Meshuggah-Catch Thirty Three
(Nuclear Blast, 2005)

I have to say that I am a Meshuggah fan but this new album is incredibly disappointing. They have taken the rhythmic nature of their style even further, and essentially play the same fucking riff for the duration of the entire album. That might be a bit of an exaggeration, but the entire album bleeds together and gets incredibly boring fast. It’s a shame too because this features the band’s best production yet. Maybe this is an album that takes a while to grow on you, but if you threw this against the wall nothing would stick.

Strapping Young Lad-Alien
(Century Media, 2005)

Strapping Young Lad simply put is insane. There are no other bands out there that sound quite like SYL and I doubt that anyone will ever even come close. Alien sees the band taking its sound to a new level of extremity. The heavy parts are heavier, the fast sections are even faster, and even the melodic elements are much more melodic. The melodic choruses stand out like the gleam of light that a lighthouse would emanate, only to be shut off at the last second causing you to crash into the rocks when the heavier sections return. It’s not that the album really brings in anything new, it just that the band has written the best collection of songs yet that take every element of the band to the next level.

The one thing that has always stood out about this band is their ability to push the boundaries of metal, bringing in unbelievable amounts of technicality and yet still keep things accessible. The music is incredibly proficient and far from simple, but there is always something to latch onto. Usually a vocal pattern, but the music itself isn’t devoid of hooks as well.

It’s debatable if this could truly be called the best album from the band. Some may still think that City is still the band’s flagship album, but at the very least Alien is a close second.

Neuro-Visceral Exhumation-The Human Society Wants More Gore
(Sonic Death, 2005)

I remember liking this band’s last disc, and despite this one being a bit rough around the edges it offers 16 tracks of raw and vicious goregrind sure to please all fans of guttural roaring and blasting insanity.

Pretty much everything you’d expect from the genre is represented here. You have blasts, punk tempos, guttural roars and high pitched shrieks, and a few groove oriented riffs. Surprisingly enough there are no horror samples though.

The production is the real let down here. The songs are incredibly well written, memorable and deserve a more powerful production. This sounds like it had to have been recorded on an 8 track at best. The guitar sound is way too raw and loses too much definition. You can still make out what it going on, but they definitely would have benefited from an all around beefier sound.

While they definitely aren’t bringing anything new to the genre, this is a 16 song blast fest sure to please all fans of the vile and fast variety.

Trivium-Ascendancy
(Roadrunner Records, 2005)

When I first heard From Ember to Inferno I knew that Trivium was destined for great things. Low and behold they were signed by Roadrunner and here we have their debut album for the label. It’s not quite the giant leap forward that I was expecting, but the album still contains well written melodic metal sure to please everyone from fans of Killswitch Engage to fans of Megadeth.

Calling Trivium a metalcore band would definitely be cutting them short. They do have breakdowns and the chugging nature of some riffs does bring to mind Killswitch Engage. There is much more thrash to be found here though, and also a large dose of Swedish style melody. Also the guitar solos definitely stand out amongst metalcore bands. These guys can play and aren’t afraid to show it. Although I think that this album has less guitar solos then From Ember to Inferno did.

The song writing is pretty similar to the last album. The choruses are a bit catchier, and most of the rough edges of the vocal performance have been worked out. The singer still has one of the most distinct clean voices around. Throwing in clean choruses might seem a bit cliché, but when they are this well done they are always welcome.

This might not be the record to shoot Trivium to the top of the metal scene, but it definitely gets the foot in the door and well on their way.

Bloodlined Calligraphy-They Want You Silent
(Facedown Records, 2005)

I hade high hopes for this album and I’m definitely not let down. Bloodlined Calligraphy is a band that wears many hats but they manage to pull it all off extremely well. They are rooted in hardcore, but draw from trash, death metal, and even rock from time to time and manage to keep things cohesive and energetic.

I noticed a bit of a Walls of Jericho influence coming in more on this new album then I noticed on the EP. Vocally especially the singer has a similar sound to Candace, although I think the singer in this band has a bit more power behind her voice and leaves out the clean singing entirely.

The production on this album, simply put, is amazing. The way the guitars are layered, and the guitar sound in general, is just phenomenal. Everything is incredibly clear and tremendously powerful. You can feel each chug of the guitar. Play this thing at high volumes and be prepared to be whipped into frenzy.

This is possibly the next band from Facedown to reach the same level of success as say Comeback Kid. They aren’t as accessible, but with music this powerful it is only a matter of time before people take notice.