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ALBUM: If I Should Go Before You - City and Colour

Canadian artist Dallas Green has come back on the scene with his 5th studio album since forming his semi-solo project; City and Colour. The record, titled If I Should Go Before You, is a long stretch from Sometimes and Bring Me Your Love - as the Alexisonfire man incorporates more and more electric into his compositions. 

 The 9 minute single Woman warmed us fans up to the inevitability that Dallas is becoming an even more capable and rounded musician. The folksy charm of his earlier releases are timeless, but the steps he’s taken to get to this record have been brave and rewarding. 

  I’ve come to rely on Mr Green for a lot of the funky side of my musical spectrum these days, and he doesn’t disappoint with the bass-filled stylings of Northern Blues - adding to his Northern collection with other titles like Northern Wind and The Northern. Killing Time and Wasted Love do equally well to sate my desire for groove. 

  Blood and If I Should Go Before You provide the key emotion for this album. Usually I expect a bit more of an emotionally provocative presence from C&C but I think these two do job on their own. Mizzy C and Lover Come Back keep the mood balanced AND funky, to counter the more down feel of Blood and the title track. The country styling we became particularly accustomed to on the previous record, The Hurry and the Harm, are revived through Runaway and Map of the World.

  In short, this album has a bit of everything - something of a mix between the last two albums and the end result is a matured and complex 11 track record sure to divide opinion. I wouldn’t personally say there are any particular stand out songs or moments in the album, which is the one downfall unfortunately.

  I am of the opinion also, that the lack of a plain ‘man and guitar’ type song is pretty noticeable. He does that the best, the pure simplicity of him and his guitar is almost unrivalled; but the closest this album comes to it is Blood - which is a world apart from the early releases which were so typically stripped back and raw. 

 All in the all the effort is impressive, the songs are both well-written and catchy and I do very much enjoy listening to it. The lack of a typically acoustic track will eat at me, but in the end it’s just another progression on the path of his musical endeavours and there will always be space for this album in my music library.

7/10

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ALBUM: Silence in the Snow - Trivium

 Trivium are stripping metal down to a skeletal framework; a simplified, amplified creation with all the floating of a butterfly and stinging of a bee that music is made of.

 The Orlando quartet made their name with abrasive, intricately melodic metal - ushering in a new wave of metalcore music with their breakthrough album, Ascendancy, in 2006; along with the likes of Atreyu and Avenged Sevenfold. The 7th of the band’s albums is a very distant relative of the early efforts but nevertheless a step in the right direction.

 Not often do bands release songs where an entire track is orchestral, and opening track Snofall breaks this stigma spectacularly. Whilst it sits as a puny 1:28, the track does serve as a classically inspired introduction to a thematic and powerful album.

 The title track itself was conceived whilst touring for the 4th album Shogun. Corey and Paolo were quick to stop it gaining any legs, going against the wishes of front-man Matt. The reason being, it was a song not built for the Trivium of 2008. The current mind-frame of the band is calling on influences such as Dio and Rainbow - and the song found its way back into contention as the foundation of a new record. Check out the review for this particular track as I first listened to it: http://unbound-reviews.tumblr.com/post/125515223336/single-silence-in-the-snow-trivium

 Blind Leading the Blind was the second individual release and a much more pacey brother to the title track. I hear an awful lot of Iron Maiden in this particular song, the overall feel of the song like that of a battle or some kind of medieval struggle - classic metal pinpointing. Heafy’s absence of growling continues on this track, and for the rest of the album. The duelling nature of the solo too is very much akin to Maiden along with theatrical and dramatic lyrics such as; ‘save yourself! repeated over and over.

 Sinister groove by the bucket-load in track number 4 Dead and Gone. The vocals in this track are beyond metal, for a number of reasons. Principally the echoing sort of reverb effect of the verse vocals are spine-tingling. The coarseness in Heafy’s voice ‘I aim to die with no regrets’ is astounding and easily one of my favourite parts of the entire album. In the prelude to the chorus, ‘time won’t heal, all your pain’ is roared - perhaps another tie to the similarly theatrical title track from Shogun - sharing these specific lyrics. The rhythm of Dead and Gone is something reminiscent of modern metalcore, but with a very metal groove infused. Bury Tomorrow embody a totally different sound to Trivium, but riffs like the opening of Abdication of Power have the telltale anti-rhythm that makes modern metalcore what it is. Trivium have done well to change a brash and brutal technique into something perfectly flowing.

 The Ghost That’s Haunting You is another personal favourite of mine. The layering of vocals in the verse is again one of my key moments from the album, the ones that make me go; ‘shit this is good’. I find it curious that the lyric ‘Save yourself’ also plays a heavy part in the chorus of this as well as Blind Leading the Blind. It’s not a big point - but something that is very noticeable.

 A swinging, grooving opening riff to Pull Me from the Void 100% feels like a pulling motion in itself. A pounding and forceful verse sandwiched in-between full-blooded chorus shaped pieces of bread - a very solid, and quite exceptional, mid-point to the album which won’t stop growing on me.  

 Of all the singles, without a doubt, Until the World Goes Cold is my favourite. The emotional centre-point for the entire album, it glues together the two halves with some immensely emotive song-writing. The first time I heard ‘above my head they’re circling’ I was taken aback, I’d never felt a lyric which doesn’t on the face of it, have any personal resonance, get inside me and shock me. This is testament to the oncoming vocal prowess of Matt and like Paolo too, unless my ears deceive me. Wonderfully brooding, brilliantly evocative.

