Dead to Fall-Are You Serious?
(Victory Records, 2008)

Let's face it; metal tends to be a rather serious genre. With all the blood, skulls and testosterone the genre is known for, the almost Tron inspired sci-fi look of the cover to Dead to Falls latest album shows the band moving in a new direction. Musically this is a vicious as the band has ever been, but lyrically this is much different. Stupid? starts off the album and really sets the tone. It pokes fun at the metalcore genre and even at Dead at Fall themselves. But I thought metal was supposed to be serious? How are you supposed to look grim and throw the devil horns up to this? Hopefully you caught my sarcasm there, as this shows Dead to Fall finally finding their place in the crowded metalcore genre.

The lighting quick At the Gates inspired riffs of the past albums are here, but the band definitely has taken a few leaps with this album. An almost sci-fi futuristic vibe is running through the album at times and a few songs on here are the most mellow the band has ever been. A song like Loch Ness is much slower and moody and is a song that really shows the band taking their sound to new places. They definitely seem a bit sick and tired of the typical metalcore cliches and do a fantastic job keeping enough elements to make this sound like Dead to Fall but still much different. If you are expecting The Phoenix Throne part 2 you are definitely not going to find it here.

The sound of the record just seems to fit much more with this album. It's a bit more organic and a bit rawer. It helps to give the album a unique feel and makes the band have even more oomph to their sound. I think the past two albums suffered from having fairly typical productions for the genre. Bands seem content with going to the same producers and in the end you have albums that sound identical and it makes bands lose a lot of their identity. This is a much more fitting sound for Dead to Fall and along with the new musical direction, the band is really onto something with Are You Serious?

http://www.myspace.com/deadtofall

Divinity-Allegory
(Nuclear Blast, 2008)

Divinity is a band that is not easy to classify. They have an accessible edge, but are also quite aggressive and progressive at the same time. The riffs come at you fast and with frequent changes but the band never loses sight of the memorable side of the band and even the most technical sections are usually anchored in between extremely memorable riffs and melodies. As far as comparisons go, cross Into Eternity with Symbolic era Death and possibly a few hints of newer In Flames and you have the basic framework for the Divinity sound.

At the core of the band's sound I would say that they are a modern thrash metal band, but a damn varied one. Despite that this is very similar to Into Eternity; I would almost say that Divinity is more successful in integrating clean vocals and melody into a heavier sound. The vocals switch between a harsh rasp that sounds a ridiculous amount like Chuck Schuldiner, a powerful death growl and the clean vocals which pop up mainly for the choruses. It's not just the vocals that are varied either. The riffs run the gamut from progressive rhythmic excursions to flat out blast beat insanity and the band makes it work with flying colors. These aren't simplistic songs, they throw a lot at you but the band manages to make it work.

This album was actually recorded before the band was even signed to Nuclear Blast, so it goes to show you that this was a band was ready to make a name for themselves and create a slab of metal that made one of the biggest metal labels around sit up and take notice. There is a professionalism and songwriting prowess that is normally reserved for veteran bands on display here. If you like your metal melodic yet technical with speed and numerous guitar leads, Divinity is a band that will supply just what you are looking for.

http://www.myspace.com/divinitymetal

Arsis-We Are the Nightmare
(Nuclear Blast, 2008)

With Nuclear Blast as their new home, Arsis is likely to rise above being one of the most criminally unheard of bands the US has to offer. With a razor sharp and technical approach, thrash metal intensity clashes with melodic flourishes in an original and dynamic style. Its slightly blackened and definitely has a haunting sense of melody that further solidifies the bands original take on extreme metal. We Are the Nightmare is an exciting collection of metal music that shows the genre can indeed move forward while still maintaining the energy and also the extremity that makes the genre so virile.

To my ears what really stands out about Arsis is a very distinct guitar tone. Metal of this nature is usually treated with a the more distortion the better approach, but this is actually quite clear and while it is indeed heavy there are a lot more mids than you would expect. It gives the guitars a razor sharp edge that cuts through the mix and allows even the most involved riff to cut through the mix clearly even during a part with machine gun drumming underneath. It definitely helps the band as well because there is a lot of guitar layering on this album and harmonies and lead lines pretty much coat every section of this album.

If you wanted to get right down to brass taxes, you could simply call this progressive blackened thrash. Arsis manages to combine their technical edge with some downright memorable riffs, making for a sound that hits on a number of different levels. If you are a fan of shred, the album has ridiculous sweep picking runs and extensive lead guitar work. Stripped down tremolo picked riffs are quite common giving the music a feel that would appeal to fans of a more modern style of black metal. Hell, there is even a slight rock feel coming through from time to time giving yet another facet to the Arsis sound to digest. Simply put, Arsis is one of the best bands playing technical yet violent music right now. If you like your extremity dipped in melody, We Are the Nightmare is an essential purchase.

http://www.myspace.com/arsis

Kreator-At the Pulse of Kapitulation
(SPV USA, 2008)

Arguing about who is the greatest thrash band of all time would be a lengthy and possible irresolvable debate. Two of the most vicious albums the genre ever saw came in the form of Endless Pain and Pleasure to Kill, two slabs of primitive and ridiculously fast thrash that still sounds violent and vital to this day. While the band is still together, which is quite remarkable, the magic of the first four albums hasn't been fully relived with any recent albums. This DVD/CD set puts together two out of print VHS tapes, Live in East Berlin from 1990 and Hallucinative Comas which is something of a horror movie set to Kreator music and interlaced with footage of the band.

The live section of the DVD is quite cool for a number of reasons. For one this is the first time the band played in East Berlin after the wall had fallen. So essentially the band is playing in front of like 7000 rabid thrash fans during a time when thrash was at its peak. The set list and performance both definitely do not disappoint. The tracks are taken from the first four studio albums with classics like Under the Guillotine and Flag of Hate being played along with the slightly more mature direction of songs like Toxic Trace and Extreme Aggressions. The band is incredible live and this may very well have been when the band was at their peak in terms of live performances. The songs that are already ridiculously fast on the album are even faster live. It never sounds sloppy though, and the amount of energy on display is admirable. You would never imagine that this was from 1991 due to the video quality. It is crystal clear and is actually one of the best shot live concerts I've ever seen.

While I would say the live performance is the main draw here, Hallucinative Comas is definitely a fairly interesting 24 minutes of band footage and somewhat artsy horror segments. I find myself coming back to the live footage though. This is a perfect representation of Kreator in a live setting and while it depresses me that I never had the chance to see the band live during their peak, this DVD eases the pain, if only slightly.

http://www.myspace.com/officialkreator

Kamelot-Ghost Opera: The Second Coming
(SPV USA, 2008)

A recent trend in music is for bands to re-release albums that are essentially brand new, but with bonus material such as a DVD or bonus tracks. Double dipping is quite common with movies, but with music is seems almost unwarranted unless perhaps a production problem was fixed or if the label happens to flop right when the album is released. Ghost Opera is an amazing album from Kamelot, but to me it doesnt seem like a new version of the album was all that mandatory. What this new version adds is two videos and a bonus disc featuring a 10 song live set, and four bonus tracks, three of which are new and one being a remix. The live set sounds fantastic and the band can certainly pull off their layered sound in a live setting. The problem is that the second disc isnt essential if you already own the previous version of Ghost Opera. However if you don't own Ghost Opera, this is indeed the version to get. A bit more padding would have made this a bit more appealing to more than just the hardcore Kamelot fan base. In this day and age if you are going to include a live set you might as well just include a DVD.

http://www.myspace.com/kamelot