Shadowdoom9 (Andi)'s Reviews

Any of the more serious, heavier metalheads may consider Sepultura's Machine Messiah as THE metal album of 2017. That's an interesting opinion, but I'm not quite aware of Sepultura. There are other metal albums that I think have potential as the best of 2017, one of them being this album from a band I know more of, Motionless in White.

From the album cover alone, Graveyard Shift looks promising to be an amazing hard-hitting album (at least that's what I think), and I was right! There's more of this sonic captivating sound of the band to please my ears. Another thing to note is, one of the songs here features Korn's Jonathan Davis. Adding him in was a genius move, and his guest appearance never disappoints, despite me never having the interest in exploring his main band.

"Rats" already has the album's right tone, insane modern metal to make your ears bleed in pleasure. One of the best album-starters, and one of the most well-mastered in metal! "Queen for Queen" has intense rhythm, like a heavier darker Linkin Park. "Necessary Evil" is that song featuring Jonathan Davis, and Korn fans will get a great kick out of that masterpiece of a song. "Soft" is anything but soft. It's a more hardcore song, especially in the vocals that reach death growling, sounding closer to Slipknot. This song is worth headbanging to at loud volume.

"Untouchable" is another perfect industrial metal song. The incredible rhythm hits you hard, while being a more melodic song. "Not My Type: Dead as F*** 2" has my type of alternative/industrial/metalcore, heading towards Rob Zombie-like territory, p*ssing off neighbors if you turn it up high. "The Ladder" is not really a song I can get used to. It's thrashier with more of the growling vocals of metalcore, but it sounds out of place in this album. This might work better in their debut album Creatures, maybe? "Voices" is an incredible track, sounding a bit like earlier Linkin Park, specifically their hit "Somewhere I Belong", without ripping off. Motionless in White is quite an exceptional band with their technique of similar but not too similar.

"LOUD (F*** It)" is another fun track, though sounding too much like Limp Bizkit. "570" once again has the heavier vocals and faster riffing, though relaxes slightly in some parts. All in all, another song I enjoy! "Hourglass" continues the industrial nu metal experience from earlier in the album. "Eternally Yours" is the perfect compelling finale with alt-metalcore fire before calming down for a final outro to pleasantly end this album.

Graveyard Shift is another sonic achievement from this band. The dynamic really work with the volume. Maybe improve a couple of the songs to make it perfect, but the rest of this offering is amazing as it is!

Favorites: "Rats", "Necessary Evil", "Untouchable", "Voices", "570", "Eternally Yours"

The dark journey of Motionless in White continues on, and once I complete this review, I'll already be midway through what they've had so far. I think you can consider Reincarnate the transition album between the two surrounding eras; the gothic-infused metalcore side and the alternative/industrial metal side.

The band really toured a lot in a way to end that first era that concluded with their second album Infamous. After some time off following that tour, the Motionless crew started working on an album that would continue the industrial metalcore sound and expand it further. This is...Reincarnate! With 13 tracks (not including an acoustic bonus track) and 4 guest vocalists, they focused slightly less on the earlier metalcore brutality, in favor of their new industrial direction. Get ready for some loud modern metal!

"Death March" sounds off some futuristic battle horns, then the drums, guitars, and synths start marching. After chanting the song title, Chris Motionless performs some vocals that sound close to rapping, that and the dark lyrics and melodic chorus bring the band's sound closer to Limp Bizkit. The title track and first single has some deep synths and metalcore riffing that begin when Chris shouts "GET UP!". What really makes this song accessible within the extremeness is the melodic Breaking Benjamin-like chorus, all piecing together a simply great structure. "Puppets 3 (The Grand Finale)" concludes the "Puppets" trilogy spanning those first 3 albums. The accessibility is decimated with more extreme bass, drums, synths, and vocals. Cradle of Filth’s Dani Filth comes in with his haunting signature growls and howls. The chorus has melodic synths and more of Chris' clean vocals. Without too much force, "Unstoppable" brings back some of the Marilyn Manson/Nine Inch Nails-like industrial rock/metal, though Chris' vocals sounds more punk alongside the growls. "Everybody Sells Cocaine" starts with a heavy yet electronic intro before verses that reference drugs. The chorus has the upbeat energy that Architects would later have in their recent alt-industrial metal era.

"Contemptress" has higher-level riffing and guest vocals from In This Moment's Maria Brink. I would consider that song one of the more mainstream ones here. "Break the Cycle" fits well in the middle of the album, with metalcore riffs interplaying with nightclub-like synths. Of course, you wouldn't expect Chris' furious growls in a nightclub. The synths and vocals remind me a lot of trance-metalcore bands like The Browning and Crossfaith. "Generation Lost" gets you all set for more electronic and drums, before some rock-on riffing. He continues the semi-rapping before his usual screaming fury in an epic chorus. "Dark Passenger" reminds me of a certain hit from Linkin Park's 2000 debut when a piano riff plays behind some synths in the intro. Though the vocals are more fierce than what Chester Bennington (RIP) could do. At this point, the formula is starting to get repetitive, but it's good when the band does it well. "Wasp" is the band's longest track at 7 minutes, though it has more hip-hop groove, replacing all the earlier brutal fury with beats and synths. Some of the smooth vocals are performed by Dessa Poljak of Silencio. An interest NIN-esque industrial highlight!

It's then followed by the album's shortest track, the sharp-worded "Dead as F***", having some eerie samples in the beginning, as the energy comes along with the synth-vocal-beat variety and lyrical storytelling. A classic for an industrial metal nightclub! "Final Dictvm", while not exactly one of their best songs, fits well for the electronics that form The Sphere, and the music has nothing worth b***hing about, especially with Swedish musician Tim Skold (Shotgun Messiah, KMFDM, Marilyn Manson) performing effective vocals. The final track of the standard edition, "Carry the Torch" opens with an acoustic intro as feedback ascends, all leading up to a short epic guitar solo and marching drumming. The earlier metalcore brutality returns, but not without a melodic chorus. The digital edition has a bonus acoustic version of the previous album's "Sinematic", an extra calm-down after all of the album's extreme heaviness. The vocals sounds more serene, despite not being as high-ranging as the original.

Sure, many songs follow the same old hardcore formula, but it's kept interesting with different electronics and tempos that make Reincarnate the forever fresh album it is. Motionless in White is certainly not one of those bands who repeat everything in every d*mn song. It's barely accessible, highly powerful industrial metalcore at its finest!

Favorites: "Reincarnate", "Puppets 3 (The Grand Finale)", "Contemptress", "Generation Lost", "Wasp", "Dead as F***", "Carry the Torch"

Since their 2010 debut Creatures, Motionless in White has been known as one of the most impressive bands. Their name has been carved in stone thanks to the intense power and imagery of their songs and live performances. They even gained more fans in their audience after a Warped Tour performance. With their rising success, the band has made their sophomore comeback with their 2012 album Infamous!

Back then, Motionless in White still had their famous gothic metalcore sound. What's different is, they started reshaping their sound by adding different influences that would foreshadow their alternative/industrial metal future.

"Black Damask (The Fog)" starts with soft somber piano, then when you least expect it, it switches to an intense head-ripping assault of vocals, guitars, and drums. The chorus is where the expected clean vocals come in greater range than in their debut. The perfect stage-setter! Then the lead single "Devil’s Night" marks the first hint at the different aspects to come, including industrial synths and deeper growling vocals. Chris Motionless' killer vocal abilities also include the usual clean vocals in the chorus alongside guitar melodies. The lyrics motivate you to stand up against those in life ordering you around and not get taken down by them, all in emotional intensity. "A-M-E-R-I-C-A" expands the band's sound yet again. This is more like the gothic industrial metal of Gothminister, especially the deeper cleans in the verses. Michael Vampire of Vampires Everywhere! sings together with Chris in a sing-along gang chorus, one of the best of the genre! That song can definitely reach the hard rock/metal charts. America, F*** YEAH!!!! Next up, "Burning at Both Ends" is filled with dynamic metal, while also greatly melodic.

"The Divine Intervention" sounds close to what Marilyn Manson has done in Antichrist Superstar. A much different style from their earlier metalcore, complete with Chris' vocal range expanding. "Puppets 2 (The Rain)" starts off sounding a bit like brutal death metal. The chorus is sung by Soilwork's Björn Strid alongside the bellowing of Chris. It's clear how much intense passion can be found in these lyrics of storytelling vision. "Sinematic" is the darkest song here, but of course, dark doesn't always mean heavy. Emotional melody from the keyboards, guitars, and vocals, certainly make the atmosphere more cinematic. Chris continues to expanding his clean vocal range, a nice break from the earlier growling. "If It’s Dead, We'll Kill It" is one of the most intense tracks on the album. After a brief look into melodic black metal with the dark synths and vocal shrieks, the guitars and growls of metalcore return, and then another clean chorus. Bleeding Through vocalist Brandan Schieppati steps in with some intense vocals.

"Synthetic Love" has beautiful Orgy-esque industrial nu metal. The synths and large chorus make that song another standout gem. "Hatef***" is another track that sounds much closer to Fear Factory than Hatebreed. "Underdog" stands out as one of the best songs here, almost surpassing that "Puppets" track. There's guitar aggression, synth atmosphere, and vocal aggression throughout. This is a beautiful driving anthem, it's so great! The title track closes the standard edition in a mind-blowing bang. However, I would recommend getting the deluxe edition that includes "Sick From the Melt", a heavy goth industrial metal track that features Eighteen Visions drummer/Combichrist percussionist Trevor Friedrich on vocals. "Fatal" is also pretty good. Then finally, there are 4 remix tracks of the songs "A-M-E-R-I-C-A", "Underdog", and "Sinematic".

Infamous marks the beginning of Motionless in White's brand-new direction. The band has impressed their audience in greater levels. With more mature writing and diverse sound, they broke down more walls than they had before. Their bloodthirsty music and lyrics were written in great effort. Chris Motionless and the gang may not win back longtime fans from this album onwards, but it was worth making a masterpiece to bring in new fans. Still there is the need for longtime fans to keep listening so many times in order to get used to that different sound. This gem shall definitely be heard by fans of modern metal!

Favorites: "Black Damask (The Fog)", "A-M-E-R-I-C-A", "Puppets 2 (The Rain)", "If It’s Dead, We'll Kill It", "Synthetic Love", "Underdog", "Sick From the Melt" (bonus track)

Motionless in White released their debut album after 6 years and 2 EPs since their formation. Hailing from Pennsylvania, this band really pushed the boundaries of metalcore into a higher enjoyable level. Their original sound became more theatrical, and listeners are ready to bring on the horror-themed metalcore of Creatures that bands like Ice Nine Kills can't do without!

You can also consider this metalcore album "gothic screamo" if you will, as the screamed vocals are more harmonized to fit well with killer riffing and memorable choruses. Creatures is probably the most serious the band had ever been in their career, determined to break down the limiting walls.

"Immaculate Misconception" kicks things off with a dark heavy raging breakdown. It's pretty much a darker American take on Asking Alexandria, and I mean that as a compliment. Next up, "We Only Come Out at Night" continues the dark sinister sound, and the different synths sound really cool. They can do those synths far better than Marilyn Manson. "London in Terror" has mind-blowing vocal combos, beginning light than growing heavier. I'm telling you, those synths are on a more powerful level than Marilyn Manson! "Abigail" starts heavy before the vocal combos come in. They're quite strong, though they overpower the song's maturity. They have really leveled up their attitude there! The title track is another step, despite the lack of originality, other than fan contributions to the lyrics.

"Cobwebs" has a more hardcore sound. Same with ".Com Pt. II" (short for "Schitzophrenicannibalisticsexfest.com" and a sequel to that song from an earlier EP), which isn't dark but instead still easy to listen to. The horror attitude of the album is still on display though. "Count Choculitis" marches along with exciting riffing. That track can change like a chameleon, starting heavy and sinister before ending soft and mellow, like when a horror film ends peacefully. The soft mellowness isn't actually reached until the delicate ballad "City Lights", the true odd one out in the album.

The horror-themed "Snow" trilogy starts with the vicious "Puppets (The First Snow)". The second "Snow", "Undead Ahead" grabs your neck and turns into a bobblehead, nodding wildly to the song. That will surely please the crowd. "Scissorhands (The Last Snow)" ends the trilogy and the album with a recap of the horror themes. You'll definitely wanna get the deluxe edition that has the bonus track "Dragula", an awesome cover of the Rob Zombie classic, and what got me into Motionless in White.

Creatures show this horror-themed metalcore band thinking outside the box. Not many bands can deliver the best they can offer this early in their careers. Motionless in White have shown us what has made them stand out from much of the metalcore crowd!

Favorites: "Immaculate Misconception", "We Only Come Out at Night", "Abigail", "Count Choculitis", "Undead Ahead", "Scissorhands (The Last Snow)", "Dragula" (bonus track)

The earlier Motionless in White can almost be considered My Chemical Romance gone Atreyu. Their all-black fashion is mixed with their screamed songs about heartbreak. They never really deserve to be sh*t on honestly. Motionless in White has really stood out in a scene where bands care more about cash and popularity than keeping their fanbase. Though despite their hard work and touring, their EP The Whorror was a low sinker despite a couple excellent tracks. Still they were hellbent to carry on...

Their second EP When Love Met Destruction was first independently released as an album that was only sold in touring festivals. After gaining some fans who want to see the album released to the world, it finally happened! ...Sort of. 6 of the tracks were re-recorded for the more well-known horror-themed metal/hardcore EP.

The original album version is more solid though, so let's start with the mighty title opener. The chorus was reused for the title track of their real debut album Creatures as their only own lyrics used in that song, as the rest are fan contributions. "To Keep From Getting Burned" has a dissonant synth breakdown, leading to the chorus that has lots of power and lyrics of love and loss, "It's hard to keep from getting burned when love is like fire", though not as strong as the background shouting of former guitarist/vocalist TJ Bell. Chris Motionless' vocals sound a bit nasal, but they still soar. "Ghost in the Mirror" has an earlier and more frequently used chorus. It's a good way to ease up on the tiring growls. The final breakdown has well-done gang vocals and the synths performed by Josh Balz. Those synths keep the song in shape and are never repetitive.

"Destroying Everything" is another great song leading up to an epic outro showing the best of Chris' earlier vocal ability. "'Whatever You Do... Don't Push the Red Button" has great melody in the chorus. Re-recorded from the Whorror EP, "She Never Made It to the Emergency Room" is more serious, and the best song here. A moving story gets you hooked along with the chorus and strong instrumentation. "Billy in 4-C Never Saw It Coming" is more ridiculous in the title, but it flows well, with an intense breakdown.

Later re-recorded for Creatures, "We Only Come Out at Night" continues the dark sinister sound, and the different synths sound really cool. They can do those synths better than Marilyn Manson. Also appearing in Creatures is the delicate ballad "City Lights", though under the name "Bananamontana", the true odd one out in the album. "The Seventh Circle" is just shameful filler. The second re-recording from their first EP, "Apocolips" is another more serious song with a tragic story in the lyrics. The dark lyrical subject is well-written with straight driving instrumentation.