 Rise Above the Tides resides as a solid effort to warm the album back up from the suitably ‘cold’ previous track. A stirring anthem to determination and personal resolution - a lesson in guitar soloing - a song of many cool lyrics. ‘She’d rather let the ocean take her inside its wake, let the water fill her lungs like the air she hates to breathe’ - very cool. Not sure 100% why. But very very cool.

 The Thing That’s Killing Me is a bit of an angrier side to earlier track The Ghost That’s Haunting You. Trivum don’t need to be outwardly basic to purvey messages of emotion and character, this track being a message of distancing oneself from the ones who don’t deserve you, the ones that bring you down. While having a potent message, the track still remains distinctly kick ass and in-your-face; and has quickly become a popular choice within the Trivium fan base.

 Beneath the Sun (Don’t Fade Away) is nothing if not a doom-bringing crone. The sense of danger and the intense thematic are key characteristics of the classic metal scene and Trivium have shown time and time again that song-writing is about creating an experience as much as it is about creating music. This song in particular is like a semi-anthem, not especially rousing during the verses at least - but sandwiching very provocative and emotive choruses fills the track out nicely. 

   Breathe in the Flames is one of my top tracks on this record. I very rarely hear a Trivium drummer tickling away at a closed hi-hat, but the pre-chorus satisfies this part of my musical psyche immensely. Far and away my favourite part of the song, followed closely by the discordant main riff, is the call of ‘the ones that build you up, will burn you down the same’. Apart from this lyric being very cool itself, the way it is sung is particularly catchy and very metal. 

  The first bonus track, Cease All Your Fire is a musical battle-cry, storming in with a powerful, very rhythmic, riff. This is a track for Bloodstock, the kind of song you listen to when you’re playing Elder Scrolls or something similarly older-worldly. The Darkness of My Mind, number 2 of 2 bonus tracks, follows in a similar vein, I could easily kill some dragons to this track - but equally the lyrical content is a lot more fragile and perhaps vulnerable than the usual bravado of fighting and dying that this style of song tends to pander to. 

  I remember incomprehensible making noise at my mum when the first single came out, asking her - nay begging - where has the screaming gone Mum?! Shit all difference does it make, how naive I once was to make such petty assumptions about the constructs of song-writing. 

 This album; the whole concept, the art, the tracks themselves, the musicianship - it’s all very impressive and it gives me yet another reason to be proud of the music I listen to. I can knowingly tell people with full confidence the reason I love the music I love is not for the image or uniqueness - but the talent and the ability of every single one of the band members in every aspect of their professional output. 

 This will surprise you, and you'll be very happy about it.

8.5/10

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ALBUM: Long Live: Atreyu

We waited, we waited for so long - and here it is.

 Atreyu have been dormant, lying in wait - anticipating the exact right time to reform - release a new album - and blow my fucking mind. A sound reminiscent of The Curse and A Death-grip on Yesterday is something we were told to expect, but equally I hoped in my heart of hearts that the styles of Lead Sails were not totally lost. We all like heavy, but what’s the point if it doesn’t move you?

...

...

...

Good innit? 

  Straight out of the starting gates we’re hit hard by a rip-roaring GO, an onslaught of metalcore at its finest in the title track:-READ MORE http://unbound-reviews.tumblr.com/post/124698810501/single-long-live-atreyu

 Live to Labor is just as fierce as the opening track and maintains a pacey tempo - creating an energy; and setting it on fire. Without a doubt one of my favourite parts of the album is the guitar solo on this particular track; exuberant, flashy, excessive - brilliant. It gives me goose-bumps every single time. 

  Next comes my favourite track. Taking inspiration from classic Atreyu, I would kill/lie/die (for you) is as groovy and coarse as it can be while still maintaining a powerful emotional range. Alex’s vocals in the very beginning and the bridge get to me, boiling over and ripe with feeling, ‘and there you were, sitting next to me’ - I’ll never leave you Alex, please never leave me again. 

 Cut off the Head probably is the toughest track, a chugging motherfucker kick-ass riff, aggressive drums - big men, big song. It’s all very cool, very hard - very impressive, a tasty track for the live shows I would have thought. 

Bitter Broken Memory again follows the vein of tough-guy Atreyu mixed with sentiment, a 2006 song through and through - every subculture; emos, metalheads and everything in between will find a bit of themselves in this track. 

  Do You Know Who You Are? brings a welcome break, introducing a different side of Atreyu - but still keeping home comforts such as a fucking sick solo and bring about a confrontational mood - ready for more METAL.

  Revival stands as another bit of relief, a calm before the storm - an interesting and successful experiment, actually pretty cool. I will say that the jingles and bells have allowed this song passage onto my Christmas playlist (a good thing of course). The only criticism would be that with such a big build up - I’d expect a more emphatic transition into the next track.

  Heartbeats and Flatlines is yet another example of some fine musicianship and pulling out all the stops to make a hot as shit tune with all the flamboyant licks and riffs anyone could ever ask for all in one mp3 package. 

  Blow vol.2  or Brass Balls is like the older more angry brother to Lead Sails Paper Anchor’s Blow. All the anti-establishment fucks your mum doesn’t want to hear are thrown all around this song - tell you what mum, say what you want I don’t give a fuck I learn things the hard way. And more deliciously caustic wah wah from Dan Jacobs. My favourite.

