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…
Southern California Melodic Hardcore band NO BRAGGING RIGHTS will be directing their new music video for their song “Empire: Disarray” this weekend with director Josh Knoff (No Bragging Rights, As I Lay Dying, Burning Twilight). The track comes from their new album ILLUMINATOR, which was released on 1/11/11. "We're more than excited to be doing another video with Josh. He really captured the meaning behind the song in his adaptation of the storyline. He really brought the heat with our last video, and although this one will be a bit different, we're confident he'll go above and beyond all expectations!" – No Bragging Rights
In addition, the band has announced new tour dates with In The Midst Of Lions (Facedown), This Or The Apocalypse (Lifeforce) and Your Memorial (Facedown). Tour dates are posted below.
March 7 – Fargo, ND @ The Aquarium March 8 – Grand Rapids, MN @ The Ground Floor March 9 – Sioux Falls, SD @ Bonnies Bar March 10 – Wichita, KS @ Eagles Lodge March 11 – Waco, TX @ VLC Waco March 13 – Montgomery, AL @ Lakewood Center March 15 – Linthicum, MD @ St Christophers March 16 – Richmond, VA @ Jaxx March 17 – Lynchburg, VA @ Crosspoint Venue March 18 – Virginia Beach, VA @ Club Relevant March 19 – Lemoyne, PA @ Championship March 20 – Toledo, OH @ Frankie’s March 21 – Lansing, MI @ Mac’s Bar March 22 – Portage, IN @ Camelot Arena March 23 – Springfield, IL @ Blacksheep Cafe
Metal Injection premiered a new video from progressive metalcore band This or The Apocalypse, for the song "Charmer." Taken from the band's latest studio album "Haunt What's Left" out now via Lifeforce Records/Good Fight Music.
"Haunt What's Left" was co-produced by Josh Wilbur and Lamb of God's Chris Adler, and is certainly one of my favorite "core" releases this year. Highly recommended for fans of metalcore with balls.
This Or The Apocalypse are currently streaming a new song titled "Charmer" on their recently revampedMyspace page.
The song comes from the band's upcoming album "Haunt What's Left" which will be out June 22nd via Good Fight Music (U.S.) and July 2nd - 7th (Europe) via Lifeforce Records.
"Haunt What's Left" is produced by Josh Wilbur and Lamb of God's Chris Adler, and will not disappoint, the guys have really stepped it up big time in terms of song writing.
Genre: Metalcore
