Iggy and the Stooges - " Ready to Die"

Even as strange as it for me that Mike Watt from the Minutemen/firehose is in the band I'm willing to forget the Weirdness album ever happened and accept this as part of the bands legacy just two songs in. Strangely the production on this sounds more like Iggy's solo album the Idiot , it still has a classic Stooges feel. May Ron Ashton rest in peace but James Williamson played all the guitar parts on Raw Power, which most consider to be the bands most classic work

It's opens almost where I would think the most logical point to bridge Raw Power with Instinct would be, "Burn" really blows me away as its every thing I could have wanted from the Stooges in 2013. The way Iggy's voice is blended in the mix really does it favors similar to the production on "Night Clubbing" . Williamson's guitar has the needed grit to take them back to the glory days.

There is a very Stomes swagger to "Sex and Money" but Pop's vocals never stray into Jagger territory , he has no desire to be Tina Turner and stays in his normal lurching baritone. His voice needs to gets props as it sounds timeless, the timbre similar to "Blah Blah Blah" and truth be told with his solo work I dropped off after "Naughty Little Doggie" but from what I heard he was veering into more of spoken word. well he is singing here and sounds great, he's never been a Robert Plant but oozes personality.

The opening yeah of "Job" cements it as a Stooges song. I can say the lyrics aren't as metaphoric or poetic as their earlier work, but it's the only flaw I can find so far and it's largely forgivable and on their most authentic moments a mute point. The jazz like Chaos to some of Williamson's lead help recapture the feel.

Another difference I notice from their earlier work is how restrained...or mature Pop's delivery is when you set it against the original albums when he was howling with drugged maddness. So on "Gun" it feels like a more punk version of "We didn't Start the fire" in lyrical tone, though Williamson's guitar comes to the rescue more often than not.

There are moments where it seems like a song is from one of Pop's solo albums rather than a Stooges album. Like the strummed guitar on "Unfriendly World" , which isn't a bad song, I like Iggy's delivery and the bluesy guitar. It should it be on a Stooges album?

The more metallic sound that belongs here returns with very seventies resonance to the way the guitar rings out. Though it does come closer to hard rock rather than the early punk sound of the Stooges. The solo almost has an Ace Frehley feel to it, though the Stooges did flirt with that period of glam during Raw Power, so the Detroit Rock City limits are wide open.

This vibe continues although has almost more of a Alice Cooper vibe to this ode to big tits of "DDs". Immsurprised mammeries would mystify Pop at this phase of his life, but oh well. The drums are verbs straight forward and I'm surprised how much Watt is playing with on something like this.

"Dirty Deal" has a grainy rock shuffle to it. Pop colors in the lines here,where in the past he would have blurted out his vocal take around what was going with more grunts, moans and whelp. Which I think the missing component in his delivery on something like this is their is less of an animalistic quality to his preformance.the strummed guitar returns on " Beat that Guy" his vocals take on more of the solo "Lust for Life" type croon which I think captures where he is at more closely than trying to recapture an explosiveness , when he's matured out from his primal nature. If this song was on a solo album I would like it so I have to accept it just like I accepted Candywas where he was at on Brick by Brick and for what it was in its own right was a good song. There's really rock god solo tagged onto the second half which balances out this more Tom Petty direction.

The Stooges song the blue continues on "The Departed" and while I love Nick Cave , I'm tired of hearing this Pop doing his Nick Cave when the Birthday Party would do who sets of Stooges covers, Iggy in his post Stooges days has always had a thing for old school country music, so it's bleeding over onto this album. I think his delivery shows his voices age on the more delicate attempts to deliever and think it sounds much stronger on someon the albums previous tracks.

Overall I'll give this album an 8.5 as this is the Stooges we are talking about and some of the bluesier moments should have been held back for Iggy's solo album rather than trying to marry the two. Though their are some moments which are produced or delivered vocally in manner that recalls his first two Iggy albums but of course they are classics as well so I'm fine with that, but the bar is raised pretty high. Iggy might still want to be your dog but he is clealy house trained so a little less dangerous.