  Call me Christine and put me in a rocking chair, because Moments before Dawn slows us right down. Do I hear a brass ensemble backing? Yes I do, the Californian metalcore 5-piece know exactly how to keep us on our toes, even with a sombre and slow crooning which I don’t feel comfortable listening to in the daytime. 

  Out the rocking chair - into the pit - as Start to Break understandably breaks all of my bones. Full-on drums, unstoppable rhythm - an anthem to self-expectation and social pressures, little bit emo - little bit fucking cool.

Save the best til last? Maybe. Almost. 

   Reckless is an unsung hero, sitting pretty as the final track. The majority of the song is fairly inconspicuous to be totally honest. It’s hard, it’s tough - it’s metal. The bit that gets me is the transition from choral ‘woah’s to Alex’s immediately emotive and abrasive growl, and coupled with unexpected melody - it’s immediate, seamless and breathtaking. 

Bonus track So Others May Live tops off the album fittingly, seeing as it was the first Atreyu song since 2010 - and doesn’t let up at all, out with a bang, already excited for the next album. READ MORE:- http://unbound-reviews.tumblr.com/post/96998498151/single-atreyu-so-others-may-live

Brandon Saller levels up and unlocks new vocal powers and ranges I’d never have believed it were him before this record was released. He’s a good lad, a mean drummer - and now probably my drumming idol. Nice pipes Tamika. 

Dan Jacobs and Travis Miguel get it spot on yet again, balancing rhythm and melody so impeccably, juggling the two with such mastery it’s almost alien. The solos in So Others May Live, Live to Labor, Brass Balls and Do You Know Who You Are? are just special to say the least. Let’s not even discredit the rest of the songs - Cut Off the Head has the catchiest, heaviest riff I’ve heard from Atreyu in years! Good job guys.

Marc McKnight, the bassist, will forever go as a dark horse - such is the fate that all bassists (except for Lemmy Kilmister) are resigned to. Nevertheless, he holds this album together. You have to listen carefully, it’s like a hidden Easter egg in a film, but when you listen to the bass, the intricacies - the layering; the feel. Just sit back and thank the lovely bearded man for his input. 

This record delivered everything I could’ve asked for. It has its heavy, soft, light, dark, fast and slow moments. It’s what I needed, it’s what I expected - and it’s everything I dreamed of.

In short: It’s really fucking good.

9/10 - maybe even 10 you know...

Pick of the Bunch: I Would Kill/Lie/Die (For You) 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGgc8XWVvG8

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ALBUM: That’s The Spirit - Bring Me The Horizon

  So - Oli Sykes and the Horizons are back with another slice of marketable metal pie. Singles in the run-up to the release; Drown, Happy Song, Throne and True Friends set the precedent for the more toned down sound for the record. 

  Every teenage girl on Twitter pissed themselves with the sheer anticipation of this album, with black and white umbrellas acting as propaganda for a revolution of music - and a wild change in the fabric of BMTH’s nature. 

  Whilst Drown impressed me, and Happy Song was suitably restless - I had a sickly feeling from day one that this album was not going to be what I wanted. Change is something to be welcomed but I think, in this case, my cynicism was well met by the revelation that a certain tattooed front-man began to use the assistance of backing tracks to lip-sync his way through previously raucous live shows, like a common pop star.

  Whilst songs like Oh No and Follow You are probably the most radically different to what we’re used to - they’re not awful. I particularly like the chorus for Oh No, distinctly upbeat but lightly sombre - the same is true with Follow You. 

Most of the album however, is categorically anthem-based, and it’s almost as though that’s all the songs have to say for themselves. Drown, Happy Song, True Friends, Throne, Avalanche - and to a lesser extent - What You Need and Oh No are the songs that everyone will song along to at concerts. In many ways - I think that’s all the appeal of the album, it’s quite good to sing along to but just edgy enough that you can tell your friends that you’re a punk. 

What gets me the most about this record from the Steel City 5-piece is the overuse of metaphors and lyrics which belong in classic 2005 screamo like Scary Kids Scaring Kids and Alesana. ‘True friends stab you in the front’, is something so mockingly sentimental it just had to get forced into a song where it doesn’t flow or belong. Other certain lyrics are just a little bit pathetic as well; ‘cry me a river, cos I’ll forgive ya’ from Throne. It’s all just a bit much - and the crux of the reason why it’s so cringe-worthy is because I 100% don’t believe a word they’re saying. It’s like they’ve poured a 14 year old girl’s diary into a bowl with some electric drums and indie ambience and called it an album.

   As I listen back to some of these songs, I actually quite like a few, and they deserve some credit for their catchy appeal. However it feels very hollow liking a song for it being catchy - it’s like fancying a girl because she’s fit even tho she’s actually also a prick. Regardless, the whole lip-syncing live debacle has put me right off - it’s so categorically un-rock n’roll it makes me feel unwell. Where did it all go wrong? 

All a little tame, all a little samey. 

That’s dispiriting. 

Ha.

4/10

Pick of the Bunch: Happy Song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBRAnuT48qo

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SINGLE: Vice Grip - Parkway Drive

  The musical climate seems to be all about change at the moment, with influential metal bands like Trivium and Bring Me The Horizon coming out with totally new sounds in anticipation of their respective new records Silence In The Snow and That’s The Spirit. 

