Plug&Play - Reisefieber EP (2013)

Band: Play&Play
Country: Lublin, Ukraine
Style: Post-Punk/Indie Pop
Label: Too Many Fireworks

I was sent an email by Too Many Fireworks asking me to give this new EP a listen and maybe give it a word or two on here. Obviously, and I'm pretty sure I say this on nearly every review of this sort, I don't usually cover pop based albums. So why am I even covering this?
For one reason or another I decided to give this little EP a shot (you will notice that I won't be talking about either of the radio edits that are tacked onto the end of this release), I had some time to kill and it fit that time slot. I was actually pleasantly surprised by what I got on here. Yes, the band have a very up-beat, indie pop, at times almost indie electronica, sound but they definitely have that post-punk and new wave vibe in there as well. The throbbing basslines that propel most of these songs clearly have a lineage to that style of 80s music. In addition to that, these songs are just downright catchy. Unlike a lot of what I've been told and heard is indie rock today, these songs aren't obnoxiously drowned in their pop sensibilities. This band clearly has a foot in both modern indie rock but the other is, as I said, in 80s post-punk and new wave music, which I think does make it more interesting that an indie rock band that claims to be "indie" when it's really just badly recorded pop rock. This band knows what it is, it's pop music that just so happens to be more interesting. The fact that the band manage to throw in a saxophone solo on two of the tracks on here also manages to help their case as well. Hopefully that makes some sort of sense.
Despite my apprehension to listening to this EP at first, it is actually really fun and catchy. It's definitely fitting to the summer mood it is here where I live. If you're not particularly interested in more poppy music, this probably won't do anything for you, but if you want something different to spice up your life, give this one a shot.
Overall Score: 7
Highlights: Cities I'll Never Go To, Brand New Day

Polkadot Cadaver - Last Call In Jonestown (2013)

Band: Polkadot Cadaver
Country: Rockville, Maryland
Style: Alternative/Avant-Garde Metal
Label: Razor to Wrist

As many(?) probably know, I'm a huge Mike Patton fan and of his various projects. It should come as no surprise then that I also have a soft spot for experimental and avant-garde based metal groups like Polkadot Cadaver. Though in my mind they haven't been quite as unique as some of the member's previous group Dog Fashion Disco, I always try to make a point to listen to their stuff.
I know it isn't exactly the nicest of things to start a review off with but in my mind, while Dog Fashion Disco was a pretty solid and interesting band that wanted to be Mr. Bungle, Polkadot Cadaver is trying to be Mr. Bungle and not doing it as well as DFD. There's no doubt in my mind that the men writing this music are talented and skilled at writing in various styles, but where their previous band managed to take the Mr. Bungle and Faith No More approach to being stylistically diverse, Polkadot Cadaver just settles for being sort of quirky and fun. Not a problem, but I just needed to state my case before progressing. Since I started negative I'll continue on with it before getting into the positive. While the last point was simply my view on how I see this band, in regards to this album, I feel like some of these songs are just rather lazily written. Maybe it's just me, but I felt like I could write songs with better hooks than those on Phantasmagoria or Sheer Madness. They're not bad songs, but I found the hooks to be really dumb and lazy sounding in comparison to some of the better moments on this album. When this band hits a good hook they can make it soar, but for the most part they're either ok or really lame.
For the good parts, I still think that Todd Smith has a great voice and varied range which allows him to come across as fresh and interesting on all of these songs, even if the melodies he's singing are rather lame. Musically, the band are in a similar boat. Though the band have decided to take a more aggressive and metallic approach than DFD, they use electronica to their advantage to spice up some otherwise typical metal tracks and make appropriate applications of jazz and funk influences on certain tracks as well. While I do think that the band rely a bit too much on the electronic effects on some tracks to the extent that it could come across as an entirely electronic group with a vocalist, they do benefit from having a schizophrenic nature to their songwriting where it doesn't become a huge problem. This perhaps isn't as spastic or varied as a lot of other bands who are tagged as "avant-garde" but it is certainly one of the more accessible to the average metal fan. The entire record maintains a pretty metallic level of aggression throughout which makes it pretty easy to get a handle on, it almost never gets too abstract sounding, though it can certainly still get quite quirky. Plus, where else are you going to hear Neil Fallon go bat-shit crazy on a metal song as he does on Transistors of Mercy? He would pretty much steal the show on here if it wasn't for some earlier highlights like the ones listed below.
Overall, this turned out to be a pretty solid album, though not quite as spectacular as I would have liked it to have been. There's some really catchy songs on here, but also a few that are annoying and just plain bad - just skip over those. But if you're looking for a metal band that is quirky but still aggressive enough to get your attention give this album a whirl. If you're more of an experimental fan, you probably already know this band and so you've probably already heard it.
Overall Score: 8
Highlights: Touch You Like Caligula, Impure Thoughts, Transistors of Mercy

