The Esoteric-Subverter
(Prosthetic Records, 2006)

This album is really taking me by surprise. I was a huge fan of the last album from this band, but this album just seems like a huge leap forward for the band. The band might have somewhat been lumped into the metalcore genre in the past, but this album firmly takes them out of that genre. The album covers a great deal of ground, and the band has introduced a lot of ambience into the approach. The rhythmic crunch is of course still here and used to great lengths, but unlike a lot of bands right now each song brings in new elements and the album never becomes boring. This to my ears is where metalcore should have gone. This is almost the next logical step after Coalesce in terms of heaviness, yet this is more layered and has melody to keep the bludgeoning from getting to the point of being numbing. The band is also experimenting with a bit of an electronic influence on this album. They have really done an amazing job bringing it into the sound and have made it sound really organic and natural. Don’t worry though these moments are somewhat short and they don’t ever seem out of place or take away from the heaviness of the album. The album really is all over the place. You have songs similar to the previous album, the aforementioned electronica sounding songs, and even a few fast songs that show off the hardcore side of the band. Of course each song has elements that bridge the gap between the different styles and make the album seem cohesive. Also of note is that clean vocals are much more common on this album, but they are really unique and unlike what you usually hear in this style. I guess you could say they are somewhat rock sounding but you really have to hear them to understand. This is an album that seems like it is going to be a sleeper hit. It has all of the elements that make a great album, and hopefully the album will find its way into the hands of heavy music fans.

Dream Evil-United
(Century Media, 2006)

This album could pretty much be seen as power metal by the numbers. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it doesn’t seem like the band is doing much of anything to distance themselves from what has come in the past. The band really reminds me of Primal Fear, and by that I mean they damn near sound identical to Primal Fear. As it stands this is an enjoyable power metal album that offers no surprises. I’m not sure if I would want them to try and do something unique, but it is definitely hard to shake the Primal Fear comparison while listening to this disc. So if you basically go into this one knowing that you are going to get a power metal album that really doesn’t break any new ground you will get exactly that. It’s a good album, but an album you have heard before.

40 Below Summer-The Last Dance
(Crash Music, 2006)

This is my first time hearing 40 Below Summer and I pretty much knew what to expect before pressing play. This is fairly by the books nu-metal which comes across like a more melodic Slipknot at times. The heavier moments definitely have Slipknot written all over them, and it is a hard comparison to shake. The melodic side is where the band shines and it is too bad that they don’t explore this side as much as I would have liked. This is a posthumous release as the band has already broken up. While I can say that the band is good at what they do, I can’t really say that I overly enjoy it. This type of modern metal is definitely hit and miss for me and this band doesn’t seem to do anything that makes them stand out from the pack. If you happen to be a fan of the band I’m sure you’ll want to pick this up as it does include a DVD featuring quite a bit of material. Personally, I’d rather listen to Slipknot and I’m not even an entirely huge fan of them either.

Lupura-Self-titled
(Crash Music, 2006)

Broken Hope have always been one of my favorite death metal bands so the fact that this band features a ex-member piqued my interest right from the start. This sounds nothing like Broken Hope and that is fine with me. In fact I’m not even sure if I would call this death metal. It sounds like a more involved version of Hatebreed with guitar solos and much more dynamics. They definitely have some unique ideas, and the overall approach comes across like Morbid Angel meets Hatebreed which is quite different. They have the fast moments and chunky parts which bring to mind Hatebreed, but they have some slower more sinister parts which remind me of Morbid Angel. While I said that this really doesn’t sound like Broken Hope, they do have a few chugging slower parts that sound just a bit like Broken Hope, or just death metal in general. I’m glad that the band isn’t just another death metal band because the world just doesn’t need another bland death metal band. I only have a few complaints here really. I’m not a fan of the lead guitar tone and the solos themselves seem a bit sloppy at times. I guess they are somewhat in that Slayer style so a bit of sloppiness is expected. This disc was quite a surprise and offers a pretty cool combination of heavy hardcore and death metal. Fans of Hatebreed should have little trouble getting into this.

Skid Row-Revolutions Per Minute
(SPV, 2006)

Skid Row had some amazing songs in the 80’s. But why the hell is the band even still together? No Sebastian Bach equals no Skid Row in my mind, even though the new singer does a pretty much job copying him. The magic just isn’t there though. Youth Gone Wild is a classic of heavy rock. These songs just sound like bland heavy rock with hardly even a hint of what the band was once capable of. This is just a bland rock record which is really all over the place. They even dip into a Celtic punk vibe for a song and I’m not really sure who the band is trying to appeal to with a lot of this album. It has a modern vibe and really seems to be trying to move away from what the band has done in the past. But what they did in the past is what made them fans in the first place. I think I’ll pass on this one and just listen to the Skid Row debut instead.