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Alpha Wolf - Half Living Things

I’m going to be honest — I don’t have much to say about Alpha Wolf’s new album, Half Living Things, and I didn’t want to review this at first. Not because I didn’t like it, but because I just don’t have a lot to say. There just isn’t much to talk about with this album, and at first, I only listened to it once then kind of wrote it off. I decided to come back to it, because I hate writing things off after a single listen, even if I end up not liking after subsequent listens. I was also in the mood for this band’s brand of nu-metalcore / deathcore, thanks to listening to a few other albums in this vein.

I listened to albums by UnityTX, Gideon, and Dropout Kings, so Alpha Wolf’s new one is the last album out of all these that I wanted to talk about. Half Living Things is a record that I don’t have a lot to say about, because it just isn’t that interesting, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad. After a few more listens, I don’t really love this album, but it’s not half bad. If anything, Half Living Things is a nu-metalcore album that is full of nothing but breakdowns, grooves, and really heavy moments with a feature from Ice-T for some reason, all the while being really generic.

If you like this kind of stuff, or you want to turn your brain off, you’ll be fine, but otherwise, I just don’t have a lot to say about this record because there isn’t much to talk about. That’s kind of why I wanted to end up talking about it, because these are the kinds of albums I wanted to avoid when I started writing again. It’s hard, though, because I still want to talk about certain things, especially if they’re still good. It’s just a conundrum that I’ve had for awhile, but in the end, I like talking about music. I may not have a lot to say about something, but it doesn’t mean it isn’t worth checking out.

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Gideon - More Power. More Pain.

If there’s one band that’s had a dramatic transformation over their career, it’s Alabama metalcore act Gideon. These guys went from being a generic Christcore band in the 00s to being a nu-metalcore band in the late 2010s and early 2020s. I had listened to some of their earlier work, but 2019’s Out Of Control was the first album I really got into from these guys. That album showed the band moving into nu-metalcore, as well as cursing for the first time in their music. The album was pretty cool, too, having a nice nu-metal groove with their trademark metalcore sound. It was a good balance, but I was really excited for whatever else they did next. That resulted in last year’s More Power. More Pain, and I didn’t really get into the album when it came out, but I decided to go back to it after getting into some nu-metalcore albums recently.

I listened to it a couple times when it came out, and I liked it, but I needed more time with it. I’ve spent enough time with it throughout the past week, and I have some mixed feelings on this album, although I do enjoy it overall. I just think it’s got some glaring problems that prevent me from really loving it, but there are some things I still like about it, mainly its sound. I love how this album continues their nu-metalcore sound, but it strangely has a heavier sound at the same time. It’s like this record has a bit of a thrashier sound than its predecessor, but the problem with this album is that its hooks aren’t very strong, and this album feels way too long. At 46 minutes, this album goes on for what feels like 15 minutes too long, but it’s only because there are 14 songs here.

It just feels like there’s a few too many songs here, but they all sound the same. Their sound is cool, but it all just runs together. The instrumentation and performances all around are good, too, and this record has some gnarly riffs and vocal performances, but again, it all just runs together. I find it hard to pick out hooks and moments I really like, because it all just sounds the same. If you want a solid nu-metalcore album in this vein, you’ll enjoy this record, for sure. It’s not even a bad album, but its few issues are very glaring. They’re hard for me to ignore, and I just haven’t gone back to this as much as I’ve wanted to. Maybe you, the reader, may enjoy this more, and I would say this is worth a listen, especially if you enjoy that sound.

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Dropout Kings - Riot Music

Nu-metal is a genre of heavy music that I either really love or really hate, there’s no in between. It depends on the artist that can determine that, and in my last review, I talked about UnityTX’s debut album, Ferality, and I absolutely love that album. That’s a nu-metalcore album that works quite well, both for its sound and performances. It also never feels like the band is trying too hard, or trying to be something they aren’t, let alone (almost) every song sounding the same. It just hits so hard for me, but I mentioned that I was listening to other nu-metalcore albums. Another album I missed from last year was Dropout Kings’ Riot Music. If you don’t know who these guys are, I can’t blame you, because they’re kind of on the fringes of the genre, but they’ve been around since the late 2010s. These guys aren’t quite a nu-metalcore band, but they dabble in that style. They mainly keep their sound in the realms of rap-metal and nu-metal, but they got a few heavier moments.

They’ve only dropped two albums, including Riot Music, and an EP from a couple years back. I really enjoyed their debut, 2018’s Audiodope, but it took them an awfully long time to drop a follow-up. They did drop an EP in 2021, and I remember that was pretty good, but left me wanting more. I was happy to see they released a record, but I never listened to Riot Music when it came out last year. Nonetheless, it’s been on my radar for the longest time. I figured I’d dive into it now, since I got some more nu-metalcore albums on the docket, but how does this album stack up compared to the new UnityTX album that I was over the moon about?

Well, I like Riot Music, for the most part, but I still have some issues with this record. They don’t prevent me from listening to it, let alone enjoying it, but I do notice them quite easily. It’s funny, because some of the things I like here are also things that have problems at the same time. First and foremost, let’s look at its sound. This thing is mainly a nu-metal album with some rap-metal, hip-hop, and some metalcore, but it mainly sticks to one sound. That means this album kind of runs together, especially when a lot of the riffs and hooks sound the same. Only a couple songs really stray from its formula, and to be fair, it’s a good formula, but do I want to hear an entire album of it?

That depends, because if you like this sound, you’ll like listening to an album’s worth of it, but if not, it won’t stick with you. Some of this record sticks with me, and it helps that it’s 37 minutes, but a lot of it runs together. Its sound isn’t the only thing that runs together, but the vocals also run together. These guys have two vocalists, clean vocalist Adam Ramey and rapper Eddie Wellz. Ramey is a generic clean chorus guy, although he does contribute some harsh vocals from time to time and they’re fine, but he doesn’t stick out at all. Wellz is a good rapper, though, but his flows and his cadences throughout every track sound the same. The same goes for the hooks, whether they’re sung or rapped. They just run together, and not much sticks out at all that I want to go back to.

Nothing on here is awful, although the song with band DED is kind of lame. It’s a generic alt-metal song, but I digress. The lyrics on this album are worth talking about, too, as they aren’t very good. When I said the sound and vocals run together, they’re at least not half bad, but the lyrics on this album range from “okay” to utterly awful. These sound like they were written by an AI when it comes to writing a nu-metal album, because it all just sounds like tough guy bragging. There’s hardly any deep thought put into these, and that’s not to say all music needs to be deep, but this isn’t even clever. A lot of the lyrics here are just lazy, like the hook of “Fighter Jet” is saying that the narrator is “as flier than the wings of a fighter jet,” or the song “Hey Uhh” has a hook where the last words of each line are “hey uh.” If you think that gets annoying, it does.

This is an album that’s fun and generic, but it offers nothing else. UnityTX had a diverse sound that offered more than just the same riffs and hooks recycled throughout its runtime, and their vocalist was more versatile than utilizing the same styles of clean, harsh, or rapped vocals, and the lyrics were more than just mindless bragging that doesn’t amount to anything. In other words, if you want something fun, albeit forgettable, you’ll have fun with this. I have fun with it when I play it, but I always have to remind myself to listen to it. I don’t immediately go back to it, because I’m so excited to play it again, if that makes sense. It’s worth a listen, but that might be all you need if you don’t care for this sound too much.

