Archives for July 16, 2008

NORA – Save Yourself

July 16, 2008 by Rich Leave a Comment

‘Save Yourself’ is the second studio album from the New Jersey hardcore punk band that is NORA. This is hardly the hardcore punk album of the century, it is however a fairly decent album of hugely hard hitting hardcore music; for most of this album nothing particularly special is offered by the band here, the music is very heavy however and always the vocals pack a powerful punch. The guitar work also is strong here, the riffs are incredibly heavy, and the music of NORA will most definitely have you fist pumping in the air.

Ten tracks are present here, 36 minutes of music are offered up by the band and for the most part the exact same hardcore punk formula is followed. NORA is not the most innovative hardcore punk band in the world, the music is pretty impressive however and something a little different is most definitely provided with one of the tracks present here. ‘The Moment, The Sound, The Fury’ is a track which possesses a dirty, sludgy sound; this is something that works out well for the band and this I feel is the best track that this ‘Save Yourself’ album has to offer. The track certainly stands out as different on this album, the difference in sound provided here is strong and this track really makes you stop and listen hard. You get quite used to the bands standard hardcore punk sound here, it works well but after a while your mind does begin to drift a little; ‘The Moment, The Sound, The Fury’ is a track which helps bring you back and grabs your full undivided attention with its powerful style of sound.

‘The Moment, The Sound, The Fury’ is the eighth track on the album, for the final two tracks the band really has you hooked and with both penultimate track ‘Chances Aren’t’ and aptly titled closing anthem ‘The Ending’ also the bands sound really does erupt here providing of a fine final few tracks of music. For seven tracks the bands sound is merely average, it all comes alive with three tracks to go however and the bands best is left well and truly until last. ‘Chances Aren’t’ is a little more melodic than the rest of this tracks present on this album, final track ‘The Ending’ does however provide one final moment of fury and leaves you well and truly wanting for more. The end of this album is its most impressive part; the whole thing has been leading to this point and with its climax the ‘Save Yourself’ album certainly does save itself.

This is quite a strange album in that it only gets going properly in its final third; what a final third it is however and with the final 13 minutes of this album the music of NORA truly is absolutely exceptional. NORA is by no means a great band, from listening to the final three tracks of this album however you may well be fooled into thinking that this band is better than it actually is. Although not exactly excellent from start to finish; ‘Save Yourself’ is an album well worth listening to for its finale alone and with the final few tracks of this album NORA is a band that sounds far greater than it actually is. It’s actually quite a shock when the final few tracks of this album begin to roll, the album is injected with new life through the sludgy sound of ‘The Moment, The Sound, The Fury’, is progressed phenomenally with the melodic grace of ‘Chances Aren’t’, and then with the last track of the album the bands delivers its final blow with the hard hitting hardcore punch of ‘The Ending’.

‘Save Yourself’ is not a great hardcore punk release, the end is excellent but for the most part this is a really rather average album. Ten tracks are present here, most of which blend together and form as one; with the final few moments of this album the band does however bring the release to an excellent end making ‘Save Yourself’ a very memorable album indeed. This is not hardcore punk at its finest, it’s certainly an interesting album to listen to however and with the final few tracks here the bands sound is always fantastic. For those that like their hardcore punk then NORA’s ‘Save Yourself’ may well be an album that shall appeal; it’s no classic of its genre but should certainly raise a smile or two. For crunching riffs, ferocious vocal shouts and some serious fist pumping action; NORA’s ‘Save Yourself’ is an album which is well worth listening to.

Label: Trustkill Records
Release Date: July 30th 2007

Rating:

Rich

UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.

Wisdom In Chains – Class War

July 16, 2008 by Rich Leave a Comment

Wisdom In Chains is an American hardcore punk band which was formed in 2002. Originally the band consisted of members from Holland and America also; the slight continent divide didn’t work out too well for Wisdom In Chains however and as time passed by the Dutch members left the band. ‘Class War’ is Wisdom In Chains third full length studio album and was released through Eulogy Recordings in 2007. The album contains seventeen tracks and has a total run time of 38 minutes; with this album the band blends elements of hardcore, metal, and Oi! together also, often to great effect and providing of an extremely full and rich style of sound.

The album kicks into action here with the two minute track ‘The Sound of the End’; the music opens to the sound of police sirens, helicopters, and gun fire before slamming you into some seriously heavy guitar sounds and ferociously shouted vocals also. ‘This is the sound of the end’ is here chanted by the band, it’s not exactly a hugely adventurous sound but one which reminds me a lot of Agnostic Front. I’m a huge fan of Agnostic Front and if you are too then I’m sure that you’ll love the Wisdom In Chains album that is ‘Class War’.

Lyrically the music is hugely political, the bands sound is strong and the genres of hardcore punk and metal have here been welded together well. The guitar work always is hugely powerful here, this I feel is where the main strength of Wisdom In Chains music lies and instrumentally I really do love what the band has done here throughout this album. Vocally the band makes use of many a ‘woah-oh’ throughout this album, there’s a definite punk rock feel to the vocal vibe, and although for the most part the vocal shout is fiercely hardcore; there’s also often an underlying presence of straight up punk rock in the sound.

