Shadowdoom9 (Andi)'s Reviews

Bring Me the Horizon is kind of an oddball in the rock/metal community. They started as a deathcore band in their first EP and album, then moved on to metalcore in their next two albums. That's not even the oddest part, this is; recently they started shifting to a less aggressive style of rock then make a complete shi(f)t into electropop/hip-hop, going far as to release a long experimental album they prefer calling an EP. There's just one more metalcore album with their later influences, their fourth one Sempiternal!

After building an impressive following with the 3 albums before this, Sempiternal has taken them to higher skies in the metal world while dragging them closer to the pop/rock abyss. Their final album with the original metalcore roots, the band managed to refine it as a last farewell to the genre.

First track "Can You Feel My Heart" already hints at the new plateau the bands just reached in their journey. Vocalist Oli Sykes pours his soul out as he cries out the first verse, "Can you hear the silence? Can you see the dark? Can you fix the broken? Can you feel... Can you feel my heart?!" during an explosion of sonic atmosphere. Then we jump into metalcore hyperspace with "The House of Wolves" that has a catchy refrain. Metalcore once again heeds its call on "Empire (Let Them Sing)".

After the metalcore action of the previous two songs, "Sleepwalking" is more melodic with a beautiful middle bridge painting images with words, "Your eyes are swallowing me. Mirrors start to whisper, shadows start to see. My skin's smothering me. Help me find a way to breathe!" Next track "Go to Hell, for Heaven's Sake" should be making big impact on the radio airwaves with its clever title and the music sounding like the radio-rock of early Linkin Park on metalcore steroids. That song should never go to hell! The epic "Shadow Moses" is a great choice for the album's first single and a true highlight. The verses are aggressive as always, but the infectious chorus would kick you hard in the face, leaving a big footprint. ("Can you see by the look in our eyes? We're going nowhere! We live our lives like we're ready to die. We're going nowhere!")

The band slows down with new territory to explore in "And the Snakes Start to Sing", venturing into the sonic atmosphere of Deftones. "Seen It All Before" has melodic verses and a heavy chorus like you've never heard before. "Antivist" is the angriest song on the album in both the music and lyrics. The band relentlessly stabs their middle finger up the a** of the world. Then it explodes into the fantastic "Crooked Young" that questions religion. The album closes with the 7-minute epic "Hospital for Souls", soaring up to a rising climax. It has some very poetic lyrics including "Everybody wants to go to heaven. But nobody wants to die. I can't fear death, no longer. I've died a thousand times."

Producer Terry Date (Pantera, Soundgarden, Deftones) helps shows the band at its best in Sempiternal, allowing the sonic instrumentation and vocals to be clear without taking away the impact of Bring Me the Horizon's explosive nature. Their last metalcore album, Sempiternal really is what that word means, everlasting for eternity!

Favorites: "Can You Feel My Heart", "Sleepwalking", "Go to Hell, for Heaven's Sake", "Shadow Moses", "Crooked Young", "Hospital for Souls"

After pleasing the metal community with their earlier albums, Coroner decided to pack in more progressive supplies and stun the audience into an oblivion of astonishment, pushing them out the window into a brave new inescapable reality of precise craft. A new creation was made by a touring power trio who want to fly through a world beyond just a cult following. That offering is their 4th album, Mental Vortex! Any fan of Coroner would recognize a different aspect in this album; more controlled zen. There's still the climatic escalating touch in the guitars performed by Tommy Vetterli, alongside their earlier heavy wonders being nicely surpassed by experimentation.

It's a little bumpy ride through the overall heavy quality, but it all works out. It would take one last album (Grin) to mess up that direction and make the band take a downward spiral to splitting up. Mental Vortex is absolutely stone-solid, proving that the band just might be the Swiss progressive thrash metal legends people wish they would return with many songs blowing their minds.

The opening track "Divine Step (Conspectu Mortis)", I now recognize as the enormous starter progressive/thrash metalheads really love. It frantically yet decently punches through the discordant verses and riffs, powerful enough to blow my mind harder than a head-shot through the temple. I also enjoy the mellow bridge that contrasts against the typical heaviness and metallic guitar strength. What I thought was too out of place is now in place again! "Son of Lilith" is also a progressive thrash favorite of mine that I finally recognize to have killer riffs that build tension. More superb content comes after those first two works of art...

"Semtex Revolution" flows in simplistic speed, alternating with arching melody and nice vocals in a steady beat. "Sirens" continues that same speed flow with amazing vocals in the verses and a quick killer groove breakdown just near the two-minute mark to lift the steady thrash that appears in other sections. "Metamorphosis" starts with strange whale noises over smooth bass before the melodic guitars play an incredible riff march that you would be surprised no one else has tried it before.

Another great song of the bunch, "Pale Sister" cycles through great guitar frenzy faster than a speeding BMX bike, a sweet chorus, great leads, and a catchy breakdown in the end. "About Life" sounds closer to the band's earlier heavier material with a superb note pattern charging through the verse. The album ends with a cover of The Beatles' "I Want You (She's So Heavy)", probably the most notable element of the album. They did an effortlessly great job performing the song, even bringing our old friend, darkness to a new height of light. If there's one thing wrong about this song and the album now, it's that f***ing abrupt cut that was kept in!!

With all these advantages throughout this album, the band has gone through a labyrinth of progressive genius or boiling down their writing to the musical themes that have been important. There's another more visible thrash band take a different route in 1991, Metallica, but unlike Metallica, Coroner were standing by their origins. Because of that, I can now see that Mental Vortex has as much to offer as the band's earlier albums. They still had the dark superior riffing of thrash at the time when thrash metal was halted by impersonation genres, alongside half of their frantic displays of passion that put them in line with other promising European metal bands, all in creative curiosity. Sadly, this direction would swiftly descend into the mechanical groove of their last album Grin, and there would be no turning back.... My love for Coroner is fully on!

Favorites: "Divine Step (Conspectu Mortis)", "Son of Lilith", "Metamorphosis", "Pale Sister"

The discography of Mekong Delta can consist of 4 decade-long periods: 1987-1996, 1997-2006 (that period they were on hiatus), 2007-2016, and 2017-present. Bassist Ralph Hubert is the main founder and has kept the band going at high levels throughout all those active periods, always on a search for musicians to help him fulfill his complex classical visions. He started the first period with guitarists Frank Fricke and Reiner Kelch, both from speed/thrash metal band Living Death, and I heard their shredding has helped supply the band's inaccessible intelligent progressive thrash. Then at the turn of the decade, the two axemen got the axe and the then-unknown Uwe Baltrusch proved himself to be a guitar wizard who made the technical thrash template better and more flexible. After the silent second period, when Hubert reformed to begin the third period, he still wasn't able to keep a lineup as stable as other long-running bands whose members worked with him such as Helloween and Annihilator, but he did gain a wide versatile range of influences along the way. Also, the first period ended with Pictures at an Exhibition, which focused way more on classical than metal.

Dances of Death is part of the first period but it has started a fine transition into the second half of the first period. Though I'm still not up to joining the metalheads who like this band and want to share their predilections. Even then, I probably would rate the band's first 3 albums each just about 80% (4 stars), and that might split me out of that fan club who think one of those albums is the band's finest hour (or whatever that album's length is). I might not be up to finding some greatness in those albums, but I can certainly find some in Dances of Death, no doubt at all. Who needs souls and empathy?! This has what metal should have, technicality that blends both easy and difficult! Baltrusch has helped with the easy part, using his volatile guitar skills for a smoother more melodic turn on the neo-classical thrash metal hybrid. After only being restricted to the leads in The Principle of Doubt, in this album he gets to display his complete guitar talent all over. But he wasn't the only new member for this album, the band also added singer Doug Lee, formerly a progressive power metal "Siren". There was no regret for Lee to replace the band's previous vocalist Wolfgang Borgmann because of Lee's amazing clean vocals unlike the apparent eccentric wailing of Borgmann. With such a renovation in the lineup, did the band get better!? Let's find out...

The 8-movement conceptual title suite begins with a short quiet "Introduction". Then it erupts into an "Eruption" of wild frantic thrash that can easily get you headbanging. It's a short instrumental riff-fest! "Beyond the Gates" follows and Lee comes in with his dramatic melodic shouting that almost reaches falsetto without ever shaking. The music is compelling intricate thrash riff-wrath, as sharp as a steel sword to slice through your brain in an attempt to get it to absorb the wrath. More stupendous technical thrash passages split your brain in half and glue it back together, then give you a stroke and cure you. "Outburst" is definitely an outburst of frantic riffing. Then it flows into "Days of Betrayal", which is indeed a more progressive "Thrashterpiece Theatre" than the one made by Cryptic Warning. There are fast frantic crescendos and dramatic buildups in a chorus handled by the half-passionate vocals of Lee. "Restless" is, you guessed it, a minute of restless thrash leads. Then it's on to "Sanctuary" which is so brilliantly surreal with hypnotic mid-paced riffing that swirls into progressive vortexes before making its dynamic exit after 3 minutes into its final section. And finally, the "Finale" ends the suite with magnificent thrashy speed metal busy with memorable riff applications. So yeah, that was the 20-minute 8-movement title suite of this album, a grand epic that would inspire many progressive (thrash) metal bands to similar attempts. But there are a few more songs left in this album...

"Transgressor" is a short technical thrash song with superb atmosphere and more of Lee's outstanding mesmerizing dramatic vocals. "True Believers" is another technical song to delight progressive metal lovers with Hubert's great bass, along with twisted leads and hard riffs surrounding a meanly great chorus ("I don't believe you, parasite").

Then we have one more epic for this album, "Night on a Bare Mountain", an over 10-minute metal interpretation of a symphony composed by Modest Mussorgsky, supremely blending its original classical structure with aggressive thrash shredding. One of the best metal instrumentals other than Trivium's "The Crusade"! The main motif is enough to get you seated through this melodic neo-classical thrash rollercoaster ride. After all that riffing hyperspace, the meditative outro is where the acoustics really shine.

Dances of Death can never be more tantalizing than the great convincing cosmic amount it already has. Mekong Delta have made great stride, though their fanbase has been worried about massive lineup changes that might affect later recordings and new sound transformations that work out fine for a few albums but might end up jumping the shark. Well it's all just the business of Mekong Delta, and the band is confident that their neo-classical progressive thrash sound would stay on full-throttle with help from guest musicians. If there weren't any radical changes, the shredding would sound the same no matter who's taking over the guitar. Lee does some great convincing vocals which comes out as more dramatic than bizarre. This is a great new beginning for progressive thrash metal, though the band might've had a bigger climax in albums like their next one, Kaleidoscope. But still, Hubert had planted seeds for a grand opus of dexterously arranged neo-classical thrash metal. Come and take this dance!

Favorites: "Dances of Death", "Night on a Bare Mountain"

Testing out some progressive thrash metal in the second part of my Ultimate Metal Family Tree band challenge, I've just reached Voivod's diverse technical progressive metal album Nothingface. That's right, I said "progressive metal"! The sound would inspire many bands like Dream Theater. It's in Loudwire's "Top 25 Progressive Metal Albums of All Time" and longtime Voivod fans consider that album one of the band's top 3. It might not be available on CD nowadays, but there are other ways to listen.

The album has songs that each fall in one of two different categories; catchy and appreciable or technical and complex. I like both categories, so let's see if they're in balance or if this album is gonna be just an unequal mess...

The first song "The Unknown Knows" starts with a short intro as you floating into the dreamy atmosphere in waves of space and time before touching down on the moon of heaviness. The song itself is progressive and heavy with an amazing chorus like no other. That song has the most detail I've heard from a sci-fi progressive metal band, more than another band can put in an album. The best track here is the title track. The catchy lyrics fit Snake's vocals better than in the earlier thrashier albums. There is some increased atmosphere more than the earlier chaos that lacks control. You can't forget mentioning the cover of Pink Floyd's "Astronomy Domine", sounding darker than the original. Call it "space metal" if you will, but there's still some prog-rock in that song, which might be why this album's in the Hall of Judgement. An out of this world classic!

The chord barrage and nebular grooves in "Missing Sequences" is a bit like Rush on steroids. "X-Ray Mirror" is so strangely bizarre, and it's not just the title. You have to take time to discover and understand all those changing details. hearing the band concentrate too much on the technical concept, but you'll be grasp it as more listens go by. "Inner Combustion" is a better progressive hit, which of course isn't as heavy as early Meshuggah but gives early Meshuggah the progressive kick to the thrash.

Next song "Pre-Ignition" is an uneasy song to flow through, but once again you'll get used to it eventually. It is technical and creative, but it does need a little more flow though. Then there's a more memorable approach in the catchy chorus of "Into My Hypercube" ("Transient illusion, clairvoyant suspension, translucid condition, principal connection"). And finally, there are some aggressive intricacies in the closing "Sub-Effect". See? There's still a bit of heavy aggression in this album. Voivod still has their metal in this progressive sound!

All in all, Nothingface marks a big turn for the band into their progressive metal era. More of their progressive elements would be more evident in subsequent albums such as Angel Rat, but this album is a grand definition of progressive metal/rock!

Favorites: "The Unknown Knows", "Nothingface", "Astronomy Domine", "Inner Combustion", "Into My Hypercube"

Good grievous, are many of these metalcore vocalists not learning to scream properly resulting in them blowing their voice?! First Trivium's Matt Heafy, then Protest the Hero's Rody Walker! In the middle of their 10 anniversary Fortress tour, Rody started suffering vocal issues that were like "I'm about to end this man's singing/screaming career." Luckily the metal gods blessed him with a full recovery. But what if his voice wasn't fully healed at the time and for this album, he had to only do clean singing in a limited range like Matt Heafy in Trivium's Silence in the Snow? That would've still gone well...or not.

That's one of a few reasons why their new album Palimpsest was delayed a bit, as if we hadn't suffered enough, but it's finally here!! 7 years since their previous album Volition, or 4 years since their Pacific Myth EP, that blazing hardcore-ish progressive metal band returns for another crazy good time after that crazy endeavor. And thanks to Rody's vocal recovery, his voice is strong as ever. Will Protest the Hero regain their modern prog metal throne?! WILL THEY?!?

"The Migrant Mother" begins running on the ground with pulsing drums like that raging bull in the cover art. Would Rody still have the capacity to continue vocal prominence that earned him fan adoration?? Yes he would!! His vocal power continues to rise! The hardcore-like tempo and vibe nods back to the early days of Kezia to satisfy hardcore fans. Orchestration helps give the song its epic mood. PTH IS BACK!!! Next song "The Canary" shows intricate groove hooks alongside the captivating narrative. The charging pace and epic dramatic chorus really makes that song a sweet highlight. "From The Sky" continues going through the album's theatrics with hefty bass and riff energy taking the stage. A soothing piano section leads up to the song's glorious ending climax. "Harborside" is the first of 3 interludes, and it's a brief beautiful one.

Then it segues to the endearing eccentric "All Hands". Protest the Hero's technical proficient arsenal shines through with the band's incredible ability on the harborside to engage the listener through the arrangement that never gets overwhelmed. "The Fireside" bursts in flames of vibrancy and Rody rapidly fires his vocals like a machine-gun faster than Eminem. This is a high-quality hardcore-ish progressive metal anthem that would make you want more. "Soliloquy" springs into hyperactive action with killer blast beats alongside a good lyrical concept. The instrumental wizardry keeps you in the flowing stream. "Reverie" continues the theatrical nature with expert guitar impression. The composition sounds a bit closer to Rhapsody of Fire style of symphonic power metal while seamlessly matching the usual PTH progressive metal. "Little Snakes" has darker tones that lurk beneath emotive vocals. One of the most enthralling pieces of the album! "Mountainside" is the second short whimsical interlude.

The instant impact of "Gardenias" is so good you can even listen to it on its own! The drum kicks and instrumental punches unleash thunderbolts while electrifying lightning strikes from Rody unleashing his screams and growls. The finish line is still far but closer with the third and last interlude "Hillside", offering a solemn piano moment. "Rivet" bursts with some final intense energy as soft unobtrusive guitar takes the spotlight in the thrashier segments. This is an ideal piece to round out all of Protest the Hero's trademark elements in a theatrical curtain call.

Protest the Hero may have been absent for some reasonable time, but with Palimpsest, they can still burst out their impressive talents in cathartic moments that's absolutely worth the agonizing wait. The conceptual narrative in each chapter urges you to memorize all those historical events referenced in this creation and to demand more. I really hope nothing bad happens that would scare us ever again. Welcome back, Protest the Hero!!

Favorites: "The Migrant Mother", "The Canary", "From the Sky", "The Fireside", "Little Snakes", "Rivet"

Before I start this review, I would like to preface it with a little-known fact you might find hard to believe. Even though this album was delayed from its original June 5 release date due to the virus, the album was still released on that day on some online platforms where I got the album. My rebel side has paid off because it's another superb album from Australian progressive metalcore band Make Them Suffer that has suited my high hype! The actual worldwide digital release for How to Survive a Funeral was on June 19, 2020, and its physical release was on July 10. It is their 4th album, but their second release with Rise Records and new members Jordan Mather (drums), Jaya Jeffery (bass), and Booka Nile (keyboards, clean vocals) alongside the two founding members vocalist Sean Harmanis and guitarist Nick McLernon.