  The trend continues with Australian metallers Parkway Drive.

  We know Parkway as an unrelenting powerhouse of modern metalcore; and the take-no-prisoners approach towards song-writing has carried the 5-piece this far deservedly. Their niche is heavy, and it’s not something they deviate from, not a clean vocal in sight - nor a riff too abrasive for the Byron Bay outfit.

 This single from the upcoming IRE album, is something quite unlike the Parkway Drive we are familiar with. Boisterous frontman Winston McCall still tears out his vocal chords with every syllable, but the song itself is not unlike something fellow Australians AC/DC might produce.  

  For starters, the tempo is slowed right down, and in stark contrast to hits such as Karma and Sleepwalker - the drums regress to backbone simplicity. The rhythm is catchy and suitably chugging while maintaining the toned down theme this effort is carrying. 

The bridge digresses into more pounding riffs and a deeper complexity than influences pre-21st century could directly inspire and, most unusually, this contrast of old and new is pulled off with great aplomb.

  It’s plain to see that the band is drawing on classic influences in order to make this heavy hybrid of an anthem. Nevertheless, I think more than any band I’ve seen go so drastically classically influenced (Avenged Sevenfold’s Hail to the King among others) this is the change I’ve enjoyed the most. 

  I only listened to it for the first time an hour ago and now I’m hooked (you could say I’m in a Vice Grip), and I know all the words - I guess they’ve done their job. 

9/10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ItHNdrPEh0

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SINGLE: Silence In The Snow - Trivium

  As with every song I am under-whelmed with at first, this is growing on me very quickly. 5/6 days before its release, the Floridian quartet promoted a cryptic webpage with a countdown clock. Despite lack of clarity, we knew it was coming - new music. 

 It’s different isn’t it? 

  I was, not long ago, discussing how Vengeance Falls’ unrelenting pace tended to make a lot of the songs feel like filler tracks - and now that a much slower track has surfaced I’m not sure how I feel really. 

  This is much more power metal, dungeons and dragons, than anything they’ve done before, but to be fair to them, it seems to be the kind of stuff they like in the first place. Much like Avenged Sevenfold’s Hail to the King - this is a return to their roots; and with advanced maturity, back to basics. 

  Frontman Matt Heafy’s voice is hands down better than ever - powerful, clear and definitively his own - but I do feel like the reason I’m not 100% on this track is because I haven’t heard him scream, which is something of a home comfort for Trivium fans all over the world. Axe-man Corey Beaulieu’s solo work is much more modest than it has been previously - but nonetheless just as effective, if not more so. 

  It’s also all very Japanese, very cool, very this, very that - and it’s 100% Heafy’s song. Whilst the whole band, perhaps with the exception of new drummer Mat Madiro, are big fans of classic metal style - I suspect that Heafy wrote the entirety of this song, and fair enough - he usually does anyway. 

 It’s good, it’s distinctly groovy (Paolo), and gets better the more I listen to it - but I do want something fucking mental on the new album, when it comes out on the 2nd of October.

7/10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcIlZ3luYHc

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SINGLE: Woman - City and Colour

    There are many ways to get going on your first album in two years. For Dallas Green, the obvious way forward is to release a 9 minute 16 second track; Woman. 

   The trouble here is that it’s so fucking long. There are songs like this, of course, which have great appeal - and length isn’t inherently a bad thing; I mean look at Paolo Nutini’s Alloway Grove all the way to Trivium’s Shogun. The focal point of this argument is that I’m not being enticed into the concept of a new album if the first thing I hear of it is a 9 minute song which doesn’t really do anything for me. 

  It’s just very OK, and that’s the problem. There are bits of it that I like - I like his vocals, I like the main melody; I like all of the musical elements really. However the very rounded, edgeless and lengthy nature of the song has allowed it to fade deep down into obscurity in a time when so many bands are releasing new music that it cannot afford to. Trivium, Bring Me The Horizon, Fightstar and Atreyu are nothing like City and Colour - but right now I care far more about what’s going on with them. 

  I don’t want to disrespect the song. It’s well written, it’s well performed and it ticks the necessary boxes - but when I sit down at the end of a working day, I’m not going to listen to this. 

  The album; If I Should Go Before You is released on October the 9th and I will definitely be buying it because if there’s one thing this guy knows, it’s how to make all manner of different songs and put it all under the same genre and make it work. 

5/10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOXVdDULHPc

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SINGLE: Animal - Fightstar

  Well, it’s been a while since Fightstar released Be Human in 2009 and they have come back with a bang in the form of their new single Animal. 

  It’s pretty much typical Fightstar and I can’t say I have any real complaints. One of the heavier songs in their arsenal, it has the kind of emphatic chorus that we all know Charlie Simpson and Co. are capable of. 

  Incorporation of computerised elements while sticking true to heavier tones on guitar and both harsh and clean vocals is testament to the band’s diverse musical output and furthermore their ability to adapt and progress in what is a very different musical climate to the one they left in 2010. 

  I suspect the rest of the album will tone down somewhat and this will remain a stand-out heavy track while the band does all the exploring it can (and usually does) to different corners of the musical spectrum with the rest of the track-list.

  A solid effort with a memorable chorus, my one concern being it may just fade into the obscurity of a filler track. 

