Rxyzyxr - LMNTS (2012)

Band: Rxyzyxr
Country: Worldwide
Style: Djent/Tech Metal
Label: Independent

With what is possibly one of the most ridiculous band names I have ever seen, I entered into this group with caution. I've been aware of the existence of these guys for a few years now because they released an instrumental EP back in 2010 and have sort of kept them on the periphery since then. Now they have a full-length after gaining a vocalist in the last year, so I decided to see if any progress was made.
I honestly wasn't expecting this album, I just so happened to stumble upon it and remembered the band, but my interest in seeing what the band would do on here drew me in. I remember when they posted the video for the first song they had vocals on and I was mildly impressed at that point because, even though the music was all well and good, and the vocals were well done, the thing that was off-putting at that point was how the two didn't really sound mixed together all that well. So when I pressed play for the first time on here, my biggest question was if the mix of the two would be accomplished on here. I'm happy to say that the two are certainly blended together and fit as a single piece. Unfortunately, with that kind of bringing my hopes up, they soon gave way to disappointment again. Maybe it was that vocal mix problem had prevented me from really noticing it when I first watched that video they posted, or maybe I just didn't care at the time, but this is not a diverse album. Musically, it's hard for me to even say I was impressed by this.
This is essentially the stereotypical djent sounding record. It's pretty much a band taking as many cues from Meshuggah and some of the other groups in the sub-genre as possible without really adding anything original to them. A great majority of this album is low-end, 8-string grooves and chugging. Yes, there are some more melodic sections used here and there, and there are some more tech metal ideas used as well, and even some cleaner, jazzy sections but it's not like those brought anything to the table that I haven't heard done better before by someone else. It sort of just sounds like they took Meshuggah and decided to throw in some Animals As Leaders inspired parts just to spice their grooves up. Do they succeed? In a way, I'll say yes because those cleaner moments are certainly well done, but when none of the grooves are particularly memorable or all that interesting, it's hard to say that a part that's well done doesn't make things at least partially more interesting. I felt that pretty much the entire first half of this album was bland, uninteresting, and featured some really boring songwriting. It wasn't until track seven, Polar Knights, that I felt even remotely engaged by what the band were doing; and I shouldn't have to say that that's a big problem.
I do have to give it to the vocalist though because despite being given some pretty uninspiring material, he at least tries to do something with it. The reason I didn't check out this group's first EP was because it was instrumental, and even at that point I realized that a band who are basically just trying to rip-off Meshuggah are quite dull. Why would I want to listen to a lesser instrumental version of Meshuggah when I have the real thing I already regularly enjoy? I was really curious to hear if the band would have moved on and tried to do anything that sounded even remotely unique on here, and the answer to that is, not really. There are those very small glimpses of originality that shine through, especially through the vocals (because this guy is clearly very talented, though maybe still a bit polarizing due to his clean voice), but there was nowhere near enough to maintain any interest. Tracks like Locked Inside and The Things show real promise and are actually pretty solidly written songs, but when your best and most interesting sounding tracks come up in the last third of your album, you do have a problem.
Personally, I was left quite disappointed by this album. There are several problems that plague this album, but based on a few select tracks on here I do have hope that this band can evolve into something interesting in the future. If you dig djent, check this out, but otherwise I doubt you'll get very much from this.
Overall Score: 6.5
Highlights: Denial of Death, Locked Inside, Nonzero

The HAARP Machine - Disclosure (2012)

Band: The HAARP Machine
Country: London, UK
Style: Progressive Death Metal
Label: Sumerian

