Metalcore

Saeculum Obscurum – Into the Depths of Oblivion Review

Saeculum Obscurum – Into the Depths of Oblivion Review

As you can tell, my resolution for 2011 was to review more obscure and underground music that no one has ever heard of. I want you to know that this means that I am reviewing like everything I get, if it’s possible, and really I’ve had some good luck and some really fucking horrendously terrible luck. I’m going to say that Saeculum Obscurum falls on the good side of the luck barrier. I figured with a name that means “The Dark Age” and a logo by the mighty artist and logo magnate Christophe, this one deserved a fair shake at least.

Against the Flood – Against the Flood Review

Against the Flood – Against the Flood Review

So apparently the UK has a lively metalcore and deathcore scene that is being picked up and flown around the world right now. Against the Flood is one of those bands that sits right on the border between the two genres (which are basically just one genre if you look at their girl jeans and stupid hair cuts) and who have taken from me nearly 60 minutes of my life that I will never, ever, ever, ever get back. As a punishment, I will pee on them publicly, from my blog (and wait for their stupid oaf fans, and buddies, to come here and insult me).

Architects – The Here and Now Review

Architects – The Here and Now Review

I know very little about J Pop. It’s quite popular among Swedish alternative kids (though, I might be behind since it seems like everyone’s all obsessed with South Korea now?) and I know that I can’t hear what they’re singing about (and that it makes me feel happy). But what I’ve heard is that in Japan there’s a new trend every quarter and that when that trend is done, the pop stars are done. They have a shelf-life of three months. No one takes them seriously and not a single person in the entire country would take them seriously as “artists” because, well, they’re not. They’re pop stars, engineered to sell music for kids obsessed with trends. Metal has trends, and really, people, it does, metalcore in the early 2000s was the coolest thing EVER and a bunch of bands who were all doing exactly the same thing got signed. But, of course, established labels are slow on the pick up of trends and so 4 years after the trend really started getting hot and relevant Century Media and Metal Blade started having bidding wars over metalcore bands. The year is 2011 and they’re stuck with these bands. And I can’t think of anyone who isn’t super fucking sick of this sound. But I sure as hell am. This sound had a shelf life of about.. oh, I dunno, 3 months. And it should’ve stayed there.

Cataract – Killing the Eternal Review

Cataract – Killing the Eternal Review

What the hell is THIS? A metal-core band I actually like? Impossible! Well, like may be too strong a word here but Killing the Eternal, the sixth album by Swiss metal-core mavens Cataract is much less annoying and cringe inducing than most of the metal-core I’ve been subjected to over time. Perhaps this caught me in a rare moment of good humor, or maybe Cataract have learned over their long existence that their bread is buttered on the death/thrash side of things. One thing is for certain, Cataract manage to avoid many trappings of the classic “core” sound that I find so irritating, and as a result, this is a fairly tolerable, and at times, even enjoyable album.

In This Moment – A Star-Crossed Wasteland Review

In This Moment – A Star-Crossed Wasteland Review

So I admit, I’ve never heard SoCal pop rockers In This Moment before. This review will be completely devoid of comparisons to their last two records. Nor will it be filled with witty insights into how the band has changed over their time and whether or not this is a darker record (of course, every new record is the darkest, heaviest, etc., that any band has ever done, so trust the bio about as far as you can throw Arnold Schwarzneger). No, this is going to pretty much be a tirade about how much I really don’t like this album at all or the style of music or basically anything about this at all except for Maria’s clean singing voice, which is very good. You are warned. Don’t throw a fit in the comments because I hate your favorite band: I’ve already warned you. If you read past the jump then it’s your own fucking fault.

The Dillinger Escape Plan – Option Paralysis Review

The Dillinger Escape Plan – Option Paralysis Review

The Dillinger Escape Plan’s fourth record, Option Paralysis, has been one of the most anticipated records of this year so far. And for good reason, people are really taken by this band and their unique style. DEP has released some seriously wacky, sporadic records in the past that are both crazy and challenging and yet so very enticing and addictive, even teaming up with Mike Patton (and others) on an EP called Irony Is a Dead Scene. They’re a very hard band to stick into a genre, bordering on technical metal and hardcore as well as pulling in influences from industrial, jazz, acoustic rock and well, you name it, they can do it. That makes them feel very fresh, but can they maintain that freshness on Option Paralysis.

Through the Eyes of the Dead – Skepsis Review

Through the Eyes of the Dead – Skepsis Review

I have been admittedly absent when it comes to much of the deathcore & metalcore trend that has moved into metal in the last decade. Honestly, it’s just been a style that I never really understood and that oftentimes felt like it wasn’t as straight-up metal as I wanted from my extreme metal. I had some major issues with it partially just because labels started flooding their rosters with it, despite it not being that interesting. Also, there are some production styles that were brought into the genre by “core” bands, particularly the drum sounds, that I really don’t like. And partially this is due to my deep distaste for the breakdown as an institution in metal. I don’t listen to hardcore for several reasons and one of them is the breakdown. I don’t think breakdowns are interesting or heavy and their usage in metal has long been of serious frustration to me. So let me say in all honesty, I wasn’t expecting much of the record Skepsis, the third album from deathcore pioneers Through the Eyes of the Dead.

The Red Chord – Fed Through the Teeth Machine

The Red Chord – Fed Through the Teeth Machine

The Red Chord has been one of the best respected bands that really came out of the metalcore scene a few years back. I’ve got plenty of friends who dig these guys and dig this stuff and I can definitely understand why. For fans of the breakdown and the chug, there are few bands out there who do it with the kind of proficiency and.. well, lack of boringness that The Red Chord have managed to do it with. Fed Through the Teeth Machine is another example of the fact that metalcore has produced some bands that don’t make the metal gods sad inside.

Marionette – Enemies Review

Marionette – Enemies Review

Marionette may well be Sweden’s very first deathcore band! Well, I guess there could be others, but i’ve not been exposed to them (and frankly, I’m pretty OK with that). Some trends miss Sweden, like nu-metal did for the most part, but unfortunately this one didn’t. So there are a couple of things that I need to say up front, for people not familiar with the context with which Marionette will be dealt. First, the biggest thing in the Swedish underground right now is Japanese stuff. Kids are running off and learning Japanese; everyone and their dog is listening to bands like Dir En Grey and girls decked out in lolita garb are running around in parks playing with dolls and having picnics with every piece of pink they can gather together. This is a trend, and it is a matter of conforming to specific things that are very specific to individuals in that scene. In fact, people from that scene are, in my experience, highly judgmental, obsessed with outward appearance, cliquey and lame. So something in my brain breaks when I have 5 over-dressed glam kids with too much hairspray and neckties screaming “YOU CONFORM!” at me, while playing music that sounds like a blend of In Flames and good ol’ American deathcore. That is to say: ugh.

Evergreen Terrace – Almost Home Review

Evergreen Terrace – Almost Home Review

Almost Home is a record that was influenced by how much everything sucks right now, according to the band. It’s a bit of a dissertation on America in 2009, with a shitty economic situation, how hard it’s been to keep the band going in this kind of situation and so forth. Honestly, I don’t hear it. But that’s what the band says. What I hear is a highly melodic and poppy hardcore band doing the same things that bands of this type have been doing for years. It’s unfortunate, really, because they’ve got an alright sound, but things don’t stick.