His Statue Falls - Polar - Review

It brings me great pleasure to have heard this album.  From the moment I was shown it, I knew that I would absolutely love it, and I was right.  

If you haven't heard of His Statue Falks, or haven't listened to them before, that's a shame and you should really go check them out.  Like, after you read this review, for instance. They are amazing and are one of my favorite metalcore/post-hardcore bands to have electronics to go with it.  Jan Vergin and Dennis Fries both complement each other with their screams and cleans (and now rapping once in a while, which is fantastic,) and even the older albums before Jan came in were absolutely beautiful with jams I still hold close to my heart.  

Alright, love them,  I've gotten that through.  Now!  I'm going to talk about the album.

Let's start off with the fact that all the tracks are strong in my eyes on this album.  My personal favorites are FTW and Hang Me High, not only because they have great rap parts, and fantastic cleans (as every track has) but because I love the electronics as well, and His Statue Falls surely excels at that, always catchy. Of course I can't forget to say that the screams and growls are amazing as well.  They always have been and Jan is amazing at them. Dennis, Sebastian, and Michael have come forward as well on guitars and bass, as has Markus, their drummer.  It's hard for me to have anything negative at all to say about this album, because I really can't think of anything.

This whole album is amazing, and I can't say enough that whoever is reading this should go check them out (and this album, of course) out.

10/10

Rival Choir - I Believe, Help My Unbelief -Review

Facedown Records is probably one of the best group of bands in a label.  Not that they have the most popular bands out there. But whenever I looked at reviews of their band's albums, the scores were usually pretty high up there.  One of the most interesting bands I listened to on their roster was Mouth of the South.  It's not because of their beliefs, because to me that never really mattered.  They have stories to tell and the out a lot of passion into their songs.  They called themselves "Progressive Ministry Metal", and to me that was an interesting way to look at their music.  One day though, after the album Struggle Well came out, I looked them up and found out that they had changed their name.

That's where we start now.  Mouth of the South changed up their style and their name.  Then and changed into Rival Choir, and took up a new form with a post-hardcore/Metalcore style, which I must say, really fits them, and makes me smile looking how far they've come.  

This album has its amazing hooks that entice and clean choruses that speak of life lessons and personal trials that (hopefully) most people can connect with in some way, no matter what they believe in,  Lyle's significant voice as strong as ever.  The guitar work, bass and all, can be chaotically beautiful in its onslaught.  

There's something special about this sort of debut from Rival Choir.  It's magnificent.

8/10

Panic! at the Disco - Death of a Bachelor - Review

(So I meant to have this done on the day the album came out, but I wasn't feeling right at the moment with the album.  I'm back though.  Time to get this done!)

Well, I never thought that I'd be doing a review for Panic! at the Disco.  Not that they aren't good, it's just that bands of the hardcore and metal scenes are more my style and what I love.

I remember back in the days when A Fever You Can't Sweat out had come out in 2005, bringing the famous earworm "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" was pushed into the ears of many, and became an instant hit.  When I look back now it seemed just as casual radio rock, but still it's a song that is fun to sing along with and act out.  (No judging, please.)

ANYWHO.  Death of a Bachelor surely is an interesting album.  At some points it's a rock album, but a lot of it tends towards hip-hop styles.  Not that hip-hop is bad, especially from a band that mixes up their doubts with each album that they put out.  Songs like Victorious really bring out the hip-hop, while tracks like Golden Days and Don't Threaten Me With A Good Time bring out the rock in the album... Sort of.  Now I don't think it's bad.  It's rock, just more electronic rock.

The guitars are great, as are the drums, but we all know, if we've all heard it, that Brendon Urie's vocals thrive on through the album as usual, creating earworms a plenty.

For a Panic! at the Disco album, this is alright.  You all know by what I post, that I love hardcore and metal genres more than anything, but I thought I'd put some words in for this.

7/10

Abandon All Ships for a Minute

So, I'm going to be working on a review today, but as you could probably tell from the title, I'm going to be talking about Abandon All Ships, who you might be either rocky about or really like them, based on your feelings starting from Geeving upwards to what everyone thought were their final songs from the Malocchio.  If you don't like them, I'm sorry, but this is just something I wanted to talk about.

I never much minded what I had heard from them, Geeving was kinda my jam out of school, and I would sing along with the lyrics, even while people hated on the fact that Martin Broda auto-tuned his brilliant voice and Angelo Aita was beginning get his scream's precision.  With 2012, we heard Infamous which was also interesting, Broda letting go of the old way.  But with 2014 brought some bad news, when a few months after Malocchio, which really had the best electronics from Sebastian Nunez, came out and stole my heart, the band announced that they were breaking up.  This kinda broke my heart even though a bunch of people that I knew didn't like them at all.

It's 2016 now, but of course you already knew that.  Geeving has turned 5, (well it did last year in October,) and so the band released news that they would be returning with their original lineup, and also released a new song, called Loafting.  In a way, this new track reminds me of Geeving, with the auto-tuned lyrics having returned.  My friend and I were talking and I know that the auto-tune could have been gone, and the song still be as great, but I was happy to hear the song anyway.

With questions of them getting back together again, this should be interesting.

