Music

Music Review: CLAYMAN 20th Anniversary Edition by In Flames (Nuclear Blast)

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InFlames-Clayman20thIn Flames revisits their groundbreaking sixth album

I discovered In Flames shortly after they released their seventh album, Reroute to Remain. As I later learned, it marked quite a dramatic evolution of the band’s sound that helped catapult them onto a larger stage. Without sacrificing their intensity and much of their heaviness, the album featured more varied and interesting vocal stylings from Anders Fridén (one of my favourite metal vocalists). Clayman was released two years before Reroute to Remain, and in its singles, one could just about hear the seeds of their impending evolution. Continue reading →

Music Review: Linkin Park’s HYBRID THEORY 20th Anniversary Edition

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LinkinPark-HybridTheory20thA huge new music set from one of nu-metal’s megastars

Like many people who were in their mid-teens as the 1990s ticked over to 2000s, I love Hybrid Theory, Linkin Park’s debut. Chester Bennington’s immense vocal skills leapt out of the speakers, the music sounded big, brash, and catchy AF. The band had their hooks in my mind from the first listen, and aside from a couple of albums that felt phoned in, I’ve been a fan ever since. I don’t believe there’s a day that’s gone by when I haven’t listen to at least one LP song.

Hybrid Theory was an album that was very much of its time, but still sounds good 20 years later. To celebrate the milestone anniversary, the band did a deep dive into their archives, and have assembled a huge set with over 80 tracks, many of them rare or previously unreleased.

But should you buy it? Well… Continue reading →

Quick Review: PANIC by From Ashes to New (Better Noise Records)

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FromAshesToNew-PanicI’m sure I heard of From Ashes to New before the release of Panic, no doubt referred to as a new standard bearer for modern nü-metal. When they dropped their video for the first, eponymous single from this album, I thought they were pretty good and yes, they reminded me of Linkin Park. Uncannily so, in fact.

This made my reaction to Panic a little unfair, I’ll admit, but it is simply impossible to not think of From Ashes to New’s obvious primary influence. Continue reading →

Music: TOSS A COIN TO YOUR WITCHER, a Metal Version…

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Well, this is pretty cool: Trivium frontman Matt Heafy has recorded a metal cover of “Toss a Coin to Your Witcher”. It works rather well, too. The song is the catchy-AF song from The Witcher TV adaptation.

You can watch Season 1 of The Witcher on Netflix. Andrzej Sapkowski’s Witcher novels are published by Orbit in North America and Gollancz in the UK. Trivium’s latest album, What the Dead Men Say, is out now via Roadrunner Records. The title track is the latest single, and you can watch the video for that, below:

Music: “THE SIGNAL FIRE” by Killswitch Engage

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Bit late to the party (this video was released in August 2019), but Killswitch Engage’s “The Signal Fire” is not only a great song, but it brings together KSE’s two vocalists: original singer Jesse Leach (1999–2002, 2012–) and Howard Jones (2002–2012). Nicely done.

And, just because it’s one of my favourite of their songs, here’s “All in Due Time” (perfectly showcases Leach’s vocals).

Music Review: FINDING GOD BEFORE GOD FINDS ME by Bad Omens (Sumerian Records)

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BadOmens-FindingGodDeluxe

An interesting, eclectic metal album. Pretty cool.

If I hadn’t already known before listening to the album, I could have easily guessed that Finding God Before God Finds Me was released by Sumerian Records. The range of styles and sounds, mixing clean rock and crunchy, scream-y metal seems to be the calling card of many of the label’s artists. Luckily, it’s a mix that I enjoy very much. Some of the bands are better than others, and Bad Omens falls in the former camp — I only came across them relatively recently, but I’ve grown to like them a lot.

Bad Omens is a talented metal band, switching between the metal and rock spectra quite easily and skillfully. They sometimes remind me a bit of Asking Alexandria. Bad Omens is certainly their own band, with their own sound. They’re difficult to pigeon-hole, given the incredible range of their songs. For some, this might make them seem a bit schizophrenic or disjointed, but I think it makes Finding God Before He Finds Me a very interesting listening experience. Continue reading →

Guitarists jam the Game of Thrones Theme Song…

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Above is a video released by Fender, featuring a number of great guitarists working on the Game of Thrones theme tune, played on GoT-themed axes. Joining Tom Morello of Audioslave/Rage Against The Machine, Scott Ian of Anthrax, Nuno Bettencourt of Extreme, and Brad Paisley, are Dan Weiss (show creator) and the original theme composer, Ramin Djawadi.

Given that the final episode airs this evening, it seemed appropriate to share the video today. Enjoy!

Music Review: THE GHOST OF OHIO, Andy Black (Island Records)

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AndyBlack-GhostOfOhioAndy Biersack/Black is, in my humble opinion, one of the best young vocalists in rock. In his “day job” as frontman of Black Veil Brides, we’ve heard his vocals and songwriting skills improve in leaps and bounds since they formed in 2006.

From the run-of-the-mill screamo of their debut album, We Stitch These Wounds (which was rather blandly stereotypical), to the way-more-glam Set the World On Fire (2011), to the monster hits of Wretched and Divine (2013) and Black Veil Brides IV (2014), he and his bandmates kept knocking it out of the park and getting better and better. Then, in 2016, he released his superb debut album, The Shadow Side: far more pop-oriented than BVB’s output, it is polished and catchy as hell. BVB’s fifth album, Vale (2018), built on everything that had come before and was another fantastic rock album. The pattern had been set: continued growth, and restrained experimentation, and more sophisticated song-writing. Continue reading →

Quick Music Review: THORNSTAR by Lord of the Lost (Napalm Records)

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LordOfTheLost-ThornstarI stumbled across Lord of the Lost one evening, enjoying one of my frequent music video binges. Specifically, their video for “Loreley” appeared in my Suggested list, and decided to give them a try. I rather enjoyed what I heard, and decided to check out a few more of their videos.

Naturally, I then went and bought their latest album, Thornstar. Released through Napalm Records, it’s a solid collection of goth-metal tunes, tinged with industrial and broader soundscapes that should appeal to any Wearer of All the Black Clothes. Continue reading →