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Welcome to our review section. anything we were sent we review. some of the stuff has been out for a while, some of it isn't
available yet but it doesn't matter, we review things to help YOU make up your mind on whether you want to spend your money
on a release or not, so we hope you find them helpful.
Razor Crusade-Infinate Water (Reflections records)
Razor Crusade sound like to me-Waterdown meets Snapcase from their "End Transmission" era with the weird interlude
type songs that you would hear on Orange 9mm's "Tragic" album with hybrid bits that make you think of Refused's
"The Shape Of Punk To Come" album-sound good?
It's different to what I thought they would be like, I had never heard R.C before I was sent this album but they are a
vey good band. R.C are very mosh friendly, lots of stop/start riffs (ala Snapcase) with a very melodic singing/screaming voice
that reminds me of the guy from Boy Sets Fire. R.C's music is never to brutal but never to pansy assed either. for the majority
of the album there doesn't seem to be many obvious song structures but it's to crazy and interesting to pay much attention
to that aspect of things. 'The Low Spark', 'Osaka Android' and 'Europeanly Adorable' are the stand out tracks. as the biography
says: for fans of Snapcase, Quicksand, Helmet and Refused.
Since By Man-We Sing The Body Electric (Revelation records)
Crazy, crazy stuff! another band influenced by Refused's "Shape Of Punk To Come" album by the sound of it but
at the same time, doing their best to give Curl Up And Die some competition. these guy's are real heavy in some bits-proper
metally h.c but then in other songs it sounds like these guy's are the kind of thing that would be played on Mtv2.
"If It Bleeds, It Leads" starts of the album, an amazing song and one of the most straight forward on the cd.
lots of technical stuff here but not like Converge or Dillenger technical, more like laying 50 extra instrument tracks over
basically simple songs and making it sound ace! these guy's are hard to describe but this album is worth having a listen to,
it's just a shame they never got round to doing the split cd with Paint The Town Red, that would have rocked! new school hardcore
for fans of stuff like-Refused, Curl Up And Die, Botch, Guilt and Countervail.
Plan Of Attack-S/T 7" (The Silent Architecht records)
A limited 7" that came out last year for their tour. these guy's are very "tough" sounding like something
between Terror and Fall Silent with a Kill Your Idols type melody to their music. most of the songs follow the same formula
meaning fast and short with some excellent breakdowns and mosh parts.
Plan Of Attack-No Future (Organized Crime records)
This is their debut cd but not an album as such, more of a compilation. it features all the songs from the 7", cd-rom
stuff, their demo plus new songs for this cd. this is a lot better than the 7", these guy's just go for the crazy, heavy
shit and is reminisant of Bloodpact or The Swarm on a lot of the songs but still with that kind of tough Madball sound which
is cool. more melody (only a bit) on here compared to the 7" and some nice gang backing vocals here and there. interesting
but pissed off lyrics and straight to the point hardcore. the song 'Out Of Breath' even reminds me a bit of All Out War!
Plan Of Attack-...The Working Dead (Organized Crime records) - released june 1st.
The best production out of all their releases is on here but saying that even though the production makes the drums sound
better and makes it so you can hear the bass, the brutal edge that P.O.A had on there other releases seems to be absent here.
the album is still good, the song writing is a lot better with same style as past songs but rather than standing out from
the crowd with their own sound they sound more like Sick Of It All now which isn't bad S.O.I.A. rule! but like I said it's
more like P.O.A are following the crowd now rather than standing out from it-BRING BACK THE BRUTAL EDGE!! this album is still
killer and differs in lots of little subtle ways from their previous work so they don't sound like they're repeating the same
album over again with different art work. a step forward in some ways but a step back in others.
Shai Hulud-That Within The Blood Ill Tempered (Revelation records)
The "Hearts Once Nourished" album has become a classic and I didn't think S.H would do another album half as
good as that one, but they have come close woith "Blood Ill Tempered". it's not better than the "Hearts"
album but just as good, all the natural progression from their previous album is shown here and it's as though they haven't
been away for the past few years. it is a shame that they will be calling it a day soon but they have done a hell of an album
to go out on.
