Genre: Progressive Metalcore
Label: Self Released
Reviewer: Mark McGuire
There is very little information to be found online regarding TTEBU. Hailing from and based in Vancouver, Canada this seemingly young progressive hardcore outfit's five track EP serves as an introduction of what they are about, where they want to go and how they are getting there.
Introductory track “You’ve Started A War” is everything an intro has been, continues to be, and probably forever will be in relation to a hardcore band's first attempt to steal some adoration from this niche genres gargantuan following. As soon as it began I immediately knew what awaited me in tracks 2 to 5. This is not necessarily a bad thing either as fans of the metalcore/post hardcore scene are fully aware that they are in for some serious repetition. Some breakdowns that have been churned out a million times, some growling and screaming and the inevitable clean harmonious chorus work that used to surprise people but doesn’t anymore because its older than Jesus.
Fact of the matter is we still enjoy this formula and probably always will and this works in favor of TTEBU. Track 2 “So Quickly We Forget” is a familiar mix of guttural growl work, melodic guitar licks and trigger happy double bass work that will leave any hardcore fan satisfied enough to keep on listening.
“Reckless”, “Half Hearted” and “Distance” follow a similar structure and a definite BMTH influence is evident throughout the band’s music and image. There's nothing particularly unique here but nothing to put off a fan of hardcore as far as I can tell…
Genre: Progressive Metal
Label: Candlelight Records
Release Date: May 23rd, 2011
Reviewer: Mark McGuire
Progressive Swede metallers Wolverine have a respectable back story as a band that have been doing just what their music suggests, progressing. Formed in 2005 Wolverine have passed hands from Elitist/Earache Records and are now promoting their melodies from the caring hands of Candlelight Records. This year's release "Communication Lost" offers an 11 track cache of thought provoking, lyrically moving prog rock/metal. Fours years in production, each track sets a mood and carries it throughout the music. Essentially Wolverine strikes me as a band not "in it for the glory". Their lyrical prowess is an impressive outwardly reaching auditory portrayal of the groups own experiences throughout their musical career to this point. The music and lyrics combine to encourage imagery quite effectively.
I would class this album as easy listening if it were not for the intense sensation suggesting that Wolverine are probably a very powerful group to experience live. And that they are. Co-headlining prog metal festivals and exploding out of their native Sweden with the release of a single album in 2005. Wolverine now maintain an international following and "Communication Lost" is another achievement not only for the band, but for progressive metal as a genre.
While "Communication Lost" is sure to satisfy any follower of Wolverine, it should entice any prog rock/metal fan as well...
Look out for - Pulse / Into The Great Nothing / Communication Lost
Genre: Metalcore/Melodic Death Metal
Label: Earache Records
Release date: April, 2011
Reviewer: Mark McGuire
UK melodic death metal outfit “The Soulless” are one of those bands that have stumbled upon one of those once in a lifetime lucky situations that very rarely present themselves to bands in a niche genre of music.
Their first live gig they played to 20 people, and by their third they had replaced Abigail Williams as main support act for Bring Me The Horizon as the Ollie Sykes fronted group made their way quickly up the ladder as the prominent British death core act of 2007 to 2009. I was on tour with now hardcore giants Asking Alexandria in the UK at this time and know first hand what a break The Soulless caught in being given this chance.
This kind of thing does not happen often and more often than not the band on the receiving end can appear fairly undeserving, unexceptional and more or less provide more deserving bands with a feeling of the peripheral knife being twisted. Music doesn’t work in the way most people seem to think it does. Most bands pay out the arse to get the media attention they need to make any headway in the music business and The Soulless were simply in the right place at the right time, the difference being, they are not unexceptional… quite the opposite…
Having ditched the, some may say career hindering, band name “Ignominious Incarceration”, “The Soulless” were quickly picked up by Earache Records and set to work on their debut release for the label, “Of Winter Born” and subsequently are about to release the blistering new album “Isolated”.
Isolated is an 11 track declaration of independence in some ways, from the initial requirement of bigger bands in the scene to help them make their mark. Although this is not to say that said bands have not influenced The Soulless. Isolated offers many of the expected qualities of a mainstream deathcore band and is a fluent and seemingly effortless venture into the genre. Guitarists Steve Brown and Kristan Dawson have a seemingly endless arsenal of riffs at their disposal, while vocalist Andie Wardles' performance, while occasionally lacking in variety, never lacks in substance or quality. The Soulless accentuate their influence from bands like Killswitch Engage as well as BMTH and even Cryptopsy, whom they have also toured alongside.
