Blood Red Throne-Altered Genesis
(Earache Records, 2005)

There was a certain charm to early death metal. The early Earache and Roadrunner albums were all extremely heavy and powerful, but were memorable and extreme without becoming redundant. Blood Red Throne conjured up images of vintage death metal, and Altered Genesis is an album that death metal needs right now.

Forget about 5 minute blast beats, flurries of bumble bees guitar solos, and burping vocals. Blood Red Throne is fast, but there are many different tempos explored and they never stay on any one tempo for too long. There is actually a lot of substance to the songs. The songs are made up of many different parts, but the parts flow incredibly well and even if the riffs vary in tempo they keep similar feels throughout the songs. Nothing seems out of place or forced.

Vocally the band uses a powerful roar that manages to fill out the bands sound nicely without sounding like cookie monster. Death metal can have the most powerful vocals in any genre of music, period. It’s a shame that it has come so far and bands now do whatever they can to have the heaviest vocals possible. Blood Red Throne has a very natural sound to the vocals. There is no cupping, or any studio trickery used to.

While I may reference early death metal many times during this review, this band definitely isn’t a throw back to that time period. They have modern influences, and there is even a slight black metal streak in a few riffs here and there. They do play a style that brings to mind the power of the early bands though. This is 100% death metal plain and simple.

Every New Day-The Shadows Cast
(Hand of Hope Records, 2005)

A Canadian band on a record label from Florida is what we have here. Every New Day is from Winnipeg Manitoba and just happen to be one of the best melodic hardcore bands to come along in quite sometime. They actually remind me just a little of another Winnipeg band actually. They have a similar style to Propaghandi with just a bit more of a pop/punk feel at times, and even a little bit of metalcore coming in from time to time.

The song writing here definitely leans towards a memorable style. The band plays quite fast, with interesting and rhythmic riffs. They are definitely melodic, but the band throws in interesting chords and picking patterns. Rarely is anything just straight ahead power chords. The heavier moments are still melodic, but have much more low end. There are even a few breakdown riffs used from time to time. Those are the instances when the metalcore influence starts to shine through. But aside from those few sections this really has nothing at all to do with metalcore.

I think that this is a band that could really do big things if they are exposed to the right people. They are writing interesting songs and stay away from typical topics. Fans of everything from Propaghandi, to Hot Water Music, to Rise Against, should find elements of this band to get into It would be downright criminal if this band goes overlooked.

Slapshot-Tear it Down
(Thorp Records, 2004)

Slapshot have been together for years now, and despite a few stumbles along the way, this new MCD for Thorp shows the band in fine form. Fast, energetic and old school is exactly how you can describe Slapshot and I don’t think that this will ever change.

The band has been together long enough that technically it wouldn’t be fair to call them old school, because well they were around when this was a new style. But for description purposes, this is much more stripped down and simple then what you’d expect from hardcore these days. The band offers simple riffs, with straight forward shouted vocals. Gang vocals are of course a big part of the bands sound and when the band is screaming Fuck New York, you can’t help but feel the power behind it.

From downright serious to more humorous, the 7 songs on here cover a lot of ground. The motives behind Fuck New York are somewhat unclear, but the lyrics to Rap Sucks are definitely as blunt as the title implies. You can bet that despite the song maybe being a bit tongue in cheek, that the band means every word they say. So suffice to say that there definitely isn’t any rap playing in the bands tour bus.

Add in an amazing layout, and a cd-rom and you have a disc that fits perfectly into the Slapshot discography. It’s been said that this might be the last release from Slapshot, but with the band writing music this passionate and pissed off let’s hope they change their mind.

The Doits-This is Rocket Science
(Wild Kingdom, 2004)


From the band name you pretty much know exactly what to expect. This is rock n’ roll all the way. The problem lies in the fact that it is far too typical. The guitars are jangly and very simple, while the drums are simple and rather unenergetic. A little bit more distortion might have helped by at least giving the band a bit more energy because that is sorely lacking. What the hell is with the harmonica too? Do they think they are Blues Traveller? I like rock music, but this has no energy and no swagger. It sounds like classic rock played with no distortion and with a forgettable vocalist. I’ll pass on this one.