Gyre - Second Circle EP (2013)

Band: Gyre
Country: New York/New Jersey
Style: Progressive Death/Deathcore
Label: Monolithic

I usually don't pay much attention to press releases, either from PR companies, usually because they're paid to hype a band, or from the band, because obviously they're going to hype themselves, but when I got an email from Gyre it did catch my eye. I know the term "post-death metal" (is it even a term?) is still rather new but it was interesting to hear a band call themselves that. It's not much but that was enough to grab my attention and give this release a try.
Before being sent this album I had never heard a band actually label themselves (either by the band members or by a press company) as "post-death metal", that was just some made-up genre that I've referenced after reading about it on another review site maybe a year or so back. So from my understanding of the bands that were in that "sub-genre" Gyre would sound more akin to groups like Ulcerate or Mitochondrion but that is not what they sound like at all. In fact while I will say that compared to most bands that have as "modern" a sound as these guys do, at least on here the band does give more attention to atmosphere than one might expect. I have to confess that I was rather disappointed when All Revealing Eye turned out to be little more than a more technical sounding deathcore song and it didn't bring any of the attention to interesting structures or density that I would associate with the groups mentioned above, though things only improved after that track. The following three tracks did show significant improvement with Ever Devourer simply being a better written track and Circle to Feed and I Receiving All bringing, what sounds to me, more of a Deftones-esque sort of influence into the picture. Also, it's impossible to listen to the syncopation taking place in these songs and not call out the Meshuggah influence, which, is something that is clearly well done I think is something that I would like to hear this band get away from in the future. There are moments on here where they do deviate from that and I think it would bring a bit more character to their songwriting if it wasn't so precise sounding and was a little bit more creative on the drumming front, but that's just me.
This clearly won't be for everyone, because it doesn't fit squarely into toughguy deathcore/brocore chugging and breakdowns but it also it's as atmospheric or dense as the press release led me to believe, instead falling more into the technical/progressive area - which isn't a bad thing. This certainly isn't a bad release, as the last three songs definitely show promise, but I guess I would advise those who get press releases to not take them as seriously. But this band has talent and if you're interested in more interesting deathcore/death metal groups give this one a try.
Overall Score: 7
Highlights: Circle to Feed

The Amenta - Flesh Is Heir (2013)

Band: The Amenta
Country: Sydney, Australia
Style: Industrial Black/Death Metal
Label: Listenable

The Amenta is a group who I have been following for quite some time now. Ever since their first album their sound has been one that I find really grabbing and appealing while remaining extreme and rather inaccessible. This being the first album of theirs I've been able to cover, hopefully a few people might find this worth while.
Starting things off, one has to address how The Amenta have managed to stay relevant (at least in my eyes) in a world where extremity is pushed in every which direction. Groove turns into djent, death metal must be faster and even more brutal, black metal turns to noise and raw/no production to make it more grim than even most 90s bands, and that's just a few mentions. The Amenta take those three aspects, groove, death metal, and black metal and fuse them with the always present industrial edge they've had since the beginning and make it even more chaotic sounding than ever. In my mind, if Fear Factory is the mainstream face of industrial metal, with soaring choruses and punchy and clean production and The Berzerker is the underground asshole (and by no means do I mean that in a bad way) of the genre with a much more chaotic and grindcore sound, than The Amenta is the middle ground between them sonically. They retain the aggression and harshness of the latter band while retaining the songwriting of the former. Which is perhaps the reason why I think I've stayed with the band since first hearing their debut album, Occasus, something like six or so years ago.
In my opinion, the band's songwriting has reached a new high with the addition of Cain Cressall on vocals. I find that his vocals fit the band's sound much more than their previous vocalists did. When he growls and screams, it feels like it's coming straight from the pit of his stomach and it feels like he is literally foaming at the mouth with rage or anger or whatever. It might just be the production, but his vocals just pop in a way that very few do. It's very hard, nowadays, to make a screamed or growled vocal style sound passionate, most just do it because it fits the genre they're performing while some do it just to fit into being a part of a scene (deathcore/metalcore/djent/etc.) but Cressall sounds like he is literally putting his entire being into his performance, and it really pays off.
Musically, the band have always been intense but on this album, they're really pulling out all the stops. They've always been aggressive, there's no doubt that they can pull that stuff off with ease at this point, but there are some more spacious and open sections in a song like Obliterate's Prayer where it sounds like they're trying to push their sound into a slightly more atmospheric realm. It also sounds as though Cressall is using some "cleaner" vocals, and while I don't think the band going into a style like Fear Factory would be the best move, the sound they appear to be going for on here makes me think that them attempting a more atmospheric, perhaps doomy, song with clean vocals is something they could do well. The middle of the album also shows a bit more of a DSO kind of vibe by channeling some more of those dissonant guitar riffs (of which I am so fond of). Granted these songs, Sewer and The Argument definitely channel just as much death metal as the more chaotic black metal of DSO, but it's just awesome to hear the two put together in such a way that it makes you feel the anger and emotion coming from the performers.
While it certainly isn't the sort of style that will be for everyone, I've always enjoyed the outright brutality that these guys deliver on their albums. If you want to hear an industrial band that really knows how to pull that style off while retaining the extremity of the more underground metal genres, I don't see how you can ignore this band. It's an album I'm always excited to turn on and hopefully you'll dig it just as much as me!
Score: 9
Highlights: Ego Ergo Sum, Obliterate's Prayer, Sewer

