Bad Religion-The Empire Strikes First
(Epitaph, 2004)


Reviewing a Bad Religion album is like reviewing a Speilberg film. No matter what I say people will buy the album because they know they can expect a quality product. But let me tell you, this new Bad Religion album is the best album the band has released in quite sometime. It's not a complete return to their roots, but it's definitely faster then some of their past few albums, and the bands political cyncism is as important as ever these days. It's a fucked up time for this world, and like always, Bad Religion is not afraid to tell you how it is.

It's funny how certain songs on this album remind me of earlier albums and certain songs almost sound like sequels. Hints of Generator invade a few songs, while many of these songs sound like they could have come right from Stranger Then Fiction. So basically it's classic Bad Religion, fast power chords, simple drumming and the best vocals the genre has ever heard. I would argue this point to the bitter end. There hasn't been a vocalist that has even come close to Greg Graffin. The guy can sing, writes amazing lyrics and just puts his heart and soul into every song. His voice is Bad Religion, plain and simple.

The production sounds amazing, but one thing really almost hurts the album. Some of the backup vocals are just too overproduced. It almost gets to the point of sounding like a Def Leapord record. They always felt the need to include 10,000 backup vocal tracks, and it's just a bit too much. In the end, it doesn't really hurt the overall product, but I think they just sound a bit too slick for a Bad Religion album personally.

They've been at it forever it seems, and this is an album that proves the band is as vital and powerful as ever. If you overlooked the bands last few albums, don't make that mistake with this one.

Epitaph Records Website

Beserk-Rites of Supremacy
(Oaken Shield, 2003)

Beserk are pretty much exactly what you'd expect from Oaken Shield. The band plays black metal, and while it has it's fast moments, it's surprising how many slow sections the band has. The band reminds me quite a bit of what Mayhem was doing on the De Mysterriis album actually. They do of course have several blasting moments that remind me of Dark Throne. Hell, there doesn't seem to be one band playing raw black metal these days that doesn't owe quite a bit to Dark Throne. Then again there's nothing wrong with stealing from the best of them.

For as good as these guys are, I find myself becoming bored with this album quite easily. I respect them for having a lot of slower moments, but they also serve as pretty big momentum killers. This is just not an exciting album. If you are into Mayhem, or Dark Throne by all means check it out. It's not bad, it's just not exciting me in anyway.

Beyond Dawn-Far From Showbiz
(Peaceville/PHD, 2003)


This is just a sampler of what’s to come on their forthcoming full-length album, and I am very, very disappointed. I was really impressed with their Revelry album, but this is pretty much just electronic garbage with the same vocal approach they’ve always had. I liked the fact that the band was depressing before, but this is depressing for a different reason, it’s fucking horrible. If you liked their other albums, prepare to be disappointed.

Bestial Mockery-Evoke the Desecrator
(Osmose/PHD, 2004)

The last cd this band released was my first exposure to their brand of hack and slash blackened death metal, and for this new release they have become even more powerful. Imagine black metal butting heads with thrash metal, with a little bit of death metal thrown into the mix. It’s like a cross between Venom and Aussie war metal. It’s one hell of a combination which makes for one of the best metal bands around these days.

As far as comparisons go I guess you could rattle off the usual ones like Blasphemy, or possibly Conqueror or Sadistik Exekution. They don’t really sound identical to any of these bands and have much more of an old school metal feel to it. Like I said earlier I hear a lot of Venom influence, which adds even more to the old school nature of the band. You won’t find anything complicated hear, just dark riffing, pounding drums and screaming vocals. For those who say less is more, this is an album that makes that statement ring true. All you need is guitars, drums and vocals and you have an all out metal assault.

The production is simple yet effective. You won’t hear many overdubs and nothing sounds like it was layered beyond what was needed. The album has a very live and chaotic sound to it, but unlike a lot of bands in this genre these guys are a very tight band. Sometimes sloppiness can add to the atmosphere of bands, but these guys can play their instruments. Sure, the riffs may not be technical, but they are well written and everything sounds tight.