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UnityTX - Ferality

Over the next few reviews, I wanted to talk about some albums from last year that I didn’t get around to, and they all have a specific theme — nu-metalcore. Over the last few years, both nu-metal and alt-metal have slowly crept back into heavy music, and it’s fully back now. I haven’t really listened to a lot of hands in this vein that I really liked in the past couple of years, but last year, a handful of bands put out some solid nu-metalcore albums. I’ve been listening to some of them this past week, because I’ve been looking for some bouncy, groovy, and energetic nu-metalcore. The first band, and my favorite one, that I wanted to cover is UnityTX’s proper debut album, Ferality. I’ve been aware of these guys for the last handful of years, but they’ve only put out EPs and singles from time to time. I remember hearing bits and pieces of Ferality last year, but I never listened to it in full, and I’ve been wanted to check this out.

I’m really bummed I waited so long, because man, this album would have been one of my favorites of last year. This is such a fun, energetic, intense, and diverse album that showcases a catchier side to the band. This thing is only a half hour long, but it packs a huge punch. I will say that if you’re expecting nothing but nu-metal bangers with a sick and bouncy groove and breakdowns for days, you’ll be disappointed. This album runs the gamut between a lot of different sounds, including nu-metalcore, hip-hop, industrial, and more straight up alt-metal. Every song on this album is different in its own way, and I love that about this record. It has a good sense of variety, so when the album gets heavier, it feels more earned than if every song sounded the same.

Every sound works quite well, too, especially when they move into a catchier sound. Part of that is due to vocalist Jay Webster being able to adapt his vocals to whatever he needs to, whether it’s a nu-metalcore banger like “ROC SH1T,” “Rotting Away (Gore),” or “World Of Malice,” an industrial song like “Diamond Diez,” a hip-hop cut like “Lost In Dayz,” or even a Disturbed-sounding cut like “Killing Alchemy.” Webster sounds just like David Draiman on that last song, and it’s a cool Disturbed song they never wrote. The instrumentation helps, too, though, as the performances are quite good, and the album never gets boring or dull.

I don’t have any issues with this album, but I can see people being upset that the album isn’t “heavy” enough. There are some awesome breakdowns, and some really heavy moments here, but they feel earned, as opposed to bands whose albums sound the same and the breakdowns don’t hit as hard. The first couple songs and the last few songs are the hardest hitting ones, so the album starts and ends really heavy. It’s the middle that tries to stand out and do something different, but it works quite well. I wish I would have heard this album last year, because it would have been in my top ten, possibly top five. This record absolutely rules, and if you love 90s and 00s nu-metalcore, you’ll love this album.

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Motley Crue - “Dogs Of War” Single

Hey, guess what? Motley Crue dropped a new song, their first in five years, and it’s most definitely a Motley Crue song. You can take that in one of two ways — this song is great, and you’re wrong if you don’t like it, or this is awful, especially when Motley Crue has been awful for years. Their last truly great album was 1989’s Dr. Feelgood, and even their 1994 album when Vince Neil left for a brief time wasn’t half bad, but it left a lot to be desired.

They did release the movie The Dirt back in 2018, I believe, and I enjoyed that movie quite a lot, as well as the book it’s based on, but the new songs they released with that movie were bad. The greatest hits aspect of the soundtrack was good, but the new songs left a lot to be desired. This new song, however, isn’t horrible, but I feel somewhere in the middle with this new track. It’s a Motley Crue song, so I guess it all depends on how you feel about them as to whether or not you’ll enjoy it.

This is all also interesting, because it’s the first song without founding guitarist Mick Mars, especially after his unceremonious exit a couple of years back (and releasing his own bad solo album earlier this year). Instead we have John 5 from White Zombie fame, and the sad thing is, you couldn’t really tell, because that main riff is so bland. This song sounds like it was written by AI as to what a Motley Crue song sounds like. It’s not the worst ever, but man, it’s so boring. What else can you expect from a band who should really lay themselves to rest at this point?

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Our Favorites Of The Year (So Far), Part One: April 2024

By Bradley Christensen & @jakeh2987

At the end of every year, I’m always amazed when peoples’ yearend lists come out, because it takes me awhile to fathom that it’s really the end of another year. Aside from Christmas, which is what most people associate with that time of year, I love “list season.” Publications of all kinds put out their yearend lists, and I just love seeing what people have been into the entire year. It feels like yesterday I was talking about my favorite media from the entire year, so I thought I’d “check-in” in the beginning, middle, and (obviously) the end of the year. I’m not doing this alone, however, because I thought I’d bring along my buddy Jake. We worked together on a yearend piece last year, too, and I thought it would be fun to work on something like this again, at least checking in periodically with each other and seeing what we’ve been into throughout the year, as well as how the year’s been going when it comes to media of all kinds. With that said, it’s good to have you back, Jake! It feels like deja vu, because it feels like we just did this, but I digress, how’s this year been treating you so far, Jake? How do you think this year has been in comparison to last year?

First of all, thank you for having me back to do this! I had a blast working on our year-end wrap up last year, so I jumped at the chance to do something similar. To answer your question, though, I feel like this year has been really stacked in terms of new releases in not only music, but a lot of different forms of media. Last year was incredible, for sure, but I feel like a lot of it was backloaded in the second half of 2023. This year, on the other hand, I felt like there’s been at least one or two new things to be excited about every week really since the start of the year, but especially so in the last couple of months. I had a look at my top 10 albums, and I think almost all of them have come out after the first week of March, which has been great. But, we’ll get to that later. For now, though, I say we take a look back at the broader picture for a second! Last year, we talk about how we often found ourselves falling back into old comforts, whether that be favorite artists, that TV show you’ve binged far too many times before, and so on. For the first bit of this year, I kinda feel like I’ve been a lot more open to discovering new things and stepping outside of my comfort zone, so I’m curious, how does it feel for you?

Last year definitely had a theme of listening to what I call “ol’ reliable” types of media. A lot of my favorite pieces of media were from old favorites, whether I was revisiting them again for the first time in awhile, or old favorites releasing new albums, movies, or shows that I could easily get into and gave me a nice sense of nostalgia. I would say that this year, at least so far, is a mixture of both being adventurous and discovering some new things and still revisiting some of those same “comfort foods,” so to speak. Looking at the big picture of how media has gone this year, it’s certainly been steady since March with at least one album per week that I’m listening to (almost my whole top ten is from the last couple of months as well), and we’ve been getting a steady stream of movies and shows that are worth watching and talking about. Speaking of which, let’s start with movies and TV, what have you been watching this year?

Okay, this is where I get to gush about the new Fallout show that just premiered on Amazon Prime Video a couple weeks ago. I’m not super familiar with the games, having only put a few hours into Fallout 4 way back in 2015, but when the first trailer for this show dropped, I knew I was gonna be in for this. I’m a sucker for a sci-fi/post apocalypse setting, and from what I do know from the games, there was gonna be a blend of dark humor/satire along with the high-stakes drama. I ended up watching the whole season in about a week, and I really loved it. The creative team behind the show did about the best thing you could do for a video game adaptation; it’s set within the universe and continuity of the games, but it’s a new story with new characters, so they were able to tell their own story while still nailing that Fallout vibe. Also, come on, Walton Goggins playing a post-apocalyptic cowboy bounty hunter, how can you not love that? But for real, this show was a blast, and I’m happy it’s already been renewed for a second season, because I can see this show being a great time for many years to come.

Aside from that, though, I did see the Mean Girls musical movie from earlier this year, and while I don’t think it was all that great (and I don’t necessarily love the original, either), it’s pretty clear why Renee Rapp is a rising star, she was great in it and can definitely sing. I’ve also been making my way through a super casual Criminal Minds rewatch, it’s been a long while since I’ve watched a lot of the early stuff, so I like having it on in the background while I do other things, but I still love this show a lot. How about you, though?

