Filed Under (Alternative, Metal) by admin on 23-11-2008
 Same old game is more like it. Over four albums, these new-metal rockers have remained on message, churning out poor-me songs that build from a whine to a godforsaken yowl. Their latest begins promisingly with “Fish Out of Water,” which opens with a stuttering guitar and funky double-time falsetto vocals by frontman Chad Gray. But then the song hits the chorus and devolves, as Gray bellows nonsense like, “Who do you wanna be?/The summit of integrity/Or the bottom, the filth/The dichotomy?” Mudvayne write some decent guitar hooks (check the title track), but their imagination is parched, with most songs hewing to one formula: riff, whimper, shriek, repeat. Read the rest of this entry »
 Lower Definition isn’t a band that you’re going to hear about through a television commercial or an online advertisement. Matter of fact the only reason I got interested with this band was because of a sampler CD where they were placed right on the middle of it. The song I heard was “The Weatherman” which still sticks out to my listening taste buds as an intriguing song. Thinking up a math formula to really get in depth with this post-hardcore act really leads me to three bands that really are similar in different aspects. The vocals seem to be inspired by GlassJAw which works well for the most part (if not a tad too whiney). The song constructions remind me of Hopesfall, very fluent and active as it is slow and moving as well. The interesting guitar work by the band takes a lot of cues from the old material from As Cities Burn. It’s fast and bi-polar with lead riffs entangled with one and other. If any of these bands have caught your attention before then it’s almost Read the rest of this entry »
 The Dream has some of the same elements of In This Moment’s first CD, but the melodic quotient has been increased quite a bit. They’ve mostly abandoned metalcore and moved toward rock. There are some heavy songs, but the majority are really mainstream sounding.
What makes these songs more accessible and mainstream is the decreased amount of screaming by Maria Brink. She still wails on a few tracks, but they are usually brief parts and she quickly returns to melodic singing. Most songs have no screaming at all. Read the rest of this entry »
Filed Under (Alternative, Gothic) by admin on 10-11-2008
 It takes a lot of effort to remain fresh and vital after twelve studio releases; no matter how successful and groundbreaking the band has been in the past.
That definitely holds true on the new album from The Cure. 4:13 Dream (out Oct. 28th) is the group’s thirteenth proper album, and it sees the band treading over some fairly familiar ground.
The creepy surreal gothic tracks on 4:13 Dream don’t conjure the same vivid imagery as previous works like say “100 Days”. It’s hard to tell if that’s because the songs aren’t as striking, or whether The Cure’s oeuvre has become so familiar to the listener.
Poppy is the best adjective to describe much of the album. In fact, “The Only One” bears and almost too close resemblance to the smash hit “Friday I’m In Love”. The single “Freakshow” sounds like Robert Smith Read the rest of this entry »
Filed Under (Alternative) by admin on 10-11-2008
 There is no denying the fact that Marcelo Camelo is a respected figure in the new crop of Brazilian musicians. Since the (perhaps) extinct Radiohead, the music simple, beautiful and raw barbudos of musicians has a legion of fans. “I” is the name of the first solo disc of Camels (the seal itself Zé Pereira), which provided the cover is already showing its main feature: the simplicity, the disc is for those you do not hear very high on your ipod, during a travel by bus. With arrays and calm, the disc is relaxing, nice to hear.
Two songs I drew attention in particular: “Teo and Seagull” has a beautiful array of guitar - raríssima thing these days - and perfectly evokes the mood and title of “Dinner” that has the participation of Mallu Magalhaes, who gave a Tone “folk” to the already beautiful beautiful piece. (ps: this is the first time I heard Mallu sing in Portuguese). Read the rest of this entry »
Filed Under (Alternative, indie) by admin on 10-11-2008
 “You don’t know it yet, but this is your favorite album of the year,” AbsolutePunk says of FF5’s newest release, Dance Or Die. And while you might think they’re just saying that, they’re not.
They still continue their original sound, but there are some changes. Going for more of a 70s and 80s vibe, the album is overall more mature. Sure, they still have their dance-floor rock anthems (”Rip It Up”, “Get Your Back Off The Wall”, “Fever”, “Dance Or Die”), but they also have a couple of love songs. The lovey-dovey “The First Time” and the more rock “D-I-E 4 Y-O-U” are sweet (literally). But their polar-opposite “Share It With Me” while catchy, is a very emotional, dramatic heartbreak song, with lines such as “The memory of our first kiss/Is taking me to the verge of tears” and “Now that you’re gone it’s killing me”, which you wouldn’t expect to hear from this band. In fact it sounds like it was put on here by accident. Read the rest of this entry »
Filed Under (Alternative) by admin on 12-10-2008
 Many words are fitting when attempting to describe Australian band The Butterfly Effect. “Epic” is certainly one that will often come up amongst fans- a title rightly deserved with the band’s fantastic 2003 debut, Begins Here. “Consistent” is another, describing the steady, tried-and-tested sound of the band’s next record, 2006’s Imago; a fine album, but significantly missing the spark of the previous effort. Heavy, melodic, emotional and excellent performers are others that will be used invariably. But “predictable”? “Average”? Even “boring”? Surely blasphemy has occurred. Unfortunately, these are the words that creep into conscience throughout the band’s third effort, Final Conversation of Kings. Despite some shining moments, there appears to be little to no heart or effort left in what TBE are doing as musicians.
One of the most discussed elements of this record thus far has been the inclusion of a horn section in some of the songs. Unfortunately, a collective cameo of about 90 seconds on a 40 minute record does not equate to a revelatory progression of the music. For what it’s worth, however, where it is used creates an interesting Read the rest of this entry »
 “The way I am/you’ll never change,” sings Aaron Lewis on Staind’s sixth studio album. He’s not kidding. For nearly a decade, Lewis and his bandmates have been immovable post-grunge loyalists, fiercely committed to the genre’s basics: midtempo songs in minor keys, sullen vocals and lyrics that distill the message Life Sucks and Then You Die.On The Illusion of Progress, they team up with producer Johnny K (Disturbed, Drowning Pool) to tweak the formula just a bit. The album opener, “This Is It,” is pro-forma post-grunge, but beneath his mewl, Lewis sounds almost contented (”It feels like this is good enough for me,” he sings). “The Corner” is a lush Pink Read the rest of this entry »
 Reunions rarely rival history. But with this collection of burbling grooves, these Senegalese legends recapture the Afro-Cuban bliss of their 1982 classic, Pirates Choice — imagine the Buena Vista Social Club weaned on motherland polyrhythms. The secret weapon remains Barthélemy Attisso, a guitar giant with a touch as delicate and melodically sublime as Jerry Garcia’s. His lines on “Nijaay” and “Cabral” are so chill they’ll buckle your knees.
Read the rest of this entry »
Filed Under (Alternative) by admin on 09-09-2008
 Nothing gets folks on your team like losing your fiancé to a Hollywood bombshell. So just imagine what Alanis Morissette has been doing since her ex, actor Ryan Reynolds, traipsed off with Scarlett Johansson. Writing about post-romantic stress disorder isn’t new for Morissette, but her latest album doesn’t rage like “You Oughta Know” — it sounds more like grief. Producer and co-writer Guy Sigsworth (Björk) frames Morissette’s candid lyrics with a vaguely New Age grandeur — electro beats, Eastern percussion, orchestral arrangements — amping up the drama on her octave-hiccuping catharsis. On “Citizens of the Planet,” the production alternates between ringing tablas and head-banging guitars for an oddly stirring Enya-meets-System of a Down opener. “Moratorium” uses swirling synths and Read the rest of this entry »
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