7/10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkwA7Oce-EE

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SINGLE: Throne - Bring Me The Horizon

  Not long at all after releasing the tracklisting for the upcoming album That’s the Spirit; due to be released 11/9/15 - BMTH released the video for the brand new song Throne. 

  Admittedly when I first listened to this, albeit idly when at work, it flew over my head. I don’t respect the heavy reliance on electronics, and whilst Horizon aren’t known for their melodies; guitarist Lee Malia has shown he is more than capable of knocking out a solo or two, as shown in songs such as Blacklist and Blessed With A Curse.  

  To be fair however, this is a bit of a party song, another anthem on BMTH’s list of very catchy tunes and I can’t knock them for trying something different. Oli Sykes has earmarked the upcoming album ‘a celebration of depression’ - and lyrically this theme is of course very present; but lines such as ‘cry me a river, cos I’ll forgive ya’ - aren’t what I expect, and nor are they want I want. Change is always welcome, but try not to over-egg it would be my advice. 

  Musically, the harp in the verses is something easily glazed over but actually adds something a bit different to the sound, a bit of flavour in what is otherwise a fairly ok song. My initial disappointment at the track may well have been due to lack of concentration but equally, the auto-tuned chorus doesn’t fill me with confidence with regard to what the rest of the album holds. 

   I defended Avenged Sevenfold in the case of Hail to the King’s deviation from the standard A7x sound we grew to love, on the basis that it was still a hard-worked output which had been directly inspired by their roots as musicians. However in the case of BMTH I don’t see the case for the softening and glittering of a group of boys from Yorkshire who got into the music game through the medium of deathcore.

5/10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow_qI_F2ZJI

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SINGLE: Happy Song - Bring Me The Horizon

Never before have I seen such wide anticipation for just one single. The vast foray of publicity the build-up to this one particular single was staggering - with an essentially global plague of posters and a series of cryptic trailers dotted about social media. 

  What we were eventually treated to was just as much of a deviation from the old BMTH as with Drown. Some distinctly punky overtones in terms of beat and lyrical themes is a welcome surprise, despite not being entirely popular amongst more sceptical fans of the Sheffield outfit. 

  The inclusion of cheerleader-esque calls of ‘that’s the spirit!’ is an interesting choice to say the least, but one I think has been pulled off with some success. I can already tell that this is going to bang live. Further in terms of vocals it’s fair to say that frontman Oli Sykes’ screams of ‘louder’ as the song reaches a conclusion are probably his most well developed yet - even if it is the only inclusion of screaming in the song. 

  The riffs are infectious, the drums are rousing and the vocals are performed with great aplomb throughout. It’s less a song of musical dynamism and class than it is a bit of an anthem for BMTH’s fans and for anyone that just wants to go on something of a mad one. 

8/10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBRAnuT48qo

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SINGLE: Long Live - Atreyu

  Further to the hard-hitting So Others May Live, the Orange County metalcore outfit Atreyu have released a darker single on the way to the September 18th release of their album, also named Long Live. 

  First of all I want to say that the recording quality on this is so refreshing. The clear cut and vibrant sound quality is just what the doctor ordered for a band that deserves all the attention and credit that comes their way. The screams are harsher, the drums are pummelling, the guitars are louder, the bass is booming and I cannot stop listening for the life of me. 

  The concept of the video is inherently very cool also, everything’s very dark, very uncertain but very powerful - very Atreyu. As I write I just become more and more enamoured with the piece of music right from the raucous GO to the emphatic ending. I haven’t felt a song as forceful as this in a pissload of time, like Christ in a bucket - I am in love. 

  Age is reaching heights that the joys of youth could only dream of for Atreyu and personally I’m stoked as fuck on the album’s full release in September. This isn’t the raw, cutting-edge, inspirational song everyone wants to listen to, the one that grabs the average person’s eye... it’s just a fucking belter and if there’re more like this to come then the only way is up. 

9/10

  PRE-ORDER THE ALBUM NOW

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xw1vt1IS2c

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SINGLE: Slipshod - Enter Shikari

What can I say about Enter Shikari? 

  They first caught my attention with classics like Sorry You're Not A Winner and Anything Can Happen In The Next Half Hour and I still maintain Take To The Skies was the best music they wrote. Common Dreads, Tribalism and A Flash Flood of Colour saw the St Albans based quartet take a more and more electronic direction with every album. 

  This single is first and foremost funny. It's so out there and ridiculous, it's just one of those songs one can't take too seriously. There already people out there saying this song is rubbish, but to be honest I cannot stop listening to it. A song about complaining to a restaurant? Very metal.

   It incorporates plenty of musical ability and showmanship and can, in terms of music, be held in reasonable regard. There's nothing particularly special going on and it is just a couple of minutes long but for what it's worth, the musicianship does enough. 

  I wouldn't say it's a masterpiece but it did make me laugh and it is quite good for going a bit mad to. 

Bonus track material. 

7/10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8O72jXoMIkg

[unbound-reviews-blog]

ALBUM: .5: The Gray Chapter - Slipknot

              Since the tragic passing of bassist Paul Gray in 2010, the Iowa-based nu metal phenomenon had kept fairly quiet - with multiple members focussing their efforts on side-projects. Gray had provided not just his practical ability as a world-class bassist but his expertise as a songwriter when producing the band’s four previous albums; there was even a long standing debate as to whether or not the 9-piece would even carry on. To make matters even worse, world-renowned drummer Joey Jordison fractiously “parted ways” with the band after 18 long years of service. The rhythmic backbone of a great music machine shattered. Thankfully bassist Alessandro Venturella and an anonymous drummer stepped in for the recording process to complete the full 9. Despite the turmoil, anyone can see that they have come back with a pulse-pounding record which has taken the metal community by storm. 