When it comes to TV and movies, I haven’t watched as much stuff as I’ve listened to music, but I’ve got a few things I’ve been watching. The second half of the second season of Invincible, also on Prime Video, premiered last month, and that was a lot of fun, especially after loving the first season a few years back. Animation has been on a roll this year, between that and X-Men ‘97, which has been a show that I’ve been eagerly watching every Wednesday. That show’s been an absolute blast, and despite being rooted in a show from the past, it doesn’t let the nostalgia overtake the show itself. I haven’t really been watching a lot of movies this year, surprisingly enough, but I need to catch up. I need to watch Fallout, though; I love dystopia and post-apocalyptic universes, so I need to sit down and watch that front to back. What about video games? I got a couple that I’ve played this year, not necessarily new but new to me; and that’s been a whole lot of fun.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth came out at the end of February (on the leap day, no less!), and I've been playing it basically non-stop since then. Rebirth is the second part of a trilogy of games that are remaking/reimagining the original Final Fantasy 7 from back in 1997, greatly expanding upon and making tweaks to various things that were in the original. This is also a game that adopts more of an open-ended structure, featuring several pretty big zones filled with a ton to do. As of writing this, I've put about 100 hours into it, and I'm just over 60% of the way through it. This is a game that''s so incredibly easy to get lost and immersed in for hours, and I think that comes down to three things. Firstly, your main party of characters is so enjoyable to be around; it really hammers home that feeling of being on a grand adventure with your friends, and even when you're doing a seemingly mundane open world activity, you still get little interactions with the characters that makes it worth it. Another factor for me is the combat. I said after the first part came out in 2020 that it had maybe my favorite combat in an RPG, I really loved the seamless blend of real time action and strategy with the ATB system. Rebirth's combat is essentially more of that, but the improvements and enhancements make this combat sing in a way that very few games ever have for me. Swapping between party members, using the new synergy abilities, and popping ATB abilities feels so seamless and flows super well. It's just a blast to play. Finally, I wanna give a shoutout to the minigames. I won't give all of them away, but there are so many different minigames to play, and this is where Rebirth gets to really lean into its silliness more often than not. Your main story can often be very dramatic and emotional, so I appreciate that these side activities are a way to provide a tonal balance and gameplay pacing. And aside from maybe one or two I admittedly wasn't a huge fan of, all of them were really fun to play (shoutout Queen's Blood in particular, I would buy a standalone version of that in a heartbeat). Oh, and I would be remiss if I didn't mention the music. It's incredible, and even when you're walking around in the open areas, you get hit with yet another really cool music piece, and that's before you even get to the big set pieces or boss fights, which also rule. I could just gush about this thing forever, really, but I'll top this off by saying it's been a really special experience and I'm so excited to see where it ends up. How about you, though? Have you been playing anything in particular?

Man, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth sounds great! I always love when a piece of media, whether it’s a game, movie, or album, can really suck you into its story or sound. I can’t say I’ve played any new games, but I got a couple things I’ve been playing so far this year. I spent the last few months playing Mafia III, especially after seeing it was on sale for the first time in awhile, and I absolutely love the first two games. Now those are games that you can get lost in, especially its story, world, and atmosphere, but I’d say the third in this trilogy is the best. Instead of taking place the 1930s or 1940s, like the first two games, the third one takes place in the 1960s, let alone in a New Orleans-type of city with different “districts” that are composed of different kinds of people. This game also tackles issues like racism and PTSD, especially where the main character is Black and a Vietnam veteran. It’s got some hard hitting and still relevant themes, despite coming out in 2016, but it’s still relevant today. The game does have a couple downsides, such as the combat and side missions between story missions being repetitive (despite still a lot of fun), but it’s the story, characters, and the world itself that really draws you in. The music is also a big part of this game, as it features a lot of 50s and 60s blues, rock, soul, pop, and lots of different songs that you can listen to on any car’s radio, and the songs really bring everything to life. It’s a wonderful game, and it’s the best of the three, hands down.

As for the other game, thanks to the new Fallout show coming out, I decided to download Fallout 4 on the PlayStation Store, because it was only $4.99, and I’ve been playing it for a few days now! It’s a lot of fun, despite how I’m still getting used to its world and mechanics. I’ve always been curious about Fallout’s story and lore, but never knew where to start. There’s so many games and lore to sink your teeth into, but that’s what makes the show so good — it’s its own story, like you said, so you don’t need to know everything about the games. The show eases you into it, but if you enjoy post-apocalyptic stories with retro futuristism aesthetics, along with a killer soundtrack (that I enjoy, thanks to my niche taste of 30s, 40s, and 50s music), you should get really into it. The game itself is cool, too, and it also eases you into the story, especially if this is your first go-around. I’m excited to play more, since I haven’t had anything I’ve really dedicated my time to after finishing Mafia III.

With all of that said, let’s get to our main event — 2024 in music. We discussed this a bit earlier, at least our overall first impressions, but this year has been off to the races when it comes to new music. I swear that almost every week since the start of the year, there’s been something new to listen to, but a lot of my favorite albums this year have been from March and April. Let’s not beat around the bush anymore, though. What are your favorites of the year so far? Hell, what are some albums that have been resonating with you this year? They don’t even need to be new, but stuff that you’ve found that you’ve just been into this year, regardless of when it came out.

Both Mafia III and Fallout 4 are games I wanna revisit sometimes, for a lot of the reasons you've said. I do remember Mafia III getting a bit of criticism for its repettitive open world structure and missions, but I loved what I played of it for the setting and characters and how it tackled heavier subject matters in a game like this. And I did redownload Fallout 4 as well, I played a few hours of it when it first released in 2015, but the show has made me wanna give it another go, though at this point I'll probably end up starting a new save.

Anyways, yes, let's get to the main event, our favorite music! I feel like since we both have the same number one, at least I think we do, let's save that for last, but for now, I'm gonna highlight a few from my top 10, in no real order (at least not for the purposes of this piece, I do have a proper list for myself). First, an interesting thing I noticed about my list is how a few of these are from bands/artists you recommended to it. Cory Wells' Harbouring the Hurt I Cause is a really good acoustic/emo album that I had never heard of before you suggested it, and that new Fluorescents album that just dropped, Scream It At Me! gives me such great mid/late 2000s neon pop-punk/pop-rock vibes but with a modern polish to it. You also turned me back on to Neck Deep; their self-titled album is just a really damn solid pop-punk album from a band I admittedly kinda wrote off in recent years.

Secondly, I wanna talk about two final releases from two of my favorite bands, but they're final releases for very different reasons. Sum 41 are pop-punk legends at this point, and sometime last year, they announced that after their new album and some extensive touring, they were calling it quits. It's always nice that when a band does break up, they do so on their own terms and while going out on top. I really had a lot of fun with their final (double) album Heaven x Hell, it felt like a love letter to the band and everything they do well, and I'm happy they were able to go out with that. On the other hand, though, we have Too Close to Touch's For Keeps, and this one is very bittersweet. Vocalist Keaton Pierce passed away unexpectedly in March 2022, and many fans like myself weren't sure we were ever gonna hear from the band again. So, it was a very welcome surprise when they announced a final collection of songs, but it was also a little bittersweet that they decided to call it quits, although it was for a very understandable reason. For Keeps, I think, turned out as well as it could have, and is a very solid sendoff for a vocalist and a band who were so close to taking that next step.