If I were to give the EP version a percentage rating, it would be 56%. The album version I would give 70% for the inclusion of two re-recordings and one demo. Motionless in White gained some potential here, with a few redeeming aspects. Still those two earlier releases are my least favorites of one of the best bands of the scene....

Favorites: "To Keep From Getting Burned", "Destroying Everything", "She Never Made It to the Emergency Room", "We Only Come Out at Night", "Apocolips"

I've had fun listening to reviewing the Motionless in White albums. The band really had one of the strongest discographies from the 2010s up. I was more focused on reviewing those albums up to the new one that is this month's Gateway feature release, and did not think about reviewing their EPs. But now it's time to check out their earliest releases. Sadly, they don't have as much potential as the full albums...

This Pennsylvanian metalcore band started with a sound that a lot more emo/post-hardcore, while foreshadowing the horror-themed gothic metalcore they would be known for. The Whorror is an EP with that kind of sound, clearly not as well-developed as their debut.

The title intro is a short instrumental that sounds like a gloomy horror movie soundtrack, fitting for the band's future. And "Just When You Thought We Couldn't Get Any More Emo, We Go and Pull a Stunt Like This"! Yep, that's the long-a** name of that song, fitting well for what the band was doing there. This is self-empowering metalcore with the punky rage of high screams and spoken passages. The tone is set for a harsh humorous rampage. Basically a punky emo-metalcore song that is worth playing at a fun party.

Changing gears in the next song, "She Never Made It to the Emergency Room" is more serious, and the best song here. A moving story gets you hooked along with the chorus and strong instrumentation. The smaller sidetracked "We Put the Fun in Funeral" continues the serious approach, though I'm concerned about compositional style and lyrics. The semi-interlude "Black" is just punky filler with mostly spoken word rising into screaming angst while the instrumentation is blasting through. Pretty much all of their songs are better that poor sh*tter.

"Apocolips" is another more serious song with a tragic story in the lyrics. The dark lyrical subject is well-written with straight driving instrumentation. Closing the EP is "Schitzophrenicannibalisticsexfest.com" that displays the band's later horror-themed gothic metalcore with barely subtle lyrical content. Put together well while not having the same effect as those two highlights that would later be re-recorded in their new EP When Love Met Destruction.

I say this EP is a decent start to the band's career with strong potential in a few songs. The other songs in the EP though are immature and take away a lot of its greatness. A strong band can start a bit weak in the beginning, but it is what it is....

Favorites: "Just When You Thought We Couldn't Get Any More Emo, We Go and Pull a Stunt Like This", "She Never Made It to the Emergency Room", "Apocolips"

In December 2017, the same month as the farewell concerts from The Dillinger Escape Plan and HIM, Textures also made their exit. The band had already made enough music for two albums; Phenotype and Genotype. While Phenotype was released in early 2016, the split-up sadly meant the cancellation of Genotype's release...

That huge disappointment aside, Phenotype was worth the 5-year wait fans had since the glorious Dualism. This ambitious progressive metal/djent band was determined to start this new era big. They're an unstoppable force of music complexity, crafting their material and shaping up an entire concept. And it sounds so complete that you might almost forget that this was meant to be a double album in the first place!

Once again, they open the gates on a hostile note in "Oceans Collide", having the rhythmic aggression of Meshuggah. Marvelous "New Horizons" continues the aggression while the clean atmosphere rises from the clean singing of Daniel De Jongh and the keys, already showing that the talented power of Dualism has never died out. We also have the powerful "Shaping a Single Grain of Sand". The song has lots of devilish rhythms, as well as different twists and turns to get you hooked. Things are definitely shaping up well, and you're up for more of this strength.

"Illuminate the Trail" toys with the industrial groove of Mnemic and a bit of the technical deathcore of Born of Osiris and Chelsea Grin, all through 7 wonderous minutes. "Meander" is a hypnotic tribal interlude. It segues to the heavy highlight "Erosion".

"The Fourth Prime" has more headbanging groove to surpass the heaviness of the previous track while blending it with melodic sections. "Zman" is a nice calm break before this album's grand conclusion... "Timeless" breaks out of that piano melancholy, raging in with the band's usual mix of heaviness and melody. This extraordinary finale allows to witness the band's talent one last time.

All in all, Phenotype isn't as perfectly revolutionary as the previous two albums, but it's a solid gem to show the band what they are. And... oh yeah, the band has just reformed after their 6-year split. I really hope they release their unreleased Genotype or, better yet, re-record it and make it better than it would've been. Please, Textures, we need you!

Favorites: "New Horizons", "Illuminate the Trail", "Erosion", "Timeless"

From their 2003 debut Polars onwards, Textures has pleased fans of mathy progressive metal/djent with their sound. Once considered a copy of the technical Meshuggah, they branched out into different territory such as the sludgy atmosphere of Neurosis. They've gone through a few vocalists over the years, and every one of them can easily switch between furious growls and melodic singing.

By album #4 Dualism, the band had two new members stepping in, vocalist Daniel De Jongh and keyboardist Uri Dijk. Anytime there are changes in a band's lineup, there's bound to be even a slight change in soundscape. Here we have more groove-ish rhythms and atmosphere that distance further away from the band's earlier technicality. I enjoy both technicality and atmosphere, but I understand if the earlier fans wanted to hear more of a heavy direction than a light one. The greater usage of melodic sections give Dualism more accessibility, and it follows up from Silhouettes as Textures' height of perfection!

Opening track "Arms of the Sea" is a heavy start to the album, though it feels a couple minutes too long for me. "Black Horses Stampede" has the sludgy riffing of 2000s Mastodon before the more progressive atmosphere rolls in. "Reaching Home" is one of the most awesome captivating songs without a chorus! This was a shining moment getting me interested in this band a few years back.

"Sanguine Draws the Oath" has more technical rhythms to throw back to Silhouettes. "Consonant Hemispheres" has some of the best vocals I've heard from Daniel de Jongh. His singing sounds so dreamy at the right moments, but he can rock out to the heavier sections before his vicious growling grabs you by the b*lls. "Burning the Midnight Oil" surprises me as a post-ish instrumental. It's quite nice and not too long, unlike the debut's closing instrumental. "Singularity" has the best of the more technical side of the band with some light moments. The metaphorical imagery of water can really be associated with the artwork and lyrics.

"Minor Earth, Major Skies" often comes out as a more progressive August Burns Red with some Red Harvest-infused atmosphere. "Stoic Resignation" is more brutal, almost like if Cave In continued the metalcore of their debut Until Your Heart Stops while still having their current atmospheric sound. The interlude "Foreclosure" is quite trippy with melodic vocals in the last minute. "Sketches from a Motionless Statue" switches between all the different styles they've gone through in this album.

All in all, Dualism shows the band is never letting go of their mathy roots while at the same time having catchier hooks. It's a complex adventure that even the more "alt" listeners can get into. Lots of fascinating potential!

Favorites: "Black Horses Stampede", "Reaching Home", "Consonant Hemispheres", "Singularity", "Minor Earth, Major Skies", "Sketches from a Motionless Statue"

Textures has some of the most mathy progressive metal/djent around. One can consider the band the Dutch Meshuggah. Their influences from that band were the most obvious in their debut Polars, though they've had their own new ideas going on, more apparent in Drawing Circles. In fact, Textures is definitely different from Meshuggah, cleaner with a bit of jazz here.

Silhouettes is an awesome album, a kick-A offering that can push Drawing Circles off its throne, with the heavy and melodic songs in perfect balance. The vocals are the best I've heard from any of the band's vocalists, nailing the Devin Townsend-like clean/scream contrast. And there's a lot more that makes this a solid mathematical masterpiece!

Kicking things off is "Old Days Born Anew" with the most of their earlier Meshuggah influences here. It starts similar to how that band's album that year ObZen started, with fast riffing and drumming. However, the clean singing breaks up the intensity with its sheer beauty. Not the best start, but it still works. "The Sun's Architect" has better madness with awesome drumming and riffing. With growling and singing fitting so well in the right places, nothing can get more beautiful than that. Except "Awake" which is my favorite song here, both hard-hitting and melodic. The clean vocals can very well be some of the best I've heard in my life. There are also seems to be some influence from the heavier side of Devin Townsend. I love this!

Next up, "Laments of an Icarus" has a snare march to begin the track and bleed into the rest of the song. The mathematical riffing and growls help the song's quality. There's another good track in "One Eye for a Thousand". As for "State of Disobedience", it's so glorious that you just gotta hear it to believe it.

Then we have "Storm Warning" is a true mathy djent storm. It's so intense with different time signatures, and Eric Kalsbeek can really keep up with them with his growls. His clean vocal beauty still shines as always, "We are the strangers of today". After that, "Messengers" is soft and atmospheric with no growls except for the middle section. "To Erase a Lifetime" closes this masterpiece album in all its beauty and glory.

It's a shame Eric Kalsbeek left two years after this album, though the vocalists in surrounding albums are incredible too. Silhouettes has some of the best music and vocals from the band, proving Textures' place as one of the greatest early djent bands besides Meshuggah!

Favorites: "The Sun's Architect", "Awake", "State of Disobedience", "Storm Warning", "To Erase a Lifetime"

Textures gained some fame early on with their debut Polars allowing them to win the "Most Promising Act" Essent Award. Though shortly after, ex-vocalist Pieter Verpaalen left. Their next vocalist Eric Kalsbeek stepped in for their second album, Drawing Circles!

What do progressive metal fans have in mind with what they refer to as progressive? It can be the wackiness of Dream Theater or the experimentation of Isis. Textures is never afraid to take things through unconventional ideas highly different from the mainstream. They don't repeat the same thing nor do they follow the mundane verse-chorus structure. There are so many twists that it's hard to count them all, and with Drawing Circles, you know that things only end when they want it to end.

We start off with a short driving buildup in "Drive" that introduces the vocal talent of Eric Kalsbeek. "Regenesis" blasts through with a bit of the progressive metalcore later shaped up by Northlane and the background ambience of Cult of Luna. "Denying Gravity" has killer shapeshifting between Fear Factory and Meshuggah.

"Illumination" takes a break from the Becoming the Archetype-esque extreme progressiveness to cool down in illuminating ether. Then thrashing around is "Stream of Consciousness". Then we have more ambient textures (ha ha) in "Upwards". And "Circular" has more of the Dream Theater circles.

"Millstone" is a little more, but the band's innovative skills never cease. "Touching the Absolute" has pretty much touched so many different places. Whether they're going as dramatic as Trail of Tears at that time, or as hardcore as Architects and Gaza (the band), they don't stray from what they are, and that's what makes Textures unique. "Surreal State of Enlightenment" is a beautiful outro to end this offering, far better than the long ambient track closing their debut.

When it comes to progressiveness, forget the rules! You just gotta appreciate what you can do and not stick to what's so popular nowadays. Wild experimentation is an essential thing for Textures, and Drawing Circles, like many of their albums, shall not be taken for granted!

Favorites: "Regenesis", "Denying Gravity", "Stream of Consciousness", "Upwards", "Touching the Absolute"

By the mid-2000s, djent was still starting off low-key. We have the originator, Meshuggah, and Sikth made their entrance with their djenty progressive metal sound. Named after an instrumental from Cynic's debut Focus, Textures was determined to give their music the many aspects and layers including djenty guitars. And it all starts with their debut Polars, their only album with talented ex-vocalist Pieter Verpaalen. RIP...

There's no underestimating the complexity of this music. As often done by Meshuggah and The Dillinger Escape Plan, heavy aggression and soft relaxation are covered in different grounds of sonic emotion.

The hardcore "Swandive" opens the album in extreme madness. The one track from the album released as a single, "Ostensibly Impregnable" is the perfect track I would give to anyone wanting to step in this textured world for the first time while starting small. It has everything including minimalistic riffing, clean vocal harmonies, and the deathly djent of Meshuggah. "Young Man" blasts through At the Gates-esque melodic riffing while having some of Devin Townsend's progressiveness.

The metallic instrumentation continues blasting through in "Transgression". Then "The Barrier" has more of that, harsher while in contrast with the mesmerizing melody. The extreme talent never lets down!

The interlude "Effluent" is rather so-so, but it serves as a nice intermission before the big centerpiece... The title track is the band's longest song, a true 18-minute epic with lots of innovative experimentation reaching its height, not to mention Pieter's vocal talent. "Heave" is just 15 minutes of droning ambience. This album would've been greater if they didn't include that here, or at the very least, shorten it to be as short as "Effluent".

Textures is a band for anyone wanting to explore the extreme edge of progressive metal/djent, and their debut Polars has all you can ask for from the band. It would've been as glorious as their subsequent albums if not for that final overlong ambient track....

Favorites: "Ostensibly Impregnable", "Young Man", "The Barrier", "Polars"

Guitar wizard from Australia Plini is back at it again with another beautiful prog-rock/metal journey for you to have a break from the grim reality of the virus. Impulse Voices has light spirit drifting in and out of heavy grounds and emotion. Any instrumental composition can be used for either imagination or meditation, but Plini can have music teleport between the two. Though it's not exactly background music, yet can stun your progressive metal heart!

He has proven himself a master before; take Handmade Cities and Sunhead for example, prolific experiences to revisit every now and then. Impulse Voices continues those experiences while enchanted with new texture ideas. You can immerse yourself in an unpredictable blend of ambient and heavy, all in playfully creative fashion.

Opening the album is "I’ll Tell You Someday" where masterful guitar melody has pleasant repetition. It's the album's first single, and the pace can shroud listeners in a warm embrace. "Papelillo" takes on lighter breeze while in a hefty balance. "Perfume" has strong dark electronics that would fit well on Stranger Things. While the rest of the album stays organic, that track's the most modern/electronic of the bunch.

"Last Call" definitely proves Plini's love for the guitar music of Joe Satriani and Eric Johnson in this jazzy track. Now don't try to calm yourself down too much as change is inevitable. There's nice cloudy synth for Dave Mackay who has recently joined Cynic. Another heavy highlight is the groove-filled title track. The highly significant "Pan" is the absolute pinnacle of the album. This is one of the most incredible songs I've heard, with a bad-a** mix of guitar heaviness and saxophone jazz. The last two minutes give me crying chills and the urge to become a symphony conductor. F***ing amazing, beyond good! The last minute has superb Dream Theater-like soloing.

Then there's the ballad-like track "Ona / 1154" that is practically another Joe Satriani tribute with Peanuts-like piano while standing by Plini's usual sound. There's never any rush, just a smooth journey. Finale "The Glass Bead Game" is a more impressive journey, his longest track at exactly 9 minutes! A gentle mix of guitar, harp, and piano guide you to your home run, much better than the previous album's ending.