Woe: "Withdrawal"

Not sure why it's taken me so long to review this one, so maybe it's needed sometime to digest. This band has big shoes to fill in following up their previous album "Quietly, Undramatically ". Three years later and that album is still in rotation. While this was once more of a solo project for Chris Grigg has certainly congealed into more of a band on what's their third full length. I guess he got pissed for the whole shoes gaze label being thrown round in reference with the last album because this one is pissed with little that could be misconstrued as post-rock...post-hardcore maybe when it comes to some of the clean vocals that still sound a litte like Cave-in to me , which I'm fine with as I use to like those guys.

The album opens with more technical guitar than previous albums, while their previous album has more of an organic warmth in the production this album is bigger and more in your face. The onset of the blasty mc nasties here carries a different delivery as Disma drummer Shawn Eldridge plays on this album. The initial impression is this going to be Krallice like Black Metal until the more hardcore influence complete with those Cave-in vocals comes in at the three minute mark. It works with what these guys do , granted I'm use to it from the last album so newcomers that are close minded Cvltists might take offense, and there is a break down of sorts and gang vocals to further set them off, but the drumming is a vast improvement and really puts what they are doing up in your grille.

On "Carried By Waves to Remorseless Shores of the Truth" we are back to a blasting drone, until a minute in the riff takes on more of a thrashing gallop. This thrashes along in an Absu like fashion, building back into a cascading blast and flowing into more of a stomp, with the vocals lowering back into the kind coarse growl I'm used to than the higher black metal screech. The guitar harmony in the last minute brings it all home rather epically.

Acoustic guitar leads into "All Bridges Burned" it finds it's self back into another rapid tempo that more warped out thrash than black metal, though the blasties don't wait long to come back into the picture. The double bass builds a case for the thrash feel underneath. I think the really sharp accents are where the guitar shines in this sort of thing. The tribal drum roll midway set against the ringing chords is what the song needs to change gears into more galloped section and the guitar solo, that sits back In the mix rather than putting the foot up onto the monitor. The lower death metal vocals give a fuller sound and keep the vocal attack varied.

This album is in someways more straight forward and has a rawer feel than "Quietly Undramatically" . The thrash groove grooves towards the beginning of " Ceaseless Jaws " are blink and they are gone flashes where the bulk of the song is forward propulsion by double bass until the the clean guitar break that is ten seconds at most before they throw you back into the storm. the drumming continues to take the overall intensity level up a notch.

There is almost a Kiss feel to the drums that open "Song of my Undoing" then the guitars take it in an eighties punk direction.the guitar give some breathing room to the clean vocals which still have that Cave-in smoothness to their croon. This alternates with the harsh vocals but doesn't come across like a cheesy Killswitch Engage game of good cop / bad cop. The guitars take on a mean chug, even though the songs stays at a mid tempo with the double bass bubbling under it.

There's a very raw almost to the point of being punk feel to the start of "Exhausted" though the double bass flourishes break it up, the song takes a dramatic turn midway through when it slows down for the guitar solo,mthats slightly more showcased than the previous one, the riff modulates into something that reminds me a little of Hot Water Music here and there and then gets angrier till the blast out.

The bass rumble , which leads into the title track and yes, this a black metal album where you can actually hear the bass the majority of the time, the bass here drives the song forward even as the guitar churn the chords ata slower pace. Their is a depressive feel to this song but it is a wide mix of emotions rather than being DSBM.

It's refreshing that when the trend in black metal is to put out albums of two twenty minute songs these guys prove that good songwriting can be more intresting and cover just as much ground and in some cases even more. I think that while some of the more blasting sections sounded similar at times overall the album goes on to rally show case why these guys are at the top of the heap when it comes to American Black Metal, they rock with as much malice in their riffs as any of their American peers while conveying a broader range of emotions than just numbing you out wights white noise of a drone. I'll give this album 9 out of 10 and highly recommend it to all metal fans not just of black metal as I think the chops and songwriting will translate across the genre lines.