Outside of this year, I did wanna highlight Linkin Park's recently-released greatest hits album, called Papercuts. It's a very nice little collection of songs from their career, and it's been a lot of fun revisiting my first favorite band.

Okay, now I'm gonna throw it back to you, what's some music that you've really been resonating with so far this year?

Yeah, Mafia III got some criticism for the repetitive open world structure and the missions being pretty much copy and paste, such as killing certain enforcers, and interrogating informants, but it’s still a lot of fun every time you get to unleash carnage on an unsuspecting group of bad guys (or are they, because this game does tackle how the main character might not be as good as he thinks he is, and that’s a real interesting idea). I got through a bit of Fallout 4 already, though, and despite a rather annoying combat system that I still need to master, I enjoy it a lot. It’s pretty cool, especially with its story and the lore that the game has already built up for itself.

As for the main event, we can save that specific album for later, but I have a feeling I know what it is, too, and it’s a doozy, that’s for sure. I figured we could highlight stuff from our top tens, really in no particular order, but that’s really neat! I always love recommending stuff, but if I hear something that I think you’d like, I always throw it your way, even if it’s not something I’m as into. Anyhow, my top ten is mainly from bands and artists I’ve already been a fan of, and with the exception of Fluorescents’ debut, Scream It At Me, it’s all stuff that I’ve both heard of but haven’t listened to in awhile. A few of my favorites, in no particular order as well, are Neck Deep’s self-titled and Fluorescents’ Scream It At Me, especially for really wanting some catchy pop-punk at this time of year. Neck Deep’s new one came out in the beginning of the year, but it just hits differently now, and it’s really grown on me. I’ve also been enjoying a handful of metalcore albums, including two that just came out last week. The new Ghost Inside and SeeYouSpaceCowboy albums, respectively titled Searching For Solace and Coup De Grace, are a couple of metalcore albums that really hit what I’ve been looking for, especially really catchy and hard hitting stuff. The new Justin Timberlake album, Everything I Thought It Was, is another album that I’ve been playing a lot this year, and it’s a solid little comeback album for him.

A couple of albums on my list, too, aren’t from bands who released their last albums, although those two albums you mentioned were pretty good, but they’re from artists I never expected to really love a new album from. Thrice frontman Dustin Kensrue dropped a country album, entitled Desert Dreaming, and it’s a wonderful throwback country album that sounds like it came out of the 1960s and 1970s. Augustana, and indie-pop / folk-pop band, also dropped their first album in a decade, called Something Beautiful, and it really hit me, especially for being so catchy. Lil Dicky also dropped a new album this year, his first in almost a decade and I wasn’t expecting to enjoy that as much as I did. I also binged his show, Dave, that has been on for the last few years and it’s a pretty funny show, and I forgot to mention that earlier, but the album, Penith, is supposed to be the “soundtrack” to the show.

Now when it comes to music this year that I’ve been that isn’t new, I got a couple of things, such as getting into the last Hot Mulligan albums after seeing them live with Fall Out Boy a couple months back. I also have spent some time with the last couple of James And The Shame records. That’s the brainchild of Rhett McLaughlin, most famously known from YouTube duo Rhett & Link, but it’s a retro-style country project that has a lot of themes about religion and his overall deconstruction from the church, and it’s very interesting stuff. I’d like to check out that Linkin Park greatest hits, though; they’re a band I feel like hits better with their greatest hits, although their first two albums are really cool still.

There is one album that we haven’t talked about yet that we’ve alluded to, because it’s both our current favorite album this year, so would you like to introduce it?

You know, this is actually kind of a funny full cirlce thing, because Bayside was another band you originally introduced me to, I wanna say about a decade ago, around the time Cult was coming out. I really enjoyed that album, but their next album, 2016''s Vacancy, was what really won me over and made me a huge fan of theirs. So, naturally, you could say that their new album, There Are Worse Things Than Being Alive, being my number one album of the year so far is a bit of a no-brainer, but I really do think this is one of Bayside's best albums, and it really showcases the band at their peak and what they do best, whether it be guitarist Jack O'Shea really letting it rip with some killer guitar parts and solos, Anthony Raneri's ability to paint a picture and tell a story with his lyrics, or the band's penchant for memorable hooks. It's all there in full force on this album, but what I will say, is that if you really think about it, it's not really all that different than what they've been doing. So, I wanna turn it back to you and ask, what was it about thsi album in particular that really clicked and led it to also being your favorite album so far this year?

Bayside is a band that I’ve got a lot of nostalgia for, because I found them on a 2007 Alternative Press compilation. It was an acoustic version of “Dear Your Holiness,” and I really loved it, I picked up 2007’s The Walking Wounded and immediately fell in love with it. It’s still one of my favorite albums today, especially for its great hooks, awesome guitarwork that was really heavy for a pop-punk album, and very poignant lyrics that still hold up today. I have enjoyed their subsequent records, but Bayside ended up becoming a band whose albums all sound the same to me.

Despite how good they are, especially 2016’s Vacancy, you know what you’re getting with an album from them, which can be a good or bad thing, depending on where you stand with them. Aside from The Walking Wounded, nothing else they’ve done since has really blown me away as much as that album. I was somewhat eagerly awaiting There Are Worse Things Than Being Alive, especially because it’s been five years since their last album came out, but what really surprised me was how this album feels oddly refreshing compared to their last couple. Not that they were bad, or even bland, but this album reminds me a lot of The Walking Wounded.

Like you said, this album is a classic Bayside album on the surface, but they prove that they can tweak their formula a bit and make it really interesting. This album is both the heaviest and catchiest I’ve heard Bayside in a long time; their hooks are sticky sweet this time around, but their guitar riffs are some of the thrashiest and most heavy metal-ish that I’ve heard from them. Raneri’s lyrics are also some of the best I’ve heard in awhile, too, and a lot of this album gets lodged in my head for the best reasons. I bet it was a shock to you, especially as someone that hasn’t been crazy about their last few albums, that I was over the moon for this album when it came out, huh?

I was definitely pleasantly surprised when you said you were loving this album as much as you do, but at the same time, especially after hearing you talk about it more, I do kinda get why this one maybe hooked you more than they have the past few albums. Sometimes all it takes is some tweaks/refreshes to the formula, and sometimes, something will just hit you in the right place at the right time, even if maybe it normally wouldn't as much otherwise. But, I love that we both have this at number one; thinking back on years past, I think this has only happened a handful of times, most likely with Fall Out Boy, since they're another band we both love.

It's really hard to believe we're already a quarter of the way through this year already, isn't it? I'm glad we got together to do this again, though, it's been a blast looking back on all of it so far, and I really can't wait for what's still to come.

I really was surprised to love this new album as much as I did, but you’re right, sometimes all it takes is a tweak to the formula to really hit you at the right time. I think by having a catchier and heavier sound, the album was able to hit me harder because it reminded me of when I first listened to them all those years ago. It just hits in the right way, but I truly love it. Not many albums this year have really hit me in that way, but this record is their best in a long time. It’s really hard to believe we’re almost a quarter done, though, so much good stuff has come out and so much is going to come out in the next eight months. It’s been an absolute blast doing this with you again, but before we close this out, what are some albums you’re looking forward to, whether they have a confirmed release date or not?

Just today, as we're writing this, The Home Team announced their third album, called The Crucible of Life, is coming out on July 12th, and I know that album is gonna be amazing. They're really about to be the next big thing, and I can't wiat. The other big one for me is The Early November, whose self-titled album is coming out June 14th. They're a band sorta like Bayside, in that they have a pretty storied legacy in the scene and have still been at it, putting out great music for over 20 years now.