Plini continues his emotional music progression with Impulse Voices. He sure knows how to think of inspiration when it strikes and allows him to create. The album has flavorful textures of life and this progressive voyager continues his wild unconventional path. Doesn't get any more beautiful than this. Over and out!

Favorites: "I’ll Tell You Someday", "Impulse Voices", "Pan", "The Glass Bead Game"

I've been enjoying progressive metal for nearly 8 years now, and nowadays I'm changing my focus from the melodic past to a heavier future. Despite my attempt to revisit said melodic past, it ultimately hasn't worked as greatly as I wanted it to be and I ended up moving away from a big chunk of melodic bands. That includes instrumental bands Animals as Leaders and Liquid Tension Experiment. However, one artist I don't plan on letting go any time soon is Australian guitarist Plini!

Reviving progressive rock/metal in a djent-ish yet melodic wave, Plini has unleashed a calming storm from his own bedroom. I wish I could do that! Handmade Cities marks his full-length debut after several EPs, displaying his astonishing writing ability.

"Electric Sunrise" opens the album with incredible strength, starting with a catchy rhythm before the guitars rise. The title track is a solid mix of funk, djent, and progressive rock with immaculate drum breakdowns. It's well-known for the guitar rhythm during its solo being plagiarized for that of the guitar solo in American pop singer Doja Cat's 2020 metal remix of "Say So". Despite the slight controversy, the original solo at the 3 and a half minute mark is so melodic.

Shortly after, "Inhale" starts slow and mystical before it gets heavier. Next track "Every Piece Matters" has me slightly worried that the sort of generic soloing and plodding rhythm would detract the album's perfection, but the funky fills make up for it, and so does the anthemic chanting towards the end, the closest this album has to vocals!

Relatively, "Pastures" is a necessary pause in the intensity of the earlier music. Then we have the splendid expansion of sound near the end "Here We Are Again", which works awesomely despite its short length. The closer "Cascade" can be considered the climax of the album. However, it's as scatterbrained as the cover art, so it's not really a satisfying way to end, though keeping the album's perfect score intact once again.

Does curiosity pay off when you hear Plini expanding his progressive comfort zone? Yes, while it's necessary to not sound too forced or stagnant in some places. But in the end, we have absolute true melodic instrumental prog-rock/metal! I would give this album just 96% with some slight fat needing trimming, but he's still at his very strongest!

Favorites: "Electric Sunrise", "Handmade Cities", "Pastures", "Here We Are Again"

Collaborative albums can cause quite some mixed reactions, but sometimes it makes a lot of sense and you see it as a dream come true that should've been done sooner but astonishing either way. After a few post-sludge bands like Neurosis and Cult of Luna have done their collaborative albums, it's Converge's turn on the 30th anniversary of their formation and the 20th anniversary of the game-changing Jane Doe. This is... Bloodmoon!

For this band's 10th studio album, they've joined forces with goth singer Chelsea Wolfe, along with her bandmate Ben Chisholm and former Converge member Stephen Brodsky (Cave In) for a 7-person team-up. The results? Something different than before...

The album's opening title track welcomes us to a haunting new world with clean vocals by Jacob Bannon, with Chelsea Wolfe joining in for her verses. A devastating riff knocks us straight into this realm, and would work well for live performances. "Viscera of Men" starts with a brief blast into Converge's chaotic past before slowing down again with more of Chelsea's vocals and the post-sludge drama. Her influence shines strongly in "Coil", a grand acoustic/orchestral rock single of heartbreak.

The spooky fun "Flower Moon" continues the grand experimentation of the album with all the creators in union, with Brodsky having some fun in his vocal performance and guitarist Kurt Ballou throwing around his guitar talents. The pummeling "Tongues Play Dead" allows Bannon to really shine in his vocals. The anguish-fueled "Lord of Liars" has some strain, but Ballou takes the strain out on his guitar with cool results. You can feel in "Failure Forever" the smoothness in Brodsky's vocals. A more bluesy-like tempo is used for "Scorpion's Sting", with stings a bit, but doesn't hurt.

The doomy "Daimon" once again executes the string/key ambience very well. "Crimson Stone" pulls off a lot without extra effort. Wolfe and Bannon sing together in an ethereal duet before a climatic grand finale (for the song anyway). The stunning goth-pop "Blood Dawn" marks an easy pleasant end to the journey, would make you wanna get your hands on Bloodmoon: II.

Yep, the title says Bloodmoon: I, so you know that a sequel might come in a year or a few. Anyway, this album's Converge expanding their comfort zone with the guidance of Wolfe and Brodsky through this gothic-ish avant-garde post-sludge darkness. A new era for this band is awaiting!

Favorites: "Blood Moon", "Coil", "Flower Moon", "Tongues Play Dead", "Daimon", "Crimson Stone"

There seemed to be a few cryptic hints about a new era for Bullet for My Valentine. Frontman Matt Tuck said that their upcoming album would an aggressive passionate beginning of "Bullet 2.0", and the album was later announced to be self-titled. And holy sh*t, this is accurate!

The new self-titled BFMV album marks a near-return to their earlier heaviness. BFMV has been part of my metalcore arsenal for 4 years, and their latest album at that time, Venom is a real headbanger with slight redemption of quality. Then in 2018, Gravity is a half-sh*tty nu metal backstabber. I thought if they released another album like that, I would start avoiding that band for good. Fast forward to the present with their self-titled album grabbing my attention by the b*lls. This is genuine heavy metalcore!

"Parasite" proves that right away after a minute of half of distorted brief radio samples of the band's greatest hits from practically every album. The song itself blasts through pure metal to have you fist-pumping and headbanging in no time. The riff in "Knives" will make you headbang so hard that your neck would be severed like a knife stab. I'm glad to still be living to write this review. Matt Tuck delivers lyrics of hatred and pain in vocals that could easily smash through concrete walls at command. That's quite what Robb Flynn of Machine Head had in The Blackening, but Matt does it slightly better.

After that one-two blast, "My Reverie" has slower groove, with the blend of clean vocals and growls being effective especially in the great dynamic chorus. The guitar solo can be thought of as a tribute to Dimebag, among other influences. "No Happy Ever After" cracks the sky of modern death metal influences while their land is still blessed with metalcore. During COVID lockdowns, production for the album was delayed several times before the band members agreed to record their parts separately from each other. The isolation really adds aggression to all the members' abilities, especially the soaring thrash leads from Padge. It would be interesting when the band actually play this song live and start a heavy moshpit. "Can’t Escape the Waves" brings back some of their earlier metalcore for longtime fans, while the ammo still sounds modern. Oh look, another song that gives the band something in common with Machine Head, a song titled "B****rds". However, unlike Machine Head's f***ing sh*tter, this is a real call-to-arms fight song of rebellion, perfectly nailing the semi-apocalyptic mood of their homeland of Wales. They really fire off one h*ll of a headbanger!

Changing the pace again, "Rainbow Veins" continues the monstrous groove, but with more clean singing than the unclean growls of the other songs. This rhythmic tune emphasizes on waves of sorrow in the aftermath of a revolution, containing a melancholic chorus followed by a destructive bridge. You feelin' it now? So after that slight ballad, there's more Hell to unleash with "Shatter", with rising feedback before the dark verses and fierce moshing chorus. "Paralysed" attacks with full-on Metallica/Slayer-esque thrash. "Death by a Thousand Cuts" ends the album on a heavy cliffhanger that would make you either demand the next album or just repeat this one again.

Like their older ancestors that are Sabbath, Priest, and Maiden, Bullet for My Valentine is not afraid to unearth unique sounds from the genre founded in the UK that is heavy metal. This band sure knows how to bring on their heavy artillery. Trivium has also done that with their new album the prior month, and if Bring Me the Horizon fully return to metalcore with their next Post Human release, that would make my day. Despite the quality not being same as earlier, BFMV deserves greatness for their killer comeback....

Favorites: "Parasite", "Knives", "No Happy Ever After", "B****rds", "Rainbow Veins" 

As I continue my ultimate Pit test, I thought I would review the remaining Demolition Hammer album to fill in the gap. I'm amazed about what an underrated album Time Bomb is! I mean, this is the album where they abandoned most of the deathly thrash from their first two albums for the groove metal that was taking over the reign, but it made me have a great feeling about the genre! I might just be looking forward to the groove metal part of the test...

Apparently, Time Bomb was to be a different project, but it was still released as Demolition Hammer. New fans might be up for it, while longtime fans may not. Drummer Vinny Daze (dead from globefish poisoning, RIP) and fast soloing wizard James Reilly are out. Drummer Alex Marquez comes in, and so does the Hammer's new groove.

The album begins with a 15-second intro audio sample from Prince Of The City where a couple guys plan to lock someone up, yelling "F*** him! F*** them! F*** you!... F*** YOU!!!" Then "Under the Table" sets up what to expect in the album; heavy yet simple riffing in the face. There are also some samples from the films Serpico and Scarface. Next song "Power Struggle" stands out as a 5-minute sludge-ish groove metal epic (all other songs are just 3 to 4 minutes long).

"Mindrot" is also slow in a way similar to a blend of Pantera and Obituary. The guitar soloing absence may lets many metalheads, but it gets things more to the point. That also can also be said for "Bread and Water". Then "Missing: 5/7/89" is effective despite the lack of thrash fury. However, the earlier sound returns for the outro of "Waste".

Rocking out hard in the guitars is "Unidentified", though the basic repetition in the structure doesn't do the song any favors. "Blowtorch" stands out in some deathly riffing to remind some of Malevolent Creation. I like their cover of Devo's "Mongoloid" (despite the title being a derogatory word for someone with Down syndrome), fitting well for this different sound. The title track is almost different from the rest of the album, as f***ing heavy and fast as the other Demolition Hammer albums in its second half.

Yeah, I know, Time Bomb is all different and repetitive, but guess what? It's almost as enjoyable as their Teutonic Big 4-inspired speedy thrash albums. Time Bomb would be better appreciated by fans of Pantera and Machine Head. The slower heaviness might turn off longtime fans. Let's hope for more of this band since their recent reformation!

Favorites: "Under the Table", "Power Struggle", "Mindrot", "Blowtorch", "Time Bomb"

Brutal deathrash. At least that's what bassist/vocalist Steve Reynolds describes his band. After reviewing the classic thrash era of the melodic Annihilator, it's off to the side of spectrum with the vicious Demolition Hammer. The brutality from Tortured Existence continues in their second album Epidemic of Violence. Relentless thrash to the max!

The boundaries of the extreme side of thrash are torn down, without having to go too full-on deathly. The instrumentation has more furious intensity than before. That doesn't mean this album is fastest though, there are a few crushing mid-tempo sections. The band knows how to alternate between fast and mid-tempo at such ease, and that contrast adds to the high levels of aggression that occur here.

"Skull Fracturing Nightmare" explodes into the thrash action right away before a menacing section one minute and 40 seconds in. Another one minute and 40 seconds later, a wicked thrashy instrumental bridge starts that includes some shredding soloing. One more solo that occurs ANOTHER one minute and 40 seconds later is so memorable. The instrumental passages put less focus on the rhythmic onslaught, in order for the listener to breathe. One and a half minutes into "Human Dissection" is insane fast thrash, suddenly shifting from the slower verse, adding some more unpredictable heaviness. The violent lyrics from the debut continue in "Pyroclastic Annihilation": "Catastrophic purge, tephra plague, flaming fragments inundate, combustive turbid brume, smothering, fumaroles permeate". The last 30 seconds rage in a ballistic burst.

"Envenomed" has more prominent vocal layers from Reynolds, especially one minute and 20 seconds in, with his vocals coming close to growling. That's probably one of the most vicious thrash songs I've heard, filled with hatred and rage! Not even Megadeth, Exodus, and Evildead can beat that amount of aggression. One minute and 20 seconds into "Carnivorous Obsession", the band once again bursts out of a slower intro into rapid extreme thrash in no time flat. "Orgy of Destruction" is a heavy one-minute interlude, similar to the end of Coroner's R.I.P, though ending with battle sound effects.

The vocal anger from Reynolds is quite important from the start of the title track. His vocals add to the extreme fury with sudden changes in the tempo. Though there is a catchy chorus. The band continues to pull off great surprises one minute and 20 seconds into "Omnivore", with subtle guitar reflection. The lyrical theme of predatory hunting can be seen as graphic in a juvenile way, but it adds gravity for the savage thrash to pulverize the targeted ground. Halfway through "Aborticide" has more reflective soloing.

This album, Epidemic of Violence is a true brutal way to close the classic thrash metal scene. I can already hear the greatness of thrash from some of the wildest the genre has to offer. It can be a struggle at first, but once you're fully ready, you're in for some merciless blood-spilling. Essential for fans of thrash metal and any other metal genre!

Favorites: "Skull Fracturing Nightmare", "Human Dissection", "Envenomed", "Epidemic of Violence", "Omnivore"

So what do you get when you blend southern metal and hardcore punk together into a heroic unique style of metalcore? Every Time I Die!! They've observed that timing is everything for the best results. Their radical album Radical was completed in early 2020... Then the virus of damnation attacked. COVID changed everything and prevented concerts from opening. The band waited until they could start touring to release the album, and after playing a couple shows recently, they decided that it was time...

In the human race's battle against the pandemic, Every Time I Die have observed the progress. And finally, the 5-year wait for a new album is over. The 16 songs waiting to be have been unleashed to pummel the world like a raging monster and wipe out the virus for good! OK, maybe not that last part.

A blast right back into their discography, "Dark Distance" will stun you into stone. The band has delivered a furious frenzy in higher heights of heaviness. I've heard that the band took quite a tribute to their previous albums in this one, with that track putting a Daughters-like spin into the sound of their previous couple albums and first couple albums. "Sly" continues the action from both the previous track and the previous album, with theatrical vocal experimentation inspired by Queen. An angry lookback musically at the previous decade, and lyrically at the world, "Planet Sh*t" throw their instrumentation around in outrage like Molotov cocktails. "Post-Boredom" is the catchiest song of the album and probably their most sing-along song similar to Taking Back Sunday, while maintaining their identity. "Colossal Wreck" has colossal intensity. "Desperate Pleasures" takes an approach closer to early mewithoutyou in the political songwriting to add to the hardcore sound as they point their middle finger to the disbelievers and destroyers, to show that the Hell we're in is real.

Up next, "All This and War" is my personal favorite of the album, a throwback to the early 2000s sound of Norma Jean, and I think that band's vocalist Josh Scogin guest appears in that song. Despite this album leaning more towards chaotic metalcore, that song is a midway monstrosity of nu-mathcore. "Thing With Feathers" shows that the band is more than what the title says, spreading their eagle wings into the unknown with guest vocals by Andy Hull from Manchester Orchestra (the band, not the orchestra), creating a daring venture into indie rock, before things get wilder later in the album. "Hostile Architecture" continues the hostile approach from the band's 2009-era approach in wonderful achievement. "AWOL" is basically if Glassjaw performed Converge's masterpiece album You Fail Me, an astounding mix to adore! "The Whip" continues their speed from a decade prior in wild metalcore inspired by early Zao.

