Hearts Alive - The Black Sheep [2008]

Genre: Metalcore
Label: Rising Records
URL: http://www.myspace.com/heartsalivemusic
Country: Helsingborg, Sweden
Note: By band request

Swedish metalcore act Hearts Alive, freshly signed to british label Rising Records, have had their old treasure The Black Sheep out for some time now, and it's only appropriate they receive some renown until their upcoming label debut this year.
Even though slightly generic, it clearly delivers a heavy and even catchy sound and I can't help but bob my head and play a little air drums while listening to it. Seemingly they have the energy and passion, but it doesn't quite stand out. As I said, it's generic and sound like the typical metalcore act, and (here I go again) what's lacking is a little unique-ness. Sure, what's there already is fine the first listen but the more you listen the more boring it gets. To keep your interest we need something new, or perhaps even something weird that opens your eyes and think 'whoa, what was that'. It's enough to not let the listener fall into a 'I'm listening to something, but I don't really care what it is. All I know is that it's not bad'-state. Not that you do listening to The Black Sheep, but it's something to keep in mind for the future.
Judging from what I hear on this record I'd say it's a good base for a better sequel. On a live performance I believe it oughta be pretty chaotic and energetic, so I'm hoping I'll get a chance to see them live, hopefully together with other good bands from Rising Records!

Best track: The Lady, Blindfolded, Raped And Hanged
Score: 6/10

Enter Shikari/Twin Atlantic Live @ Debaser Slussen, Stockholm

First of all, wow. This show was beyond amazing. With opening act Twin Atlantic pulling off an incredibly energetic live performance, they really got the crowd in the mood of what was to come. They had really good stage presence, and they even noticed a guy singing all their lyrics at the front and kinda "thanked" him for it with nice words and a handshake. Apparantly it wasn't what they expected!
Since I'm not much of a listener to Twin Atlantic, I only got to sing along to the chorus of Lightspeed, their first song. However, with such a great performance it really pushed me in a direction to listen to them a lot more.
When the time was in for Enter Shikari to enter the stage, some soundchecker made a pretty huge mistake that ruined the whole start. He was supposed to go onstage and put on Common Dreads, but he accidently managed to knock the guitar over, whereas it was laying on the floor. When he was done putting the song on, he had to take the guitar up and tune it again right in the middle of the stage. It would've been a nice opening with Common Dreads but he completely ruined it. Well, mistakes can happen.
When their opener Solidarity came on I was a little disappointed in the low volume of the intro. I love it, but it came out very weak. And the guitar stopped working when it was time for him to start playing, which was probably because of the little accident before. But when they got it together and everything was working fine, it was totally awesome from start to finish.
Enter Shikari played only a few songs from Take To The Skies (most good ones, apart from Return To Energizer, Jonny Sniper and OK, Time For Plan B), and almost all songs off of Common Dreads. It was a... different experience... hearing all those techno and dubstep intermissions on a live show. But Enter Shikari succeed where others fail. Mixing such genres are pretty risky, but they make it so awesome and completely natural, like 'why wouldn't these genres be together?'. The intermissions invited to dance, which some people did. There was a lot of sing-alongs, and a lot of activity from the crowd - stagedives, ceiling climbing (yes.) and whatnot. And not only the crowd went wild, even ES themselves threw themselves out every now and then, and the guitarrist was pretty fond of climbing on the light arrays and beams in the ceiling. He even got so excited that he managed to break off one tuning screw when he flew back up on stage and had to change guitar.
And then there was another technical fault. In the middle of Sorry You're Not A Winner the keyboards stopped working for some reason, right in the middle of the keyboard interlude. So while a stage helper and Rou were working on fixing the problem, the rest of the band talked to the crowd a little, improvised a little, thanked us for staying with them through their problems they had during the show... They made something fun of it, so the problems weren't a big deal though.
All in all, an awesome performance from both bands, even though some minor setbacks. I've heard talk of Enter Shikari sucking live, and I have no idea how they can say such a thing. They were almost as good live as in studio, and that's not very common. If you're thinking about catching either of the band live, don't hesitate and do it because there's no chance in hell you're going home disappointed.