How To Survive A Funeral is a nice gift to conclude the strange first half of 2020. It is one of the most unique diverse metalcore albums of 2020 so far (still behind Trivium's What the Dead Men Say). Literally every element of the band is compiled into this album; brutal growls, emotional cleans, blistering solos, crushing drums, and well-crafted lyrics travelling from a notepad into listeners' minds. Make Them Suffer may sound as if they're going in a less heavy direction of sound, and while that's not true at all, Make Them Suffer's mesmerizing blend of female cleans and crushing screams might be different from when Neverbloom had mostly growling.

The first step of this "funeral survival" guide is "Step One", which unlike the intros in previous albums, is actually forgettable. It sounds an A Day to Remember-copied intro switched into a heavy djent riff that starts when Harmanis screams "SPEAK FROM THE HEART!!!". Then he yells "GO!!" to switch to another more djenty riff. There are so many riffs in this album, but those two riffs in the intro felt a bit unnecessary. But the intro is swiped aside into oblivion with "Falling Ashes", where the real djent-core action starts. This real song is fast and heavy like a motherf***er with melody of malevolence blended together throughout these two and a half minutes. The first one and a half minutes show what to really expect; keyboards over blast beats, pounding drum kicks, speedy guitars, and searing grooves. However, after all that heaviness, there's a surprising bridge to spice things up, with strings, piano, pulsed kicks, distant screams, and what sounds like Booka Nile doing modulating speaking for the first time in a song. After the hypnotizing bridge, the song reprises the wicked throat-twisting aggression for a brief section. "Bones" starts with Sean shouting "I CAN'T BREATHE!!", which in the wake of protests against George Floyd and Eric Garner getting choked to death by policemen, might make you think that's what the song is about, but most likely not. Anyway, that song is one of the grooviest tunes by the band and my personal favorite of this album. The punchy guitar tones and jumpy drums sounds like the song might've been inspired by Issues. It is greatly memorable for its catchy chorus, where the instrumentation gets brighter and Sean sings cleanly for the first time, sounding like August Burns Red's Jake Luhrs' attempts in clean singing, in contrast to the darker djent-core passages. The final chorus especially would be worth singing along to once the band can go on gigs again. Speaking of August Burns Red, I love both MTS' "Bones" and ABR's "Bones", they're both equally great!

"Drown With Me" is a song I don't mind, a straight heavy song released as one of this album's in-advance singles. When I first heard it, I thought it was one of the most radical recent songs by the band, but now that I've heard the other wilder tracks in the album, it's now my d*mn least favorite song in the album. It just doesn't hold up! Booka Nile's chorus in that song is the weakest here. However, "Erase Me" has the exact opposite, the album's strongest chorus, though it surprising sounds like Alicia Keys' melody in the chorus of Jay-Z's "Empire State of Mind". A funny uncanny comparison, but nonetheless the track lets rip a lot of their epic heaviness. I LOVE IT!!! The ultimate song of the album; flow, structure, layers, build-up...everything! This anthem as put Make Them Suffer at its highest tier. You might never hear another emotional powerful medley of blast beats, bright melody, and black-ish tones, except maybe from a band like Oathbreaker. Their absolute best song in the band's Rise era and a perfect choice for the album's first single! One of the more externally written tracks, "Soul Decay" is a solid metalcore song about a vision of someone falling from grace. The song is loaded with regret and venom, but I think it could've done without its last minute, right after the crushing breakdown ("burn it to the f***ing ground"!) At that point, the cleanly sung chorus could've been done without. "Fake Your Own Death" is a much better song, a short but heavily angry brutal metalcore piece as jarringly killer as a couple songs from their second album Old Souls. This is way more rage than a milk-lover noticing their cup of milk emptied and is one of the sickest songs ever by the band. Sean performs chaotic growls over killer guitar harmonics, and tight breakdowns, all in an urgent sense that other bands never dare to capture.

The title track begins with more of those killer guitar harmonics, all played in screaming metal riff-wrath, adding dissonance to the composition. After all that wild riffing, Booka sings one of her smoothest choruses with the band. That whole contrasting chemistry works well, leading up to a final bridge of vocal layering, similar to that hypnotic bridge in "Falling Ashes" but heavier. The title track's drum beats, piano melodies, and soft vocals show a different side of Make Them Suffer, as if it's something new yet something old. I'm OK with that! All those dynamic changes integrated sound greatly thought-out to the point where the next album should have deeper experimentation, just as long as stand by the sound they're known for. "The Attendant" is one of the most well-written songs in the album, and surprisingly it's more a metalcore power ballad with slower melodic rock dynamics. After all those hints of Sean singing from earlier in this album, he fully reveals his clean side, unlocking a great achievement for the band. He has lovely singing, especially in his chorus duet with Booka. I enjoy that song, despite sounding closer to one of Loathe's ballads. I have a feeling that the ending "That’s Just Life" was meant to be a bonus track out of the Worlds Apart sessions, but it's included in this album anyway to so it doesn't come out as an EP. I guessed that because it's so different! The guitars in the verses are overpowered by ethereal melody crossing over with djenty moments of gritty bass. After a brief soft moment of rising percussion, the vengeful heaviness comes back. The overused electronics don't matter anyway because this is still quite a strong conclusion to this album.

Yes, I did say how short this album is. How to Survive a Funeral is only over 35 minutes long, but I still love it besides a few small parts worth skipping. This entire album shows what bands should try and do; add fresh new elements while staying in their heavy roots. I was fortunate enough to defy that slight album delay (F*** COVID), and what's even more fortunate is what a great year it has been when it comes to metal releases. Metalcore fans should really get this album and learn How to Survive a Funeral!

Favorites: "Falling Ashes", "Bones", "Erase Me", "Fake Your Own Death", "The Attendant"

Here it is, the remaining piece of the Maudlin of the Well metal puzzle. The one album that made me want to review it along with its debut My Fruit Psychobells... This would be the band's last album before all the members leave it for a different project. They would be... Leaving Your Body Map!

Now that I've listened to this album again, I think it's now tied with its companion album Bath as my favorite Maudlin of the Well album, thereby causing the pair to be one of my favorite avant-prog metal double-albums. Just like the newer, more extreme spawn Ne Obliviscaris, it's a mix of mixes; emo-death metal, astral avant-garde metal, and jazzy progressive metal. One moment there would be a mellow jazz section with trumpets, flutes, and female vocals, and the next there's heavy riffs and death growls.

First track "Stones of October's Sobbing" starts nice and slow before making a sudden switch to early Anathema-esque death-doom with jazzy hints. "Gleam in Ranks" is my favorite here. It starts smooth but eventually gets heavier with pounding drumming in the ending chorus. "Bizarre Flowers/A Violent Mist" has a warm gothic feeling.

Continuing the interludes from Bath, "Interlude 3" is in a more ambient vein. "The Curve That to an Angle Turn'd" also starts slow and smooth for a minute and a half before turning the angle into death-doom, just like the first track. What's different is, just under the 4 minute mark, it switches to nightclub jazz with a clean female/male duet. Nightwish's "Slow Love Slow", anyone? Then the last minute and a half is chaotic jazzy extreme metal! A brilliant highlight! Another favorite is "Sleep is a Curse", which is surprisingly a non-metal song with just acoustic guitars and clean singing, later adding violins. A relaxing break between two chaotic metal songs.

"Riseth He, the Numberless" is a two-track suite, though I think it's better as one track for absolute extreme action! "Part 1" is another highlight, this time being the heaviest song on the album, probably the band! Really, there's no heavier impact this band could've ever made. The lyrics are metal as f***, and the screams/growls sound demonic. Then it transitions to "Part 2", and I ain't sh*tting you when I say the song sounds a lot like Tiamat's Wildhoney; rainy ambiance, a steady drum beat, serene harp, and of course eventually the gothic death-doom heaviness. An epic extreme two-parter!! The final interlude "Interlude 4" has more influences than the other interlude here. Finally, "Monstrously Low Tide" starts with a heavy bombastic intro before becoming peaceful for the rest of the song, with the album ending like how it began, in slow ambiance.

Maudlin of the Well could easily blend genres and add relevant meaning to their music, and that's why they're one of my favorite bands. Sadly, Leaving Your Body Map would be their last metal album before taking a hiatus in favor of side project Kayo Dot then return with a prog-rock album. But still, this is underground avant-prog metal at its best!

Favorites: "Gleam in Ranks", "The Curve That to an Angle Turn'd", "Sleep is a Curse", "Riseth He, the Numberless 1 & 2"

When I first came across Maudlin of the Well, I thought it was a bit silly at first because of its name, its cover arts, and massive experimentation, but after listening to and reviewing one of their albums Bath, I now realize how creative and unique this band is! Their debut My Fruit Psychobells... A Seed Combustible was released during the rising scene of different progressive metal bands/artists like Devin Townsend. This album has male/female clean/growling vocals, the usual guitars, bass, keyboards, and drums, plus clarinet and trumpet. Production is a bit bad, but it adds nostalgic feeling and eccentric atmosphere, though it doesn't help the growling vocals which are still sparse.

You might initially think the album doesn't sound too different and instead sounds like something you've heard throughout your lifetime. That's what I thought when I first heard this album. It's like I've heard each genre element from a different place. Weird, isn't it? Having the band's full discography for 5 months now, I knew it would be a good time to listen to this album again, and it is almost a classic! Now I feel up to writing a review for their remaining metal album Leaving Your Body Map after this one.

"Ferocious Weights" is a strange song title because the song isn't so ferocious, being mostly calm especially in its eerie intro. Soon the rest of the instrumentation comes in with the addition of trumpets and eventually nice smooth female vocals. Then comes the clean male vocals, and soon the song switches to crazy fast extreme metal soloing before returning to the calmness with good female vocals and unique clean guitar before ending the song on a heavy note. This would probably be my favorite song if not for something much more majestic to come much later. "A Conception Pathetic" is definitely ferocious starting with death metal and psycho growling switching back and forth with unforgettable clean guitar. Then it ends with a haunting carnival-like melody. "Undine and Underwater Flowers" starts with slow melody and soft male singing going up to falsetto. When the full instrumentation goes on, it's not totally heavy but still strange, painting an otherworldly landscape of two alien lovers gathering underwater flowers. This is almost progressive stoner rock! I swear I don't do drugs.

"The Ocean, the Kingdom, and the Temptation" once again starts with calm atmosphere before having more growling heaviness. You can call that song an 11-minute epic, but those last 3 minutes is just ambient experimentation. Still an awesome epic though! "Pondering a Wall" starts heavy, but not death-metal heavy until the two-minute mark. Then 30 seconds later, it gets slightly softer. And right in the middle of the song, it reaches it soft point with female vocals before going slightly heavier again.

Then comes my favorite of the album, "Catharsis of Sea Sleep and Dreaming Shrines". There's some amazing clean guitar here, and the growling, I kid you not, sounds calm! As for the rest of the music, it's so hard and weird to explain, you just have to listen to it. After all that heavy chaos, "Blight of River Systems" is just laid-back jazzy prog rock song, but the second half contains a great duet and solo. My 3rd favorite behind "Ferocious Weights" and "Catharsis..."! However, the two-minute "Outro" is just pointless whispering, that's why I gave this 4.5 stars instead of 5. A couple reissues include two bonus tracks that are old demos; "Beauty" and "The Crystal Margin".

If you like progressive/avant-garde metal with astral trumpets, you're definitely in the right place with My Fruit Psychobells... A Seed Combustible! Though due to a bit of heaviness and experimentation, this might not be for everyone....

Favorites: "Ferocious Weights", "The Ocean, the Kingdom, and the Temptation", "Catharsis of Sea Sleep and Dreaming Shrines", "Blight of River Systems"

American metalcore band As I Lay Dying returns after a few-year hiatus with their seventh album Shaped of Fire, released on September 20, 2019. The band that consists of vocalist Tim Lambesis, guitarists Phil Sgrosso and Nick Hipa, bassist/clean vocalist Josh Gilbert, and drummer Jordan Mancino did an excellent job recording this album and even produced it themselves. In case you've living under a rock like Patrick Star and haven't heard about the impact that stunned the metalcore community, the hiatus began in 2014 when Tim Lambesis was sentenced to 6 years in prison for attempt to hire a hitman to murder his estranged wife. Everyone thought the band was over and Tim would no longer be in the metal business, but it's as if the metalcore gods blessed him with a second chance. He was released from prison after nearly half of his sentence and managed to reunite with the other 4 members who all forgave him. And now As I Lay Dying have a made a brilliant album that might just be their heaviest!

If there's one band member I really enjoy and is one of the keys to their success, it's drummer Jordan Mancino. People say that he's one of the best drummers in metalcore and even metal in general, and that sounds about right. He fully displays his ability and does it better when it's heavy. Tim managed to sound the same as he did in previous albums, as if he was never gone. On the other hand, you can still hear him screaming in pain as he's...well, screaming, which adds some personal vibes to the band. Of course other albums like the one I reviewed, An Ocean Between Us, are personal as well, just not having the amount of pain and relief found in Shaped by Fire. As for the other guys, the guitar duo continue their amazing work to level up this album, and the bass and clean vocals of Josh Gilbert blend in with everything else.

A cinematic kickoff to the album, the massive rising intro "Burn to Emerge" is set by a grand drum march. Then it seamlessly segues to the thrashy "Blinded", showing that the band still has what they have even after a long split. It has a fast technical riff inspired by In Flames from 20 years prior along with a melodic singalong chorus. The furious vocal assault of Lambesis lets us hear him channeling his inner Tomas Lindberg or another death growler, while Josh Gilbert's singing has solid melody without sounding whiny. The two guitar sorcerers really steal the show though. The title track is heavier, sounding closer to djent. It's a fun djenty song to listen to for some low-tuned headbanging joy. The masterful "Undertow" has clean vocals and subtle keyboard melodies to chill you to the bone, while Tim roars out his unclean growls. There's even a sick breakdown. One of the most awesome songs in the album!

"Torn Between" has standard quality that never disappoints. A fresh flashback to An Ocean Between Us! "Gatekeeper" is a drum-oriented piece of heavy fury. The guitar solo with background blast beats is a great example of something decently unexpected. "The Wreckage" is the longest song of the album at just nearly 5 minutes. It starts with soft guitar and clean vocals before the brutal heaviness kicks in again. Rhythm and melody are in a nice balance. The gang vocals can be a bit annoying, but the song is still really cool. Next up is "My Own Grave", the band's first song released since reforming. This is the perfect song of the album with harsh screams, melodic cleans, blistering guitars, and the best drumming ever from the band. Excellent deep personal lyrics!

More of the heavy-melodic balance can be found in "Take What's Left", especially in the guitar melodies and both the unclean vocals and meaningful clean vocals that appear in the chorus. More drum blasting here! Next song, featuring Jake Luhrs from August Burns Red, "Redefined" has angrier vocals and insane drumming and fulfilling guitar melodies. The clean vocals still do their respective part. "Only After We've Fallen" is another great track with more of Tim's vocals in front of the instrumentation that never sleeps. One of the strongest songs here! And finally, the concluding track "The Toll It Takes" plays heavy once more while having a mostly clean chorus for a melodic impact.

Shaped by Fire is an amazing album but not perfect enough to fully commit to listening to this band. However, for any metalcore fan who's slightly older than me, those fans would hail this as the triumphant return to a band that dominated their high school years. It's great to redeem yourself from mistakes in life and learn what to avoid in the future. I hope Tim Lambesis completely throws the devil off his shoulder. I might not feel up for this band, but it's a must-have for fans of As I Lay Dying and all of metalcore!

Favorites: Blinded, Undertow, Gatekeeper, My Own Grave, Redefined, Only After We've Fallen

I waited two and half years for this album...and I finally got it last weekend!! Trivium album #9, What the Dead Men Say was released on April 24, 2020, much to the delight of metalheads (such as myself) looking forward to more awesome stuff from those American metal masters. The band that consists of guitarist/vocalist Matt Heafy, guitarist Corey Beaulieu, bassist Paolo Gregoletto, and drummer Alex Bent are ready to unleash another metal storm. Throughout the two months prior to the album release, the band released practically the entire first half of the album (minus the intro), as separate singles. A bit of a spoiler there, but it got me pumped up more than anything else in my life! And now the album's here, and it seems like they picked out elements of all their previous albums and blended them into a masterpiece. I'm glad that worked out super-well!

Aside from What the Dead Men Say having the band's usual thrashy metalcore sound made out of what they used in every previous release, there are some new other elements in here too, like the heavier songs sounding a bit like melodic black/death. Picking up where The Sin and the Sentence left off, most of the lyrics are based on dark modern aspects of everyday life, which is the kind of business they've dealt with in their previous album. Bring those aspects to the foreground, you're about to witness some amazing lyrics that continue Trivium's reign as one of the best metal bands in the current modern era...

