Album Review: Municipal Waste - "The Fatal Feast"

The Waste are back, and they’re busting out a whole lotta ass-whoopin’. As an expert in all things music, my research tells me this album is a good thing for everyone. Except your liver. Your liver hates you every time you toss on a Municipal Waste CD, but jeez, it’s got to lighten up a bit. I mean, the last time I tossed on The Art of Partying I woke up the next morning naked on a tractor, completely unable to move my neck.

It’s getting better, I swear.

Just another Tuesday night at my place**.

Or maybe not, cause now we have 16 (17 if you count the bonus) new anthems to shotgun beers, plug zombies full of lead, and just generally fuck shit up with. The Fatal Feast is Municipal Waste at their Municipal Waste-iest. The current kings of Crossover Thrash, Municipal Waste blend the energy and ridiculous antics of Hardcore with the speed, ferocity, and heaviness of Thrash Metal.

Municipal Waste continue with the fist-in-the-face sound, with sharp distorted guitars taking the front lines on this album. Ryan Waste's riffing is as destructive as ever, and he even does a couple of sweet solos too! Tony Forresta keeps his punk-ish vocals booming as raunchy as ever, while Dave Witte and Landphil keep the rhythm down tight, cause y'know, ain't no one fuck with the Witte-Landphil rhythm duo.

Ain't.

No one.

One thing I really like on this album (well, on all their albums, really) are Ryan Waste's extra vocals (especially on "Standards and Practices" every once in a while. I don't know exactly why I love them so much. It might because they remind me of old school 80s punk, which is weird 'cause I don't even listen to 80s punk. What?

The only thing that bugs me with The Fatal Feast has got to be the lack of larynx-busting screams that Mr. Forresta is so capable of. Whatever. He still shreds.

Bomb-Ass Tracks

New Dead Masters: With a half-spoken intro (reminds me of "Beer Pressure" off of The Art of Partying) it's definitely one of my new Thrash anthems. It's so fucking fast.

Standards and Practices: Ryan Waste's singing on the chorus. It makes you want to trash everything. Waste can really pull off the pure punk sound when they want to.

The Fatal Feast: From the sweet 80s B-movie space sound effects to the eerie intro bassline all the way to the off-kilter chorus, this song is a winner.

On a Playlist With: Toxic Holocaust, Black Breath, Mantic Ritual

Overall Score

4.0

The Fatal Feast is a buffet of over-the-top Crossover Thrash. Municipal Waste are going to fuck you up.

That's all for now, folks. Keep being Awesome.

**Tuesday night is taco night.

Album Review: Rush - "Clockwork Angels"

This is it kiddies. Rush have hit the big two-oh. Their 20th album, Clockwork Angels just dropped today. 38 years since their first album-- holy shit, 38 years. They've been releasing albums for twice as long as I've been alive. Y'know what though, Rush need no introduction. If you don't know who they are, slap yourself in the face for me (and my friend/ Rush superfan Matt), go buy and listen to their albums, and just get your fucking shit together, man.

From Left to Right: Geddy Lee, Neil Peart, some third guy (roadie, maybe?).

Clockwork Angels follows the story of a young man set in a steampunk styled (woo!) sci-fi/ fantasy setting, who wants to leave home and head out on a grand adventure (I'll try not to spoil any of the story for anyone who hasn't listened to the album or read through the lyrics and liner notes). After listening through the album, I seem to interpret the story as describing this young man's journey from adolescence to adulthood. A coming-of-age story of sorts. It's a classic theme shot through the lens of three nerds to make a ruthlessly gripping (and awesome) story.

Icwhutudidthur!