As far as true metal goes, I don’t think it gets much better then Bestial Mockery. They are one of the few bands that is extreme but doesn’t really fall into any sub genre other then being called a metal band. Plain and simple this band is 110% metal mayhem and this album will destroy everything that stands in it’s way.

Black Cross-Art Offensive
(Equal Vision, 2003)

This is one of the few albums that comes out every year that reminds me of why I got into hardcore music and makes me want to stick around to find out what the bands will do next. It’s not to say that Black Cross is far removed from anything we’ve heard before. It’s mainly a healthy dose of Black Flag mixed with some chaotic noise core riffs, but the formula works and this debut album is simply put, amazing.

The band has done a good job to make sure you won’t become bored before the end of the record rolls around. For starters the songs are varied and remain interesting for the duration of the 27-minute album. Which is another reason why you won’t become bored; there is absolutely no filler. The band slashes through the 12 songs and leaves very little room for a person to catch their breath. Even the pauses between songs have been kept to a minimum. It’s one pounding right after another.

The bands sound for the most part is fairly mid-tempo, with an almost rock n roll feel to a lot of the riffs. They throw in a few barnburners to break up the tempos though. If you aren’t ready for it, the first fast song will knock you flat on your ass. I wouldn’t mind if they had more fast songs, but then again it’s a nice change to find a slower hardcore band.

This album is hardcore perfection. Everything about it is amazing, from the layout to the production, it leaves you feeling very satisfied when the cd is finished spinning. Check out the interview in this issue to learn more about this amazing band.

The Black Dahlia Murder-Unhallowed
(Metal Blade, 2003)


For those of you that think that US death metal has become trired and predictable, The Black Dahlia Murder are here to prove otherwise. Think the ferocity of At The Gates mixed with the blasting of black metal, wrapped up with more energy then I've heard from a metal band in a long time, and you have The Black Dahlia Muder. The band is definitely a dangerous weapon, who unleashed will destroy everything that stands in their path.

While comparisons are definitely there, I'd say The Black Dahlia Murder is definitely doing something their own. You can hear the influences, but it's not blatant theviery. The band basically plays at two tempos, fast and faster. Sure they do have their share of slow parts, but for the most part this speeds along at either a thrash tempo, or a blast beat. When they do decide to slow it down, it's usually for either a very melodic riff, or a techincal sinister sounding riff. They definitely do their best to not become stale before the end of the album. For those of you needing the comparisons, you can definitely hear hints of At The Gates, Carcass, Morbid Angel, and possibly even Immortal.

This is one of those album that doesn't let you catch your breath. Just when one breakneck song ends, the next begins. They seem to prefer playing fast, and to be honest, I'm really glad they do. There is a time and a place for every tempo, but for me death metal has to be fast and energetic. These guys definitely are both.

This is definitely one of the best death metal cds I have ever heard. I really hope that the underground scene embraces this band, because I'd love to see them get more exposure and really take the scene by storm. They have a monster of an album on their hands, and are ready to take over.

Black on Black-A Tribute to Black Flag
(Initial, 2003)

I've always been a huge fan of Black Flag. I remember the first time I heard them, I didn't know what to make out of the chaotic noise at first. The screeching guitar leads, pounding drums and shouted vocals were completely new to these ears. Black Flag was definitely one of the most original hardcore bands ever, and still to this day no one really has come close to matching the raw intensity of early Black Flag recordings.