"IX" is the two-minute intro named after the fact that this is the band's ninth album. It starts eerily yet soft and clean, sounding a bit like a continuation of the In Waves outro "Leaving This World Behind", then it speeds a little for a grand heavy buildup, before seguing into a song so f***ing perfect. The title track might take a few listens to fully grasp it, but the end result is this song becoming possibly my favorite Trivium song since the In Waves title track! The catchy chorus is a bit repetitive yet something I would never change. I say it has the fury of The Sin and the Sentence and the technicality of Shogun mixed into a hard-written song that's been missing from the band for many years until now. A total destroyer I profusely love! Next track "Catastrophist" has some risks that end up paying off greatly, such as a radio-friendly singalong chorus. Then at the halfway mark, the mosh pit opens with a face-tearing assault. The furious drumming is what keeps everything together and not fall out of place. "Amongst the Shadows and the Stones" is filled with crushing technical fury. The brutal chorus would grind you to dust and eat your remains like a motherf***er.

"Bleed Into Me" opens with audible bass riffing, plus the glorious vocals of Matt Heafy. It is an almost grunge-like power ballad with monstrous atmosphere that you can sing and scream along to with tears in a heavy rainstorm in the dark night. The post-chorus riff is an absolute headbanger. I absolute love the next track, "The Defiant". It is my second-favorite track in this album (behind the title track), recalling the older days of Ascendancy, blending with the modern songwriting and fantastic lyrics found in this album. Even the unclean vocals are beautiful. With all that and the perfect instrumentation overall, that would make older fans ecstatic and newer fans in love. "Sickness Unto You" has a darker mood and breaks through technical limits with an extreme storm of riffs and drums possessing your body. Who needs MTV?! You got this song that's far more fun than any of those lame pop music videos!

First heard in a trailer for the new Mortal Kombat game, "Scattering the Ashes" has quite some bittersweet melancholy. Not only does Gregoletto shine with his prominent bass, he also does beautiful background harmonies behind Matt Heafy's lead vocals. After that melodic piece comes the heavy roaring "Bending The Arc to Fear". This is where the Heafy's black metal influences that were somewhat present in the previous album come in through his rhythm riffing and the lightning-fast blast-beat drumming. This is probably one of the diversely crushing heavy offerings in this album, probably by the band, an influenced mix of melodeath/black/prog metal. The clean vocal and lead guitar interplay are a bit Rush-like, while the infectious closing riffing closes off the brutality. And finally, "The Ones We Leave Behind" is an epic closer that keeps the intensity while having incredible melody. Apparently, this song gives a powerful message that takes on a whole meaning of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, thereby giving us a great song to fit in as we're restricted by this global maelstrom of sickness. Everything the band did in this album is nicely compiled into this furious blend of heavy and melodic, along with some of the hardest riffing in their career. Absolute metal glory!!

Overall, What the Dead Men Say has a lot for the band to build on since The Sin and the Sentence. Trivium continues going the right direction of mastering their metal craft with a massive blend of new and old influences. Any fan of heavy metal and Trivium will really love this album to bits. I suggest purchasing this album and sharing it with any of your metalhead friends. Trivium is still at the top of their metal game!

Favorites: "What the Dead Men Say", "Catastrophist", "The Defiant", "Sickness Unto You", "The Ones We Leave Behind"

So I've heard that this album is, in some ways, similarly inspired by Tiamat's Wildhoney, and I thought "Hey, I like Wildhoney! Maybe I'll just check out this song that got shared." (I'll tell you what song it is later on in the review) So I did, and it was true! It does sound like a brighter, more experimental Wildhoney. And when this album got recommended to me and a few other Infinite members, I knew I had to find out if there's any more Wildhoney to feed the metal Pooh Bear within me.

I gotta admit, Maudlin of the Well is indeed a band that is so incredibly unique. Their music is a lovable range from death metal to progressive rock to jazz fusion. Bath is one of the best experimental metal albums I've heard since Cynic's Focus! Too bad Maudlin has been inactive for almost a decade, so we gotta enjoy what they have.

The album starts with "The Blue Ghost/Shedding Qliphoth", one g****mn long calm overture. Seriously, this is an 8-minute album intro filled with mostly jazz! Then when it fades out, and right when metal purists are thinking of ejecting the CD and setting it on fire, at literally the last minute the heaviness explodes in loudness, causing those metal purists to reconsider their motive and listen to the rest of the album. And yes, that's the song I listened to believed when it's said that it sounds like Wildhoney. But if you thought you're gonna hear a beautiful album, let me tell you... "They Aren't All Beautiful"! This second track is the first actual song for fans of both death metal and jazz. First starting off as straightforward tech-death, then it transitions to a jazzy pace, then back to death metal. When Gojira at the time meets Cynic's Focus! The third song "Heaven and Weak" starts with a slightly weak slow intro, but gets more progressive and heavier before twisting into stronger aggression to f*** off that weak heaven. The fourth track is the "Interlude 1", the first interlude (not counting the long overture), filled with eerie synths over standout acoustic bass.

Next up is the infamous "The Ferryman". It starts with a organ dirge intro for 45 seconds, then fades into a slow second beginning part with soft cymbals and drums. Then the softness is cut off by a sudden progression to slow death-doom that speeds up to tech-death. Then there are some female vocals to give the song a similar vibe to mid-90s Therion. After that song ends, you hear something different; water being splashed around a bath tub! I guest that's the titular part of this album. It segues to "Marid's Gift of Art", where the water splashes fade out, making way for a nice acoustic melody and clean vocals. Soon, trumpet played by Jason Bitner (not to be confused with Shadows Fall drummer Jason Bittner), cello, and bass become audible. Now for my personal favorite, "Girl With a Watering Can", starting with clarinet, then more female singing and soothing guitar. Then the riffing gets heavier and the male singing comes in again. Then after a short soft break, it gets heavier with a killer guitar solo. F***ing amazing!

"Birth Pains of Astral Projection" is the over 10-minute epic of this album. It gets pretty weird throughout this song, especially in the riffs. After starting soft over 3 minutes, it switches to bad-a** death-ridden progressive metal to for any metalhead to enjoy. That's the last bit of death metal you would hear before the two soft end-songs. The next interlude "Interlude 2" has more splashing water with bass and piano beside an easy guitar riff. Final song "Geography" is also soft and slow, but with amazing clean singing.

I can tell you what an amazing album Bath is, but it's one of those masterpieces that you gotta hear to believe. Please, just buy this album, you won't regret spending your money! I plan on listening to Maudlin's other albums when possible, and maybe you can too, anytime including taking a bath. A once-in-a-lifetime avant-prog metal treasure!

Favorites: "The Blue Ghost/Shedding Qliphoth", "They Aren't All Beautiful", "The Ferryman", "Girl With a Watering Can", "Birth Pains of Astral Projection"

The self-titled third album by Chimaira is quite strong album, though not enough to start fully listening to this band, even though I've heard a couple Chimaira songs before. Listening to his album might be difficult for the first time when the songs keep running into each other, especially the songs in the middle. As a newcomer to Chimaira, I might experience that problem, but I would have get used to it enough for the album to properly reveal itself.

One problem with this album is the lack of diversity in the ideas, which would make you ask, "Haven't I heard this in an earlier track?" Maybe it's because some riffs aren't so unique, neither are the growling vocals of Mark Hunter. However, it seems like enough patience would get them all to shine.

The opening track "Nothing Remains" is the best song in this album. What makes this interesting is the melodic solo section, plus some furious riff-wrath continuing until the end. The chorus is absolutely memorable. None of the other good tracks in the album are as awesome as this one. If you don't like this one, nor will you like any other track here. "Nothing Remains" will surely keep your attention throughout the album. The main riff of "Save Ourselves" that starts at the 40-second mark is a thrashy riff worth headbanging. Next track "Inside the Horror" is much slower than those first two fast aggressive songs, thereby adding some variety. It has the slow groove metal pace of Pantera with extreme vocals and dark lyrical mood. The lyrics are far out of the self-hatred you might find in their previous metalcore album The Impossibility of Reason.

Another one of the best tracks in this album is "Salvation", with melodic guitar work. Next one "Comatose" is filled with extreme aggression and the fast tempo returns after being slowed down in the previous two songs, which is great and continues the interesting variety. A good song but not enough to stand out. Then there's "Left for Dead", another one of the album's best songs. It opens with a clean melodic solo, then the riffs start, leading up to another crushing riff worth headbanging alongside the great vocals that start there. This is another mid-paced song that's still interesting.

Then we have the decent "Everything You Love". New guy on the drums, Kevin Talley shines with his interesting drumming. "Bloodlust" almost sounds like a different song from the rest of the album, with a slow classic heavy metal opening riff before build up into another good song. "Pray for All" has interesting guitars and drums. Then we reach the end of the path with the closing track "Lazarus". This is another one of the most songs here, being a 7 and a half minute epic. This is definitely interesting despite struggling a bit. After an annoyingly weird 20-second intro, in comes the strong riff-wrath and good vocals. This track may be longer than people might expect, but it is a fan favorite which I can totally understand, and it has the mighty originality of the opening track.

Overall, Chimaira's self-titled third album is a strong album that might take some to unravel its true power. It will certainly never disappoint fans of the band, even with the new drummer. There aren't a lot of new ideas, but it's still a solid album with a few initial problems that would soon be eliminated by the repeated listening....

Favorites: "Nothing Remains", "Salvation", "Left for Dead", "Everything You Love", "Lazarus"

The dusk lives within us all. You can't fight the darkness. Dusk rises to only those who can let their darkness and anger be dispossessed into the music that contains it all. And that music is another fine album by one of the most impressive metal bands!

Converge is a special metalcore band with aggressive art and cathartic passion to resonate with me more than other bands. Pretty much every album they've made is excellent, except for their bland hardcore punk debut. Released 5 years after All We Love We Leave Behind which is their best since Jane Doe, their recent album The Dusk in Us keeps up their artistic exploration into post-hardcore and sludge metal though in slightly more comfortable territory, while unleashing fantastic excitement.

The album makes another perfect kickoff with "A Single Tear", continue Converge's tradition of strong openers from their previous two albums and Jane Doe. It's no biased lie that this is one of the best songs here! Pounding drums and dissonant guitars take an exhilarating speed drive, while vocalist Jacob Bannon screams personal lyrics of self-improvement and fatherhood. I absolutely adore the part in the middle where the guitar melody and vocals form a cathartic mantra. The powerful emotion almost makes me shed a single tear. Paralyzing you like a bullet to the neck, "Eye of the Quarrel" recalls the speed of Axe to Fall. The distorted guitar riffing on "Under Duress" (Anyone else thought that song title was "Under Dress"?) fits well with Bannon's furious screams, encouraging you to raise your fist against the venomous world. "Arkhipov Calm" is never calm with frantic drum beats and phenomenal rhythms.

"I Can Tell You About Pain" is pretty impressive, especially in Bannon's apocalyptic delivery. The 7-minute title track monolith is also impressive though meanders a bit during its long length. While Jacob Bannon's usual harsh vocals are beyond emotional, his clean vocals sound a little empty. It's an unfortunate flaw within the somber guitar riff and the haunting lyrics of monsters within our shadows. After the first 3 minutes, the song starts getting stronger with the instrumentation kicking in, wrapping up this spiritual exorcism with a crying frenzy of "DUSK LIVES WITHIN US!!!" Post-hardcore influences are displayed more in "Wildlife". Same with "Murk and Marrow" with vocals yelling dark poetic lyrics of fear vs. hope, love vs. pain, rising in a personally struggling plague.

Highlight "Trigger" has some punchy bass, though there's also a hip-hop-like chorus. Then there's the aggressive "Broken by Light". That song fits well with "Cannibals" as the most chaotic one-two punch since the dynamic opening duo of Jane Doe. "Thousands of Miles between Us" once again shows the band's success in switching from fast to slow. The clean vocals sound much better and more dynamic alongside the magnificent atmospheric drums and guitars. Similarly, "Reptilian" takes on some more of their sludge metal influence to close the album.

Any band with a consistent discography like Converge might find it difficult when repeatedly playing their signature sound for almost 3 decades. However, you might beg to differ when you listen to The Dusk in Us! This is an album where Converge continues achieving their metalcore standard to feed fans hungry for emotion and violence. They might not have reinvented their metalcore wheel, but they've added subtle improvements to keep the audience in their Converge comfort zones. This is definitely a great album and one of the band's best besides the top 3. They still got their heavy talents for about 30 years as of this review, and it's just insane!

Favorites: "A Single Tear", "Under Duress", "I Can Tell You About Pain", "The Dusk in Us", "Trigger", "Broken by Light", "Thousands of Miles Between Us"

Y'know, before I started listening to the Boston kings of metalcore Converge, I used to think some of the more melodic metalcore bands such as Trivium, All That Remains, Bullet for My Valentine, August Burns Red, and Parkway Drive as some of the best metalcore bands there are. Now I realize how metalcore can focus on aggression more than melody with Converge being one of those aggressive metalcore bands, and I can understand how well they turned out!

After 2009's Axe to Fall where the band enlisted a small deadly army into a ferocious battle of metalcore malevolence, the tables have turned in this album All We Love We Left Behind. Converge left behind their mercenaries and went on their own quest to summon their signature intensity.

Opening track "Aimless Arrow" drops the extreme bomb into an explosion of math-metalcore backed up by vocalist Jacob Bannon sounding more semi-melodic than his earlier atonal screaming. Then "Trespasses" punches in a full assault of blazing percussion, indecipherable screaming, and intricate guitars and bass. This is the same kind of impact as a truck crashing through a house, injuring/killing a family living a normal life until that moment, a fear as ugly and nasty as the production that gives the track an excellent advantage. The tremendous speed works much better than the first track's calculated rhythm. "Tender Abuse" continues the one-two punch that throws your fears into a sea of stylistic changes. "Sadness Comes Home" has guitar architecture so complex that it would be almost impossible to imitate the band. Let's see try to copy the band now, you dirty impersonators!

On a simpler note, "Empty on the Inside" fully displays drummer Ben Koller's talents, as he does a military march through the song's midsection that make the track another highlight. Then the tempo is more controlled before its transition back to devastation. "Sparrow's Fall" continues the band's mission to burst your veins from the inside for a minute and a half. "Glacial Pace" has a Katatonia-esque doomy shoegaze intro before switching into the band's usual abstract sound, including the screaming chorus, "If being alive is just to survive, a glacial pace comes to an end". Next song "Vicious Muse" is vicious blistering cut that ignites a chaotic cyclonic mosh-pit with relentless thrash-punk metalcore that functions perfectly. "Veins and Veils" continues the math-metalcore one-two punch to the face.

"Coral Blue" is a bit of a surprise with slow sludgy doom metal structure and melodic layered chorus. Fantastic! Next song "Shame In The Way" burns the last extreme flame for this album, providing the band's harshest moments before the calmer embers. The first part of the calm trilogy "Precipice" is a gorgeous interlude that brings to mind a few prisoners with their legs chained to one another wandering to the nearest coal mine never getting the freedom they wish for. The accessible title track has a soft intro that soon unleashes mid-tempo drumming, followed by insane catchy riff that make you hope you're getting a metalcore song. Then the vocals come and even though they sound a bit murky and a bit closer to those of the first track, the band still keep their heavy focus. Amazing! "Predatory Glow" closes the curtain on a dramatic note with intermittent drums and screams backed up by gang vocals. It's more than just a slow-burner, it's a cry of hellfire fury, warning listeners that the album is over but the band would be back with more wrath. Of course, there are a few wicked bonus tracks scattered around in the deluxe edition; "No Light Escapes", "On My Shield", and "Runaway".

All We Love We Leave Behind is absolutely packed with great chaotic songs that help the band show the true meaning of American metallic hardcore. Converge still reign as one of the greatest metalcore bands still living. Long live the true kings of metalcore!

Favorites: Aimless Arrow, Sadness Comes Home, Empty on the Inside, Glacial Pace, Vicious Muse, Coral Blue, All We Love We Leave Behind

As a wise eye-patched agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. once said, "This ain't my first rodeo, kid." Converge have their own two-decade rodeo where the bullhorns can shred your face and gouge your eardrums. Since 1998's When Forever Comes Crashing, their full-length albums are hardcore classics that have all they can do. Continuing to evolve their great expanding boundaries, their seventh album Axe to Fall might be their most dangerously ambitious album yet!

With guitarist Kurt Ballou producing, Axe to Fall is another incredibly extraordinary album, mixing old and new parts of their chaotic discography. While there's still the furious howls of vocalist Jacob Bannon, vintage riff-wrath of Ballou, and the lean mean drumming machine that is Ben Koller, guest musicians shake things up here.

"Dark Horse" is probably the most accessible song by the band while having the usual monstrous metalcore fury. It has a fast technical riff that plays many times in the song, while in the middle there's a crushing breakdown with Jacob Bannon's powerful shrieking. Next song "Reap What You Sow" is another killer song. The furious title track would make you set a locomotive on fire with passengers still inside. "Effigy" has some members of Cave In crashing in to help you detonate a bomb and blow a huge crater in the middle of the city.