Queen Elephantine - Scarab (2013)

Band: Queen Elephantine
Country: Providence/New York/Hong Kong
Style: Psychedelic Rock/Drone
Label: Heart & Crossbone/Cosmic Eye

Queen Elephantine was a new group to me when I was first emailed about covering this album. I don't even think I was asked to cover the album but the name intrigued me enough to check the band out. Based on the name of the band I was actually quite surprised by what they actually sounded like.
Based on the way the press release stated it, when I first looked at and toyed with the idea of actually covering this album, I assumed it was more of a drone album. The term psychedelic rock I had seen on a few sites but unfortunately I have heard several bands called that when they were also called drone and it didn't turn out all that well. The repetitive nature that psyche-rock can have (obviously some bands dial that aspect up more than others do) can really make a band, song, or album if it's done right. While I'm not saying that I, or anyone else, should just seek out fusions of the two genres, I have heard a decent amount of groups who pretty much cycle through a single idea throughout the course of an entire song or who happen to have a drone of some sort playing atop rather clumsily played instruments. That's not what this band do.
Instead of that bland style, I would liken this closer to a group like Horseback, more in the sense that they have a similar aesthetic towards riffs than actual style. In this instance, both bands make use of very cyclical riffs that sort of take you round and round while listening to a hypnotic effect. But that's about it in terms of similarities. I would say this is a little bit heavier, has a bit more bite in terms of "metal" aesthetics, with several ideas coming straight out of the doom (and at times funeral doom) handbook. While the guitars never truly jump out and go for that typical doom metal sound (or even riffs) it's the low, fuzzy bass that keeps things heavy here. It hits hard and it grooves. The use of two drumsets obviously would help in terms of creating a groove and repeating it ad nauseum, though to be honest I was far more intrigued with the group's use of additional percussion (tanpura) and effects through instruments like slide guitar and what sounds like a sitar. They really help create that ritualistic mood the band seem so desperate to cram down your throats. Don't misunderstand me though, it's done very well but it just feels like at times like the band is trying too hard to make these songs sound like they were done in some far away temple where they (or someone else) was trying to summon some long forgotten deity or something.
In another review I read online, the writer compared these guys to Om, and it'd be foolish not to at least acknowledge that there is a similarity between the two groups as well. Though I was never all that fond of the albums that Om created, I respected them for the type of approach they had towards creating their brand of doom metal. Not that I don't respect what Queen Elephantine is doing but like I said, it feels like they're trying a little too hard and it doesn't come off quite as natural and authentic as what Om does.
It's certainly not bad as that last statement may have made you think, but I won't say it's great either. It's a solid piece of work with some very cool ideas and interesting use of instrumentation, but it just isn't particularly memorable. If you're interested in more ritualistic and monotonous (in a good way) music than definitely give this one a shot.
Overall Score: 7.5
Highlights: Veil, Crone

Akeldama - Everything Beautiful (2013)

Band: Akeldama
Country: Tampa, Florida
Style: Progressive Death Metal/Djent
Label: Independent