Initial Records has pretty much selected the cream of the hardcore crop to take part in this tribute. American Nothing, now known as Give Up the Ghost, kick things off with a high energy take of Depression. It's faster then the original, and the perfect song to kick things into high gear right from the start. Anodyne follows with an extremely heavy cover of Life is Pain. This never has really been one of my favorite Black Flag songs, but the heavy vocals and downtuned guitars definitely make me like the song more then I ever have before. Probably my least favorite Black Flag song of all time is Drinking and Driving, and while Burnt By the Sun does a great job of covering it, I still can't stand the song. Next up Coalesce does a pretty energy lacking version of Jealous Again. Coalesce never has really been about all out energy, but still this is a Black Flag cover, it needs a bit more angst and energy. Probably the best cover on here is Converge's utterly insane version of Annihilate This Week. It bears very little resemblance to the original, aside from the heavy as fuck chorus. It's typical Converge, lots of feedback, swirling noise and chaotic distortion. Out of every band, they are one of the few that truly make the song their own. Surprisingly enough, probably the worst cover on here comes courtesy of The Dillinger Escape Plan. They seem to play the song well enough, but the super distorted production really doesn't fit the bands style. It's too bad that the band didn't throw the song upside down and make it their own. I definitely expected more from a band as crazy as Dillinger. Next to the Converge cover The Hope Conspiracy come in close second with a heavy as fuck version of Nervous Breakdown. This is probably my favorite Black Flag song of all time and they definitely do it justice. I like how they didn't change it, but you can still tell it's The Hope Conspiracy playing the cover. It's a shame that these guys aren't all over the place. I guess it's somewhat questionable how much of an influence Black Flag had on the Plane Mistaken for Stars sound, but they crank out a dual cover. Police Story runs right into Wasted and these two tracks are pretty damn vicious, which is somewhat shocking because PMFS aren't exactly the most extreme band around these days. Playing Enemy finishes things off with a cover of Six Pack, which also happens to be another one of my favorite BF songs. They definitely add a lot of discordance to the track, and like most of the bands on here have added something to the song. It's a great closing track to a pretty damned good tribute album.

Bleeding Through-This is Love...This is Murderous
(Trustkill, 2003)

The Swedish melodic death metal sound has been creeping into the hardcore scene for awhile now. For bands that have no original ideas, it serves as an easy way to write music, but for those who know how to utilize the melody and speed and integrate it into hardcore it really can work. Along with Unearth, Bleeding Through are one of the few bands that combines the two genres and makes it really work. The melodic riffing combined with vicious breakdowns and harsh screaming makes for a very memorable listen.

I think one of the main reasons the Swedish influence works is because they make it their own sound. When you hear the riffs it doesn’t automatically make you reference bands you’ve heard in the past. You don’t automatically hear an At the Gates or In Flames influence. They take the sound and make it their own. I would almost say that they sound like a combination of The Haunted, and Eighteen Visions at times, but that would be selling them short. It would be tough to call what they are doing stylistically original, but how the different genres come together is somewhat original. It truly does sound like Bleeding Through, and not just another faceless metalcore band.

I also think that the band stands out from the pack with their visual approach. Even if I hadn’t of known what the band had to offer musically I probably would have picked this up just because of the album cover and layout. In a time when it’s easy just to put a skull and make your label unreadable, it’s nice to see a band putting some effort into a layout and approaching it from a more visual point of view. It’s also very unique to see a heavy band mainly use white for a layout.

Lyrically this album is pretty vicious. I don’t think I’ve read the word fuck in a hardcore album this many times before. The vicious lyrics are matched by an equally vicious vocal approach. The main screaming voice the singer uses actually reminds me quite a bit of Phil Anselmo. Granted, it’s a lot heavier, but for some reason I can’t get that comparison out of my head. The vocal approach is actually quite varied as well. There are some clean vocals to go along with the screams, which are quite varied themselves. It’s not a constant scream from start to finish, he uses a range of different sounds.

Some people might write this band off as just another Swedish influenced metalcore band, but there is so much more to this. It’s well written, well played, and generally leaves every other band playing this style in the dust.