Not only is the storytelling top-notch, but the music flows with the story incredibly well too. I was never a really huge fan of post-mid-1980s Rush that used a bunch of synthesizers and keyboards to drive their sound instead of plain old guitar, bass, and drums. Clockwork Angels sees a nice return to form with all the focus returning to traditional Rock instruments. Things get pushed a little further here too. There still are some keyboards, and, the pleasantly surprising use of either a cello and/or violins in a few songs as well. I found a lot of the instrumental breaks on the album seemed to show the Canadian power trio making some cool sounscapes, rather than showing off  their already proven furious Prog Rock chops.

I have to say that after Rush released the songs "Caravan" and "BU2B", I didn't really have the highest of hopes for this album. Once "Headlong Flight" was released, they had my curiosity. Now that Clockwork Angels is out, they have my attention. This album blew what I was expecting right out of the water.

Unfortunately, Clockwork Angels isn't without it's downfalls. Well, downfall. The only thing that doesn't sit too well with me is Geddy's voice at some points. Sometimes I'd have to be reading the liner notes while listening to it to understand what he was saying. I can't really blame him though. After belting out some of the best Rock vocals for almost 40 years, he's allowed a little leeway. And he still sings way better than whoever the hell is on Top 40 radio.

Bomb-Ass Tracks

Carnies: With probably the most badass riff on the entire album and my favorite part of the story (partly because the entire song represents maybe only a handful of seconds), "Carnies" stands tall both in the middle of the story and as a standalone track.

Headlong Flight: The intro sounds like a Tool song. That's reason enough to like a song (But seriously, this song is fucking sweet too).

The Garden: A beautiful closer to the album. I never really thought that Rush could pull off a song like this, but, damn, they did.

On a Playlist With: King Crimson, Yes, and Genesis

Overall Score

4.5

This is definitely my favorite original material released by Rush since 1981's Moving Pictures. I wouldn't peg Clockwork Angels as my favorite Rush album, or even in my top three, but it still holds it's own as a downright awesome album. Congratulations, Geddy and Neil.

You too... Andrew? Allan? Alvin? Whatever.

That's all for now, folks. Keep being Awesome.

Album Review: One Direction - "Up All Night"

After looking at and listening to some underground Hip-Hop, Dream Pop, and whatever genre Diablo Swing Orchestra are, I think it's time to turn around and head straight into the mainstream. Today we're going to check out who are probably my new favorite band from England: One Direction! These five best friends have put out their debut album Up All Night and it's been blaring from my speakers ever since I bought it.

One Direction (<3) just excel, in every way. Musically and lyrically, these guys stand head and shoulders above almost any group I've had the pleasure of listening to. It's hard to make jokes here when the music and messages they stand behind are so fucking good.

Everything above this image was probably the most painful thing I've ever had to write.

Don't worry, everyone. I wouldn't even touch that One Direction shit with a 50-foot pole, let alone buy it. Today I'm going to look at a band who would rape One Direction to death, eat their flesh and sew those little bitches' skins into their clothing. And if they're very, very lucky, it'll happen in that order.

Aborted (<3) are a Deathgrind band from Belgium who've been around for what's starting to close in on 20 years. They go for the classic Carcass-style gore-splattering, innards-disemboweling themes and lyrics, and with song titles like "Coronary Reconstruction", "Expurgation Euphoria", and  "Our Father, Who Art of Feces", how could you not get excited? For those of you who don't know what Deathgrind is, it's (as the name suggests) a crossover between Death Metal and Grindcore. It mixes the furious speed and aggression of Grindcore and the musicality and songwriting of Death Metal into the equivalent of being mauled by a grizzly bear with a +5 thundering warhammer.

Yeah. Terrifying, I know.

The album is pretty straight forward. The band pulls of flying at a million kilometers an hour without giving the look-at-how-good-I-am-at-playing-my-instrument wankery. The riffs stay pounding and brutal, and the drums sound absolutely massive. The real attraction on here is vocalist Sven de Caluwé's impressive range. Everything from throat shredding Grind screams to brutal as fuck Death Metal growls to even the occasional pig squeal shows up on here. His ability to cycle between a bunch of different extreme Metal vocal styles really keeps things interesting throughout this album.