I first found out about The HAARP Machine something like three years ago through a friend of mine (the same one who introduced me to Periphery) back when these guys only a one track up on their Myspace page. Obviously, a lot has happened since then, writing more songs, getting signed, losing some members, gaining some new ones, the usual. But now their first album has come out with quite a bit of hype behind it.
I think the first song they posted was The Escapist Notion and to be honest, while I thought the musicianship was really great, the vocals were just sort of average and didn't really do anything for me at the time. I remember reading things here and there saying about how far the album had progressed, how they had gotten signed to Sumerian, and all the typical press stuff leading up to an album's release but it wasn't til I heard that Michael Semesky had joined the band and they released Pleiadian Keys that I really became interested in the album. That track was very different from what I remembered the band being because it was far more melodic and atmospheric and exuded this personality that I don't think I could compare to another group. Thanks to guitarist Al Mu’min's use of sitar and koto all over this record, and a special use of koto at the end of Lower The Populace in particular, as well as additional hand percussion from Alex Rüdinger, the band have a very Arabian vibe going on that definitely stands out from what other bands are doing, let alone other bands on their label.
With that being said, this is not a perfect album. Personally, I found the first two songs to be the weakest on the entire album, but for completely different reasons. I felt like opener Esoteric Agenda was great but I couldn't help but feel like the song was cut short and could have gone on for another few minutes, Lower The Populace on the other hand felt like it just a bunch of ideas thrown together and it didn't really lead anywhere, they were enjoyable ideas, but only ideas. The remaining six tracks do pick up the pace though, showing the band including more melody and groove into their songs while maintain the same high-energy use of technicality. Which leads me to my next point, despite how technical a lot of the guitar parts on here are, Mu'min never appears to jump off into sheer wankery, which is something that plagues many bands attempting similar styles. Several of the more frenetic riffs he plays throughout the album actually wind up being some of the most creative riffs I've heard all year. Personally, there are a lot of great moments throughout the album, but possibly one of my favorite parts on the entire album came at the end of From Vanity to Utility where the band introduced a piano section before closing the track out with one of the more melody driven guitar lines on the entire album (which actually reminded me quite a bit of Dream Theater). While that part is very isolated, I would have loved to have heard the band do more with ideas like that on here, as well as expand on many of the ethnic ideas they use to introduce and close tracks. With the exception of the closer, Machine Over, the majority of tracks on here are very concise and compact, fitting ideas into quick three or four minute bursts.
Despite not knowing exactly how this album was going to turn out, I was really quite enchanted with this end product. The album is quite short (just under thirty-four minutes) and I really wish there was more material, or longer songs, on here. Regardless, this is a very promising start for this young band and I look forward to hear what they do in the future.
Overall Score: 8.5
Highlights: Pleiadian Keys, Disclosure, Extension to One

Klone - The Dreamer's Hideaway (2012)

Band: Klone
Country: Poitiers, France
Style: Alternative/Progressive Metal
Label: Klonosphère

Back when I was going through France's metal scene (about the same time when I first started getting into Gojira) I found a bunch of groups in their relative circle, one of those groups was Klone. Since hearing their 2008 album All Seeing Eye I have been interested in their progression as a group. I wasn't even aware that this album was in the working until after it had already been released, but I was very excited to see what the band were going to do.
I remember reviewing 2010's Black Days album and being really impressed with the development the band had made. They had really embraced the Tool influence that on previous releases was only occasionally referenced to and took on a less aggressive approach towards songwriting. But my main problem with that album was the fact that it was very inconsistent, it started off really strongly but didn't maintain that quality throughout. So, coming into this album, I sort of expected that the band would probably continue in the same sonic vein as that album, but was more curious to hear if they would up the ante in regards to the songwriting. As I soon found out, that was exactly the right state of mind to come into this with, because it's pretty much exactly what the band themselves have apparently done on here. It's certainly not recalling their more thrash background and continues to travel further down that sludgy alternative one where groups like the aforementioned Tool, Mastodon, and Intronaut reign supreme.
Consistency is the strength of this record. Unlike Black Days where the band had found their sound and decided to tinker around with it, as if they were perhaps a bit unsure where to really go with it, this album simply delivers a batch of songs that are all in the same general vicinity of each other stylistically. Yes, there's that smooth sax solo on the title-track, the industrial touches on Siren's Song, or the more traditional prog structure that pops up on Walking On Clouds, but the degree to which one track differs from the next is much less common. I'd also say that the group's songwriting in general has gotten better as well. Personally, I think that the experimentation on the previous album had hindered their songwriting and on here, consistency has bred a stronger and more memorable batch of songs. It's also strangely alternative for how heavy some of the riffs are. There isn't a whole lot of mellow parts on here but in almost every track, when the main riff hits, it hits pretty damn hard. The last four tracks on here are really some of the strongest material the group has ever put out, seamlessly blending groove metal aggression with more progressive melodies and soaring choruses.
I was thoroughly impressed with the album as it does channel a nice blend of influences that aren't often blended together in a way that maintains its metallic edge while still being readily appealing for a mainstream audience. It's still far from a masterpiece, but it is an improvement and the band's crowning achievement thus far. If you like more melodic or alternative forms of progressive metal, this is the sort of release that might interest you.
Overall Score: 8
Highlights: Corridors, Walking On Clouds, A Finger Snaps