Coming in at second place for the best song of the album is "White Void" that could give you the urge to rename this band The Damned Deftones of Shai Visions (try to guess which 4 bands I'm referring to) with each random component miraculously appearing. "Distress Rehearsal" adds some Metallica-like thrash together with the usual mathy metalcore breakdowns. "Sexsexsex" starts off like post-grunge before heading back to what they had in From Parts Unknown with Coalesce-ish mathcore. "People Verses" once again continues where Low Teens has left off, and while still being a rocking hardcore song, this could fit well as the soundtrack for a battle scene in Game of Thrones. "We Go Together" ends the album similarly to Between the Buried and Me's Automata pair of albums, a theatrical metal ending encouraging us to go together.

Many films in a franchise are released 5 years apart because of the long production process, but while Radical didn't take an ultra-long time to make, it's all about the timing, and with the anticipation paying off, there really should be a Best Metalcore Comeback Album award. The outraged monster shall continue its savage ravage and beyond!

Favorites: "Dark Distance", "Sly", "Post-Boredom", "All This and War", "Thing with Feathers", "AWOL", "White Void", "We Go Together"

I'm glad I got this album the other day, not just because of scarily awesome this is, but also because I can do this review of its most appropriate day... HALLOWEEN. So get ready for lots of tricks to go with this treat!

Sequels, whether to albums or films, are something to love or hate. As the tagline from Scream 2 would say about some of them, "Sequels suck." However, this one doesn't! The Silver Scream 2: Welcome to Horrorwood is the sequel to the band's most successful album, in response to fans' demands for more. I personally think they should've tackled a different horror topic like TV shows or video games, but it's still a superb sequel. So let me show you the ways through this horror-metalcore journey...

"Opening Night" is an introductory disclaimer by famous horror film actor Bill Moseley, explaining that the 13 tracks were what remains of what seems to be a more horrifying concept album from long ago that would've been about brutal killings, similar to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The title track, "Welcome to Horrorwood" begins similarly to Every Trick in the Book, with Spencer Charnas' vocals, piano, and strings (“ink fills the page, a classic killer completes the cast”). Then the quietness is broken by a guttural scream and furious drum pounding. The song isn't based on any horror films, but establishes what to expect in the album; film violence that sometimes bleeds into reality, all part of the album's main concept. So continuing the story from my Silver Scream review, you leave the theater and find yourself in a mysterious town known as Horrorwood, where violence from movies is real and you have to stay alive and not get killed. You successfully avoid the brutal madness and escape the town. "A Rash Decision" is based on the Cabin Fever franchise, and mixes the fast tempo, screams, and riffs of metalcore with the melodic experiments of electronica, horns and choir. Lots of contrasting layers! You find a cabin in the woods and camp out there, but then you find out that the previous owners were decomposed alive by a flesh-eating virus, so you take the time to consider fleeing. The experimentation continues in "Assault & Batteries", based on the Chucky series (Child's Play), where after a couple news broadcast samples, child singing adds to the incoming terror. While mostly referring to the first Chucky film, his bride is sometimes mentioned ("stitched back together it seems, by the evil bride of his dreams"), further expanding the concept to the rest of the franchise. You find a doll in an old abandoned shelf, but it comes to life and tries to murder you, but you outrun it and hide in a room with the door locked.

You already know what "The Shower Scene" is about! I was a little surprised that the band didn't reference Psycho, one of the most iconic 20th century horror films of all time in the first Silver Scream album, so I'm glad they haven't forgotten about it in this one. The frantic chaos of the first 3 songs is replaced with melody while keeping the usual horror-themed metalcore, evident in the catchy chorus and vocals. They've really done that film justice here, with the sound effects from the eponymous shower scene kept in, including the violin sting, knife sounds, and terrified screams. In that room, you find a bathroom and decide to shower in there to refresh yourself after feeling a bit filthy from your journey so far. However, a shadowy figure appears and tries to kill you, but you knock it out with the shower head and take its knife, then quickly dry yourself off, put your clothes back on and escape the cabin via a window. "Funeral Derangements" is a heavy fast one based on Pet Sematary, in fact basing the music and lyrics on the score and sounds of the movie, the latter coming from a truck horn and a laughing child. While running through the woods, you find a pet cemetery where animals rise from their graves as the undead. "Rainy Day" is based on the Resident Evil movie, which itself is based on the video game series and that makes me wonder if they should've saved it for a horror video game tribute album. The highly different gamer-industrial tones produce a vibe of video games and early 2000s action film soundtracks. After escaping the cemetery, you find a manhole and crawl down, but end up in a sewer filled with human zombies infected by the T-virus that can possess humans and animals. You fight off the zombies and climb up another manhole into the streets of a different town on a rainy day. "Hip to Be Scared" is based on American Psycho, and the first single of the album. They've really executed their sound like an execution! Great parts of the song include the sample of the original Huey Lewis song, and background vocals by Jacoby Shaddix of Papa Roach. You run into a banker who happens to be a serial killer preying on random innocent people. You incapacitate him and run off.

"Take Your Pick", based on My Bloody Valentine, features Cannibal Corpse vocalist Corpsegrinder in probably the most brutal heaviest song of the album, an outright mix of death metal and metalcore (equals deathcore). This collaboration would really hack your face with a pickaxe. You end up in a Valentine's Day festival which seems nice at first until a powerful serial killer in mining gear attacks. You hide under a booth and wait helplessly for the massacre to be over. The hellishly killer "The Box", based on the Hellraiser films, adds in melodic harmonies, especially in the emotional chorus, helped out by Brandon Saller (Atreyu), and guttural growls backed up by Ryan Kirby (Fit For A King), both guest vocalists adding to the metalcore greatness. Once you safely emerge from the booth and find yourself in the abandoned aftermath of the slaughter, you see a mystical puzzle box and accidentally use it to summon the deadly Cenobites. Fortunately, before they could have the chance to attack, you reverse the motions needed to open the box and send them back to whence they came. You throw the box away and wander off. "F.L.Y." focuses on melodies with Charnas singing alongside Senses Fail's Buddy Nielsen, while still having the kick-A guitars. Contrary to speculations, this wasn't based on The Silence of the Lambs which uses the motto "First Love Yourself", instead it's based on The Fly, which I guess makes more sense. After leaving the massacred Valentine's Day Festival, you find a laboratory but a fly monster crashes outta there and you outrun it. German growling starts the German-phrase-littered "Wurst Vacation" based on the porno-torture film Hostel. Those German phrases, along with strings and an electronic chorus, give the song a Rammstein vibe. You find a hotel, but out of nowhere, you are knocked out and sent to a torture chamber.

Vaudeville throwback "Ex Mortis", based on Evil Dead, continues the theatrical vibe from the previous album's epic finale. Horns and piano add to the song's groovy action. It also fits well with the madness of Army of Darkness. Once you wake up, you find yourself surrounded by demons and spirits, waiting to possess you. After fading out from the previous song, bees start buzzing while "Farewell II Flesh" begins, the longest INK song at 5 minutes since the debut's "Family Unites", based on Candyman, with soothing yet eerie piano as the story of the Candyman is introduced. After layers of dramatic atmosphere, more layers come in thanks to the other instruments that create metalcore riffing from the guitars. The leader of the spirits is the legendary Candyman who plans to kill you if you say his name repeatedly. You refuse to say his name and instead attack him and the spirits. You find a fireplace in the torture chamber and shove the Candyman, destroying him. The spirits freeze and graphically decompose. During the string bridge, you leave the chamber and find yourself in a different forest, with the chamber being just another cabin. Then when the last chorus comes in, an unseen entity attacks you from behind and possesses you. As it turns out, the entity is a spirit similar to the ones led by Candyman, but it's a different one summoned by the surviving villains of the scenarios from my reviews for the previous two albums; Dracula, Carrie, Killer Santa, and Pennywise. During the final growling outro, you come to and are possessed to become part of this league of evil horror. To be continued... (maybe?) Cue more bee noises to end the album and experience.

Nope, this sequel does not suck at all. The sequel movies I would compare this album to would be Terminator 2 and Aliens; as great as the first whether it's the subtlety or the action that you like. Hope you have a killer experience with The Silver Scream 2: Welcome To Horrorwood. I've done so, with an insane scenario to come along with it!

Favorites: "Welcome to Horrorwood", "A Rash Decision", "The Shower Scene", "Hip to Be Scared", "The Box", "F.L.Y.", "Farewell II Flesh"

I'm quite selective with thrash metal. I like the genre when it's heavy and technical at best. I don't feel up to exploring more of the Big 4 beyond a few songs at the moment. Yet I'm still up for bands that aren't as big as the big ones but take influence and are closer to my generation. This is where bands like Demolition Hammer come in. So despite the horrific cover artwork that might've inspired the aftermath of the "This is fine" dog, what you're gonna witness is some of the most intense thrash around!

That's the kind of intensity Exodus and Slayer don't have, but the intensity those bands have to get more credit. For Demolition Hammer, they've added a lot of catchiness and violence that should reach the top of thrash mountain to avalanche away any naysayers. 30 years before this review, Tortured Existence was quite a metal underground hit album, at a time when most other thrash bands started disbanding or (d)evolving into the dreaded groove/nu metal. Needless to say, Demolition Hammer would fall into both traps a few years later. But before that impending fate, they've released some of the most savage thrash with a few influences from the rising death metal scene.

This headbanging thrash marathon opens with the insane ".44 Caliber Brain Surgery". The more insane "Neanderthal" has killer music that would make you wanna f***ing destroy everything in sight. That song and "Gelid Remains" stomp around with riffing that could cause massive earthquakes if blasted through a thousand loudspeakers. The dueling solos shine as well there.

"Crippling Velocity" is one of the more violent songs here in an effortless blend of fast thrash riff-fury and heavy passages of crushing chaos. So speedy as f***! The entirely memorable "Infectious Hospital Waste" is probably one of the catchiest songs in thrash with a chilling breakdown. Though not as catchy as the more melodic "Hydrophobia".

"Paracidal Epitaph" has thick monstrous bass in presence, performed by frontman Steve Reynolds besides his usual decimating vocals. "Mercenary Aggression" springs through comprehensive aggression harder than a fist in the b*lls, though not in the same heavy weight as those previous couple tracks. For anyone wanting an extra 6 minutes of thrash fury, check out the monstrous bonus track "Cataclysm" that continues of the brilliance of the frontman's vocals and bass.

Tortured Existence has some of the most violent thrash I can stand, enough to be able to come back again for more enjoyment. The more popular thrash albums don't quite top this one, and Demolition Hammer would continue the skull-blowing thrash for one more album. But for now, enjoy the fury!

Favorites: "Neanderthal", "Crippling Velocity", "Infectious Hospital Waste", "Hydrophobia", "Cataclysm" (bonus track)

With their 2005 sophomore breakthrough Ascendancy and since 2008's Shogun, Trivium has marked their spot as one of the greatest discography-expanding bands of modern times, despite the flaws of albums #1 and #3. The slightly underrated 2011 masterpiece In Waves began their venture to show great concepts and executions that would carry on in subsequent albums, except in 2015's Silence in the Snow when vocalist Matt Heafy temporarily lost his growling ability. So where does it all lead?

Into the Court of the Dragon! In 2020 after the previous album What the Dead Men Say, when Trivium was in lockdown during the virus and couldn't do any live performances, they decided to not waste any time. They spent the rest of that year writing an album that would later be recorded as almost a sequel to the epic thrash-metalcore of Shogun with greater hints of its surrounding albums' sounds. While staying stellar as ever, their performance is probably the most powerful since Ascendancy. The guitars have more fire and crunch than the spiciest crunchiest KFC meal. The drumming is more brutal as well, and the vocals add a greater blend of mature cleans and convincing screams.

In the Court of the Dragon begins our descent with the anticipation-building intro "X", but unlike the previous album's heavy intro, this one is an ominous orchestral intro composed by Ihsahn. Then the furious title track erupts with Matt Heafy's f***ing beastly growling vocals. The blast-beat onslaught carries on into the cleanly-sung chorus, occurring before a brutal breakdown. The shredding soloing makes you visualize a bad-a** battle with the dragon in the pit, with your weapon being that guitar soloing. A tune of heavy brilliance! "Like a Sword Over Damocles" showcase the band's Nevermore influences in a prog-thrasher where Matt adds aggression to his singing then rises to the usual growling. The d*mn epic clean chorus should definitely get fists pumping in future live festivals. The title fits well with the perilously powerful pandemic and how our leaders are trying to prevent it from spreading further. Some more epic guitar fire in the dueling solo trade! After those first two real songs starting the album heavy, the radio anthem "Feast of Fire" has a different riff that spawned from an unknown demo. There's killer strength and maturity that levels this song up more than the similar mid-tempo songs from The Crusade. The balance between heaviness and melody continues to suit the album and makes sure it's not just a sequel to the one from last year.

Ascendancy-style heavy throwback "A Crisis of Revelation" still manages to fit well with the other high-quality tracks. The different brooding "The Shadow of the Abattoir" is the first of not one, not two, but THREE 7+ minute epics!!! This one might just have Heafy's best vocals EVER!! The verses go slow like a power ballad from Blind Guardian or Slough Feg with deep baritone vocals before rising to higher power in the chorus in a depressive journey ("Don't go searching for the battle, you won't find any beasts to slay, you'll rip yourself to pieces, you'll drive yourself insane, in the shadow of the abattoir...") The heavier bridge is more complex with key-switching breakdowns and extensive soloing that ends by perfectly replicating the chorus vocal harmony, before the final chorus itself where the background vocal harmony of bassist Paolo Gregoletto puts more emphasis in the harmony than before. EPIC!! "No Way Back Just Through" continues the heavy rage, while having a great chorus ready for future gigs.

While it's tough to pick highlights for perfect albums like this one because of how strong the songs are that make the album as cohesive as true heavy metal classics from the 80s, "Fall Into Your Hands" comes close, a headbanging epic that is the longest song by the band to not be an album's title track or a cover song. It has vocally the best chorus of the album with all 3 vocalists (one lead + two background) uniting. You get to hear killer thrashy riffing along with lots of soloing and instrumentation good for air-guitar. Besides the album's intro, Ihsahn has performed strings that are buried in the background, but this song is where those strings really shine, especially in their own glorious outro. Next up, "From Dawn to Decadence" really combines blasting thrash in the verses with hard rock in the chorus worth humming to. The triumphant closer "The Phalanx" starts with grand intro riffing before a mid-tempo verse that starts building up speed when Heafy starts his usual screaming. Strings return to prominence again in the pre-chorus before the chorus of heroic glory. This epic pretty much summarizes everything they've had in the album, with sublime soloing by Corey Beaulieu. Drummer Alex Bent really keeps his pace with the riffs and elevating them. The song's lyrical theme of fighting demons fit the song's music video like a glove, and that video is a collaboration with Bethesda Game Studios based on the Elder Scrolls Online. And to cap it all off beautifully is an ultra-epic two-minute outro as Matt's vocals lead the band and the one-man orchestra to victory, until next time...

