I do not fuck with Cybergrind. That shouldn't be too much of a surprise since, prior to 2021, I had no idea what Cybergrind even was! It's the merger between industrial music and grindcore. That was the primary descriptor given to Genghis Tron's debut album, Dead Mountain Mouth in 2006. Since that time, the band has moved further away from that introductory sound and closer to dreamy post-metal. Alas the music has become more uninteresting the less heavy it became.

So hearing Signal Fire for the first time left me feeling a little bit more upright than I was expecting. You see, Genghis Tron have followed in Deafheaven's footsteps and released an album that shows an appreciation for the past and builds upon it. In short, Signal Fire is the love letter between Dead Mountain Mouth and Dream Weapon. It isn't grindcore by any account, but it does return to some of its heavier roots of their previous releases while still retaining some of that dreamy atmosphere that made up the last album.

The album starts off on a great foot with "I Am All" with its heavy bass presence and the return of harsh vocals by Tony Wolski. Then the album trips over itself with two interludes sandwiched around one of the albums weakest tracks, "Future Worship". I feel like "Tomorrow Mirage" has a great idea through the first four minutes or so, but spends the final half of the track meandering in a very uninspired dream segment. The whiplash that I felt when the interlude "Without Form" transitioned into hallowing blast beats and and more vicious screaming was intense, but even that song cannot maintain that momentum for its entire length and transitions into plainspoken vocals with a light instrumental texture that sounds closer to American Football instead of Cult of Luna.

I'd like to say that Signal Fire is a more interesting album than Dream Weapon, but it's a lot less cohesive. I think that the three interlude tracks that are dispersed throughout the album kill whatever momentum may have been building up to those points, and helped even less by songs that cannot retain momentum either. Despite all the negativity, I still think that Signal Fire is a step in the right direction for Genghis Tron. Hopefully this flame can get them back on the right direction and make the type of post-metal that sounds more like Genghis Tron and not a cheap copy of someone else.

Best Songs: Born Prey, I Am All, Nothing Blooms in the Hollow, A Love So Pure

For Fans Of: KMFDM, Neurosis, Chat Pile

Moonsorrow, one of the more creative bands in the folk metal spectrum, took a big risk and put out an album made entirely of two half-hour epics.  Already on a hot streak of one critical hit every two years, this would be the fourth and last album in a string of iconic entries influencing black, folk and viking metal.  And while it's not their strongest, it's a fun end to an era.  Sure, they'd have another album four years later, but this basically Moonsorrow's hayday just as Tarzan's the swansong to the Disney Renaissance, or the Black Album is to Metallica's hayday.  Because of the length, there's less of the folksy weirdness than in previous releases, making it more accessible.  But boy is this fucker epic.  Starting out wioth an even slow pace, it starts out like a careful epic intro, and the album just keeps it up without going right into the cinematics, allowing for a folksy yet dark and brooding metal experience that's well worth ever second.  If you just wanna relax with some blackened folk metal and let your mind be lead through the mountains for a good hike, this is what you're looking for.

Released in 1991, ‘As Ugly As They Wanna Be’ is the debut EP by funk rockers Ugly Kid Joe. Featuring just six tracks and clocking in at 26 minutes, it’s a brief, yet enjoyable CD, highlighting the bands energetic, riff-laden 90’s alternative style.

The first four tracks are all solid rockers, featuring great guitar riffs and some pretty charismatic vocals by frontman Whitfield Crane. The band would get early mainstream recognition with the song ‘Everything About You’, which no doubt helped elevate their name. And tracks like ‘Madman’, ‘Too Bad’ and ‘Whiplash Liquor’ all demonstrate a band who were ready in fill in that gap between rock, metal and grunge that the early 90’s desperately needed. 

The last two tracks, a Black Sabbath cover, and a humorous 26-second track, titled Heavy Metal’ don’t really add anything to the EP, but by this point, if you’re not already hooked from the previous four tracks, then there’s no hope for you at all.  

Very strong album over all, my favorites were I Drink Alone, Requiem Germania, and Steel Apocalypse!

Now here's a relatively unknown band from the UK that has had some history in their over a decade of activity, Eden's Curse. Originally formed with vocalist Michael Eden, he left the band after their first 3 albums and formed his own US incarnation. The original UK band would carry on with a different vocalist, Marco Sandron, who was the lead vocalist for Fairyland in their album Score to a New Beginning. However, he only made one song with Eden's Curse then left. And then came this album Symphony of Sin, their first album with new vocalist Nikola Mijic (Alogia). Also joining was Steve Williams, keyboardist of Power Quest, his spin-off band from DragonHeart (later DragonForce).

OK, before anything else, I would like to say this is way more than just the hard rock that people have described this album to be. I say it has more AOR-infused melodic heavy metal, taking some cues from Power Quest and Balance of Power. And it's not highly symphonic, despite the album title and that cover artwork with the cello girl (nude with leaf pasties, basically if Eve played cello).

The title opener is the one track to actually have symphonics, mostly in the intro. Other than that, it's a long 7 and a half minute epic that perfectly represents the band's sound. I'm already hearing Steve Williams' keys have that blended vibe of AOR and power metal. Nikola Mijic has a similar tone to Tobias Sammet (Avantasia, Edguy) which definitely sets the band away from those hard rock comparisons. I mean, his vocals don't have too much strength, though it can surpass how other classic hard rock/metal bands' vocalists do in their songs. A fantastic start! "Break the Silence" is more of a rock-on banger, but it's metal enough to sound similar to the catchier songs by Seventh Wonder and Heavenly. "Evil & Divine" pushes the power metal aspects further in the bass and drum kicks, despite being more mid-paced. Sadly, "Unbreakable" is not aptly named as similarly titled songs from other bands. While the melody is enjoyable, it's too cheesy and predictable, sounding too 80s for modern production.

"Fallen from Grace" is aptly titled in the sense that the song does fall from grace, yet it doesn't sound too far off from some of Vision Divine's ballads. And "Losing My Faith" has also made me lose some faith in this band. Then when we get to the next track "Rock Bottom", they've pretty much hit rock bottom. The hard rock side is more blatant and tiresome than they could ever get, not to mention formulaic. It was around this time when I was thinking this could be mainly a hard rock album after all. Luckily, the following track "Great Unknown" blends that part of their sound with the upbeat metal of their first 3 tracks, bringing back some hope in me enjoying this album and counting it as metal. "Turn the Page" switches back to mid-tempo rock, only this time it's more anthemic. That track and the previous one have given the album more strength.

"Sign of the Cross" has more of those catchy Avantasia and Heavenly vibes, though it's a little tiring at this point. Same with "Wings to Fly", though it has some progressive melody that can be heard from Threshold. "Devil in Disguise" has the best of that band can do in this offering. If I were to pick a song that summarizes the album other than the title track, it would be that one. And finally, "Where is the Love?" More like WHERE IS THE METAL?!?! I mean it still has some heaviness, but it's more of a hard rock tune than anything! Can we at least please have some symphonics and female vocals to make this sound like Delain? Such a disappointing ending for this album...

All in all, Eden's Curse's 4th album Symphony of Sin is a pretty good one. As much I enjoy it though, it is a little long and contains several flawed tracks. I've actually just listened to their sole single with Marco Sandron, "Time to Breathe", and let me tell you, that could've been a far better, more logical closing track than "Where is the Love?" There's definitely some potential in this hard rock/heavy metal band, and I would recommend Symphony of Sin to fans of that style. If they can get past the inconsistency....

Favorites: "Symphony of Sin", "Break the Silence", "Evil & Divine", "Great Unknown", "Turn the Page", "Devil in Disguise"