Something else that adds a fun touch (but is in no way anything new in either the Death Metal or Grindcore genres) are the audio samples. The intro track is a a bunch of snippets of old movies strung together to give this eerie zombie-apocalypse-is-actually-upon us feeling, and most other tracks feature audio clips from some horror movie or another. The final track ends with the somewhat cliché "Now I have become death, the destroyer of worlds" quote, but it still fits nicely for closing the album. The one sample that I really love the most is on the title track where just as the song is about to hit full-on Grind mode, you hear "I'M GOING TO FUCKING RAPE YOUR SOUL!". Classic.

I have to say, although Global Flatline keeps it fresh throughout, it's not fresh enough for my tastes. With music like Deathgrind or Technical Death Metal, I feel there are always a few songs on thew album that really stand out, but most other songs seem to sound similar, with not enough character put into each one.

Bomb-Ass Tracks

Global Flatline: What can I say, this song fucking raped my soul.

Our Father, Who Art of Feces: This song's chorus is gargantuan. I really love the guitar work as well. There are a bunch of memorable riffs all the way throughout, and the solo is wicked sweet too.

Enstille: The closing track (excluding the bonus tracks) starts off with similar sampling as the intro track and then shifts into a driving, mid-paced monster. It's got some incredibly well phrased guitar work shredding over top of the first half. The second half picks up with Sven doing a mix of spoken word and growling like a motherfucker. I know that a lot of people really disliked this track because it didn't fit with the rest of the album, but I personally love this song.

On a Playlist With: Decrepit Birth, Origin, Cattle Decapitation

Overall Score

3.5

If you like Death Metal, Grindcore, or Tech-Death, you'll probably like this. If you don't like any of those genres, this probably won't change your stance on them. I think this is a pretty solid album. I mean, what can I say, they had me at "rape your soul". <3

That's all for now, folks. Keep being Awesome.

Album Review: Diablo Swing Orchestra - "Pandora's Piñata"

Sorry guys, but today I'm going full hipster. Diablo Swing Orchestra (You mean you haven't heard of them?), herein called DSO just opened the floodgates with their newest release Pandora's Piñata. I'm not sure what genre to file DSO under, 'cause their music is just a giant clusterfuck of different styles. I mean that in the nicest way possible, though.

Half funky swing Jazz, half Metal. All killer.

DSO is of Swedish extraction, which is awesome in my books because a whole whack of my favorite bands come from Sweden (Meshuggah, Opeth, every Melodic Death Metal band ever). I've only recently discovered them, so I'm still shaky on their background, but that's irrelevant because their music is fucking awesome. DSO features the use of traditional Rock instruments like guitar, bass and drums, but spice things up with the addition of a cellist and a horn section consisting of one trombone and one trumpet.

Pandora's Piñata is a veritable feast of everything fun. Blaring guitars, funky-as-shit bass, pounding drums, a ringing horn section and soaring vocals not only make an appearance on this album, but are pretty much constant the whole way through it's 52 minute running time. DSO swing and groove with the best of them, but can smoothly bring things down for some slower, more moody tracks ("Exit Strategy of a Wrecking Ball") or bust out some movie-soundtrack-worthy music ("How to Organize a Lynch Mob", "Justice for Saint Mary").

Just the fact that the guy on the left has dreads makes this band that much fucking cooler.

I can't really think of anything to criticize this album with, honestly. If I had to choose one thing, it would be that sometimes it sounds a little too crowded, with all the instruments going at once with both vocalists singing over top. That's if I had to choose a downside. I personally love the crowded, wall-of-sound style on Pandora's Piñata.

Bomb-Ass Tracks


Voodoo Mon Amour: The opening track really takes it away. It's dark, groovy, and playful. "Voodoo Mon Amour" really punches you in the face screaming "WE'RE DSO AND WE DON'T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT YOUR GENRES."