Stylistically the songs all sound extremely similar here, there’s not much difference between any of these tracks and this is something that could most definitely be perceived to be a huge weakness of the music of Wisdom In Chains. I like the hardcore punk approach that Wisdom In Chains takes here, there will be plenty out there that don’t however and if you don’t like one track from this album then you wont like any of them; the sound created on each and every track here really is that similar in sound.

‘Class War’ is a great album to own if you’re a big fan of hardcore punk, particularly if you’re an admirer of Agnostic Front as the Wisdom In Chains sound really is extremely similar. If you don’t like hardcore punk then you certainly won’t like this though; ‘Class War’ as an album is very much a blend of hardcore punk, metal, and Oi!, and never does the band attempt anything different with its sound here. All the tracks sound extremely similar, but if you like one track you’ll like them all and this I feel is the beauty of the bands music. Wisdom In Chains attempts nothing new as a band here, the music has all been done before, it’s done well here however and ‘Class War’ is therefore an album I’d highly recommend listening to for all fans of the genre.

Label: Eulogy Recordings
Release Date: September 3rd 2007

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Rich

UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.

It Dies Today – Sirens

July 16, 2008 by Rich Leave a Comment

It Dies Today is a New York based metalcore band that was formed in the year 2001. ‘Sirens’ is the bands second studio album and was originally released in America through Trustkill Records in 2006. In 2007 the album got its official UK release and ‘Sirens’ remains unchanged as to how it was originally released in the US. The album consists of eleven tracks and this therefore provides for 39 minutes of music. ‘Sirens’ is an album which brings nothing new whatsoever to the genre of metalcore, it’s an okay album however and although nothing special; It Dies Today has certainly taken a reasonable stab at the genre here.

The album begins with ‘A Constant Reminder’, ends with ‘Turn Loose the Doves’, and throughout this album the band bounces between harshly shouted vocal growls and sweetly spoken melodic verses also. This is an extremely generic album, if you’ve listened to a lot of albums in this genre then the music may well make you yawn; if you haven’t however then this album could well be quite appealing.

If you’ve got a soft spot for such bands as Still Remains and Bullet For My Valentine then you may well love this album, the music of It Dies Today possesses an extremely similar sound and it’s hard to listen to the music without drawing comparisons to other such metalcore bands as these. The guitar riffs are hugely hard hitting, the drumbeats are highly heavy, everything is entirely contrived here however and every last scream/melodic moment has been carefully placed and generically executed.

It Dies Today is a band that has taken its sound straight from the metalcore handbook and thrown as many clichés into the music as possible. Vocally the bands sound is like a million and one other bands of this sort and instrumentally also the bands sound isn’t exactly innovative. Instrumentally the sound is okay, every track present here sounds pretty much the same however and there is little telling these eleven tracks apart. Vocally the bands sound is actually quite well put across, the performance is not hugely passionate and the band does nothing that has not done before; the melodic vocal moments are very well put across however and the bands lead vocalist Jason Wood certainly has some strong vocal talent. Sadly with the shouted vocal lines the best use is not made of Jason Wood’s voice, were the band to make more of its melodic vocal element then this I feel would vastly improve upon the overall quality of the It Dies Today sound.

‘Sirens’ is no metlacore classic, it brings nothing new to its genre and due to the factor of all eleven songs sounding pretty much the same the album is therefore fairly dull to listen to. Only a few tracks into the album and you find your mind wandering, not enough is done here by It Dies Today in order to keep you interested; the sound has been done by others many times before, and it’s been done a lot better than this too. This ‘Sirens’ album lacks excitement, if you’ve not heard much metalcore music before then you may well quite enjoy this; if you’ve heard a lot of bands in the genre however then you’ll probably not be particularly enthralled with what you find here. There are some great metalcore albums out there, sadly however ‘Sirens’ is not one of them.

Label: Trustkill Records
Release Date: July 30th 2007

Rating:

Rich

UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.

Brooklyn – Clandestine

July 16, 2008 by Rich Leave a Comment

Brooklyn is a rock band from the French capital of Paris. ‘Clandestine’ is the bands début album and one which has been released through the record label Ctrl Alt Del Records. The album consists of twelve tracks and this therefore provides for 48 minutes of music; it’s not a great album, but it’s not too bad a first release from the band anyway. The music is pleasant to listen to, there’s just a bit of a lack of excitement in the sound and the vocal performance is not here particularly passionate. Brooklyn is a band with a soulful rock sound, a very clean vocal tone is taken here and there’s a definite indie rock vibe about the music and an almost swing element at times also.