Eryn Non Dae. - Meliora (2012)

Band: Eryn Non Dae.
Country: Launaguet, France
Style: Progressive Groove Metal
Label: M&O Music

Not that it was all that big a deal but I remember being surprised when back in 2009 Metal Blade records released Hydra Lernaia. I figure a lot of people probably didn't pay that much attention to it, but to me it sort of stuck me as odd that Metal Blade was signing a band like Eryn Non Dae. It seemed to me like they were trying to find their own Meshuggah or something, but now the band are on another label with a new album and it doesn't bother me.
To be completely honest, I was never completely sold on what exactly Eryn Non Dae. was trying to accomplish musically. Their sound basically took the fundamentals of groove metal and post-metal and tried to do something interesting with them, which is something I'm all for, but from what I wound up hearing on Hydra Lernaia didn't completely sell me the idea. It's like the band had a sound in their heads and were working to try and achieve that sound, but it only came together in spots. There was also the matter about the more ambient sections that were not only tedious, but rather inconsequential on their last album. I remember reading several comments about the record where people were basically saying that they were just skipping over those sections so they could get back to hearing the actual songs. So right from the offset of this album, it is clear that the band have gotten much better at fusing those ideas together into something which is more cohesive and natural sounding. Songs flow from mid-paced grooves to more experimental ambiances with ease, appearing to showcase a stronger post-rock/metal sense of dynamics on here than previous speculation would have led me to believe.
I was aware pretty early on, before I had even listened to the album, that this was structured for every song to flow into the next like a continuous song. The band sort of did that on their last album, which, as I mentioned before, was sort of a mixed bag in the end, but on here it really did work out for the better. I don't know if maybe I just got more into the grooves or whatever but even the longer tracks like The Great Downfall or Black Obsidian Pyre which relied heavily on long builds, I was able to listen to without getting even remotely bored. It also worked in the context that while those longer tracks were less intense and did focus more on reaching that eventual climax, the shorter tracks were just explosions of energy for the most part.
Personally, for all the dynamics and interesting structures happening on here, what stuck out to me, even after numerous listens, was the bass. It's very nice and thick sounding, but very clear in the mix. I actually don't think there was a time (during the metal sections) where I couldn't hear the bass, and that was great. It moved between being more of a foundational sort of instrument to one that felt a lot more expressive and powerful. When it comes to the part that I found the most irksome however, it lied in the sound of the vocals. Personally, I thought that they sounded strained at times, like the guy's throat was going out. That's just the guys style, and my taste doesn't really draw me towards that kind of style of growling, but it does grow on you after a while.
It's a solid step for the band and is clearly something that a lot of time and effort went into. There are some really strong moments that I did not expect from this band and that has me excited to hear even more from them in the future. If you happen to dig more groove based metal bands, from nu metal to post-metal to djent, I think you'll really dig at least some part of this record, so definitely check it out.
Overall Score: 8
Highlights: The Great Downfall, Ignitus, Hidden Lotus

Soundgarden - King Animal (2012)

Band: Soundgarden
Country: Seattle, Washington
Style: Alternative Rock/Hard Rock
Label: Mercury/Seven Four