Svart Crown : "Profane"

And yet another French Metal band that is serious about kicking ass. Though where most of their countrymen are more experimental these guys are fairly head first in their approach, almost to the point of where you could consider them blackened Death Metal or whatever you want to label Behemoth as, who would be the closet comparison off the bat as this album is slick with a lot of groove and hook to it. This is their third full length and features the drummer from Ortargos.

Their is a sufficient level of technicality to what they do but I don't think it becomes a futile excercise in dexterity as its blended by powerful riffs a that have room to breathe, but fans of tech death should respect what they do none the less, similar to have they have an affinity for Deathspell Omega , though this albums while the songs undergo their own metaphorphisis aren't thrashing about in as unpredictable of chaos. On "Intern.Virus.Human" there is a more modern Morbid Angel take to why they are doing , but with out all the silly electronics. This album is very well produced and has a big sound making the riffs hit the wat they need to.

Some of the chords do ring out and darken them up a bit to keep these guys from falling into the stiffness of death metal. They do take on a frontal assault with " In Utero: a Place of Hatred and threat" the groove to the dug at the two mintie mark helps transition them in a groove with a little swing to it that lubricates the guitar attack. But this is one of their weaker spot despite impressive drumming as it falls into the here's some cool riffs rather than here's a good song.

The emotive sonics they need which are much closer of a commodity for black metal than they are to death metalis pretty mucho he meat of "Until the Last Breath" this creates the kind of creepiness a band like Blut Aus Nord is known for. When they get into the slower pace stuff they tend to drone on it longer and feel less need to throw so much at you. The vocals have more emotion to their growl and even have a different timbre to them more tortured less guttural.

The title track takes on a more Morbid Angel guitar sound. It throws a storm of riffs at you in a tempestuous blast. They do relax at the minute mark and build tension. It moments like these which capture mood way better than being I the eye of their tornado. They guitars have ear for melody whether let themselves indulge this leaning. The drummer really has an ear for detail for I his fills and adds to the dynamic builds like constructing a house of cards out of razor blades.

"Therapy of Flesh" starts of very death metal. It's not until they get to the darker moodier middle section that I can form any connection to the song. It's all very well played, I think when they through to ,uh technicality into the death metal sections that it becomes mechanical. Wheni hear them make more creative music on songs like "Venomous Ritual" then it makes it hard for me to accept them as a band that would just default into big stupid death metal. When they use things like tribal drumming and moaned chants to lead into the heavy then I sit up and listen. Since "Venomous Ritual" is more of an interlude than a song it's not something I would normally like which is a testament to how well it's pulled off.

They go for the kill with out hesitation on "Asetic Purifacation" but there are some riff and vocal patterns that I find still works for me . It's not like I don't appreciate brutality. I just like to to be constructed with some artistry. Loke the ripping riff at the one minute mark, of "Revelation: Down here Stillborn where they work the best at this .so if there is an opening barrage then make it worth it, because I need pay off, you can throw a blur of riffs at me as long as its there. There is still some Morbid Angel I flue centre, though they have constructed a denser monster to ride into battle with. They hint at guitar solos frequently on this album but never commit to launching into one.

I think fans of death metal will really enjoy this one as its innovative in a normally stale genre. Of course coming for France I went into this thinking it would be more black metal than death and was mistaken , though I can still leave this album on and just let it play, I'll give this one an 8.5, while the more technical death metal elements aren't my thing I think it's constructed in a way that when I listen to the album as a whole it's smoothed over.

Shining : "One One One"

I have never made a secret that I was prejudice against this band due to the fact I liked the Swedish band who held the same name but was depressive suicidal black metal so being their fan I could not listen to a band of the same name. Only metal heads will understand this sort of retarded devotion. How ever feeling betrayed by the Swedish band's turn into Opeth like pussydom I decided to give the Norse band a shot as have been surprised . They are less mall metal than i though a more like a heavier version of muse. Though they never have claimed to be cvlt or

The other point of Intrest bout the band which helped serve as an entry point for me is the fact main man and saxophonist Jorgen Monkeby also has contributed the sax parts to Ihshan's solo albums which is the bands closest ties to black metal.