My Dear Addiction - Kill the Silence - Review

I'm going to start off with telling you that I haven't really listened to My Dear Addiction until now.  Not that I don't like them, just that I haven't really tried them until now.  I have to say, though, that they are amazing. Kill The Silence has a sound different than I have heard from other bands, it reminds me of Demon Hunter, but has something more to it that makes it more original.  Whatever it is, I'm totally loving it.

Kill the Silence kicks off this ride of an album with it's title track.  It has an electronic beginning, but then only seconds in it goes to it's amazing guitars. The listener will be able to hear how much time has been put into each song, the effort and passion are absolutely phenomenal, especially with songs like A Promise and Face It and Rewind.  The guitars are both enhanced in may songs by steady electronics making for enjoyment and flow.  The drums are something to admire as well.  They have a tendency to switch between blasting beats ans mellow feelings, which is all just brough together by the vocalist's voice, excelling at both screaming and singing.

I apologize for this not being my most lengthy review, but this album is very high on my like lists.  If you haven't listened to My Dear Addiction before, this is definitely an album to start with.  It has a sound for what you are looking for.

8/10

Bury Tomorrow - Earthbound - Review

I'm not exactly sure what to say first about this.  Either how much I love this album, or how much I love Bury Tomorrow in general.  I know I often start talking about bands first when I talk to people about albums or write these few reviews that I have so far.  So I'm going to do that once more.

I'm, as I said just as you were previously reading, a huge fan of Bury Tomorrow.  I got into them quite a while ago, I believe, with The Union of Crowns.  They're a brilliant melodic metalcore band, adding in a little bit of melodic death metal riffs here and there.  But they also have incorporated sounds of bands such as As I Lay Dying and Killswitch Engage, but keeping it original, which makes them even more awesome in my eyes and many other peoples'.  There will probably be some that disagree on the melodic death metal part, and that's perfectly fine.  I did say a little bit.

Now, onto the album part!  As I also said in the start, Earthbound is an amazing album,  I loved The Union of Crowns, and Runes, but to myself, this album steps up Bury Tomorrow.  The first track, The Eternal, grips the listener by the ears eagerly and pulls them on this magnificent roller coaster of an album,  I didn't really find any weak tracks, each of the songs was engaging and some had me putting them on repeat just so that I could hear them again. This can be greatly said for songs like The Burden, catchy lyrics like "Hail no hero, fear no evil,"  had me silently mouthing, and then singing as I walked down the street to where ever I was headed that day  The same with when I wasn't listening to the song.

For anyone who complained about Runes, don't give up on Bury Tomorrow yet.  The vocals were perfected, (not that I didn't think that they were excellent in past albums,) and work towards the advantage of the sound of the album.  Daniel and Janes are amazing, with the growls and screams as prominent as the cleans.  Add Kristan to it and the guitars are amazing as well.  Last but totally not least, because I love rhythm, Adam is masterful in drums.  Without drums, of course, it could be hard to keep it all together.  So they all make a great team as a band, and this is a fantastic album.

So,  what are you waiting for?  If you haven't listened to this album yet, go listen to it!

10/10

Before Their Eyes - Midwest Modesty - Review

 Last time I heard a Before Their Eyes album, it was 2012 and Redemption had came out.  I loved each album before that but Redemption had claimed a whole new spot in my heart, even though I hadn't thought it to be the best idea to bring Breathe Carolina in for vocals on Dream at first, in my opinion they proved to be a great effort in their discography.  Then after, I was waiting for the next Before Their Eyes album, but nothing.  I wasn't upset.  I was just wondering what was going on.

This year, however, a new light was brought into fruition when later in the end of last year, news of an album, formerly called "II" was talked of.  I was so excited that I wanted to hear the first single that came out.  But earlier last year, news came out that the new album was still coming out, under a different, more creative name, Midwest Modesty.  and I was excited as I had ever been.  I didn't know what to expect, but that was the point.  Before Their Eyes always steps up and brings something new out for the fans to listen to, and they do that straight from the heart.  So as soon as I saw that it was out, I immediately wanted to listen to it.

Well, that's enough of past ramblings for now.  Midwest Modesty is an amazing album, there's no doubt about that.  Nick Moore's vocals have grown since Resemption, and from the starting track, "It's Dark Inside With You", his vocals soar into the fruition that I was hoping for.   It doesnt feel exactly as heavy as Redemption, but that's okay.  Midwest Modesty is certainly an album with a different sound and that's wonderful.

It's wonderful to know that Craig Owens co-wrote and helped produce this album, knowing that he has such an awesome sound to whatever he does, be it Chiodos or Solo Stuff, plus D.R.U.G.S., so him doing this album is perfect.

The instrumentals are amazing as well.  As I said in the previous parts of this review, they aren't as heavy in some parts, but that doesn't matter.  The guitars are at their prime, as well as the drums, and they can only get more and more awesome when the next album comes out.  Of course, adding Nick's well known singing adds to the life of the album.  From track to track, different sounds are heard and a sound can be found for each listener if they give the album a chance. I'm quite sure you will get one of these catchy songs stuck in your head, and probably love this album from beginning to end.  I know that I did.

8/10