The crushing two-part choice cut "Worms Will Feed/Rats Will Feast" slows the action down to sludgy doom. The neck-breaking "Wishing Well" has guest guitar/vocals by Uffe Cederlund (Disfear, Entombed). "Damages" is another highlight where the fury is replaced by a guitar march by another guest guitarist Tim Cohen (108). The fury doesn't return until "Losing Battle". That song and "Dead Beat" once again have Converge's typical metalcore madness.

Next track "Cutter" has a heavy cutting edge with the band at quick efficiency for exactly 100 seconds. That song and "Slave Driver" recapture the earlier fury, the latter having flowing lyrical imagery. That would actually be the last song here with Bannon's vocals. Taking over the mic is Neurosis' Steve Von Till in "Cruel Bloom", whose gravelly voice and haunting choir make it sound a song by Tom Waits. It's not until the final minute when the vicious fury crashes down. "Wretched World" is a 7-minute atmospheric epic taken over by members of Genghis Tron and drummers John-Robert Conners (Cave In) and Brad Fickeisen (The Red Chord). An astonishing remarkable Converge song!

Axe to Fall has both some of Converge's most accessible tracks and some of their most complex layered tracks that you wouldn't fully digest right away. It's an absolute paradox, and that's OK because it helps make Converge a very advanced band out there. While it's pretty clear that the band has deserved their place in the metal hall of fame for so long, Converge continues releasing challenging music that no other band can follow. Let the axe fall!

Favorites: "Dark Horse", "Axe to Fall", "Worms Will Feed/Rats Will Feast", "Damages", "Dead Beat", "Cutter", "Wretched World"

In a world of enemies, there are no heroes, and you are destined to walk alone. With their 2006 album No Heroes, metalcore heroes Converge continue being as intense as a motherf***er. An essential thing to understand about Converge is their presence. I'm pretty lucky to be way more of an album listener than a live concert attendee because metalcore concerts are almost as berserk as a prison riot! It looks like Converge and The Dillinger Escape Plan both have the greatest live concert intensity.

Another successful factor of Converge is the technicality of their music. Every member is a master of what they do, and they're fine with staying with just 3 instrumentalists and a vocalist. You know the saying, "Too many cooks f*** up the broth." (well not exactly like that, but you get it) Kurt Ballou has some of the most inventive guitar skills in extreme metalcore. The same can be said for the drumming talents of Ben Koller. Bassist Nate Newton’s tone sounds so rhythmic like a rhythm guitar that no wonder the band carried on as a quartet after Jane Doe. And vocalist Jacob Bannon's screams sound like he drank a whole bottle of Hell's hot sauce before starting recording, which is good because it helps with the band's nasty attitude. With all those important factors, new thrashy ideas used since their prior album You Fail Me, and the rest of Converge's earlier history, you got another fine record from those metalcore masters.

Converge once again moves the boring sh*t out of the way for the album to begin with 5 one-to-two minute-length sucker-punches in the face, starting with "Heartache" built on different tempos and meters from neck-breaking verses to a strange rhythmic chorus. They know how to speed through without breaking. Then there's "Hellbound" with its siren-like riff. And then we have the dark chaotic atonement of "Sacrifice". Track 4 "Vengeance" is impressive but the familiarity is too much to hide. After f***ing up your eardrums with that 4-pack punch, "Weight of the World" is more of a softer interlude similar to the intro of their previous album "You Fail Me". Still it's a great segue to the killer Jane Doe leftover-ish title track with crazy good lyrics ("NO MORE HEROES!! NO MORE!! NO MORE!! In my world of enemies I walk alone!!!").

Then we have the sludgy "Plagues". But if you thought that was sludgy, listen to the album's two-part almost 10-minute centerpiece, "Grim Heart/Black Rose"! This epic once again proves the band's distinct brilliance in expanding their territory into epic horizons as they did with the title track of Jane Doe, while maintaining their identity to not sound like a Neurosis clone. The first part, "Grim Heart" is a song of evocative mourning performed by guest vocalist Jonah Jenkins (Only Living Witness and other bands) whose emotive vocals fit perfectly with the slow bleak march to give it a Mastodon vibe. Then at around the 6-minute mark begins the second part "Black Rose" which after calming down for a bit blasts off into rhythmic frenzy, ethereal guitar notes, and the torturous howls of Jacob Bannon. One of the most impressive Converge moments, though it can't beat the superior "Jane Doe" epic. "Orphaned" sounds a bit emo, which is a bit of a letdown after that killer epic. "Lonewolves" has more of a melodic hardcore song, though it proves how much the bad kick a** in a slightly different genre to their usual. "Versus" continues the band's ability to add speed to post-hardcore in a more formally inventive way to please the heavier modern fans.

Then we have a later highlight, the percussion/chant plaguing "Trophy Scars" which is one of the best of the album, maybe by the band. "Bare My Teeth" continue having all the instruments and vocals flying out of control, though this time the chaos isn't enough for the song because of the guitars and vocals each doing their own thing and never being able to mix. The same issue occurs with "To the Lions", not helped by the anti-climatic fade-out, though worth ending this still excellent metalcore rollercoaster ride.

Yeah, I think No Heroes would've had a perfect 5/5 if it weren't for those two ending tracks. Despite that, every other song is never bad at all with lengths ranging from one minute to ten minutes, thereby fulfilling the band's success in delivering extreme heavy metalcore. Though the ordering is another problem. The most enjoyable part of the album is the first half, then after that starts slowly going downhill. Had the album structure been more randomized in quality, maybe then it would reach that perfect 5-star rating. Still you can never criticize the top-notch lyrics and experimentation that make No Heroes another great intense Converge record. Hail the true metalcore heroes!

Favorites: "Heartache", "Vengeance", "No Heroes", "Grim Heart/Black Rose", "Lonewolves", "Versus", "Trophy Scars"

Jane Doe is considered to be Converge's greatest achievement, and that sounds just about right! Everything is in a seamless flow as each band member pours out all their emotion to be able to fuse together this math-metalcore classic album. They have their signature intense screaming vocals, crushing guitar riffs, insane drumming, beautiful undecipherable lyrics, and strongly present killer bass, all put in this perfect cauldron of hardcore metal madness!

If you're not a fan of music this brutal and don't dare to go past that opening paragraph, or in other words, you're like my mother who thinks this is nothing but noise, disagree with me if you want. Converge would still be a jolly good underground metalcore fellow which nobody can deny. What's brilliant about Jane Doe is not only the great tracks but also how they flow into a superb concept album. Is this a concept album? Probably... The lyrics focus on heartbreak and separation, whereas the music pins you to the wall and starts punching you in the head and kicking you in the b*lls until you're bleeding and begging for mercy.

"Concubine" opens the album starts beating you senseless right away. This perfect opener almost counts as an intro due to its one-minute length. It has everything crammed into that minute including memorable brutal riffs, insane drumming, and intense screams by vocalist Jacob Bannon. That's what extreme hardcore is all about! "Fault and Fracture" segues in without skipping a beat, continuing the earth-quaking brutality. If you're unfamiliar with this awesome heavy sh*t, you're gonna get floored hard. While not reaching the extreme level of the "intro", the memorable technical guitars and drums can still cause mass destruction. The drum fills are so fast it's crazy, and the guitars are practically torn apart. Bannon's furious shrieks are still fantastic as h*ll, causing brilliance in the lyrical intricacy. "Distance and Meaning" has an opening dissonant guitar riff before becoming calmer but still ultra-extreme. What I like the best is when the instruments calm down with eerie whispers from Bannon before exploding into feedback fury that can really obliterate your eardrums. "Hell To Pay" is really slow, with the thick bass to help give it a sludgy vibe and a great suiting tone.

Then "Homewrecker" cranks the chaos back to full throttle. It is a definitely a killer standout in everything from the lyrics to the vocals and instruments with higher versatility than bands like Botch. There's some more brilliant guitar work and drumming. The brilliant chorus kick a** with drums, riffs, and vocal howls that can really wreck your home if you play it at full blast. "The Broken Vow" has remarkable lyrics from not just Bannon but also from other hardcore vocalists like Kevin Baker (The Hope Conspiracy), Tre McCarthy (Deathwish Inc.), and Caleb Scofield (Cave In) (RIP), especially during the final screaming line, "I'll take my love to the grave!!" Another short track "Bitter and Then Some" continues the chaotic vocal/riff assault. "Heaven In Her Arms" is another showcase of dangerous high-voltage brutality.

"Phoenix in Flight" continues shaping the album into an absolute classic. The song's "outro", "Phoenix in Flames" is just drums and vocals, allowing Bannon's awesomely demented vocals to really shine. Then it flows to another wonderful gem, "Thaw". You can feel the intense vocal emotion overpower you as he screams over the brutal instrumentation. Saving the absolute best for last, the 11 and a half minute title epic is probably the longest track by Converge. This is Converge's "Shogun"! It is the final piece of this metalcore puzzle that high-school hardcore fans would be blasting through their speakers. This is a brilliant incredible work of emotion! Bannon softly sings "I want out" in the chorus (much softer than Helloween's "I Want Out") to escape this nightmarish chaos. There's even a soloing section! At the 9-minute mark, Bannon screams the final lyrics, "RUN ON, GIRL, RUN ON!!!", as a riff makes an epic layering buildup going on until the fade-out. A terrific ending to a true metalcore closing epic!

So that's it! That's Converge's ultimate masterpiece Jane Doe. I would recommend this to fans of music that is intelligent, emotional, and brutal. You have to make a full listening experience to put it in the best part of your metalcore collection. Jane Doe ain't anonymous no more!

Favorites: Concubine, Fault and Fracture, Homewrecker, Heaven in Her Arms, Thaw, Jane Doe

Converge is known as one of the pioneers of the metal/hardcore mix that is metalcore, and a developer of its mathematical subgenre mathcore. They're highly popular in the metalcore community despite the lack of mainstream attention. Its extreme taste might take a while to get used to but it has gotten better as time went on and the band would reach bigger labels for a bigger audience...

I'm definitely sure you won't get straight into Converge right away. Listening to a band that extreme takes time for its full pleasure. I thought When Forever Comes Crashing only deserved a lower rating at first, but now I realize how incredibly extraordinary it is! I think another math/metalcore band this good is The Dillinger Escape Plan.

"My Unsaid Everything" starts as the ultimate standout for this album representing everything to come in this album. They didn't even need an easy intro, it's just crazy since the beginning. The screams are good though hard to understand. It never goes slow or soft, it's all fast heavy metalcore all over. Though in the middle of the song, it calms down slightly with a creepy whiny chant. Other than that, absolutely no major changes! It is a never-failing highlight helped by the fast pounding drumming. However, the guitar tone isn't as great as the rest, but I still love that song. "The High Cost of Playing God" continues the berserk metalcore until it ends with strange melodic chords with vocalist Jacob Bannon's whining cries. Next song "In Harm's Way" has weirdly amazing lyrics with Bannon in the perspective of a murderer getting ready to strike ("Goodnight dear angel, I won't be back here in burden, I don't think we'll ever meet again"). A jangle-ish guitar riff drifts as we hear the cries of a man dying from the previous slaughter. Then the heavy mathcore action kicks in during the horror scene of the murderer killing the man's girlfriend. The song ends with strange sounds of electronic drum buzzing.

"Conduit" is a crushing metalcore tune that starts with fast chaos, and I swear, the brief riff fiddling that appears a few times sounds exactly like that of the last part of My Dying Bride's "Vast Choirs". I think I'm the only one who has noticed that because of my interest in both metalcore and death-doom. Anyway, that song has slow breakdowns as well, due to the band's mind-blowing ability to change the tempo and time signature. "The Lowest Common Denominator" is a d*mn weird highlight. It starts with loose clean guitar that sounds a bit downtuned, then Bannon starts screaming in dark gloom that never speeds up, giving it a sludge metal vibe My only complaint is the strange feedback effect in the middle of the song and the ending sounding too long. Besides that, a great song, if that's what it is! "Towing Jehovah" is a short sweet jam (with vocals of course) with pummeling riff dissonance. The title track is filled with headbanging speed before slowing down to a dirge of despair with more of Bannon's whining cries.

"Ten Cents" is a strange unfitting song, sounding too much like a Smiths ballad. The guitar is soft and soothing, same with Bannon's vocals sounding gentle, singing about a past failed relationship of his and the inadequate heartbreak he felt. Next song "Year of The Swine" continues the fast pace with dissonant riffs that sound Slayer on an epic sugar rush. "Letterbomb" is a possible inspiration for the metalcore riffs heard in Between the Buried and Me's first two albums, and that's most likely intentional. The fast craziness continues for the ending track "Love as Arson", filled with bullet-speed math-metalcore. Again no intro, just straight to the fast madness. The drums are amazing, and so is the guitar tone that's better than earlier. I can hear the bass follow the guitar except during the higher guitar riff. The strangely catchy heaviness appeals to me!

So here are some things I like about the album itself: First off, no metalcore fan can ever complain about the strong outstanding vocals, though it's astonishing how Jacob Bannon's vocal chords can survive his screaming sounding so intensely harsh. Second, the songs are all strong for the most part with almost nothing being bad or week. Third, I think both the original album artwork created by Bannon and the reissue artwork by Aaron Turner (Isis) are amazing. However, the album and the band might not appeal to everyone, so don't expect them to reach worldwide classic status. Either way, When Forever Comes Crashing is another fine metalcore album worth your money!

Favorites: "My Unsaid Everything", "Conduit", "The Lowest Common Denominator", "When Forever Comes Crashing", "Love as Arson"

After the overly hardcore punk-ish Halo in a Haystack, the second Converge album Petitioning the Empty Sky marks a great contributor to the birth of the metalcore we know, love, and hate. Who knows what metalcore would've been like if Converge didn't step out of their hardcore comfort zone? I'm glad they did! This album has been praised and put in top-10 hardcore/metalcore album lists, along with other later Converge albums. Petitioning the Empty Sky has caused a new flow in the history of hardcore and heavy metal. If anyone who can't stand metalcore hears this and screams, "What is THIS!?!", the correct answer would be "A revolutionary piece of heavy history!"

Converge wasn't the only band with the idea of inventing metalcore. There seems to be a school of bands experimenting with mixing metal with hardcore, but I'm sure the top student of that metal-hardcore experimentation class is, you guessed it, Converge! And it looks like a couple other bands in 1996/1997 (Cave In and The Dillinger Escape Plan) were already following Converge's steps with their own demos/EPs, though they couldn't go the same height as Petitioning the Empty Sky...except maybe Dillinger's Calculating Infinity. Anyway, unlike Halo in a Haystack and the earlier Converge demo EPs that lean more towards traditional hardcore, their second album unleashed the rhythm vs. melody instrumentation and dissonant vocals of metalcore. It is a raw dynamic brute force to dig out of the underground and change two genres' destinies!

"The Saddest Day" is the first track and the best example of the genre that would develop to be metalcore. It opens with flaming alarm-like guitar cacophony joined by the throbbing rhythm of drums and bass (NOT the genre, the instruments) with a caustic vocal force as vocalist Jacob Bannon screams his lungs out. Before you have the chance to adjust, there's more of the drums and bass in a fast breakdown to remind you that's there's more purpose for metalcore than just moshing. Throughout these chaotic 7 minutes, the song keeps violently twisting and turning, yet maintains their motivation to stay cohesive and consistent. There are many brilliant moments fit into that one song, but you absolutely can't forget the pure ending breakdown of guitar/bass divergence staying insane until it stops, nor the haunting moment in the middle with just clean guitar, cymbals, and an eerie attempt at clean singing. Any of the earliest hardcore metalheads would surely keep those memories in a metalcore scrapbook.

While never being able to reach the brilliance of the first track, the second one "Forsaken" is shorter and focuses on pure metalcore assault. Notably it has a quick melodic section before descending into a sick dark breakdown as Jacob keeps screaming "CARRY ON!!!" Next one "Albatross" has more of the horrendous emo-punk side that killed the mood in their debut album, while turning through fast yet melancholic melody and ending with an uplifting major-chord verse. [does the JonTron "WHAT!?"] "Dead" has bright melody before jumping slowly into another breakdown spiraling into high-pitched guitar dissonance. Then it all crashes into mind-blowing chaos to end the song.

The second side with new tracks to turn this EP into a semi-studio album starts with "Shingles", marked by blazing tempo variations. The one-minute "Buried But Breathing" once again recalls the earlier years of Converge with dark old-sounding rhythm and vocals to scream/sing along to. "Farewell Note to the City" is the most emotional song of the album with minimalist jazzy instrumentation and vocals ranging from singing to emo wailing and, in the accelerated end, screaming similar to hardcore bands like Shai Hulud and Stretch Arm Strong. The last studio song "Color Me Blood Red" is one of my favorites here and delights me with tight metal melody over an incredible breakdown. Then it goes on with killer metalcore until the end. The album was re-released two years later with live tracks that are great but not as much as the studio part of the album.