"I Won't Forget" sounds like what I had originally expected Chinese Democracy turn out like. There's a off kilter guitar that builds into a very Muse like punch before the sax of chaos stirs the pot. Monkeby's vocals fall ofme where in between singing and screaming. By its just screaming that is more thought out in its rhymthmic placing giving it the illusion it is being sung. It makes the chorus pretty catchy and I have found it stuck in my head.

Their flirtation with prog rock can be seen in the first few measures which they go into a King Crimson like roll, that is repeated at various points in the song so, they aren't just letting bloated Dream Theater part flap a out , but every thing remain tightly coiled and focused in its attack. The vocals on " the One inside" don't have the same infectious Quality as they did on the first song.

The industrial undertones flourish, much I. The same way their trapping were used by bands like Stabbing Westward in the nineties."My Dying Drive" finds a little more commitment to the industrial elements like say Static x but there's also an element that reminds me of the cock rock bands of the minties like Faster Pussycat who on their "Whipped" album dipped into some Marilyn Manson elements when grunge wiped hair metal off the map. The guitar and drum interplay retains its adventurous streak and keeps it from becoming to rock.

Monkeby comes closer to singing on "Off the Hook" and this raises the Guns N Roses comparisons again. The Muse styled syncopation still present keeps the cock rock in check and it's this blend of influences which keeps these guys inn a middle ground safe from them falling into one sub genre. I think in America this could play to their favor if they put on tour with a band with at least the clout of an Opeth, Muse has to commercial of a following whose listening habits is to mired in the mainstream for these guys.

They have one foot firmly planted in the nineties on " Black Jazz Rebels" though it comes together as something which could have emerged back in 2004. I don't think that while it tries to be anthemic in some sense this ong really plays up to the bands strength and sounds like some the Wildhearts of Therapy would have done in 96.

The sax parts are this albums strength and the intro to "How your Story ends" highlights this fact. They delve back into more genuine prog when the rest of the band falls in behind the sax. The vocals assume the more Taime Downe type of inflection, which I can live with as I like Faster Pussycat back in the day. The band goes int some impressive Mathy breaks beneath his screeching and sax solos.

The straight forwardnineites style punk metal on " The Hurting Game" doesn't play to what they do best, though it finds some breathing room on the choru only to revert back into it. There are some prog leaning that weave in and out of the shouting over these tenuous drum pattern but it isn't until the sax comes to save their asses that this really comes to together into something noteworthy. They are great players, I get the point loud and clear and earlier I. The album experienced them as not too shabby in the song writing department so not sure why the filler.

The chaos ensues for the spastic beginnings of "Walk Away" the verse seems a little loose though it congeal into the cyber rock normal feel of the what I'm assuming is the pre chorus, the song title shout must be the chorus, they try to emulate the approach that's worked really well on the first song but comes up a little flat here. Their are some Korn like children's rhymes in one part before the guitar solo, which I would like to hear these guys cut loose into a shredding solo as I suspect they are capable of it.

"Paint the Sky Black" duels between the industrial colors they paint themselves with vs the more Muse side, while the bass player and drummer indulge their prog metal leanings. I don't hear them as a jazz band really at any point on the album as all the bag of tricks pulled from are more King Crimson, though without the Fripp ambiance. On this one I find myself wanting a little more to hook me in as a listener otherwise some of it comes across in a manner that might appeal to fans of djent but other than the dexterity involved leaves me a little bored by the monotony , this isn't to say the songs don't have twists and turns. They have it in spades but to pull it all together into a working song requires melody that isn't Monkeby's forte as a singer and he chooses not to go the blatant route as a saxophonist.