How to Organize a Lynch Mob and Kevlar Sweethearts: Yeah, I know its two tracks, but "How to Organize a Lynch Mob" is only 53 seconds long, and transitions so perfectly into "Kevlar Sweethearts". The former song is one of those soundtrack styled ones, while the latter song really reminds of Nightwhish, but way cooler.

Justice for Saint Mary: Clocking in at 8:17, the longest track on Pandora's Piñata is definitely the most grand in scope. The instrumentation is superb (the soundtrack style is used here again), with some haunting vocals floating over top. Once it starts to reach the six minute mark, then shit hits the fan. I don't want to spoil what it sounds like, but it's an eargasm and a half.

On a Playlist With: David Maxim Micic, Devin Townsend, and the "Repo! The Genetic Opera Official Soundtrack"

Overall Score


4.9

My first 4.9. 4.9 means "damn near perfect" and oh man, is this album ever damn near perfect. I'm going down to the record store today to definitely order myself a copy. I haven't enjoyed an album this much in a long time.

That's all for now, folks. Keep being Awesome.

Album Review: Grimes – “Visions”

Ethereal Pop, Electro Pop, Experimental Pop, and Dream Pop are all things that Canadian (woo!) singer-songwriter Grimes has been called. Out of all of them, I feel like “ethereal” is the best way to describe her newest release, Visions. This album is a swirling soundscape of sickly sweet singing (Yay alliterations!).

When I saw this album cover, I thought Grimes was an 80s Crossover Thrash band. Boy, was I ever wrong.

There’s not much in the way of instrumentation here, just layers upon layers of Grimes’ voice over electronic percussion, buzzing synth, and the occasional set of piano chords. When I say “layers upon layers” I mean “layers upon layers”. Sometimes she’s got half a dozen vocal tracks bouncing and swishing around at once, each one ladled with reverb and echo, just to fuck with your mind that much more. Grimes’ voice can also shift between different styles relatively well, going between a vulnerable shy voice, to a wailing high pitched one, to an almost Eastern sounding one, and everything in between.

Although personally I really like Grimes’ voice (which often floats around the falsetto range), I can see where some might hate it. Sometimes she has an almost J-Pop sounding voice, and I know a lot of people who really can’t stand that style of singing. One other thing that some people might not be huge fans of is that most of her lyrics are unintelligible, lost under all the compounded tracks and effects, or there aren’t any lyrics at all. Large portions of Visions is crammed full of long, drawn out oooooooohs and aaaaaaaaahs instead of actual words. Since I don’t find lyrics to be a make-or-break thing for music, it doesn’t bother me one bit that I have no idea what her songs are about.

Grimes could probably double as a member of Behemoth. I mean, they're both practically the same type of music, right?

The only thing that brings this album down for me is the lack of variation overall. Although Visions is an incredibly interesting and new experience for me musically, when all 13 tracks form a 47ish minute ocean of mid-tempo beats and reverb-heavy singing and synth, it tends to give you a bit of a déja-vu feeling by the end of it.

Bomb-Ass Tracks

Infinite Love Without Fulfillment: The first track on Visions bombards you with the first salvo of Grimes' overlaid vocals. Also, dat chord progression change at 0:45. First time I heard it, hairs stood up on my neck.

Genesis: With an infectious beat that makes you want to do this and a playful synth line that instantly brings thoughts of Eastern cultures, this track makes you feel a type of care-free happy that not many other songs do.

Vowels = Space and Time: Probably the most accessible song on the album. I can see this track being featured on the radio or played on a venue's PA system between band's sets. It's the most straightforward song with the most intelligible lyrics, so I like to think it could be a real crowd pleaser.

