darker and one of the most memorable songs of the album. It finds them keeping things at a more deliberate pace. "NOV" closes the album with an odd turn as they go into a Ghostmane-like hip-hop feel, but run through a more hazzy lo-fi, which ends up in a shoegazey pop melody, that is not going to be for everyone and seems like a weird choice, but you can accuse them of playing it safe. I will round this up to a 9.5, as I appreciate the chances they take. 

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Slaughter to Prevail : "Grizzly"

 

This is the third album from the Russian band who ironically fled to Orlando, due to the war, in which they seem to not support slaughtering to prevail. They find themselves sonically somewhere between metalcore and nu-metal with the sample-heavy production on this album. The kick off a more nu-metal direction with the Slipknot bounce of "Russian Grizzly in America", which makes sense after I initially heard of these guys when researching bands riding the resurgence of nu-metal a few years ago. Their front man, Alex Terrible, has succeeded in making himself into a personality larger than his actual band. 

Speaking of personalities, Ronnie Radke joins them for "Imdead" and his singing makes things more Slipknotty by providing the vocal hook. "Babayka" has a more varied staccato groove, and I like the atmospheric touches, while some people might complain this takes the brutality from the foundation of the genre, it's needed to keep things from being one-dimensional. "Viking" is a little more along the just keep it a brutal beat down lines. Thus, does not make it as memorable as the first four songs. "Koschei" has a more industrial mood to it.

 "Song 3" was written with Baby Metal, and it is what it might sound like if a Labubu made music. "Lift That Shit" is for all the powerlifting metal TikTok, The drummer proves that he loves Slipknot, and the vocal pattern helps to confirm this. I would still be pretty stoked if it played in the gym, "Behelit" works off a thick crunching groove. The orchestral synths help it fall into place. But the willingness to use melody alone does not make a song "Rodina" might sound big, but it does not hook me in. It feels like an over-dramatic Rammstein power ballad. 

"Conflict" finds them a little too chaotic and heavy for their own good, though I like the effects on the vocals. "Kid of Darkness" reminds me of "Roots" era Sepultura, but with bigger production. "1984" is not a David Bowie cover, but an ode to the war in their homeland they ran from, it has more heart to it than pallning with the raw arrangement that is explosive, but sounds like demon-possessed Limp Bizkit otherwise. I will give this album a 9, as even with its flaws, the sum of its parts proves to be a step forward for the band that should find them moving into headliner status for good. 

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RESOLVE : "Human"

 

This French band finds themselves at the crest of the current evolution of metal-core bands. Any musical trend changes. Change is vital. Stagnation kills creativity. In the music business, this change is also crucial in marketing. Marketing affects even metal. On "Human" they are anticipating the trends without selling out. The chorus to "Death Awaits" holds a youthful vibrance that should play well to Tiktok scene kids. A pop undercurrent has worked into this more radio-friendly take on metal-core for a few years now, it has just become more refined. Resolve just does it more convincingly. 

Meeting the emerging sense of nostalgia for the 90s, this crosses over into a nu-metal adjacent sound. The more rapped verses on "Older Days" highlight this fact. Ten56 and Paleface Swiss guest on the song, though their contributions do not sway the song's intentions. The band Issues brought this pop fusion to the forefront of the genre's current wave, but Sleep Token has brought a new level of popularity. These guys are more convincing when it comes to the heavier sections than Sleep Token. They never delve as firmly into Sam Smith's territory. 

Pop is not a bad word, as it is typified by strong vocal hooks that create the earworms haunting the airwaves. This album's pop tendencies are a commitment to hooky writing to contrast the crushing breakdowns. The progressive undercurrent of the drumming leading into "Continuum " sets the stage for the anthem to come, as the emotive vocals wander the ambiance. Even with hammering riffs the Meshuggah-like riffing begins to create a uniform sound when it comes to how they bring the heavy. This makes the pop elements what gives the band more personality . Any producer can dial in the robotic gain monster tone, but not every band can write hooky songs. 