Walking With Strangers - Buried, Dead & Done [2010]

Genre: Melodic Metalcore
Label: Snapping Fingers Snapping Necks
URL: http://www.myspace.com/walkingwithmusic
Country: Trolhättan, Sweden

First hearing from these guys on the swedish-band compilation Burn All The Small Towns, they stood out over even big acts such as Adept, Herbrightskies and Chemical Vocation. Even then, I knew this band had some serious potentional. I was on the lookout for any releases they had done, and I found Turning Point, their first EP. Even though Turning Point was incredible, I have to say Buried, Dead & Done is a whole lot better.
They have improved in every aspect since their first EP, and I never thought I would see a swedish band in this genre that could even sound as awesome as Walking With Strangers do.
It seems as though they are not afraid of getting in touch with their melodic side either! Some songs are pretty melodic a la Parkway Drive, with the characteristic melodic, yet heavy, riffs, breakdowns and sweeps. Big plus!
Alright, time for some negative stuff. I read the lyrics of The Provider... .. Well, all I can say is that I'm NOT a fan of people bragging about their alcohol experiences. I just don't see the point. Good thing I'm not adept at hearing what people scream through the speakers (so it won't bug me anymore), so I'm just gonna blow past it and enjoy the song which is awesome in every other way.
That's it. Nothing else to complain about.
Another huge plus is that, apart from MANY other bands, WWS manage to make every song have their own sound. Instead of albums sounding like one entire song, it gives it depth and variation. This is very important, atleast to me, that the band care enough and have significant capabilities to make every song unique. This only proves how talented they actually are.

All in all, this is one of the mightiest EP's out there at the moment. I only feel lucky I live in Sweden and actually have a chance to see them live at the time being, before they tour the world - because it's only a matter of time.

Best track: Buried, Dead & Done
Score: 9/10

Place Your Bet$ - Demo [2010]

Genre: Electronic/Metalcore
Label: Unsigned
URL: http://www.myspace.com/pybuk
Country: UK

One-man band Place Your Bet$ may have a questionable name, but it's pretty goddamn awesome music he's creating. Mr. Jenkin, bassist of This City Is Burning, does all vocals, guitars, bass, keys and programming by himself. And I gotta say, even though he "just got discovered" he's already rising above most other bands in the genre. A sweet blend of crushing breakdowns, deep growls, clean singing (although pretty much autotuning, which is a minus) and Nintendo- and techno-influenced samples makes it not only innovative, but better than many other bands who try to combine the above. Even though he's only one person, it sounds better than a lot of other bands that have a full crew.
This is worth checking out, and I'm looking forward to hearing a lot more from Place Your Bet$.

Best track: I Am Stronger
Score: 8/10

Of Machines - As If Everything Was Held In Place [2009]

Genre: Post-Hardcore/Electronic/Progressive
Label: Rise Records
URL: http://www.myspace.com/ofmachinestheband
Country: Georgia, USA

After hearing a lot of talk about Of Machines sounding a lot like Oceana... After last.fm decided to put them on my Recommended list... I can't just let them slip by. I had to check them out.
Shortly after signing to Rise Records in late '08, they released their debut album in March '09, named As If Everything Was Held In Place. With modest electronic influences and ambient approach, Of Machines develop a pretty characteristic sound. Music-wise, it seems pretty Oceana-influenced, with a touch of I See Stars' post-hardcore/pop punkish sound. And I just gotta say, when the clean vocals rise to almost scream-high key, it sounds goddamn amazing. The screaming itself is pretty damn decent too.
There's not much that Of Machines need to improve. Awesome vocals, musically incredible, and genre-merging. They use pretty obvious references though, in both good and bad ways.

Best track: Things Too Visible To See
Score: 8,5/10