I can't believe how much technical variety and artistry can be found in this album. UNBELIEVABLE!! While I'm sure there are more experimental metalcore albums out there by bands like Cave In, The Dillinger Escape Plan, and even Converge themselves in their ambient-ish masterpiece Jane Doe, Petitioning the Empty Sky is revolutionary in the hardcore and metal fields, ranging from violent chaos to tranquil melody. Generally, it's a #1 metalcore kick-starter pack!

Favorites: "The Saddest Day", "Dead", "Farewell Note to the City", "Color Me Blood Red"

Converge is one of the most famous and infamous metalcore bands around. They've pioneered the genre, each member has phenomenal talent, their vocalist is chaotic, and they can f*** up song structures while still sounding listenable. However like other bands, there's this dull debut that's f***ed up in a bad way...

Their debut Halo in a Haystack released in 1994 to finally start writing and playing "relevant" music 4 years after their formation. Sadly, this isn't an entirely relevant album. Of the 10 songs in this album, two are good, three are average, and five are outright stinkers that should've never existed. I'm sure those guys were young(er than I am) and just staring out, but their lack of talent is what makes this album mostly dull. The track pacing is the main problem, especially in the first 4 tracks too awful to talk about here.

The average songs start with track #5 "Divinity", which sounds nice but a bit weak. The otherwise dull drumming really leaps out startlingly to kick off "Fact Leaves Its Ghost", but other than that, that song is a mess of chords that does no good. "Antithesis" does not have any good usage in its long length of 5 minutes.

And now for the two good tracks, starting with "Down" the best song in the album. It's another 5-minute track, but it comes out much better with its constant change of sound and styles, dark mood, excellent vocals, and good guitars. While not as good and heavy as in Jane Doe, the guitars still sound decent. That song is really where the riffs stand out and add more feel to the music than the other songs in the album. "Undo" is shorter at just two minutes but another clean highlight that never loses quality. But why didn't I mention the in-between track "Exhale"? It's a very sh*tty stinker, that's f***ing why!! "Exhale" is probably the worst track Converge has ever done!

Halo in a Haystack is another one of those disappointing metalcore debuts. Wait, is this album even metalcore!? It's more of a hardcore punk album! The shorter and longer songs are either average or good, while the intro and radio-length songs are horrible. Converge would level up in later albums to make up for this punk-ish train wreck....

Favorites (only songs I like in this album): "Down", "Undo"

I love August Burns Red for like one and a half years now. I'll probably love them for a long time depending on if I'll still like metalcore in the future. They are one of my current favorite metalcore bands and I wish I could see them live. I think it's been 6 months since I reviewed their previous album Phantom Anthem, and although I said how much I love this album, as much as most of their previous albums, I've just realized how slightly disappointing that album is, having watered down what made them grow. And also the album before that, Found in Far Away Places has some great adventurous instrumentation, but I realized that those elements weren't that needed. Basically, since their great third album Constellations, they've been taking that album's sound and just adding minor additions. So it was about time for August Burns Red to try something new to improve their formula, and August Burns Red fans were wondering if a new decade would mean a new era...

Don't worry, there's no wild sound overhaul, because their new album Guardians (not to be confused with a different Metal Academy clan) is a refreshing change of pace while staying in their usual metalcore sound. There are many new elements to be found, a few of which bring back ideas from their second album Messengers to please the older fans. Of course it's not a sequel to Messengers, but a few songs sound like they could've been in that album.

"The Narrative" wastes no time returning to the heaviness older fans have missed for so long with memorable riffs, plus immense vocals from Jake Luhrs. This is probably the strongest opening track made by August Burns Red, more powerful than the one that opens Leveler. The excellent drop-tuned guitar warfare shows how complementary the guitars are in the guitarist's dynamic talents. Luhrs' vocals explore new dark territories to take over the spotlight. So heavily pummeling! "Bones" is a soaring anthem with a memorable chorus in great pace. Concluding this wonderful opening trio, "Paramount" have great sections that showcase immense riffs and crashing cymbals. This song is probably the closest to the band's original drop C tuning at...drop B. The song has the lyrical theme of need honest help in hard times.

A song with a similar theme is "Defender" which has fantastic drumming charisma. When that song was released as the first single of the album, people found different stuff that might end up in the album, such as a couple brutal breakdowns in the second half of the song. Besides the heavier parts, "Lighthouse" has a few of the most melodic sections made by August Burns Red, making a potential classic. Luhrs' vocals continue exploring new territories. "Dismembered Memory" is a break from the melodic nature with technical drumming and punishing breakdowns. Then "Ties That Bind" brings back the melody from Rescue & Restore with sonic guitar beauty, plus a huge breakdown.

One song the heavier fans can't ignore is the massive "Bloodletter" filled with perfect aggression and over the top breakdowns. It follows the lyrical theme of greedy needs taking over society. The measures are a bit repetitive, but that's just a small flesh-wound of a flaw. "Extinct by Instinct" has higher tempo while letting bassist Dustin Davidson flow with his bass, shining in a brilliant bass solo as a nice break before returning to the harsh heaviness. A song that should be a live staple in the band's Guardians tour and beyond is "Empty Heaven", filled with sing-along choruses and mosh-worthy breakdowns. There are also some thrashy grooves. The album closer "Three Fountains" is, at 6 and a half minutes in length, the longest track on the album. It is a perfect recap of everything the previous songs have, make this one a well-composed album closer. Dustin Davidson really takes the spotlight with his bass grooves that keep the track all the way up to the emotional ending.

Guardians is an album that is written for many longtime August Burns Red fans. It has everything for everyone, mixing influences from every single part of the band's 15-year album streak. This album is definitely not a cynical sellout, rather an album where August Burns Red really enjoys writing their music. Each and every song shows the band's true driving passion, and on top their metalcore cake is the icing layer of energetic vocals by Jake Luhrs. This is an album that's absolutely worth every August Burns Red fan's two and a half year wait. As someone who joined the ABR fan club (not really but you get the idea) almost a year after their previous album, I'm reminded by Guardians about how popular this band is in the metalcore community and how much I love most of their previous material. The August Burns Red we know and love is back!

Favorites: "The Narrative", "Bones", "Defender", "Lighthouse", "Bloodletter", "Three Fountains"

I've never listened to Converge before, which was another thing that's surprising because they're one of the pioneers of metalcore and they helped develop mathcore. But after listening to this album You Fail Me, Converge instantly became one of my favorite bands now. And I owe it all to ONE MAN who has recommended me this album to show how spectacular mathcore can be. So let's get right on it!

Some think of You Fail Me as a superb success while other think it's a failing letdown. I can see that the band has really evolved since the beginning and it's a matter of good and bad opinions about the change. In my opinion, Converge still has their immense sound in this album.

Before the deranged mayhem, "First Light" is a gentle atmospheric intro. Then the mayhem begins with "Last Light", probably the most impressively unique song in the album. The screaming vocal attack of Jacob Bannon ranges from manic to emotional through the lyrics. The song is indeed emotional and you already know what's going on just by listening to it. "Black Cloud" is a standout with the band's earlier aggression. The drumming by Ben Koller ranges from brutal to technical. The heavy guitars are incredible while Bannon continues his hard intense vocals shrieking incomprehensible lyrics. The lyrics are clearer during the structurally messy chorus ("Black cloud til' the end!!"). Continuing the hardcore metal insanity in "Drop Out", guitarist Kurt Ballou shows his versatile talent with an incredible ending riff.

"Hope Street" is short swift set of relentless punches into your face, then after a minute, the song is over before it can knock you out. "Heartless" is definitely an adjective that I would describe song #6. It's as great as the other songs so far. The song is more melodic than the previous two while still containing heavy amounts of heaviness. The ability to combine melody and brutality is what makes Converge so great. The next two songs take a different longer turn, starting with the title track. Any fan of shorter-length hardcore might find the length and mood boring, but it fits perfectly here. The song is a wall of sludge metal sound. Bass, guitars, and drums combine into a pounding mix while Bannon unleashes his shrieking vocal assault. Now this is a sludgy metalcore epic! "In Her Shadow" is the other longer song, but this is calm yet soon experimental acoustic break going on for...6 MINUTES?! Not quite my cup of tea, but I'll go with it. This will help me relax before the big highlight...

"Eagles Become Vultures" is totally the best song here. The intro drum fill sends you into the great hellfire of energetic riffs, insane drums, and vocals screaming scathing lyrics. There's a fantastic breakdown with dissonant chords with Bannon with shrieking, "Our eagles become our vultures!!" There's some more intensity in the bonus track "Wolves at My Door" that can never match the previous one. "Death King" is not as good as the previous songs but still amazing with great banshee-like screaming vocals. "In Her Blood" is a purely brutal track with great tempo changes. "Hanging Moon" is good yet lacks brutality. Great drums, but the vocals sound like a tantrum-prone child.

You Fail Me is no ordinary album. It takes a while for your brain to fully grasp it, and it would help by listening to the previous albums. The short album length (35 minutes without bonus track) is the right length for this album and other hardcore/metalcore albums like this. This album is 99% perfect without any major flaws! The songwriting and production is so intense and brilliant. Sure there are some songs that are weaker than others, but this album works best when listened to entirely. Call it the band's low point if you want, but this shows Converge unleashing their evolving genius. Any heavy intense fan should listen to this band and this album. Converge will never fail you!

Favorites: Last Light, Black Cloud, Drop Out, You Fail Me, Eagles Become Vultures, In Her Blood

Has any other band tried distributing a few singles via an online music subscription-like platform, each one complete with artwork, lyrics, liner notes, and instrumental versions, and then later released them altogether in an EP? No one else besides Protest the Hero! That's how unique that band is.

Those Canadian progressive metallers continue pleasing listeners with smart fun fast music. With their 2016 release Pacific Myth, the outcome isn't different but their production technique definitely is. Each of the 6 songs were originally released one by one via music subscription service Bandcamp with its own special features. Afterwards, they released all 6 songs in an via Razor & Tie Records in November.

Kicking off the EP is "Ragged Tooth" with starts off quickly in fast motion, before stopping the prog-metal action for a small verse. Then the action gets picked up again for its chorus as the band fights through their standards to make that song interesting. Next one "Tidal" is a solid example of what Protest the Hero does best. While sounding like much of their previous material, there are fresh elements to keep it new. The band jumps in with a punch in the listener's face. Soon it slows down a bit for a message to convey, "Why do we work until we’re unable? Why do we work until we die?" To make money and keep the company alive, duh!

Then we move on to "Cold Water", blasting through charging guitar leads. Turning through different time signatures, the guitars soon take a break for an awesome combo of drums, bass, and vocals. When the guitars return, the band continues navigating through more of the unusual time signatures. The heaviest song "Cataract" starts with an insane combo of drums, bass, and guitars. Walker sings with Iron Maiden-like powerful falsetto. There's also some special vocals by Michael Ciccia of Mandroid Echostar.

Starting with a piano intro, "Harbringer" gets wild with loud guitars, progressive bass, and Walker's voice going through screaming and growling more than in the rest of the EP. In fact, this song probably has the most unclean vocals since the earlier days of Kezia and Fortress. The grace is still there to enhance the urgency. Ending the EP is "Caravan" an 8 and a half minute epic odyssey and the longest song recorded by Protest the Hero. They really master the shredding in the first 5 minutes with occasional pausing. Then the tone changes with calm vocals over bass, guitar, and strings. Those strings help add a grand sense that ends the EP in a very epic tone. Unbelievable!

This 35-minute EP Pacific Myth is full of cool surprises and memorable moments, showing off incredible music from each and every band member. The big downside, of course, is this album being an EP shorter than the other albums. Will there be more awesome music the listeners really want? We'll find out when I review the next album....

Favorites: "Tidal", "Cataract", "Caravan"

With The Mars Volta gone, Protest the Hero now reign as the kings of prog-core. PTH are instrumentally as mind-blowing as The Mars Volta along with other prog-core bands like The Fall of Troy and Chiodos. Their fourth album Volition contains everything including spiraling notes, wired tempos, restless interchanges, and pounding virtuosity. Vocalist Rody Walker does tremendous cleans with the same strangely good effect as TMV vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala. For this album, the great drummer of Lamb of God, Chris Adler steps in as a replacement for Moe Carlson. No offense, but if Carlson was still around, this album wouldn't be as great as it already is.

With everything incredible about Volition, the aggravating screams and death growls make a few brief comebacks. Rody Walker is such a gifted singer, Tim Millar and Luke Hoskin continue being the spectacular guitar duo they are, and bassist Afir Mirabdolbaghi channels the stellar abilities to TMV's Juan Alderete. The golden hammer equipped by Juan Alderete strikes through for the constant speed of Volition with more to come from the arsenal. Pretty much every song here has a different vocal turn that can be hard-hitting, harmonic, or energetic. This album was made possible by Protest the Hero taking the Indiegogo route of raising $125,000, and they got almost 3 times their goal. So amazing! As for the artwork, I definitely prefer the cyborg-vulture artwork instead of the "nude woman attacked by vultures" one.

"Clarity" opens the album sounding similar to a more progressive take on Lamb of God's "Redneck" which gives me a feeling that there are some LOG tricks snuck in by Chris Adler. He does some amazing grooves there. "Drumhead Trial" has some of the fastest beats to blast through your eardrums that rarely gets any slower, and it contains well-timed guitar shredding. The moshing bridge is a great setup for a blazing guitar solo by Watchtower guitarist Ron Jarzombek. Alongside the swelling melody, there are a couple vocal exchanges, first one between growls and gang shouts, the other being a clean duet between Rody Walker and guest Kayla Howran. The relentless speed goes on in "Tilting Against Windmills". Same with "Without Prejudice" which has a blistering bass solo. Finishing that relentless trilogy is "Yellow Teeth", another composition to thrust around. A quick Led Zeppelin-like acoustic interlude is perfectly placed before a crushingly sweet outro.

"Plato’s Tripartite" pound your ears through oblivion with screaming hooks, speedy choruses, and soaring bridges, before the sweet acoustic outro lets you breathe. The neoclassical scales in "A Life Embossed" continue their bad-a** methodical velocity. The growls are good, but unfortunately they can p*ss off anyone who doesn't want the melody interrupted by accelerating aggression. After that, we speed through "Mist", where Rody Walker raises his voice to the climatic sensation, Chris Adler zooms through the driving power of the song, and the guitar duo add great detail to the song before a perfect tempo-changing breakdown and bridge. I've had such a fun blast listening to that song! Then it has an exquisite outro of strings, acoustic guitar, and piano.

Then the dreamy illusion is obliterated by "Underbite" blasting through thrashy verses and progressive choruses as Walker sings about how pretentious pop/rock stars can be. Guest growls by Todd Kowalski (Propagandhi) brings the song to a brutal ending home-run. The pace doesn't calm down for the hardcore "Animal Bones" as it pulverizes the choruses maniacally, finishing with muscular riffing. "Skies" is the album's 6-minute epic with clean soft guitar like never before for this band. This is probably the first actual ending epic for Protest the Hero, unless counting "The Divine Suicide of K." (from Kezia) which ends up being surpassed by that album's epilogue track.

For later albums, the unclean vocals would once again be lowered down. Loyal fans might not approve of that change, but there are other strengths Protest the Hero has that fit their style more. Some might find harsh vocals distracting, others might find them electrifying. Either way, Volition is an awesome complex journey through sonic air flying through different tracks. Chris Adler is such a talented beast, and hiring someone from another great band was an excellent choice. Two of the greatest metal bands united!

Favorites: "Drumhead Trial", "Plato’s Tripartite", "Mist", "Underbite", "Skies"

Protest the Hero is never your friendly neighborhood extreme prog-metalcore band. They're one of the freshest, most interesting bands in modern metal times. Their ability to go from extreme to experimental to melodic has gained them massive success in their previous albums Kezia and Fortress, with this record Scurrilous having quite some hype. However, even with the expectations being unable to reach, this album never disappoints, and it's one of their most realized albums yet!

Scurrilous sees Protest the Hero focusing less on aggression and beginning to evolve towards a more powerful melodic progressive metal sound. With that, the songs feel more realized without having to grab a hold of you with technical riffs and complex arrangements. Of course, with or without melody, Protest the Hero is always known for its technicality, so they never ignore their full abilities. That's why the technicality is still around, and they won't stop having their musical tricks such as sudden tempo changes in every section. The technical parts in this album fit better than in their previous album Fortress. These technical elements make the album have more polished production that still needs some good listening. However, the weakest link of the band for this album is drummer Moe Carlson. He did great in previous albums, but here he's feeling burned out to the point where his drumming is getting stale. That's why he had to leave the band before the next album. Luckily, the band still has their top-notch skills.