I wish there was more sax on this and I think aside from the Muse comparisons, which come it the feel of some of the riffaveratherthan a shared love of Radiohead, I think overall these guys will have some appeal to a broader audience. I will round the score up to an 8 as when I was scoring this album as I went along the impressive opener could have used an extra knod, though I'm not sure how much longevity this one will have , round this down a point if you have a total aversion to mall metal and only like your Cvlt with a hipster snicker as there is nothing ironic to this as they only go big on both preformance and production.

Weekly Shuffle

I got some new stuff in my iPod this week and changed out other albums to make way for new one s so let's see what happens when I hit shuffle and start reviewing the song that pop up.

"Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" by the Smiths, Some of the greatest lyrics set to music. "What she asked of me at the end of the day/ Caligula would have blushed" I mean come on , does it get better? The uplifting juxtaposition of Moz's mope is incredible and iconic with out as doubt and the bass line isn't too shabby either.

"My Little Universe" by Depeche Mode, Off the new Delta Machine album I recently reviewed. This little Peice of awkward glitch pop isn't the best moment on here for sure, but is less offense offensive hearing it now, the vocal layers are kinds cool toward the end little too many bleeps and bloopers. Lyrics aren't bad when I listen to certainly relatable, but I'm not taking medication.

"La Traversee" by Les Discrets...remember when shoe gaze metal almost became a thing, this album by Les Discrets certainly made a solid case for it l but backed away from the more metal elements. This song feels like Failure or Ashes Divide to me so there is more of a straightforward rock element to it. It floats with drive. No a bad characteristic in a song but far from being My Bloody Valentine, which I think the old goth/ witch house kids are beginning to adopt more of . I don't think I wan these guys to be any kre rock n roll than his the balance is achieved.

"Baal of Ekron" by Necros Chirstos , more Morbid Angle flavored death metal, though these guys take it and run with it into some particularly dark corners. There's some great guitar playing, the drumming is solid enough, intresting accents ,mother vocal deep and growling out into the underworld. I think we have all the key elements for good death metal here, is it blackend what have you, well do you consider Morbid angel black metal ...no... The there you go. The riff drag you into their murk and smother you by the end.

"When My Baby Comes" by Grinderman , o.k there's something new to my iPod, I like this better than I though I would whe this project came out I was unsure if I was ready for something that wasn't the Birthday Party or the Bad Seeds, this isn't too different than the bad seeds more liscence to be weird. Cave's narratives here are loose and groovy. I think he sings more of the new album with the Bad Seeds than this which strays into more spoken word. The music behind takes a shift into something more sonically rock, it surreal and dark so you know it gets my vote. There is a little more of a jamming out feel to some of these songs like Nick is taking to to church during Mardis Gras while you are tripping. But the build here is pretty fucking cool so. Color this one a winner.

"Undo You" by Katatonia , this last album continues to grow on me . I normally don't listen to something that is this middle of the road and almost commercial in feel but the songs have compensated for the edge they continue to loose but finding depth in other places. Jonas revists similar grounds I nhis melodies and phrasing to the point of where it's becoming easier to mimic where you think he's going , the verse I this one though there are some subtle and thoughtful moments, where you can find some honesty buried In the slick production.

" A Drug Against War" by KMFDM , Pretty awesome for the time this came out and I think it's held up well to the point of where it can be hailed as an industrial classic. Not dancey, the almost Slayer like guitar riff is stiff and militant but works like a champ in context with the rest of the song, the drum mix cold be thicker if I rally want to pick it past but when I consider when it was recorded then it makes sense.

"Mechanical Mind" by Voi Vod, The angular thrash math this once kicks off with feels very much like them despite bing devoid of Piggy. It twists and turns with cyborg sinew. Snakes voice holds up though i don't think this is his best preformance of the album. Away really takes to his drums to be his age, he is metal's most under rated drummers. This is so rare to have what is almost a comeback album by these guys sit so well against their classics.