     The listing starts with the foreboding tones of XIX - building tension with the haunting melodies of bagpipes and layering of front-man Corey Taylor’s vocals coupled with ambient choral chants of ‘Walk with me’, adding to the plethora of instruments and techniques the ‘Knot use to develop their unique sound. Track number two, Sarcastrophe takes us listeners out of our bubble of anticipation and straight into the deep end of unabashed brutality and pounding rhythm - enhanced by particularly notable performances from lead guitarist Mick Thomson and turntablist Sid Wilson. AOV surpasses the previous track in terms of pace and overall force but allows respite in a chorus that exhibits Taylor’s fantastically diverse vocal prowess which wouldn’t be out of place on the X Factor… well maybe a little. The Devil In I was the second single released in the build up to the record and it is clear why. Complex riffs, softer vocals and dead-calm verses open the audience wide open and sets the stage for some incredible musicianship. The music video shows the band abandoning their old masks and donning a newly designed set, perhaps signifying a change in direction and a rebirth of the band as a whole. Killpop is undeniably my favourite track on this effort - it is unconventional, it keeps the listener on their toes… and what’s more it is beautifully melodic whilst impeccably balancing unchallenged power in the same package. Skeptic stands out as an unbelievably catchy, intense and touchingly blatant tribute to their late bassist. There is very little to say about this track as it just gets straight to the point in simple, barbarous terms. Lech sits on the same wavelength as AOV and offers an aggressive outburst which, whilst leaving an imprint, wavers on the edge of being a little forgettable. Goodbye is a much quieter, calmer offering leading into a powerfully emotive chorus, bridge and extended outro - singing along is not so much a suggestion as it is a law in this instance. Nomadic is another typically ravenous offering reminiscent of material off of the 2001 album IOWA - the track keeps the pace going and keeps parents worldwide calling for the volume to be turned down. The One That Kills The Least doesn’t do much in the way of happy thoughts - but lyrically and musically it is an exemplary effort, allowing all 9 of the band to really strut their stuff. Custer was the third and final single to be released before the album’s release and for the first time a long while - Slipknot go all almost all the way back to their 1999 self-titled album with a caustic onslaught of verbal and instrumental aggression, dealing the world a sucker punch and silencing critics for miles around. Be Prepared For Hell is about as metal as spoken word gets and I’m afraid that’s all that needs to be said. The first new music anybody heard from Slipknot since 2008 was the first single from .5: The Gray Chapter in the form of The Negative One. It’s arguable whether or not this track is aimed at former drummer Jordison but, regardless, the sheer blood-lust here knows no bounds and pummels its way through as we near the very end. If Rain Is What You Want ends a formidable and commendable effort in rather macabre fashion as Taylor & co.effectively croon their way to the conclusion of a loving tribute of an album to their fallen ally. 

 Sarcastrophe, Lech and Nomadic stand out as tracks reminiscent of the group’s less refined and shocking style back in 2001 with the album IOWA - which is sweet bliss to the ears of old-fashioned fans with no room for melody in their metal diet of crunching riffs, unrelenting drums and coarse vocals. 

  Modern exploits like Killpop, The One That Kills The Least andGoodbye balance out proceedings and only add positives to the overall perception of the band and the music they so expertly create. 

  Venturella and the unnamed drummer could not have done a better job working to not only match but, dare I say it, surpass the performances of their predecessors. The Prepare for Hell tour which is set to headline Wembley Arena in January 2015, is currently progressing with a tremendous response from their global fan-base and the two new guys are impressing more and more with each mind-blowing show. Unsung heroes in the form of long-term percussionists Chis Fehn and Shaun ‘Clown’ Crahan coupled with keyboardist Craig Jones and aforementioned turntablist Sid Wilson really find their niche this time around and there is no doubt that the band only sounds the way it does because it has a full to bursting cast of 9 extraordinary musicians.

  Overall, the beast of modern music has returned with great aplomb and looks set to keep making waves across the world in the way only a critically acclaimed outfit such as Slipknot can. 

 9/10

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SINGLE: Slipknot - Custer

 The 3rd instalment on the way to Slipknot's long-awaited 5th album   '.5: The Gray Chapter' once again looks to take us back to IOWA and emphatically stomps home what would seem to be another classic 'Knot track. 

 The eerie primary sections of the verses are the only relenting parts of this song as a barrage of filth creates a wall of sound to each and every listener. Other than the aforementioned sections of the verses - everything else is just so gritty and 'fuck off!' it even surpasses The Negative One. 

 What I like the most about the song is the intro whereby members of the band are discussing the beat and then it just drops in - I don't know how to word it properly but it's absolutely fucking sick. 

  The key phrase 'Fuck fuck fuck me up and cut cut cut me up' further enforces the barbed force of what is an immense track. It is comforting to know Slipknot can still seamlessly balance melody like in Devil In I and go completely mental on tracks like this. 

  A one for die-hard Slipknot elitists but also one for us normal people as well - yet another step in the right direction. 