The melodic progressive metal feel is already hinted in the standout opener "C'est La Vie", one of only a few songs in this album written by bassist Arif Mirabdolbaghi. The track takes every awesome advantage of Protest the Hero and blends them together in an epic 3 and a half minute song. A h*ll of an entrance after a 3-year gap! The band made the right choice of releasing that song as the album's first single. Of course, there are other strong tracks here, but this one is so perfectly put together with vocalist Rody Walker's screams and cleans weaving through Arif's lyrics of optimism. Next song "Hair-Trigger" is about a man and his girlfriend, a "sweet little redhead". The man expects a strictly casual partnership but then he has enough and wants out. The song takes a look at smoking addiction as part of the man's struggle out of his modern relationship. What really stands out is the vocals performed by Jadea Kelly (as the redhead girlfriend), her comeback since their debut Kezia! Then it segues to the chaotic anthem "Tandem" filled with touching emotion as Rody sings about the man losing his redhead girlfriend to cancer. Death before decision, that's sad, man...

"Moonlight" doesn't have any special lyrics but the music is still powerful with beautiful intertwining guitars. Those kinds of guitars continue in its successor "Tapestry". Cranking the sarcastic lyrical roasts a full 360, "Dunsel" takes on the manipulative music industry in a scurrilous manner, criticizing musicians going down the sellout path that make it hard to "swallow all this s**t that we keep feeding" and learning that "some a****les' hands ain't worth shaking". Those guys are f***ing geniuses! Their frantic pace keeps going, and the band doesn't give a s**t if they hurt any feelings. "The Reign of Unending Terror" has precise drumming to make up for its weakness in other songs along with solid jarring bass to help create the epic full sound Protest the Hero wanted. The raw edginess and methodical concept of their first two albums reign to create!

The great "Termites" has the band's mystic combination of Coheed and Cambria and Iron Maiden. The apologetic yet aggressive "Tongue-Splitter" takes some shots away from the usual self-loathing ("I'm not asking for your pity 'Oh woe is me' sarcastically"). That song really pumps up me with its adrenaline. Well done guys! On "Sex Tapes", the band takes a clever view at celebrity sex tape scandals and how little accidents like that cause those celebrities fame for the wrong reasons. Interesting reference to the Jonas Brothers getting "rings wrapped 'round their d*cks". The bonus track "To Porter, With Love" is just a progressive instrumental. Nothing interesting happens there...

In conclusion, Scurrilous is a progressive metal rollercoaster ride through melodic power metal-ish variation, personal lyrics, and fantastic arrangements that would make you want more. With all that said, this album continues Protest the Hero's quest of progressive greatness. An interesting thrill-ride with more to come in the next!

Favorites: "C'est La Vie", "Hair-Trigger", "Dunsel", "The Reign of Unending Terror", "Tongue-Splitter"

After the marvelous Kezia, Protest the Hero made another album with the hopes of recreating those wild wonders. Would the frantic guitar, fast drumming, hammering bass, and soundwave-defying vocal range continue the awesomeness? Yes and no! Though not as perfect as Kezia, it's heavier, faster, and more technical.

Vocalist Rody Walker continues his melodic singing, screaming, and growling, now in greater balance and more powerful maturity. Guitar duo Luke Hoskin and Tim Mullar pull their hammers out of the stone and swing them through different time signatures literally second after second. Drummer Moe Carlson pedals through interesting fills and rhythms. And bassist Arif Mirabdobaghi taps through his overshadow skills.

The first section "On Conquest and Capture" begins with a pre-gap hidden piano intro that could easily work as an intro for a symphonic power metal album. But then the first track "Bloodmeat" crashes in with its Dillinger Escape Plan-like modern math-metalcore. The main riff appears surrounded by many of its chaotic moments to make me jump in joy. The inventive riffs go along with the catchy hooks that sing/scream about worshiping mythology in violent metaphors ("HEADS WILL ROLL!!!"). The fast pace often slows down for little epic moments of greatness. Too bad the bass is a little too turned down, I was looking forward to more awesome bass tapping. "The Dissentience" is a minor filler that doesn't stand out as much as other songs. It just takes what they had from the first song at a bit slower pace. The interesting lyrics seem to indirectly refer to smoking weed, so this song might be good for anyone who likes weird cryptic lyrics. The chorus is good too, so is the last minute of varying riffs to end the song. A strange sample segues over to "Bone Marrow" which really stands out as my favorite song here that shows how much the band keeps progressing. It packs a punch that varies into many punches. The strong vocals sing and scream lyrics about a powerful king. Those vocals really go overdrive there with so much effort, taking the spotlight more than the guitars. I would very strongly recommend this to any fan of progressive metal and metalcore. Please, just listen to it! Then it ends with a piano outro similar to the ones that transition between sections in Kezia. So you know there's gonna be a track to start a new section...

The second section "Fortress" (actually untitled but for this review, I named it after this album) starts with "Sequoia Throne", which is awesome but follows kind of a formula that doesn't seem unique. Still an exciting highlight! "Palms Read" is where the guitars return in full form with the opening similar to a song from a classic metal guitarist like Steve Vai before a mind-blowing heavy verse along with decent vocals. The chorus just explodes into guitar mastery. The part halfway through where the music pauses except the bass for a moment might remind some of Rust in Peace-era Megadeth. Then just when you think this song has a happy ending, a little progressive metal jam section plays that transitions to the next track. "Limb From Limb", another album favorite. Rody's awesome vocal range varies rapidly, perfectly playing together with the guitar work without overshadowing it. The lower death growls are a bit unnecessary but I guess that's part of the experimentation in the music. The common tapping is still there, but then we find something unique, groovy keyboard soloing by Vadim Pruzhanov from DragonForce. Wicked but I wanna hear from that band's guitarists too. "Spoils" opens with mid-paced guitar, then the slowness gets destroyed by fast power. The breakdown that also works as a slow guitar solo nicely finishes the song. Brilliant! Then we rest on another calm piano outro as another intermission before the last section...

The third section "Isosceles" starts with "Wretch", which honestly seems like another minor filler that's isn't too bad. Rody's vocal range goes even higher than before at some points, but there are times when I feel like this song is just a collage of different pieces. After a quick sample from Starship Troopers ("You wanna see the galaxy?"), then comes "Goddess Bound" which I have no comment about except for the song being a nice warm-up for this album's finale. "Goddess Gagged" is a simply different feeling during its powerful intro, a feeling that is slightly happy. Then it keeps alternating between old and new elements in a great balance. However, the last 20 seconds are a bit disappointing because they could've added more there for an epic final minute, but no, "THE MUSIC HAS STOPPED!!" Another great highlight with a poor ending.

All the small flaws aside, Fortress is a breath-taking progressive mathcore album and one of the best of 2008. Though it still isn't better than Kezia because of a few naturally different elements that might not work. Anyone should try this, PTH fan or not. With all those skillful changes, you'll be shocked at how what seems impossible is possible!

Favorites: "Bloodmeat", "Bone Marrow", "Sequoia Throne", "Limb From Limb", "Goddess Gagged"

This is my second encounter with the vocals of Jesse Leach in the Melodic Metalcore Clan Challenge, first encounter being when I reviewed Killswitch Engage's Alive or Just Breathing. Take the styles from that album and Leach's other band The Empire Shall Fall, and you have Times of Grace, a side project with Killswitch Engage guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz! Jesse L. and Adam D. reunited to make an album almost entirely by themselves, an exciting thing for Killswitch Engage fans to hear.

The influences are filled with curiosity. The Hymn of a Broken Man is a modern metalcore album similar to Killswitch Engage but with more experimentation. So are they gonna sound like Killswitch Engage or sound different enough for comparison? Let's listen...

"Strength in Numbers" is a strong start to the album, almost picking up where Alive or Just Breathing left off. One of my favorite "experimental" songs in the album is "Fight for Life" which has a great ethereal tremolo riff that reminds me Define the Great Line-era Underoath while giving stirring up nostalgia for the earlier Killswitch Engage fans. Next track "Willing" begins with good melodic riffs but sinks into melodic choruses that lack atmosphere or expression with inconsistent arpeggios. "Where the Spirit Leads Me" begins with interesting guitar lines and brilliant metalcore riff-wrath inspired by thrash and melodeath but once again gets lost in faceless melodic choruses that have typical Killswitch Engage arpeggios still sounding inconsistent.

The stylistic mix of dissonance and beauty in "Until the End of Days" really makes up for the poor quality of those last two songs. It starts with a nice soft intro before Leach switches his vocals nicely clean to tortured growling alongside heavier riffs kicking in. Those two guys really do a well-done job creating a song that flows so well soft to heavy to soft and so on. Whether it sounds beautiful and clean or ugly and harsh, you get to hear both sides in the best way possible. "Live in Love" has the aggressive chaos and calm melody both from the first two Killswitch Engage albums. The interlude "In the Arms of Mercy" sounds more familiar to anyone who has listened the instrumentals in Killswitch Engage, and acts as a nice tribute to fallen loved ones. After a suggestively gloomy intro, the title track has fantastic thrash riffs and an awesome tremolo melody, but those inconsistent arpeggios return again.

The acoustic ballad "The Forgotten One" showcases a sweet duet between Jesse and Adam, better than Between the Buried of Me's "Desert of Song". Once again, a nice tribute to the ones we lost! Next up is "Hope Remains", another killer flashback to Alive or Just Breathing, now with solid blast beats. "The End of Eternity" is another song that follows the pattern of a soft intro before switching to heaviness and softness back and forth in a great way. "Worlds Apart" is once again driven by blast beats but it never really gets lifted off by the Killswitch Engage-style riff technicality. "Fall from Grace" has a greater rawer emotional feeling in guitars than ever before in metalcore.

The Hymn of A Broken Man is an album of wonderful hymns by two Killswitch Engage members. It has the stunning ability to please metalheads as they headbang. Adam did all the instruments and some vocals, proving his talented music skills. This is a nice standout point in his and Jesse's careers, all in chaos and grace!

Favorites: "Strength in Numbers", "Fight for Life", "Until the End of Days", "Live in Love", "The Forgotten One", "Hope Remains", "The End of Eternity"

I listened to a few The Human Abstract songs before but didn't feel interested enough to really enjoy the band. They're a band that combines metalcore elements with classical influences, mostly in the beautiful chords and acoustic passages. Yeah, that was when I was moving away from the classical-influenced metal I lost passion for...

Nocturne is kind of a metalcore album with primarily Northern European-driven components. The dueling guitar harmonies and rhythms both have active skills combined with sweet melodies, all in a style that reaches out of Between the Buried and Me at the time while exploring the neo-classical grandeur of Symphony X. The band prefers to be more adventurous than safe, which is attempted by a very minimal amount of the bands, thereby emphasizing pivotal directions through roads less traveled.

Already when the first track "Harbringer" plays, the classical acoustic guitar really shines in the intro, sounding like a medieval bard's lute. Then the neo-classical heaviness carries on, featuring a great infectious clean chorus. "Self Portraits of the Instincts" continues the cool neo-classical metalcore mix while having clean choruses with catchy melodies and emo-ish clean vocals in contrast with the strong hardcore growls. The breakdowns are definitely worth headbanging! The title track is filled with impressively perplexing time changes. However, there's painfully clean singing in the middle that don't fit the heaviness ("No wonder here, just an echo resounding") He channels his inner Greg Puciato or Rody Walker better in the solid screams. "Crossing the Rubicon" continues the complex time changes while getting caught in guitar tornadoes.

Then there's the classic acoustic interlude "Sotto Voce". Choral keyboard textures enchant the fast "Mea Culpa", where the group really nails the blend of technical grace. The neo-classical soloing in celestial instrumentation is some of the most epic in this album. The "I failed and I don’t know why!!" breakdown is so d*mn emotional in the vocals. Epic song! Next one "Movement from Discord" once again has catchy clean choruses with unleashed clarity. "Channel Detritus" once again has shining classical guitar in the acoustic passages. Good mix of epic and extreme!

"Polaris" continues those soft acoustic passages and infectious clean choruses. However, the clean chorus starts to get a little hackneyed at this point. In "Echelons and Molotovs", the otherwise ridiculous drum fills are more appropriately placed where there's more speed and bass. "Desiderata" is another pleasant acoustic instrumental with classical guitar. Ending track "Vela, Together We Await the Storm" is an aggressive headbanger with the best guitars you would hear here, both flamenco and electric.

Though Nocturne is really impressive, its style isn't really as mind-blowing as it would've been in 2006. Still there's some fresh air of classical distinction. It's worth checking out if you're up for something a little more artful!

Favorites: Harbringer, Self Portraits of the Instincts, Crossing the Rubicon, Mea Culpa, Channel Detritus, Vela Together We Await the Storm

Was there ever a time when someone says something that is a line from the song unaware that a few years later you would hear that exact same thing in a song? "What would it take for things to be quiet?!" (from "Louder Than Thunder") yelled my mom who can't stand loud metal music, when I was watching the music video for The Devil Wears Prada song "First Sight" on TV, 5 years before this review. I wasn't interested in metalcore back then even though that was a good song/video. And during my great transition to metalcore a couple years later, I wasn't into this band enough to fully listen to them. Now, reviewing one of their albums, these guys are certainly never quiet!

I'm sure other metalcore fans have heard of The Devil Wears Prada (named after the novel, NOT the movie, which was released a year after the band's formation) as well. They stormed through a couple albums before this one and extensive live performances such as the 2008 Warped Tour. Then they reached the third chapter of their tenure, With Roots Above and Branches Below!

The opening track "Sassafras" already tells you what they're going for in this album. The vocals range from metalcore screams to death growls. Guitar breakdowns are often accompanied by synthesized piano/violins. The drums keep changing from slow grinding to furious rolls, as the bass runs. And it has a melodic clean chorus, a first for the band! But that of course means more of that mundane verse/chorus structure they've never had before. For a witty song title like "I Hate Buffering", that song has killer guitar melodies for everyone (except my metal-hating mom) to enjoy. Another nonsensical title, "Assistant to the Regional Manager" (reference to The Office) is still a great metalcore mix of epic and extreme. "Dez Moines" is filled with moments singing and screaming alternating between each other every minute.

"Big Wiggly Style" might look like a rap song title, but thank the Lord it isn't. It's just your friendly neighborhood metalcore! The riffs in "Danger Wildman" are just wild, inspired by A Life Once Lost. "Ben Has a Kid" continues the singing/screaming alternation. "Wapakalypse" is another witty song title with the song mixing melody and brutality.

"Gimme Half" is once again half epic, half extreme. "Louder Than Thunder" is a rather ironic name for the song, not just because it's a melodic mellow ballad, but also I don't think even metal performances can be louder than thunder, and that's why (don't laugh) I'm scared of thunder. Still an interesting album highlight! After that soft ballad, "Lord Xenu" closes the album in epic heaviness.

With Roots Above and Branches Below is excellent and worth its place in any heavy fan's library. It's many Christian metalcore fans' love at first sight! (Note; My mom can tolerate metal much more now)

Favorites: "Sassafras", "Assistant to the Regional Manager", "Dez Moines", "Ben Has a Kid", "Louder Than Thunder", "Lord Xenu"

Still Remains is still remaining one of the few proper metalcore beasts of bands. The metalcore scene has been trapped in the repetitive invasion of emo bands that soil the genre. Of Love And Lunacy is one of those few incomparable metalcore releases, despite a few small similarities. This ain't the whiny sh*t-core scene, so Design the Skyline fans should leave this territory and design their own skyline!

Of Love and Lunacy contains a metal frenzy of intelligence with doses of hardcore added in an amount that people can respect, plus some interesting atmospheric sounds, all in a greater metalcore work of art than Converge. The vocals and instrumentation are always interesting, often brilliant, and sometimes progressive.

Starting off the album is "To Live and Die by Fire", beginning with drumming and bad-a** guitar riffing, complemented by interesting background keyboards. The lyrics are simplistic yet offer complexity in the vocals, which are in a frenzy of hardcore death growling. With all that, I thought to myself, "Wow... Now that's metalcore!" Next song "The Worst Is Yet To Come" is another one of the best yet to come with epic clean choruses that make the song storm across heaven. The typical verse-chorus structure is mixed around into something more exciting. "In Place of Hope" starts with drumming and riffing followed by a long "FAREWELL!!!!" scream with a cool pulsating effect. "White Walls" isn't as epic as Between the Buried and Me's "White Walls", but it has special leads and a great chorus that still makes this song an album highlight.

Another notable song is "Bliss", written in a careful progressive mix of Shadows Fall and Nightrage. The breakdowns never annoy or bore you, equally blending with the rest of the content. "Cherished" is a catchy song about "being only human" and "waiting for something more". It's like a cry for God for human perfection. "With Everything You Have" is just a piano interlude. "Kelsey" is I assume to be about a girl named Kelsey trying to break free from addiction and learn from mistakes. The lyrics treat the Bible like a gun, ordering to point the gun and pull the trigger so that "I'll soak it all in".