"In Stone" might extend its reach into pop a little too far. Proving that balance works best when blending musical styles in this manner. "Comfortably Dumb' carries a hard-core rage they only relent on in the sung choruses. "Ignite" is a more hopefully intoned style of pop than what I prefer though they are effective at what they do. "Move to Trash" finds the pop sensibilities clashing with a more nu-metal mood. "New Colors' starts off as a pop ballad, then finds a bigger arena rocking power chord progression elevating it. The last song has a more playful vibe that brings Pierce the Veil to mind. I will give this album a 9 it's a great deal of fun, and heavier, more interesting take on where the genre is going. 

Degradations : "Masque"

 

 This band from Atlanta has added a more significant layer of atmosphere to their normally heavy-handed hybrid of death metal, hard core and sludge. Their newest album came out last month. While they are one of the more significant names of bands trying to break out of the city's music scene. They occupy a weird middle ground of being too close to Lamb of God in their sonic sphere to appeal to the hardcore scene that holds court in New York City. They have plenty of groove but lack the hooks of a Gojira. The first two songs on this album kinda ran together as they steam roll with a rather uniform chug. The sung vocals that reappear in "the Silver Hand" occupy a similar space. They give their chant in the back of the mix, not unlike what Fear Factory used to do. The cadence of the vocals feels like they are trying to emulate what Mastodon did when they first introduced actual singing in the mix. 

To this band's credit some of their earlier worked sound like they were trying to bridge thrash with older Mastodon, which is a tempting bandwagon for a band from Atlanta to climb on, here they have come into their own, which is an important x factor. There is a really cool riff leading into "Iron and Flame" though the rule around here, is "cool riffs alone does not a good song make." However, they use the songs momentum to win me over in this regard. The guitars begin to come into their own in terms of creating memorable melodies, which is crucial for them since the vocals are more often just a guttural exclamation.  They pick the pace up to a more death metal thrashing on "Bad Batch". I do not think the more extreme side of metal plays to their strengths, they are capable of playing the notes, but it rushes by me without leaving a mark. They split the difference between the grooving memorable riffs and the more overt hammering on " Deathclaw". There is a subtle dissonance in the riff this song builds toward that I appreciate as it is darker.  

"Son of Dawn" finds them exploring more melodic sounds. It is sad these are wasted on an interlude rather than integrating this sort of thing into an actual song. I think it would be a bolder artistic statement rather than playing it safe by sticking within the excepted bound of what heavy metal should be doing in 2022.  While metal core has been around since the days of Myspace, the shelf of the genre is more likely to expire as trends changes. Going against the grain is what metal should be about. The vocals show promise on the last song, but this is something that would have been better spent in broader strokes throughout this album.  There are experimental flourishes that are highlighted by the excellent production value invested into the album. In other words, it sounds great, but nothing new is being brough to the table I do not hear from hundred other bands in my in-box every week. Despite this fact I will give this record an 8, it's solid slab of metal that is well executed and there is certainly an audience for this sort of thing, it is not an album I personally feel like I would return to as I prefer bands who take more risks and are a little darker. 

Issues: " S/T"

The over at Metal Sucks, seem to be fascinated with Nu Metal, so much so they tend to cry out like Chicken Little that it's making a comeback and claimed this band was going to be leading this. Nu Metal died in lets say 2000, for people who live in urban environments and  are aware of changes in the musical climate, it gave way to emo-core stuff of Myspace so 14 years seems premature for a genre to see a cyclic return, but music is pretty stagnant today so stranger things have happened.

I was unaware these guys were from Atlanta...or the suburbs of which makes more sense, and features members of Woe is Me whose Singer Tyler Carter came out as being bi-sexual so the Johnath Davi like ambiguity is in tact at least . He also has a penchant for covering Katy Perry and Justin Beiber songs, for those Punk goes Pop comps.