On a Playlist With: Björk, Sleep Party People, Alcest

Overall Score

3.5

This was a really cool and refreshing album to listen to, especially since over the past couple days I’ve been listening to lots and lots of Black Breath, Dying Fetus, and Aborted (Global Flatline review coming whenever I feel like it). It’s great music to focus in on and lose yourself in (THE MUSIC, THE MOMENT// YOU OWN IT// YOU BETTER NEVER LET IT GO, OH// YOU ONLY GET ONE SHOT// DO NOT MISS YOUR CHANCE TO BLOW// CAUSE OPPORTUNITY COMES ONCE IN A LIFETIME, YO [Sorry, I had to.]) and also doubles as great music that sits in the background while you work or just derp around. I have a feeling that Visions might end up growing on me over time, and I might even review it again if I feel like it deserves a re-evaluation.

That’s all for now, folks. Keep being Awesome.

Album Review: Childish Gambino – “Camp”

As some of my friends know, I have a guilty pleasure for a little Hip-Hop and Rap every once in a while. “BUT DAVID!” I hear you scream, “HIP-HOP DOESN’T HAVE BLAST BEATS OR GUTTURAL VOCALS, HOW COULD YOU ENJOY IT?”. It’s true, I do like me some Hip-Hop from time to time, I’m going to be reviewing one of my new favorite albums from the genre: Camp by Childish Gambino (released November 15, 2011)

Childish Gambino is the stage name of comedian/ actor Donald Glover. Glover rose to popularity with his stand up comedy acts, and solidified himself as a comedy powerhouse by portraying Troy Barnes on NBC’s ridiculously awesome show Community. Gambino’s Camp was the first of his that I’ve heard, and it’s technically his debut studio album, but he’s released a bunch of stuff prior to this as well.

Dat simplicity.

Camp is a more straightforward Hip-Hop album, musically. There are no wonky rhythms and beats a là Death Grips (review of The Money Store coming whenever I get around to listening to it), and no over the top bass lines and bass drops a là every Bro-Hip-Hop and Bro-Rap artist ever. Gambino raps about whatever he feels like, from girls to the state of black youth in America, to his short shorts, to his philosophies. It might seem that since there’s such a wide breadth of topics covered in Camp, it might diminish the whole album as a whole, rest assured, Gambino keeps it surprisingly well focused.

The album holds a dramatic and somewhat melancholic vibe throughout, rising to anger on “Heartbeat” before swinging back down. The emotional mood cracks apart again and transforms into insanity on the track “You See Me” where Gambino’s delivery of the lines makes him sound like a mental case.

Please tell me I'm not the only one who thought his shirt said "Broom Rape" for a second. Please.

The album suffers in only a couple ways, and that’s in Gambino’s constant references to his dick and the processing on his voice at times. I have no problems with a few dick jokes, but when it starts to crop up in almost every song, it’s a little much. The processed vocals are simply run through some light distortion, but I feel like it really takes away from the quality of his natural voice.

Bomb-Ass Tracks

Outside: The opening track off of Camp really sets the mood for the entire album. It’s one of the more serious songs dealing with how it was like for him to grow up in various neighborhoods as a kid, and he tells the story flawlessly. The choir-sung chorus is absolutely fantastic, and when the piano kicks in, oh man, it’s just perfect.

Heartbeat: This song is just nothing but straight power. The calm choruses offer a nice contrast to the furiously spat out verses. Some of the lines in “Heartbeat” are just genius, too.

That Power: Spoken word over a beat/ track. As the final track, it sums up everything he (and this album) are about and closes off the album incredibly well.

Overall Score

4.5

Childish Gambino’s Camp is a great ride of ups, downs, twists and turns which really hits home with me. It’s not without its flaws, but I can easily overlook them for the great music that it is. Check it out sometime.

That’s all for now, folks. Keep being Awesome.