The Blueprint-Ecliptic
(Copro/PHD, 2003)

It seems like innovation in rock music is pretty much dead in the water these days. You have tons of bands that sound identical, and then a few that break the norm. The Blueprint aren't completely reinventing the wheel, but the mixing of ideas is pretty refreshing. Imagine a cross between Boy Sets Fire and Tool, with some heavy almost Swedish death metal sounding riffs ala Killswitch Engage, and lots of memorable choruses and clean vocals lines. It's basically a huge combination of hardcore, metal, rock, and some pop sensibilities in the vocal hooks.

If you know very little about the members that make up this band you'll probably wonder where the songwriting prowess comes from? But if I told you that this band was made up of members of Consumed, Earthtone9 and Pitch Shifter you'd probably understand why these guys write such killer songs. If you like your music interesting, intelligent yet still heavy you'll definitely be able to get into The Blueprint. Just don't expect death metal ferocity.

All I have to say about the production is that Andy Sneap is the man. From a production stand point, this sounds amazing. If you've heard anything else he's produced you know that he has a talent for huge sounding guitars. While not as mind bogglingly heavy as the Nevermore albums he's produced, Ecliptic is still very heavy, as heavy as the style needs. If you are a stickler for clean production, you'll definitely want to be carrying a spare pair of shorts after hearing this album.

This album will definitely appeal to a wide variety of extreme music lovers. From hardcore/metalcore fans, to straight up rock fans, there really is something for everyone on here. The band still keeps things consistent though, and this is definitely a very well written, amazing sounding MCD from a band that everyone needs to hear.

Blood-Dysangelium
(Morbid/PHD, 2003)

Blood's music is pretty similar to it's name. Short, and too the point. There aren't any extra frills or technical wankery. The band plays straight ahead 100% death metal that takes no prisoners and is set on kill for the 21 songs that make up this album.

I sometimes find it a bit puzzling how a band can have a sound that isn't very original yet at the same time you have a hard time to come up with comparisons. The band blasts, but for the most part this travels along at a thrash tempo. This adds a great deal of energy to the band and lets an almost Florida style influence creep into the bands sound. One other important element of this bands sound is catchy riff writing. These guys have a knack for crafting memorable yet still very brutal songs with structures that stick in your head after the songs are finished. They also have some great vocal patterns as well.

One of the few complaints I have is that this may just be a bit too long or lengthy for a band of this style. 40 minutes is a short length for some genres of music but for grind influenced death metal it's possibly a bit too long.

If you are into grinding death metal, then chances are you are probably already listening to Blood. If you haven't checked them out yet, pick up this new album and be sure to play it loud!

Blood Duster-s/t
(Season of Mist/PHD, 2004)

The worlds best grind n’ roll band is back and quite possibly better then ever! A combination of early Napalm Death, Black Sabbath and rock n’ roll might sound a bit strange to some people, but it’s pretty much a perfect summation of the Blood Duster sound. They’ll blast your face off one second and then make you want to dance the next. The bands style allows for an incredibly varied album, and this new album is probably the most varied and memorable album thus far in their career.

I wouldn’t really say that the band is really doing anything they haven’t done on previous releases here. I would however say that the transitions between the styles is more smooth and the songwriting itself is much more memorable. Some of these songs are just plain hilarious and have hook filled choruses. SixSixSixteen and I Wanna Do It With a Donna are both incredibly hilarious and incredibly infectious. So you can essentially say if you’ve heard Blood Duster in the past, you know what to expect, but this is just plain better.

Blood Duster have always had a knack for finding incredibly hilarious samples and this album is no different. It’s becoming a bit of a trend within the scene to riddle a metal release with samples, but in the case of this album I don’t mind at all. These samples are just fucking hilarious and totally fit in the theme of the band.

The production is pretty much perfect for the style the band plays. It’s not suffocatingly heavy, and it has a lot of grit to it. The band doesn’t seem to go for the typical metal guitar tone with no mids, they opt for a more dirty and rock based sound. The production as a whole has a very natural and live sound to it. It allows a lot of energy to come across through the music and like I said earlier this is pretty much the perfect production for this album.