From the first song "Sad Ghosts" I don't really feel the Adidas, but this is more of  djent like take on the whole Myspace metal, that happens to have some turntables and pop vocal, if they bust out verse or go with the whole soft to loud Deftones thing, I might have this more claim more credence. I find them less annoying than Linkin Park was. The marriage of One Direction to djent, which if we are going to call a spade a spade is what this really has more in common with then Coal Chamber.

The almost Bruno Mars elements to the opening of "Mad at Myself" is pretty blatant and the ATL urban scheme of the lyrics doesn't ever break into rap, it does remind me Framing Hanley's cover of Lil Wayne's Lollipop. The sometimes sounds like a happier version of Enter Shikari, its not until "Life of A Nine" drop that things get krunk in nu metal direction. But is it anything that Blood on the Dance Floor hasn't already been doing ?

The more djent sound returns , but this time is accompanied by a more Korn like harsher emotive vocal.The clean vocals on this album as cheese filled as they are swoop into to save the songs. The trap music elements that are sprinkled with what sounds like j-pop house music bleeps and blips could work, the late 90's don't really do the House of Pain jump until later in the song. There are moments when this sounds like Alien Ant Farm and they don't have the angst of Slipknot, but this is better than half the of the pop on the radio.

There is a more j-pop dance feel to "Late". This one is less djent and more myspace , mall core and I am sure the catchy neon -t-shirts  they sell, will go over big at Hot Topic these days. It is interesting that pop and hip-hop element have replace the Tool influence that prevailed over most of the more worthwhile.. it it was worthwhile Nu-metal in the late 90's and when Tool transitioned over into A Perfact Circle bands started wanting to have their own power ballads and 30 Seconds to Mars started selling tons of albums before doing drag.

An old skool hip-hop element starts off "Old Dena" which is more of an interlude, I am surprised there is not more dub-step on this album as that seems a more logical band wagon to be jumped on here.  There is a much more Meshuggah like riff at the beginning of "Stringray Affliction".  There is one of the more Bruno Mars like breakdowns in the middle of this which is more convincing than the more djent elements.

I am surprised at this point that I have made it this far through the album, they assume a pop punk beat on " Never Loses Your Flames" that doesn't gel with vocals and the whole song seems more disjointed and filler than some of the tighter hooked writing earlier in the album. "Personality Cult" is just more along the lines of Myspace Mallcore, the riffage at times borders on more Slipknot like phrasing but the masked men from Iowa have a darker element they bring to what they did. This also lack any sort of Pantera influence which weighed heavily on Nu Metal. The closest they come to one of Dimebag's farts is on " the Settlement"

The duet with Nylo on " Tears on the Runway" is an odd choice and the song loses what ever advantage it gains in this creative twist with the breakdowns that at this point have gotten old. When the band closes the album, it has exhausted the brief fun pop elements, and seem to try to be taking themselves more seriously than the songs warrant. I'll give this one a 4 and declare if Nu Metal is making a come back it's the fault of of the same djent that Metal Sucks has kissed the ass of.                  

Converge: All We Love We Leave Behind

I've been a big fan of Converge since I jumped on board with them for their third album the 1998 release " When forever comes crashing". Over the years Converge has evolved often complimenting my growing ears and always staying relevant. On "Axe to Fall" we weren't gelled with one another and it was the first time I didn't like one of their albums upon the initial listen. Later, when I went back and made it through the first few tracks which I found a little too busy with guitar acrobatics cluttering up the recklessly fast pace, I enjoyed it. "All we love we leave behind" finds us back in step with one another, though you know how I don't play favorites so the magnifying glass is out as I sit down for my third listen, and I doubt I'll be listening to much of anything else today.

They bringing all the various element which normally comprise the dynamic range of their sound. The abrasive hardcore to the darker creepy melodies. The busy guitar hero tricks of "axe to fall" return at at times but are more tastefully executed. Having survived the whole metal core flood of the MySpace days Converge is really one of the only bands of their ilk who have stood the test of time...while retaining their sense of identity , which is where they peers like Cave-in and Thrice fell short.

