House vs. Hurricane - Perspectives [2010]

Genre: Post-Hardcore/Electronic
Label: Shock Records
URL: http://www.myspace.com/housevshurricane
Country: Melbourne, Australia

Australian post-hardcore act House vs. Hurricane releases a new, label debut album after their amazing first release, Forfeiture. The last two years three members of House vs Hurricane left the band, but that didn't let them stop their progress in making a new album. 
All I can say is I'm still amazed by the fact that Australian bands ALWAYS deliver. I'm yet to find an Australian band that isn't, in fact, good. 
Melodic yet heavy when the hammer strikes, intense screaming, beautiful clean singing. 
Not that common to the genre is the heavy use of synth, which was featured in Forfeiture aswell. I'm not a fan of pure synth music, but when it's mixed in like HvH does it, it makes them stand out a lot and it sounds really good. Bands are seemingly too afraid to include too much electronics in their songs, but HvH aren't afraid to experiment. 

First song on the album, Leaps & Bounds, gives a very strong first impression. It starts with a nice picking intro, which turns into melodic riffing together with the picking. It's hard to explain, but it sounds so damn awesome that I could listen to it over and over again without ever tiring. Later on in the song you get a taste of breakdowns, smooth piano-ridden intermissions blended with aforementioned heavy synth. You really get to know HvH right in the first song.
 About half in, you encounter one of the best tracks on the album - Experiences, which features an impressively catchy and energetic intro which ought to make your shake at least one of your bodyparts. Later this song turns into heavy beating and spacey synths which gives kind of a cozy feeling. 
The album as a whole features an almost-the-same sound throughout all songs, which is pretty disappointing. No peaks or surprises, except in Leaps & Bounds and Experiences. But don't get me wrong, it's not bad. Not at all. It's just not as good as Forfeiture was. 
When I heard the intermission II. Softlight, the next to last song, I was really building up for what hopefully would turn out to be a killer track - III. Nevermore. It gave me mixed feelings however. The intro wasn't what I would've expected, but later on in the track you get a lot of melodic verses and clean singing, so let's say it starts not-so-good, but ends with a bang (figuratively speaking). 
Something noteworthy is that not only does the album feature 12 tracks, but lots of them are over 4 minutes long. 

Ultimately, it's a solid album that's guaranteed to grant you a lot of listens. It was not what I was expecting, seeing as Forfeiture was really good I was hoping for an even better sequel. Nonetheless a very solid release and I'm sure HvH won't take any steps back from here.


Best song: Leaps & Bounds
Score: 8/10

Some "news"

As some of you might've noticed, I haven't uploaded that many reviews lately. This is because I've been writing for an online magazine called Corezine.
But don't worry! I'm still writing here, both regular reviews and band requests. So keep sending your albums if you want them reviewed - it means a lot to me! And make sure you check out Corezine as well!

Colossus - The Mechanical Engineering Of Living Machines [2010]

Genre: Progressive Metal
Label: Unsigned
URL: http://www.myspace.com/colossusstockholm
Country: Stockholm, Sweden
Note: By band request

First of all, I would like to apologize in advance if this review is bad since this is normally not in any way what I listen to. Therefore my judgment might be clouded.
That being said, I'm going directly to the point. This is, in my ears, not good. I'm having a hard time explaining what kind of music this actually is, but it's close to impossible. It's got doom influences with a dark aura surrounding it, with a tad of Guitar Hero included. What I mean by that is that it sounds very very very much like a Guitar Hero band.
The band discribes themselves as a mix of post-hardcore, old school doom, thrash and stoner metal to create their own sound. From my own experience, they do have their own sound. However, I'm not very familiar with the genre so I feel like I'm in no position to say that they don't sound like others, but I've never heard anything like it before.
The band members all seem to be in their best years (heh), so I'm guessing you'll have to be there aswell to really appreciate what they create. I, on the other hand, am not, and for that I'm sorry. But hey, if you like doom/thrash/stoner metal, give it a shot. You might like it!

