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August Burns Red Is Back With A Renewed Sense of Purpose | Posted June-26-2013
August Burns Red is making a statement with this album. They don't want to fall into the trappings of what passes for metal nowadays. They want to stand out and bring a unique sound that will, in turn, shake up the genre. Rescue & Restore does that job much more so than the band's previous album, Leveler, did. While I enjoyed Leveler for what it was, it did feel a bit like the band was holding back a bit in terms of experimentation. There was some in Leveler, certainly enough to identify it as an ABR album, but it didn't pack the punch as Messengers did.
Now with Rescue & Restore, ABR is finally going full out with experimentation and the result is amazing. Strings, cello, a weird instrument that's credited as a Guzheng in the liner notes, all of that plus the band's signature sudden time changes result in an album that is packed with uniqueness and diversity. There's even some spoken word thrown in during a couple of songs. The lyrics continue to inspire and comfort as well as be brutally honest and Jake Luhrs vocals continue to be standout.
Rescue & Restore manages to give August Burns Red a renewed sense of purpose that was lacking in Leveler. It has enough diversity and uniqueness to stand out in the stagnant metal genre. It also happens to be one of the best albums of the year.
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Pleasing Fans Old and New | Posted June-24-2013
Skillet's previous album, Awake was a bit disappointing in that the band didn't break out and try out something new and stuck to the mainstream hard rock that made Comatose a breakout hit. With the aptly named Rise, the band decided to spice up their sound a bit and also added a story that is told throughout the running length. The story is about a teen who tries to find ways of dealing with all of the problems that are happening in the world as well as his own personal problems. It's a good story to tell and feels relevant with what's going on in the world today. The lyrics do a good job in informing us on what's going through the teen's mind as he's dealing with these problems.
Skillet's trademark hard rock sound is still here along with the other unique aspects they are known for like the orchestral strings and drummer Jen Ledger's voice. Those aspects are the forefront of some tracks while Skillet's old in-your-face Collide-era rock sounds dominate other ones. Although there are a few tracks that reminded me of Awake and why I didn't like that particular album.
In the end, the pros outweigh the cons and Rise ends up being a better album than Awake was. It manages to balance the old and new styles of Skillet and will, in turn, please both old fans and new ones. The story running throughout the album is good and current to world events. After 7 albums, Skillet still manages to surprise and deliver on good, solid rock and roll.
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High Energy Hard Rock | Posted June-19-2013
We As Human is a band that only popped up on my radar recently thanks to the endless tweets that the members of Skillet keep tweeting about them. I got around to listening to the early album stream of the band's label debut album and it has it's highs and lows. The big high of the album is that you can feel the energy the band has all the way through the album. They want to make an impression, and they certainly do. However, the sound they present feels a tad bit generic at points, deloving into a sound akin to Skillet's Comatose album. We As Human has a good future ahead of them. If they can keep their energy levels up and continue to evolve their sound into something unique then I'll be here to listen.
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Worth the Long Wait | Posted June-06-2013
Finally, the long delayed 3rd album from Aaron Gillespie's band The Almost is here, (well, it arrives on Tuesday but thanks to PureVolume I got to listen to the entire album early,) and it's worth the almost 4 year long wait. Fear Inside Our Bones brings a new sound from the band (a more southern style rock sound,) that, I think, suits the band perfectly. We got a bit of that sound from the band's previous 2 albums but those were more punk influenced while here they just go all out with the southern style. Fear Inside our Bones is not only The Almost's best album, it's probably going to be one of my favorite albums of this year. It's been a long time since we last heard new stuff from this band, but the wait was worth it.
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Indie Pop Rock That Excels At Being Indie Pop Rock | Posted April-16-2013
Love and Fear continues the love motif We Shot the Moon has been using for the past couple of albums. This album is more about how love drives out fear. The lyrics do a good job in telling us this theme. The music itself surprised me in that I was expecting another generic sounding pop rock album but, while it has trace elements of that sound, it's ultimately overshadowed by the indie pop sounds and fits in well with the album as a whole. This band has a strong future ahead and this album has gotten me intrigued as to what they come up with next.
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Average Pop Rock With Standout Lyrical Work | Posted April-13-2013
When it's all said and done, The latest album from The Afters sounds like your average run-of-the-mill pop rock album. The lyrics are strong and the only real highlight of the album. The days of Never Going Back to O.K. are long gone.
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Solid Arena Rock | Posted April-04-2013
Lights Out comes to us a few years after Silverline's defining EP Voices in the NIght and it delivers more of what made that EP great. Honest lyrics mixed in with a strong rock sound. While I feel that Voices is the more memoriable project than this album I wold still listen to this and enjoy it just as much.
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Good Blending of Rock Genres | Posted March-29-2013
This Beautiful Republic's second (and sadly final) album strives to give us an amalgam of sounds spanning the entire rock genre. Some hit and some miss. There are songs that sound like something you'd hear on any mainstream radio station and yet there are songs that get really heavy musically. Ben Olin does a good job in trying to match these different tones vocally. The lyrics remain honest and true which is a good thing.
This Beautiful Republic mixes their sound up a bit in this album. Some of it, like the heavier songs, works while other things, like the more radio friendly pop rock songs, don't quite work. But I do admire the fact that they wanted to change their sound up a little and experiment with different rock genres. It's also a bit of a bittersweet moment in knowing that this is the final album the band will ever put out. I wished they were still around to show me what was up their sleeves for a potential third album but, alas, that will never happen.
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Rock N' Roll Honesty | Posted March-29-2013
This Beautiful Republic's debut album delivers honest lyrics mixed in with a pure rock sound that has a wide appeal. Lead singer Ben Olin's voice is easy on the ears and fits in well with the sound the band is going for. It's a great album that manages to rock out while delivering an honest message about how we need to change the way we view ourselves.
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More Melodic Then Previous Albums | Posted March-29-2013
With Redeemer, Norma Jean delivers a mre melodic album that still contians the things that make the band who they are. Cory's signature scream is on fine display, the instruments produce brutal metal sounds like clockwork, and the lyrics have the same punch as they always do. What makes this album more melodic then previous albums is that there is more of an emphasis on singing vocals. They're pretty good and keep in line with the melodic tone of the album. While fans of the band might be a bit put off by the direction they chose to go here, Redeemer is still a fine Norma Jean album that does deserve at least a listen.
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