"the Sinister Awakening" by Dimmu Borgir, In Sorte Diaboli" is a fantastic album, this is however one of those songs that I tend to overlook in favor of the other more epic numbers where Ics Vortex rides a dragon in with a yodel.the really chanted chorus is cool as is the transition back into the verse. These guys play at break neck speed but know when to go into more epic riffs, I think some of the bite on songs like this they could stand remember when they head into the studio next time as I think they have gone about as far with the symphonic thing as they can stand to go.

" Low" by Royal Thunder, This is my favorite song by these guys. The chorus slithers nicely a the whole" I know you got demons baby" line. I remember hearing the demo that came out before this e.p and it was just sabba worship so the bluesy feel captured here seems more genuine , I think going in a wanna be prog direction on someon the newer material they would do themselves a favor to remember the simmer on a song like this that works better, and whenit goes into the boogie woodie stomp at the end it works better than when they make a more conscious effort to be metal.

Aosoth:

At this rate I can see the French one day stealing the crown from Norway in regards to innovative black metal. Aosoth continues to progress. They re what goes under the banner of orthodox black metal, which doesn't mean that they are more troo than you...though in some seem this could apply but it means the are theistic satanists, the beleif in Satan as god , or a more literal approach rather than the Lavey, you are your own god with are just secular humanists with a heavy dose of social Darwinism and cool window dressing.

With all that out Of the way sometimes this seems more like blackend deth metal Than black metal to me , it walks a pretty fine line . the title track that is ten minutes but when you have been listening to stuff like Fell Voices and Skagos ten minutes seems run of the mill. They have a more refined brutality here, the ralbum sounds great in the first song the bass is very present. the guitars have that very organic and creepy sound like Blut Aus Nord or Leviathan. the guitars are well layer and the focus isn't always on the blasting beneath it , but een when it is the throw a punch in here and there. The density and cavernous croak of the vocals feel more like death metal to me. Midway through when the song relaxes into a more ominous bath in the lake of damnation it drops down into just drums, which I could see being ritualistic in their intent. Watain feels more evil to me even after being on the cover of Revolver. This is a more laid back Satan being invoked here, though it might be a darker album than "Lawless Darkness".

They dive deeper into their abyss on "Temple of Knowledge" even though it general stays fast from the undercurrent of the drums their are dynamic variances with the tempo of the song and smartly arranged and accented. Another middle of the song break down which could be part of a larger pattern forming here occurs its less percussive but ritualistic none the less the atmosphere it creates, more meditative. Then in the last minute and a half they crawl out of their restless trance and take off into more of a gallop.

"Ritual Marks of Penitence" starts of with the ritual ambiance and swells out into a pound. One of the best guitar sounds this year, equal portions atmospheric and crunch. They know how to own the drone and create atmosphere with out having to just weird out and stray from the metal. The tribal drum break is a favorite on this album, more than often it's followed by nasty mcblasty variations. Here they sound more death metal to me but then again ost of the death metal I listen to us blackend something so the distinction can get warped with my perspective. Around the five minute mark it's begins to get too straight forward but they drop into another groove and solve that problem. This is the perfect soundtrack to the dark and rainy Friday afternoons of your life when, the fact it's the week end makes you want to gallop out of work but the gravity of depression still tugs at you. The drumming is not in a low swing at all, it's a superlative preformance , and this guy knows when to give the riffs room to breathe.

They remain relentless heralds of hell on earth with "Under the Nails and Fingertips" the chords keep ringing out with this to chilling shadow to them and the drummer reinforces the creativity he has invested itno this album.the bass reemerges to help drive the point home before they fall into the mass of blast. There are hints of chaos in their playing but they use more restraint than their countrymen in Deathspell Omega. Another mid song drum break down but this one is quick shoves into the current of the double bass that flows into the second act of this song.
By the end of the song I do begin to ponder my blast beat exhaustion I have seemed to reach as when they launch into one I am disappointed and think " oh but you are better than that. I expect so much more from you" I think with all the black metal I listen to it has me wanting To hear it employed Ina more original fashion.