Best song: Last Man Standing
Score: 3/10

Artist vs Poet - Favorite Fix [2010]

Genre: Pop Punk/Powerpop/Electronic
Label: Fearless Records
URL: http://www.myspace.com/artistvspoet
Country: Texas, USA

Pop punk from Texas. It's not something you come across every day I guess.
So what we got here is incredibly sweet pop(emphasis) punk that will make your teeth fall off. Both electric and acoustic guitar mixed in each song, very pop-ish built songs (with almost visible borders at verses, choruses and bridges) and modest use of keyboard á la Hellogoodbye. It's about the same style as Boys Like Girls, with the same radio friendly, MTV-esque sound.
Altough very catchy and energetic, it's TOO sweet. My teeth are disintegrating. But with producers Zack Odom and Kenneth Mount (All Time Low, Mayday Parade, Cartel) and Mike Green (Paramore), what would you expect?
I have to comment on the song Unconcious Reality, because I really like the strings in it. I haven't heard anything like that before, and it's fresh and unique to mix it into the song.
The album as a whole is pretty monotone with the same builds in all songs, basically. It's a little too MTV for me. I'd advice you to stay away from this unless you're into poppy mainstream rock.

Best song: Unconcious Reality
Score: 5/10

With Chaos In Her Wake - Treason [2010]

Genre: Deathcore
Label: Rising Records
URL: http://www.myspace.com/withchaosinherwake
Country: Hull, UK

UK's up and coming deathcore five piece With Chaos In Her Wake released their debut full-length aswell as label debut, through Rising Records.
Seeing as their previous release, Humanity EP, had a pretty characteristic sound to it, I was pretty disappointed in what I heard from Treason. It has the typical Deathcore-sound with nothing at all special, and is pretty monotone. This is pretty much the same class as Molotov Solution's latest release, which can be either good or bad depending on who listens. I wasn't a big fan of The Harbinger (read my review of it) so being the same class as it isn't a big plus in my eyes.
However, it's pretty chaotic and the vocals are powerful and brutal, but fades away with the weakness of the rest and lack of something distinguished.
They decided to put a track from Humanity on Treason - Scars In The Obelisk. The new version has a lot more depth in it, but comparing the two makes me see that maybe the vocals are what makes this album so mediocre after all, seeing as it has an incredibly common touch to it.
All in all, yet another basic deathcore-album with not much to offer but the genuine sound. If you like Treason, you'd be much better off listening to their Humanity EP.

Best track: Scars In The Obelisk
Score: 5/10

Last View - Become The Storm [2009]

Genre: Metalcore
Label: Unsigned
URL: http://www.myspace.com/lastviewsthlm
Country: Stockholm, Sweden
Note: By band request

Wow. I can't believe I haven't heard of these guys until now. Pissed, chaotic metalcore that totally rips you apart, even at the first few seconds of listening. With dual vocal-approach, crushing breakdowns and intense verses it can't be anything but good.
It's not common for swedish bands to have this kind of chaotic energy, judging from my own experience. They really have their own thing going on, and aren't trying to imitate other bands. Altough, you hear a vague similiarity to Architects and Bring Me The Horizon from time to time, vocal-wise. Unintentionally, I'm guessing.
Even though they've only been a band for ~1,5 years, they've recieved a number of awards from various magazines and radio stations (Demo of the Month - P3 Rockster, Best in Sweden - Close Up Magazine). Not only do they prove their potential, but we all know they will go very far.
This EP was only a three-track and it serves pretty good as a teaser for their debut album planned for release during spring. I'm REALLY looking forward to it.

Sidenote: I LOVE the chorus on Anastacia. It's so damn awesome.


Best track: Anastacia
Score: 9/10

A Hole Inside - Steps We Have To Follow [2009]

Genre: Post-Hardcore
Label: Unsigned
URL: www.myspace.com/aholeinside
Country: Borås, Sweden
Note: By band request

With a very typical swedish youth-post-hardcore sound to it, the first track Worth To Steal doesn't give a very good first impression of the album. Musically, there's not much to complain about other than occuring boring and generic riffs. Vocally, there's room for much improvement. The screaming has an early Adept touch to it, which is both good and bad. Good: it sounds ok sometimes. Bad: it sounds veeery inhale-ish, which I don't like. The clean vocals have a similar soothing effect as BirthEater-Oceana, but by far not as good. Often out of key, and a tad whiny.
Being a swedish band, I can't help but draw parallels with Adept, which I'm pretty sure they have as influences.
If A Hole Inside were to improve the vocal parts, they could develop a characteristic sound. If they keep their dark post-rock-ish instrumental parts and maybe cut down on the clean vocals this could be really good, if not a good start atleast.
And by request from the band, here's a link so you can download the album: http://www.mediafire.com/?32zjzzqz0ix .

Best track: Promise
Score: 5/10

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