"Recovery" once again has the killer Shadows Fall/Nightrage blend and epic clean chorus in a more over the top fashion, complete with corny lyrics and dramatic keyboards. "I Can Revive Him with My Own Hands" is personally the absolute album highlight with all the album's flavor. It has a serious guitar riff and sick metaphorical growled lyrics. The lyrics are far more interesting than in that Killswitch Engage album I listened to, Alive or Just Breathing, making that album sound kid-friendly in comparison. The guitars keep your attention running. Brilliant drumming and mature metalcore vocals continue on as lyrics continue shivering down my spine with serious emotion. Hardcore growls really end the song in a killer band ("I can revive him with my own two hands!!"). "Stare and Wonder" is another song worth good listening. "Blossom, the Witch" starts with techno effects before unleashing more heaviness. It has everything; drums, bass, singing, screaming, growling, squealing, guitars, and time changes. Amazing!

Of Love and Lunacy is an album that has intense emotion, caustically great metal, and brilliant musicianship. The songs flow from one another and are never isolated. They all have the album's original flavor, but it's the uniqueness that makes each song different while still related, emphasizing the album's artistic luminosity. The riff-craft is all set in perfectly timed drumming and great keyboard synth moments. The clean vocals are as memorable and mesmerizing as the growls. I would certainly recommend Of Love and Lunacy for anyone looking for interesting metalcore brilliance. This band still remains!

Favorites: "To Live and Die by Fire", "The Worst Is Yet To Come", "White Walls", "Bliss", "I Can Revive Him with My Own Hands", "Blossom, the Witch"

When making a debut studio album, there are some things you need to think about deciding; the feel for the album, the central themes, and each song's style. Give them all some time so you can let the album grow and glow without forcing the beauty. That's exactly what Protest the Hero did! After playing some Happy Go Lucky punk rock, they decided to brainstorm an album and story to compose that's far different, and that took them 2 years. 2 YEARS!! A long time for a 10-song album! However, that's what makes some albums the best, by taking the longest time. With that and their more progressive sound, Kezia just made part of my top 10 of 2005!! And apparently, many metalcore fans and critics rate it the #1 album of 2005. Well sure, but there are other bands who also made awesome in 2005. Either way, what an accomplishment!

Kezia is not just an album but also a story, which is what concept albums are, right? It has everything you need for a story; interesting characters, plot twists, and poetic language. There are 3 parts of the story, and each part is in the perspective of a different character with their view in the story. You'll see what those characters are as the review moves along. We barely know anything about those characters when we start the story, but as the twisted tale goes on, we learn much more about them song after song. I'll describe the song structures, how good they are, and the story analysis, all in this review. (SPOILERS COMING!!)

Act I: The Prison Priest - "No Stars Over Bethlehem" starts with a piano intro, the background noises begin to rise louder. Then the song starts right away! You get launched into an insane song filled with religious views from the priest. The main story has barely even started yet so you don't know what's even going on. Not the best song, but definitely not bad at all. The guitars are pretty epic, and you might very well feel like you're in Bethlehem. Nice tranquility! In "Heretics and Killers", the guitar playing sounds both different and similar to the previous song, and that's kinda a small problem. Despite the differences, the guitars have a similar sound, and as a result, the songs ends up being repetitive. Despite this, the song's still good. Rody Walker really nails the over-the-top singing over the acoustic section with background tranquility. The priest believes that after God has fortified life, God has forsaken him. The priest now feels like an impersonating beggar, leading to the central conflict. Again not the best, but still so good. "Divinity Within" shows the band finally thinking more about the story, and it's already the last song for this act. Once again, it sounds too similar to the other two songs in the act, but it gets made up by the incoming awesomeness. Some earlier said lyrics were repeated more dramatically ("I watch my temple fall to pieces"). Then the song gets slower and more melodic that makes me want to break into emotional tears. So now we know the priest's connection to the main character, Kezia, a young girl who has committed a crime so terrible that she was sentenced to death. The priest has to ask the "Any last words?" question and condemn her to death. He regains his religious plight but he's hesitant against what he has to do. He doesn't feel like has the right to keep or take people's lives. The "final words" question hangs in the balance when the song and act ends. What happens next? We'll have to find out in the next act. Anyway, that's a great fitting closure to the first act!

Act II: The Prison Guard - "Bury The Hatchet" starts the act fast and heavy, and you have a different feeling about this act. Based on the toughness of the guard, the guitars are more aggressive and the lyrics are gruesome. The guard is also the executioner who's responsible for killing prisoners. He's been trained to do his duty without remorse. Simple yet cruel. The heaviest song to attract metalheads! "Nautical" is the shortest and least important song here. It's just a tribute to the band's earlier political punk style. I suppose this was used as more of the angry guard's rants. The guitar work is too average. The worst song but not terrible enough to detract the 5-star rating. "Blindfolds Aside" is a catchy song. The guitar work isn't super impressive but it gets put aside for the amazing vocals soaring into an emotional climax. The solo and the bridge that follows are beautiful. You already know how profound Protest the Hero were thinking when composing. Similar to the first act, it's the third and last song in the act that's has filled with an emotional climax of power. There's even a beautiful acoustic ending with female singing by Jadea Kelly. The song is set in the same place as "Divinity Within"; the execution. After all that unnecessary ranting from the previous track, the guard actually feels some sympathy towards Kezia. So now we're seeing quite a guilt trip. Kezia gives the guard a choice of fates; kill her and feel guilt for the rest of his life or abort the execution and let himself control his life. The execution's about to start, and what does the guard to choose? Again we don't know, so this is it. We're down to one more act, and maybe then the story would be complete. Best track of the second act!

Act III: Kezia - "She Who Mars The Skin Of Gods" begins the story of Kezia herself, and boy is it a sad one! The melancholy is reflected in the usage of the slightly sad but still furious guitar. By the end of this song you would really feel it. The combo of both male and female vocals plus the slow guitar represents the feeling of sympathy for Kezia. It's not a pretty history for her. When she was younger, her mother was killed by possibly Kezia's father. That really sets off the actions later on in the act. Great emotional song! Next track, "Turn Soonest To The Sea" is filled with obscure sexist references, including a reference to Vesta, the Greek Goddess of empowerment. This is my second favorite song here and the longest of the album at over 6 minutes. Everything you ever hope for is thrown all over the place. The great sing-along ending is very catchy and my favorite part of the song. In the story, Kezia has grown up in a world where sexist men dominate. Every women has to live up to ridiculously sexist standards from social obligations to labels. The reason Kezia is in jail and about to be executed is more likely to be because she tried to empower females therefore causing treason against the male reign. The concept is so wrong yet interesting. It's an amazing track worth listening to so many times, but it leads to the last and best of this act. That song is "The Divine Suicide Of K.", the absolute best track here! This song is at the brink of making me cry and wet my pants. It continues the whole "best for last" technique for each act, and this is no exception! The song is so emotional and mind-blowing. Many different parts and placed around in amazing order. The male vocals are teary and the female singing is at its strongest. In the middle of the song, the guitars really float in clouds of emotion. The climatic perfection returns! The overlapping singing/screaming combo is more glorious than you can ever believe. And the female vocals really end the song slow and steady. So now it's really time for the execution. Maybe the ending would finally be clear. Will the priest neglect God? Will the guard free Kezia? Will Kezia accept her fate? The answer is... PSYCH!!! There was no proper ending! You took a journey that just stopped in a bang and a cliffhanger. The finale track, "A Plateful Of Our Dead" is just a separate message that clarifies the point of this album. Good satisfying finale!

Kezia is indeed one of the best albums in the Melodic Metalcore clan challenge and one of the greatest progressive metalcore albums in general. Protest The Hero are some of both the most talented musicians and the most amazing storytellers, greater than most other albums I've heard and stories I've read. I would recommend this album to any music listener and story reader out there. Thank you, Protest the Hero, for this grand-masterpiece. Not to sound like I'm in love with someone, but... I love you, Kezia!

Favorites: "Divinity Within", "Blindfolds Aside", "She Who Mars the Skin of Gods", "Turn Soonest to the Sea", "The Divine Suicide of K."

One exciting thing about this band is its challenging inaccessibility, which is practically unknown and now seems underrated. You would have to be as good as you can for people to remember your band and their name. HORSE the Band is never taken down by that problem, with Desperate Living being memorable enough to hit the mainstream. The music really rules! It sounds like a decent mix of Enter Shikari and Machinae Supremacy.

The album starts with peace and fury switching back and forth in "Cloudwalker", featuring SNES synth-pads and aggressive screams. The title track is a greater display of HORSE's 8-bit metalcore power. They have more of their potential in "The Failure Of All Things", sounding like a Game Boy battle soundtrack. The rhythm at the end grabs your throat while the guitar punches your face that's already melting from those intense 8-bit synths. "HORSE the Song" crashes in with maniacal vocals and drums, before accelerating into thunder-crashing guitars and spiraling 8-bit melodies beyond control.

"Science Police" is full of Spandau Ballet-infused metalcore. That's an interesting example of HORSE taking a turn around the broader music spectrum. "Shapeshift" is indeed a shape-shifting song, not just in the instrumentation, but also the usual harsh vocals switching to the softer ones by Jamie Stewart from Xiu Xiu. "Between the Trees" shows a more psychotic side of intrinsic ambiance, keyboards, riffs, and versatile vocals. Then the instrumentation becomes surreal in "Golden Mummy Golden Bird".

"Lord Gold Wand of Unyielding" has a short yet big deck of power chords and melodic vocals sung by two of the other band members. "Big Business" makes me think of that Bette Midler film from the 80s my mom likes to watch. Speaking of the 80s, that song's bluesy section is more furious and twisted than any song you would ever hear from Eighties Matchbox B-line Disaster. The astonishing but dubiously titled "Rape Escape" is an expansive 7-minute epic ranging from mathcore to keyboard breakdowns to Mike Patton-esque emotional vocals. After all that madness, it ends with haunting reflective piano by professional pianist Valentina Lisitsa, playing the complex Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 2. However, the album doesn't end there. We still got "Arrive", a pounding anthem with life-force coursing into your body.

Desperate Living is better than that Enter Shikari album and electronic metalcore album, having more technical imagination with exciting timbres and complex structures to keep your attention running. With this, HORSE has been given enough distinction to be a special HORSE in the horse field. It's something not easy to achieve for a band that adds fury into good conventional music. Still I think this album would have a more complete effect if it had some use in its excessive weight. Desperate Living is a refined album with barely any spoken-word clichés or flat moments. It's satisfyingly powerful, thanks to my synth-metalcore interests at full spark!

Favorites: "Desperate Living", "The Failure of All Things", "HORSE the Song", "Shapeshift", "Golden Mummy Golden Bird", "Rape Escape"

Reviewing albums from bands you've never listened to is always the craziest part of any clan challenge because you never know how well they'll turn out for you. Well seeing how much I like Brock Lindow's contribution in the Demon Hunter song "Beauty Through the Eyes of a Predator", I got a slightly good feeling about this band...

36 Crazyfists had already released a couple albums before this, 2002's Bitterness The Star and 2004's A Snow Capped Romance, which I heard that the latter is a huge leap forward from the former with catchy melodic choruses mixed with sonic aggression. 2006 saw the release of this album Rest Inside the Flames! 36 Crazyfists managed to stabilize the band and expand it larger than the overrated "bigger" bands.

The album opens with a crazy killer song, "I'll Go Until My Heart Stops" which has the band's typical fast aggression and terrific melodies. The vocal skills of vocalist Brock Lindow give the song great vibes, and he goes until the song stops. I've just started the hard part of the Melodic Metalcore Clan Challenge, and already I'm hearing the best song in that part so far! "Felt Through a Phone Line" shows the band improving on maturity, both musically and lyrically. There's more melody and clean vocals added to the screaming aggression. It really grows on even the heavy fans. I would listen to "On Any Given Night" on any given night! "Elysium", featuring Howard Jones from Killswitch Engage, is the most aggressive song here. It has some of the more familiar elements of 36 Crazyfists, but with heavier guitar riffs.

"The Great Descent" is not really an epic, but it has an epic vibe and it's longer than all the other songs in the album. A strong highlight! "Midnight Swim" reveals Lindow's gentler vocal side while maintaining the intensity. "Aurora" perfectly captures all of the band's catchiness in one song, thereby being the catchiest song on the album. Another one of my personal favorite songs here is "Will Pull This in by Hand", having a great riff in the middle that would be one of the greatest riffs in 2006. I bet this song would kick a** when they play it live.

We Cannot Deny the impeccable "We Cannot Deny" having cool vocals from Lindow and Milligram/Only Living Witness vocalist JONAAAAAH JENKINS!! (sorry, cannot resist that meme) "Between the Anchor and the Air" has dense rhythms that help the band really knock Linkin out of the Park (get it??). The album closes with the acoustic ballad "The City Ignites", which is pretty surprising. Why did they give the most metalcore-ish song title to the softest ballad?! Still a fitting ending!

People say that this is a big step from A Snow Capped Romance, and they're probably right. Those people who listen to 36 Crazyfists would recognize the old sound they've fallen in love while hearing the band's more diverse development. There are much softer and much heavier moments. Brock Lindow really handled the vocals well and did his part in giving the album its deserving brilliance. While Rest Inside the Flames is mainly a metalcore album, it might be a more suitable album to be purchased by alt-metal fans. The softness doesn't open well for the heavier metalheads like myself, but if you're a fan of metal that is a tad softer, this will blow your mind away....

Favorites: "I'll Go Until My Heart Stops", "Elysium", "The Great Descent", "Will Pull This in by Hand", "We Cannot Deny"

To h*ll with my split from melodic progressive metal! This album is absolutely brilliant!! Why did I leave my more melodic epic metal taste behind for so long, despite my love for progressive metal?! Seventh Wonder is a true wonder! *tears of joy*

Let's start with the fact that the vocalist Tommy Karevik is also the current vocalist for Kamelot, and some Kamelot songs are touching and emotional, as much as gothic metal bands like Sentenced and Elis. Seventh Wonder, however, released a groundbreaking progressive metal album worth shedding a lot of tears. (SPOILERS COMING!!) Mercy Falls is a concept album about a man who was in a car crash and ends up in a comatose world called Mercy Falls. Inspired by The Human Equation, huh?

Almost similar to The Human Equation intro "Vigil", the intro "A New Beginning" begins with a car crash. Then it kicks off an epic orchestral tune that builds up to metal, along with noises and voices related to the incident. After that, the doctor and the man's wife dialogue really start the story. Doctors are still trying to wake the man, while the wife visits him and, before leaving, turns her radio on to comfort him. "There and Back" is another instrumental, and an awesome overture to set the tone for the story and the album. Welcome to the first real song, "Welcome to Mercy Falls", and enjoy the awesome melodies! Another song that makes me jump for joy is "Unbreakable". It has a happy chorus, plus a soft part with a very good bass solo. "Tears for a Father" is a soft 2-minute interlude/ballad with more of Tommy's emotional vocals.

"A Day Away" is a kick-A uplifting song with an awesome chorus. "Tears for a Son" is another small emotional "Tears" interlude/ballad. Then we kick the prog metal back to high gear again with "Paradise", another well-written song. In "Fall in Line", the lyrics combined with melodies can be challenging, but I got used to them faster than other owners of this album. Nothing in that album can get better...except for this next song, "Break the Silence"! They put some of the most awesome melodies in that song along with a brilliant lineup. The layered vocals sometime before the chorus sound as they instruct you on what to do for this song, "Let the music play! Let it go all the way!!"

"Hide and Seek" is as awesome as that previous song, but a close second. There's a long intro before Tommy's vocals return. I absolutely love the awesome melodies! The build-up to the chorus and the chorus itself is so perfect. More prog calls in "Destiny Calls"! Then things get emotional again with "One Last Goodbye". It is an absolutely stunning performance by Tommy and his sister Jenny. There's a beautiful background melody with more spoken dialogue from the doctor and the man's wife, which is a little out of place but still part of the story. After hearing a heart monitor flat-lining (my third album review to have that), the important interlude, "Back in Time" has a surprising twist; a few years ago, the wife told the man that her son was not his, which shocked him into crashing the car. That flashback was the last thing the man remembered before dying. "The Black Parade" starts aggressively before adding happy melodies. The chorus and keyboards are just epic! Perfect ending to a perfect album!!

Despite this 5-star rating, this album deserves more stars! A+++!!! This albums is so amazing and emotional. Until now, I've never realized how much emotion a concept album can have. I do not regret letting my earlier epic metal taste infect my current extreme era just by listening to this album. Why wouldn't I love it? I'm not guilty of losing my epic metal virginity again, nor embarrassed for shedding a few tears. It's my new favorite progressive metal album and a must-have for passionate music lovers. You won't be disappointed one bit. The epic progressive metal side of me is back, baby!

Favorites: "Welcome to Mercy Falls", "Unbreakable", "A Day Away", "Fall in Line", "Break the Silence", "Hide and Seek", "The Black Parade"

Riverside is another band I was never really interested in, even after listening to a few songs. But I don't think I have to worry about that as much as not listening to Opeth, at least I don't have to worry in this website, because this band has been more progressive rock than metal in most albums with this album Anno Domini High Definition and the previous one Rapid Eye Movement being the only Riverside albums metal enough to be here. So all worries aside, let's get into this review!