Album Review: Six Feet Under – “Undead”

It pains me sometimes so see a classic image get shattered. Nobody likes that. Chris Barnes, former vocalist for Cannibal Corpse (on Eaten Back to Life, Butchered at Birth and Tomb of the Mutilated) belted out some wicked sweet Death Metal vocals back in the day. I had always heard of his post-Corpse band Six Feet Under in passing but never took the time to check them out. I have heard absolutely none of their previous work before listening to Undead, where usually I check out a few random songs from a band before I ingest a full album. So Six Feet Under had a clean slate. Had a clean slate. Ladies and djentlemen, this review is going to be swift and brutal.

All the tortured looking faces pretty much sum up this album.

It was awful. It was like the musical equivalent of watching someone kick a puppy. First you stand there screaming “WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?”, and then you rush over there and try and get that little shit away from that poor puppy. In the case of Undead, I sat there screaming “WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?”, and then I rushed over to the pause button to try and get that shitty music away from my poor ears.

Going against my instinct of turning it off immediately, I listened to the whole album. It was an unforgiving wasteland of horrible production, mediocre music, and awful vocals. The production made everything seem flat. It wasn’t a raw sound and it wasn’t a clean sound, it was just… sound. The guitars didn’t possess that sort of visceral, face-smashing tone that old school death metal is known for. It just sounded like some 12 year old kid who just bought his new Line 6 Spyder and has no idea what all the shiny buttons do. The music itself was pretty underwhelming, too. Although there are some sweet riffs on Undead, 90% of them just sound boring. To credit Kevin Talley though, the drumming on Undead is great, cause its Kevin motherfucking Talley. To top all of that off, the once reigning king of Death Metal fizzles out with the worst guttural vocals and screams I’ve heard in a long time. Barnes sounds like a 7 year old imitating his favorite movie villain. One thing about Barnes’ vocals that did entertain me were his higher register screams. They’re fucking hilarious. I seriously burst out laughing while listening to some of the tracks.

Bomb Ass-Tracks

None. Absolutely none.

Overall Score

1.0

This was less of a review and more of a warning. I can’t tell you not to listen to it as you should always try to expose yourself to as much music as possible, but I can’t actually recommend Undead to anyone.

That’s all for now, folks. Keep being Awesome.

Update + EP/ Demo Reviews: Local Band Edition: Crash! Radio & Draken

Hey kiddies, I’ve got a bit of an update before I start the reviews. First off, I’m on 8tracks! I’ll be operating under the username DGuptz, and Hell if I know what I’ll end up putting on there. So you can totally follow me there and see all of the zero playlists that I’ll probably end up making! Yay! [EDIT: I'm not on 8tracks anymore. I'm not creative enough to make playlists.]

Secondly, I’ve reworked the scale I use for rating the albums I review. Before, I used a 1 – 10 scale with 7 being “average”, anything above being “good” to “awesome” and anything below being “meh” to “holy shit, please kill me now”. Now I’m going to be using a 0 – 5 scale with the following ratings:

5.0 – Perfect.

4.9 – Damn near perfect.

4.5 – Eargasm.

4.0 – Great.

3.5 – Good.

3.0 – Decent.

2.5 – Average/ Meh.

2.0 – Not so hot.

1.5 – Just plain bad.

1.0 – Dear God, how did you think that making this was good decision?

0.5 – I feel like I’ve been molested. In the ear.

0.0 – I’d rather go listen to a Burzum/ BrokenCYDE collaboration.

Yes, 4.9 will be a potential score. A 5.0 will only represent an album that I believe is truly perfect in every way. Anything else will land a 4.9 at the most. I think this will offer more consistency and structure to my reviews, so I’ll try it out and see how it goes!

This music review will be a little different. Today I’ll be featuring two bright young bands from my local (Halton Region) music scene: Crash! Radio and Draken. They both might belong to two different genres of music (Rock/ Pop and Metal respectively), but I think they both deserve the attention. So without further ado, let’s begin.