8/10

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MUSICAL REVIEW: Spring Awakening - Richings Players

@ Iver Village Hall (Buckinghamshire,UK) 

The power was immense. 

  I never expected when I stepped into the cosiness of a dark little hall to see such a collection of talented actors and actresses. The smash-hit rock musical itself centres around adolescent discovery in the oppressive setting of 19th Century Germany. Themes of rape, domestic abuse, abortion and suicide left it banned in a number of venues but on a Thursday evening in rainy Iver I was allowed to be taken away. 

  Real stand out performances go to the charismatic and highly believable portrayals of Melchior Gabor (Richard Campbell) and Moritz Stiefel (Andy Sonden). Whilst these two are 2 of the 3 main characters and one would expect the actors to excel- there is still something to be said concerning how convincing the performance is and the two gentlemen pulled it off with great aplomb. 

  Aside from a few hasty tunings and ride mishaps from the guitarist and drummer respectively the rock and roll interpretation was a stroke of sheer genius. As a play this would have lacked substance but as a musical the score brought me much closer to the emotion and the excitement of the best bits. However I'm not sure my mum was very happy with the 'totally fucked' number or the tune centred around masturbation, as brilliant as they may have been. 

  Only at the half-way intermission did I discover the true pot of gold for having come - the true power that I mentioned right at the start of this humble scribbling. A sneakily explosive can of Pepsi had undone the previous unstickiness of my sweet youthful hands and desperate times called for desperate measures. Sneaking away to the nearly vacant WC I glided towards the sink to rid myself of my grievous affliction. Happily enough the plight had been cleansed but this did unfortunately leave me with the task of drying my sodden hands. I saw no tissue dispenser in sight which left me with the damning and forced election to utilise the automated hand-dryer. Now my experience of village halls has never shocked me and I thought I knew what to expect; an unfriendly machine bolted to the wall, gently blowing decaying fumes onto my aforementioned wetness. 

  However, the magic only really started then. The Dyson Airblade instantly cleft my moistness in twine with a swift and efficient (very German) jet of blade-like air. Before then I had never seen the virtue behind rubbing one's hands together in order to instigate dryness (surely it just dissipates into a minor sogginess instead, hardly proactive), but the Airblade really allowed for this. As far as hand-dryers go, it is one of the best I have ever been subject to - just behind one at Winchester Motorway Services. In the midst of a tumultuous plot and an unnerving seat right next to the stage itself - I had never felt safer than in the arms of my wall-mounted companion. 

  Whilst the plot - at points - seemed a little empty; the Richings Players really excelled and it was well worth seeing... in spite of me missing the third and final instalment of Catwatch 2014 on BBC 2.

8/10

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SINGLE: Atreyu - So Others May Live

 I have waited a considerable amount of time for the riotous tones of Atreyu to return and I am intrigued to see how they do following the release of this new single.    

   There are wankers all over the metal community and it’s fair to say Atreyu have not garnered a consistent following. For me, they are the epitome of metalcore and what it used to be before it was dirtied and generalised by the likes of Pierce The Veil and Sleeping With Sirens. The sound they are so renowned for (sufficiently gritty but melodically capable) has finally resurfaced on this tribute to military servicemen and women - So Others May Live.

   In the prelude to the release, Atreyu had been rumoured to be setting their sites on a more basic approach similar to that of The Curse or A Death-Grip on Yesterday. Whilst I appreciated Leads Sails and a Paper Anchor for its groove-based orient and Congregation of the Damned for its anthemic and unrelenting heaviness - I feel this step back in time for them is largely to satisfy a wavering fan-base as well as themselves. The song itself does teeter on the border of being a tad ordinary but I am thankful it hasn’t fallen into the confines of the aforementioned marketable nonsense that modern metalcore has become. For those whom undoubtedly are thinking Atreyu are just another act I can assure you that true metal roots lie with the Californian outfit. For starters: this song has a guitar solo, the screaming is organic and there is a vaguely imaginative rhythm. 

  The introduction drops emphatically into a full-blooded and heavy groove - the kind we expect from Atreyu. Lead singer Alex Varkatzas’ scream has become higher as the years have gone on - but its lack of perfection almost adds a texture and requisite dirt that should be present in a song from the underworld of metal that is original metalcore. Guitarists Dan Jacobs and Travis Miguel and bassist Marc McKnight have not lost their touch since 2009’s Congregation of the Damned - and the impact of this song owes itself to the dark and consistently momentous rhythm and lead this song exhibits. 

  I was really impressed with Brandon Saller’s solo venture and work with Hell or Highwater and furthermore excited to see what he brought back to Atreyu. The verse lets him loose on a pacey and quintessentially Atreyu slant whilst the chorus allows his vocal capability to shine. When Saller sings I find it difficult not to sing along and collectively the band always find a way to make the choruses catchy time and time again. 

  If Atreyu are to do another album, they will have to chuck all kinds of ideas about as they need to stand out and be distinctly noticed and given the respect they actually deserve rather than being one of those bands that divides opinions. Everyone needs to show off but equally it really feels like the 5 of them have pulled together for this effort and I hope for more of the same in the future (but not too samey of course). They shouldn’t be afraid of creating rocky numbers (Blow turned out pretty good) and crowd-pleasing sounds: after all, it pleases the fucking crowd!