So going out on a whim here, In the Court of the Dragon marks the band's best and strongest album since In Waves. I would recommend this to anyone who has followed the band far through their over two-decade career. The band's later greatness continues in power and glory. An amazing masterpiece that's probably, for me, the best of the year!

Favorites: "In the Court of the Dragon", "Like a Sword of Damocles", "The Shadow of the Abattoir", "Fall Into Your Hands", "The Phalanx"

Rivers of Nihil is back! And I guess I am too, temporarily, after my departure from death metal that occurred earlier this year. Based on what I've heard about this album, far more progressive while staying tech-death, this might just be the listening return to this band I've truly wanted! Well, maybe not completely, but this is still very cool. Fans of their heavier tech-death sound might be p*ssed off, but I guess you can't please everyone...

This band has the rights to be different from all the other prog/tech-death bands like Alarum, Anata, Arsis, Atheist, and other bands that start with A. Here they go the Cynic Focus route and far more progressive metal tools in the box while staying tech-death. Would they keep the tech-death elements or start discarding them? Who knows...

First song "The Tower" you might expect to be an extreme opener, but NO. Instead there's a weird soft tone I f***ing hate. It starts the album with a numb boring waltz that is unlike the progressive metal that's more extreme than Dream Theater. Only the heavier growling part adds promise. What a relief when "Dreaming Black Clockwork" starts! This is the extreme tech-death riff-wrath to enjoy! However, after only over a minute of that, the soft instrumentation returns to unfairly steal the spotlight. But hold on to your seats, because there's still more extreme to the prog to continue, while switching back and forth. A killer highlight! "Wait" is a twist in the prog-death script, close to that radio pop sh*t I'm trying to get over. Here we have melodic singing, straight rhythm, classic soloing, and a sobering vibe. The stylistic journey has been taken slightly too far, while making sure nothing is sacrificed. "Focus" shows a bit of influence from Cynic and that band's similarly titled debut, albeit with slight industrial.

"Clean" can be described as anything but the title, with the vibe and riffing pounding like a jackhammer, especially that monolithic djent-death section around the two-minute mark. The next song, "The Void From Which No Sound Escapes" adds some sweet melody and jazz that only naysayers would hate and not understand. Fortunately, the djent-death drives again for a minute surrounding the two-minute point, yet still doesn't add hope to those haters. Now do you want "More?" More?! MORE?!? There's heavy riffing in the beginning that persists in later sections for a greater prog-djent-tech-deathcore mix than that of Within the Ruins. How better can that genre mix be?

"Tower 2" is a reprise of that boring intro, with slightly more Pink Floyd influence in the acoustic strumming, still not getting any better... "Episode" starts soft, then catchy, then chaotic. Not much else to say there... As if colliding a bunch of genres into one could be done more, "Maybe One Day" is unlike anything Rivers of Nihil has done before, an uplifting ballad that would be more appropriate in a recent Opeth album, but those previous few somewhat poor tracks... "Terrestria IV: Work", holy f***, now this is a closing epic!! It's the longest track by the band at 11 and a half minutes (as much as the title track of Trivium's Shogun) and not only concludes this offering but also keeps up the "Terrestria" song suite from all their albums. Probably more epic than Cult of Luna's "Cygnus"! This is too astonishing for words. Hope you have a rewarded listen!

The Work is indeed a pretty great work of art. Not quite the best of the year, but needs respect and focus for a deserving experience. Excellent writing and nearly perfect arrangement should convince people to go with this album. They were more deathly earlier on, but now look how mature and progressive they've become. Just try it!

Favorites: "Dreaming Black Clockwork", "Focus", "Clean", "More?", "Terrestria IV: Work"

So... French hardcore metal, eh? Um, NO. This CD, Les 150 Passions Meurtrieres doesn't really do metalcore a lot of favors. Sure there is intense brutality, but it seems like their "inspirations" are mainly rip-offs. There may be some lyrical copying from Whitehouse and De Sade, especially in the title track, all mangled in the French tongue. I'm not really pleased by this. I still appreciate a bit of the heaviness though, along with its mix with melody in that title track. However... well, better luck (and review) some other time....

Favorites: just the title track

Progressive metal is one of the most characteristically difficult genres of all time, when it comes to playing, composing, and sometimes listening. If you're an expert at composing excellent progressive music, you'll create wonderful results, otherwise everything would be incorrect. If you're new creating progressive metal, surely a 10-minute epic would be difficult to start with, but it's still easy to keep interesting. It would definitely be more difficult to attempt a 20-minute track with half of it is long instrumental sections and the other half is filled with ambitious vocals, all with no coherent pace. You can even challenge yourself further with 30 minutes. Now 60 minutes, an exact hour, THAT's the ultimate challenge! You have to be the master of getting used to prog to enjoy this hour-long epic, Green Carnation's Light of Day, Day of Darkness!

Green Carnation's music for this album can be described as progressive metal with slight doom. Dark sorrow in the atmosphere fits well with the high-quality composition. Probably a third (20 minutes) of the track is instrumental while not straying away from the concept, with a continuous pattern throughout the progressive complexity. Unlike Dream Theater or Rush, the album is more doom-inspired than upbeat, including the mid-range vocals and the riffs that contain slow dark heaviness to fit nicely with the sorrowful leads. The album also includes saxophone, sitar, strings, synthesizers, and other instruments starting with "S", greatly enhancing the guitar and atmosphere.

It all begins with an intro that might've made any metalhead who bought this album on the month of its release think this is a brand new Dream Theater album. Of course, the heavy doom-paced riffing might make you think otherwise. The instrumental sections are enjoyable despite being colorless. Then death growls start roaming in as of around the 8-minute mark before the pace continues being changed. Another 8 minutes later, at near the 16-minute mark, the pace picks up and flows easily. Another 16 minutes later, sometime after the 32-minute mark comes an out-of-place stretcher; 5 minutes of female operatic chanting. That almost made drop the score a half-star. You could've added some Kreator-like thrash soloing, but nope!! Fortunately, the perfection is redeemed with more heaviness, at slightly over the 40-minute mark is followed by a two-minute acoustic/piano solo, before the excellent guitar solo I've waited for. Finally, the last 5 minutes are mostly soft instrumental and be considered the track's "end credits".

What an achievement in the progressive metal realm! You can probably guess Light of Day, Day of Darkness, as the longest track from a prominent rock or metal band, but it's surpassed by Fantomas' Delirium Cordia, Transatlantic's The Whirlwind, and Bell Witch's Mirror Reaper. Everything flows without being too loose or out of place (for the most part). This is a must-have for all progressive fans, and while I didn't start my prog journey here, for anyone wanting to start on this genre for the first time....welcome!

Favorites: The entire track (though I've struggled with the female operatic chanting)

Hopesfall is an alt-hardcore band that had a more metalcore sound 20 years before this review. They were signed to Trustkill Records, an infamous record label that took their own name seriously. This EP, No Wings to Speak of acts as a bridge in the 3-year gap between their debut The Frailty of Words and The Satellite Years. The band's Christian-themed debut is an under-recorded under-promoted album that failed to spread through a greater audience. The EP No Wings to Speak of is a greater display of their earlier work with underground spirit dug into the surface. And when I finally got the chance to listen, it was indeed a jaw-dropping experience!

Hopesfall was part of the rising hybrid band scene that included hardcore bands like this one and the more famous rap/metal hybrids like Hybrid Theory-era Linkin Park. For Hopesfall, they were one of the earliest metalcore hybrid bands, mixing the genre with emo and post-hardcore, and slight hints at the indie rock that would dominate their sound in the mid-2000s and beyond, all in dense sound layers. Despite this hybrid, their main focus isn't on metalcore's moshing chaos, but rather on smooth beauty in their sound. These 4 songs are harmoniously written compositions while still using heavy grooves and breakdowns in the song structures. Heavy but mellow compared to what their previous record label Takehold Records had then. The band stays strong with emotional chords and beautiful riffs overlapped with harsh vocals in spiritual purity.

The opener "Open Hands to the Wind" is not bad at all, but it's my least favorite song and not the best song to start with. It's a less unique melodic metallic hardcore song that  seems to rip-off from Poison the Well and Evergreen Terrace, yet a minute into the song onwards, the subtle sublime changes commence so it stays good. That's where I know that the hope for perfection has never fallen! "April Left With Silence" starts with somber groove and discordant melody with pounding bass to spread out throughout at least the first half. Then you get stunned by the heaviness of dissonant chords over melodic riffs like a spring flower blooming on top of a cold winter mountain. "The End of an Era" is the best one here, with nearly 7 minutes of beauty and fury combined. A haunting opening riff turns into a towering breakdown overlapped with bright guitar which, in turn, adds dense chords and fast drums, followed by highly emotional passages, stunning tempos, dark beautiful screams, and finally a soft gentle instrumental passage at the center. So d*mn beautiful... "The Far Pavilions" runs through the snare drum more frantically before ending the album with bright power.

Yeah, I already noticed this band being Christian, and I've heard about their debut album The Frailty of Words being a Christian album. Whether they intended to keep that going, and whether your religion, Hopesfall made one of the most spiritual metallic hardcore releases to this day with No Wings to Speak of! Their music combines elemental metaphors of wind and water, and that's already seen in the bleakly beautiful cover art of black & blue & green clouds. The band has indeed taken on less Christian influences than their debut album, with its simplistic beauty that can almost be suitable for a Buddhist monastery. If you can just take that soft gentle instrumental passage from "The End of an Era" and have it seamlessly repeat without any of the heavier parts, that would be excellent meditation music. No Wings to Speak of is also more suitable for a night drive with yourself or friends than just a live show. With music filled with brilliance, beauty and a breakdown or a few, metalcore youngsters like myself would love it!

Favorites: "April Left With Silence", "The End of an Era"

Well it has been so long since I last got my hands on an album full of Breaking Benjamin material. With my recent transition to The Gateway after a couple months of planning and anticipation, I now know it's time to say a proper hello to an old genre friend, alt-rock/metal! Breaking Benjamin is one of those bands of that genre, and the album I chose to review that was recently added here, We Are Not Alone is an incredible a**-kicker, showing that the band began reaching higher fame at their second album, not their first or third. As of right now, I'm currently of college-age, and a few people aren't lucky enough to find a band this good until that age. Fortunately, my older brother and I have listened to this band since 2012... Well, at least my brother still listens to them. I was 13 back then, and trying to find a set music taste to run away from the radio pop sh*t I had enough of. For one of the very first rock/metal bands to peak my interest, I was h*lla impressed. The songs from the 4 albums that were released were some of the heaviest (and the first) music to reach my old computer's headphones. And while their self-titled EP and debut Saturate have more of a post-grunge/hard rock sound than alt-metal (which is why they're the only releases still not present in this style), songs from both albums like "Polyamorous" and "Shallow Bay" marked some of the best and heaviest hard rock songs I've heard (probably still are), though I struggled a bit with the strong themes and a bit of swearing (again, I was 13 back then), which I can definitely handle now, so maybe I can have a better chance with those songs soon...

Anyway, We Are Not Alone also had a couple great songs to delight me including "So Cold", the lead single that I would talk about in the next paragraph. Little did I know, Breaking Benjamin and a few other alt-rock/metal bands would be responsible for guiding me to a new light that is my metal interest, though it would be much different from that style. While there are so many people to thank for getting me to where I am, the ultimate person I'm thankful to is my alt-rock/metal-loving brother. I've had an exciting feeling about giving this album a full listen and review, and it has really fit my expectations once I got there. Expect the usual edgy songs with heavy riffs and drum slams. The tone seems more serious than their debut. While still heavy, they have more focus on improvement than complexity, with impressive results...

With no other option, let's begin with the aforementioned "So Cold", a softer way to start the album while still rocking out with the intro and chorus that showcases the band's talent. There's wonderful guitar dueling and rhythmic drumming, the latter with toms and splashes in the verse, more than a water splash caused by a car in the rain, all in momentum being built up. Finally, the bass tightens the rhythm with its groove through the guitars. Wonderful! A track sounding closer to the more conventional alt-metal is "Simple Design", sounding edgy and broken down while built back up with Benjamin Burnley's fantastic vocals. Third track "Follow" continues the strong formula with heavy guitar riffs guiding the vocals through the verses before suspense builds for a heavier chorus. "Firefly" catches my attention with clever vocals sung by unique vocals leading the desirable instrumentation. Excellent one!

Moving on, fifth track "Break My Fall" combines heavy guitar with Burnley's singing in steady motion, a wonderful achievement! Yet nothing else worth writing about there... The next track and the best of the album is "Forget It", which is co-written and guest-performed by The Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan. For a very long time, this remains one of my favorite songs from the band. It sounds so emotional even before the singing starts, with lyrics of lost love and emotion and the song title being softly repeated over melancholic yet uplifting-sounding riffing after the verses. While not the heaviest song I've heard, that one is arguably the strongest and most powerful song of the album and by the band. I don't think my brother would find the best interest there though. While the album is still very good, seventh track "Sooner or Later" is probably the least interesting song there, though the soft tone tries to say otherwise in the verses along with a cool pre-chorus and heavy chorus. Following this is "Breakdown". After a "Fur Elise"-like piano intro, Burnley screams "BREAKDOWN!!!" to begin a hardcore riffing part of the intro similar to the heavy parts of their debut. That should've been a single!

Then we have two more hard rock tracks, starting with "Away". The other song "Believe" sounds like one the band would've made in the late 90s in the first couple years of their formation. The acoustic closer "Rain" is a mellow way to close the album, with the chorus referencing a certain old nursery rhyme. A year later, the band released a full-band version as a single that was later released as a re-release bonus track for this album. It's the band's own "To End the Rapture"!

Breaking Benjamin has done what people think it's the unthinkable for a sophomore album; breaking the mold and spreading the pieces further. They provided a further challenge and added more softness and heaviness than their hard rock debut. This band really knows how to stay confident by expanding their sound while letting their earlier fans know who they still are. It's an unpredictable refreshment! I like it slightly more than nearly a decade ago, and what rock fan would you be without it? Even Saturate-era purists should listen. We Are Not Alone is one of the strongest albums to be more focused on rock while staying metal in my opinion. The band is not alone!

Favorites: "So Cold", "Follow", "Firefly", "Forget It", "Breakdown", "Believe"

It was this album, American Capitalist that caused Five Finger Death Punch to reach the Billboard album chart higher than before. Just when the band is feeling like they're drowning under abuse, these warriors of hate fight back to claim their throne of modern heavy groove metal/hard rock, something my brother still enjoys and I used to before developing my own different metal taste...