Crash! Radio – “Crash! Radio EP”

Crash! Radio (herein called C!R) are a Burlington, ON based Alt. Rock and Pop band. I think they were able to get access to a recording studio for this EP, and you can really tell. Production is great on C!R EP. Everything is crisp and clear, with no instrument overpowering any other one. If they didn’t have access to a recording studio, then a big bravo goes out to whichever one of them did the production work.

Now, I’m not a huge fan of the Alt. Rock and Pop genres, because I find a lot of it sounds very bland and very similar. C!R seem to break away from the boring old formula and deliver some pretty sweet tunes. They vary their sound just enough to give each track some character and definition, but not so much to make it an incoherent mess. 

Something that I really enjoy on C!R EP is the guitar (go figure). Thrown in on every song are some expertly phrased guitar leads underneath the main mix which took me past the first listen to catch. If there's one thing I have to credit C!R with, it's that whenever I listen to their songs, I hear something new each time.

If I have to criticize this release with something, it's that even though each song was really good, none of them blew my mind. It feels like the band is staying safely inside of their comfort zone across this entire EP. I can't really blame them though. They're great at what they do, so it only makes sense that they do it.   

Bomb-Ass Track

Sunrise on the East Side: I definitely hear some Dropkick Murphy's influence here, especially in the intro. That big group "GO!" throws you forwards into the rest of this killer track. Also, don't even get me started on the bridge. Infectiously catchy stuff.

Overall Score

3.5

An enjoyable first release from C!R. Again, I’m not a huge fan of the Pop/ Alt. Rock genre, but C!R definitively keep things fresh. I'll be keeping my eye on them. Check out their EP on Bandcamp here (free only for the next 24 or so hours), like them on Facebook here, and check ‘em out live here.

Draken – “Cyprium EP”

Draken are a band that hail from Mississauga/ Oakville, ON. To my knowledge this EP doesn’t have an official name, but it was released when they still sailed under the moniker of Cyprium, so I’m going to call it the Cyprium EP. Draken blend influences from Melodic Death Metal, Thrash Metal and Progressive Metal together. Would I call them Progressive Melodic Thrash Metal? No. Not at all. When all those genres are mixed by these dudes, Draken becomes more. It transcends any of those individual genres, and I don’t think I can call it anything else other than straight up fucking Metal.

The first thing that hit me on this EP was the guitar work. Razor-sharp and striking with precision, the guitarists bombard you with air-guitar worthy, fretboard-burning riffs. The solos are also face-meltingly fast, just the way I like ‘em. Another highlight of the EP are the guttural vocals. Spewing forth from your speakers come some ungodly growls and screams. For being completely unprocessed, it’s delightfully surprising how heavy those vocals sound.

On a complete 180 degree turn from C!R EP, this collection of demo songs definitely wasn’t recorded in a studio (which is completely understandable for a band’s first demo. No harm, no foul.). If you’re someone who can only listen to 100% polished and heavily produced music, this might turn you off. In my eyes, the unpolished production doesn’t take too much away from Cyprium EP. That being said, if these guys get the opportunity to record these songs in a professional studio or something, I’m sure with big beefy production the songs would hit even fucking harder.

There are only a couple gripes I have with this release. As wicked sweet as the drumming is (seriously, “Torrential Rain” thrashes pretty fucking hard), in some sections they feel a little fast or a little slow. The clean vocals on the EP aren’t my favorite either, as the singer struggles a little bit to hit some of his notes. Given that this is their first recording, those two things really aren’t major, and I expect they’ll practice and grow to become a truly fearsome Metal act in the GTA scene.

Bomb-Ass Track

In Sheep's Clothing: Gothenburg style riffing? Check. Brutal vocals? Check. Eerie as fuck bridge? Check. Smash-your-face-in-with-a-sledgehammer guitar solo? Check. One of the most badass outros I've heard in a long time? Mother. Fucking. Check.

 Overall Score

4.0

A solid first effort from Draken. I’m excited to see what they’ll churn out next. Check out their EP for free on ReverbNation here, like them on Facebook here, and go see them shred live here.