Got anything on your radar coming up?

No way, they finally announced their new album? I hadn’t seen it yet, so that’s awesome. I can’t wait for that, so that’s easily a most anticipated. I’d say that off the top of my head, the upcoming Knocked Loose is my most anticipated, and that comes in a couple weeks on May 10th. Those guys are currently one of the biggest heavy bands in the scene, and their last album was easily my favorite of 2019, so I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time. It’s gonna be a good rest of the year, for sure, and I can’t wait to do this again with you. I hopefully plan on doing this again here in another three or four months, and then at the end of the year, but it’s been a lot of fun being able to work on another one of these pieces with you, so thanks for being able to indulge me on what we’ve been into this year so far!

Yeah, this has been so much fun, so thank you for having me! I'm looking forward to meeting up for this again, as I'm sure we'll have plenty more to talk about.

[thisaintascenereviews]

Lightworker - How The Beautiful Decay

With all of the bands today that are being influenced by 00s heavy music, especially metalcore, one subset of metalcore I’m not seeing too much of is melodic metalcore. Bands like Killswitch Engage, As I Lay Dying, Parkway Drive, August Burns Red, and many others reigned supreme in the 00s, but they balanced catchy hooks with brutal metalcore. I call some of these bands “At The Gates-core,” because they take influence from the 90s melodic death scene. Their melody comes from both their melo-death influence and the melodic choruses they employ, but these bands faded out of favor in the early 2010s when “Risecore” became really popular. Breakdowns and generic clean choruses became more popular, and flashy and melodic guitarwork and riffs became out of favor.

It’s rare to find bands like that anymore, especially when a lot of those bands turned into hard-rock / butt-rock, so hearing a melodic metalcore band that harkens back to that era is really cool. That’s exactly what I did, too, with Lightworker’s sophomore album, How The Beautiful Decay. I found this band randomly while looking at the new releases, and I saw that they’re signed to Solid State. Greyhaven just dropped their new EP on there a couple weeks back, so I figured these guys might be worth looking into. Sure enough, they ultimately are, as this record is a really fun ride through nostalgia-inducing melodic metalcore that took me back to the genre’s heyday but feeling a bit more modernized.

These guys balance catchy hooks, solid riffs, and brutal breakdowns quite nicely, and nothing ever feels out of place or bland. The clean vocals sound like they came from a butt-rock band, but they aren’t bad, and they kind of add to their 00s sound. Otherwise, I love this band’s really heavy sound, and they have some super awesome breakdowns that scratch that itch quite nicely. The riffs are really cool, too, and they’re utilized well. These guys are very talented musicians, despite being a relatively new band. I hadn’t heard of them before finding this album, but these guys were a great find.

These guys don’t necessarily have a unique sound that I haven’t heard before, but this album is so well done that if you enjoy that sound, you’ll probably really love this album. I didn’t know I needed this album until I heard it, but it’s one of the best heavy albums I’ve heard all year so far. I’ve been having a total blast with this record, especially since I’ve coincidentally been in the mood for hard hitting metalcore and this past week has given me some solid releases to sink my teeth into, so it’s been great, and this album is no exception. If you want some melody with your metalcore, this is a great album to listen to.

[thisaintascenereviews]

The Ghost Inside - Searching For Solace

Because I listen to a lot of music over a year, there are bands and artists that I listen to every few years or so. These bands put out an album, and I’ll listen to it, only to forget about them for another few years until they put out another one. There are some bands, though, that I haven’t listened to in a decade or so, but not because I didn’t want to. It’s almost always that I just forgot about them, especially if they hadn’t released anything in so long. One such band is the Californian metalcore band The Ghost Inside. They’re certainly a band that has gone through quite a lot over the last decade. After dropping a few albums in the late 00s and early 2010s, the band got into a horrible car accident in 2015, which resulted in a few fatalities and their members getting critically injured. One of their members even got their leg amputated after being in a coma for ten days.

The band finally made their triumphant return in 2020 with a self-titled album. I just listened to it for the first time recently, but it was good, despite being nothing out of the ordinary for them. Four years later, they’re back with the second album in their resurgence, Searching For Solace. That’s kind of a fitting title for a band that’s been through so much within the last decade, and they’re still on a journey of healing. This album is very much about that, even all of these years later, but this album caught me by surprise. Firstly, I had no idea this was coming out, and secondly, I was kind of blown away by this record. The thing is, though, this album is relatively basic metalcore and melodic hardcore. I haven’t kept up with this band in a decade, since their album before the bus crash, and they really haven’t changed their sound.

I feel like I shouldn’t like this record, because of how they haven’t really changed their sound over the years, ultimately making for a rather generic album. Searching For Solace is a great example of how something basic can work so well, because it doesn’t try to be something it’s not, and the band is so well adept at crafting a catchy and heavy brand of metalcore, its basic sound is easily forgivable. This record is just written and performed so well, they have it down to a science. From their catchy hooks, heavy riffs, to some of the best harsh vocals I’ve heard in awhile, this record is a very accessible yet hard hitting metalcore album that fans of the genre and newcomers could enjoy.

This album runs the gambit of having really catchy songs, and really heavy bruisers, but they’re excel at both of them. They know how to craft a catchy hook but an intense breakdown, and at only 37 minutes, it keeps it brief. I’ve been coming back to this album quite a lot, just for how accessible it is and how it’s easy to listen to. This album, at least at this very moment, is my album of the year. It could be that its themes of hopefulness and carrying on in times of strife hit hard, or that the hooks and breakdowns complement each other, but this record is a really hard hitting album. Crazy how a band I haven’t listened to in a decade has the top spot of my yearend list at the moment, but it’s truly that good.

[thisaintascenereviews]

SeeYouSpaceCowboy - Coup De Grace

Nostalgia is often cyclical, as certain decades will become the aesthetic trend in the zeitgeist for a certain time, whether it was the 80s a decade ago, the 90s a few years ago, and the 00s now. That nostalgia doesn’t just include fashion, but it includes all facets of pop culture, especially music. A lot of 00s influences are being incorporated into all types of genres, especially metalcore. Over the past five years, a lot of younger bands are popping up that have been influenced by bands that came before them, especially when they grew up during the 00s and early 2010s. Many folks consider the 00s to be the crux of the metalcore scene, and a lot of bands getting big now are around my age (late 20s and early 30s) that listened to a lot of the “veterans,” so to speak. Some of these bands want to merely emulate that sound, but others want to deconstruct it and re-examine it. That’s what the band SeeYouSpaceCowboy does, especially on their new album, Coup De Grace, and it makes for one of the most interesting and visceral albums of the year.

Let’s back up a second, though, as there is some context to understand before going into this album. SeeYouSpaceCowboy dropped their debut album in 2019, after putting out a compilation EP beforehand that took their first couple of EPs and combined them together. They started off as a mathcore and metalcore band that was very rooted in the 00s, but their sound wasn’t anything I hadn’t heard before. It was done well, but it felt like it was trying to emulate that sound, versus do anything new with it. Since then, they’ve put out two albums, their debut in 2019, and their sophomore in 2021. I never reviewed either album, because I wasn’t writing about music at the time, but if I had to sum them up, I’d say they’re good albums, but short of great.

Their sophomore album, especially, really felt like they were just trying to sound like their influences, despite how they were adding some clean choruses and more melodic elements into the mix. It was interesting, so I was curious about where the band would go from there, because where can you go after making a couple of albums that are pretty generic (yet still quite good)? Turns out, you can go in a really cool direction, because Coup De Grace really surprised me by deconstructing a lot of sounds from the 00s, and doing something really cool with them. This album really sounds like it would have come out in the 00s, whether it’s due to the album cover itself, its myriad of sounds from the era, or its over the top concept that works insanely well.