The negative reception the band has received can really fuel the fire. They're the kind of band who would take their anger out on writing songs to gouge out naysayer's eyes with their middle fingers, all in violent aggression within their primal attitude.

The relentless title track is an example of the band never giving a doubting f***. "Under and Over It" once again fulfills their resolution with their revolution against critics. Continuing such a confrontation, "The Pride" adds a little more melody while staying as deadly as the rest of that opening song trilogy. Then we get to the power ballad "Coming Down" that sounds closer to the softer side of Mudvayne while continuing the band's layering exploration.

"Menace" continues the punishing aggression. Then you hear the nihilistic call of "Generation Dead". After that, "Back for More" is another defiant anthem worth moshing to. The magnificent "Remember Everything" once again shows how heavy even the ballads can be for 5FDP.

"Wicked Ways" is another killer song that shows their praise towards their a**-kissing fans and their middle fingers up the a**es of people trying to p*ss them off. "If I Fall" continues the heavy madness that would impress fellow bands of the NWOAHM such as Trivium. Once more, in full force is the art of "100 Ways to Hate", which is both a love song for fans and a hate song for haters.

5FDP won't please everyone, especially not those people who believe in Maiden, Metallica, and Pantera being actual metal. What works is the sides of love and hate. So which side are you on? Some things in the album might be inaccurate for me, but I have a bit of good judgement for them. In a world of opinions, 5FDP have prevailed....

Favorites: "Under and Over It", "The Pride", "Back for More", "Remember Everything", "If I Fall"

This is it. The real "Big Bang" beginning of my brother's rock/metal taste that would spark up my metal interest, Disturbed's Indestructible! Or at least the title track, which we'll go to a couple paragraphs later. Disturbingly enough, both the band and this "new beginning" they created spawned from vocalist David Draiman's traumatic experience in his teens of seeing his heroin-addicted girlfriend dead and hanging from the ceiling. And apparently, that was where the band name came from, when Draiman was disturbed from that tragedy. One song from the album is heavily centered around that event and took a few years to write, and we'll get to that soon as well. Indestructible shines similarly yet greater than what I've heard from Ten Thousand Fists. There's the grand guitar performed by Dan Donegan, with pretty much every track having good soloing without ever being out of place. And those songs I've hinted at have great examples...

See, this album would've been as perfect as those masterpiece milestones for my metal interest like DragonForce's Inhuman Rampage and Trivium's In Waves, but there is something holding it back, or someone. Drummer Mike Wengren's beats sound too plain and doesn't work right in the snare-pedal combo. This causes the bass to have more prominence but in a way that overshadows the drumming. That's not to say the bass is bad at all, it's quite amazing. Simple yet interesting, performed by John Moyer.

The aforementioned title track starts off greatly with background gunfire and war sirens. It's as if you're dragged into this battlefield where you become an army soldier ready for war, and when the drums and guitar enter, you're all pumped up for a new intense experience. I'm guessing that's how my brother felt when he first heard this song that caused him to convert from our earlier sh*tty radio pop interest into the more enjoyable (for us) rock/metal. Amazing catchy chorus, impressive guitar soloing, mighty vocals... I totally understand and enjoy how this brand-new world of metal opened up for my brother and eventually me. Thank you for that, Disturbed! "Inside the Fire" follows as another favorite track for me, and it's the song heavily written about Draiman's girlfriend's suicide. Interesting electronics and riffing open the song before kicking in the bass and drums. The chorus is so brilliant, and so is the guitar soloing. Then the bridge has more of an electronic vibe in the guitar. Absolutely great! "Deceiver" starts heavy yet having pitched-up guitar. The bass and drums, along with Draiman's vocals, give the song a Nevermore kind of vibe. The lyrics describe the deceivers and liars we have to avoid in our lives. The solo-less bridge doesn't impress me. Though what's awesome is Draiman's final cry of "DECEIVING ME NOW!!!!" as the music ends. Other than that, the song is just decent. Next up, "The Night" is perhaps the second best track between those first two. It really shows the band's talent and melody in the guitar. It can really stay in your mind! The pre-chorus has heavy pounding bass before an unbelievable chorus. The solo is one of the best and longest here. Another perfect track!

Speaking of perfect, "Perfect Insanity" is a re-recording of a demo track from 10 years before this album. This one's also quite an awesome single! The drum beat intro sounds a bit weird, but once the riffing enters, so does the greatness. The chorus is so perfect, fitting well with the lyrics. There's also some more of the melodic guitar here, especially a great solo between parts of the bridge. Draiman repeatedly asks "Have I lost my mind?!?" until the song ends nicely. "Haunted" starts, well, haunting with the creepy atmospheric intro.. However, the chorus does fit well with the sinister vibe. And the disturbing bridge then just leads back to the chorus with nothing impressive. Still it's quite good. Now enough with this next song "Enough"! The guitar and vocals sound softer while being heavy in a strange balance. Make up your minds, guys! The bass and drums in the bridge are quite good, but they don't make up for the horrid chorus. "The Curse" is much better. It starts weird in the bass, drum, and guitar mix, but it's very good. The pre-chorus is great, while the chorus is incredible! There's no technicality in the guitar until the solo that's well-executed. Then some final riffing to wrap things up.

"Torn" is the most horrible disappointment for me here, with nothing impressive at all. Let's not talk about it, and instead move on. "Criminal" makes up for that sh*tter quite well with interesting drumming and vocals. There's a good addictive chorus here. The bridge melody will enter your mind and stay in. Then one more time with that chorus. What better way to start a song here than in another favorite, "Divide"?! The bass and drums actually sound complex! The guitars kick things up and before going a bit softer. The heavy chorus is so good. Then a slow solo adds to the groovy sound. So great! "Façade" is too straight in the guitar and drums, which is a bit disappointing along with the vocal strength. There are a couple upsides in the good chorus and long solo. It ends badly in the guitar and drums. Still the track is OK, but not the best ending.

All in all, Indestructible is pretty great. Despite a couple downers and poor quality in a bit of the drumming, the guitar shines a lot in technicality and melody. Any Disturbed fan might dig this, and I respect this offering as the one spark to ignite my brother's rock/metal interest and eventually mine. Hail our true beginning!

Favorites: "Indestructible", "Inside the Fire", "The Night", "Perfect Insanity", "The Curse", "Divide"

The most accurate scenario for one of the most iconic nu metal track openings would be something like this: You're at a high floor of a tall building when you feel rumbling going on like the start of an earthquake ("Can you feel that?"). Soon the shaking gets more violent and you try to find a way to escape ("Ah sh*t..."). You find the exit staircase, but the earthquake causes you to trip and fall down the staircase, through a window, out of the building, and onto a power line, electrocuting you ("OOH-WAH-AH-AH-AH!!!").

My brother is a big fan of Disturbed, and they kickstarted his rock/metal interest that would soon lead to mine. He prefers the band's modern alternative metal sound, though he likes a bit of the nu metal heard in The Sickness and, to a lesser extent, Believe and Ten Thousand Fists, including a certain popular hit. I like this album too with several songs deserving as much attention as that hit, though some other songs may come out as weak and forgettable. The nu metal aspects within the dark guitars, electronics, and vocals work quite well, and they would sort of pave the way to Linkin Park's rise to fame with Hybrid Theory later that year.

Raging opening track "Voices" is written in the perspective of a killing psycho. This anthem of a song have fun riffing and a catchy chorus. "The Game" works well with its simple formula. "Stupify" also has a simple structure in perfect rage that would get you hooked like my brother who really enjoys it. Now, "Down with the Sickness"... You know this as one of their most popular songs, starting with that aforementioned opening riff and vocalist David Draiman's memed-to-death primal shriek of "OOH-WAH-AH-AH-AH". The song has been used in many films, TV shows, and video games. This is Disturbed's true anthem! My brother likes it too, but he skips its disturbing bridge which has Draiman roleplaying as a kid being attacked by his abusing mother and ultimately fighting back. I've heard more disturbing sh*t than that, so I can handle that just fine.

Things start to deviate in "Violence Fetish" which starts causing the album's downfall in quality. "Fear" has killer heaviness despite the electronic overdose. "Numb" shows the band attempting to make a slower ballad, ending up in mundane numbness. Linkin Park's "Numb" is better! "Want" is just plain bad, with a laughable cry of "She wants me!"

"Conflict" makes another move at raging heaviness but falls flat on its face in forgettable repetition. "Shout 2000" is a cover of the Tears for Fears single "Shout", and it brings things back to classic status as the vocals and riffing pound through for your attention. "Droppin' Plates" has decent guitar riffing, yet Draiman's profane rapping makes it another atrocity. "Meaning of Life", despite having more electronic effect, has nice heaviness in the guitar and vocals throughout its structure. A great way out!

Although there are some songs that shouldn't exist, The Sickness is a decently enjoyable album. It has the blueprints for the more recognizable elements of Disturbed. Setting aside those filler tracks, their debut is a decent start for those willing to explore this band and nu metal....

Favorites: "Voices", "Stupify", "Down with the Sickness", "Fear", "Shout 2000", "Meaning of Life"

In Flames was once a band that I listened to before leaving the death metal realm, a Swedish metal band that started with glorious melodeath but (d)evolved into the alt-/nu metal that metalheads hate. And while this live album isn't as terrible as some of their later albums, the fault is in the quality...

Seeing this live album in the anniversaries thread yesterday as of this review, I thought it would be worth giving this band another go to see if anything's good in this album. As it turns out, some things are very good, others are horrible, like the production sounding more stereo-like. The vocals sound horrible compared to their studio works, f***ing up the songs that stand out, while some others still sound good. Do I dare talk about them all? I guess so...

Kicking off the show and the album is "Bullet Ride", with a nice riff before Anders' singing takes over, though only the bass and drums stand out more than the rest, thereby butchering the song. Anders sounded much better and less sucky in studio than this live sh*t. "Embody the Invisible" stays close to the original from the Colony album, but nothing special is added except for the bad quality of the production and vocals. "Jotun" kicks real a** in the instrumentation, but the vocals hit a new low there. "Food for the Gods" has much better vocals to bring the quality to higher average. "Moonshield" is one of the best songs from the melodeath era of the band, but for the performance here... WHAT THE F***?!? Why in the h*ll did they skip the acoustic intro?! That's the best part of the song!! The f***ed up production does not help at all. This is sad, man...

"Clayman" is just sh*tty here, too whiny-sounding. "Swim" is another one from the at-the-time latest album Clayman, still cr*ppy enough to skip. The next track begins with Anders shouting to the audience, "We're gonna take all of you behind space!" Cheesy, right?? Anders once again ruins it all with his Rabbid-like voice. That's why I prefer only the original version with Dark Tranquillity's Mikael Stanne. "Only for the Weak" is the best song of Clayman and almost this live album, though it's degraded by the cheesy "Jump!" chant and the absence of background vocals. The way he pronounces the next track title "Gyroscope" is amusing, but the rest of this song still sounds sh*t here.

"Scorn" sounds much worse than the original. The only upside is the "Raining Blood" break in the middle. "Ordinary Story" does a good job doing the original justice, but I'll still complain about the production and vocals. "Pinball Map" is absolutely worth skipping and the live version should be called "Pimple Map". The title track for Colony isn't as bad as the other songs from the album performed here. "Episode 666" is very good, almost not lame at all, with kick-A singalong moments, though not too spectacular.

All in all, this is a good live album in some parts. Their previous albums, especially their first 3, are much better than this live sh*t. D*mn bummer, man, especially since this was meant to be a nice throwback for me. The production and setlist should've been made better. Now if you'll excuse me, my time away from death metal continues....

Favorites (one song per album, I liked the original versions better): "Food for the Gods", "Moonshield", "Behind Space", "Only for the Weak", "Colony"

I've been in the hardcore/metalcore zone for longer than 3 years now, and I barely despise anything from that genre. I enjoy many Revolution classics, even ones before this album like Calculating Infinity by The Dillinger Escape Plan and We are the Romans by Botch. Maybe someday I can get into other metalcore bands like Poison the Well and Hopesfall, but this band, Skycamefalling is what I'll start with, all thanks to another one of Daniel's Revolution recommendations!

This is one of those albums that essential for the hardcore/metalcore scene in the new millennium. The sole Skycamefalling album 10.21 and Converge's Jane Doe are two of the first metalcore albums with more poetic lyrics than just uniting a brotherhood of rebellion.

The instrumental "Intro" starts the album. Then "With Paper Wings" kickstarts the action. This is probably the band's greatest hit, filled with driving guitar intensity, one of my favorite metalcore songs to remember! I might just feel up to screaming along to the chorus. After grabbing your throat throughout the song, there's a beautiful piano outro that would inspire hundreds of other bands to add something like that to their songs. You know who "Laura Palmer" is, a murdered girl whose investigation serves as the plot to the series Twin Peaks. This is more aggressive than when Swallow the Sun made a song about Laura Palmer. "The Nothing" is a great way to describe where a relationship leads to: "So where were you when one heart became two?! When three words became more than you could chew?!?" I highly recommended listening to that song!

"-" is just a short instrumental. "Porcelain Heart Promises" covers pretty much everything you need to hear from this band. Another recommendation! "Healing Yesteryear" shows what TDEP and Botch should've done the previous year. "Shallow Like the Sand" is definitely what you should come for poetic lyrics: "Trees fall like iron on their way down, we bury our hands in their hearts and waste away again, because I have tried to turn words to stone, tried to fight the day with my eyes closed." Way more thought out than other hardcore bands! "The Truth Machine" continues the classic metallic hardcore, at a time when progressive innovators like Devin Townsend were on the rise.

The instrumental title epic contains 9 minutes of acoustic guitar, clean piano sounding a bit Eastern, and light percussion, leading to an ending crescendo. A soft break while you breathe in the flames of creativity! "November’s Neverending" gives you the idea of an eternal dark winter with no point in moving on. The album closes with "An Ocean Apart", staying strong even after 5 minutes of silence. A fitting end to a hardcore metal album of a beauty and intensity!

I still can't believe this talented group of musicians split up after only one album, but hopefully there would be more after a few recent reunion shows in the 2010s. As much as I enjoy other metalcore bands, I already miss these guys and hope they'll come back again. A metalcore classic of sheer poetry!

Favorites: "With Paper Wings", "The Nothing", "Porcelain Heart Promises", "Shallow Like the Sand", "10.21", "An Ocean Apart"

Like a book-writer having finished making his anticipated masterpiece and what started as a small decay turned into a big one when the pandemic hit, prog-death/metalcore masters Born of Osiris suffered a similar fate. The band made a 26-minute "studio album" (nearly as long as Cryptic Shift's "Moonbelt Immolator"), The Simulation, released in early 2019. After spending the first half of the year touring, they started writing the album that was supposed to follow, but for the production, like I said, a small decay turned into a big one. Their pre-recordings fell apart when the world was altered. After spending 2020 writing more material, they were able to hit the studio again to record what turned out to be a 55-minute actual studio album, Angel or Alien!