After like, the longest post ever, that’s all for now, folks. Support your local music scene.

Album Review: Kreator - "Phantom Antichrist"

Thrash Metal has to be my favorite genre of music, hands down. Loving everything from Municipal Waste, to Slayer, to S.O.D., to Warbringer, Thrash has been my number one genre for as long as I can remember. One of my favorite Thrash bands for a while have been German titans Kreator. Just today they dropped their newest full-length album upon the world...

...and I'm not a huge fan of it.

Kreator have been a hugely influential band in the Thrash Metal genre. They were a part of the "Teutonic Thrash" movement, consisting of three Germanic bands -- Destruction, Sodom, and Kreator. Kreator blew up the scene with their 1986 release Pleasure to Kill, and even though they had their ups and downs afterwards, they've always kept pushing forward. Kreator's previous two releases, Enemy of God (2005) and Hordes of Chaos (2009) went for a well polished, more melodic angle, filling their songs with catchy hooks and harmonized riffs. As an avid fan of Melodic Death Metal, I thought those last two albums were pretty solid efforts.

Phantom Antichrist on the other hand, seems to show Kreator continuing with the Melo-Death theme but loosing steam with it. The riffage is getting a little uninspired and is beginning to sound recycled. There are some sweet guitar bits on the album though. The title track shows some pretty wicked fretwork from guitarists Mille and Sami. One thing that has been consistent since their last couple albums has been Mille's vocals. He still sounds as pissed off as before, spitting out hate-fueled line after hate-fueled line.

If that's not the most forced "I'm evil" pose ever, I don't know what is. It's okay Mille, we still love you.

Bomb-Ass Tracks

Phantom Antichrist: The title track rips pretty fucking hard. It was released before the album came out and got me really excited for this LP. No matter how disappointed I am with the record, this song still rules.

From Flood into Fire: This sounds like it could have been a track off of a Manowar album. The chorus is one of those headbang-your-fucking-neck-off-and-chant-along choruses.

I normally include three songs here, but I really only found these two songs to be that notable on the album.

Overall Score

6/10

Kreator seem to be running dry of their Melodic Thrash Metal inspiration. It's still decent Metal, but its nowhere near Kreator good. I'm sure a few songs off of Phantom Antichrist will probably play on my iPod every once in a while, and I'll be eagerly waiting for their next album.

That's all for now, folks. Keep being Awesome.

Track Review: Primate - "Pride"

Relapse Record's Youtube channel recently informed me of a new supergroup called Primate. Now, Metal supergroups have varied in awesomeness over the years, ranging from Bloodbath (fucking sweet) to Hellyeah (fucking awful), which leaves me debating how this whole Primate thing will all turn out. Just yesterday, they released the song "Pride" off of Primate's debut album Draw Back a Stump (out July 3rd).

Primate features the ripping guitar work of Mastodon's very own Bill Kelliher, and the gritty vocal work of Brutal Truth's Kevin Sharp. I don't know where the other members of Primate hail from, and quite frankly, I don't really care, as long as they can shred with the likes of Kelliher and Sharp. Primate's MySpace (Ha, Myspace. What a bunch of oldies!) says they sound like "a freight train full of TNT smashing into a tanker truck full of jet fuel". Well, well, well. Let's just see about that.

Damn. That description is pretty damn accurate. Take one part Grindcore, two parts Hardcore Punk, and just a dash of Southern Metal, mix it all up and you get some ferocious music coming at you. By no means is it revolutionary or groundbreaking, but considering it's a "just-for-fun" side project for all the band members, the output is really something that can stand on its own.

Overall Score

7.5/10 

"Pride" is unreasonably catchy and unrelentingly... unrelenting. I'm excited to hear what's in store for us on the rest of the album.

Check out "Pride" for yourself down below:

That's all for now, folks. Keep being Awesome.