This album is such a fascinating look at how you can try to both emulate your influences and re-examine them. I can’t blame someone if they listen to this, and think it copies a bunch of stuff from the 00s, because it kind of does. There are elements of metalcore, mathcore, post-hardcore, emo, pop-punk, and even some dance-punk from that era, and it all reminds me of something else, but it’s done so well that it doesn’t matter. That’s especially because SeeYouSpaceCowboy is still able to put their own spin on these ideas, and this still sounds like a SYSC record, regardless. They just want to show off more influences, especially melodic ones, and this album is a blast from start to finish. It’s one of my favorites of the year, and it really surprised me on my first listen.

I had no idea what to expect, but this album has a cool concept that is framed as a play with a jazzy and baroque introduction, interlude, and ending song that tells a loose story. This album is supposed to be less about personal struggles from vocalist Connie Sgarbossa, and more about characters, which is very 00s coded. It reminds me a lot of Panic! At The Disco’s A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out, but with more of a metalcore and post-hardcore sound. The lyrics on this thing are absolutely wonderful, but so is Sgarbossa. Her vocals are still just as great as they have been, whether it’s her brutal screams or those whiny yelps that she does, which were very common in the 00s. Guitarist Taylor Allen contributes a lot of clean vocals on this record, even more than on any other of their albums, but he sounds great. He even takes lead on a handful of songs, but the clean choruses on this album are so much fun, and never feel shoehorned in.

Musically, as I said beforehand, this album takes a lot of influences and distills them into a single package, but it’s a very off the wall, unpredictable, and insane album that switches up between every song (or sometimes within the same song). It never feels jarring, either, but it keeps you on your toes. I haven’t heard an album like this in a long time, maybe since The Callous Daoboys dropped their debut in 2019, because this album truly threw me for a loop, and it takes sounds I already really liked and re-examines them. If you want a really heavy, catchy, and unpredictable record that takes on a lot of sounds from the 00s, check out this new SeeYouSpacwCowboy album. It’s easily my favorite album of theirs, and one of my favorite albums of the year so far.

[thisaintascenereviews]

Fluorescents - Scream It At Me

For as much as pop-punk has been back in the mainstream, there’s one kind that I don’t think has been represented — neon pop-punk. In the late 00s, and early 2010s, bands like Forever The Sickest Kids, All Time Low, Every Avenue, Hit The Lights, and many others, dominated the pop-punk scene, and it was called “neon pop-punk,” named for how a lot of the bands dressed in neon colors, how bright and synth-heavy their music was, and how they placed a lot more emphasis on the “pop” than punk. I, for one, absolutely loved it, and a lot of favorite bands from that era came from the neon scene. In recent years, as pop-punk has been getting bigger in the mainstream again, I’ve noticed that a few bands have been either turning more into a catchy and neon-ish band, or they’re immediately jumping into that sound. State Champs’ last album, 2022’s Kings Of The New Age, is their catchiest album yet, and bands like Stand Atlantic, Broadside, and Honey Revenge are releasing albums that are way more pop than punk.

The latest band I found in this vein is one that I’ve been subtly following for a while on TikTok, and that’s Chicago outfit Fluorescents. They finally dropped a debut album, entitled Scream It At Me, and it’s composed of songs they’ve released within the last couple of years. These guys caught my attention by having a very pop-focused version of pop-punk, and reminding me of a lot of 00s bands, whether it’s the lyrics, vocals, melodies, and their overall sound. They also have a few other subtle influences, like some easycore and hip-hop in spots, but they mainly have a very pop-influenced sound. I didn’t know their debut was coming out until a few days before, but I was ecstatic, and to no surprise, I’m head over heels for this thing. This is one of the best albums I’ve heard all year, and one of the best pop-punk albums I’ve heard in a long while.

These guys take everything I love about the genre, especially back when I really listened to it, and make it so well. They also subtly modernize the sound, too, especially with the lyrics, but it doesn’t sound immediately dated or cringy. The biggest thing that works here, and why I keep returning to this album, are its hooks. This thing has hooks for days, and despite being a 34-minute album, I’ve played this a few times in a row before, just because I can’t get enough. It’s so sugary sweet, you might get a toothache from this record. From front to back, I always have a smile on my face when I listen to this record. Every song really sticks out, and that’s a rare feat on a pop-punk record these days.

It helps that this band has a few other tricks up their sleeve, whether it’s a few different vocalists, and a sound that manages to have the songs flow together quite well without running together. They make each song stand out enough, and it works so well. Lyrically, these guys are nothing that special, but a lot of these lyrics remind me of bands I used to listen to back in the day. One of their vocalists reminds me a ton of the vocalist of Hit The Lights, and it just takes me back almost 16 years ago listening to their sophomore album in my sophomore year of high school. They just have great chemistry, and the multiple vocalists help the album from getting stale.

I just really love this record, but it’s a mixture of nostalgia for this sound that I forgot how much I loved, and just how well done it is. I usually find a few pop-punk albums each year that I love a lot, especially after getting back into the genre around four or five years ago, and this may be the best one, unless something random sneaks up behind it. A couple of other great pop-punk albums have come out, too, like the new Neck Deep record that came out in January, for some reason, but Fluorescents is easily one of the best unsigned bands that you’re not listening to.

[thisaintascenereviews]

Belmont - Liminal

Something a lot of bands do is refine their sound after their debut album, or if they switch up their sound. They usually want to distill their sound into the best qualities of it, especially if they were a bit around in the edges in spots, but most bands just try to improve after each album. Sometimes that refinement works quite well, and other times it doesn’t work as well as you hoped it would. One of my favorite albums within the last couple of years is Aftermath, the sophomore album from Chicago pop-punk / easycore band Belmont. That was their debut with Pure Noise Records, but the band switched up their sound with that record, going from a generic easycore band on their actual debut album to a band that had a myriad of ideas and influences in their arsenal. Some of those ideas made sense, and some of them didn’t, but Aftermath was an interesting album. It had elements of pop-punk, easycore, metalcore, nu-metal, trap, and country. There was a country “meme song” on that album, entitled “Country Girl,” and it was fun for what it was, but not indicative of their sound.

If anything, Belmont is a rather impressive band, because a couple of their members studied at the famed Berklee College Of Music, and you can hear it throughout Aftermath. Their song structures are really cool, innovative, and unique, especially for a pop-punk band. They had elements of progressive metal, at least in terms of how technical their songs are. Aftermath was a record that I felt like a lot of people slept on, as they aren’t Neck Deep or State Champs. No shade to those bands, they’re awesome, but they’re more simplistic in what they do, and they’re also elder statesmen at this point. Belmont were a weirder band, especially with their country song that a lot of people didn’t like (it was a bad song to push as a single that you want people to take seriously, but a fun song in context).

The band is back two years later with Liminal, and this is what I was alluding to in the beginning with a refinement of sorts. Belmont refined their sound with this album, mainly in taking what worked about Aftermath and distilling it down to a more cohesive sound. As cool as Aftermath is, and as much as I enjoy it, it’s a messy album in spots, whereas Liminal is more streamlined and cohesive. Unfortunately, though, I wish I could say I liked it more than Aftermath, but I don’t. In the band refining their sound, they weirdly lost a bit of what I enjoyed so much about them. It’s not their technicality or their penchant for a solid breakdown or two, but it’s their goofy, and off the wall sensibility that they had on Aftermath. You didn’t know where that album was going at any moment, but on Liminal, they keep things relatively cohesive. It’s weird, because Aftermath was a messy album, but I still enjoyed it for that. Liminal should solve that problem, and it does, but it doesn’t work as well for me.