For me personally the most interesting thing about this group is the sheer volume of rhythm and melody they offer while still maintaining their ferocity. For only their second release this album is an impressive and diverse approach at blending genres and a sound assurance that more is yet to come.
Visit THE SOULLESS on: Myspace | Facebook to find out exact release dates for Isolated
Genre: Metalcore
Label: Self released
Release date: April 1st, 2011
Reviewer: Mark McGuire
Its that time in the local music scene in the UAE again. The time when one band manages to scrape together the resources to record a well-produced record for the masses and stand out from the competition.
Coat Of Arms have been paving their way to the forefront of this music scene for some time and by all accounts have been doing it right. Previous albums and releases project an image of a band that can only improve. And improve they have. The group have a blistering stage presence resonant of every band they take influence from and music that echoes modern metal giants in the international scene.
This Is Manslaughter is a ten track album that establishes competency and progression for artists in the UAE’s hardcore music scene. Although at times it would seem that the lyrics should begin with “Dear diary, school was tough today and the other kids don’t like me…” there is passion and melody in these songs. Vocalist Baillouni has a symphonic vocal style when it comes to his clean approach that is altogether harmonizing and satisfying, while drummer Kareem Karameh has done a particularly good job on this record, with sweeping blast beats and well placed double bass work. A hardcore band can often only be as good as their drummer is capable and Kareem is more than capable in Coat Of Arms.
What makes Coat Of Arms' music stand out from a great deal of the hardcore bands that have came and gone in this music scene is that the music sounds ‘uniquely prosaic’ in regards to something one would be taking a trip to virgin to pick up. In essence This Is Manslaughter is at the peak of local music scene quality and slipping into international standards. “Premium Metal” if you will.
Perhaps it is time for Coat Of Arms to decide whether they are ready to take this transitional step into the big leagues, because This Is Manslaughter is an album that if passed into the right hands could be their ticket upwards and outwards.
Tracks to look out for – Ballad Of The Mariner, 212, Slowly Pick Up The Pace, Timepieces.
Our sister site Metality UAE is also streaming a new track from the album, titled "Timepeices" which you can stream by clicking here.
Genre: Deathcore
Label: Earache Records
Released: November 9th, 2010
Reviewer: Mark McGuire
Hailing from Chicago Illinois, Oceano are a full throttle wrecking machine paving a path of destruction through the American Deathcore scene. Formed in 2006 the group stormed the Chicago music scene gaining a reputable following, eventually leading to their signing with Earache Records in 2007. Pilot album “Depths” was released to glowing acknowledgment among existing fans and a new hoard of deathcore fanatics soon followed suit.
Contagion, released in November last year stands to cement the group in league with ‘the big boys’ of the genre and is a drum thumpingly ferocious album. Vocalist Adam “Boss Nigga” Warren has chords of steel which never falter once throughout and drummer is a technical force to be reckoned with. Think Daniel TerchinAnnotations Of An Autopsy meets Cryptopsy and you’ve more or less got Oceano on the button. The technical prowess of the music in Contagion is apparent with twists, sweeps and blast beats that will leave you dazed and confused at times. Listening to earlier Oceano tracks in comparison to those on Contagion offers a clear indication that they seem to still have tricks up their sleeves in terms of placing a sometimes faded but nevertheless established line between themselves and their competition as it were.
This band is 'severe organized noise' and stands out from a lot of the more “barely listenable” deathcore groups about.
Genre: Metalcore
Label: Lifeforce Records/Goodfight Music
Released: June 22nd, 2010
Reviewer: Mark McGuire
Its difficult to decide if TOTA have placed first track Charmer from Lifeforce Records' 2010 release “Haunt Whats Left”, at the beginning of the album for a reason. When listening to Charmer I immediately thought ‘August Burns Red must live in their basement’. Not to say Charmer isn’t a good track, but placed at the beginning of this ten song album, it instills preconceptions of the bands influences, tastes, and perhaps tendency to go with a formula that’s been used to death.
However the rest of the album is a journey into whats been done and what can still be done well, with a little personal touch flung into the mix. Some songs are in stark contrast to ABR, very reminiscent of early Bullet For My Valentine, a surprising turn of events after Charmer’s initial mood set. Perhaps Charmer’s placement as an intro to the CD was simply an explosive ‘Listen to us, were here, were loud and well burst your fucking eardrums”. All that taken into consideration TOTA are certainly ‘here’. They have a rhythm to their approach which in some ways dismisses the idea that they are just another copycat noisebox we see so much of these days.
