Fear My Thoughts-Vulcanus
(Century Media, 2007)

Fear My Thoughts have been a band that I've been following for a few albums now and I've yet to be disappointed. This latest album marks the bands debut release with Century Media and the bands mix of thrash and Swedish metal is in fine form here. Staying in a similar groove as the last album, the album is a combination of full throttle thrash and melodic and almost electronic sounding elements akin to newer In Flames. The electronic element seems to be explored even more with this album with keyboards being a bit more prominent. It definitely adds an additional element to the band and while long time fans might be leery of the idea at first, once you hear the album you'll realize that the extra keyboards work. I would also say that this is the catchiest album yet from the band. The song Blankness is very memorable and might possibly be the best song the band has ever written. There is no shaking the fact that In Flames has been a big influence on this album. From the clean guitar melodies, to the more prominent keyboards this definitely has a strong In Flames feel to it. This album however is much faster and heavier then In Flames has been in a long time. So the band is far from being an In Flames clone and has a lot of original ideas to offer as well. I like the fact that the band covers a wide variety of feels throughout the album. You have the faster songs and the more midtempo songs but a few songs have a more epic feel and are a bit more drawn out with almost a black metal feel coming through in some of the guitar riffs. If you passed up on this band before then this is the perfect time to wake up and realize that this is one of the best bands playing this style of music right now. They leave the cliches at the door and bring 12 songs that are fast when they need to be, memorable when they need to be and at the end of the day are just damn enjoyable to listen to.

The Handshake Murders-Usurper
(Goodfellow Records, 2006)

I have to admit that I somewhat cringe when I receive a CD and I see the word metalcore in the bio these days. This band definitely is a good find and a band that does the genre justice. The band has a stomp and groove similar to Coalesce and that always wins points in my books as I still think Coalesce was one of the best the genre has ever seen. Add in some weird timings and some awesome use of dissonance and you have the basic formula for The Handshake Murders. You could also draw a lot of parallels to A Life Once Lost, but that could very much just be because both bands might be influenced by Meshuggah. But it is fairly safe to say that if you enjoy A Life Once Lost, you'll dig The Handshake Murders. I like the fact that the band also sounds in control. A lot of bands that explore dissonance tend to just sound like a jumbled mess, but these guys really manage to keep things together and sound tight even when things get their noisiest. The band also travels at more of a deliberate pace and isn't exactly what you would consider a fast band. This is mainly about grooves and slower tempos. They really manage to keep the album interesting though and unique ideas from track to track. They also keep the songs short and concise and have no reason to throw in any filler. The production was handled by Eric Rachel at Trax East so the sound is quite phenomenal. The guitars are thick and powerful and the vocals hit you with enough force to knock the wind out of you. The dissonance comes through loud and clear and never sounds like a mess. This is the type of album I have absolutely no trouble calling metalcore. Forget about the quasi-Swedish stuff and crooning vocals, this is the real deal.

The Devil Wears Prada-Dear Love: A Beautiful Discord
(Rise Records, 2006)

Any way you look at it the name of this band really stands out. I guess if the movie was never made it wouldn't stand out as much but it's tough for me to see the band name and not think of Meryl Streep. The music however does not make me think of Meryl Streep. This is an all out assault of heaviness mixed dissonance and energy to spare. The band actually reminds me quite a bit of Norma Jean but a bit more streamlined structure wise, although the dissonance is still here. The songs are built around midtempo stomps with lots of dissonance and just a hint of the Swedish melody that is so prevalent these days. The cool thing about this band is that there are some moments that could only be described as death metal. The riffs during these sections are very chunky and the vocals move into growling territory. Breakdowns are of course quite common here, but to the bands credit they are much more thought out then usual and are also quite varied. Some are extremely slow and noisy while others are the more common version with usual chugs followed by flashes of dissonance. Keyboards are also a big part of the bands sound and while they don't always stand out there are little sections where the keyboards do add to the music. I'd say they are mostly there for atmosphere but you can hear them and they don't ruin the music, which is a nice change when most bands really have no use for a keyboard player. I really find myself enjoying the songs with clean singing, which somewhat surprises me actually. The clean vocals are handled really well and add a nice contrast to the usually very harsh vocal approach. Truth be told this isn't what I would call original, but it is enjoyable. Fans of Norma Jean or some of the heavier bands on Solid State should have little trouble getting into this.

Farewell to Words-Tear Down This Wall
(Bastardized Recordings, 2007)

Very few new bands hit me like a ton of bricks, but this album hit me like a dump truck load of bricks, each one hitting me right on the head. With a speedy and melodic approach Farewell to Words reminds me quite a bit of Caliban, but faster and with a somewhat different use of clean vocals. The band plays with an incredible amount of energy and even the more cliched moments come across like a ton of bricks so it is easy to look past some of the more typical moments. I hear hints of Killswitch Engage at times, especially during the opening song. But what really drives this band is the vocal approach. The band has two vocalists, one male and one female and both are quite good. Harsh vocals wise both are quite excellent and have throaty screams with the male vocalist possessing quite the guttural roar as well. When it comes to the clean vocals the band stumbles just a little bit. Both have good voices, but the execution is just a bit lacking at times. I do like what they are doing with the clean vocals and seeing as though this is still early in the bands career I'm sure they will improve with time. Lyrically this has a lot to offer as well. Very few albums even give me any interest to flip through the booklet and read the lyrics these days, but these are well written and easy to relate to. The production is spot on with a heavy guitar tone, and a perfect drum sound. The vocals are mixed perfectly which could have been a mess due to all of the layering of the two voices. I'd be lying if I said that this album completely turns metalcore on its head, but it definitely stands out because of the above average songwriting and not overly relying on the cliches of the genre. This is only an EP so I'm very excited to see what the band could do with a full length. Hopefully they can work out the small kinks in their amour and release an absolute monster next time around.