The Boils-World Poison
(Thorp Records, 2005)

This is an album that really reminds me of high school. Not because I listened to The Boils in high school, this is actually the first album I’ve heard by them, but more so because of the style. The band plays straight forward fast punk rock with elements of hardcore, and some slight street punk overtones at times as well. It’s nothing new, and that is exactly what draws people to this style. Sometimes you crave innovation, other times you want to hear something that fits like an old shoe.

This style is all about simple chord progressions, and memorable vocal patterns. World Poison has both of those and in truck loads. Each song features memorable vocal patterns and simple yet effective song writing. Some of the songs kick up the tempo even more and throw in faster palm muting giving the songs a more old school hardcore vibe. There is even just a hint of skate punk that comes in as well. By that I don’t mean new school punk bands that skate board. I mean the likes of Suicidal Tendencies, old COC, or Excel. The Boils don’t have any of the metal influences, but there are definitely similarities to be drawn.

World Poison was actually originally released in 1999. This new version is remastered and repackaged and available again for punk and hardcore fans worldwide to devour. Fans of everything from punk to hardcore, to street punk will find something of interest here.

God Dethroned-The Lair of the White Worm
(Metal Blade, 2005)

It’s a shame that you really don’t see more coverage of God Dethroned in North America. The band has consistently improved over the years, and with each album has become a more original and well oiled death metal machine. The Lair of the White Worm takes the bands style even further, being the bands most memorable and well written album to date. The band has a firm grasp on how to write a memorable death metal riff. Hardly do they ever waste notes.

You won’t hear anything that is technical for the sake of being technical. The riffs are original, yet straight forward. Tasteful melodic solos help break up the brutality, and even the main song writing has a few surprising melodic moments. The opening track, Nihilist, is all over the board. Starting with blasting, and thrash like riffs, pausing for a melodic solo and then continuing in a slower, more melodic manner before exploding into black metal like riffing until the end of the song.

I think the bands vocals definitely help them stand out as well. Instead of using a growl, the band uses a higher register snarl. It adds to the black/death nature of the bands sound, but isn’t overtly black metal really. It never gets into shriek territory. There is always a great deal of power behind the vocals, which is only further emphasised by well thought out vocal patterns.

God Dethroned takes black metal, death metal, and thrash and over time have crafted a unique style, a style that is in fine form on The Lair of the White Worm.

Symphony in Peril-The Whore’s Trophy
(Facedown Records, 2005)

Symphony in Peril surprised many people with their Coalesce meets melodic metalcore influenced debut album. But trust me when I say this, if you were surprised by the first album, The Whore’s Trophy is going to knock you completely off your feet. The band definitely has discovered its sound a bit more, and while this does have similarities to the debut, it is a much faster record over all and the band is much surer of themselves.

The Coalesce influence is definitely still present here, but it’s definitely not as prevalent. The vocals are a bit more varied now, switching between a roar and a higher voice, and keeping the bands panache for spoken word bits intact.

The band really has progressed quite a bit musically. The breakdowns and heavy riffs are still there, but there is a lot more variety. There is a technical thread running throughout a lot of these new songs and the overall approach is much more metal, although these songs also show off more hardcore influence as well when the speed picks up. It is easy to say that those who liked the debut will instantly like this album and be shocked by how far the band has come.

The production comes courtesy of Trax East, so you know that this is going to be an amazing sounding album. It’s actually surprisingly organic sounding. The guitar sound is heavy, but has a really warm tone. It’s not an overly harsh metal tone with all of the mids scooped. There is a lot of power behind it, and has a layer of grit that can only be produced by playing straight into the amp. Without being overproduced, this is definitely one of the best albums Eric Rachel has produced yet.

Symphony in Peril is definitely going to turn quite a few heads with this new album. It takes the foundation of the debut and builds on it tremendously. Hopefully the band can continue the streak and have a long career of playing heavy and creative hardcore.