The band has made quite a 12-year prog-death/metalcore journey of studio albums since A Higher Place (Happy 12th anniversary as of this review!!). Throughout their tenure, their passion and dedication have never died out, with their sound evolving in a time when very low tunings where a thing in the djent lands. Bands are like some foods; you wanna keep enjoying it but eventually you might end up spitting them out before you can swallow. To make sure Born of Osiris is a relevant band and never an acquired taste, they still have the will to continue to push away from the complacent dark abyss. The band that has consisted of Ronnie Canizaro (unclean vocals), Joe Buras (keyboards and clean vocals), Lee McKinney (guitars), Nick Rossi (bass while switching to guitars), and Cameron Losch (drums) make the right turn of igniting the inner fire of their roots that they embrace along with new authentic surprises through this 14-song offering.

Beginning this collection is the catchy danger worth facing that is "Poster Child". At the end of that killer opener, some of their newer elements come in such as the synth-infused saxophone to smooth out the electronic synths. Then the explosion into "White Nile" is detonated with their expected matured refinement taken to the next level. What you may hear in the title track is a long-time-no-listen infectious hook, in which you can't deny its resemblance to their past material while moving the evolution forward. "Waves" conveniently waves for its needed attention. The more brutal "Oathbreaker" continues the expected mix of melodic synths and djenty explosion to please your ears.

The present once again allows the past to stomp through in "Threat of Your Presence", another notable highlight. The emotional "Love Story" is filled with confessional sincerity, far better than that Taylor Swift song. "Crossface" howls like a wolf, reaching a Crossfaith-level of metalcore mixed with EDM synths. "Echobreather" is so beautiful yet pummeling, as the heaviness and growls is balanced with Buras' synth melody and cleans. "Lost Souls" is another astounding composition.

The brutal slaughter continues "In for the Kill" as McKinney's fine guitar work dominates over the cinematic flourishes. A gut-punch of madness is unleashed onto you in "You are the Narrative" (can this "Narrative" really be beaten up??). The self-inflicted deliverance of "Truth and Denial" has Canizaro keeping his vocal edge and pushing it up with his earlier New Reign-era shrieking. The grand finale "Shadowmourne" is almost an anthem for my earlier Horde/Infinite/Revolution clan lineup. This instrumentation in this song alone is almost superior to those other songs and almost every other band with a similar style, and the saxophone makes its triumphant return throughout this piece.

While the semi-massive delay was the virus' fault, Born of Osiris continue igniting the inner fire of their roots as their sound continues evolving beyond bounds. While other bands try and fail, this band creates a strong storm of grace that never falls, and every track in Angel or Alien proves that point. This may not be the direct follow-up to The Simulation, but it's the start of a new era that will continue with another upcoming album Born of Osiris is currently writing. Whatever comes next, I'll be ready. Bring it!

Favorites: "Poster Child", "Angel or Alien", "Threat of Your Presence", "Love Story", "Lost Souls", "In for the Kill", "Shadowmourne"

I was thinking about trying to find one more thrash band that would be perfect enough to prove that I can fit well in The Pit, but ultimately, I decided that this can already be proven by a classic I'm already familiar with. One with... 246 RIFFS!!!! All of them rule as they strike through your mind and soul, taking control from beginning to end. Everyone has a different feeling when it comes to a certain album, and I find this album to be full of high-quality thrash genius!

The perfect lineup can show you more than just those killer riffs. The production is clean with audible instrumentation. Drummer Gene Hoglan adds some slower technicality alongside his usual fast thrash. Vocalist Ron Rinehart is a perfect fit here with strong vocals as the riffs from the guitarists slay away.

The title track starts with the first of those hundreds of riffs, slow before becoming lethally fast. The lyrics written by Hoglan are awesome, dealing with insanity and death in greater depths than the still perfect Darkness Descends. D*mn, even the music is incredible, including how well the bridges and choruses are structured. All that confirms that you're listening to one of the most complex and extreme thrash albums around. "Pain's Invention, Madness" has more of those many riffs, as Ron's flawless vocals continue following them. "Act Of Contrition" similar keeps up the variety of riffs to maintain your headbanging as always. The amazing soloing reaches the top compared to some other thrash albums. All this will make you stay in attention through the progressive length that most songs have.

Next one is one of my favorites, "The New Priesthood", in which lyrics detail modern technology surpassing religion. The intro riff is perhaps its most killer here. The most melodic and sinister at the same time track here is "Psychosexuality". Then comes one of my favorite songs in tech-thrash, and maybe all of thrash, "An Ancient Inherited Shame". The band's longest song at 9 minutes, all the riffs in the track kick a**. The progressive structure makes incredible tempo changes from slow to fast and in between. Dark Angel at their mightiest!

"Trauma and Catharsis" is f***ing superb, though the doom intro for nearly first two minutes is slightly unnecessary. However, the memorable fast riffing is still worth it, and the perfection is not affected. Rolling in a more sludge-ish pace, "Sensory Deprivation" is another magnificent track. While staying in the usual grand strength, the closing "A Subtle Induction" is the fastest song here and puts everything to a speedy end.

The Pit has spoken! This is what I truly desire from the clan, a technical heavy sound with awesome music and lyrics. People might think of Darkness Descends as the band's greatest album, and while they're right, Time Does Not Heal is very close to that reign as one of the greatest albums of thrash and tech-thrash. Truly standing the test of time!

Favorites: "Time Does Not Heal", "Act Of Contrition", "The New Priesthood", "An Ancient Inherited Shame", "Sensory Deprivation"

There are a couple reasons why I wanted to give this Anthrax album a listen and review. First off, I felt a little bad for missing out on that Anthrax concert in my home country that was originally for sometime last year before this review but got postponed anyway because of the virus. Second is the reason why I chose this album State of Euphoria, because it was near the bottom of the 10+ chart list in this site. It's time to see what went wrong for this album...

This album is pretty much the black sheep of Anthrax's classic era. You can SEE why by the trippy cover and HEAR why by the simplified slightly slower sound that thrash fans don't consider a real winner. Despite a small split in the fanbase, the album continued the band's gold-winning streak. It would take some adjustment to get used to this.

Straight into the opening track "Be All, End All", we hear cello. F***ING CELLO!! The heavier fans might think, "That's thrash!? Cello is classical! Blah blah blah..." A strange yet nice addition to a song I find brilliant! If they kept using that cello, they would be an early ancestor of Apocalyptica. "Out of Sight, Out of Mind" is another a**-kicker. Joey Belladonna performs his strongest vocals there despite pressure from his bandmates. "Make Me Laugh" makes me laugh to hear anti-religious attempts to rule television.

What's considered the last winner of the album is their cover of Trust's "Antisocial" that everyone else has heard, but there are several more... The otherwise unimpressive "Who Cares Wins" can rule with Joey's singing from the heart. Another fantastic song "Now It's Dark" is shamefully shunned by other listeners, but it's one of the best for me.

However, I have an issue with the lyrical quality in "Schism", like where is the chorus?! Is that it when Joey scats "sc-sc-sc-schism"? That's quite fake and anti-climatic when expecting something different after the verses. This common issue would be fixed in their next album. Inspired by Stephen King, "Misery Loves Company" can please fans of dark-ish hardcore thrash. The interlude "13" is a small fault. However, "Finale" is a fan favorite that they should play live more often.

In my opinion, while State of Euphoria has a bit of dry gloom in their songs, it's still interesting and the necessary balance of thrash between the apparent light of Among the Living and the apparent darkness of Persistence of Time. F***ing h*ll, I enjoy this more than most other fans would, but it still doesn't get me in the mood for Anthrax....

Favorites: "Be All, End All", "Out of Sight, Out of Mind", "Who Cares Wins", "Now It's Dark", "Finale"

Wanna hear what electro-dubstep mutating electro-rap rock from a nu metal sounds like? Look no further to the second full-length remix album from one of the biggest bands of the world! Here you would find remixes of almost every song in the album Living Things, including the greatest hits of the album like "Lost in the Echo" (now with KillSonik), "Powerless" (now with Enferno), and "Until It Breaks" (now with Datsik), and...

ACK, I just turned the first paragraph of this review that's harsh for the greater good into an advertisement! Let's just get the criticism in here; it's all just bleeding 8-bit dancehall 'n' bass that wails a lot, harmful to those with hearing epilepsy. The only great moments of the album are the one new song "A Light That Never Comes (with famous DJ Steve Aoki) and the remix by Linkin Park's album producer in the non-metal era Rick Rubin. But what's really a disaster is, they never remixed "In My Remains". One of my favorite songs of Living Things DOESN'T HAVE A F***ING REMIX!!! For all you metalheads intolerant to music that's strictly EDM, you might wanna avoid a lot of this at all costs....

Favorites (only songs I truly like): "A Light That Never Comes" (both the original and the remix)

At that point in 2012, Linkin Park had quite a problem in their hands. After the showering fanfare in the first half of the 2000s caused by their first two albums of nu metal/rap rock, they tangled themselves up in a plethora of different sounds in Minutes to Midnight, including a few U2-inspired ballads and a laughable political rap, with very little trace of their actual heavier style. A Thousand Suns shows the band joining the rock opera concept album club that includes Green Day's 21st Century Breakdown and My Chemical Romance's Danger Days, and just like that club, they reached for the mainstream stars while falling from rock grace. Then here we are at Living Things, a return to good ol' rap rock with a better balance of rapping and screaming. However, the electronic elements are still there to divide the band's fanbase. Well I didn't mind the electronic elements in their previous album, but let's find out how they turn out in this one...

I gotta admit, there's a decent amount to admire with the better sense for the band to abandon the heavily electronic direction A Thousand Suns would've taken them. It's good that they know to have balance, and they left the rock opera concept album club to continue working on individual themes they last had in Meteora. That was a great move on their part and I respect them for that.

"Lost in the Echo" is the ultimate album opener for a rap rock album. Mike Shinoda performs an incredible rapping verse while the later Chester Bennington performs an aggressive yet melodic chorus, a much better combo than, say, Equilibrium's Renegades. It's not too catchy or as heavy as Hybrid Theory, but definitely more powerful than Minutes to Midnight. "In My Remains" is another memorable track with a mid-tempo beat. "Burn It Down" sounds similar to the previous track and probably should've had a slightly later position in the track listing, but that doesn't matter. That song has Shinoda's best rapping in the album. 3 tracks in, and while not exactly groundbreaking, they're nostalgic highlights that is a step up from anything they have done in their non-metal era. What could go wrong in this album?

After that interesting opening quarter of the album, "Lies Greed Misery" is the worst ever attempt to recreate their earlier nu metal sound. I say it's too heavily electronic for that resurrection attempt! "I’ll Be Gone" lacks anything worth standing out. "Castle of Glass" is OK, but could've been far better. "Victimized" is the closest sounding to the band's nu metal roots and a hint at their heavier next album, but it's constructed as just a lazy sh*t show. The angsty lyrics are just too redundant, and while you can head-bang to the screaming chorus, I would hit my head on the wall to make myself forget that bullsh*t. "Roads Untraveled" is quite a mystery of how Bennington would sing solo in all vocal positions. This wouldn't be bad if he didn't sound so emotionless and sleepy. And if the excellent rapping of Shinoda was around, the song would be leveled up much higher, like a salesman getting demoted to secretary. That's how poorly the album is suffering. However, "Skin to Bone" is a gem that makes up for those forgettable songs with one of the catchiest choruses here, though containing the trite line "ashes to ashes, dust to dust."

"Until It Breaks" has more beautiful glory in the chorus and ending, though the rapping verses are great as well. "Tinfoil" is the experimental prelude to the final track. "Powerless" is a breathtaking ballad that stands out greatly. The most emotional non-metal album ending I've heard since the end of HIM's final album Tears on Tape.

All in all, Living Things is difficult to enjoy at its fullest, and many of their influences that they had in the first two records were replaced with something less heavy and more modern. They tried returning to their earlier form of Hybrid Theory, but they failed miserably to regain the passion in their music and lyrics. Their calmer mature moments and their earlier heavier glory outshine each other in a war where half of each army is slain. Still there are some songs that sound so emotional, including that last track that they should've used Chester's funeral. It's nice for the band to kick up a little more life, but it's not until their next studio album that marks a heavier comeback....

Favorites (the only songs I somewhat or truly enjoy): "Lost in the Echo", "In My Remains", "Burn It Down", "Skin to Bone", "Until It Breaks", "Powerless"

Like many 21st Century metalheads, my metal interest wouldn't have started without Linkin Park, specifically their diamond-selling debut Hybrid Theory and its sequel Meteora. The anger-angst combo stemming from Mike Shinoda's rapping and the late Chester Bennington is what got me hooked. Of course, I've already moved to heavier things, and while their first albums aren't exactly my favorites, they've planted the seed for my interest in bands that I've called favorites, starting with the power metal of DragonForce, then moving on to the modern metal of Trivium and Lamb of God, and currently in the post-/progressive metal of Meshuggah, Isis, and Rosetta. Those two Linkin Park albums really opened my ears to eventually where I am today. However, Minutes to Midnight really let me down in over half of its songs. Most of their nu metal was discarded for cr*ppy U2-ish pop-radio rock. Upon listening to their 4th album A Thousand Suns, I find a few better moments, but they still don't reach greatness...

To put it simply, the album provides 15 tracks of electro-alt-pop-rap-rock. And if you thought there would be a lot from 15 tracks, well... 6 of these tracks are interludes, the same amount as in Reanimation. Two 5ths of the album are interludes!! This leaves only 9 real songs! 9 songs wouldn't be that bad for an album by DragonForce or Isis, two bands that make longer songs, but this is Linkin Park, g****mn it! Most of the interludes are skippable anyway, like who would want robotic versions of famous speeches?

"The Requiem" is pretty good for the opening interlude, sounding like an actual mini-song. Shinoda sings in a pitched-up vocoder a line from a certain near-closing epic that we'll get to soon. "The Radiance" is a pointless interlude, unless you wanna hear a speech by J. Robert Oppenheimer. The real opening song "Burning in the Skies" is a catchy track for the radio that could've easily been a B-side in Minutes to Midnight and/or the "What I've Done" single. This track is actually slightly better executed than that single without ever reaching Killers-level catchiness. Nice one! "Empty Spaces" is a very short pointless interlude with war sound effects. Having curiously waited for a song with Shinoda's rapping anger, "When They Come for Me" is another highlight, completely returning to his true form that was faked in his rap songs in Minutes to Midnight. There's also a bombastic Indian-like percussion as the main beat, and while the song sounds to p*ssed off to be a single, the rap rock/nu metal fans might be most pleased since 10 years before the album's release.