Title track ‘Clandestine’ kicks the album off here with a drumbeat that makes me think of the band The Subways. There’s a definite Subways style of sound present here, it works out well for the band and begins this album on an extremely positive note indeed. The track lacks energy; the vocals are well presented in the sound however and instrumentally also the music is very well played. There’s nothing technically wrong with the music of Brooklyn, it’s just that the band is not very adventurous and always the band here chooses to play it safe through not venturing too far with its sound and always sticking to more or less the same soulful rock script. The album is interesting to listen to, every track does sound very similar though and it’s therefore very difficult to listen to this album from start to finish in one sitting.

There’s quite a Placebo sound about the vocal performance of Brooklyn throughout this album, a definite Brian Molko tinge and the vocals always are strong here. Although there is not a great deal of passion in the vocal performance, the vocals are pleasantly put across and provide an extremely positive and uplifting vibe about the music of Brooklyn. The sound created here is not hugely exciting but it’s definitely upbeat and the sweetly sung music of Brooklyn always provides a smile.

It’s hard to pick out highlights when the tracks all sound so similar, of all the tracks present here though I’d have to say that ‘Lonely Days’ is the one I enjoy listening to the most. The guitar sound is light and uplifting here and the vocals also come across extremely well. There is more passion in the sound than ever here and this is something that works out really very well for Brooklyn. With ‘Lonely Days’ the Brooklyn sound is more exciting than ever, and although that’s not exactly something greatly difficult this is one track from this album that I really do enjoy listening to.

As far as début albums go then ‘Clandestine’ isn’t too bad an effort at all, it’s not the best but I’ve certainly heard a lot worse than this over the years. The indie rock guitar sound works well in the bands music here, the music is pleasant to listen to, and if you like the sound of the soulful rock of Brooklyn then you should most definitely give this album a listen. This will never become your favourite album, if you’re looking for a relaxing rock record to chill to however then Brooklyn’s ‘Clandestine’ should certainly do the trick.

Label: Ctrl Alt Del Records
Release Date: July 7th 2008

Rating:

Rich

UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.

Bedlight For Blue Eyes – Life on Life’s Terms

July 16, 2008 by Rich Leave a Comment

‘Life on Life’s Terms’ is the second studio album from the New Jersey pop rock band that is Bedlight For Blue Eyes. Vocally the sound created by the band here is quite similar to that of Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump, instrumentally there are guitar hooks a plenty, and the music of Bedlight For Blue Eyes always here is hugely melodic. This album contains twelve tracks and this therefore provides for 44 minutes of music; an album you’ll either love or hate dependent upon your thoughts about radio friendly powerpop.

Right from the offset here the music of Bedlight For Blue Eyes really makes its mark; opening track ‘City and the Ghost’ is absolutely fantastic and has a phenomenal chorus to boot. Vocally the sound is excellent here, instrumentally the sound is bouncy and hugely melodic also; Bedlight For Blue Eyes is very much a band for the Fall Out Boy generation. Personally I’m a huge fan of bands such as Fall Out Boy and the like, every song on this album is absolutely excellent to sing along to and never does the bands music sound anything short of exceptional here.

Tracks such as ‘City and the Ghost’, title track ‘Life on Life’s Terms’, and ‘Waste My Time’ also really are the most impressive that this album has to offer; I fail to find fault with any of these tracks and all three of them make me smile a lot. The choruses are excellent, the lyrics fantastic, and the guitar hooks truly are magnificent. The bands sound is smartly put across here, the production is superb, and vocally is most definitely where the music of Bedlight For Blue Eyes impresses most markedly. The bands lead vocalist Daniel Rinaldi truly does have a terrific vocal range and there just seems to be no note that the man can’t sing.

This is a great pop album with which the band really does sound to be having a lot of fun. The music is very well put across in all areas and in no department is the Bedlight For Blue Eyes sound in the slightest bit lacking. There are of course a few tracks that are better than others, there’s not a bad track on this album however and vocally always the music has much to offer. Instrumentally the guitar hooks hit hard with their melodic mastery, and the drumbeats provided by the band here are also highly impressive from the first track right through to the last.

Eleven tracks here consist of the bands standard powerpop/pop rock succulence, the final track on the album is however a remix of ‘Waste My Time’; not exactly a vital track, but an interesting one to listen to nonetheless. The standard instrumental sound has here been replaced with an electronic instrumental element instead. The track doesn’t sound anywhere near as good with the electronic instrumental progression, it’s fairly fun to listen to though and although the computer generated sound definitely does detract away from the overall quality of the original track I’m sure there will be some out there grateful of the inclusion of this remix

For fans of such bands as Kids In Glass Houses, Fall Out Boy, and Boys Like Girls then the music of Bedlight For Blue Eyes should most definitely be of great appeal. The bands sound bears supreme similarities to all three of these bands, and if you’re up for a bit of emo tinged pop rock then the Bedlight For Blue Eyes sound will be right up your street. ‘Life on Life’s Terms’ is a pretty solid second album from Bedlight For Blue Eyes and I would most definitely recommend giving this release a listen; it’s not the best pop rock album you’ll ever hear but it’s certainly a very good one.

Label: Trustkill Records
Release Date: July 10th 2007

Rating:

Rich

UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.