Metal is a style of music which usually is to be taken seriously. That said, whenever I hear Bobaflex I just can’t seem to keep a straight face, and with their album Tales From Dirt Town, they once again cracked me up. Sure the album name and cover art are very serious, but when the music begins that image falls apart.
Though Australia may be a long distance from Canada, Truth Corroded’s raging sounds cannot be contained within their native land and have spilled over worldwide. With Worship The Bled, these Ozzys have released their biggest offering to date, one which gained international distribution. With this new record the group has shown the world that bands like AC/DC and Airbourne are not the island’s heaviest acts.
Before Dutch symphonic metal band After Forever disbanded on February 5th, 2009, they released their fifth and final full-length album simply entitled, After Forever. Like fans of the band and genre have come to expect, this release contains simple instrumentals and mild symphonic elements all of which are the background to Floor Jansen’s soprano vocals (which she has been known for since the age of sixteen) and Sander Gomman’s growls.
When you first hear the name Massive Slavery, what do you think of? I personally thought of a brutal death metal band; and that’s exactly what I got. Forming from the ashes of fallen Quebec bands: Decrepity, Descend Into Nothingness and Paroxysm, the group recorded their first MS album Global Enslavement in 2010. Sure they worked well in their former bands, but were they ready to work together as a new ensemble?
Ringworm: a clinical condition caused by fungal infection of the skin. But, in this case Ringworm is the name of the Cleveland, OH-based hardcore band who’ve recently released their fourth Victory Records album, Scars.
It’s always incredible to hear of an independent band that can self-release not one, but TWO EPs. While most groups struggle to create just one, hardcore/metal band In Alcatraz 1962 managed to release a second EP, Dream, this past May.
“Let’s break down some walls and go crazy” is what Norris must have been thinking when they wrote and recorded their new album The Great White North. At first glance, the cover art displays a calm image of, well… Canada. With this picture one may be convinced the music is calm and mellow… it’s anything but.
I thought California had cornered the market on thrash with bands such as Testament, Death Angel, Exodus, Metallica and other greats. Then, I heard Canadian band Hero’s Last Rite’s album Inevitable Is The End. They have all the components of a great thrash metal band: speed, heaviness and tough vocals. With this combination Hero’s Last Rite released 11 tracts of crazy, thrash metal that will pummel any fan’s ear drums.
“FUCK PUSSY METAL!” is the message Without Mercy are proclaiming and after listening to their self-titled debut, I cannot agree more with this statement. The band name, Without Mercy, offers insight into their sound: ruthless, menacing, brutal and HEAVY. Every one of the album’s songs is true to the band’s name as they’re pure death metal that gouges your poor, helpless eardrums.
Canadian metal bands emerge seemingly from out of nowhere; each one striving to make a name for themselves. Try as they might, very few succeed and are eventually swallowed up becoming just “another band”. All Else Fails however, are one of the few strong enough to have fought their way to the creation of their first full-length, Against The Darkening Sky.
When I used to drive for hours plowing, I would rely on the radio to keep me sane. During this mind-numbing task, one of my fave bands was Mother Mother and their song “The Stand.” Now, though my snow removal days are over, I still love my Mother Mother fix; so naturally I snagged their third album Eureka.
In 2009 The Rabid Whole released an album entitled Autraumaton. Not long after, they released a remix EP called 000 which became a sampler to their latest release Autraumation Remixed. As the name suggests, this is a remix of their album Autraumaton.
MaQLu is back with her second installment of the ‘Tales From The Black Heart’ cycle with the EP Black. This release is much like her Blood EP in that it contains slow deadly beats mixed with low vocals. Personally, I didn’t find Black to be as good as its predecessor. I found the vocal lines to be out of sync with the beats, giving the songs a plastic feel. This leaves me to believe this mini album was rushed.
Good thing I’m not a pretty boy or I may have been too scared to write this review. When I first heard A Bullet For Pretty Boy’s album Revision:Revise all I could take from it in the end were the kickdrums. Sure, the band had some gnarly breakdowns, aggressive shouting and high sung choruses, but in the end it was all generic sounding.