"Robot Boy" continues the catchy radio appeal, but it sounds so bland, structured and sounding like a repetitive boy band. Another interlude "Jornada Del Muerto" (Day of the Dead) does not make anything better. "Waiting for the End" sounds much more optimistic, and I agree with most of the world that this one of the best non-metal tracks and of the album, highlighted by Shinoda doing rapping, but in a great melodic reggae-ish singing kind of way. "Blackout" is the weirdest of the bunch. The instrumentation is almost completely electronic, and Chester's vocals range from rapping to singing to screaming. That's right, the godly screaming of their first two albums! Those vocal styles all sound catchy though. If they added heavy guitars and had Shinoda doing the rapping verses, that would be their old heavier style. The second of the two rapping songs "Wretches and Kings" starts with an unnecessary excerpt Mario Savio's famous "bodies upon the gears" speech, then the song kicks off with a heavy beat and Shinoda's well-done rapping. Bennington sings the chorus more aggressive, and he seems to have adopted an African-like accent that some find annoying or hilarious, but I don't mind that chorus staying in my head for a while. Again, much better than the rap songs in Minutes to Midnight!

"Wisdom, Justice, and Love" is an interlude that I would let slide, because the speech by Martin Luther King Jr. is very historical, but why did the band ruin it with robotic vocal effects?! "Iridescent" is another song that's highly electronic, only this time with more emotional vocals and piano, and I mean some of the best vocals here! And it fits well with the third Transformers movie end credits that it ended up in, an uplifting song compared to "What I've Done" and "New Divide". The 6th and last interlude is a prelude to an almost 6-minute epic, but is it epic though? Sadly, "The Catalyst" is disappointing with barely any climax, just constantly looping an electronic beat. Though that beat and the vocals going strong and fast are good for a hotel stay in your head. And it's a far better closer than the unoriginal acoustic "The Messenger" that's not worth existing.

Despite many flaws and needless interludes, A Thousand Suns contains electronic tones, emotional vocals, and Shinoda's triumphant rapping that pointed the band towards higher hopes of keeping their mainstream streak going. There may be enjoyable memorable moments, but they were still far away from the revolution of Hybrid Theory....

Favorites (the only songs I somewhat or truly enjoy): "Burning in the Skies", "When They Come for Me", "Waiting for the End", "Wretches and Kings", "Iridescent"

Linkin Park has caused adoration and hatred from music fans worldwide. I used to be a Linkin Park super-fan myself when I was like 13, a year before my "real" metal interest. I built my collection with more than just the singles that everyone knows; I collected album tracks and B-sides. They never p*ssed me off...until recently.

When Minutes to Midnight was announced, the band said it would mark their departure from most of their nu metal sound, causing uncertainty from fans. I still appreciate the decent brilliance of both the Hybrid Theory and Meteora albums, but other fans think the latter is straight-up copied. Even the early announcements of their third album are total sh*t-starters when the late Chester Bennington mentioned "a mix of punk, classic rock, and hip-hop standards". That's one way to think of this album, I suppose...

Starting the album is the minute-and-a-half intro "Wake". It builds up slow and steady through promising ambience and a background campfire, but then it soars into alt-rock riffing over dense drumming. A well-done intro that sounds like the prelude to a certain brilliant single... However, this is what get instead as the first real song, "Given Up". It has an edgy punk-ish riff that's pretty cool, along with the unique clapping and key-jingling, both from Brad Delson, but they both don't sound right together as if he's trying to multitask poorly. And as if that wasn't poorly produced enough, Chester's vocals aren't the heavy type I like, more like a whining teenager after having his iPod taken away. All just 3 minutes of misery, except for the interesting moment of Chester's 17-second scream of "MISERYYYYYYY!!!!!!" After that roaring start comes the first ever ballad of the album and by the band, "Leave Out All the Rest". It's all right, but weaker than the previous track. The song shows a bit of the band's U2 influences. Chester sings nice clean vocals over average lyrics. "Bleed It Out" is much worse. Trying to create a "live" soundscape sounds a bit sloppy. Mike Shinoda raps as decently as in the previous albums, but the lyrics are more vulgar and nonsensical. Chester sounds more worn out in his edgy moments, as if that 17-second scream a couple tracks back strained his voice.

Once again following a hard song is another ballad, "Shadow of the Day", with more of their U2 influences. In fact, people have accused this song of being a rip-off of U2's song "With or Without You", and I kinda agree. They slowly build up into a pop rock climax, but it turns out to just be a boring anticlimax. Then the song ends, but not without an ambient prelude to one of Linkin Park's greatest non-metal songs ever... "What I've Done" is heard by practically everyone, especially those who have watched the first Transformers movie up to the end credits. It may sound like plain ol' pop rock, but it's done much better than any other song like that. I have nothing else to say about that beautiful piece. However, "Hands Held High" is something to rudely laugh at. It is the latter of the two rap songs here. Starting with organ and a marching beat like a cheesy march into an 18th/19th Century war, Mike's rapping is once again decent, but the lyrics are inspiring yet too cheesy to take seriously. The ending choir is so LOL-inducing!

After the lightest track of the album comes its heaviest one, "No More Sorrow". A sinister atmospheric intro allows the instruments to build up one by one, leading to a riff as well-done as my favorite type of steak. The lyrics basically graffiti-paint "F*** Bush" on the walls that don't help the poor vocals. However, making up for it is the chorus and instrumentation that is the best of the album. "Valentine’s Day" is where Chester's vocals sound the best, his vulnerable emotion singing nice lyrics that flow over light clean guitar. Then a buildup commences to a rock climax towards the end that might sound a bit cheesy but mostly well-done. "In Between" is another track with Mike taking the lead on the vocals, for the first time trying a clean singing style. However, he sounds so bored, like I am throughout that song. "In Pieces" really stands out, sounding dark and haunting with good vocals by Chester, and Brad's cool rare guitar solo. The final epic "The Little Things Give You Away" was the longest and slowest song by the band at the time with Chester vocals to highlight though sounding a bit annoying. The lyrics are the best here, a nice tribute to victims of Hurricane Katrina. The build-up is a bit bland though, sounding too drawn-out before the solo. However, that solo is worth the wait, and so is the good final part where Shinoda sings the lyrics much better than a couple tracks earlier, with Chester's background wails. What an epic!

Sadly, Minutes to Midnight shows how f***ed up the band had become. They reduced most of their earlier nu metal sound so they wouldn't get slammed for making another similar album in a row, and yet the end result is a pleasant yet sh*tty album. And they were the guys who made Hybrid Theory....

Favorites (the only songs I somewhat or truly enjoy): "Wake", "What I've Done", "No More Sorrow", "Valentine's Day", "In Pieces", "The Little Things Give You Away"

I'm no fan of rap. I'm too metal for rap! Yet I'm so familiar with Linkin Park for almost a decade now. They made waves of success with their coin-flipping hybrid rap/metal sound of the late Chester Bennington singing/screaming and Mike Shinoda rapping, and Shinoda can be quite the MC, far better than most other rappers. Shinoda's rapping skills were shining the most in the remix album Reanimation. They have a middle finger reserved for those who say that rock and hip-hop shouldn't co-exist.

Linkin Park still didn't feel like they had fulfilled their hip-hop/rock fusion vision, but they took things ONE STEP CLOSER with a new project dawning, Collision Course! However, it wasn't Linkin Park's idea to fuse songs by rap legend Jay-Z into their own, nor did Jay-Z come up with the idea by himself. MTV wanted to create the "Ultimate Mash-Up", so they gave Jay-Z the opportunity to do with a mashup album with a group or artist, and it's obviously who he chose... He and Linkin Park recorded their tracks via email exchange for their studio take, then they got together for a live performance of the whole album. The live set is redundant, so let's focus on the studio version...

The 21-minute EP starts with Bennington yelling, "I ordered a Frappuccino, where's my f***ing Frappuccino?!", beginning the "Dirt off Your Shoulder/Lying from You" fusion. The original Jay-Z beat is slowed down with Shinoda rapping his verse. Then Linkin Park's rock/metal music plays as Jay-Z emphasizes the guitar crunch and drums with his verses and chorus. After that, the original "Lying From You" song comes back second verse onwards, busting out those lyrics and music until the end, when the "Dirt Off Your Shoulder" beat returns briefly as Jay-Z shouts "B***H!", laughs with the rest, saying "You're wasting your talent, Randy!" So that first mashup turned out slightly better than the original "Lying From You" song, sounding less annoying and a little more complete, despite the rapping overdose. However, some mashups don't work as well, such as the "Big Pimpin'/Papercut" mashup. It just sounds too odd when the original Jay-Z melody plays throughout with Shinoda rapping over it with none of Linkin Park's rock sound around. You just can't have your cheese and spend it!

"Jigga What/Faint" makes more sense, returning to actually taking both sides of both the music and lyrics. The Jay-Z track blends perfectly with the Linkin Park rock/metal, as the rapping sounds great with the actual drumming and guitar. Jay-Z feels comfortable with this incredible rock crunch/rap beat mix, and so do I. You already heard the "Numb/Encore" mix nearly as many times as the original "Numb" song, being the EP's sole single. That's probably the best mashup here. "Numb" makes everything better!

"This is fun", Shinoda says, which is mostly true, but not so much in "Izzo/In the End". I mean, it is pretty fly, and Shinoda can almost turn you into the Kool-Aid guy, smiling greatly and going "OH YEAH!!", but again they could've used the "In the End" music besides the "Izzo" beat. Another missed opportunity... The ambitious last combination, "Points of Authority/99 Problems/One Step Closer" is a great way to end the EP. However, I still feel a little picky in some places, like when Shinoda awkwardly raps the line, "rap mags try and use my black a**", that he knows is unlike his style. But the nu metal magic of the two LP songs makes up for all that, especially the SHUT UP!! bridge.

This mashup album Collision Course is quite an experiment where the two artists bond well with their collaboration, especially since Shinoda and co. were hip-hop fans from the start. I think MTV mashups work the best when a rock/metal band is involved. A couple mashups might not work well, but the rest of the EP has good entertainment....

Favorites: "Jigga What/Faint", "Numb/Encore", "Points of Authority/99 Problems/One Step Closer"

Remix albums were once a mainstream artist/band's way of keep their listeners hooked between studio albums, but it can be very rare for metal. A nu/rap metal band who already made a remix album is Limp Bizkit with their album New Old Songs. Elsewhere, a different rivalling band of that style would redefine their sound for credibility in the remixes. They were really hitting their charts with their hip-hop-infused metal sound, but they wanted more respect earned for their hip-hop side...

Linkin Park's Reanimation is a remix album project of 20 tracks; all 12 songs from the Hybrid Theory album, 2 B-sides, a medley, and 5 new interludes. While they still had their fists of alt-metal fury, a number of rappers and DJs were hired to give the sound an edge of dark electronic hip-hop. While I'm not very pleased as a fan of their rock theatrics, I find a few parts of the album more d*mn interesting, once again adding balance to the rap rock torture they're trying to distinguish from. Yes there are many rappers taking over for the remixes, but there are also a few rock/metal singer as well including Korn's Jonathan Davis. I say any non-drastic change is welcome!

The "Opening" hints at a closing remixed epic that we'll talk about when we get there. "Pts.OF.Athrty" (Points of Authority) has been given a more NERD-ish side thanks to Jay Gordon of Orgy. Astounding! "In the End" was remade into "Enth E Nd" by rappers/DJs Kutmasta Kurt and Motion Man, taking it much closer to hip-hop than the original song. Let's stop talking about it there. "[Chali]" is just a pointless voicemail message interlude. I certainly recognize Mike Shinoda as a professional MC, though not a lot of the rap community can, and his MC skills are proven his "Forgotten" remake, "Frgt/10" with rappers Alchemist and Chali 2na, the latter from Jurassic 5. If the original verses and chorus weren't included, I wouldn't the original song there, that's how different the remix is. "P5hng Me A*wy" (Pushing Me Away) adds more beats and scratching, but is redeemed by the bridge sung by Stephen Richards of Taproot. Good highlight, but doesn't do the original song justice. The annoying "Plc.4 Mie Hæd" (A Place for My Head) with Amp Live and Zion is not worth talking about here, let's move on...

"X-Ecutioner Style" is a two-minute medley exclusive to this album, with rappers Sean C, Roc Raida and Black Thought. Besides those new rapping verses, I recognize a few vocal parts from "One Step Closer" (the SHUT UP!! bridge) and "Cure for the Itch" ("Now wasn't that fun? Let's try something else"). Up next, "H! Vltg3" (High Voltage) thumps through hip hop beats and piano notes inspired by a free Dre songs, with vocals performed by Evidence, Pharoahe Monch, and DJ Babu. Sweet highlight, but both the Hybrid Theory B-side and the remix still don't beat the original from the Hybrid Theory EP. Then there's another pointless interlude, "[Riff Raff]", which I thought there was going to be actual riffing but there isn't any. After that, "Wth You" (With You), featuring Aceyalone, adds way more beats and scratching than the original. "Ntr\Mssion" is not as bad as most of the previous interludes, again giving a small hint to the upcoming closing epic.

"Ppr:Kut" (Papercut) adds more twists with a group of rappers that include Cheapshot, Jubacca, Rasco and Planet Asia. The "Runaway" remake "Rnw@y" actually adds more truth to the original, keeping the skyrocketing hooks and primitive melodies of the original to please listeners of the original song. Even the rapping bridge with Backyard Bangers and Phoenix Orion is worth headbanging to. Nice job! "My Dsmbr" is also better than the original "My December", with the otherwise weird hip-hop beats by Mickey P. making it sound more real than just a ballad. Former Sneaker Pimps vocalist Kelli Ali does background vocals in the chorus. Beautiful! "[Stef]" is another a pointless voicemail message interlude. "By_Myslf" (By Myself), produced by Josh Abraham, adds heavier industrial power in the guitars performed by Deftones' Stephen Carpenter, with blazing drum machine insanity. However, the vocals are f***ed up, especially the screams sounding more screechy. "Kyur4 th Ich" is almost the same as the original "Cure for the Itch", other than strange new vocals, so that's kinda lame. The two nearly 6-minute closing remixed epics are by far the best of the entire album, starting with their smash hit "One Step Closer" remade into "1Stp Klosr", with production by The Humble Brothers guest vocals by the aforementioned Korn lead vocalist Jonathan Davis. A great escape from the rappers and MCs from earlier! Further distancing from most of the hip-hop sh*t is what you've all been waiting for, "Krwlng", an epic dramatic revisit of "Crawling", with Staind singer Aaron Lewis, where the beat and brief rapping have earned a greater edge for a crossover with less emphasis on hip-hop. Well done, guys...

So, some of these remixes are well-made, others are kinda ridiculous or just flat-out boring, and some of the instrumentation is unrecognizable from the original. However, Reanimation has taken Linkin Park closer to the rock hall of fame with bands like Radiohead and Flaming Lips, and is the right direction for their next album Meteora....

Favorites: "Pts.OF.Athrty", "P5hng Me A*wy", "H! Vltg3", "Rnw@y", "My Dsmbr", "1Stp Klosr", "Krwlng"