Rydell-Hard On The Trail (Engineer records)
I'd never heard these guy's before but on first listen, to me it sounds very similar to Hot Water Music, quite catchy
and up-beat stuff. slows down a bit mid-album, but this helps to show the depth and song writing skills of the band. this
isn't something I would normally buy but it's a nice album to relax to. the vocals don't have much of a range, I mean they
sound good when the guy screams a little, but he doesn't really have a "singing" voice which would definitley add
more to the band if he did but the cool guitar work makes up for that-2 guitars always playing different to each other like
Fireside do it- "Whats the point of having 2 guitars if they're just going to play the same thing?!" so that adds
a lot to the album and the drums sound good too, but you can't hear too much of the bass, Rydell seem like a band that would
do well to have more bass solo's and I don't mean like Rancid or anything but just something to add more to the quiet bits
in the songs so they're more interesting. a good, enjoyable album that shows the potential of the band off well. fans of Fireside,
Rival Schools and Hot Water Music would appreciate this album.
Elemae-A Life To Be Defined (Engineer records)
This sounds a lot better than there "Sleeping With Adrenaline" 7", listening this album, I quite like Elemae
now. the songs are a lot more emotional and a lot better written and they don'y sound like they're trying to be the Get Up
Kids anymore. the songs are very nicely done and sound like a cross between Hunter Gatherer and Better Than Ezra. there's
such a variety of influences on this album, it sounds like every song was done with different musician and a different mix
to every song. the only similar thing about any of the songs is the guy's great singing voice. there's such diversity in every
song and it makes this album great to listen to.
Dag Nasty-Minority Of One (Revelation records)
Sorry but this album sounds more like hill billy rock n' roll and that ain't good! one or two songs aren't bad but sound
like the kind of stuff that Fat Wreck Chords would release. a very disappointing album for older fans of the band I would
say, but as I said probably will go down well with NOFX punkers. the best bit about the album is the cover of 'Dancing With
Myself' by Billy Idol but apart from that there isn't any thing I like about this album.
Curl Up And Die-...But The Past Ain't Through With Us (Revelation records)
I love Curl Up And Die, I think they're a great, interesting band and play some brutal music. but this ep is a total let
down for their fans. the first song is slow and boring, the second track is the only good song entitled "If This Band
Thing Doesn't Pan Out, Were Joining The Army" and if they do another release like this then they will be in that army
pretty soon. the last two songs on this ep aren't even proper songs- just bullshit used to fill the cd. the "Army"
song and the first track should have been put on their previous ep so it could have been a mini-album because that ep was
amazing, definitley a step up from the album, but if they're going to keep this shit up they should call it a day now.
Black Cross-Widows Bloody Widows (Revelation records)
After Give Up The Ghost suggested that Black Widows change their name because of a band in the u.k and a band from the
60's having the same name they did. so here are Black Cross. B.C as you may know feature former members of By The Grace Of
God as well as other cool bands and I would say that a lot of the influence in B.C is taken from By The Grace... but with
a lot but with a lot of other influences to so don't think this is just By The Grace... under a new name. this album is a
compilation of stuff that Black Cross did when they were called Black Widows which is now hard to get so it's all re-released
on this one disc with deleted 7" songs and B-sides, previously unreleased tracks and the full "Stops A Beating Heart"
cd/10". a great treat for fans who haven't got all the back catalouge of this band but also a great introduction cd to
this band if you haven't heard them before. I highly recommend this cd as there's a bigger variety of songs ranging over the
few years they have been together.
Steel Rules Die-The Hemingway Solution (Reflections records)
Now, i'm not a big fan of these guy's. I didn't mind some tracks from the "Nostalgia For Begginers" cd but the
songs from the split with Winter In June sucked! these guy's sound like they want to be Reach The Sky but can't quite pull
it off. I must admit though that the first track 'Dream Electric' is a good album opener and has a cool bridge. 'The Past'
is nice and fast to start with then goes off into a typical S.R.D chorus which totally lets it down, they should have at least
one song which is just a fast, rockin' h.c song all the way through. the album overall is not bad, it's their best release
so far but i'm still not a fan...
Melody-core for people who don't like there hardcore heavy.
Fall Silent-Drunken Violence (Revelation records)
Fast, heavy, in your face, screamy, none stop, rockin' metalcore! an excellent album! raging hardcore! plenty of Slayer
type riffs here, kinda like Hatebreed meets Killswitch Engage. very tough stuff here, but fun stuff like "The First Seven
Inch Club" and "Baracudda" by some 80's metal band I think. this one of those albums you don't get bored of
very easily because it's interesting and just keeps rockin' play after play. a definite buy if you like it heavy and fast!