A lot people know Old Mastadon for the spastic hardcore moments well here is where they came from sure you can list all the hip Brooklyn vegan flavors of week and they all owe Converge a debt of gratitude. So we can bow at their altar all day and I'll never get this album scored and review finished so let's give this the old track by track exam and see how it holds up under scrutiny.

The opener "Aimless arrow" is quick and jerky with Jacob Bannon using an intelligible more punk inflected vocal rather than his rabid dog barking. This one punches in as smart flurry and is an interesting choice to open things up with.

The following two tracks are more the straight ahead fast hard core style, "trespasses" hammers in with a Slayer like relentlessness , superb drumming keeps the song from just becoming a blur of movement and some clever almost rock n roll guitar. "Tender abuse" is more punk in feel as it has a sloppier assault until it slows in the final thirty seconds.

The bluesy intro to "Sadness comes home" had me wondering if they had toured with the Mastodudes one many times, this is one of the more "axe to fall" flavored tracks but a prime example of a more mature approach to some of the busy guitar runs which cluttered that album. By this point in Brannon is back to the scalded dog howls, until a dark muttering shows up on the song " empty on the inside" which starts with a powerful stomp, it almost seemed like the b section to the previous song and breaks down into more of a march pattern.

"Sparrows fall" is a minute and a half of straight ahead assault , while I can appreciate it for what it is I think the first few songs have already touched on this and Converge has already been here and done this, to the point is its fairly generic for them. " a Glacial place" offsets the outburst of the previous song as it darkens things up. Songs like this are my favorite thing about Converge, as they approach different angles of getting to the heavy parts, the double bass on this one will make any death metal drummer envious, ok maybe not Pete the feet, but it's pretty bad ass if we are going to use high school vocabulary.

"vicious muse" is another example of how Converge can craft smart hard core with our going into the more grind Core blam, blam, blam, ...which seems pointless when they are capable of writing songs like this. Punching in all the right places with a hint of old school gang vocals. "veils and veins" goes back to the very straight forward punk snare and the dog barking vocals.

"Coral blue" we go back to the dark and brooding side. Bannon gets close to almost really singing, I always enjoy these attempts because he is a fellow Morrissey fanatic so attribute this to his inspiration for the empassioned release. I also giggle when I think of him bum rushing the stage to give Moz flowers or a hug. There kind of a mike Patton vibe , like Tomahawk era to the vocals.

"shame in the way" is another short and sweet burst of aggression but I like this one better because it's more metal influenced than punk, and I suppose through out the years I tend to fast forward some of their more obnoxious punk influenced moments, as Discharge, Black Flag and Dead Kennedys aside I generally disdain most punk. With Converge the Discharge and Black Flag influence has alreadys colored the corners which I'm fine with, I'm even o.k with the winks of Minor Threat, who I also like I just haven't found any of their stuff that has transferred over to digital quality for my iPod very well, though may e I'll give it another search this weekend, and I doubt Converge will mind giving some time in their review to discuss such.

Speaking of Morrissey earlier "Precipice" reminds me of this albums , "there is a light that never goes out" lingering guitar that unlike the Smiths song is more of an interlude to the title track than a real stand alone song. The title track track has a nice build into the speedier section and the aggression is a good dynamic rather than the only color painting the song.

"predatory glow" closes things with a bulldozing chug that would have felt at home on"you fail me." I would say as a whole this album uses a lot of the same colors and sounds from "Jane doe" forward. Unless we are talking about what not sounds to be the juvenile outbursts of punk , this is not a bad thing as it remembers while walking forward as song writers, they don't need to reinvent their identity. So if I leave my fan boy at home and weigh the few sideways lapses with the continued growth in songwriting then I would give this album and 8.5 but will round it up to a 9 as the moments of greatness they do nail sit well next to their more classic output and despite my best attempts at being impartial this is my fucking blog and I can round up their score just on the basis of I like the sound of Converge being uncompromisingly themselves.