Maybe it’s also because this album lacks a lot of really strong hooks that also helped in Aftermath’s favor. Liminal is a really impressive album, at least instrumentally speaking; you’ll find lots of great riffs, breakdowns, and little switch-ups here and there that are really cool to listen to, but it’s like I always say when it comes to progressive music, playing your instruments well doesn’t mean much when you don’t write interesting songs. There are a lot of cool moments, but they don’t really stick with me, because there aren’t that many really catchy hooks to boot. There are a couple, but not enough to really keep me coming back. I kept wondering why I haven’t been listening to Liminal much, and that’s when it hit me that it just isn’t catchy enough, especially when they focus on technicality over accessibility.

Here’s the thing, though — this record is good, and it’s quite impressive, really, but I’m trying to refine their sound, it just makes them less interesting. It should do the opposite, but losing a lot of the weird influences and random stuff, like the random trap song they had on Aftermath, made me less engaged and less interested. Every song sounds the same, and while they sound good, I want some good hooks or some of their unique flavors. The breakdowns are cool here, but when I hear them on every song done in a similar way, it doesn’t do much for me. I’d recommend this if you want some impressive and technical pop-punk / easycore, but if you want some pop-punk with killer hooks, you’ll need to look elsewhere.

[thisaintascenereviews]

Greyhaven - Stereo Grief

Louisville, Kentucky metalcore band Greyhaven dropped their sophomore album two years ago, entitled This Bright And Beautiful World, and I really enjoyed that album, despite having a few mixed reactions. This I mainly enjoyed their heavier side, and the clean vocals didn’t do as much for me, but I think I’ve come around to them. Greyhaven is a really unique band, especially one that fills the hole that The Dillinger Escape Plan and Every Time I Die have left (although Better Lovers, the band that has members of Dillinger and ETID is around) after their demises, because they take that 00s experimental and mathy approach to metalcore. They just add clean vocals, as well as a more accessible angle to their brand of metalcore, but it works quite well. I suppose that threw me off when I first listened to them, but I’ve come around to it now.

It’s really come to a head with their new EP, Stereo Grief, which is also their debut project with Solid State. This EP takes what they’ve been doing, and somehow makes it more visceral and interesting. The clean vocals work for me now, but it could either be they got better or it just clicked for me. I still love their metalcore sound; it really sounds great. Their heavier sound is utterly fantastic, and even the cleaner moments work, but it could be that it just works seamlessly more so now. I don’t know, for sure, but what I do know is that this EP is wonderful. It’s a 20-minute collection of songs that is perfect for newcomers, because this won’t overwhelm you. Even then, their two albums are both under 40 minutes, so they don’t overstay their welcome.

Out of this new wave of metalcore bands that take notes from the 00s, especially Every Time I Die, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Poison The Well, Norma Jean (who are still around but I digress), and other bands from that era, Greyhaven is one of the best. Of course you got bands like The Callous Daoboys, who are seriously killing it but Greyhaven is catching up. They’re on the more accessible side of that genre, too, which I like, especially if you want some clean vocals in your metalcore but they’re just as heavy. I really enjoy this EP, and it’s a good body of work to add to their discography. If anything, too, this EP is a good indication of what’s to come on their next album. I, for one, can’t wait for it, especially if it sounds like this.

[thisaintascenereviews]

408 - Hot Mess

Whether you like it or not, Blink-182 is one of the most influential pop-punk bands of the last 30 years. They’re responsible for a lot of huge songs and albums within the scene, but their influence on the genre is also undeniable. Just like with everything, many clones have come and gone, although we’re still seeing that today. Pop-punk has gotten popular again in the mainstream over the last few years, thanks to MGK, Willow, Olivia Rodrigo, and plenty of others taking that sound and revamping it for a modern and younger audience. The same can be said for newer bands in the genre, especially to invoke some kind of nostalgia with fans of a certain age that grew up listening to Blink and all of these other bands. One of those bands is 408, a band named after their zip code of Orlando, Florida. These guys take that classic Blink sound and modernize it a bit by throwing in pop, trap, and EDM elements, and people seem to love it or hate it.

I was hesitant to listen to their latest album, Hot Mess, but I decided to check it out after wanting to look for some pop-punk to sink my teeth into. Between this and the new Fluorescents album, we got some new pop-punk within the last week, but while I really like the latter album, I’m sort of mixed on Hot Mess. It’s got some things I like, and some things I really don’t, but it’s a solid enough album overall. Let’s start with what I like, and that’s mainly due to the overall sound. I really like their brand of catchy pop-punk that puts pop above the punk. That’s my favorite kind of pop-punk these days, and the hooks on this thing go nuts. A lot of the hooks on this album are syrupy sweet, and that’s what’s kept me coming back to this album.

That’s the only thing I really like here, unfortunately, because the vocals and lyrics leave a lot to be desired. The lyrics, especially, leave a lot to be desired, but the vocals aren’t half bad. What’s cool is that this band has three vocalists, and they sort of employ a Blink style of vocal delivery, where different members either trade vocals or take lead on a whole song. Each vocalist has a decent enough voice, and they all have good chemistry. They’re nothing special, though, and they’re generic pop-punk vocalists that you’ve heard a million times. They still get the job done, and they work with the hooks on this album. They won’t blow you away with their impressive range, or anything like that, but you’ll enjoy them for what they are if you’re not picky.

Unfortunately, it’s the lyrics that don’t work for me that well, because they’re the one that hasn’t been modernized. Well, sort of. There is modern slang found on here, such as “Situationship,” but the songs are all mainly about relationships (most often gone awry), and they don’t quite do anything different than their forbearers did. They’re just about how a girl is bad for them, or they’re bad for a girl, which is basically the usual stuff. Most of the time, the lyrics are usually decent, especially with songs like “Smash The Mirror,” “Clean My Room,” or “Remember Her Like That,” but there are some stinkers. “666 In The Morning,” for a glowing example, is a song about partying all night, but that hook is so annoying, and the lyrics are just as bad. The title track is another one, but a lot of these songs repeat the same ideas over and over.

It’s mainly just the same topics, including girls and relationships, but they do switch things up slightly with the thirty-second “Get Off” that’s very much in the Blink vein of very sexual and goofy songs. The joke is brief and crass, but it’s different subject matter, at least. The subject matter gets real old, and despite the hooks being so good, the lyrics just make them lose their appeal, and they aren’t as good as they could be. I’ve gone back to this a lot over the last week, but by the time it’s done, I don’t quite remember what I heard, minus a few moments. There is an EDM song at end of the album, which ends it on a memorable note, but the rest of this album ebbs and flows between being really catchy and generic. Overall, this album is pretty good, and it’s only 33 minutes, but I wish it were better and had more interesting lyrics. Nonetheless, if you love pop-punk, and want a good album to jam to during the summer, this should work nicely.

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Northlane - Mirror’s Edge

Out of all the progressive metalcore bands, at least from the last 15 years, Australia’s Northlane is a band that I’ve had a rather complicated relationship with. They started off as a very generic djent band, and they were good at what they were doing, but their sound went into a couple of different directions since then. They went into nu-metalcore and alt-metal with 2019’s Alien, and 2022’s Obsidian was a mix of the old and the new, which worked part of the time, but ended up being a slog to sit through. I enjoyed parts of it more than the whole thing, but it’s a couple years later, and we got Mirror’s Edge, a new EP from them, so how is this thing?