Joshua-Baggage ep (Engineer records)
These guys sound like Elemae to me but that's probably because I just had that on to review it. Joshua sound really cheesey
on first listen but other bits of their songs are just astounding. These guys are pretty cool, when you listen to them you
can imagine one of these songs on an American film soundtrack for something like 'High Fidelity' or 'Empire Records', they
might have been!? Because the first song sounds so familiar but I'm quite sure I have never heard Joshua before this. This
ep is ace! Very catchy u.s emo/punk stuff- the kind of stuff soundtracks for the Summer are made of. I would definitely like
to hear more by these guys!
Nodes Of Ranvier-S/T (Facedown Records)
These guys are amazing! I am a bit disappointed that I'm only hearing of them now because they will blow you away when
you hear this album! This is the second album by Nodes... and you must own this!!! There isn't one band that I can think they
sound like because every song is different and amazing in it's own way ranging from fast and heavy kick ass bits to hugh breakdowns/dance
parts to melodic emo-ish bits with some of the best melodic vocals you could hope to hear. Each song will not fail to impress
in it's own way especially the songs "Butcher The Baker And The Candlestick Maker" and "Oh Yeah, My Daddy Died
With A Needle in His Arm" which are two of my fave tracks. If I had to name some bands that sound like they could have
influenced Nodes... in some way it would be bands like Hatebreed, Daughters, Blood Has Been Shed, Aversion, Terror, Every
Time I Die, Planes Mistaken For Stars and even Far to an extent. This is a truely original album that will stun, so be sure
to check it out because bands this good only come around once in a lifetime.
Bloody Sunday- They attack at dawn (Strikefirst Records)
For those of you who like your hardcore with loads of attitude then this is for you. This is very fast hardcore with some
nice breakdowns, kinda like Terror covering Right Brigade or Everybody Gets Hurt. This is their debut album and it is very
good, I have really enjoyed listening to it and will continue to do so. This album is just all out brutality all the way through,
They don't let up for a second plus there's lots of grooves in it that will have you nodding your head along to it all the
way through. It isn't too original, it's your typical 'tough guy' stuff but with interesting bits in each song that will make
them differ form the previous track and keep you interested throughout. A good band and good album, well worth checking out!
This Time Around- What's in your heart? 7" (Sell Our Souls records)
It's great to hear such cool bands that are from the u.k. There's a lot of talent out there and labels like Engineer and
Dead And Gone are bringing the u.k side of things into the open, so with bands like This Time Around I can't see anything
but the u.k.h.c scene getting bigger and stronger.
These guys don't actually sound like Kill Your Idols too much but I think it's a good comparison because Kill Your Idols
play old skool hardcore but still manage to make each song soung interesting and different from the last and that's what I
have found with listening to This Time Around. Each song differs from the last but each song is just as equally as good as
the other. There's some nice heavy breakdowns on here and the agressive vocals give it that extra kick. They kind of remind
me of Fig 4.0 but with the intensity of In My Eyes or Kill Your Idols. I think these guys are going to do really well for
themselves if they keep this up.
Fuerza de Lucha S/T 7" (Sell our Souls records)
These guys are good. They sound a lot like Pointing Finger. There are lots of cool backing vocals and the production is
very good. It's just the little emo intros that I don't like but they are a cool Spanish band representing a cool Spanish
label. Nothing too original about this 7" but with more and more cool bands coming from Spain and Portugal they all bring
their own personal style to their music anyway so they don't need to sit down and try to become all experimental in their
tunes, just keep blasting out that old skool because I don't know why but in my opinion it's bands like Pointing Finger and
Day Of The Dead that play old skool the best since Youth Of Today and Gorilla Biscuits were on the scene. So with the 6 songs
that are on this 7" and the mcd they released before this, I expect Fuerza de Lucha will have a really strong following
by now and if not they soon will have if they keep pumping out more stuff like this.
Seconds Out-Demo 2004
No emo bullshit here or any complicated structure or timing during songs, just stripped down, pissed off, excellent hardcore!
This demo is very cool! like Right Brigade or Some Kind Of Hate. good production for a demo, the drums sound really good but
the vocals have got to be the best thing about this demo because you can tell the guy is just screaming bloody murder-not
holding back at all and the lyrics he's screaming are all just basically 'Fuck You!!' orientated. there are a lot of top u.k
bands around at the moment but these guy's have got to be at the top of list, they're fucking awesome!!!!! don't miss out
on these guy's get there demo A.S.A.P!! I can't wait till they do a proper release!!
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