Listening to new bands presently I find it quite difficult sometimes to pinpoint a unique element in most tracks and it can honestly feel like I'm listening to one big long messy composition of artists that would rather just cash in on kids who want to irritate their parents or fit in with the ‘cool kids’. TOTA on the other hand may hold major resemblances to groups that have been and gone or are still about but the difference is they truly seem to believe in what they’re doing. Vocalist Ricky Armellino sounds like hes fighting for his life throughout Haunt Whats Left and the other members seem to follow suit. The music can pack a violent punch as soon as lure you into a breathtaking harmony, the apparent required criteria for a band in this genre. Some bands do it well, others do it poorly, but This Or The Apocalypse wont let go until you feel what they feel…
Genre: Progressive Metalcore
Label: Lifeforce Records
Released: March 16th, 2010
Reviewer: Mark McGuire
Let me introduce you all to my new favorite band of the moment. Like an improv session conducted by Muse and Poison The Well, Dioramic never fail to impress as each track progresses. Seemingly attempting to blend every genre in the extreme music category, Dioramic not only do this successfully, they do it with style. Guttural growls, shrieking screams, melodious choruses and instrumental work worthy of any metal heads music collection these guys seem to be able to do it all…
Formed in 2002 in Kaiserslautern, Germany, I cant for the life of me think why I haven’t heard of these guys before. The reason is that only in the last year have Dioramic released spearhead album Technicolor on Lifeforce Records after what appears to be a drudgingly long period of playing Battle of the Band competitions and getting their name out there ‘the old fashioned way’. Well it would appear that the work has payed off because Technicolor, is a technically colorful album, awash with almost every musical element one could ask for.
The album cover for Technicolor, depicts what appears to be a man running to freedom through an abandoned prison. If this is the case it certainly echoes the way the album imprisons the listener in a state of paradox, nostalgia and new beginnings all at once. Achievable? Apparently so… Its hard to find fault with an album such as this one because just when you think somethings missing, the entire Omni-narrative of the track changes almost as if the song is listening to you rather than the other way around. It would be an astoundingly long process to list all the bands I hear throughout this album and most astounding of all is that despite this huge group of influences, Dioramic still come across as their own band, with their own identity and their own sound…
Despicably brilliant.
Genre: Modern Melodic Death Metal
Label: Self Released
Released: 2010
Reviewer: Mark McGuire
Unmistakably reminiscent of melodic death metal merchants “In Flames”, and perhaps a large percentage of metal bands from the region, Sweden’s “The Blinded” appear to be, on initial listen, nothing special in the grand scale of things. A rehash of popular Swede metallers “Blinded Colony” one may be led to make the predisposition that The Blinded have taken a step down the ladder.
However this may not be entirely the case. When comparing the two bands it becomes clear that The Blinded are a completely separate entity, with a completely different sound and simply have the misfortune to have to follow their own act. What caught my eye when watching the pilot video for The Blinded’s video ‘Pretend’ was the completely unexpected ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ shirt adorned by one of two new vocalists and front men Linus "Johnny Growler" MÃĨnsson. This influence becomes clear as the EP progresses. Although still more reminiscent of a more 90’s “drowning Pool-esque” vocal performance at the moment, the influence of bands like TDWP is more and more apparent with each song. Unlike Blinded Colony this group possesses what appears to be a direction into post hardcore and in most respects, it works… While staying true to crunchy rhythmic guitar work and machine gun double bass elements of the drums, melodic choruses with powerful, albeit predictable lyrics are thrown into the mix making The Blinded stand out of the crowd.
In songs like Pretend, Along The Way, and Drag You Down, I find myself thinking “good chorus but it lacks something”. This something is passion. The vocals sound far too safe and monotone, especially when The Blinded seem to be pursuing an element of hardcore in their music. A vocalist has to let go, reach limits and break barriers without being afraid of mistakes or consequences of mistakes when this kind of vocal work is introduced. Luckily (and to my relief) along comes “Waking Up Dead”. We hear the side of Joel Andersson which just seems to be itching for some attention. The vocal work is adventurous, harmonic and altogether satisfying. More of this please Blinded!
In most respects The Blinded’s EP is a technically solid example (hopefully) of things to come. The instrumental work is flawless, the vocal work catchy and the group seem to be walking along its path in the right direction. I'm looking forward to listening to this band grow and develop their sound and have high hopes for their future releases.