I'll be honest and say that I've never been particularly fond of the semi-metal groups that came out in the grunge era. Alice In Chains were a cool band and I put Soundgarden on a similar level of, I like them, but they're not a band I listen to a whole lot. When I happened to stumble upon this new album, I just sort of thought that I'd give it a listen and see what it'd sound like.
Pretty much as soon as opener Been Away Too Long began I was sold on this album. If you had asked me what expectations I had for this album coming in, I guess I would have told you that I would have liked to have heard a handful of good songs, since this thing is thirteen tracks long, but much to my surprise this thing was like hit after hit. It's been one of the few times this year that every single song has stuck with me after the album has finished, and that's saying something since I wouldn't even consider myself a big Soundgarden fan. This album is also an album that has a very strong foundation from the blues, and as much as I love a good old-school doom or the occasional stoner record, I don't listen to a whole lot of blues, but this album took all the great ideas from it without making it sound cliché or boring. I think that what's great about this record is that it's the sort of record that I think even a fan of modern radio rock and metal could get into despite not being all that heavy or aggressive. It's certainly calling back to more of an old-school style of hard rock, but has that modern sheen that makes it accessible to that wider audience. I think it's sort of a brave thing for the band to decide to take this route after bringing the heavy back on their Live to Rise single for The Avengers movie, they decided to take things back to a more old-school rock kind of vibe where it's all about songwriting over heaviness. I've always thought Chris Cornell had a good voice, but he really sounds in his element on here. I know that his adventure into pop on his last solo record, 2009's Scream, wasn't exactly a success, but if that record was necessary for him to eventually make this record, I can certainly live with that. I can't think of a single person that wouldn't accept a flop if it wound up leading to a great album like this one.
In addition to all of that, the band know how to make each song stand apart from others in tone. There's just something on every song that makes it feel fresh and interesting even though these are very simple songs that don't divert from the pop structure. There's a clear distinction between pretty much every song on here, from the doomy Blood On The Valley Floor to the highway swagger of Attrition and the uplifting acoustic rock that is Halfway There. There's also some interesting additional instrumentation on some songs as well which sort of caught me off guard, like what sounds like some hand percussion on Non-State Actor or the horns and sitar drone on A Thousand Days Before or Black Saturday. They're not huge, and I can't say that I even noticed them on my first listen, but they just add that little extra something to those songs that it would seem silly to say they're irrelevant. Of course now that I've brought them up, everyone reading this will try and pick those things out, but I think it's important to not try and find those things consciously, because then you're distracting yourself from the power of the song itself, and there are plenty of songs on here that are written from a rock band only kind of vibe, where it's just the four main guys playing the song with nothing else added in, and those work just as well as the tracks with the more subtle elements. It's almost strange for me to say that an album from Soundgarden has turned into one of the best releases I've heard all year, but in the end that's really all I could say about this.
In the end this wound up being not only one of the biggest surprises for me this year, but is also turning into one of my favorites. There just isn't a weak song on here in my opinion. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who likes rock or metal with good songwriting, or if you're into more experimental and heavy stuff, maybe this'll just act as a change of pace for you. A must for this year.
Overall Score: 9.5
Highlights: Every Track Is A Highlight

Deftones - Koi No Yokan (2012)

Band: Deftones
Country: Sacramento, California
Style: Alternative Metal
Label: Reprise

There wasn't any way I was going to miss this album. Since practically having a rebirth of popularity with the release of 2010's Diamond Eyes, the band has just blown up, and with good reason. This was easily one of my most anticipated releases of this year, did it live up to expectations or was it another disappointment?
After the success of Diamond Eyes, it's great to hear the Deftones continue on a similar path with just as much energy and passion as ever. For a while it did sort of seem like they were more interested in experimentation than writing good songs, but they really came back to it, though it unfortunately involved bassist Chi Cheng falling into a coma in the process. But, if you were like me and thought their last album was one of the best things they've done in years, then you'll like this one just as much. The band honestly hasn't shifted too much from the sound of that album but has actually modified it just enough to make it feel like a different record. From my point of view, this is a heavier record, but it has a lot more dynamics than the band has showcased in a while. Previously, the band has had songs that were heavy or songs that were mellow, but on here it feels more like a fluid balance between the two. Sure, tracks like the fantastic Entombed or closer What Happened to You? do stick to a more atmospheric and reserved approach, but the majority of the album does make a lot of use of the power from the 8-string Stephen Carpenter wields. A song like Romantic Dreams really does a nice job taking both the dreamy ambiance and the low-end heaviness of the band and carving out a nice middle ground. Though Chino Moreno does make use of far less throat screeches than he did on Diamond Eyes, his performance on tracks like Leathers and Gauze showcase some of his darkest melodies to date - even though the former does actually make use of some screams.
For me, despite being a heavier record than even Diamond Eyes, the record, I felt, was less accessible. Personally, it wasn't as immediate of an attach to this record as it was to the last one. I don't mean that the album is not catchy or anything like that, but it did take another listen or two (so around my second and third listens through the entire thing) for me to really get into some of these songs, and now those are the songs that I come back to. Obviously, this was just my experience though and I have read several other comments and reviews where people have latched onto it very quickly, if not on the first listen. From those very same comments and reviews, I've read sentiments that rang true with me after I had finally listened to the album that this was among the group's best material. Then, there was just the aspect to where I felt more connected to some of the songs on here than I have towards any other song the band has put out.
As much as I love how every member of the band really supports each other and it's never been about having one guy be the spotlight, I think that the real star of this album is Frank Delgado. His synth work on here is top-notch and I think that he's the reason why this album feels so cohesive at balancing heaviness with ambiance and mood. I found his role on the last record to be a bit more minimal, but on here he really shines and he brings out some really amazing textures in these songs. His work on the aforementioned Gauze is just as important as Stephen's guitar riffs. Even more minimal additions to some of the tracks on here seem to feel even more important to the majority of songs on several previous albums.
Once again, I think the Deftones have crafted and released another stellar piece of music that easily ranks among their best work. Perhaps it won't leave the impact that their last record did, but you'd be a fool to not at least consider this a worthy follow-up. If you have yet to listen to the band, this would be a great place to start, but you definitely don't want to miss out on this album.
Overall Score: 9.5
Highlights: Every Song Is A Highlight

