Burn Blue Sky-Self-Titled
(Independent, 2005)

Burn Blue Sky definitely isn’t my cup of tea. The sound is essentially a combination of stoner rock, Alice in Chains, and possibly shades of Godsmack at times. In all honesty it’s not all that bad, but at the same time it’s pretty tough to shake that heard it all before feeling. Some of the riffing is a bit more involved then usual for this style and the few spurts of harsh vocals do help keep things interesting. However the clean singing is a bit lacking, with the scream being the much more forceful style here. I don’t think that they should do away with the clean singing altogether, but if the band really took the heavier side of the band and ran with it they would definitely be onto something because it’s definitely the clean singing and some of the most typical sounding sections that really miss the mark here.

Bathtub Shitter-Lifetime Shitlist
(Shit Jam Records, 2005)

Bathtub Shitter are definitely a unique beast. Take a more rocked out approach to grindcore, but with some incredibly guttural vocals and you have Bathtub Shitter. Of course the band also has shrieking, but the guttural voice is the main style.

Japanese hardcore and grindcore just rules, and this is no exception. The band plays with incredibly intensity and is just fun to listen to. It’s hard to exactly put your finger on it, but the Japanese bands seem to have an ingredient missing from a lot of American bands. The fun is missing. Hardcore has always been a fun style of music to listen to, and this album will definitely have you jumping around and banging your head in no time.

The production is actually quite good, which did surprise me. It’s definitely heavy, and the band does play blindingly fast at times, but the production really manages to harness the band’s energy and thanks to a clear guitar sound this never turns into mush.

Fans of harsh grindcore will definitely be into this one. This proves once again that Japanese grind is some of the best the world has to offer.

The Mass-Perfect Picture of Wisdom and Boldness
(Crucial Blast, 2005)

Those familiar with this band’s last album will right off the bat notice that this is a much better sounding album, and will also notice that it is quite different.

The Mass isn’t an extremely easy band to describe. They are weird, and groovy on one hand, yet they have parts that totally bring to mind thrash metal. Then comes in the jazz, and the saxophone. So I guess you could call it post-hardcore-thrash-jazz….or just call it innovative music. Either way, you’ve never heard anything quite like this before.

The saxophone isn’t as prominent as it was on the last album, and the sections that sounded like danger music last time around aren’t as prominent. But when you consider how well written this album is and how tremendously original it is, you start to forget that the last album even existed. This is innovative hard music that needs to be heard.

Widow-On Fire
(Cruz Del Sur, 2005)

The beyond cheesy cover art really made me laugh, but I definitely knew that looks can be deceiving. If I ever thought two things wouldn’t be mixed it would be horror and power metal, but low and behold we have Widow and let me tell you it fucking rules. Fast paced, melodic guitar lines, pounding drumming and soaring vocals about werewolves, and zombies. What more could you want from a band?

Even without the horror this would have been an amazing power metal album. It really doesn’t take the genre anywhere new, but these are some tremendously catchy songs and these guys are definitely top notch musicians. You can expect a lot of guitar solos, twin guitars, and some of the catchiest riffs I’ve heard in quite sometime.

What really surprised me about this band was that they are from the US. Let’s be honest, how many power metal bands from the US actually get signed and have albums out? Not very many, but if there are bands like this out there I definitely hope more get discovered, because this is an amazing CD.

Deceiver-Riding with The Reaper
(Iron Fist Productions, 2005)

I absolutely love old school metal, but for some reason this album just isn’t hitting the mark with me. For starters I really can’t get into the vocals. They are quite Cronos like, and honestly I always found the vocals to be the weak link in Venom. But that’s not really the entire problem though. There just isn’t much energy coming across in the music. This is fast, and thrashing, but it doesn’t inspire me to head bang or throw up a metal sign. This definitely has its moments, but honestly I’ll either stick with the real thing or listen to Witchery.

Prophecy-Foretold…Foreseen
(Goregiastic Records, 2005)

I was definitely excited to see that Goregiastic was re-releasing this album. Prophecy was definitely one of the best US death metal bands and one of the few bands that showed up a Dying Fetus influence without actually being a copy cat band. I’m not sure if the band is still around, but they went on to release Our Domain which was an amazing album as well.

This was originally released by Corpse Gristle in 1998, and I don’t think it was really promoted or distributed as much as it should have been. I don’t think this version is really changed in any way. The cover art and layout are different, but I’m not quite sure if it has been remastered. The original version was a damn good sounding album, as is this new version.

Fans of death metal will find this one a no brainer. This is an underground classic that really stands the test of time. It is just punishing today as it was when it was originally released.