Like I said before, this isn’t really bringing anything new to the Blood Duster sound, but this is easily their best album so far. They seem to have the style they want down to a science and have no trouble writing an amazing record from start to finish!

Blood For Blood-Serenity
(Thorp, 2004)

Blood for Blood are back with a 9 track MCD of hardcore that only the boys in Blood for Blood are capable of. Picking up where Outlaw Anthems left off, Blood for Blood have added a bit to their sound and sound better then they have in years. You might be surprised by the somewhat melodic choruses, but they fit in perfectly and these are definitely the best songs the band has ever written.

Basically you can sum up this band is two parts on this mcd. They have faster moments which bring to mind old school hardcore, and slower more melodic sections. They started using the melodic choruses on Outlaw Anthems, but they are much better executed here, and really add a lot to the songs. They would just be average hardcore songs without them but the choruses really help them stand out.

Fans of the older material might not be totally into this new more melodic approach. With some bands I swear by the older material as well, but I think that this is a band that has definitely come into their own over time. The songwriting is just much more memorable now. It's like they have perfected the bands sound and have progressed into a much more original band. With a MCD this good I'm sure I'm not the only person that is waiting for a new full length. Blood for Blood is back and you better stay out of their way.

Breaking Pangaea-Phoenix
(Equal Vision, 2003)

It took me a while to get into this band, and to be honest I’m glad. Breaking Pangaea are essential a rock band, but think more towards the indy rock side of things then the dirty Marshall stack blazing style of rock n roll. It has more in common with the stuff you’d hear of Dischord then it does with Bad Taste, so to speak.

It has to be sad flat out, these guys are amazing songwriters. For every simple riff, there is an added nuance that makes it so much more then a simple riff. For the most part this isn’t very simple though. It’s not crazy in the same way that a band like say Dillenger Escape Plan is, but they add a lot of hooks and little melodies to make each riff unique. The one word I would use to describe this band is interesting. The music keeps you on your toes and the lyrics are, well like I said, interesting. Interesting and heartfelt basically sums up Breaking Pangaea.

The element of the band that took the most for me to get into was the vocals. They aren’t bad by any stretch of the imagination; the singer just has a very unique voice and uses some very interesting patterns and melodies. It’s actually the main thing that makes me think this band is original.

I can’t even really come up with any comparisons, but if you are into the indy rock scene you’ll probably at least want to give these guys a listen to see if you can get into what they are doing. It might take a few spins to fully get, but it’s definitely worth the time.

Breed Apart-demo
(Self Released, 2004)

I can’t get over how good this damn demo sounds! It was recorded with a producer that worked with Stampin’ Ground so obviously the guys knows how to make bands sound tremendously heavy. I was expecting these guys to be a bit more hardcore based then this, but overall I would say that I am impressed by this.

I would compare this to say like a combination between a band like Hatebreed and bands like Machine Head. It’s heavy, full of double bass, yet the tempo never really gets too fast. The music almost has a thrash type vibe running throughout. I think the mid tempo nature of the band is what makes me think thrash. The guitar riffing is straight forward, yet they have little nuances that make the riffs interesting. This is definitely a pretty solid demo as far as songwriting is concerned.

I’d say the one thing holding this band back are the vocals. I just don’t really think they fit at all. The music is tremendously heavy, yet the vocals are a sort of talking yell. They need blood curdling screams to go along with the music. It would have made a world of difference and would have had a lot more impact. As it stands, this is a band with potential that needs to rethink it’s vocal approach.

Like I mentioned earlier this sounds phenomenal. Hell, this is a demo and it sounds better then most albums I receive. The guitar sound is just utterly monstrous. It’s easily as heavy as any death metal album you’ve heard. They must have spent a fortune to record this demo, and hopefully something will come of it. But those vocals....

This band definitely has a lot of potential, but the vocals really stand out like the one thing they need to work on. They would work for a band that isn’t this heavy, but as is they need a more vicious vocal approach.