Stone Sour - House of Gold & Bones: Part 1 (2012)

Band: Stone Sour
Country: Des Moines, Iowa
Style: Alternative Metal/Post-Grunge
Label: Roadrunner

To me, Stone Sour is just one of those bands that I'll listen to every once in awhile when I want to hear something catchy and, to me, poppy. Over the years, I had sort of grown bored with Slipknot and had moved on to other, far more experimental and extreme forms of music, but I still maintained an interest in Stone Sour because they wrote solid songs. As always, Stone Sour write eclectic albums so it's hard to assume what it'll sound like but the only thing I wanted when I came into this was that it needed to be better than 2010's Audio Secrecy.
When I listen to Stone Sour, I don't come in expecting something profound or extremely interesting, but I return to them because they know how to write songs that are pretty varied stylistically while containing them to pretty short lengths. They're pop songs, essentially. Now, speaking as someone who has listened to quite a bit of mainstream alternative rock in my time (this was back before I was into a vast majority of what I listen to now) I've thought, and continue to think, that the band's 2006 album Come What (Ever) May is one of the best mainstream rock albums I've ever heard. That album came with a lot of passionate lyrics and vocals and a wide range of musical styles from semi-thrash to alternative rock and power ballads, but it worked as a cohesive album. But as I said above, aside from a few choice songs, I did feel like Audio Secrecy was a disappointment. It was overly produced and felt like the band were spreading themselves a bit too thin, trying to cover too many bases at once and wound up doing very few of them justice. It didn't have any of the power or darkness from the debut or the songwriting chops of Come What (Ever) May and felt more like a straight-up pop rock album in more cases than I would like. Whether the band had learned anything from their experiences with that album, this album is a return to the heavier side of their sound and focuses less on polish and perfection.
As someone who comes to Stone Sour simply for songs that are dark, big, and catchy, I couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed by this album. In terms of the songwriting, this is leagues above what was showcased on their last full-length, and the sound is closer to what they had on their self-titled album than either previous album was, but it just doesn't quite accomplish what I wanted to hear. Though there are multiple tracks from the self-titled album that I return to from time to time, I don't really come to Stone Sour for their metal side, which happens to dominate the majority of this album. I do like the heaviness presented, but the hooks just don't reach out and grab me either like those early songs or like their more pop influenced tracks. Songs like Absolute Zero and Last of The Real are certainly well written songs but they just didn't stick with me like I would have liked them to. Though I certainly have to give it to the band for at least trying to craft an album that is heavier and darker than I'd say 90% of their peers are doing. David Bottrill production on here is stellar, with every instrument coming across as clear and powerful, the guitar tone is worthy of note for being so chunky and thick sounding for a record as mainstream as this one is. Corey Taylor's vocals also come across as sounding as impassioned as ever, with his screaming and growling on RU486 coming across like he's spitting it in your face. So, if nothing else, the production job on here is really well done.
It will be interesting to see what the second part of this album will demonstrate, but for this album, it is just sort of there for me. Sometimes I just need to listen to something where the hook is the most powerful part of a song and doesn't require a whole lot of effort to enjoy, and that's sort of what this record is for me. It's solid and if you aren't that into the more experimental or underground side of metal than this is certainly worth checking out.
Overall Score: 7
Highlights: Tired, Taciturn, Influence of A Drowsy God