Honestly, it’s pretty good, but it has its problems. This EP doesn’t quite course correct from their last couple of albums, but it tries to have all these influences and sounds coexist, so to speak. It works to an extent, but it’s good this is an EP. This EP is only 23 minutes, and it ends up feeling like it by the end. Mirror’s Edge is a combination of djent, nu-metalcore, metalcore, alt-metal, and progressive metal. They do something oddly similar things that the new Erra album, entitled Cure, did, which is have a cleaner sound in juxtaposition to the heavier moments. Whereas Cure felt too long for its own good, Northlane isn’t as longwinded. The thing is, though, Cure was more focused, and this EP doesn’t feel that way.

Mirror’s Edge is a messy EP that has a lot of cool songs, but I can’t quite remember any of them, because they’ve got a lot going on in each one, as well as just switching up from style to style. There’s just a lot of whiplash in this EP, and it’s not too bad where it’s 23 minutes, but it’s real close. I just end up zoning out and not being all that into the EP, let alone go back to it that much, although I respect it quite a lot. I like a lot of the songs here, and when it works, it works well. It’s just that the EP is unfocused, and because of that, only a few songs stick out. The rest of it is still good, but it just ends up falling to the wayside. They need to mix their various influences together in a way that doesn’t feel so unfocused, so hopefully the next album does just that.

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Erra - Cure

Have you ever listened to something and respected what they were going for more than you actually liked it? You can appreciate the attempt, even if the attempt itself doesn’t quite work for you. That’s sort of how I feel about the new Erra album, entitled Cure. The thing is, I like what they’re doing here, or at least what they’re trying to do. Let’s back up a little bit, because there is some context needed before we talk about this new album. I started listening to these guys about a decade ago, and they started off as a pretty bland djent band despite doing what they did well. Over the years, though, they have started to incorporate alt-metal influences, including more clean vocals and cleaner passages. They haven’t turned into a butt-rock band, but their sound has mellowed out a bit.

I never listened to their 2021 self-titled, but its length (before and after the deluxe edition came out) really put me off, I figured I’d still check out this new one. This past week had a lot of metalcore stuff come out, and some of it is better than others, but Cure is a solid progressive metalcore album, albeit it isn’t perfect. I’ve given this album a handful of listens, and I think I respect it more than I like it. At the very least, there are moments I really like, but this album is a little too long for its own good. This record is 49 minutes, which isn’t too bad, but for a progressive metalcore album that has an alt-metal sound, it’s a lot.

The band’s in top form, though, and this album is quite good on a technical and instrumental level. Their sound is cool, and the cleaner moments are really well juxtaposed with the heavier moments. When a heavy guitar riff or breakdown comes up, it sounds great, and it feels more earned compared to a lot of bands who throw breakdowns out in every song. It’s just that this album isn’t very catchy, so a lot of this album blends together, and songs feel longer than they really are. Cure doesn’t feel like a slog to get through, though, but it is a pretty long album. It’s not a record I’m dying to come back to constantly, but I still enjoy what they’re trying to do. I like that they’re moving towards a more accessible sound, and they’re in top form, but this record is still a bit too longwinded for my liking.

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If Not For Me - Everything You Wanted

I’ve made it clear in the past that I’m a sucker for metalcore bands that have a really catchy and accessible sound to them, such as I Prevail or Archetypes Collide. Those bands are both very heavy and catchy all at once, and while they’re nothing super unique, they do what they do well. I can always appreciate bands with that type of sound, especially if it’s done well enough. I’ve also listened to some enough generic and forgettable bands to know when something just isn’t quite at that level, at least yet anyway. That’s how I feel about PA metalcore band If Not For Me, and their debut album, Everything You Wanted. They’re signed to Thriller Records, an offshoot of InVogue, and I like that label a lot, so I figured I’d give them a shot.

On first listen, Everything You Wanted is a pretty good album, but the more listens I’ve given it, the less I’ve been into it, although I don’t want to say that the album is bad. This album isn’t bad, per se, it’s just a little too bland for my liking. They’re a pretty by the numbers metalcore band, even down to the formulaic songwriting that kind of sounds like what was called “Risecore” that plagued the metalcore scene a decade ago. They’re competent, but nothing about them really sticks out. This feels like it was made in a lab at points, like they were genetically engineered to make a metalcore album.

To be fair, this album has some solid tracks, some of the hooks are pretty catchy, and some of the breakdowns that pop up are cool (despite being predictable), but it’s also nothing terribly interesting, either. These guys are what I’d akin to a McDonald’s cheeseburger, or any kind of fast food burger — good for what it is, especially if that’s all you got to pick from, but there are things so much better out there. This album is a good case of a band putting out a decent enough debut, but they still got some potential, so if anything, it’ll be interesting to hear what they do next.

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Eidola - Eviscerate

By this point, some almost twenty years since Dance Gavin Dance released their debut EP, the term “Swancore” is kind of dated, and a little bit played out. The genre is, too, as every band that fits the bill sounds the same, if not very similar — a vocalist with a voice suited for pop music (and is almost always too good for the band), math-rock and mathcore instrumentation that’s combined with progressive song structures, and lyrics that are either utter nonsense or poetic to the point of pretentiousness. That’s exactly how I’d describe the new Eidola album, entitled Eviscerate. Released on DGD guitarist Will Swan’s record label, Blue Swan Records (hence the name “Swancore), vocalist and primary songwriter of Eidola Andrew Wells is also in DGD, and that’s just one of many cases of how these bands are all connected. They weirdly all share members, like some kind of cult or prestigious club, but I digress.

When it comes to Eidola, I’m somewhat familiar with them. I’ve listened to one of their albums from 2017, but they’ve put out another one before Eviscerate. I can’t say I was super into them, as these guys have always been a carbon copy of the other bands in this vein, but they weren’t bad, either. Wells is a great vocalist, and it’s sort of weird his vocals aren’t utilized more in DGD, but that’s another story for another day. If anything, you’ll get a good time from these guys, especially if you like this sound, and that’s all you can really ask for. I was curious enough to listen to this new album, as a lot of progressive metalcore came out this past weekend, and this was one of them.

I’ve given Eviscerate a few listens, and remember what I said about a lot of Swancore bands having really good vocalists with a sound that blends mathcore with progressive song structures and lyrics that are either complete nonsense or pretentiously poetic? Well, this album is very much in that wheelhouse, and it’s not much different from anything else they’ve done, but it’s not bad. On first listen, this album’s pretty cool, but giving this a few listens now, its issues show themselves more and more. I will say that the one thing about this album that genuinely surprised is how heavy it gets, and that’s different for a band in this vein. A lot of these bands opt for a post-hardcore sound, and their prior albums for, but this is a straight up metalcore album. This thing gets gnarly, and in the best way.

Sure, it’s nothing special, but it’s a welcomed change. Even then, Wells is still a formidable singer, but the problem with this record (and their whole sound) is that the songs just blend together, especially with a lack of hooks. There are a few, but they’re not strong whatsoever. A lot of these bands are in the same vein, they’ve got killer vocalists, yet their hooks and choruses are lackluster. They seem to favor the mathcore instrumentation over accessible songwriting. The record sounds great, and it sounds impressive, but with a runtime of 45 minutes, you can’t just make the same song 12 times. Aside from a few moments here and there, this record blends together, and not in a way that makes me want to hear the whole thing, especially where this band’s sound just go above and beyond anything other bands in this vein have done. It’s a good album, and worth hearing if you love this sound, but you’re not missing anything if you don’t, unfortunately.