7/10

 Slightly Off Topic: I’m becoming entrenched in a war between elitism and the generic - right pissing stuck in no man’s land. On one side there are people living in the past clinging on to their denim Megadeth jackets and praying to Dimebag Darrell nightly and on the other side are the image-obsessed youth whom decided they quite like metal at the offset of 2014. We should be uniting against the common enemy; corporate music, rather than each other - but to be fair everyone who likes anything has an opinion even if it’s so often moronic.

We’re after music, not trends. 

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VIDEO GAME: Telltale Games' The Walking Dead Season 2

    Anyone who has ever played season 1 of this role-playing, decision based zombie drama will know that it's just incredible - but the age old dilemma rears its ugly head with regard to a sequel series. 

  I can safely say, that although it is probably more a story than a game - the first series was the absolute best thing I've ever done/seen/experienced. The game-play, as a concept, was utterly new to me but something I greatly enjoyed; too often in modern games the decisions we, as gamers, make don't have to worry about any real ramifications later on in the game - but with Telltale it's different. Following Lee and Clementine led me to question my own morals - I mean it's just a game - but it made me think. I felt like everything I did in that game made a difference, and having played it at least twice, I worked out that the tiniest line in an insignificant scene could change the whole game and the feeling of responsibility over a bloody game I had was... well, it was intense.

  Now how does one better a game that moved me to tears and poked holes in my perception of the fabric of human nature? How? Some might say that it's best to let it lie and go out on a high note - and not to have a go at a second series. Jaws 2 was shite, 28 weeks later was only so so and don't even start on Ghostbusters 2 - but I would do anything for more Clem - even without my beloved Lee. That's why I looked forward to this second series - I will always have space for Clem, as will any right-minded human being.  

  So, the second series? Clem's a couple years older and basically stranded - having lost Omid and Christa  in S2:E1, she's left to fend for herself - until she finds a new group (of course) and from there the adventure continues into a bitterly cold north. I don't want to ruin anything so I won't go into expletive detail but that's the long and short of it. 

   Clem is the player-controlled character in this series and by the end I almost forgot that I'd played as anyone other than Clem herself before. Tell you what, fuck it, there needs to be spoilers. I'm sorry. A key focal point throughout this series is Clem's allegiances: sensibility vs passion, old vs new, loyalty vs life. When Clem and her new group travel to the Ski lodge, an older, bearded and impossible face arises from beyond the grave. My dawg Kenny is back and better than ever. Kenny suffers an awful lot more shit than he did in the first series and it takes its toll on his mental health, basically - he's a fucking nut. I really love Kenny, but throughout the series he becomes more and more reckless and dangerous and it's up to the player to decide which path to take. 

   As a consequence of being Clem, one can't really do much wrong - whereas in the first season if one decides not to help Kenny kill Lily's arsehole father with the salt-lick then Lee's relationship with Kenny only gets worse really. I think some of the depth is lost in the second series as the cast is torn apart and reassembled (as is the nature of apocalyptic survival) fairly often. There's an awful lot to focus on really, but that's not really a bad thing. Unfortunately, with the first series being so triumphant - it's hard to build up an emotional centre to this second series since we became so invested in Lee. What's worth noting also now is that Clem is older and more mature and the responsibility we have and choices we can make as Clem not only distance us from an emotional orbit amongst the characters, they also devalue her youth. Clem isn't a poor little girl whom the main protagonist needs to save any more; she is the protagonist, and this is effectively horror. The protagonist needs to be not only as hard as it gets, but capable of powerful and frightening actions.

  However, that's not to say the series is devoid of emotion. Of course it pissing isn't. It's set at a much faster pace than the first series and the tension is omnipresent. This series in reality is much darker - an awful lot darker; it needs to be to attract the audience it does. This couldn't just be a second series, it needed to develop the story and change its drive. No longer is it about finding salvation, it's about staying alive.               It's human. 

  Unfortunately, the AMC television series fails to grasp this concept and instead of creating intuitive plots with varying focuses and interesting concepts (like Telltale does) - it has cold-case open-shut series and even episodes. Modern storytelling is not about a beginning, middle and end: it's about progression of events and the impact onto further works.

  The whole bildungsroman is begging for a third series. Perhaps I am not as impressionable as I once was and I know that nothing will ever beat the first series - but I am not reeling in the wake of the ending. It was tough, but it hasn't left a lasting impression. Clem should be considerably older in the next set of episodes and I'm interested to see where the producers go with it. I can only imagine, like all brilliant stories, she should die in the end. I can only pray it doesn't go past a third series - this is a plea to telltale - don't kill it like the TV series. Let it have its final bow and let Clem go out on the right note: not necessarily a high note - but it is integral that it is the right one.

  I am very happy with the second series and the way it has been structured, the consideration I took with each decision was much more educated and yet much more raw than those in the first series - the only real lapse in it would be that I know Clem can't die. I don't want her to die and I'm not suggesting she should but the best thing about the first series was protecting Clem. I felt a little lost regarding what my motives were for the second series, but I understand that can't really be remedied. In many ways it forced me to deal my own hand for me and what I thought was right, not that which would be beneficial solely or principally for Clementine's safety.

  The ending lacked suspense but it certainly paves the way for an interesting - but at the moment thoroughly obscured - path for us to follow as we head deeper into a post-apocalyptic maze of death, survival and morality.   

8/10