Riverside has the amazing ability to create a wide music range from melodic progressive rock to dark heavy metal, similar to Opeth but without the extreme metal. I heard that after the progressive rock sound of their first two albums, they went to a different direction in their third album Rapid Eye Movement, having a darker atmosphere and heavier sound. The softer fans dislike it while the metalheads love it. This album is supposedly the first Riverside album outside the Reality Dream trilogy and entirely heavy. And yes, this is gonna be something different...

The opening track, "Hyperactive" can start a little confusing. After beginning with a calm atmospheric piano intro, the piano fades out into excellent heavy riffing, followed by great vocals, all in constant hyperactive movement. One of the best 6-minute songs in progressive metal! Beginning with addictive bass, "Driven to Destruction" drives you through heavy riffs and light piano, played together with melodic vocals. The second half of the song gets heavier with more prominent keyboards.

The most unusually experimental song of this song is 3-part 9-minute "Egoist Hedonist". The first part, "Different?" starts in calm slight melancholy before evolving into a heavy riff. The second part, "Hedonist Party" is the most original moment in the album, inviting a party-sound guitar and brass section for a more fun and relaxing time. Is that the true meaning of "Party Rock"? The third part "Straw Man Dance" shows that no party can be complete without a dance, inviting a harp and more guitar for something suitable for a belly-dance, leading to an epic impressive ending. However, "Left Out" is the only song here that needs to be left out, being melancholic and calm in a much different approach with a new vocal style. The technical melodic sections are in contrast with the atmosphere and lyrics. Still a good song but could be better.

Finally, the 12-minute epic, "Hybrid Times" makes sure that you've heard everything from the band and this album, unleashing some of the most intensity they've ever had. Beginning with thrilling piano, this song is original enough to leave out the overused verse-chorus structure, a similar strategy in the other songs. The band keeps moving forward with their technical skills, pushing them to their heaviest and most complex ever. The song is half-instrumental, but the vocals really show their more memorable, aggressive side ("OBSESSION!!!"). The theremin really adds to the complex sound. Then things start calming down with the best guitar solo here. Soon it rises to the climax, when theremin and blast-beats collide!! The 3-minute ending is softer but more impressive than anything the band has done before, with atmospheric electronic effects and chill-inducing vocals, and finally the album ends, with everything they had out of their system. One of the greatest progressive metal epics yet!

There's almost nothing bad about of this album, with the bad stuff being very little. The songwriting is flawless, causing the songs to be much different than each other with unusual structure. Their instrumental skills can be clearly heard, proving once again their incredible talents. The album style overall is much different than the band's earlier ones and almost every other progressive metal album there is. They've created nearly 45 minutes of progressive metal that keeps the listener in attention throughout without losing it, ending with one of the most impressive epics ever. To sum it up, Anno Domini High Definition is a great example of technical, complex, progressive metal. It's nearly completely flawless with no sign of ideas running low. You want original high definition progressive metal? This is for you.....

Favorites: "Hyperactive", "Egoist Hedonist", "Hybrid Times"

Ihsahn is known as the main founder of symphonic black metal band Emperor, but I only know his guest contributions, similar to Devin Townsend; guest vocals on the songs "Thorn" and "Contaminate Me" by Leprous and string composition on the songs "Chronic" by Leprous and "Snøfall" by Trivium. And while his solo material still has (gasp!) the forbidden black metal, I heard it's more Opeth-like with acoustic moments, soothing bass, and a bit of clean singing. This album After has a few of those softer moments alongside the usual extreme metal with jazzy saxophone and bluesy guitar work.

Another good thing about this album is the production, heavy and beefy especially in the drumming. The guitar has a good heavy lead tone to go with the fantastic rhythm and solos. However, the bass is a little too pushed away; it still appears but in low toned-down frequency. The saxophone perfectly fits the album sound with its rough rawness but it can't keep up with the speed of faster tracks and ends up out of place.

"The Barren Lands" is an awesome opening track, starting tender before getting crispy. But it just had to end so suddenly! "A Grave Inversed" is a stream of blasting black metal, but sadly it's one of the weakest tracks here and the whining sax not catching up does not help. The title track is more in the intermediate level of quality.

"Frozen Lakes on Mars" has a great chorus, the best of the album! "Undercurrent" is one of two great 10-minute epics. It starts with a 30-second monstrous riff intro, then calms down to acoustic for the next 3 minutes and after that, it's back to the heavy chaos.

I have nothing to say about "Austere", except it's the weakest track of the album. "Heaven's Black Sea" is another intermediate-level track. The other great 10-minute epic is the slower "On the Shores", which is more of a jazzy black-doom piece with the raging sax fitting perfectly well, creating a film-noir atmosphere. A mysteriously massive way to close this album!

After is overall a good solid album by Ihsahn, NOT the best one I've listened to, but the black metal sound is at a more tolerable level for me. Mixing experimental saxophone with jazzy guitars and extreme drums is an interesting move. A sweet recommendation of dark jazzy avant-garde metal!

Favorites: "The Barren Lands", "Frozen Lakes on Mars", "Undercurrent", "On the Shores"

Ghost Brigade is another band that I never listened to...until now. But I heard some people think Ghost Brigade is a group of Katatonia wannabes with their first two albums Guided by Fire and Isolation songs, but that comparison is getting old. Ghost Brigade has their own hybrid harmony of styles such as progressive and melodeath with small sludge influences. But this style still sounds a little like Burst meets Before the Dawn. Too bad the combative harsh vocals lack distinct aggression.

Isolation Songs is meant to compound the listener into persisting isolating misery in a good way, but ultimately some things are a little disappointing here. Like I said, there are some people who think this band is a melodeath rip-off of Katatonia, due to each band's similarities, but Ghost Brigade have their own sound to touch upon. However, that attempt in originality isn't at its strongest light and got them stuck too close to their Katatonia influences, along with the aforementioned Burst and Before the Dawn. While that affects the instrumentation, the guitars are still a good driving element that helps level some songs up.

The opener "Suffocated" is too dull and empty in the grooves, so that's a miss. "My Heart is a Tomb" is far more superior, starting with a flowing acoustic intro then driving into powerful chords and a clean chorus. That's a nice blend of influences from the last few Sentenced albums and Amorphis at the time. "Into the Black Light" continues the band's Amorphis influences with a nice groove intro that still sounds a little radio-friendly.

Things get torturous in a great way with "Lost in a Loop", striking your head with sludgy riffs, big hooks, and harsh vocals harder than a sledgehammer. One of the album's strongest songs! "22:22 - Nihil" takes you on a nice swim through instrumental ethereal beauty. "Architect of New Beginnings" is another great example of harsh vocals conveying fitting images. The well-conveyed images continues in the 9-minute "Birth". The images conveyed are some of the most interesting, but the music is not really engaging for a 9-minute epic.

"Concealed Revulsions" has a cool acoustic intro, enough said. Reaching its dynamic peak is "Secrets of the Earth", with emotive melodies alongside bitter screams, keeping up the band's Amorphis-like folk metal influences. The powerful storming 6-minute closer, "A Storm Inside" begins humble and mellow before the powerful storm escalates. Excellent ending for this album!

Despite the vocals being a bit inconsistent and having an obsolete lack of depth, this album shows that they can work around bringing their better influences to light and making up for the overused ones. Isolation Songs is another album to keep yourself isolated in the progressive melodeath realm....

Favorites: "My Heart is a Tomb", "Lost in a Loop", "Architect of New Beginnings", "Secrets of the Earth", "A Storm Inside"

Now this band, Dir En Grey, would've been a band I would listen to full-time, except... I DON'T KNOW JAPANESE!! Well maybe not most Japanese, but I've learned some when talking to a younger Japanese friend of mine, and the word "Nani" (What?!) is all over the internet. But if I have to review a mostly Japanese album to progress through a clan challenge, then consider it done! Dir En Grey's hard, eclectic, hard to label experimental metal sound would make them Japan's Into Eternity, if not for their visual-kei roots and appearance. Their eighth album Dum Spiro Spero (“While I breathe, I hope”) shall be delivered as an impressive Japanese extreme metal collection.

If there's one thing Japanese musicians (pop, rock, or metal) always have, it's the iconic clean singing. That's what Japanese anime shows usually have. The band's vocalist Kyo has that great singing gift. He can really show off his soaring vocal hooks while still doing harsh vocals, all at artistic ease. Call him the "Japanese Devin Townsend" if you'd like, but there aren't really many Western metal vocalists who can try every trick in that guys' book.

The opening "Kyōkotsu no Nari (Cry From a Lunatic Bone)", begins with soft melodic piano before things become experimental with wordless screams from Kyo, sparse guitar work, and strange percussion. The first actual track, "The Blossoming Beelzebub" kicks off the downtuned distortion of guitars and bass and rolling drums. Don't expect any shrieking yet! Kyo starts singing in high falsetto that almost sounds like a female opera singer with tension building. The progressive interval might explode into action but it still doesn't. Great song but it just doesn't have what the heavier fans wanted... Until the furious "Different Sense", complete with powerful riffs, vocals ranging from growling to shrieking, and blast-beats. There's still some clean singing and melody though. "Amon" is an awesome song that sounds like Amon Amarth in some parts.

"'Yokusō ni Dreambox' Aruiwa Seijuku no Rinen to Tsumetai Ame ('Nesting Within the Dreambox', or Cold Rain and The Philosophy of the Mature)" (one of the lengthiest song titles I've ever read) has beautifully surreal clean singing one moment, then Deathspell Omega-like chaos with omniscient heavy bass and frantic shrieking the next. "Jūyoku (Carnal Desire)" once again has the band going berserk with sonic extreme metal while having gorgeous melodies, broken apart by sledgehammering death metal riffs, giving way to longer harmonic lyrical passages. Man, there are some times when Kyo sounds like one of Jim Carrey's meltdowns in Liar Liar! "Shitataru Mourou (Tricking Ambiguity)" continues that pattern, with transitions from J-rock to tech-death and vice versa while the lyrics transcend. In "Lotus", Kyo continues to shine with his beautiful clean singing over extreme instrumentation. A potential anime theme! The clean singing keeps going in "Diabolos", the album's long theatrical 10-minute epic. It's filled with melancholic atmospheric alt-rock that later builds up into rapid-fire death/thrash metal, before the storm strips back to the calm.

"Akatsuki (Dawn)" is the best song here. I love it! That song reminds of Gojira in the instrumentation, not the vocals. But what's also close to being the best is "Decayed Crow" which is the most death metal song of the album that sounds like if Mike Patton joined Suicide Silence. "Hageshisa to, Kono Mune no Naka de Karamitsuita Shakunetsu no Yami (The Violence And the Darkness Of the Burning Heat Entwines In My Heart)" (another one of the lengthiest song titles ever) is once again ultra-heavy with a blend of clean singing with a frantic mix of growling and shrieking. That song was in the Saw 3D soundtrack, a year before the rest of the album. After all that wild heaviness, the power ballad "Vanitas (Emptiness)" starts with an acoustic melody before getting slightly heavier dynamics. More balladry is hinted in the closing track, "Ruten no Tō (Tower of Vicissitudes)" with a poppy power metal section before unleashing the last of the brutal chaos for this album.

Dir En Grey's Dum Spiro Spero is one of the most intense albums I've ever heard with sonic diversity and avant-garde heaviness. I wish I could come back for more, but the Japanese lyrics are absolutely difficult to understand and lowered down a potential masterpiece for me. I so need to learn more Japanese in the future....

Favorites: "The Blossoming Beelzebub", "Different Sense", "Amon", "Lotus", "Diabolos", "Akatsuki", "Decayed Crow"

I listened to Dream Theater, then Symphony X, and then... Circus Maximus? Once again I listened to a few songs from this group, but NAH. Too bad I never got fully interested in this group in my earlier epic metal taste because they would've fit between the progressive Dream Theater and the progressive/power metal hybrid Symphony X. Circus Maximus is mostly progressive metal with a bit of power metal, and this album Isolate is their second chapter, first being (you guessed it) The 1st Chapter!

I heard that with Isolate, the band stepped away from some of their progressive territory with the album being half prog, half more straightforward. Many of the songs range from 4 to 5 minutes in length, but there's still an acrobatic 4-minute instrumental and two lengthy songs. Even the power metal aspect has been reduced, so this is pretty much just melodic progressive metal with less emphasis on progressive. The lyrical themes are more emotional and psychological, and there's nothing harmful about that, it's just that the grand themes are removed. This is Circus Maximus' Human Equation!

We get to a grand start with "A Darkened Mind", filled with heavy sparkling grandeur. "Abyss" has a poppy chorus but it works really well, being delightful and catchy while putting crushingly sonic pressure. "Wither" is more upbeat than Dream Theater's "Wither" but their progressive heights are still withering a little.

"Sane No More" is an insane instrumental feast that gives the band's progressive side more of the spotlight. "Arrival of Love" has cheesy lyrics and simplistic music that makes the band sound like Charlie Dominici-era Dream Theater, but still comes out pretty well. "Zero" is a ballad that starts with just soft dramatic piano and vocals before heading into slow and steady prog rock.

"Mouth of Madness" is the 6-part 12-minute epic of this album and it really builds up into a big substantial difference. However in my opinion, Caligula's Horse's "Graves" suite (from my previous review) is slightly better, but they're both sweet epics. And if you thought that was the end of the album, WAIT!! There's still a couple songs left, starting with "From Childhood's Hour" a pleasant synth-prog rock tune. And finally, "Ultimate Sacrifice" is still differently substantial but a great recap of much of the sound each previous song had. The ultimate progressive metal closer, besides the aforementioned "Graves" suite and Between the Buried and Me's "White Walls"!

Progressive metal fans might be more up for an album like Isolate, while power metal fans who have already listened to The 1st Chapter would be disappointed, even though most songs only have small bites of prog. This is far more of a small step than a giant leap for prog kind, but it's still a good quality melodic progressive metal release by Circus Maximus. While not as awesome as the previous albums in The Infinite Modern Challenge, the level is still acceptable....

Favorites: "A Darkened Mind", "Sane No More", "Mouth of Madness", "Ultimate Sacrifice"

Relapse Records, one of the more unique metal record labels out there, is pretty much responsible for helping Burst boost their tiny popularity into higher fame. Very few metal fans have ever heard of that band until they were signed by Relapse to make their previous two albums Prey on Gold and Origo, which caused a strike of sonic gold! Seems like both albums showed a post-progressive metalcore combo that left Burst fans wanting more metal innovation. And they got it after the band's 3 years of extensive touring from Europe to America with the metal gem, Lazarus Bird, a great way to close their career!

The opening track "I Hold Vertigo" begins with some steady chugging rhythm that would soon lead to a roller-coaster of unexpected twists with no time to prepare. After that typical metalcore riff, monstrous melodies and electronic sound-waves start building up. My own complaint about the song is the 30-second outro riff that keeps starting and stopping after the rest of the instrumentation stopped. That's just piercingly repetitive and annoying, but doesn't affect the rest of the album's perfection. The artistic guitar skill development in "I Exterminate the I" is proven by the clever spacey guitar leads. "We Are Dust" starts soft for the first 3 minutes, than becomes harder, better, faster, stronger (NOT the Daft Punk song) than those other two songs, especially the well-constructed "6 Million Dollar Man" guitar approach a little after the 4-minute mark.

"Momentum" does the same thing of starting with a soft psychedelic 3-minute intro before a volcanic eruption of metal shatters the mood harder than glass, but that heavy part goes on for only a couple minutes. "Cripple God" is another album favorite, charging in with intense riffing and raw vocals that resemble Mastodon. Now that I think of it, this album is like a more ambient hardcore Mastodon. Then there's a beautiful softer verse before exploding into a furious attack of classic Metallica. "Nineteenhundred" has plenty of good moments where they explore more Mastodon and Opeth dynamics while still forging their own sound.

The next track, "(We Watched) The Silver Rain" starts by building up a rhythmic fill from calm to storming in the first two minutes, then calms down and, near the 3-minute mark, starts a bass transition. Then clean vocals enter and go on in extensive amounts with beautiful melancholic riffing for the rest of the song. There's still plenty of heaviness and yelling, just not as much as the clean parts. The intro of the final track, "City Cloaked" is a clean guitar passage with powerful emotion for the first two minutes, before being overpowered by the last band's progressive heaviness. And finally, the last 4 minutes is an ambient clean guitar outro that soon fades into oblivion. The best, least abrupt way to close a band's final album, other than The Dillinger Escape Plan's "Dissociation"!

It's hard to hear a band like Burst whose music doesn't catch on with the world and is almost forgotten. But at least they got their own sections in metal music magazines and have received critical success with this album and Origo. And the fact that they're signed to the titanic Relapse Records helped with a little more buzz. I'm sure not a lot of you have heard of, let alone heard, this band but consider yourself lucky to find something this complete. After a 3-year gap, the band found their potential of masterful composition. Even though Burst is dead (NOT literally dead, just split up), this great work of art they have created shall remain immortal!

Favorites: "I Hold Vertigo", "We Are Dust", "Cripple God", "City Cloaked"