"One With the Prince of a Thousand Enemies" is clear they have a defined intention of what they want to create are successful at doing so. This songs seems to take those elements and sit on them more than the other songs though there is a cool part midway through, where it breaks itno something more double bass centric and death metal in feel.
After making your way through the entire album the dissonance and darkness compensate for where melody would be, and it's often and ample substitute except for on a song like this where the more death metal undertones make it a tad claustrophobic. The broken dialogue interludes seem more like intros or outros than actual songs on their own. The samples are from horror movies one describes the crucifixion almost in an erotic bdsm manner.

I'll give this one a nine as its solid focused well executed and excels at every thing it sets out to do, the reason it's not a perfect album to me is almost more matter of personal taste, but as mentioned before some of the blaster moments felt like they were supposed to have gone into something cooler, which keeps this from being a perfect album. However much like people I can really enjoy it when I accept it for what it is.

Children of God : " We Set Fire to the Sky"

These guys manage to blend hard core with sludge and don't rip off Neurosis in the process. Like a lot of other music out there other subgenres can be tagged on to them depending on what section of what song you are on but the bottom line is they are making good music.

The first forty one seconds opens with an outburst of hardcore which is followed by the song "Awaken" whose drumming at the end could be compared to a similar break on "Enemy of the Sun" but thats pretty much where thos comparisons end, I think Converge is a better frame of reference. Though they are more poised in the shadows with none of the spastic tantrums. They give the songs room to breathe and then explode back into, the sort of dynamics I'm all about.
"Unrelenting Storm" almost seems like an extension of the previous , it like they took elements that existed in the songs end and let the next song reflect it as a movement, when "Awaken" built into its explosions this song recedes from its. It's the rapid cycle nature of this dark bi polar exploration that makes this album a compelling listen from to front to back.

There could be too many hard core elements for some diehard metal kids, but close minds will miss out. It's like this is the depressive suicidal version of hardcore. "Offer" starts with harsh heart ripping screams,that I believe more than if they employed death metal growls as I feel black metal and hardcore vocals are often capable of expressing more emotion than a gurgle or bark. The blastier sections while executed well don't do tons for the song though they are sparse.

"To the Sky" comes in two parts, the first strummed clean guitar and vocals with Ambiant noise in the back ground, while it doesn't sound like Joy Division it has that sort of feel to me. The sequel is this time they are back and out for blood, the heavier section this call and response same notes just beaten to a distorted pulp. It still keeps some of the creepy beauty intact.

It wakes back into the darkness on " Where do they go?" it's an clean minor key jangle, with the funeral croon vocals pondering before they raise into a more melodic build. There's a slight post rock feel but it's far more down trodden before it hits the gas into hardcore. Some of the hardcore riffs are of the more straightforward variety leaning towards a blasty nastiness, while they touch on sludge elements I'd say their hearts are still I the hardcore. Which there seems to be a rising trend of ex hardcore kids growing out of the breakdown and finding Nick Cave albums. These guys aren't afraid to use the drone, they let it blend them over into the more powerful sludge section in this songs second act. It also should be said that t no time do i feel like they are defaulting by the alternating vocals into the good cop/ bad cop thing , I think Becuase they steer away from what has already been done along those lines rather than the big Atreyu chorus.

There's a certain emotional flatness to the clean vocals at the beginning of "Unknown" until it makes me think this is hard core for sociopaths. The clean guitar build is really cool and effective in the transition back into the heavy.the riff at the three minute mark is a monster. The break down at the 2:25 mark is very original sounding in its execution, drop out every thing but the drums and scream has been done but it way it's layered with atmosophere takes it somewhere different. If this is in fact the new screamo then I'm o.k with it though I tout bands like. La Dispute already pave that way and this nothing like them.

I will give this a 9 out of ten, as some of the blastier hard core parts didn't sound like they were constructed with the same creativity the rest of the album was and the band already displayed to me they are capable of painting my ears with dark and beautiful pictures with more depth than blast default, I am glad I heeded Cvlt Nation's advice and finally tracked this one down. Recommend for ex hardcore kids who have crossed over to the dark side and broken edge.