Akeldama is group who have been coming up within the whole djent scene within the last couple years thanks to a pretty well received demo. This album has been talked about for what seems like quite a while and it almost seems strange that it's come out now. I have to say I was interested in what this was going to turn out to be even though I wasn't a big fan of that initial demo.
Let's be clear about this, Akeldama is a djent band. There's no getting around that fact when listening to this album, while groups like Periphery or The Safety Fire include just as much progressive riffing (in the sense that their style relies just as much on melody and riffing as groove), what's used throughout the majority of this album is pure djent. There's almost no deviation from the low-end crunch or palm mute, which immediately proved to be a bit of a problem for me. When it comes to the guitar work, there isn't a whole lot on here that you haven't heard before, and it sucks to have to say this but a lot of it is just generic. That isn't to say anything on their songwriting as much as just the nature of the guitar work and riffing style found on this album. I also had a problem that the bass was almost non-existent for the majority of the album, which I know won't be a problem for some, but it was for me. I like to hear bass in a band's sound, and save a few spots where the guitars either weren't being played, one could wonder if the band even had a bass player, especially with all the low-end used on here. Most melody done on here, that comes from outside of the vocalists, is all synth based, which definitely does give the album a bit more of a modern, melo-death tone to it, but frankly, I would rather hear a guitarist provide a melody instead of relying on the background synth to, but again, that's just me.
As for the songwriting and vocal aspects of the band, that is a somewhat different matter. Despite my problems with the low bass and the lackluster guitar work, I will give credit to where credit is due. Both Connor Reibling and Andrew Zink have strong presences on here through their vocal work. While I'm not in love with every song, both of them have styles that differ enough from each other to make it so they're not easily confused when they're going back and forth. While Zink does handle the clean vocals, of which I'm not a huge fan of but isn't a huge stumbling block when listening to this album for me, his more aggressive vocals definitely make for nice interplay when he uses them, hear Into Infernus. His tone reminded me of an early Coheed & Cambria style vocal, where it was really high and nasally sounding. I dislike that band and when I first heard Zink's clean vocals on the band's demo I was very unsure if I would even give this album a listen, but they did grow on me - if only slightly. The songwriting is also a strong point on here as well. Putting together songs that are interesting, even with lackluster instrumentals, is good and the two vocalists do know how to weave a line that sticks with the listener (me in this case). Several songs on here had nice hooks that proved to be staying even long after the album had concluded. Tracks like Apotheosis and A Glimpse of Perfection were particular highlights on here with possibly some of the strongest vocal melodies I've heard all year - the latter even has audible bass lines.
While I wasn't overly enthralled by the instrumentation on here, when it came to the vocals and songwriting I did feel like the band did have a nice grasp on things. It's solid and if nothing else good for a listen or two. I don't think it has the staying power of records from the likes of Uneven Structure, Vildhjarta, or Periphery (to name a few) but it is what it is. If you're a fan of the genre, give it a listen.
Overall Score: 7
Highlights: Apotheosis, Shadow of An Entity, A Glimpse of Perfection

The Safety Fire - Mouth of Swords (2013)

Band: The Safety Fire
Country: London, UK
Style: Progressive/Tech Metal
Label: InsideOut Music

I've been following The Safety Fire ever since a friend from high school showed me them back around the time their first EP came out. Since then I've actually found myself enjoying the band's music and not cringing at the vocals and found myself rather taken with their Grind The Ocean album from last year. Although I had heard that the band already had new material written I didn't expect a follow-up album to be released merely a year later.
For all the praise that was given to Grind The Ocean, it was a record that had it's weaknesses. In listening to this full-length, it struck me that the previous record was a bit of a transitional record, coming from the more aggressive sound found on the Sections EP the band had crafted an album that had it's fair share of those sort of songs, with two tracks being redone and put onto that record, while also having tracks that showed their more melodic side. This album is the extension of that sound. The majority of songs on here definitely show a more melodic side to the band without losing their signature technicality. This is clearly most noticeable in the vocal department with Sean McWeeney not only utilizing his cleaner voice for the majority of the record but also showcasing more of his range. His screams are used, but even compared to the amount used on the previous full-length, their presence has been lessened.
I give the band credit for really bringing things down more often on here than either of the previous releases, or in fact the three tracks released before the album, because it certainly isn't expected. Having transitional passages between songs or calm sections in songs isn't all that bold a thing to do, and the band have done it before, but I was rather surprised when a track like Wise Hands popped up on here and was soft and calming for it's entire running time. I Am Time, The Destroyer also exhibits a softer side to the band that, I think, balances out their more frenetic and technical metal side through the use of cleaner jazzy passages.
In regards to the songwriting on here, based on the three songs I had heard before the album was released in full, being Red Hatchet, Yellowism, and Glass Crush, I had more or less figured out that this album would prove to be a bit more of a grower than either of the last two. I wasn't crazy about any of the tracks I mentioned the first few times I heard them but more and more they started to work their way into my head, though I will say that I think Glass Crush is the weakest track on the album. Frankly, it's probably just me who needed time to really grab onto these songs (because I've seen many comments of people liking this immediately) but I wouldn't rule out giving this thing a couple listens before you decide it isn't for you.
So despite my caution based on my first few listens of the three singles, I would say that I actually managed to not only be more impressed with this new album but also enjoy it more. It broadens the scope for what the band can bring to the table and is hopefully a nice point to launch off of in future experimentations. If you're a fan of technical or progressive metal definitely give this one a listen, if you haven't already that is.
Overall Score: 9
Highlights: Mouth of Swords, Red Hatchet, The Ghosts That Wait For Spring